Here in Overland Park, we get mail just every other day. The Postal Service is broken
Dead letter office
The United States Postal System is broken. My household received mail on one day the entire week of Dec. 2. That’s right — no bills, no bank statements, no letters, no Christmas cards. Nothing!
So, I filed a complaint with the post office and received a response that because of staffing issues, our neighborhood in Overland Park is set up on an every-other-day mail delivery schedule.
Even though the USPS is an independent entity and receives no direct tax dollars, Congress has bailed out the agency year after year — which means that we, the taxpayers, have bailed it out.
Our current post office system is inefficient, unreliable and an embarrassment to how a business should be operated. Someone needs to take the bull by the horns and fix it. Who will that be?
- Larry Fogel, Overland Park
The general welfare
What is it about poverty that obstructionist Republicans and Democrats alike still do not understand? Historically, physical slavery in the United States was limited to persons of color. Today freedom, self-actualization and financial independence are limited to the number of dollars a person has.
We would not need food and toy handouts, food stamps, cash assistance, government housing vouchers, school lunches, day care subsidies and Medicaid if the government were to establish universal health care, public tertiary education and a living wage for all and end economic slavery for people of any skin color.
Charity and philanthropy cannot be the only driving forces to battle continuing poverty in this country of continuing corporate and individual greed.
- Maria Coughlin, Kansas City
Safe railroads
Readers of a recent series in The Star about the rail industry likely walked away with misconceptions about its commitment to safety, employees and communities. (Dec. 14, 1A, “No lights. No gates. No safety”) Railroads’ highest goal is ensuring safety for those who live and work along the nation’s rail network.
Highly skilled employees coupled with historic investments have led to across-the-board safety gains over the last 20 years, with the train accident rate down 33% in that period.
Annually, railroads make $20 billion in investments on capital expenditures and maintenance. Those long-term, sustained investments make the American freight rail network the safest, most efficient in the world.
In fact, the American Society of Civil Engineers has recognized again and again that our investments have put us at the top of the class, receiving the society’s highest rating on its infrastructure report card.
As the front line of ensuring rail safety, our employees are trained and empowered to report anything that could pose a safety issue. Combined training, technology and proven protocols to guard employee safety have driven down injury rates to record lows.
Ultimately, railroads are aiming for zero accidents, which is why railroads continue investing and working tirelessly toward an accident-free future.
- Ian Jefferies, President and CEO, Association of American Railroads, Washington, D.C.
Worthy investment
The great reporting on railroads in The Star about the risks for small communities at rail crossings has to lead to some solutions. It isn’t so hard to avoid blocking streets in a town by building over- or underpasses. This will cost money.
The inconvenience for residents who have to wait at railroad crossings in affected towns, and the possibility of lives endangered when first responders can’t get through, must weigh more than these costs.
- Klaus Karbaumer, Platte City
Let’s kill cancer
Right now, Congress is in a rush to get its work done and pass a 2023 federal budget. At the top of the must-do list should be an increase in federal funding for cancer research and prevention.
The National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute are the foundation of our national cancer research program, and they support research in every state, including $117.7 million in Kansas. Because of 50 years of bipartisan investment in research, there are now a record 18 million American cancer survivors, and the cancer death rate continues to decline.
But past progress doesn’t guarantee continued success. We need our lawmakers to do their part and insist on increased investments in the NIH and NCI in the 2023 budget. Sen. Jerry Moran has co-signed important legislation for cancer patients this year, and we need his help again to invest in cancer research.
As a cancer survivor and someone who’s lost family members to cancer, I believe nothing is more important than to call on members of Congress to do their work and increase NIH and NCI funding by $4.1 billion and $853 billion, respectively, and to end cancer as we know it.
- Sue Jirkovsky-Landers, Tecumseh, Kansas
Build it here
The Royals organization wants a new stadium. It should be in an area with lots of parking, good and numerous restaurants, a large number of lodging accommodations for out-of-town fans, other entertainment options and easy interstate access. This could make it a destination attraction and bring support for the surrounding businesses.
So build it in Wyandotte County, near the Legends. That is the only way that Jackson County and Kansas City taxpayers can be sure not to get stuck with the bill. Most of us can’t afford to go to a game anyway
- Ken Henderson, Kansas City
