By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist
Corn-based ethanol's supporters are whining, again. They want to keep governmental mandates to use the fuel. Too bad. It's time to kill the mandates, no matter what Garden City, Kan., ethanol backer Lee Reeve says.
Primaries for sheriff in the area’s two largest counties will be held Aug. 5.
The incumbent is the best choice in the Johnson County Republican election, while an experienced administrator deserves the nod in the Democratic race for an open post in Jackson County.
Northeast Johnson County voters have the opportunity to help ensure a responsible state Board of Education by casting ballots in the Aug. 5 primary.
It’s a particularly important vote because control of the state board has fluctuated for several years between opponents and proponents of evolution and sex education in public schools.
By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist
Talk about great theater with huge consequences.
A battle is under way at City Hall over who should provide security at Kansas City International Airport.
By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist
Edwin Hall's surprise plea Wednesday that he murdered Kelsey Smith means he'll die in prison. It's a just punishment.
By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
Two weeks to go before the Missouri governor's primary and I am completely perplexed by the campaigns of both Republican candidates.
By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist
First, The Woodlands dog and horse racing track announced plans Tuesday to shut down next month. Now the Las Vegas Sands Corp. has dropped out of the race to put a casino in Wyandotte County. Great news all around.
By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
"The Surge Has Worked."
As slogans go, it lacks the sizzle of "Shock and Awe" or "Mission Accomplished." But it's not bad.
Johnson County has legitimate public safety needs. But an antiquated state law has hamstrung county officials, resulting in a flawed plan to pay for a larger jail, new juvenile services complex and crime lab.
City officials have crafted responsible plans to improve sewers and roads in Blue Springs. Voters have good reasons to approve two questions on the Aug. 5 ballot.
If Question 1 passes, the city could use a Missouri low-interest loan program while issuing up to $35 million in bonds. The city would upgrade and expand its sewer treatment plant, partly to comply with new federal and state environmental rules.
By Peter Makori, Kansas City Star Contributing Writer
The International Criminal Court’s indictment last week of Sudanese strongman Omar al-Bashir was long overdue.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo, ICC chief prosecutor, presented indictment charges before the court in The Hague, Netherlands.
By Lewis Diuguid, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist
A successful effort to revive Kansas City’s downtown and neighborhoods must first address more than a century of laws and practices designed to keep people fearful and separated.
By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist
Stumbling around while looking for villains who caused $4-a-gallon gasoline, Congress has named its latest suspect: Speculators who allegedly have been driving up the cost of oil. Give me a break.
By Juanell Garrett, Midwest Voices panelist 2008
I recently attended a Republican Women's meeting where former Congressman Jim Ryun spoke. He's seeking to regain the Kansas Second District seat that he lost to Congresswoman Nancy Boyda in 2006. He addressed the oil situation as a national security issue.
By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist
Right on cue, here come the Johnson County commissioners and staff to try to scare voters into approving the sales tax for public safety. Don't fall for it, voters.
By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist
Jan Marcason and other KC City Council members say they want a green sewer plan. They laud solutions like porous paving, rain gardens, green roofs, rain barrels and vegetative swales that carry water runoff in place of sewer pipes. But let's be realistic.
Dawn Meisenheimer Lewis, Midwest Voices Contributor 2007
Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback, a megachurch with much influence in many American evangelical churches, is moderating a debate between Barack Obama and John McCain.
Make no mistake about it. School districts are businesses.
Districts that operate without keeping their costs in line cheat taxpayers and will eventually undercut their core product —education.
Under pressure from Baghdad, President Bush finally appears to be reconciling himself to the idea of a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq.
That’s an encouraging shift that should improve the U.S. image in the Arab world, boost American troop morale, and put greater pressure on Iraqis to resolve their internal differences.
By Mary Sanchez, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist
America, this Bud should have been for you.
But many of us were too busy grousing about the sale of another national icon to a foreign firm to heed the wake-up call.
By Ross Balano, Midwest Voices Columnist 2008
Further evidence of mainstream media bias in favor of Barack Obama surfaced today with news that The New York Times has rejected an editorial written by John McCain. This comes just one week after The Times printed one from Obama.
By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist
It's fascinating to watch Barack Obama change his opinions on the U.S. troop surge in Iraq. Sure, politicians flip-flop all the time. But wasn't Obama supposed to be different? Especially on such a core issue as the War in Iraq?
By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
Sorry to see Barack Obama's campaign deny a New Yorker writer up-close press credentials for the candidate's swing through the Middle East and Europe.
By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist
Johnson County Chairwoman Annabeth Surbaugh and other sales-tax supporters are threatening to cut services or raise property taxes to pay for public safety projects if the Aug. 5 election fails. Actually, those are pretty good alternatives. Here's why.
By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist
Johnson County officials want to siphon $750 million from taxpayers over the next 25 years, ostensibly for public safety needs. That's outrageous. Especially when cities will skim more than $250 million of that money.
“A nation that destroys its soil destroys itself.”
—Franklin Delano Roosevelt
We should be clear about what corn for ethanol really is—a heavily subsidized cash crop supported by a powerful lobby. It’s not a solution to high gas prices, and it will only contribute to the climate crisis while its supporters try to convince us that we’re doing something good by gassing up with it.
The re-greening of downtown Kansas City is off to an encouraging start, as we noted in The Star on Sunday. But further improvements are still needed.
One major challenge is to upgrade Grand Boulevard north of the freeway loop. Substantial progress has occurred in the last year as new trees, shrubs and other landscaping were placed at the Sprint Center and the Power & Light District.
The Red Cross blood supply is thought to be one of the safest in the world. Yet the organization’s failure to correct significant shortcomings continues to frustrate regulators.
Earlier this year, the commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration threatened Red Cross board members with criminal charges unless they met the terms of a federal court order, according to a story in The New York Times.
Denise Tiller, Midwest Voices 2008 Panelist
Sadly, it's old news that the US is lagging behind other countries in science and math. While we need more and better teachers, we need the schools to make it a priority.
Downtown Kansas City is becoming a greener place to live and work.
It’s not an urban forest — yet. But hundreds of trees have been planted downtown in the last 12 months. It’s a positive public-private effort, largely financed with Kansas City tax revenues and other funding from some businesses and the Downtown Council.
