Dear editor,
This continuous sniping over the ambulance service is pathetic. Whoever is behind it if you think you’re gaining anything from it you are one petulant and delusional little popinjay!
Joplin lost one hospital, multiple schools, and a major part of its tax base with the path of destruction that was carved by that monster that went ripping through there. Since May 22 they’ve started school on time, their new hospital — a nearly $1 billion project— already has a site with ground breaking beginning in January and completion slated for 2014 with a northeast campus. If you remember C.J. Huff promised the parents of Joplin too after the storm school would start on time.
Do you realize he accomplished more in two days than a whole committee accomplished in preparation for the tax vote last November here in Allen County?
Here in Allen County we have a $30 million project and almost a year after the tax vote passed with over 60 percent approval we don’t know for sure where the hospital will be located, when the ground breaking will take place, and when it will be finished.
Down in Joplin you have a city of over 40,000 and a bedroom community, Duquesne, two counties, major reconstruction to take place in several areas, homeless to look after and nobody is fighting over who is in charge or if rebuilding is done within city limits or not.
Here in Allen County it appears we have a contest of the petulant and ignorant arguing over who is going to be in charge of an ambulance project that volunteers in Joplin settled before the winds quit blowing and the federal, state, and city government showed up. This after they promised not to talk about it for five years.
Surely, it’s time certain municipal and county officials in Allen County quit boring everybody with their sense of self-importance and lack of common sense. Surely, we’d be better off if we’d declare a moratorium on all the talk and study what Joplin, Duquesne, and Jasper and Newton counties are doing right.
Surely we can do better than we’ve been subjected to thus far!
Sincerely,
Bill LaPorte
Moran, Kan.
Dear editor,
In the majority of families with pets the pets are part of the family. Exercise and socialization are important health and happiness factors. This writing doesn’t pertain to cats. Cats have their own ideas when it comes to exercise and socialization. The tail-waggers are cause for a differing tale.
The majority of pet owners are responsible people but responsibility comes in different shades. Some people take their dogs out for a walk for exercise but don’t think to take plastic bags with them. It would help all of us if they would remember those bags for proper disposal of waste. Plus a walk on leash is only adequate for small dogs. Anything past small needs to be able to run: larger dogs for miles. And the socialization benefit isn’t available to pets on a leash.
We have three dogs, 25, 35 and 45 pounds. Their desire to play with others of their kind is almost unlimited when on neutral territory. Off leash parks work well. The amount of distance they can run to get the exercise needed varies with size and age. Two miles may satisfy the 25-pound dog but our 45-pounder would run five miles if she could.
Cities across the nation realized the need for people-parks where people could sit themselves comfortably under a shade tree and watch their dogs run and play. Some of these people have young children that love to run and play with their pets. This is among the reasons why four of seven young couples who visited with Thrive about the possibility of moving to Iola asked about the availability of a dog park. It could have something to do with hearing that two families in Garnett often make trips to Topeka, Lawrence or Overland Park to visit these parks. Why not make Iola parks a more attractive destination for visitors? Tourists look for these places.
I’ve been told that people can always take their dogs to the country and let them run. This is not a good idea. Dogs will likely come home with sand burrs, stick tights, ticks and other types of pestilence. And in the case of dogs with hunting breed backgrounds, they may put their nose to the wind and run until exhausted. Even hunters with trained dogs have this problem. Lost dogs are hard to find in the country. Some are shot, others starve to death. Families don’t want to chance this fate to their members. They deserve a solution in Iola.
When it comes to cost we should recognize that these parks are in city park land that has to be mowed with frequency dependent on usage. And the small cost for development results in a low user vs. cost factor per user. Probably higher than a soccer field, much lower than a swimming pool, but we need them all for people. Happy makes healthy.
Ray Shannon
Iola, Kan.
