Pointed questions: Simple questions make a better community

We’re not in the habit of commenting on letters to the editor that appear in these pages.

It’s a free-wheeling conversation. Views expressed run the whole range. And we love it. There’s generally no need for us to dive in.

But two recent letters raise ideas that merit more attention.

Fred Striley of Independence wrote recently to say the city needs, well, basically a haircut. He specifically points to Truman Road, one of the city’s entranceways. He notes the weeds and tall grass, and he specifically calls out residents, not City Hall, as needing to step up. He’s right.

As Striley points out, “Visitors come from all over the world and study some of the most fascinating history in the country.” They ought to see us at our best.

And then just the other day, on the heels of our recent series on going green, Norma Higbee of Independence pointed the hassle she had to go through to do the right thing when getting rid of a designed-to-be-obsolete TV.

In The Examiner, she’d read about a place that takes old electronics, so she hauled the TV over to Kansas City and paid – yes, paid $29.40 – to have it disposed of.

Then she asks two compelling questions: How many people are willing to do all that? Not too many, for sure. And then what about that big switch to digital TV that’s coming just after the first of the year? Lots of old TVs will be sent ... well, where? They should be properly disposed of. Many will instead probably end up in the landfill.

Maybe this is a one-time instance in which local governments, or perhaps the Mid-America Regional Council, should put together a program to get those old electronics to a safe place, not a place that further pollutes the environment.

Thumbs up to Fred Striley and Norma Higbee for asking good, tough questions and reminding us of better options.