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THE KANSAS CITY STAR.
MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012
WWW.KANSASCITY.COM
Holiday helping hand Peter Dunn (left) of Prairie Village and Josh Cathon loaded up Dunn’s purchase from Boy Scout Troop 199’s Christmas tree lot at St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church in Mission on Sunday afternoon.
Local
KEITH MYERS | THE KANSAS CITY STAR
TRANSPORTATION | New highway under study in Johnson County
OUTER LOOP PLAN RESURFACES By BRAD COOPER The Kansas City Star
T
alk is heating up again about the need for an outer loop highway on the outskirts of Johnson County. It has been 17 years since Johnson County killed plans for the 21st Century Parkway, a 36-mile loop that would have cut a path linking southeastern to western Johnson County. But as population continues to push outward into the rural areas of the county, policy-
makers are renewing talk about the need for a loop road outside Interstate 435. The topic has reached the highest levels of state government, with Republican Gov. Sam Brownback saying last week he would like to see more serious discussion of such a road. He said a loop — running from Interstate 70 near Tonganoxie to down near Gardner and then eastward toward Missouri — would help deal with mushrooming population as well as the BNSF intermodal shipping hub being built in Edgerton. While the idea of an outer loop has been kicked around in the past, Brownback said, the issue needs more atten-
A young crusader against hunger
tion with the arrival of the BNSF freight yard, which is expected to produce more traffic. “The thing that changes now is this intermodal facility,” Brownback said. The outer loop is being examined as part of a state study on the changing transportation demands in Johnson, Wyandotte, Miami, Douglas and Leavenworth counties. The study is expected to be done early next year. The Johnson County Commission last week sent a letter to the state highway department stressing that any alignment should use as much existing right of way as possible SEE LOOP | A5
INTERSTATE OUTER LOOP CORRIDOR WYANDOTTE
LEAVENWORTH
435 71
35
7 10
CO M M E N TA RY
435
JOHNSON
A
69
56
71
DOUGLAS 35
7
MIAMI
Proposed outer loop THE KANSAS CITY STAR
HOME SWEET HOME
With a PB&J birthday party and school food drive, teen is dedicated to feeding others. By LAURA BAUER The Kansas City Star
When Lauren Gramlich turned 16 last year, she didn’t ask for jewelry or cash or gift cards. She wanted peanut butter. And jelly. Lots of jars of both. By the end of her party, she had quite a haul — 185 jars of the favorite staples of many kids. She donated all of it to City Union Mission in Kansas City to help provide sandwiches for people at the homeless shelter. Again this year, the junior at Olathe East High School wanted to help feed people. So on National Wear Orange Day, a day in September set to raise awareness of hunger, she sponsored a canned food drive at her school. In the end, she and her classmates donated 608 pounds of food for Harvesters. “It touches me in the heart that I’m helping people,” said Lauren, who turns 17 next week. Advocates for the hungry say more young people are becoming aware of how some children often don’t have enough food at home. Because of that, they offer to volunteer at Harvesters and help with food drives. Lauren learned about hunger through school activities. Through Camp ABLE, Assets to Build Leaders and Entrepreneurs, she visited elementary schools and met children from different backgrounds. Through Youth Congress, she learned about homelessness and poverty. It’s why Lauren, who plans to be a teacher, wants to do what she can. “I think it will always probably be there,” she said of childhood hunger. “It’s not going to end, but you can always help with it.” To reach Laura Bauer, call 816-234-4944 or send email to lbauer@kcstar.com.
HOW TO HELP For the third year, The Star is partnering with Harvesters to host a virtual food drive. All money raised will go to Harvesters’ BackSnack program for kids. Go to feedingkckids.harvesters.org to make a donation. If you’d like, you can designate your donation in the honor or memory of a family member or friend. The Star will publish the dedications on Christmas Day.
KEITH MYERS | THE KANSAS CITY STAR
Rebekah Jenks, 7, only had eyes for the Christmas creation she and her mother, Cate Jenks of Prairie Village, were building Sunday at the Gingerbread House Decorating Party at Brighton Gardens, 7105 Mission Road. Proceeds of the party, sponsored by the Prairie Village Municipal Foundation, help fund summer youth activity scholarships for the city’s children.
SHORT TAKE
UNDERGROUND, BUT ON THE MOVE
This contest will skip the primary
MISSOURI |
There will be no repeat of the big-dollar, negative primary that marked Missouri’s Republican Senate contest when GOP leaders meet next year to select a replacement candidate for retiring U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson. That’s because there will be no primary election at all — no chance for rank-and-file Republicans or Democrats to cast their votes. Nominees will be selected by committees of party officials from southeast Missouri. Only then will one Republican and one Democratic candidate be submitted to voters in a special election. Political scientists say the process will select candidates favored by party insiders, instead of an anti-establishment candidate such as Rep. Todd Akin, who won a Senate primary in August. | The Associated Press
MARY SANCHEZ
70
State line
New freight hub and a growing population spark renewed interest in a connector roadway.
SENATE FAILED DOLE
KEITH MYERS | THE KANSAS CITY STAR
In the underground space of Meritex Lenexa Executive Park, runners, joggers and walkers took part in the 24th annual Jingle Bell Run/Walk on Sunday. About 1,500 participated in the 5K benefit for the Arthritis Foundation. Visit KansasCity.com for a photo gallery.
nyone who meets former Sen. Bob Dole quickly gains an understanding of his war injury. Through decades of public service he became adept at offering his left hand first when greeting people, a grip that came across as gracious, not awkward. He doesn’t shake with his right hand because his right arm was severely injured in World War II by German machine gun fire. Dole was awarded two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star. So when this 89-year-old war hero, the former majority leader, appeared last week before the U.S. Senate, you might assume that he was greeted warmly. To his face, he was. But after his wife, Elizabeth Dole, rolled his wheelchair out of view, a cowardly display of what passes for politics today took over. Dole appeared in support of a United Nations treaty asking the world to follow the U.S. lead in how it treats people with disabilities. After Dole was out of earshot, all but a handful of Republican senators voted it down, 61-38. Two-thirds support was needed for passage. The treaty was modeled after American law, the Americans With Disabilities Act, which Dole helped enact in 1990. Yet some of the senators voting against the treaty tried to make the case that it would undermine American sovereignty. The U.S. law is the model, the lead, the way things already are in America. The treaty was asking for other nations to catch up to our lofty example. Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas voted no. It was a still unexplained flip-flop, as Moran had once supported the measure. Senators Pat Roberts of Kansas and Roy Blunt of Missouri also voted against it. Here is one of the convoluted ways some opposing senators justified their vote: They claimed home-schooling would be undermined. The fear is that U.N. goons would force American children with disabilities into public schools. The treaty has already been ratified by 126 other countries around the world, other countries that think the U.S. has the right idea when it comes to how the disabled should be treated. The striking image from this episode of political paranoia was the frail Dole, in a wheelchair, his disability compounded by aging. One reason for his appearance was to emphasize how the Americans With Disabilities Act aids injured soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The senators voting no managed to let their fear make two strikes. They undercut America as a global leader of human rights. And they disrespected Dole as an American war hero.
To reach Mary Sanchez, call 816-234-4752 or send email to msanchez@kcstar.com.
FOR PHOTO ALBUMS OF EVENTS ACROSS KANSAS CITY, SEE COMMUNITY FACES AT WWW.KANSASCITY.COM