To the editor: Having served as the principal at Pinckney Elementary from 2015 to 2019, I have watched the ongoing discussion around changing the name of Pinckney neighborhood and Pinckney Elementary. Pinckney school has such a diverse student body, both racially and economically, so on ...

To the editor: I’m sure others will point out that Kennedy Elementary School wasn’t named after the president but after longtime Lawrence educator Opal Jayne Kennedy. She was my principal at Hillcrest and also my fifth grade teacher. Almost 60 years on now, I remember a lesson about ...

To the editor: Maybe someone can explain to me why any self-respecting women or an evangelical Christian would support Donald Trump? Before becoming president he boasted about fondling and groping women because his celebrity status gave him the right! His boasts were so filthy, disgusting and ...

To the editor: When American rebels tore down the statue of King George III, they turned it into bullets, which they then aimed at British troops. Today there is great anguish over statues being knocked down around America. I do not share the anguish. I have confidence some clever ...

To the editor: The removal of statues is not the “destruction of history.” It is history. Statues are a reflection of history. They are not the keepers of it. The act of putting up and taking down monuments has always been political, purposeful and an organic part of cultural ...

To the editor: If Pinckney Elementary School is renamed, it should be for George Walker. He was a Lawrence native who grew up in the Pinckney area and presumably attended the school, then went on to become one of the biggest celebrities of the vaudeville era. A brilliant comedian, singer and ...

To the editor: Since we are discussing a new name for the school on Sixth Street, let us consider some Black American heroes. Two women, suffragists and abolitionists, come to mind: Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth. Four male heroes come to mind: Frederick Douglass, George Washington ...

To the editor: Thank heavens the Professionally Outraged Class has finally turned its attention to Pinckney Elementary School. For too long have the city’s schoolchildren been forced to lay their precious eyes upon this horrid name! But if we are now set on tearing down the symbols of the ...

To the editor: I live in the Pinckney neighborhood, where, up until a year or so ago, I would walk my dog in the field north of the hospital. However, since this area has become an unofficial campground for the homeless, I now avoid it. Besides the lack of sewage and sanitation, some of the ...

To the editor: Per Carl Burkhead’s twisted sense of morality (June 17 letter to the editor), he evidently thinks it is a good idea to have statues of persons who were representative of the evil in our past. These tokens will then serve to remind the rest of us of our own shortcomings, and ...

To the editor: It is time for a reallocation of resources by the city and county commissions to better reflect our needs and to permanently lower the number of people in jail. Three areas require attention. 1) Financial inequality is staggering. Housing, education, health care — all must ...

To the editor: Two statements in the June 11 Journal-World continue to gnaw at my conscience. The first, in an article by Mackenzie Clark with the front-page headline “Lawrence police release report on 2019 use of force inquiries” reads: “According to department policies, the review ...

To the editor: The City of Lawrence should expand the powers and composition of its Community Police Review Board to make it more effective and enhance its credibility with the public. There may be a general perception that LPD internal affairs investigations are not truly independent. ...

To the editor: After sending the letter below to our senators, which prompted thank-you notes but no change, I’m more than a little freaked out. Months of “sheltering-in-place” and following directives are about to be seriously undermined: Dear Pat and Jerry: I’m a 70-yea-old ...

To the editor: I have been a nurse at the LMH emergency room off and on since 2009, and I have worked closely with the physicians that make up Lawrence Emergency Medicine Associates. Many of the LEMA doctors have personally taken care of my own family members. I trust them and I respect them. ...

To the editor: I read with interest the letter from Gary Smith suggesting that we rename Pinckney school for Michelle Obama and her husband, Barack Obama. Apart from the obvious fact that the Obamas have had no ties to Lawrence, Mr. Smith has mistakenly thought that Pinckney School was ...

To the editor: As an ever-aging child of the 1960s, I welcome the peaceful protests going on in Lawrence and just about everywhere else. They are long overdue. I do, however, wonder how many of these good folks are registered to vote. Dave Ranney, Lawrence

To the editor: Those who think that tearing down statues related to those who were connected to slavery must not think they are breaking any statutes because they think they are people of stature or those who have not sinned themselves. Nothing could be further from the truth. Those who ...

To the editor: According to a recent article in the Journal-World, Kansas Athletics Inc. settled with former KU football coach David Beaty for $2.55 million when they owed him $3 million to settle his contract. Awhile back, the Journal-World stated in an article that Kansas Athletics had ...

To the editor: I don’t live there, but I’ve always liked the Pinckney neighborhood. It’s diverse, creative and full of Lawrence fun. Flanked by the Kaw and the hospital and Pinckney Elementary next to lovely Clinton Park, one of the coolest places in town. However, I’ve often ...