Opinion
Lawrence Journal-World l LJWorld.com l Sunday, February 12, 2017
EDITORIALS
Energy plan a smart move The city’s investment in energy efficiency is money well spent.
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he Lawrence City Commission was right to invest in increasing the energy efficiency of city buildings. Commissioners voted Tuesday to approve $11.3 million in energy-efficient improvements to lighting, heating and cooling systems, and other city equipment. The project is part of the state’s Facilities Conservation Improvement Program, which the city joined in December 2015. Eileen Horn, sustainability coordinator for Lawrence and Douglas County, said FCIP reviewed the energy savings estimates. The financing of the improvements was attractive to commissioners. The projects will be funded by “green bonds,” which will be paid back over 22 years with the savings generated by the efficiency improvements. The general contractor for the project is Lawrence-based 360 Energy Engineers. The firm completed an energy audit of all city facilities and has guaranteed the energy savings as part of a performance contract with the city. Horn said a legal team reviewed the performance contract with 360 Energy Engineers. The improvements include 30 projects, affecting all 50 of the facilities operated by the city. Projects begin in March and include: l Energy and indoor air quality improvements at the Indoor Aquatic Center: about $1.7 million l LED lights and updated controls for all city buildings: about $1.4 million. l Updated lighting for sports fields operated by the Parks and Recreation Department: about $1.3 million. l And upgrades, additions and optimization of heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems for all city buildings: about $1.1 million “It’s going to yield some really visible and exciting energy saving projects for the city,” Horn said. “And we’re going to get to do them all at once, which we never get to do.” It is the first time that green bonds will be used to fund a Kansas project. Ongoing efficiency improvements to county facilities have already reduced energy costs by 30 percent or more at several county buildings including the Douglas County Courthouse, Law Enforcement Center, United Way Building and Douglas County Extension Office. It’s always smart to invest taxpayer dollars in efficiency improvements that produce a tangible return on that investment. The energy-efficiency improvements approved by the city fall into that category, and the creative financing program being used benefits taxpayers as well. A smart move by commissioners that will pay off for years to come.
OLD HOME TOWN
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From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Feb. 12, 1917: l “Police Judge Finch took years up the items that awaited him ago at the city hall this morning in IN 1917 groups of four. First there were four Lawrence men who were charged with playing poker; next four speeders; and finally four quarts of red liquor that were taken from Theodore Hamilton who came up from Kansas City on the interurban yesterday. The defense of the four men charged with gambling is that they were only playing casino.” — Reprinted with permission from local writer Sarah St. John. To see more, go online to www.facebook.com/DailyLawrenceHistory.
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What the Lawrence Journal-World stands for Accurate and fair news reporting. No mixing of editorial opinion with reporting of the news. l Safeguarding the rights of all citizens regardless of race, creed or economic stature. l Sympathy and understanding for all who are disadvantaged or oppressed. l Exposure of any dishonesty in public affairs. l Support of projects that make our community a better place to live. l l
White terrorism vs. Muslim terrorism White terrorism is not as bad as Muslim terrorism. That, believe it or not, was the crux of an argument Sean Duffy, a Republican representative from Wisconsin, made last week on CNN. What follows has been condensed for space, but it unfolded like this: Asked by anchor Alisyn Camerota about the Trump regime’s failure to condemn a recent massacre in which six Muslims were killed by a white extremist in Quebec, Duffy allowed that, “Murder on both sides is wrong,” but insisted, “There is a difference.” That difference, as he sees it: There’s no white extremist ISIS or al-Qaida fomenting terrorism. What happened in Canada, he said, “was a one-off.” And the Oklahoma City bombing? “So, you’ve given me two examples,” said Duffy. And the Charleston church massacre? “Look at the good things that came from it. [ThenSouth Carolina Gov.] Nikki Haley took down the Confederate flag. That was great. But ... there’s no constant thread that goes through these attacks.” Of course there is. “Domestic right-wing terrorist groups often adhere
Joan Insco, Circulation Manager Allie Sebelius, Marketing Director
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lpitts@miamiherald.com
This double standard reflects not simply America’s xenophobia, but also America’s maddening insistence upon the blamelessness, the fundamental innocence, of whiteness, even when the evidence screams otherwise.” to the principles of racial supremacy and embrace antigovernment, antiregulatory beliefs.” So said Dale L. Watson, then the executive assistant director of the Counterterrorism/Counterintelligence Division of the FBI, in Senate testimony way back in 2002. Duffy is wrong about pretty much everything else, too. No white extremist groups fomenting terror?
others that seems to apply only to swarthy individuals with difficult names. When white people do it, it is less likely to be perceived — or reported by news media — as terrorism. This double standard reflects not simply America’s xenophobia, but also America’s maddening insistence upon the blamelessness, the fundamental innocence, of whiteness, even when the evidence screams otherwise. “Look at the good things that came from,” the Charleston church massacre, chirps Duffy, as if lowering that odious flag somehow — what? — balances things out? Imagine how offensive that must be to anyone who lost someone in that church. The lengths to which some will go to protect the fiction of innocence are staggering. White terrorism is not as bad as Muslim terrorism? Well, because of white terrorism, Emily Lyons lost an eye. Abdelkrim Hassane’s three young children lost their father. And Cynthia Wesley, age 14, had her head torn off. So they might beg to differ. — Leonard Pitts Jr., winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for commentary, is a columnist for the Miami Herald.
Dual purpose To the editor: In the Feb.7 edition there were two stories that I feel should become one. The first article was that the city was to buy the Santa Fe depot, which would have to remain a depot with a lobby area for Amtrak travelers’ use. The other was about the city and Greyhound looking for a new bus stop area. Why cannot the Santa Fe depot serve a dual purpose to serve as a depot for both? This would be an off-road site as easy, if not easier, than just a right of way downtown. Tony Hickman, Eudora
Lying Trump supports a racket Washington — The technique has been called (by this columnist) “immunity through profusion.” By keeping the molten lava of falsehoods flowing, the volcano that is Donald Trump can inundate the public and overwhelm his auditors’ capacity to produce a comparable flow of corrections. This technique was on display the other day when the president met with some sheriffs. He treated them to a whopper that is one of his hardy perennials, markettested during the campaign: He said the U.S. murder rate is “the highest it’s been in 47 years.” (Not even close: The rate — killings per 100,000? residents — is far below the rates in the 1970s and 1980s.) This Trump Truth (Sen. Eugene McCarthy’s axiom: Anything said three times in Washington becomes a fact) distracted attention from his assertion to the sheriffs that there is “no reason” to reform law enforcement’s civil forfeiture practices. There is no reason for the sheriffs to want to reform a racket that lines their pockets. For the rest of us, strengthening the rule of law and eliminating moral hazard are each sufficient reasons. Civil forfeiture is the
George Will
georgewill@washpost.com
power to seize property suspected of being produced by, or involved in, crime. If property is suspected of being involved in criminal activity, law enforcement can seize it. Once seized, the property’s owners bear the burden of proving that they were not involved in such activity, which can be a costly and protracted procedure. So, civil forfeiture proceeds on the guilty-until-proven-innocent principle. Civil forfeiture forces property owners, often people of modest means, to hire lawyers and do battle against a government with unlimited resources. And here is why the sheriffs probably purred contentedly when Trump endorsed civil forfeiture law — if something so devoid of due process can be dignified as law: Predatory law enforcement agencies can pocket the proceeds from
the sale of property they seize. The Constitution’s Fifth Amendment says property shall not be taken without just compensation, and the 14th Amendment says it shall not be taken without due process of law. President Trump, 18 days from having sworn to “preserve, protect and defend” the Constitution, sympathized with the sheriffs’ complaint that they are being pressured to reform civil forfeiture practices. These practices are a textbook example of moral hazard — of an incentive for perverse behavior. They give law enforcement a financial interest in the outcome of cases. It is conceivable that Trump’s studiousness has been stretched too thin to encompass the facts of civil asset forfeiture. He says he would like to “look into” it. Meanwhile, however, he is for it because he assumes “bad people” are behind the pressure for reform. And speaking of a Texas state legislator who favors reform, Trump said, “We’ll destroy his career.” Just another day on America’s steep ascending path back to greatness.
Muslim neighbors To the editor: I’d like to send a big thank you to the Islamic Center of Lawrence and the other groups who made the Feb. 4 event in South Park a success. We can only hope that Lawrence makes our Muslim neighbors feel as welcome as they made us feel. Kudos to everyone who contributed and to everyone who attended. Lynne Bodle, Lawrence
Letters to the editor l Letters should be 250 words or fewer. l Letters should avoid name-calling and be free of libelous language. l All letters must be signed. l Letters can be submitted via mail to P.O. Box 888, Lawrence KS 66044 or via email at letters@ ljworld.com.
— George Will is a columnist for Washington Post Writers Group.
TODAY IN HISTORY
Chad Lawhorn, Editor Kathleen Johnson, Advertising Manager
Leonard Pitts Jr.
What do you call the Aryan Nations and the Ku Klux Klan? The Southern Poverty Law Center has tied one group, Stormfront, to acts of murder and terror that have killed nearly 100 people. As for Duffy’s belief that white extremist terror is somehow rare, well, the 1996 bombing of the Atlanta Olympics, the 1999 attack on a Jewish community center near Los Angeles, the 2000 killing of five people in greater Pittsburgh to protest “non-white immigration,” the 2009 murders of three Pittsburgh police officers to oppose a supposed national gun ban, the 2012 murder of six people at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wis., and the 2015 killing of three at a Planned Parenthood office in Colorado Springs, (to name a few), argue otherwise. Go further back and there is the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham that killed four little girls. Go beyond these shores and there is the 2011 attack in Norway in which 77 people died. Terrorism is defined as the unlawful use of violence to coerce or intimidate a government or a people in furtherance of some social or political cause. But for Rep. Duffy and
PUBLIC FORUM
Scott Stanford, Publisher Kim Callahan, Managing Editor
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On Feb. 12, 1809, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was born in a log cabin in Hardin (now LaRue) County, Kentucky. l In 1554, Lady Jane Grey,
who had claimed the throne of England for nine days, and her husband, Guildford Dudley, were beheaded after being condemned for high treason.
l In 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was founded. l In 1914, groundbreaking took place for the Lincoln
Memorial in Washington, D.C. l In 1999, the Senate voted to acquit President Bill Clinton of perjury and obstruction of justice.