Four years ago it was generally agreed that passing a clean indoor air bill in Kansas would never happen. Then year by year with much work, education, cooperation and networking among various interest groups (including foundations and the Kansas Health Policy Authority), the Kansas Senate passed a good bill last year. However, after the bill had a hearing in a House Committee, there was no further action taken.

After the legislators adjourned last year, a group of strategic, hard working and very dedicated Kansans developed a strategy to educate House members about the harm caused by second hand smoke. Their hard work paid off as last week the House passed a clean indoor air bill that will become state law on July 1st of this year. Governor Parkinson included passage of this bill as one of his top legislative priorities for 2010. Congratulations to the legislative leaders in Kansas and volunteers, organizations and citizens who worked so hard to make this action possible.

In Missouri it appears we do not have the legislative leadership to pass a strong clean indoor air bill this year. Two good clean indoor air bills have been introduced (SB 904) by Sen. Joan Bray (D) in the Senate and (HB 1766) by Rep. Walt Bivins (R) in the House. These two bills are very comparable to the clean indoor air legislation passed in Kansas and what was recently passed by the voters of Kansas City, Mo. Thanks to Senator Matt Bartle, SB 904 will be up for a vote in his committee in the next few days, but the chances of this bill being agreed to by the legislature this year seem remote.

The research is clear… clean indoor air legislation saves lives and saves health care dollars and sales at the vast majority restaurants and bars are not adversely affected in the long run. It is legislation that should be enacted in Missouri if only we can find enough courageous legislators to stand up to the money and influence of the tobacco industry. Only twelve states do not prohibit smoking in bars and restaurants—it is time for Missouri to join the rest of the country in order to improve the health outcomes of Missourians.

I have a daughter who lives in the Waldo area and we have been very disturbed about the rapes that have recently occurred in this neighborhood. To the credit of many Waldo residents and the police department, many community meetings are being held, posters of the alleged rapist are plastered all over the neighborhood, newspapers are routinely running front page articles and TV stations are leading their newscast with nightly stories about this situation. While all this attention is comforting to me as a dad, I wonder how a dad who has a child living in other parts of our community feels when he sees all this effort being paid to this somewhat rare but violent crime that has taking place in the Waldo area.

Rapes, shootings, and other violent crimes are regular occurrences in some neighborhoods in our community. Where are the front page stories and outrage for these crimes? Why are the community and police reactions to these rapes and shootings any less newsworthy in the urban core than they are in the Waldo Community? Alvin Brooks and other community leaders periodically organized vigils or prayer services to honor these victims and attempt to ask the community for help in finding those who are responsible, but where is everyone else?

The constant attention and community support that is taking place in the Waldo neighborhood is a model that should be used in other parts of the city when a violent action takes place. It is not enough to simply report the tragedy that someone was raped or killed. The real story is how the community is responding to this terrible crime and keeping community attention focused on preventing further attacks and bringing the people responsible for the crime to justice. The attention and support being given to the Waldo neighborhoods should be replicated routinely in other parts of our city.