

This week, our inbox for Letters to the Editor has been positively overflowing – well, overflowing for us at least! We’ve received two impassioned submissions from local residents, tackling very different issues.
First up, a concerned citizen from Wood Heights sounds the alarm about a pack of dogs that he claims is terrorizing the neighborhood. Then, a local resident offers a contrasting viewpoint on the discussions surrounding LGBTQ+ pride celebrations.
Read on to see what your neighbors have to say!
When dangerous dogs are on the loose, should you take the law into your own hands?
Imagine waking up one day with a stray kitten who wouldn’t leave your side. A kitten who needed your affection as much as you needed his. Brandi Stephens had this experience with a black cat named Velcro. She named him so because he was constantly attached to her. On her lap, on her shoulder like a parrot, on her feet if she was standing. When there was pain in her soul, like when she lost her first husband, Willie, he was there to comfort her. Today, however, Velcro is gone. Velcro was taken from us.
Velcro was an indoor cat that enjoyed the fresh air outside in the evenings. He would regularly perch up on the porch or hang out under our car. He never strayed away from the property. Once, he went missing for a few days and it was discovered a volunteer in the area picked him up thinking he was a stray and went to have him fixed. But he was already fixed and vaccinated so he was returned quickly. But on June 5, it was something different. He wasn’t coming home.
We couldn’t figure out where he was. He didn’t come running into the house as he did every morning. We thought maybe he was hunting mice again since the season is changing. But as days came and went, we began to dread what could have happened more and more.
Unable to sleep Sunday night, Brandi started reviewing surveillance video taken at our house. She wanted to know if he was returning, and we just weren’t home. Then, about 1am Monday morning, she got to the video taken at 2:17am on Wednesday, June 5, 2024. Tears began to run down her face. She showed me the video and I began to shed tears as well.
Three dogs came to our house, and like a pack of wolves hunting, they formed a triangle around our car and cornered Velcro who was resting under the SUV. Unable to escape, he was snatched by one of the dogs and they ran off. He was never seen again.
Brandi composed herself and immediately posted screenshots on social media asking for the public’s help finding these animals. Almost instantly, even in the middle of a work night, people started commenting and messaging her about the dogs. These dogs are well known for being aggressive, dangerous and violent.
Pet owners messaged Brandi explaining their dogs, cats and chickens were mauled and killed by these dogs. Others reported to her that their children, and even themselves were attacked and bitten by these bloodthirsty animals. Two things were in common with everyone’s story: These animals were terrorists and no one with authority cares to do anything about it.
It has been reported to us by multiple people that these animals belong to the home located at ——– Rose Lane, Excelsior Springs, Ray County. ——————— is the owner of these animals, but it appears she left and left the animals to her son who still resides at the residence. This is the same area where an Amazon delivery driver was suspected of being killed by dogs over a year ago. Police have been called out to the house multiple times about these animals and nothing is done. There is no animal control in Ray County, and no one wants to be responsible to handle the situation.
We live within the city limits of Wood Heights and we both immediately reached out to the Wood Heights police officer and the city clerk to advise them and ask for assistance. In summary, the police officer said he would attempt to contact the owner but cannot do anything about the dogs. He will also talk to the prosecutor, but it is complicated as the dogs live outside of city limits. Brandi contacted the Ray County Sheriff’s office and was told they would get back to her; they never did. She went to Excelsior Springs animal control who advised her of the next steps but couldn’t help. But all reactions are the same – you can kill them if they return.
These dogs are posing a risk to life to not just animals but humans. We have family that lives between us and the offender’s house. This family has small children, what if the dogs hunt my 5-year-old nephew? These animals need to be taken care of before simple animal neglect turns into involuntary manslaughter. I would argue a jury can find them guilty of voluntary manslaughter if not third-degree murder as they know what their dogs are doing and are not stopping it. In fact, people around the house reported they let the dogs out to roam every night! So, it appears the owners are not only aware their dogs are out causing harm but encouraging it!
We find it unfortunate that we need to become an investigator, collecting others’ horror stories and evidence to give to law enforcement to pass on to the prosecutor. We also need to become the prosecutor by making the case for them to bring them to justice. And finally, at the expressed guidance of all involved, we need to be the executioners for these animals. How does that make sense? Aren’t tax dollars used to fund these offices that are supposed to protect us and our property? This incident might seem small or petty, but we are being told to be our own police force, our own judicial system! So, if someone steals my car, do I skip calling for help and just find them myself? If we must do the job ourselves, why are we paying taxes to fund these offices?
On behalf of the dozens of residents in the Wood Heights area that have had pets murdered by these dogs, on behalf of the residents who are afraid to walk their neighborhood or even get out of their car due to these dogs, and on behalf of the pets and children yet to be killed by these bloodthirsty dogs, I call on the Ray County Sheriff’s office to take hold of the evidence and witness accounts, and dispatch these dogs immediately.
I call on the Ray County Prosecutor’s office to file criminal charges. And I call on the affected residents to join us in filing a suit against the owners for everyone’s losses. No amount of money will return our beloved pets, but maybe suing them into submission will prevent them from getting more dogs that they clearly cannot take care of.
If the owners do not want to dispatch their dogs, I can gather peers that can do it for them and I will promise the owners, we will dispatch your dogs more humanely and more dignified, than how your dogs killed other pets and how they killed Velcro.
Signed,
David Stephens
Wood Heights
*Note that we removed the specific address and name of the accused neighbor because we could not verify the validity of these claims with local law enforcement at the time of publication.
Excelsior’s got Pride? No, Thank God!
On June 10th, 2024, Jessica Cornish wrote an editorial on Excelsior Citizen entitled “Excelsior’s got Pride?”, in which she bewailed the fact that the answer is clearly “no” based on the following admission in her article.
“The community was asked for its LGBTQ+ members to speak with the Citizen about their experiences in town, and no one replied. When June first came and went, there was not a single post on social media from an Excelsior owned business celebrating Pride Month.”
As a citizen of Excelsior Springs who loves this town, I was disappointed that Ms. Cornish would assume that people in our community were wondering, “Where can I celebrate Pride in Excelsior?” and “What businesses are LGBTQ+ friendly?” But at the same time, I was thankful to God that “there was not a single post on social media from an Excelsior owned business celebrating Pride Month.”
Anyone familiar with Biblical history knows that the LGBTQ lifestyle is not to be rejoiced in, but rather repented of. It is commonly known that God destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for their “LGBTQ lifestyle,” i.e. their sin of sodomy.
But sodomy was not Sodom’s only sin for which it was judged. When the Lord recounted the sins of Sodom, the first on the list was PRIDE.
Eze 16:49 – Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
Pride is “the quality of being proud; a high or overweening opinion of one’s own qualities, attainments, or estate, which gives rise to a feeling and attitude of superiority over and contempt for others; inordinate self-esteem.”
Pride is always spoken of as evil in the Bible and never as good. A community full of pride is one that is headed for destruction, for the scripture says, “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall” (Pro 16:18).
Thank God that Excelsior Springs has not gone the way of Sodom and become full of pride, for the end of that path is destruction.
For those on that path to destruction, there is hope of pardon through the saving grace of Jesus Christ (1Co 6:9-11).
Chad Wagner
Excelsior Springs
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That’s a good point, Chad Wagner. If an individual or a society becomes proud and self-centered, it is a sure way to lose everything one ever had to be proud of in the first place. Unfortunately, our country is all about American pride, and no longer focuses on serving others as well as ourselves.
Thank you, Justin.
Great post about pride Chad Wagner, we would all do well to heed the warning in the Bible and consider what the Lord did to those cities when the people were overcome with pride, among other things. Lord give us grace to be humble.
Thank you, Isaac.
Mr. Spear,
It certainly feels as if the world has gone to the dogs. Wood Heights and even Excelsior Springs are both woefully lenient on dangerous and loose dogs. In town, we had a neighbor dog attack our cat while she was on the front porch with my son (a few inches from the front door, on our property, not being let loose without supervision). While we reported it, and the dog was declared dangerous, the neighbors continued to let it out, so it was consistently in our yard, captured by ring cameras. The police department (AC was closed when I called) stood by with a general rule that they weren’t going to do anything other than give warnings to the owner unless the dog was physically in my possession when they arrived. AC also only gave warnings. I know several other people in that neighborhood had messaged me about also experiencing issues with that dog on the loose, everything from acting aggressively towards them and their own dogs while they were on walks to the dog rushing into their house and cars when they opened their door. A loose dog is an issue, but certainly a dog that has attacked in the past should be a priority and taken in, and not just be given unlimited warnings. Luckily, I moved from that area, so I evaded the offending dog and do not know what became of it.
In Wood Heights, our neighbors dog would not leave our property nearly 24/7 for weeks, howling and barking and being a major nuisance at all hours of the day and night. I left a note for the owners to keep their dog contained. They did not even remotely attempt to. I called the city and they sent out a truck with two dudes and a dog of their own. The guys they sent saw the offending dog in my yard when they arrived. They knew who the owners were. I was advised my only real option was to shoot the dog with a BB gun to deter it from returning or to physically capture, leash, and transport the dog to AC in Excelsior or Ray County and take it in as a stray that I found “in town”.
I’m not sure when it became the responsibility of citizens to put ourselves in potential danger by capturing unknown dogs and potentially putting them in our own vehicle to transport them, but I long for the days when AC drove their white van around and picked up roaming dogs off the streets and took dangerous dogs more seriously. I used to see that old van all over town. Maybe we’d have fewer of the now constant posts on Citizen about roaming and lost dogs if people had to go to the pound and pay a few hundred to get their pets back. Certainly we would have fewer attacks on cats (and dogs, and chickens) sitting in their own yards. We’d have fewer attacks on people, including children. But as I said, the world has gone to the dogs. Any comment section on Facebook is sure to be full of people defending dogs, even dangerous dogs (and blaming cats or children for daring to exist in their own yard) to prove that.
Mr. Stephens, not Mr. Spear, my apologies
Thank you Chad Wagner. Wonderful post. Having pride is not a God like quality at all. We need to humble ourselves.
Thank you, Jennifer. I totally agree. “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” (James 4:10)
Christianity without love is worth less than nothing.
I agree. But celebrating and condoning sodomy and pride is not love. Love rejoices in the truth, not in iniquity.
Charity (love) “Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;” (1Co 13:6).
Love is keeping God’s commandments. Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” (Joh 14:15).
We show people we love them by keeping God’s commandments.
1Jn 5:2 – By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
1Jn 5:3 – For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
God’s word forbids sodomy and pride, and therefore to love God and others, we must abstain from those sins and rebuke them.
Lev 18:22 – Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
Rom 1:26 – For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
Rom 1:27 – And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
Pro 8:13 – The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.
It is an act of love to correct someone who is sinning against God’s commandments, and it is an act of hatred to not correct someone when he sins against God’s commandments.
Jas 5:19 – Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;
Jas 5:20 – Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.
Lev 19:17 – Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.
It might not be your truth, but it is theirs. Who do you think you are telling people that? Do you really think that you are holier than thou? All those Bible verses don’t mean anything whenever you back it up with the kind of behavior and comments that you are making.
Chad, great post about pride and local business not acknowledging the LGBTQ+ agenda. The understanding of who we are, where we come from, and what makes right and wrong came from the inspired preserved writings of God. “Sodomy Laws.” It was illegal in the U.S. to be a sodomite (now people call ’em homosexuals); hence SODOMY laws, which I am sure you are well aware of. Informative and clear response to Jessica Cornish’s article.
Thanks, Bill.
I agree with Mr. Wagner’s letter to the editor and would like to add that though Miss Cornish does not see a lot of people coming forward to support the LGBTQ lifestyle does not mean that they should feel unsafe coming into stores that don’t have their flag in the window, or around people that are not wholeheartedly out there pushing their agenda.
There are possibly three different kinds of people in Excelsior Springs.
1) Those who don’t care. (You can feel safe around them because of their apathy)
2) Those who are for your lifestyle–vocal and nonvocal. Obviously either delineation is non-threatening.
3) Those who are against your lifestyle.
I would like to examine this third group and see if they really are a threat. As a christian, I cannot support your lifestyle because of the reasons Mr. Wagner has listed in his letter. But as a christian, I try to follow the golden rule: “And as ye would that men should do unto you, do ye also to them likewise.” (Luke 6:31) So I may not fly your flag in my window, but if you come into my store you will be treated fairly and decently.
I have visited Excelsior Springs several times, and observed a general welcoming atmosphere to all people groups, so I don’t think that there is any need to sound the alarm just because people aren’t chomping at the bit to celebrate pride month.
In keeping with the golden rule, I would like to respectfully ask Miss Cornish and other members of the LGBTQ lifestyle to consider what they are asking of me as a christian. You are saying that in order to feel safe and accepted, I not only have to deny what my God says is a sin, but promote it. You are asking me to take what is a treasured symbol of christianity (the rainbow, signifying that God would never again destroy the earth by a flood Gen. 9:11-15), change it into a license for sin, and stick it in my store window so that you can feel safe. I don’t go around making people stick crosses in their window or signs that say “I love Jesus” so that I can feel safe coming into their stores, and neither should you do this with your borrowed symbol of God’s mercy.
Amen, Jill. I wholeheartedly agree with your sentiments.
THANK YOU Jill B
Agreed!
I agree with Kevin.
We agree with Chad Wagner’s letter. It is a blessing to live and work in a small town that hasn’t promoted modern agendas like many cities have. Additionally, small town business owners are simply trying to make a living–working hard to provide goods or services which anyone in the community might want or need. It isn’t fair to expect them to speak out on causes.
Thank you, Judy.
Chad- your views are worrisome and heartbreaking. I hope you find room in your heart to love and accept everybody. Even if you don’t choose to live the lifestyle that they do. I’m sorry, but these comments on here that single out the gate and lesbian commune are disgusting. Very disappointing. Just so everybody knows not all Excelsior feels the same way as Chad and his “ followers “
You guys want to call yourself Christian, but this is the most non-Christian shit. I have seen in a long time.. No wonder why nobody wants to move here!
Chad- your views are worrisome and heartbreaking. I hope you find room in your heart to love and accept everybody. Even if you don’t choose to live the lifestyle that they do. I’m sorry, but these comments on here that singling out the gay and lesbian community are disgusting. Very disappointing. In humanity .. in your humanity .. Just so everybody knows not all Excelsior feels the same way as Chad and his “ followers “
You guys want to call yourself Christian, but this is the most non-Christian shit. I have seen in a long time..
Hi Mr. Wanger…that is certainly many words to just say, “I’m Chad and I’m a homophobic bigot’.
I want to thank Chud Wagner for demonstrating how alive and well hate and bigotry still are.
It always amazes me how the religion purported to be about love, forgiveness, and tolerance of one’s fellow man can be distorted and selectively cherry-picked to justify the hate and contempt that some feel towards those different from themselves.
Of course our illustrious “messenger of god” did not use the verse Leviticus 20:13 (KJV-If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.)…so Chud, for when is the stoning party scheduled?
Now, it seems to me that when one chooses to profile another person or party, that it is incumbent upon them to accurately define terms in the same manner that most reasonable people would do rather than using an archaic, bronze-age Judaic definition.
From Chud: Pride is “the quality of being proud; a high or overweening opinion of one’s own qualities, attainments, or estate, which gives rise to a feeling and attitude of superiority over and contempt for others; inordinate self-esteem.”
From Merriam-Webster:
pride:
“pleasure that comes from some relationship, association, achievement, or possession that is seen as a source of honor, respect, etc.”
My mother, a devout Christian, taught me about “false pride”, but she also taught me about justified, empathetic, caring pride such as that one feels for their children or toward the accomplishments and humanitarian achievements of others. Perhaps it would behoove the confused to…oh I don’t know…maybe talk with someone in the LGBT community and ask them how THEY define pride before spewing vitriol.
Personally, I want everyone to experience the pride I feel for the accomplishments of my grandchildren now in college, or the tireless efforts of my best friend’s wife to make Excelsior Springs a better place, or the fact that my country has made significant strides in reducing racial disparities through meaningful legislation. When I was a kid I sat upstairs in the Beyer theatre with my friends I lived by, some of who were African American, and I did not know until years later that they were required to sit upstairs due to their “race”. Finding this out was a painful realization, as were the stories about Tate Chiles deciding to sell our beloved Lake Maurer because of the passage of the Civil Rights Act. (many years later when I confronted Mr. Chiles about this he obliquely indicated it was out of fear of what would happen if he allowed Black children to swim with White kids) I am proud of the progress we have made since that time, but clearly we have more work to do. Now, the focus has shifted to another marginalized group who will also have to drag some in our society, kicking and screaming and spouting bible verses, into the civilized world.
Notwithstanding the obvious projections concerning sodomy, It would seem to be an act of basic respect to first enter some sort of dialog or at least a fair hearing with those with whom you disagree before asserting their beliefs, motivations and behaviours to be what you have decided they are, and subsequently demonizing them with whatever justification you find acceptable. (See straw man fallacy) (This is how I was able to let go of my many years of animosity I felt towards Mr. Chiles after I confronted him directly, and, actually came away feeling sympathy for him)
We know from myriad examples what the outcomes of such backward-thinking anachronistic approaches to sociological questions can render.
Contrary to what many believe, it is apparent that often human civilizations have progressed and thrived IN SPITE OF religion, not because of it. If it had been left up to religion, genetic lineages would still be viewed as a result of the exposure to “colored sticks” rather than the science of DNA which has been exhaustively demonstrated.
Instead of antibiotics we would have incense and incantations.
Now this all came out of Ms. Cornish’s very passive comments regarding the lack of response by businesses, which was wildly mischaracterized by the self-righteous Chud:
On June 10th, 2024, Jessica Cornish wrote an editorial on Excelsior Citizen entitled “Excelsior’s got Pride?”, in which she bewailed the fact that the answer is clearly “no” based on the following admission in her article.
Bewailed??
verb
past tense: bewailed; past participle: bewailed
express great regret, disappointment, or bitterness over (something).
No Chud, you got it wrong again.
She did in fact put a positive face on the reality that many merchants are afraid to be subjected to the hateful rhetoric and vitriol that some seem to think is appropriate.
Ms. Cornish:
“The conversation ended on a warm note with two users local to Excelsior stating they were allies and “here if anyone needs a friend.” ”
Despite my age, I do not believe that “wrinkles are wisdom”. However, from my point of view, the many great strides we as a species have made have been greatly facilitated by our understandings of tolerance, acceptance, collectivism, empathy, forgiveness, and humility. We figured out a long long time ago that our consideration for the well-being of others was a requirement for the betterment of human kind.
So in that context, I wish for those who cannot currently see their way to at least attempt to expand their awareness, you might consider Mathew 25:40.
Reading this chain of posts, I’m finding more hatred in the words of the “loving Christians” than in the words of “Chud, the self-righteous, hating, homophobic bigot”. I struggle to spot anything hating or hypocritical (or anything at all mentioning race or being a racist) in Mr. Wagner’s simple statement of God’s opinion on the LGBTQ+ community.
Mr. McAtee stated his pride for the progress humanity has made since racism, then said: “…clearly we have more work to do. Now, the focus has shifted to another marginalized group who will also have to drag some in our society, kicking and screaming and spouting bible verses, into the civilized world.”
If those “kicking and screaming and spouting” are those that stand for God, should we really “have more work to do?”
Perhaps Mr. McAtee misunderstood Mr. Wagner when he called him someone “spewing vitriol.”
The Merriam-Webster definition of “vitriol” is: bitterly harsh or caustic language or criticism. Yet it is clear that Mr. McAtee’s words are much more “bitterly harsh” than those of Mr. Wagner.
Are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning people truly a “humanitarian achievement”?
LGBTQ+ young people are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide than their peers (Johns et al., 2019; Johns et al., 2020). More than 1.8 million LGBTQ+ young people (ages 13-24) seriously consider suicide each year in the U.S. — and at least one attempts suicide every 45 seconds.
Are Mr. Wagner’s words (‘For those on that path to destruction, there is hope of pardon through the saving grace of Jesus Christ (1Co 6:9-11).’, for example) really non-Christian s**t?
He is not condemning all of the LGBTQ+ community to hell. He is simply pointing out that, instead of encouraging them in something God clearly disagrees with, we should ‘in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.’ (One of Mr. Wagner’s quotations of the Bible.)
Miss O’Dell said, “All those Bible verses don’t mean anything whenever you back it up with the kind of behavior and comments that you are making.”
The Bible is given to us directly from God and it doesn’t matter who is siting the verses, they are God’s words and they absolutely mean what they say. Take a moment to reread them, without immediately shutting Mr. Wagner down because of his point of view, and maybe you’ll see his “kind of behavior and comments” in a different light.
You can argue with a man, but when arguing with God, if you are a true Christian, it shouldn’t take too long to figure out who’s right.
Choose LGBTQ+ community pride, or choose God. You simply cannot agree with both.
Thank you, Sophia.