Kudos to KCI officials

I wrote to complain a few years back about our Kansas City airport. At that time there were no water fountains in the waiting area after you passed through security. You either had to purchase water or go without because you cannot bring water through security.

I flew to Denver on Frontier Airlines recently and was pleasantly surprised to discover after I went through security that water fountains had been installed.

Thank you, Kansas City International Airport officials, for listening.

Mary Jane Maslanka

Lake Winnebago

Angels at KC airport

So many times we hear horror stories about the airlines, their fees, missed flights and lost luggage. I would like to share something that happened to my family at the AirTran Airways counter at Kansas City International Airport.

My family arrived at 4 a.m., passports in hand, ready to head to a Cancun resort for our vacation. When we tried to check in, we were told that because my oldest son’s surname is different from mine, we wouldn’t be allowed to fly without notarized permission from his father, who lives an hour away.

Thankfully, AirTran employee Bill Hecker came to our rescue. Bill proceeded to find an Internet form and printed it for me. With his help, a mobile notary and a cooperative ex-husband, we were able to make our 6:40 a.m. flight.

This man got nothing additional in his paycheck for going above and beyond to help strangers. I’m so grateful for his help.

Thank you, Bill Hecker and AirTran, for employing helpful and kind people. This man did more than was required of him, and it made a difference in our lives.

I hope he reads this. Bless you, Bill.

Christy Sowers

Waverly, Mo.

Fluoride battle ongoing

I remember battling to have city water fluoridated when my children were small. I would not have imagined that a benefit that seemed so obvious to me in 1970 would still be viewed with suspicion by some in 2013 (1-6, A1, “For many, fluoride issue still has teeth”).

I can only hope that Kansas voters will not be persuaded by the junk science that spreads fear about its use.

However, to many parents in Kansas and elsewhere fighting to provide the basic necessities for their children, the question of whether a certain chemical helps or hinders dental health probably seems trivial.

To them, day-to-day survival is paramount.

I commend those parents who are working hard, encouraging their children and trying to qualify themselves for better employment by going back to school. Many community college teachers like me see them in the classroom each semester, and they are awe-inspiring.

I will gladly have my taxes increased a little to give such parents a hand up in these hard times when they are spending long days working and studying, while also trying to take good care of home and children.

Janelle Lazzo

Roeland Park

Game-day commercials

Before the Kansas City Chiefs’ season ended, I decided to check out all of the commercials during one televised three-hour game period.

The Chiefs were playing the Oakland Raiders. During the first half, there were 18 commercials running at least one to two minutes long. The second half there were 13 commercials totaling 31 minutes.

The result was 29 minutes of actual playing time.

The 29 minutes of playing time consumed three hours of television time, not including halftime.

This data may not be exact, but the numbers are interesting.

I hope we have a healthy team, resulting in a winning season for 2013.

As a 40-year season ticket holder, I have decided to purchase a new purse for the new year — a red color in support of the Chiefs.

Adele Price Mushkin

Leawood

Cheer Bush economy

Does the end justify the means? The result: four more years.

The big deception was that the rich were not paying enough taxes because of the Bush tax cuts for the top incomes. The truth is the tax cuts were for everyone.

This resulted in the largest revenue gain in history.

In two years, new wealth was created. The United States added jobs from mid-2003 to early 2007 and the median household wealth increased. Federal revenue increased, the largest four-year increase in U.S. history.

Unemployment remained low, unlike now. America was not viewed as a weak paper tiger as it is now, and the U.S. has remained safe using programs instituted by the Bush administration.

Bring back the Bush economy.

James F. Westhues

Overland Park

Bush’s lasting legacy

One of the first things George W. Bush did as president was sign a 10-year income-tax reduction bill, principally benefiting super-rich supporters.

You got $600 bucks. The rich stacked up billions.

We witnessed their trickle-down lie, plus a huge tax reduction on profits from so-called capital gains, plus fraud in twisting home mortgages into bonds and calling income from that capital gains, plus cutting off U.S. estate-tax revenue from the largest estates for the sole benefit of the heirs.

Useless, costly foreign wars started increasing the national debt with an economic crash in the final quarter of the Bush presidency.

They’ve been trying desperately to cause the U.S. Treasury to evade the obligations the Republicans built up. They’ve used Grover Norquist and his no-tax-increase pledge to damage the government’s full faith and credit as they strangle its ability to extend the debt ceiling each time the issue arises.

The Republicans don’t want their mega-rich supporters to have to pay any part of the national debt their party spent eight years heaping upon us.

If you think they’ll politely pay their bill, you don’t understand what they’ve been up to the last 12 to 30 years.

Lloyd Hellman

Leawood

Sweet letters only

A suggestion/request to the editor: Would it be possible to go an entire week without publishing any letter that contained a political opinion?

Over the years, I have been well-informed by writers on all topics from the perspective of both the extremes. I don’t need to read any more “truth” from the “fair and balanced” network, nor do I need repeated what I already know about liberals.

I realize this could leave the editors with only letters of thanks for good deeds done and cute stories about cute kittens, but it would be a welcome break.

P.S. No religious comments either.

Jim Skinner

Kansas City

Less tragedy in news

The “Breaking News” section of the online Star is almost universally depressing — fires, killings and all.

I would like to see something uplifting once in awhile in the breaking news.

Surely, something good is going on someplace.

Brian Angevine

Cuba, Mo.

Make KC litter-free

Where is the civic pride in this community? I find it very unnerving and disheartening to see the litter continue to accumulate on our city roadways.

But it is not just Kansas City, but also Independence, Liberty and Raytown, to name a few.

Is there not a program to keep our cities litter-free? If not, we need to start one.

Maybe people on welfare or unemployment can donate a couple of hours a week. I don’t think it would be too much to ask.

I’ve tried contacting the city and the state for street and highway adoption procedures, and all they say is they will turn it over to the proper authorities and that those officials would contact me.

That was weeks ago and no word.

I just wanted to vent and bring this to light so if enough people get fed up we can start a grass-roots movement to get our city and surrounding areas litter-free.

Gary Kiefer

Kansas City

Helping America first

A majority of U.S. citizens would support the following ideas to help balance the budget:

End all foreign aid to countries that are not our true allies, such as aid to Iraq, Afghanistan, Bahrain and Pakistan. We are building their schools, their roads and their medical clinics, and they in turn are hurting our country, stealing our money and killing and kidnapping our soldiers and those people sent to work with and help their people.

Why should we cut our education funds, our road projects, our national parks and monuments upkeep, our Medicaid and Medicare and our safety net programs while funding terrorists and corrupt governments who continue their acts of aggression against us?

For every dollar that we cut from our poor, disadvantaged, elderly and even the lazy, we should cut thousands from foreign aid.

Americans must take care of their own before we think to take care of the world.

Kathryn Alexander

Olathe