Letters: Readers discuss KCI for business travelers, Josh Jackson’s conduct and Brownback’s Kansas budget
KCI blockade
There is a big reason for building a new terminal at KCI that does not seem to be covered in the media: the lack of direct flights and overall limited flight options at KCI. A big reason for this is airlines do not want passengers from other cities changing planes in Kansas City. KCI is not a place you want to have a layover between flights, especially if you have to change terminals.
A lack of direct flights makes it harder to do business from Kansas City. I am a frequent flyer for a small business. This issue affects our company in a big way, making us less efficient. Multiply my company’s issue times thousands for companies such as Burns & McDonnell, Cerner, Sprint, Hallmark and others.
If you live here and want to be employed here, we as a community need to support and invest in what makes sense for doing business here. Otherwise, companies will relocate or never come here. We would have a great place to live but no place to work.
Scott Hooper
Overland Park
Headline misled
The Star’s May 20 headline “Special counsel to investigate if Russia meddled in election” (1A) distorts, willfully, I believe, the mission of the special counsel.
For fair-minded people, the question of whether the Russians meddled in the election was settled Jan. 6 with the release of a declassified version of the former director of national intelligence’s report, “Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections.” The report asserts that the Kremlin interfered in the presidential election and that one objective of this interference was the election of Donald Trump.
The fact that Russia interfered in the election is elementary, so why is The Star trying to mislead its readers? The special counsel’s mission is to determine whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russian intelligence.
Robert Mueller’s mission, which is broadly known outside The Star’s offices, was not misrepresented in the story itself that was originally published in The New York Times. The first paragraph clearly states that the special counsel was appointed to consider collusion, not to question the basic fact of Russian interference.
Can The Star’s readers expect more accurate coverage in the future?
David Corrick
Mission
No fun
Just read that Josh Jackson must attend anger-management classes, refrain from alcohol and recreational drugs and write an apology letter because of events in which he was involved. (May 23, B1, “Former KU player Jackson must apologize”)
Alcohol might be called a recreational drug, but why are illegal drugs dismissed as “recreational” as well? It seems like that term is another way to soften the fact when someone is caught using drugs. Or are we just in denial?
Linda Lockwood
Kansas City
Tax lessons
Duane Goossen, former budget director for Kansas, had some good advice in The Ottawa Herald last week. President Donald Trump’s tax ideas bear a strong resemblance to those of Gov. Sam Brownback.
Over the past five years, Kansans have seen Brownback’s agenda wreak havoc with the state budget, put public education at risk and benefit the wealthy at the expense of the rest.
If it ever comes time for U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder to make a decision on Trumponomics, Kansans will know from experience how irresponsible and craven a trickle-down tax plan is.
Mark Baum
Prairie Village
Great learning
The University of Missouri system has fallen on hard times because some of its students did not appreciate what the university had to offer them.
I took a senior English course at UMKC in pursuit of a degree I have been working on for 40 years. The class was difficult — and delightful. My professor was accessible when we needed her. She graded our work quickly and provided helpful feedback. She maintained the integrity of the course content while making adjustments to accommodate our need for additional study time. She was cheerful, good spirited and supportive of her students.
After 16 weeks of studying Old English — the language in which “Beowulf” was written and which inspired a large portion of Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” — I am still translating it.
I used my own money to pay for the class, and I can’t imagine a better bargain for my investment.
Don’t let the political issues that played out in Columbia in 2015 keep you from attending UMKC this year. It’s a great school, and its English department is as good as any in the Midwest.
Marsha Smitherman
Oak Grove