Great mail service, honoring MLK, Tom Brady laser-pointer

USPS excellence

After reading about a Jan. 30 letter writer’s problems with the U.S. Postal Service, I had to tell my story. (12A)

The post office in Stilwell has the most gracious workers — friendly and always helpful in finding the best and cheapest way for me to mail items.

The two carriers who deliver to my residence go above and beyond the call of duty. They are friendly to my dog, ask me about my day and more. I could not be more pleased with the service I receive.

Perhaps this letter writer should spend a day or two walking in one of these fine people’s shoes.

Joan Hill

Stilwell

Some ‘honor’

Kansas City has belatedly determined to honor Martin Luther King Jr. A city that forgets and ignores its ancestry and historical traditions gradually loses its sense of itself.

The city turned its back on its agricultural foundation and supinely allowed its internationally known livestock and horse show to leave for a parking lot in the Kansas suburbs. It pigeonholed its historical contribution to American culture to an intersection dubbed the 18th & Vine Jazz District. (Consider how Nashville and New Orleans authorities comprehensively honor their musical heritages.) Its magnificent limestone buildings, walls and edifices are bulldozed with dull-witted ambition. Westport, its most historic precinct, continues to be “developed” to gradually resemble Johnson County strip malls.

Now our leaders decide to “honor” King in this way. The Paseo was designed and named as part of the stately undertaking to build a graceful and elegant civic thoroughfare. As the unique charm of Kansas City is gradually submerged in the development that makes it increasingly similar to any other metropolitan area, amid the shortsighted rush to satisfy the meaningful concerns of sincere groups, the city presents a reduced honor to the dignity of Martin Luther King Jr.

Mike Messick

Kansas City

Vaccines are vital

The World Health Organization says the scientifically illiterate anti-vaccine movement poses one of the top 10 greatest public health threats of the year.

Having been born in 1940, I had every childhood illness, save polio, that is now preventable by regularly administered vaccines. Those illnesses include red measles (now on the increase), German measles, whooping cough (pertussis), chicken pox, mumps and the dreaded polio virus. Vaccines wiped out polio in the U.S. within a year of mass vaccinations in the mid-1950s.

The anti-vaccine movement got a celebrity boost with Jenny McCarthy’s book claiming that vaccinations caused her son’s autism. Studies by the Mayo Clinic, John Hopkins University and others have found absolutely no links between vaccines and autism.

But now we see that these previously subdued childhood illnesses are coming back because parents are not vaccinating. Measles outbreaks are being reported in the Seattle area. The WHO reports measles outbreaks worldwide increased 30 percent during 2016-17. Yet 18 states still allow non-medical exemptions from child vaccinations, and in 12 of those states, the number of exemptions is spiking.

Parents, please listen to the science — not celebrity conspiracy theorists. Vaccinate your children.

Chris Morgan

Kansas City

Tighten laws

I am a concerned citizen and a health care provider. Excessive alcohol and illegal drug consumption are health hazards to the body and mind. They cause mental instability, heart and kidney disease and numerous other health implications: loss of jobs, violence and homelessness, to mention a few.

I suggest that legislators enact stricter laws restricting how much alcohol one should consume and strictly prohibiting drug abuse. The public needs more education on these topics, starting in the home and the schools.

Missouri is noted for having among the most permissive alcohol laws in the United States. More stringent laws with stricter penalties should be imposed on the sale and abuse of alcohol and drugs.

Georginia Agim

Grandview

Like new, one owner

President Donald Trump says Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Is “absolutely not leaving” the Cabinet. (Feb. 4, 1A, “Trump says Pompeo not leaving Cabinet for Senate race in Kansas”) If you believe that, I have a Mexican wall to sell you.

Cynthia Kunz

Overland Park

Slipping by

Please explain how the Chiefs could identify the person who pointed a laser at Patriots quarterback Tom Brady during last month’s AFC Championship Game but authorities often seem unable to find people who fly drones near airports. (Feb. 5, 8B, “Fan who pointed laser at Pats’ Tom Brady will be banned from Arrowhead Stadium”)

Also, how is the team going to keep the laser pointer out of games — by posting his picture all over Arrowhead? Surveillance videos of suspected criminals do not seem to get much reaction.

Dorothy Thiel