Unfettered Letters

Crack down on radio noise

Kansas City has much more pressing issues than adding the new siren to patrol cars (3/2, Local, “KC police use Rumbler siren to make presence felt; The low-frequency device, used to increase awareness, creates a hum drivers can feel”).

The Kansas City Police Department should start enforcing the noise ordinance so all the people would not have to listen to the noise by the radios in the vehicles. This would also produce revenue to help pay for the officers to keep on patrol. While traveling in the other communities in the area, we don’t have to listen to the noise. One good example is North Kansas City, which has signs posted stating “noise ordinance strictly enforced.” You can drive there in peace.

It would cost a fortune in these bad financial times to install these on all emergency vehicles. The Fire Department and MAST would also need them on their vehicles.

In the area where I live, around I-29 and Barry Road, most of the sirens are on Fire Department vehicles and MAST ambulances. We seldom see any patrol cars in the area.

Jack Carey
Kansas City

Noisy cannon in Vermont

Is the use of a hail cannon in Bennington, Vt. (9/23, A-1, “Townspeople say hail no to noisemaking machine”) a conservative plot to drive the anti-war left, who don’t like the sound of gunfire, either back to Brooklyn or to Canada?

The addition of liberals in those places would not be noticeable, but their absence in Vermont could tip the balance from Democratic to Republican.

Robert Kobler
Bonner Springs

Motorcyclists respond

This is in response to Joan Millon’s letter (10/26) “Loud motorcycles.”

Each year, motorcyclists bring thousands of dollars to little towns that we pass through, not to mention what we do for local charities.

Granted, there are bikers who have decided to run open pipes that are overly loud. The saying “Loud pipes saves lives” is an excuse that many cruisers have taken too far.

But please keep in mind that while you find us annoying, we may be on a ride that has collected thousands of dollars for charity.

At this year’s Bikers for Babies in Kansas City, for example, there were more than 8,000 bikes, and more then $717,000 was raised.

Please keep that in mind when shopping, and look for us on the back roads and in little towns. We may be riding or raising money for someone you know.

Chris Jones
Independence

To the poor lady complaining about loud motorcycles (10/26, Letters): I’m sorry I strayed off the highway and ruined your day of shopping. Unfortunately, not many funeral homes are located on the highway, and my motorcycle and I were busy escorting a fallen U.S. soldier to his final resting place.

Ryan Cockrum
Gladstone

Loud motorcycles

Saturday was a perfect fall day for a ride into the country to browse in quaint shops and relax from the pace of weekday stress. But the entire trip was marred for us and many others who had to endure hundreds of motorcyclists roaring through the little towns.

The noise was horrific. Normal speech was impossible. The riders we saw never stopped, but just kept driving around and around.

The merchants wait all year for these few weeks of sales, but the noise drove us away.

Please spare me and others the angry barrage of letters from those who love the noise and wind in your hair. I actually know nice people who own motorcycles. And I know it’s a free world. But, like cigarette smoke, noise is toxic and is also a form of torture in many countries.

All I am asking is that motorcyclists stay on the highways or byways. Please take a moment to care about how you ruined the day for so many of us who are pedestrians and shoppers.

Joan Millon
Olathe

Loud boats a menace

My heart bleeds for those owners of loud boats whose rights to impose on everyone else are being constrained by unreasonable legislators (10/20, Local, “New law roils waters in Kansas; Boat motors on lakes must not register more than 86 decibels, and that has owners buzzing”).

Personally, I think all loud boats (along with loud motorcycles and cars) should be used to construct an artificial reef in the Gulf of Mexico. Please don’t let them come to Missouri.

Robert Powell
Independence

Loud TV music

Carol Bayer has brought to light a big problem seniors have: background music on TV programs (8/14, Letters).

I also can’t hear the dialogue of the actors with the music so loud. that it drowns them out. I have quit watching some shows for this very reason.

Does anyone have an answer to this problem? How can we fix it?

Claire Mowry
Gardner

TV music too loud

Friends I talk to say what my husband and I say: The music on TV is louder than the people talking. So you turn up the volume, but sometimes you still can’t understand because then the music is even louder.

I realize that, more and more, TV is geared toward the young and they like loud music, but we senior citizens like to watch TV and we can’t enjoy it with the music hurting our eardrums.

And, of course, the commercials are way too loud. But that is a no-brainer: Just hit the mute button.

Carol Bayer
Kansas City

Fourth of July fireworks

People want to sleep

Perhaps I am getting old; perhaps it’s because my wife and I now have a newborn. Whatever the reason, I feel there should be a curfew for shooting off fireworks. And if there already is one, where are the officials to enforce it? Couldn’t this be considered “disturbing the peace”?

On the evening of the Fourth, inconsiderate people in our neighborhood were still setting off their explosives at 11:55 p.m., as were others in other neighborhoods I’m sure.

I am all about celebrating our freedom. Losing our residence to a fire in 2003 as the result of a bottle rocket onto our wood roof has soured us on celebrating this holiday like others do.

Still, we don’t like to be Scrooges. I just feel that adults should exercise some common courtesy when allowing their kids to detonate firecrackers (or doing it themselves) after 10 or 10:30 p.m. They have had all day long to light the loud firecrackers, and have had almost two hours to light the colorful ones.

These people should understand that there are elderly folks and people with young children living all around them who are being awakened at almost midnight because they haven’t quite blown up enough stuff.

Jeff Meyer
Independence

How did tradition start?

What kind of society do we live in where we intentionally pollute the environment and scare people and animals with explosives? And why don’t people respect their neighbors any more? Who in their right mind shoots off fireworks within a neighborhood? Especially bottle rockets? How stupid are people? Is this how we honor our country — by blowing it up? Who made up this tradition anyway? Wake up, people!

Maggie Sheehan
Kansas City

Great view closed down

How stunned I was on the evening of the Fourth at the Liberty Memorial. Patriotic American citizens were parked in the west mall parking lot to observe the panoramic view of fireworks being displayed on the beautiful horizon west of the Liberty Mall. Then to my dismay, a security patrolwoman drove through the lot around 9:30 p.m. instructing these citizens to leave.

“There is no fireworks display here tonight,” she said, “and I am closing up the property.”

Whose “property” is it anyway? I thought it belonged to the citizenry. And of all nights to deny Americans the ability to observe the patriotic display that was occurring.

The patrol woman said she was instructed by the director of public relations to do this unenviable task. How un-American can you get? The Liberty Memorial staff should, in my humble American opinion, accommodate the citizenry on the occasion of celebration of our Day of Independence.

I would suggest that perhaps a new public relations person be hired who knows what the title means, if indeed this person was responsible for this decision. I’m appalled!

Patrick Orlich
Weatherby Lake

Reconsider fireworks

As we all begin to become more “green” in our thinking, isn’t it about time to consider what the smoke, trash and noise from the big fireworks displays contribute to our environment? I understand celebrating Independence Day with fireworks displays, and encourage organized fireworks instead of individuals all over the city setting them off.

My thinking is we can do without the big displays for grand openings of hotels, the fireworks at the baseball and football games, theme parks and displays that are used for advertising and entertainment.

We do enough on Independence Day with the fireworks. We can give up sleep for that one night. Hearing loud booms on other occasions tends to make me nervous.

Laura L. Gust
Kansas City

Why commercials are loud

I would like to add one observation to Herbert Schlaf’s letter (4/5) suggesting obesity is tied to the number of commercials on TV. My wife and I have wondered: Why such increased volume at commercial time? We conclude that advertisers don’t want folks to miss a single word of their burger and fries or chips ad while on the way to the fridge during the commercial break.

Paul Rola
Kansas City