Up Chuck

Tackett on: So Chuck Tackett’s brother finds it necessary to defend him from the slings and arrows of outraged misfortune (Letters, May 29). I give him kudos for filial loyalty. It has been my regret to know Mr. Tackett for a number of years.

I was there when a long-time KKFI 90.1 volunteer found himself homeless, and Mr. Tackett took great delight in not only having him thrown out of KKFI, but also placing notices all over the station to further the man’s humiliation. I was at the board of directors meeting several years ago when Mr. Tackett and his cronies, in an act of Kafkaesque comedy, voted themselves absolved from any legal responsibility for their actions. I’ve heard Mr. Tackett play disco music while guest hosting on the drive-time blues programs just to, I presume, piss off the No. 1 source of revenue at KKFI.

There’s so much more, but space prevents me from revealing all but the tip of the iceberg. I’ve done this because for years Mr. Tackett has cowered behind the black and gay communities as justification for his abysmal behavior. It is not bigotry that makes me dislike Mr. Tackett; it is merely because he is a self-made man, and what he has chosen to make himself is an asshole. Whine and screech as he will, his troubles are just beginning.

Bill Hilburn

Merriam

Bus Stop

Motion sickness: I want to applaud Casey Logan’s article on Ben Meade’s movie, Das Bus (“Bus, Tragic Bus,” May 29). I have not yet seen the movie, but based on Logan’s article, it seems that Ben Meade got much of it right.

I am a KCATA bus driver, trained urban planner and founding member of the Regional Transit Alliance. I strongly support public transit. But supporting public transit is not the same as supporting the KCATA. The KCATA management is pathetically dim-witted. Their every-thirty-year “big idea” for improving public transit by changing the paint scheme of buses is only one of many sorry examples.

Public transit in the metropolitan area as represented by the KCATA is so flawed that it calls for a radical solution. The failed KCATA should be dissolved and replaced with a new, high-profile, regional transit system with directly elected leadership — dynamic leadership that will attract the highest level of skilled management and offer dramatic assurance of a true metrowide transit system.

One thing that Logan’s article got wrong is the number of people who use the KCATA. He used the figure of 30,000. The KCATA talks about 40,000 or even 50,000. The KCATA uses the terms riders, ridership, rider trips, passengers and passenger trips interchangeably. They do this to disguise the fact that the number includes many passengers who must ride two, three or even more buses to reach their destinations — each way. Thus relatively few passengers can generate tens of thousands of “passenger trips.”

Actually, only about 8,000 people regularly ride KCATA buses — less than half of 1 percent of the metropolitan-area population. The KCATA is totally irrelevant to more than 99 percent of the people in the metropolitan area.

Anthony Saper

North Kansas City

Male Fraud

Line dance: I just wanted to say that I love Jen Chen’s Night Ranger every week. I totally agree with “Rat Packs” (May 22); I love men, but most of them are disgusting bastards.

If she needs any volunteers for her contest panel, let me know — it would be hilarious to read all the stories she’s going to receive.

Thank you. She cracks me up every week.

Molly Kavanagh

Overland Park

Mountain High

Stringed victory: Great article on Jim Curly and the gang at Mountain Music Shoppe (Andrew Miller’s “Around Hear,” May 29). I’ve frequented that “bluegrass music store” since Jim first started it six-plus years ago.

About once a month, I take my two guitars in there to have them restrung, sit two hours playing his wide variety of guitars, and leave with a bill on average of about $12. No other music store in Kansas City gives such great service, price, selection and welcoming attitude like Mountain Music Shoppe.

Too bad other music stores such as Mars, World Wide Music and Guitar World didn’t have a chance to read Miller’s article on the best music store in Kansas City. If so, they still might be around. Keep pickin’, Jim!

Scott Lane

Roeland Park

Paper Trail

Everything’s up to date: I just moved to the Miami area for a brief stay, and I knew that the Pitch was affiliated with the New Times because I’ve been to the Web site on several occasions. I thought all the publications would be relatively the same. However, I must congratulate the Pitch on keeping its readers fully informed of what’s going on in Kansas City.

Here in Miami, I’ve had a hard time finding the places of interest due to the lack of advertising in the New Times. Thanks, Pitch! Can’t wait to be home.

Name Withheld Upon Request