Our mission statement

— To be an advocate for social and economic progress, ethical behavior, efficient use of public resources and an improved quality of life. — To act independently and fairly. — To celebrate the successes of Greater Memphis and surrounding areas.

— To be the forum for ideas and opinions of public interest.

Some places have an abundance of clean, drinkable water. Others have very little, and the residents still drink it because you must have water to live (and some don’t because they drink the water.) In the western U.S., people have been killed over control of the water supply.

TVA does not need drinkable water. It has a large source of water nearby, the Mississippi River. In fact, after they make steam and condense it, they have clean, drinkable water. The problem is they want clean water because it is cheaper than cleaning the water from the Mississippi. They need to be team players and leave the aquifer alone.

Those who would make drug arrests into a racial thing hurt those they claim to help. Do law-abiding people of any color want to raise their kids in a culture that encourages drugs? Do law-abiding people want to work or retire in a community that encourages drug use?

Regardless of what drug a particular race uses, I encourage law enforcement to arrest them. Last week, the New York Post argued that legalized pot is making America’s lower class poorer and less responsible. A federally supported task force studied Colorado’s legalization using state and national statistics and found that marijuana-related traffic deaths were up 32 percent; marijuana-related hospitalizations were up 38 percent, and Colorado teens now rank No. 3 in the nation for marijuana use and 56 percent higher than the national average.

Memphis City Council members who would vote to ease penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana don’t care about their community.

An Aug. 26 letter writer described his experience at Memphis International Airport, discussing the activity, flights and fares (“‘Ghost town’ aura clings to airport”).

Certainly MEM is still in transition from a hub operation focused on transfer passengers to an origin and destination airport. As a Delta transfer hub, all 83 gates on the A, B and C concourses were leased and active, at least during the active flight bank. An O&D airport will have less-active periods, especially late at night.

MEM now spreads its flights among three concourses and 17 gates, which spreads out the activity. However, we are embarking on a plan in which all airlines will operate from the same concourse, one that has been totally redesigned to add space, light and convenience. That will improve the flow of passengers and the activity level will naturally feel more vibrant.

We’ve added several new carriers and 18 new flight announcements since January 2015. Average fares have dropped by $140 since 2012 thanks to greater competition and new low-cost airlines. Travelers from outside Shelby County are now traveling to MEM thanks to our expanding options and lower fares. Also, MEM is able to offer more nonstop destinations, 36, than most similarly sized airports. Little Rock, for example, has 15.