Letters to the Editor

Biden leads in the polls, because many feel his centrist views make him the one most capable of beating Trump. However, his popularity will likely wane due to his age, his gaffes, and his lack of charisma. Warren is probably the smartest of the lot and might make a good president. Yes, her Native American claim will haunt her, but her vision, organization, and energy will help her...

My brother, a wounded veteran of both wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, is thankful an AR-15 is permitted for hunting. He's familiar with it and it's easy to handle on his all-terrain wheelchair and in his various hunting blinds. He says, "My hunting trips relieve my PTSD symptoms and I won't ever give them up. "...

My 5-year-old son Ryder was born with hearing loss, and until he was 4 years old, he could only hear about 50% of sound. Many people don't realize how common hearing loss is among children: about 2 or 3 of out every 1,000 children born. Another thing many people donÂąt realize: hearing care is expensive and is not financially feasible for everyone...

The current Democratic presidential candidates are advocating socialist policies to the delight of the small-government enthusiasts. Most Americans understand that capitalism provides the quickest path to prosperity for all who are willing to put forth the effort. Socialism leads to a Venezuelan style economy. Shrewd Americans refuse to live under these miserable and inhumane conditions. All they want is to live the “American dream.”...

Earlier this year on Aug. 7, about 600 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents raided six chicken processing plants and arrested 680 individuals. Not charged were their employers. For example poultry companies such as Koch Foods actively recruit undocumented immigrants. Then they take advantage of them by paying low wages to cut, debone and package chicken under miserable and sometimes dangerous conditions...

In the 1919 "Out of the Past" sections of the Saturday/Sunday and Monday Southeast Missourian are two entries of some interest. The first entry describes a "fist fight" that took place in the office of a local Justice of the Peace. The entry ends with this sentence: "The mix-up came in a trial in which two persons are charged with operating immoral houses [Prostitution] in the city." The second entry is a "call" for "all former white soldiers, sailors, Marines" and all other branches of "Uncle Sam's forces in the late war" to meet for the purpose of organizing "a local camp of the American Legion.". ...

Misnamed mandate. That's what small business owners think of the Corporate Transparency Act. As the owner of SOTO Property Solutions in Cape Girardeau. This bill is a one-sized-fits-all mandate that will hurt more than 500,000 small businesses across Missouri...

Of late, Trumpians, formerly Republicans, have been delighting that some Democratic presidential candidates have been advocating "socialist policies" such as Medicare for all, free college education and whatnot. Trumpians rightly believe that such "socialist extremism" would drive many Trump-haters to jump on his bandwagon...

Modern America, well circa. 2019, the United States of America has become the valuable coin that's slowly rolling toward the AC/heating vent in a floor. One side of that valuable coin is the Republican/Conservative. The flip side is the Democrat/liberal. ...

In a recent letter to the editor entitled "Safety becomes entanglement" the writer warned about generations who have, in his opinion, been trained to rely on the "entitlements" for food, shelter, medical care and more. It is always interesting to me that folks who are concerned about the minuscule amount we give to individuals to provide a helping hand never fret about the large amounts that are given to corporations...

When food commodities from the government became available to poor people, my grandfather wouldn't take any. I was just a kid, and I didn't understand. Here was free food, and grandpa said no. He said they could get by without the free food so they shouldn't take it...

The Endangered Species Act of 1973 is a success story. The humpback whale, the grizzly bear, the bald eagle, the manatee, the condor and the American alligator were all brought back from the brink of extinction. Saving mammals, birds, insects, reptiles and marine life from extinction is not just about one’s love of nature, it is about protecting the link between nature, ecosystems and our food and water security...

President Trump tosses around inflammatory rhetoric such as claiming an “invasion” at our southern border. I saw no evidence of this on a recent trip down there. He accuses immigrants of being rapists and criminals, a claim easily disproven using FBI statistics. His rhetoric fires up the dangerous white supremacy movement and may well have influenced the domestic terror attack recently perpetrated in El Paso. Right-wing media stokes the fire by parroting Trump’s dangerous rhetoric...

As the Cape Catfish close the books on their inaugural season, it is only appropriate to congratulate all the players and coaches on what ended up being a magical season! Thanks for thrilling so many fans at the beautifully renovated Capaha Field! But I feel it is also appropriate to congratulate and give thanks to the visionaries, ownership and executive team that made all this possible. ...

As I write this article, the news just keeps adding to the long list of atrocities that plague our society. Mass shootings, increased number of suicides, opiate epidemic, sexual assaults, child neglect, homelessness, hunger, to name a few. To say we need more welfare programs; restricting of guns; getting drugs off the street; more facilities for the homeless, etc., is not a bad thing. But could that be just putting band aids on the results of at least one of a larger, societal problem?...

On the surface, equal pay for equal work sounds like a great and noble idea. First you have to define equal work. Is it the production of some standardized unit? If so, does this take into account how the standardized unit is produced? How much time, energy and company resources are used? Did the employee learn how to do the job better or faster or safer because of the task, or did the employee just do the minimum and in the future will continue to do just the minimum? So much for the definition of equal work!. ...

I am writing in support of the Capital Improvements Sales Tax renewal on the Aug. 6 ballot in the City of Cape Girardeau, Missouri. As vice-chair and long-time member of the Cape Girardeau Historic Preservation Commission I have seen the value of utilizing historic buildings in new development projects...

On May 25, 2019 the Southeast Missouri printed an article which said: "Cape Girardeau city government expenses are exceeding revenue, forcing city staff to look at making changes to city operations going forward, including possibly cutting services."...

The Southeast Missourian has had some great journalists in the 20-plus years I have been subscriber. The addition of Jay Wolz as business editor is the best hire in decades. What makes a writer outstanding is experience, and Jay brings significant business expertise to his position. His background in local health, media and higher education is extraordinary. Jay Wolz is another excellent reason to keep the Southeast Missourian on your doorstep and in your smart phone each day...

Those of you who know me are aware that I am passionate about Cape Girardeau. I cannot think of any place I would rather live and spend my retirement years. I might add that Cape is also a wonderful place to work and raise a family. There are many things that make Cape special -- great restaurants, great medical facilities, great parks, our university, the river, our beautiful downtown and the ability to get anywhere in town in 15 minutes or less. ...

Now is the time for a true Leader more important then any other time in the history of the United States of America. A true Leader who can end the current civil war between the Democrat and the Republican Parties and can stop the widening abyss occurring in the these great lands. ...

This Sunday afternoon I was out push mowing my embankment and a wonderful young man and his son pulled into my driveway and offered to mow my bank for me. His name is Jason and lives in Jackson. He did this good deed in the heat of the day with no expectations. I offered to pay him and he declined. I was able to give him refreshments, but refused anything else and offered to come back next week...

I want to congratulate Mr. Jon Rust on his courageous Editorial dated July 17th 2019: "Trump is wrong to constantly attack others." Since Trump's "go back to your country" attacks on the "Squad" of four minority Congresswomen, I have begun to suspect that, perhaps I, too, must be a hateful Communist for criticizing his despicable policies as well as disgraceful behavior. ...

Even though we find ourselves in the midst of a time where everyone has a virtual platform to speak their minds, it can sometimes be hard to cut through the noise in order to address the real concerns that we have in our communities. It's easy to get in a Facebook argument with someone who disagrees on abortion rights, but it is so much more difficult to have a productive discussion with those who are responsible for the legislation on such issues. ...

I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty tired of the “Have a nice day” line. It’s worn out, illogical and about as endearing as a sneeze. I suspect the phrase began as “I hope you have a nice day” or something of that sort and morphed into the directive we hear now. It’s illogical in that we can’t fully control our day. So saying “Have a nice day” is like telling your mom not to worry. It won’t change anything...

Do you know a boy or girl who loves dinosaurs? Do you love dinosaurs? Come to Painted Wren Art Gallery and become part of Missouri history by participating in something you and they will always remember. Barb Bailey and I, Painted Wren Art Gallery artists, are assisting visitors to the gallery in painting a large mural to celebrate Missouri's 200th birthday. ...

I was in Cape this week for the funeral of my dear Aunt Helen. The funeral procession, mostly on secondary streets, was lengthy, and I was the last car. What transpired was amazing! All drivers on both sides of the streets pulled over and stopped until the funeral procession passed. Thank you for taking time to show your respect...

Missouri has a big problem with feral hogs. They damage natural resources, destroy crops and pastures, carry disease, and threaten wildlife and livestock. That will get worse unless we do something different. The L-A-D Foundation and Pioneer Forest own and manage land in several counties in southeast Missouri and we have struggled using both hunting and trapping for the past decade, so we are now focusing on trapping entire packs and closing our lands to hog hunting. ...

Just wanted to take the time to thank the Southeast Missourian for the great tribute "Faces of valor" recently published honoring several of the veterans at our local Veterans Home. They each had a different take on what serving their country meant to them; old, yet very wise, are these valiant, respectable citizens...

I served my nation as an educator for 44 years. There is political wrongdoing being perpetrated on vulnerable children in the name of politics. Separating refugee children and parents should not occur in a nation that has for centuries accepted refugees without inflicting irreparable harm to the weakest and youngest of that group. Families should not be split apart and inhumanly kept ignorant of the location of their parents or children...

Are you listening? Could this be the wisdom of the city council, administrators and park department when it comes to spending funds for the betterment of Cape? Why should the citizens approve funds and bonds for new facilities just because the council says we should? We paid for a consultant who said "no" for the courthouse to become city hall...

Thank you for taking time to read this. Last year around Christmas my husband and I were in Walmart. We left the store not realizing I had left my cell phone lying on the counter. My husband got a call from one of our daughters. Someone had found my phone and finally, after trying several times to call my number, got our other daughter who lives in Wisconsin. She in-turn called our daughter here who picked up the phone from the lady who found it...

The U.S. has had vehicles on Mars for years that run without using oil or coal energy. How can this possibly be done? There are no gas stations on Mars. Solar power would be impossible; Mars is farther from the Sun then Earth and solar power for vehicles cannot be made or work on Earth. Wait, could using solar power make all of the trillions of dollars from using oil and coal powered vehicles stop those trillions from coming in? Nah...

For the past few decades Republicans have taken the position that low taxes, fewer regulations, along with pro-business legislation and laws that restrict union power will lead to a growing economy. However, U.S. Commerce Department statistics show that Missouri is trailing the nation in economic growth for the ninth straight year. ...

A great big "Thank You" to volunteers participating in the recent Shaken Fury exercise held in Cape Girardeau. These volunteers gave the professionals actual live victims to simulate real world experience. The search dogs were able to work finding live victims in the building rubble and in the CJH building. ...