Letters to the Editor

Have you read Safer Missouri Stronger Missouri? It is part of the state Chamber's Missouri 2030 strategic plan, which is defined as a "data driven initiative to reposition our state as a global economic leader." This report is a must read for every community-minded voter across our state. It starts with a review of Missouri's crime statistics which are so dismally bad the Chamber justifiably fears our state will lose opportunities for business growth and future jobs...

First is the naming department, where goofy sounding names with multiple syllables and weird spellings are picked. Next is the music department, where a theme song is selected. Since most medications are taken by us more seasoned folks, catchy tunes from our younger days are preferred...

During his testimony at the Jan. 6 Congressional Committee, Trump's former Attorney General Barr said, among other things, that Trump was out of touch with reality, as no amount of evidence to the contrary changed his belief that the election was stolen from him. The fact is, Trump was never delusional. He knew that he lost the election...

I commend our city leaders and city staff for investing the first payment of the American Rescue Plan funds in one-time public safety, infrastructure and broadband projects. As you begin discussing how best to invest the second payment of the American Rescue Plan funds, I encourage you to continue the same practice of investing the one-time funds in one-time public safety, infrastructure, broadband and other permissible projects...

Shame on you, Sens. Blunt and Hawley. For over a year, a House backed bill requiring background checks for purchase of guns has languished in the Senate because no Republican will stand on principle and work in a bipartisan way to protect our children and all citizens from disasters of mass shootings as we have had this year alone. ...

Americans are dying because of abstract "theories." Most Americans couldn't tell you what "critical race theory" or "replacement theory" are. But these nebulous and largely meaningless media generated buzz terms are killers. Most recently, 10 fine human beings died in Buffalo, New York because an 18-year-old boy bought in to a money making strategy by a cable news network. ...

In 1922, Chief Nathaniel Hutson, Cape Girardeau PD was killed in the line of duty. 100 years later, five generations have passed, and Chief Hutson's great, great granddaughter, Natalie Meyers played Amazing Grace on her violin to honor his memory. We will never forget. ...

May is NF (Neurofibromatosis) and Mental Health Awareness month. NF is a complex disorder that has many damaging effects. There is currently no cure. NF effects 1 in 3000 people but we have found that many have never heard of it. NF is a genetic disorder that causes tumors to grow on nerves throughout the body, resulting in blindness, deafness, bone abnormalities, disfigurement, disabling pain, or even cancer. ...

A FiveThirtyEight/Ipsos survey conducted between April 27 and May 5, 2022 showed that inflation is currently the issue causing the most concern among this country's citizens. This is not difficult to understand. The most recent months for which figures are available show inflation is above 8%. This is the highest it has been since we had an annual rate of 10.3% in 1981. It is also of interest that the present unemployment rate is 3.6%...

Helicopters going to Saint Francis Medical Center often come over our house flying so low they suck the shingles off our roof and make more noise than a freight train in a tunnel. Emergency vehicles regularly go up and down Mount Auburn with their sirens screaming, and in case you don't hear the sirens, big bullfrog grunts are added. Mount Auburn also carries a lot of loud motorcycles, roached-out pickups, NASCAR wannabes, and stereos thumping young minds to mush...

Recently, a middle-aged white couple was kicked off a JetBlue flight from West Palm Beach, Florida to Newark, New Jersey, for behaving obnoxiously and spewing out vulgar and homophobic slurs at the crew and passengers. The woman claimed that her filthy words and obnoxious behavior were protected by her right to free speech and that her being kicked off the plane was evidence that "free speech is dead" in America. ...

If the U.S. Supreme Court overturns its decision guaranteeing reproductive rights, and the question is returned to the states, then I predict we can all expect major disruptions in our daily lives. Many states including Missouri will all but completely ban abortion, but that is only the beginning. With illegality comes consequences. Will Missouri become a police state devoted to controlling everyone's private sexual behavior, especially women? How else do you think an abortion ban would work?...

Orange is the color that Hadiya Pendleton's friends wore in her honor when she was shot and killed in Chicago at the age of 15, just one week after performing at President Obama's second Inaugural parade in 2013. After her death, her friends asked for programs and events to honor her memory and raise awareness about gun violence. Since 2015, Wear Orange has taken place the first weekend in June (honoring Hadiya's birthday of June 2)...

I would like to commend our mayor, city council members and city staff for creating the proposed 2022-2023 operating budget for the City of Cape Girardeau. Upon reviewing the document, it was obvious to me that a lot of thought, work and time went into developing a budget that not only provides for routine city operating costs but also invests available revenues in city employees, streets, the airport and other areas of infrastructure...

Registered nurses in the United States constitute our nation's largest health care profession. The depth and breadth of the registered nursing profession meets the different and emerging health care needs of the American population in a wide range of settings, including the frontline of the pandemic...

The B Magazine inserted last week in our Southeast Missourian was one of the best, most informative, image building, positive pieces of material I have ever seen. My congratulations to you and your staff for helping to bring our great City on the Cape to the front in such an attractive manner...

A growing population with a growing workforce is a positive good for a country. An increasing workforce increases an economy's potential to grow while a stagnant or decreasing workforce reduces that potential. Population and workforce growth is a function of fertility, longevity, and immigration...

Legions watched as their leader walked through the garden late that night. They saw the guards, the kiss of death and Peter's futile fight. Just how far would their leader go before he said, "Enough"? Would they ever hear the sum'ning call? Would it get to be too much?...

Sometimes we forget, city government cannot be all things, to all people, all of the time. There will never be sufficient financial and human resources available, to grant all of the requests received by our elected leaders and city staff. Due to limited financial and human resources, our leaders must fund and meet city needs first before obligating revenue and employees to grant wants. ...