Letters to the Editor

Last month Republican legislators in the House of Representatives passed the American Health Care Act (AHCA) opposed by every Democratic legislator and also the American Medical Association, the American Health Insurance Plans trade association and the American Association of Retired People. ...

I was born and raised in the suburbs of Birmingham, Alabama. I remember my faithful churchgoing grandmother's use of the word "niggra," which I guessed was a slightly cleaned up version of a word that was more often used. My first remembrance of the word "integration" was one morning as my mom was "carrying" -- that's the way we say it in the south -- me to school. As we passed a school, she used the word to describe what it had just done. I could tell she didn't like it...

What do Bill Clinton, Bill Cosby and Bill O'Reilly have in common, other than the obvious moniker? That's right. They have all been charged with some form of sexual indiscretion. We know for sure with Bill Clinton. We are pretty sure with Bill Cosby. And although we are unsure with Bill O'Reilly, we know he paid large sums of money to quieten allegations...

The relocation in 1995 of a monument to Confederate soldiers to the grounds of the Common Pleas Courthouse was problematic. But, now that the city council has commendably renamed the park Ivers Square to honor a black Union soldier and his wife, the continuing presence of the monument in its current location is intolerable...

Regarding the City of Cape Girardeau to spend $80,000 to update the Comprehensive Plan: A comprehensive plan is good to have. Vision and planning must have a starting point. I cannot see why we need to employ outside companies to tell us what we should do, especially after we tell them what we want! Eighty thousand dollars, not to establish a plan but simply for an update?...

Cape Girardeau's downtown area is experiencing a new era of revitalization that is attracting new jobs and businesses while maintaining the historic character of our city. This economic revitalization is no accident. It's a combination of our community's leadership and vision combined with a key economic tool in the form of historic tax credits...

Dear Kathy Griffin, I am a Democrat. I'm not a true-blue Democrat. I have crossed party lines a number of times. I just happened to register to vote when John Kennedy was president, and never changed. I am writing to give you my "free speech" as provided for in the First Amendment of the U.S. ...

On June 7, Lions Clubs International will be celebrating 100 years of service and the Missouri Lions would like to thank you, the reader, for your help over the years, including a very busy 2017. The idea of a man named Melvin Jones has grown into the world's largest service club organization with over 1.4 million members!...

In a recent special session the Missouri Legislature passed a bill which allows the Public Service Commission to approve special low rates for the electrical power that Ameren Missouri would sell to two potential industrial customers in New Madrid County. This is corporate welfare pure and simple...

A recent letter chastised Senator Wayne Wallingford for not towing the conservative line, and "proposing two new taxes", one on cellphones for 911 service, and another on internet purchases. It is debatable whether these can really be considered new taxes since they replace tax revenue lost due to changing technology in the 21st century, and I'll wager most Missourians would applaud the Senator for preserving 911 and other vital services...

Editor's note: You can nominate individuals for the 2017 Spirit of America award through June 13 by submitting the printed application that appears in the newspaper or online at semissourian.com/spirit. On July 4, 2016, I received the Spirit of America Award after being nominated by Mr. ...

Around 12:25 p.m. on Saturday, May 13, my wife and I traveled to Block Hole near NUT junction. On Highway U, we straddled a baby turtle in the middle of the road near the entrance. We arrived and my wife wanted to check on it. While walking toward it, a white Ford Ranger two-door approached. The vehicle was a work truck with rails on the sides with extension cords or hoses and no license plate on the rear...

Before he was beheaded on July 6, 1535 as ordered by king Henry the 8th, Sir Thomas More's last words were said to be, "I die the king's faithful servant, but God's first." There were no other principled men in king Henry's court where the practice of fine art of sycophancy ensured their safety and security...

Mental Health is a topic many people try to avoid. Mental Health carries a stigma of embarrassment, secrecy, and darkness. The people who struggle with the many diagnoses of mental health fear they are a disappointment to society. Like anything, unless we are faced with something, we choose to ignore, and many times judge others. ...

Once again the forces of evil reared their ugly heads and thrust a dagger into the heart of political conservatism. The leftist liberal fascists have managed to raise the political correct banner of sexual harassment, and have Bill O'Reilly removed from Fox News. ...

The statements on the Karpet Korner sign in East Cape Girardeau, Illinois, are not the view or opinions of the Village Board of East Cape. The views or opinions on the sign are the owner(s) of the property and do not reflect the views or opinions of anybody on the Village Board of Trustees...

When did Senator Wallingford quit being a conservative? During the legislative session just ended he proposed two new taxes: one on Internet sales and one on cell phone use, and he supported higher wages on projects that are paid for with tax money...

For 16 years, I had a close association with Southeast Missouri State University. Close enough to be given the Distinguished Service Award. In the mid-1980's, long before I accepted management positions with KFVS12, Dr. Charles Wiles invited me to be a speaker at a Southeast media function. ...

Dear Jason Smith and Dear Roy Blunt, Stop playing games with the lives of your constituents in regard to health care. When recent, independent studies show that the overall, annual cost of healthcare in the USA is approaching $4 trillion, yet we leave millions with no access to preventive health care, high deductibles and co-pays to pay themselves, and obscene drug costs...

As a retired Air Force Officer who served in Vietnam and Desert Shield/Storm, I have fought through my fair share of tough conditions. But 83-year-old Leroy Jackson's survival story from last weekend's flood is nothing short of a miracle. Jackson, the father of Wayne County Prosecutor Mike Jackson, was on his way home from his high school reunion when his truck was swept off the road into the rushing waters of Clark Creek near Piedmont, Missouri...

Regarding the obnoxious advertising and dangerous landscaping of roundabout(s), specifically at Independence Street and Gordonville Road: US Department of Transportation says: The landscaping of the roundabout and approaches should: n Minimize introducing hazards to the intersection, such as trees, poles, walls, guide rail, statues, or large rocks;...

The replacement fertility rate for the United States is an average of 2.1 children born per woman. This is important because a decline in the birthrate of a society causes political strain. The retired, non-working share of the population will grow, and the share of workers supporting those retirees will shrink...

As a resident of Southeast Missouri and a division director for Ameren Missouri, I have a vested interest in Senate Bill 190 and the effort to create jobs for our community, while modernizing the electric grid for customers. Much of the equipment that brings electricity to our homes is reaching the end of its service life. ...

Buyer and Seller Beware: All sanitary sewer lines in the City of Cape Girardeau are not part of the city sewer system. If you are not in the City system, you will be responsible to pay for repairs. To accept your sewer system into the City system, there must be an ordinance...

I would like to take a moment to respond to the false and uneducated guest column entitled, "Monopoly utilities lobby for higher rates," submitted on April 14. As a highfalutin attorney who makes money off of corporate special interests, Mr. Woodsmall continues to dishonestly describe the significant benefits of Senate Bill 190. ...

Mark Twain said, "It¹s not what you don't know that kills you, it's what you know for sure that ain't true." Republicans learned this the hard way with the collapse of their proposed Obamacare replacement. Falling for their own propaganda at times, Republicans assumed that Americans would embrace their new proposal. ...

Following World War I Germans felt totally humiliated by the Treaty of Versailles. The result was the rise of Third Reich under Hitler, holocaust, and destruction of nations. In the 1980s, President Reagan never missed an opportunity to insult Soviet Russia in the harshest words possible. Americans celebrated the fall of Soviet Union following Reagan's "Tear down this wall" Berlin speech in 1987. To add insult to injury, a haughty Hillary Clinton never missed an opportunity to condemn Putin...

Replacing the Affordable Care Act is receiving lots of attention. I think a few numbers would be pertinent. Countries in Western Europe along with Canada and Australia all have government regulated universal health coverage. On average they spend 10 percent of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on health care. ...

This year is the celebration of the 500th year of the Protestant Reformation. I recently read "The Large Catechism" by Martin Luther, who is widely acknowledged to have started the reformation with his work "The Ninety-Five Theses". "The Large Catechism" is a summary of basic Christian doctrine. ...

Voters in the Fruitland Fire District being asked to approve a tax increase need to ask themselves: Does the need really justify the nearly doubling of the current tax? Take out your recent personal and home property tax bill and see how much you paid, then figure that it will be about twice as much if Proposition F passes. ...