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I THOUGHT your children had to attend the school district in which you live. I would like to ask Scott City and Chaffee schools why it is possible for some of the children in Rockview to attend Scott City School without paying tuition while mine have to attend the Chaffee school.
I JUST came back from the Osage Community Centre after getting my flu shot. I had to call and say what a nice group you have working out there. They are so helpful and make things so easy for you. Congratulations, people. You are great.
I SEE in today's paper that Social Security benefits will rise 2.3 percent starting in January. It's the smallest increase in four years. I wonder if people realize that the Medicare part of the premium is going to rise 3.1 percent. With prices raising each way, people are going backward. They're not going to receive any increase. It's all going to be taken up in medical costs.
IT LOOKS like 14 years of cooperation between Jackson and Cape Girardeau are going down the tubes. The cooperative air that was refreshing in local government is gone. The bottom line is simple. Mayor Jay Knudtson and Mayor Barbara Lohr do not get along, and they both are guilty of not cooperating. What happened to the years of progress and cooperation between these two great cities? It's a great example of how quickly a good thing can be gone.
LAST YEAR we were told that ethanol would end our dependence on foreign oil and gasoline prices would come down. Gas hasn't come down much, but anything that is related to corn is going up dramatically. Milk and most other foods are much more expensive. What was supposed to save us is strangling us to death. How much would gas have to come down to make up for the increases in all the other prices? We can't win.
I AM a substitute in both the Cape Girardeau and Jackson school districts. Some substitutes don't follow the lesson plans. I do, but half the time they're a joke, a fill-in activity. One Cape teacher has given me the same packet of handouts every time I've subbed for him for the past couple of years. Last year, I subbed for him at least four times. Of course, the students didn't take the handouts seriously because they knew what was going on. They told me he threw the handouts away in front of the first-hour class the day he returned. I told the principal this created discipline issues because the students didn't care about their work. Some Jackson teachers are not much better. There are good plans left by some teachers at both schools, but they're the exception.
Get off MoDOT's back.
It takes too much flak.
Then pack up and move.
I WAS disappointed in Rodney Carrington's Saturday night concert. Girls everywhere were flashing their breasts. Whoever was in charge of the lighting encouraged this. If there was going to be nudity we should have been warned. How can they do that?
I WAS thrilled to read that the new state command sergeant major for Missouri is from Cape Girardeau. What an incredible honor to be chosen as the top enlisted person in the state. It was quite sad, however, to find this article condensed and buried in the back of the paper instead of on the front cover where it deserved to be.
ATHLETES AT Central High School are required to sign an agreement that while representing their school they will not consume alcohol at any time. Other inappropriate behavior is also prohibited as these students are role models for the entire student body. It should be noted that cheerleaders, band members and dance team members also fall under these guidelines. Recently, the rules have not been applied equitably. The administration should be accountable as to why this has occurred.
SEVERAL YEARS ago my wife and I attended the initial meeting held by the Cape Girardeau School District to coordinate efforts to get a bond issue passed to build a new high school. We were told that it was imperative that a new high school, not a new middle school, be built. The main reason given, over and over, was that the sports programs are the venue by which people judge a school district most of the time. We were told it was essential that we have a better-looking high school with nice-looking sports facilities. Taxpayers gave the district the better facility. When are we going to get better sports programs? When is the much-needed housecleaning in our football and baseball programs going to commence? I would think the school board should be ashamed, but board members have proven they will say anything or do anything, except be accountable to the taxpayers, to get what they want.
IT WOULD have been nice if the U.S. Postal Service had informed customers before removing the stamp machines.
I RESEARCHED Angel Food Ministry to find it is a not-for-profit ministry where the $25 fee covers costs with $1 going to the host church's missions. This is not a retail business and would be no different from a church charging a fee to cover costs for a food pantry, prayer breakfast, supper or other similar program. I also know that permits and licenses fall under tax ordinances that would be improper or illegal for city government to impose on a church. I also researched for community or citizen complaints, and Cape Girardeau is the only city in the United States (Angel Food Ministries operates in all 50 states) that appears to have issue with this. To the church I would suggest continuing the mission while reviewing the way the food is distributed. To the city I would suggest looking at ways to assist the church in finding a neighborhood solution.
Comments
Dear Rule inequity,
My son is an athlete and a band member... I would say if there is any inequity it would be the exception to the rule. Most of the kids are good kids and do the right thing. If you have examples of situations where this is not the case please share them as not to tarnish the reputation of all of the other good kids out there.
Thank you...
Re:Concert Nudity
I don't see how you can have a problem with nudity and be a fan of this comedian. The advertisement for this show began with lyrics like "Don't look now your mammas got her boobs out" What did you think was going to happen. Do you really think you had to be eighteen to purchase tickets because he used foul language and taboo topics.
Re Concert Nudity: I wasn't at the show, but I am familiar with Rodney Carrington. With an artist whose current music hit is Show Them To Me, I'm not surprised on the flashing. I suggest you stay away from New Orleans during Mardi Gras, they do it there too, yet I see nothing about it in the travel brochure.
Re Lesson Plans: Sounds like that teacher thought you needed as much babysitting as the students. Either he knows you or doesn't trust substitutes.
RE: Concert nudity
Oh now, COME ON. How ignorant are you? You already know what this comedianâ**s topics are and you're going to have the audacity to blame it on the lighting person?! Lunacy at it's finest.
RE: Rule inequity
"Recently, the rules have not been applied equitably."
RECENTLY?! While I don't really agree with the majority of the band kids being involved in alcohol or drugs, I have to say that if you hadn't noticed this before...say maybe when YOU were in High School, then you're blind.
This has been going on in high school for a LONG time.
I remember when I first started at Central...the whole soccer team was practically attached to the same bong! Cheerleaders, football players, basketball players, baseball players and more all partied and drank and did drugs. No one ever tested them.
Get a clue!
RE: Not accountable
Okay, this annoys me...sports in school should be good for only ONE THING...getting scholarships. If people are judging schools by sports teams, then that's a bad sign about where we're headed as a society.
Shut up and press for better academics, not sports.
foodie
High school sports should not be considered good for getting athletic scholarships as a very tiny percentage of high school athletes receive them.
What high school sports should be and are in fact good for is teaching these young athletes about goal setting and striving to reach those goals through hard work, dedication, sacrifice, fair play, teamwork, overcoming adversity, thinking on their feet, solving problems, etc. These athletes then take these things into adulthood to be applied to their personal lives and their careers helping them to be the best that they can be and becoming productive members of society.
Concert Nudity
Who forgot to tell me there would be nudity at the concert?!!! I'd have been there with bells on and a handful of beads!!! Come on folks, let's communicate.
RE: librule
While I do agree with what you're saying, the sad fact is that only a small few of those kids take those things and actually apply it...or even remember it.
Sports are great for building character in a young person. I completely agree.
My point was that people put WAY too much emphasis on sports. There are some parents who push their kids too hard to become a PRO. Some kids can make it to pro and yes, some kids use sports as a way to help them through college.
But when you base your opinion on a school for athletics only...well, that's just sad and wrong.
sad girl show themselves to total stangers and yet Christ Church of the Heartland is on the carpet for helping people!!! Is there something wrong with this picture?
Our country needs more of Gods love and His WORD taught....
sad girl show themselves to total stangers and yet Christ Church of the Heartland is on the carpet for helping people!!! Is there something wrong with this picture?
Our country needs more of Gods love and His WORD taught....
New Orleans has had "breasts on parade" for years and years and years. What is the shock of showing at concert? My understanding is for as long as there have been rock performers girls have thrown their bras and undies on stage. Bareing of the breast was the next logical step.
Oh wait, God took his revenge on New Orleans with that pesky little hurricane didn't He???
Hilleco,
"Is there any event that would change your mind on the war in Iraq? At what point do you drop out of the mob?"
I was in a real hateful time of my life when I was over there. I felt utter disdain for all the locals because everyone was someone who wanted to kill me. I really stopped feeling sorry for myself when I kept seeing this local Iraqi vender along the side of a main service route. We never would stop when going from place to place (especially when people were around) but this area was flat enough and the locals had their kids washing cars. Children around=pretty safe area, except Fallujia or Sadr City.
A couple times a month, for about six months, we would stop by for about ten minutes or so (bathroom break) and I would wave at this guy who walked like his hips were out of whack or something. Not wanting to break protocol, or become dead from stupidity, I would keep my distance and leave some knick knacks that were sent to me from home; tp, baby wipes, candy, beef jerky, ect. I felt sorry for him. Problem was, when we would roll out the crippled vendor wouldn't be able to cover the distance in time to retrieve the goodies before the kids got there and swiped them all.
Long story short, the guy's feet were screwed on BACKWARDS! He was a member of an Iraqi Olympic Soccer Team from a while ago and they lost. He was the goalie and his punishment was to watch three Republican Guards rape and murder his wife and two daughters AND they turned his feet backwards as an example to everyone try harder when you represented Saddam.
Bad thing about it, when the interpreter and I were listening, his voice never cracked. The guy (it's been a few years, I forgot his name) was genuinely happy we were there and until AFTER that moment, so was I.
So I guess I never really dropped out of the mob, I just have a better perspective than most and don't quote what I haven't seen for myself.
Good things come to those who wait even if bad things have to happen first.
RE: mpreszler
"Oh wait, God took his revenge on New Orleans with that pesky little hurricane didn't He???"
God took his revenge? I thought that we had a merciful and compassionate God who loved us?
Foodie,
Guess it would depend on which "christian" is talking about him. God wrought the hurricane and God wrought 9/11 don't ya know. He is only merciful and kind if you are one of his believers. If not, watch out, he'll take you out.
I know, I know, I'm going to Hell for my little joke, but I also know many of His "speakers" will be right there with me. Won't be lonely that's for sure.
RE: mpreszler
The funny thing is that I don't go to church because I don't believe in organized religion...however having faith is a different story.
So I agree with you (I think...maybe I am reading you wrong) that there are many people who are "Christians", but their real attitude and actions say otherwise.
I was just confused because I didn't really know if you were serious or not with the whole "hurricane" joke...
Farjar154,
I totally understand what you are saying. Evil Men do evil things to other men. But, we took out Sadam, we had the Iraqi people hold democratic elections. Wasn't/isn't that what we were there to do? So why are we not at least sending some home. We may still have a presence in Germany, but the German government has been governing it's self since 1946/1947. Same with Japan. Yes, the western influence over the government was there, but they were still left to their own devices so to speak.
Not saying I'm not wrong or misinformed, just curious on your thoughts on when does the US let the Iraqi people govern/protect themselves?
Foodie,
Sorry, my sarcasm sometimes gets the better of me. It was definately meant as a joke.
I too have my beliefs and faith. But also believe that it is personal and don't need to show up to a building to have it. Just have never understood that if they are all of the "christian" faith, why are there so many denominations within it??? How can Methodist be better the 4 Square, be better then Catholic, be better then Lutherin, if they all teach out of the same "book" that supposedly hasn't change since writen.
Sorry, didn't mean to go on like that. Just an observation.
Dont' hold your breath, but maybe, just maybe, things are starting to turn around a little bit in Iraq. In a news report last night (not from the main stream media of course as they are not allowed to report anything positive in Iraq) they said that total deaths have been going down. 900 something this year compared to 1900 last yr, 35 this month compared to 65 last month, and for the first time since March 2003, went a whole week with no US deaths. Obviously still a long way to go, but if this can miraculouly keep up, maybe troops numbers can start being pulled down.
To date: 65 front page stories in NY Times concerning Abu Ghraib (sp), 0 front page stories concerning Navy Seal Medal of Honor awardee.
MJB, Nick Charles,
You do realize that most of the country thinks that Alex Jones is a nut job when they hear what he spouts on his radio show, don't you? That is if they have even heard of him.
foodie and librule-
you folks need to understand the importance of athletics before you start bashing them. sports gives a child a sense of belonging. it also allows kids from different backgrounds come together on common ground which they otherwise might not have. athletics is a way for a school to draw the communitity in and show support for the local school which obviously this town knows nothing about. for goodness sakes 350 people attended cape central homecoming. this town needs to get off its fat butts and support the schools athletic programs by going to the games and paying your dollar their or they will be forced to come door to door selling crap none of us need. you people want to sit and bash the athletic programs without thinking where some of our youth would be without them. more kids would be fat, lazy, and stupid because they would spend even more time in front of your computer and tv. stick that in your cereal bowl and eat it. SUPPORT THE SPORTS NOT THE ARTS!!!!!!!!!!! BRING IN A SUPERINTENDENT THAT BELIEVES IN THAT.
There are many very good football players in Cape Central walking the halls.Problem is,there not playing football.Has anyone tried to figure out why?Perhaps it has more to do with the coach and administration then some would think.No one supports a loosing team.Not at the High School level or the pro level.Getting a ticket to the Rams games is getting pretty easy these days.People that own season tickets are giving them to anyone who wants to go.Athletics is and should be a part of the education process but not the most important!I see several pro athletes that played for a big college but never learned a **** thing while attending except how to play basketball or football!Some can't even speak english.Too much concern over the money brought in to the University and not enough on the scholastic side of things.Its time the High Schools in our area spend more time on academics and less time worrying about sports.Librule mentions
setting goals,teamwork,sacrafice and other important life learnings.Sports is not the only place where these things should be learned!Playing well at sports then getting a scholarship to a fine University and then going pro and makeing millions of dollars means very little if you can't even balance a checking account or speak good english!
And then we wonder why many of these great athletes become criminals.Its in the news every week it seems.Apparently ahtletics did not teach them about goals and hard work and even sacrafice!If a nice High School with a great sports program is all we want then our kids will sufffer in the long run.
Sports in our public schools teaches good sportsmanship, right? Hardly! Educational data do show that those students who are introduced to the arts (music especially) excel in math. Wish I could say the same about the costly sports program.
preachergrandma, many who are "teaching and spouting" God's word seem to have great confusion in both the interpreting and the living of it. It seems the more radical they are the less compassion and tolerance of others' ideas they have. I've met many of them and, believe me, they scare me.
Mpreszler,
"Not saying I'm not wrong or misinformed, just curious on your thoughts on when does the US let the Iraqi people govern/protect themselves?"
By no means am I capable to give REAL TIME situation reports about what is going on the ground. I'm just a knuckle dragger, but I do know that when there are more outside forces trying to undermine all that has been worked for, the locals need a little more help than just air support.
I'm like the rest of you. I want us out of there, but to do a job half-assed doesn't make it a job complete. Going back and doing it all over again would, to be frank, really suck.
Aren't we still in Kosovo? Wasn't that regimen change completed in the 90's?
Let the guys/women who fight, fight and let the guys/women who look stupid in suits and say stupid things (both sides) do exactly that.
When that reporter in California was trying to get a negative story out Arnold earlier this week, it should've spoken volumes to everyone about how the media reports what is true and what sells.
I have to respond to the sports bit. My older son played football during his high school years. He received an 'award' that almost made me walk out. (I regret that I didn't.) It was neither funny nor inspiritation. Fortunately, my son didn't rely upon sports for his self esteem. He was strong spirited, so he took it in stride. During his playing years, I watched as only certain players got to play. A couple of which are now in prison or have fattened up since they stopped taking steroids. There were others more worthy of being allowed to play but they didn't fit the coaches view of 'good' players. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
joesnider44
Sports are a great and wonderful thing for some people. Other students tend to get involved in art and music based on their personality. The Cape Central Homecoming ONLY had 350 people in attendance. It was held on a Thursday night and many people left after the Award winning Marching Band performed the half time show.
I have to comment about the concert. I have never seen Rodney Carrington before, but before I went I was warned it was R rated. Notice the R. Anything is possible. I wasn't surprised some woman showed off, in fact, I was more surprised that more didn't show themselves. When you go to a concert that has all kinds of fowl language, whatelse should you expect. I didn't have a problem with it. I wouldn't dare show off, but if others want to it shouldn't bother anyone. In fact, the only woman it would bother is woman that was jeolous of the woman that was showing themselves. If you don't want to see nudity, stay away from R rated concerts!!! I had a great time at the concert and it was my first time watching Rodney Carrington. I would go back!! It was a great concert!
RE: joesnider44
I'm laughing at your post, either you're really bad at being funny (however it did make me laugh) OR you're just a moron.
All of those Physical Education classes that kids have to take all through school should be teaching them about sportsmanship and not to be fat and lazy.
I'm not saying to cut out sports all together in school...but you cannot rely on it to show other community's how "good" your school is. Academics are the #1 thing that can do that.
joesnider44
Where did you get the idea that I was bashing sports? It wasn't from any post that I wrote. Go back and read it again, and you will see that I was pointing out the good qualities of involvement in sports.
As for the others that are saying that because a miniscule percentage of the total number of athletes end up stupid and/or in jail proves that athletics teaches them nothing, how absurd. That's like saying that if out of a class 100 graduating seniors one of them ends up a criminal, then the entire graduating class was a failure. There is always going to be a few bad apples in any bunch.
Sports are not the most important aspect of an education, but they are a valuable part of it.
Signed, former high school 3 sport letterman with a college degree, great paying and rewarding career, and believe it or not, no criminal record.
Farjar154,
Did a little research on Kosovo and found this interesting thought...
"Kosovo (Serbian: Ð?о'?ово и Ð?е'?о'?и'?а, transliterated Kosovo i Metohija; also Ð?о'?ме'?, transliterated Kosmet, Albanian: Kosova or Kosovë) is a region in southern Serbia which has been under United Nations administration since 1999. While Serbia's sovereignty is recognised by the international community, in practice Serbian governance in the province is virtually non-existent."
I think one of the major differences between Kosovo and Iraq is the "United Nations administration" not United States administration. My understanding it is the United Nations keeping us involved with Kosovo not just the US. Iraq is basically a US cituation with all the other countries slowly pulling out their troops. Could the US not do the same?
I am just starting my research into this topic of Kosovo, so appreciate you view on it as well as what I can find out on my own.
Thanks Farjar, honestly had not thought to look into the Kosovo issue until you mentioned it. I need to be a bit more worldly in my outlook. Look forward to your ideas.
By the way: See Jackson school system. Great academics, great sports programs, great music/band programs, and great community support for all 3 year in and year out. Academics/Sports/Arts/Community and Parental support, they can and do go together to provide a well rounded education, and all are important.
Foodie: You are starting to scare me.
We will leave Iraq when they run out of oil. Can't put a time on when that will be have to ask the Chinese. Just hope they don't dump the dollar for a few more years.
I have been reading some of these post about the education shows how good a school is...when was the last time the students GPA's were posted in the paper? The only thing education wise that gets printed is the honor roll or when the MAP test don't reach state standards! If a child does not want to learn then you are not going to force them to. The only thing you will do is drive them to quit because that is what our society has come to. We as parents need to take a stronger role in our children's lives and become the parents we had growing up and not the parents we wished we had growing up. Put the religion and discipline back into the schools and maybe we can have a balanced school. Then we could all be proud of our public school system.