GOING AFTER LITTER

It's everywhere: along the highways, beside remote county roads and on city streets. Litter is so prevalent that it has become a major headache -- and a costly one too.

Unlike many crimes, littering cannot be relegated to a criminal class of citizens. Almost everyone litters, in one way or another, often without realizing it. Take the case of two elderly women in an expensive, late-model automobile who stopped recently at a downtown intersection in Cape Girardeau. First the gray-haired driver rolled down the window while waiting for traffic to clear and tossed out a still-lit cigarette. Then the passenger, a diminutive, white-haired woman who probably was the driver's mother, rolled down her window and also threw out a burning cigarette.

These women aren't exactly the hoodlums associated with the rising crime rate, but they committed a crime nonetheless. And city, state and county governments continue to battle the litter problem.

Missouri has had considerable success in recent years with its adopt-a-highway program. Organizations, families and even individuals agree to volunteer their services to keep a portion of highway cleared of litter. The highway department provides safety vests and trash bags and also sends trucks around to pick up the collected trash. One objective of the program is to show motorists that their friends and neighbors do some hard work whenever the litter piles up.

Cape Girardeau County is also confronting a litter problem. In particular the county commission is concerned about the illegal dumping along country roads. The dump sites are not only unsightly, they can be hazardous.

In an attempt to thwart the problem, the commission is seeking a volunteer to serve as the county's litter control officer. The program is based on a successful litter-control effort in mostly rural Wayne County to the east. The county will provide training, a vehicle and a uniform allowance for doing a tremendous service.

Anyone interested in helping the county control litter may call the sheriff, John Jordan, at 243-3551. Officials as well as residents of the county would certainly appreciate the help.