Report littering when you see it

To the editor:

Shame on Cape Girardeau. Cape is a dirty, littered town. It has potholes and cracked pavement in need of repair. These problems go untouched. Civic organizations mount cleanup efforts. That's great, but it shouldn't be necessary. Now the idea of using prisoners to clean up litter has been advanced. Great idea, but nothing new.

Most of the problem is with the people who live in Cape. Surely some of us see it when people litter. Get their license number and make a report. If someone litters your street, chase them down and make them pick it up.

Recycled trash is put out uncontained. The wind blows it all over the neighborhood. People are too lazy to pick up trash out of their own yard.

People who litter are mostly kids and young people. Look around at a neighborhood where new houses are going up. You'll see the fast-food litter from workers. People who don't live there don't care.

I drive Lexington Avenue near Kingshighway every day. Trash can stay on the street for days on end in spite of police, public works and everyday traffic.

Why doesn't the city repair cracks in pavement? It just gets worse and worse.

Yes, I point my finger at Cape. I have chased litterers down. I have picked up trash out of someone else's yard. I have picked up trash in the neighborhood, and so does my wife.

There is a noticeable difference when driving back into Cape after being elsewhere.

DAN PHELPS, Cape Girardeau