Speak Out 01/30/04

Thanks to Ameren

SOME OF the property owners on Edgewood and adjoining streets would like to thank AmerenUE for restoring their yards to as good a condition or better condition than existed before the utility company repaired the gas lines.

Need controls

WE HAVE to have ordinances to control things. All cities have limits on pets. Some people don't have common sense.

Save the fireworks

I'M CALLING about the proposed ban of some fireworks in Jackson. I hope this measure does not pass. I enjoy fireworks every Fourth of July. Although I am sorry that a house burned down, banning fireworks is not the answer. Christmas decorations cause house fires every year. Although the city is only talking about banning certain fireworks, that's just the first step. Once the city bans one thing, you'll never get it back, and it's leaning toward an all-out ban of all fireworks. I really hope this doesn't happen.

Sad about restrictions

HOW UPSETTING that someone would propose that anyone under 17 can't buy fireworks. At least when a kid's doing fireworks, it's not like a video game where he's just sitting there. It's so sad the restrictions this generation is putting on youths compared to the lack of restrictions they had growing up.

Circle of cutbacks

WITH REGARD to the concentric-circle proposal that superintendent Mark Bowles gave before the Cape Girardeau School Board made cuts: So where were the administrative cuts? My understanding of the concentric circles was the cuts were supposed to come from people who were outside the classroom. Now we're going to lose five teachers, counselors and librarians. Don't let this issue die. The board has hurt our schools beyond repair.

Budgeting concepts

IT'S INTERESTING to see the Cape Girardeau School District used the same budgeting process that the university did. That's the budget plan where you fire all the people that actually work but make sure to protect the overstaffed and overpaid administrators. What a great job these guys are doing, both at the university and at the public schools.

Trim the trees

DON'T BLAME the power outages on the ice. Blame AmerenUE for failing to keep tree limbs trimmed away from the power lines. I live in a wooded subdivision where power outages are far too common. In almost every instance, the outages are caused by tree limbs that should have been trimmed. Sunday's power failures were not an act of nature. They were an act of negligence.

Children instead of dogs

IT REALLY gets to me when I read about pet owners who are so wrapped up in having more than four animals. Why don't you think about feeding and taking care of an orphan instead of being so selfish?

Nice artwork

I WENT to a game at the Franklin Elementary School gym. It is a nice facility. Whoever did the artwork of the tiger did a great job. I just wanted to comment how nice it was.

Butts are worse

I SEE where Jackson and Cape Girardeau are trying to ban bottle rockets because they create a litter problem. Has anyone noticed the thousands of cigarette butts at intersections, outside grocery stores and in the medians? They're everywhere. Why don't we do something about people throwing out a cigarette butt?

Disappointing behavior

I AM disappointed to see people encouraging state Rep. Rod Jetton to put politics in the gutter by insulting our governor by interrupting his speech. The ends do not justify the means.

Plea for Cottonwood

I WOULD like to share with the community the importance of residential treatment facilities for children with emotional and behavioral problems ages 6 to 17 who can no longer be safely managed at home. Cottonwood Treatment Center, funded through the Department of Mental Health, has been providing these services for the past 17 years. It has been a challenge to incorporate the children's need for structure and safety into a noninstitutional, home-like environment. In addition to residential care -- the average length of stay is six to 12 months -- the services that Cottonwood provides are individual evaluation and therapy, group therapy, family therapy, recreational therapy, case management, psychiatric care, nursing assessment and monitoring, dietary assessment and monitoring, 24-hour crisis intervention, school support and individualized school attention. We ask the community for a show of support to help establish the continuation of Cottonwood as a priority and to help our officials to appropriate resources to continue operation.

Not afraid

I LIVE in the Gordonville-Tilsit area, and I don't know anybody who's afraid of mountain lions. Why in the world would we be?

Inexcusable cuts

I THINK we should have a recall election for all the Cape Girardeau School Board members. Any school board member who voted to keep administrators at the board office level over teachers at the elementary level ought to be recalled. It's despicable that the board members talk about not making cuts that hurt kids, yet that is where they made the most cuts. They cut five teachers but kept a part-time retired personnel director in position. That's inexcusable.

Age limit for fireworks

IT SEEMS weird that Jackson and Cape Girardeau have trouble deciding on an age limit for buying fireworks. It seems like after they're 18 years old people are responsible with their fireworks.

Program the lights

I AM sick and tired of the stoplight at Broadway and Caruthers always being green for Caruthers when there is no traffic coming off that street. Stoplights are programmable. There's no reason the light should turn red for traffic on Broadway. I think the city can do something about this.

Not suitable

IT IS a joke that the Martin Luther King Day committee would select the SEMO Coalition for Peace and Justice to recognize with an award. As many good community-service organizations as we have in this area, why choose an organization that is based purely on what it opposes? King was a visionary man who knew what he stood for. He was optimistic. The Coalition for Peace and Justice is the antithesis of this standard. This organization voices no core beliefs beyond opposing the current presidential administration.