Speak Out 09/15/04

Swimming facilities

THE GATOR Swim Team is practicing in Perryville in September while it takes Cape Girardeau's Parks and Recreation Department three weeks to put the bubble on the pool at Central Junior High School. Staff members at the Perryville Parks Center have been excellent hosts so far, and they have a wonderful facility. They act as if they appreciate the Gators coming up there. If a town like Perryville of not quite 8,000 population can have that type of facility, then what excuse does Cape have with its population of five times Perryville? There are state-of-the-art civic facilities at Perryville, Ste. Genevieve, Poplar Bluff and Farmington. What's Cape's excuse besides poor leadership? And you would think somebody would do enough homework on the River Campus issue about theater seats and do the job right the first time, especially at the taxpayers' expense of millions of dollars.

Unfair welfare

I DON'T understand welfare. I am a 24-year-old single mother of one son who works my tail off striving to make a living on $7.50 an hour. I have tried to apply for child-care assistance, food stamps, HUD, anything I can get to help. But all I get is a letter saying I make too much. I don't understand that. After all the bills are paid and all the taxes are taken out of my check, I am left with squat. Then you have the rest of these bums who don't work but can get child-care assistance, can live on HUD, can get food stamps, can drive nice vehicles and lie to the government. It just is not fair. I have worked hard all my life and never had help from the government.

Great bike city

WE WERE visiting from Texas and wanted to compliment Cape Girardeau on its bicycling access. We rode in on Highway 177 from the north, across on Lexington Avenue and then on the bike trail. The cycling was great, the roads were good -- especially the wide two-lane Lexington that handles bicycles and cars very well -- and the drivers were courteous. This signifies a truly progressive city and says a lot about Cape Girardeau and its residents. Bikes and cars can co-exist quite well it seems.

Great explanation

THANKS FOR the super coverage of the bridge demolition. The stories and photos were great, and I especially appreciated Gabe Hartwig, who took the time to do the diagram showing the sequence in which each span of the bridge was affected by the most recent blast. It helped me understand exactly what happened, even down here in Texas.

Religious outrage

I'M REALLY sick of these comments about putting God back in school. We do not live in a Third World nation. There are countries that are a bit more secular than the United States, and they are doing just fine. There are, however, quite a few Christian nations in Africa that are dealing with much worse problems. Christians do not have a monopoly on morality. So keep your religion out of my face, and I'll keep mine out of yours.

Enough whining

THERE HAVE been a few comments from parents claiming they can't afford this or that on their family budget. These are always the same parents who seem to not be able to find money for certain things for their children but seem to always have enough money to buy cigarettes, booze or lottery tickets. The excuse I hate to hear the most is the one where parents claim they can't raise a family on minimum wage. If one minimum wage job is all you can muster, then you are not competent enough to raise any children.

Proud of Jefferson

I WOULD like to congratulate Jefferson Elementary School on its outstanding progress. No more can that school be labeled as the "bad" school. Teachers and parents of Jefferson have always held their heads up high. Now they can really hold their heads up high. It is good to be a Jefferson Tiger.

Urgent help needed

COULD THE city please get some portable toilets at the Shawnee soccer fields?