Speak Out 10/18/11

Football team

CONGRATULATIONS to the Central Junior High School seventh-grade boys football team for going undefeated this season, 6-0. We are so proud of you boys.

Pumpkin Days

DISCOVERY Playhouse will be offering two full days of family-friendly activities at its annual Pumpkin Days event. There will be crafts, treat stations, goody bags and activities. The event is from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Oct. 28 and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 29.

Lacy article

WAY to go, Mr. Lacy. Everything you said in your article was correct. You hit the nail on the head. The city of Jackson folds like cards. If they would have backed the Iron Mountain Railroad when it first started, it's hard telling how far that could have gone. It could have been a major tourist attraction, but the city of Jackson evidently doesn't care about tourism or about history or anything else.

Rest areas

I recently returned from a business trip to another part of the state where I encountered one of MoDOT's closed interstate rest areas. MoDOT said that the services provided by these rest areas would be available at other nearby exits. However, when I got off the highway at a gas and convenience store, the sign on the door boldly proclaimed "customers only." I guess MoDOT crews still carry their own porta-potties.

MRI cost

I'VE been doing my best to make ends meet in these tough times and then I hurt my back working too hard. Doctor said I had to get an MRI and sent me to the hospital. I have insurance but couldn't afford what they were charging me. I checked an outpatient facility in Cape Girardeau, and they charge a fourth as much for the exact same MRI. I saved over a $1,000. It's my choice where to get my MRI, not the doctors'. I choose to save money.

Esquire Theater

I am thrilled to death at the reported restoration of Cape Girardeau's Esquire Theater, though I was disappointed that it is being done in part at taxpayer expense. A taxpayer subsidy for a movie theater during these difficult times? Unbelievable.

Jobs bill

PRESIDENT Obama's jobs bill is partly devoted to rebuilding and repairing our nation's dilapidated infrastructure (roads, bridges, schools, etc.). That will put a lot of people back to work, and the jobs bill will lower the unemployment level by about 2 percent. A huge majority of the American people support the bill. In fact, the only ones opposed to the bill are Republicans in Congress, solely for the purpose of trying to keep President Obama from getting re-elected even if it does serious damage to our nation in an economic sense.

Bowen column

DR. Wayne Bowen claimed in a column that we should help China transition to a democracy. Why would China want to do that? China seems to be living proof that authoritarian capitalism trumps do-nothing democratic capitalism. It is inevitable that China will soon pass the U.S. economically. Get used to it.

Urban hunting

THE rationale for allowing urban deer hunting in Cape Girardeau is reprehensible, unbelievable, unconscionable, unctuous and unconstitutional.