Speak Out 10/31/05

Where is the justice?

GREG SPARKMAN was put on trial and received the most unjust conviction I've ever heard of. The charges against him were investigated by local and state authorities, and he was cleared of any wrongdoing. Their reports and investigations have never changed since 2000. Jury members were allowed to sleep during his trial, and Judge Henry Autry never woke them up. How could this jury have made an informed decision in this case? Our community should be careful. This could be any one of your family members in the same place. The saddest part is that a respected, honorable, hardworking, giving man along with his family, friends and our community have to go through this kind of travesty while a convicted meth maker, user and dealer will be set free on Dec. 1. Where is the justice?

Poor news choices

SOUTHEAST MISSOURIAN, I really enjoy reading your paper every day. It seems like I can't do without it. But I was sure disappointed in your Oct. 25 paper with the goat missing on the front page and Rosa Parks' death on the back page. Shame on you.

Paying state workers

WHY DOES Gary Rust confuse the issue of low state employee pay with the number of state employees per resident of Missouri? The state has not awarded any merit raise or cost-of-living adjustment in any of the last five years. With inflation a 3 percent minimum, our purchasing power is at least 15 percent less than it was just a few years ago, and our benefits are decreasing every year. We're your state troopers, your highway workers, game wardens, social workers. Sometimes you get what you pay for. We're losing good people and can't attract good ones to replace them. Does anybody care? Who will be our advocate?

Check it out

IF YOU haven't shopped recently in downtown Cape Girardeau, try going down there. There are new places. When you're down there, go into some of the little side places and see some of the new things that Cape Girardeau has to offer. I'm not from Cape Girardeau, but I was truly amazed when I went shopping downtown.

Cemetery vandals

HOW SAD that this city has to put up with infantile vandals who find their fun in destroying Old Lorimier Cemetery.

Proposed penalties

IF AND when the persons who vandalized the tombstones in Old Lorimier Cemetery are caught, they should be publicly horsewhipped and also be forced to work to repair the damages. Finally, they should have mental examinations.

Fabulous party

I WANT to comment on the third-grade Alma Schrader Elementary School Halloween program that was held the other night. It was fabulous.

Try electric fence

WOULDN'T IT be cheaper to put up an electric fence around Old Lorimier Cemetery? I think that would keep the vandals out. If the police catch the offenders, would that be a federal crime, since the cemetery is a national historic site?

Counting deaths

I ASKED my father if, during World War II, he remembered the news media counting every single death as it is doing with the Iraq War. He said they didn't. I guess it started during the Vietnam War. Each death is indeed a tragic loss. But I think the emphasis on every one is deplorable. I doubt we would have had the stomach to win World War II if the media acted the way they are today.

Preservation idea

IT'S SAD to hear about the ongoing vandalism in Old Lorimier Cemetery, mainly because there seems to be no way to control crime in that part of town. If the monuments are being damaged repeatedly, why not make a replica casting of the headstones and store the originals in a safe place? These original stones will not last much longer after the continuing repairs.

Doing his job

ONCE AGAIN, the police chief in Oran comes under attack. This time it is in the form of a torturous rag being passed around in the place of an official petition. This document includes such stellar statements as "Quiet streets are nice but not prosperous." It alludes to the fact that the new police chief, by merely doing the job he was hired to do, has adversely affected the economic prosperity of the businesses in Oran. Hogwash! I say the only adverse economic affect he has had is on the people who refuse to obey simple basic laws and must pay for their actions. I applaud his efforts and his aggressive stance on law enforcement. If you speed through a school zone while children are playing, you deserve a ticket. You deserve more than that. If you drive while intoxicated, you should receive a ticket. Again, you deserve more than that. If you can't obey the laws, don't blame the police because you have to pay a fine.

Mediocre surprise

GEORGE BUSH is a barely mediocre person, and yet he became president of the United States. It doesn't surprise me that he would nominate another mediocre person, such as Harriet Miers, to a position as important as associate justice and then be dumbfounded when the whole country speaks up and says that we won't tolerate slackers at that level of government.

Judging parents

TEACHERS DO not judge their students' home life. They feel sympathy for those who have a bad home life. We do the best we can to make up for what is missing in that child's life. It is wrong to judge a child. Teachers do, however, judge parents who are not doing their job. Sadly enough there are too many parents not doing their job these days. I should know. I am a teacher.