Speak Out 12/12/06

Case conflict

IS JUDGE Ben Lewis going to recuse himself from any cases that are the result of arrests made by the Cape Girardeau Police Department? The police endorsed him. Perhaps these cases also should be moved to another county.

Art inspirations

DR. SAM Bishop, Dr. Ed Smith and Lane Fabrick are some of the best faculty members who have ever graced Southeast Missouri State University. They don't make them like that anymore. I was fortunate enough to study under all three of them for many years. They are knowledgeable in their fields, are able to convey the information to the students in an interesting and entertaining way and are all-around great guys. It's difficult to predict how many students owe their love of art to these three. I wish them the best in their retirement. They will be missed a great deal.

Time for more TV

I ENJOYED your story on professional Christmas-season decorators who work for a profit. I am lucky to have what I consider a professional Christmas decorator who works for free: my wife. Thank you, honey. It frees me up for concentrating on more important tasks like watching ESPN.

Something special

WHAT AN amazing night Friday night was with Rick Springfield in town for the "Concert for Sahara." Not only was he an amazing performer, you could tell that he has so much love for that little girl who is battling for her life. It was so incredible to see Cape Girardeau rally around her and her family. What an amazing event it was. If you weren't able to be a part of it, you definitely missed something special.

Trucking solution

TEXAS HAS a solution to truck traffic on interstates. It involves building one interstate highway inside another. The inside highway handles truck traffic, and the outside highway handles other vehicular traffic. This is an expensive endeavor, but it can be accomplished. A bonus of this design also includes a large right-of-way that carries utilities such as fiber-optic lines, gas pipelines and oil pipelines. As someone who travels a lot, getting the trucks out of our way would be outstanding.

Seeing results

THIS YEAR'S teachers are not allowed to see individual MAP test results, even if your child does terribly. However, next year's teachers will get to see the results -- after the child has been promoted.

Consensus building

THE IRAQ Study Group may not be omniscient, but I'll pay more attention to an attempt at a workable consensus building policy by those such as James Baker than the pontifications of the super-patriot blatherings of the increasingly irrelevant far right.