Speak Out 12/6/04

Littering in the city

REGARDING THE Speak Out comment regarding a team effort to clean up streets: Until you have picked up trash nearly every day, no one really cares. I have picked up trash in the Westfield area for 1 1/2 years. I have seen foam cups, empty cigarette packs, calling cards, broken beer bottles, beer cans, drug needles and fast-food trash. The list goes on and on. Business owners, landlords and residents of the Westfield area do not care, and no one will pick anything up. The problem is the person throwing it on the ground. Citizens of Cape Girardeau and visitors to the city should learn that it is a crime to litter. Have a little respect for your surroundings.

Enforcing the law

I'M WONDERING the Cape Girardeau Police Department doesn't enforce all of the laws. When laws are enacted, they're not put there to be selectively enforced. I watched a police officer using a radar gun when it was pouring down rain. I can't tell you how many cars came down the street that did not have their lights on but had their windshield wipers going. Why is this law not enforced? If it's a law, then the taxpayers expect the law to be enforced.

Overbooked docs

THE DOCTORS and hospitals in this area need to take note, and their receptionists need to quit overbooking. My time is as important as yours. When I have an appointment at 1 o'clock, I expect to be seen at 1 o'clock.

District is excelling

HAS ANYONE besides me wondered about the Jackson School District needing more money and the fact that they continue to excel in test scores? Jackson has always had a great reputation, and I agree that the growth in the school district has been tremendous. However, I feel it is unnecessary to tell us how badly the money is needed when the district continues to excel. The district needs to find a different angle.

Put money in classrooms

WHY COULDN'T the community elect the school superintendent? After all, it is the community's children going to the schools. Why do teachers have to pay for supplies out of their own pockets? That should come out of the school's petty cash. Why are their not enough textbooks? All this extra money being spent in the offices needs to be aimed at providing the schools with what what's needed for each teacher and student. Put the money in the classrooms and into teachers' salaries.

Trucks on ramps

WHEN IT comes to interstate on-off ramps, the culprits for the rough roads and deteriorating shoulders are truckers. They get tired and stop, but they should park at a truck stop. The excessive use causes huge potholes on the ramps.

Back into meth

THE BIGGEST problem in Scott County is the methamphetamine. The police are trying to stop the selling of meth. But a couple of known meth makers in my town were caught three years ago. The husband was sent to jail for three years. The wife only spent two months in jail. She got out and starting selling meth again. After he got out, the husband started doing the same thing.

Real state of affairs

MY HAT'S off to Eli Fishman. At last someone is voicing his opinion regarding the real state of affairs, unlike some of your syndicated columnists like Michelle Malkin, David Limbaugh and Kathleen Parker, whose opinions are destructive. Why do they write with so much hatred about people who have different beliefs, opinions or ideology?

A detailed plan

I AGREE that all school superintendent candidates should present a detailed plan for the district before being chosen for the job. More of the same is not going to cut it. Board members should be actively questioning teachers about the current situation. Talking to a few administrators and going to school board conventions does not make you informed about what's going on in this district.

Parking question

A CO-WORKER always parks in our employer's limited handicapped parking spaces. This person has a handicapped parking tag, but only because the spouse is disabled. My co-worker is perfectly healthy, hearty and one of the most energetic people I know. If you have a handicapped tag, are you required to use these spaces? Or is my co-worker simply being thoughtless by taking up a space that might be needed by someone with a legitimate reason to park in the spots reserved for the disabled?

Hogging the road

WHAT IS the deal with dog walkers on Ridge Road in Jackson? Every morning these women and their pooches are either walking down the wrong side of the road or in the middle of the road. Anyone in Jackson knows how very narrow Ridge Road is. When they see a vehicle approach, they make no attempt to move over. Are they wanting to get hit so they can sue someone?

Not good sense

THIS DOESN'T make sense. While one group is pushing the seat-belt issue, another group is talking about changing the law that requires riders to wear a helmet on a motorcycle.

I'm paying the bills

MY VEHICLE is paid for by my money. My gas is paid for by my money. Can I please drive the vehicle I want?

Schools that work

AFTER SEEING all the hullabaloo concerning the new superintendent of schools, I am glad my children attend a private school. I'm not wealthy. We give up a lot of things to pay the tuition for our children, and we continue to pay property taxes to support the failing public school system. In the public school system today there is too much bureaucracy and too much money wasted on things not needed to ensure a proper education. Our principal does not receive anything near what a principal in the public school system receives, and she teaches classes as well. Our building was built around the 1920s. It has been air conditioned, has new windows and has been remodeled by parents donating our time and money to make things better for our children. Coaches for our sports teams are volunteers. We do it all without money from the state or federal governments. And our children score higher than average on high school entry exams. Until you all put your feet down, nothing is going to change. Start by replacing your board of education with commonsense people.

Six-figure salary

WHILE THE salary for the new superintendent of schools would hardly make a difference when divided among the many teachers in the district, Taxpayers see no need to pay a superintendent a six-figure salary. If he wants that type of salary, he needs to move to Los Angeles or New York -- somewhere with a good value system and where it is safe.

Underpaid teachers

JUST ABOUT every teacher I have ever known has been underpaid. It has been that way since the profession began. However, teachers know -- or should -- what their lives are going to be like. It's not right, but public schools waste too much money that should go for salaries of teachers and necessary supplies and buildings for the students. No teacher should have to purchase supplies out of his own pocket to support the curriculum.

Major issues

THE WOMAN who said dads are only needed to pay child support and nothing else must have major issues with her former husband. It's sad that she will raise her child this way. It sounds like a lot of dads could raise her child better than she could.

Get common sense

IT LOOKS as if the Cape Girardeau School Board has lost its mind. $100,000-plus for a new superintendent? That's ridiculous. It sounds like we need to replace every one of the board members with common-sense people who know what it is like to live within a budget. My guess is that the taxpayers in the district are not going to take to any more tax increases.

Reaching out

I THINK it was an excellent idea for members of the Muslim community to reach out and educate our area. Given the lack of diversity in Southeast Missouri, it is quite difficult to get a sense of other cultures. Education is always the key to understanding. Ignorance only breeds hate.

A better way

I DON'T understand why the United States has responded to Holland's legalization of euthanasia with so-called outrage. Right or wrong, the Dutch government has legalized euthanasia in cases where survival of terminally ill children is unlikely. So while they prefer not to prolong unnecessary suffering of sick individuals, the United States aborts millions of potentially healthy infants every year. Yet we cry out against Europe. We have lost our moral compass as well. This whole world is sick. I pray that God will very soon teach us a better way.

Wonderful fathers

I AM hurt that someone believes children only need dads for money. Children need a daddy just as much as a mommy. There are wonderful fathers out there. I don't think women should be granted custody just for being women.

Just a reflection

HAVING GONE to school very close to New Lorimier Cemetery, I have seen Green Eyes many times. It is caused by your car headlights reflecting from a greenish headstone that, due to its shape, looks as though it has a hat on. Maybe this will lay Green Eyes to rest.

Let me listen

I CERTAINLY agree with the comments about local radio and the commercials paying the bills. However, since the FCC deregulated the ratio of commercials to entertainment, radio has gone downhill. If I want to listen to music, I would pay the price of a few commercials, but my guess would be that 60 percent of airtime is consumed by commercials and useless chatter. I'll come back if you make radio listenable again.

Great service

HOW ON earth could the governor-elect consider changing the Chaffee License Bureau? I have gone in there next to tears with problems I felt no one could fix and walked out smiling. Please do not give this office to someone else. This would be a shame. You don't mind waiting in line when you see the person at the counter getting such wonderful service.. Customer service like that doesn't grow on trees anymore.

Satellite radio

THERE IS a lot to be said for local radio, but if you travel across the country as I frequently do, you find many areas where there is no radio station coverage. With satellite, you can still get music, talk, sports and news. Eventually, local radio will have to do like local TV and get onto the satellite systems.