OpinionFebruary 18, 2007
Speak Out 2/18/07
Happy ending; Internal probe; Running joke; Sensitive egos; Pelosi's plane; Volleyball involved; NASCAR party; Axes to grind; Personal responsibility; Choosing schools; We make the rules; Library suggestions; Bridge to somewhere; Making plans; Waste to ethanol; Board fighting; Highway trash; Guns and schools; Assessing blame; Bag the trash; Cold cruelty; Wacky weather; Getting help; Need lights
Happy ending
HOW THE high school sweethearts got together again story made my heart glad. I love stories with happy endings. Best wishes to this deserving couple.
Internal probe
MSHSAA IS going to let Bell City School District conduct its own investigation? That is like letting Enron do its own accounting. It's like putting Al Capone in charge of Prohibition. MSHSAA is a joke. When this is all said and done, nothing will happen to Bell City. Take that to the bank.
Running joke
TO KERWIN Urhahn: You're doing one heck of a job as MSHSAA executive director. Since you've taken over you've managed to make MSHSAA the running joke of the area. The Missouri Legislature is about to take over your organization. What a way to represent Southeast Missouri.
Sensitive egos
THAT A proposed preschool providing opportunities for those who lag academically might succumb to sensitive egos on the Cape Girardeau school board is beyond pitiful.
Pelosi's plane
TO THE person who said Republicans in Congress are responsible for Nancy Pelosi not getting the use of a plane: She has access to a plane, but not one that could fly her from California to Washington, D.C., without stopping for fuel. Congress has nothing to do with it. This is something being done by the Pentagon.
Volleyball involved
THESE ALLEGATIONS don't just involve the basketball team at Bell City School District. They involve the state-caliber volleyball program also. Bell City has about 50 children who don't live in their school district attending that school right now.
NASCAR party
LAST YEAR we had a Daytona party at our house. There were more people who came to our party than the party we attended for the Super Bowl. We have had several of our friends ask us if we were going to have another party this year. I wish I could find decorations that related to NASCAR racing.
Axes to grind
THANK YOU, Tom Reinagel and Charles Bertrand, for nixing the NARS offer for a preschool location. You obviously have axes to grind.
Personal responsibility
WE DON'T need laws such as seat-belt laws and helmet laws to protect us from ourselves. What we need is to practice personal responsibility and understand that our actions have consequences.
Choosing schools
LET'S NOT be too hard on Naylor and Bell City. We have families in our own fair city who are using empty-lot ownership to justify sending their children to certain elementary schools. I know at least four families who send their children to Alma Schrader Elementary School who don't live in that attendance area. This isn't fair to those who live in other neighborhoods and can't choose. This should be stopped.
We make the rules
WE PAY schools and day cares to provide a level of care that we dictate. And they should realize that they are accountable to the parents and should stop trying to turn honest criticism into a name-calling contest.
Library suggestions
WITH THE passing of the Cape Girardeau Public Library expansion, please include in a wider choice of current best sellers and updated titles across the board. Other libraries have excellent movies to rent that are current. Can this be factored in to our improved library?
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Bridge to somewhere
I'VE BEEN pondering for some time the comment Mayor Jay Knudtson made: "There isn't anything over on the other side of the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge." Has the mayor stopped to think how many people from Illinois cross into Missouri on that bridge every day to work in Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Scott City, plus all the other travelers from other states who stop in Cape Girardeau to spend money? Yes, there have been businesses that have opened that aren't up to everyone's standards, but there also are communities, churches and schools that attract residents who cross the bridge to nowhere. Southern Illinois has had some good outcomes from some newly elected officials who won't give up until they get the area up and back on its feet. It will take time and a lot more effort to achieve these goals, but they are going to become reality in the near future. When reality hits, how many more people from Cape Girardeau will be coming across the bridge to nowhere?
Making plans
I ALSO worked for 20 years. At the beginning of my working, I began to set money aside to buy health insurance and disability insurance in case something happened to me in the future, I'd have these programs to rely upon rather than having to rely upon other people to take care of me.
Waste to ethanol
IF ANYONE knows how to turn municipal garbage and sewage into ethanol, get a patent and do it -- the sooner the better. Maybe we won't have to buy so much petroleum from the Middle East.
Board fighting
I DON'T understand the fighting among Cape Girardeau School Board members regarding the location of a preschool near a pawnshop. We take our children to Wal-Mart, which sells guns. We take our children to other places that sell guns. I don't own a gun, but guns don't kill people. People do. It looks like our school board is acting like a bunch of feuding children.
Highway trash
I'M ON Interstate 55 going from Scott City toward Cape Girardeau. There's a wreck, so we're barely moving. I'm looking in the median at all the trash. Great job, everybody. I would think most people would have a trash can at home they could put their stuff in. Keep America beautiful.
Guns and schools
I READ the Cape Girardeau school board was deadlocked on the preschool, which this town needs badly, because of a pawnshop with guns. Pawnshops do not sell ammunition. The guns they sell are empty and locked up. The junior high school is right across Independence Street from a pawnshop that sells guns.
Assessing blame
REGARDING THE high-speed chase by the Chaffee police officer: People need to take responsibility for their actions. Everyone wants to blame someone else. It's tragic that two lives were lost and two people were injured. Is that the police officer's fault? The driver only had to stop the car. Would the public rather the officer not try to stop speeders?
Bag the trash
PLEASE, CAPE Girardeau. Let's only allow people's trash to be set out in bags like Jackson does. The large cans with lids blow into neighbors' yards or in the middle of the street where they can cause accidents.
Cold cruelty
LEAVING YOUR dogs and cats outside at night when it's this cold is cruelty to animals. I love my animals. Why don't other people love their animals?
Wacky weather
I THOUGHT it was interesting that the global-warming summit in Washington, D.C., had to be canceled due to ice. Not only have a lot of people fallen into the hype of global warming, but it's also carried over to Punxsutawney Phil. A short time ago the groundhog was predicting winter's over. Now there is a blizzard from Chicago to the East Coast.
Getting help
I'M CALLING about the new Medicaid plan for the working disabled. I've been disabled for 13 years and worked part-time jobs until the state abolished the program. I made maybe $75 a week. I didn't get food stamps. I paid for food and gas to get back and forth to work. But I had a reason to get up, I had somewhere to go and people who needed me. Now I sit all day and often think of suicide. Give people a reason to keep going. It's unrealistic to expect people to make $500 a month. Help the little people.
Need lights
I WISH Jackson would put the lights in that were promised on East Jackson Boulevard. Cape Girardeau already has lights. It's really dark at night when you're driving.
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