Speak Out 2/3/12

Coaches and parents

KUDOS to area coaches who have the patience of Job in putting up with otherwise-sane parents who slip into sanity-challenged rants when they think their child is being victimized by unjust coaching decisions and that this will harm the parental plan to have the child pursue a career in professional sports.

School uniforms

REGARDING school uniforms: Parents will find that in the long run they will be spending less on school clothing than they will by buying competitive fashions and high-dollar jeans. Have you looked at the price of fashionable jeans lately? Outrageous. Our children and grandchildren all wore school uniforms (a couple are still in school), and believe me, it was a no-brainer as to what to wear to school. The uniforms can be handed down as well. Some of the "queen bees" and "dudes" who outdo the rest of their classmates may find it a little humbling to be dressed like everyone else. School is a place for learning, not a fashion runway. I applaud the school board and school system for taking a stance.

Family values?

WHAT has happened to the party of family values and the evangelical Christians who I once thought espoused and practiced them so well?

Thinking clearly?

SOMEONE asked if we're thinking clearly about urban deer hunting. No, but that's not surprising. We don't think clearly about anything. Man is irrational by nature, forever destined to be governed by baser instincts and emotions. Nothing reflects this more than the content of Speak Out comments.

Quarry location

AT the board meeting it was stated that the best rock quality is in a corridor from St. Louis to Sikeston, right where Heartland Materials is located. Here is an idea, let's put a quarry at East Main and Lacey streets. You would meet all of the qualifications needed for a quarry. One, it's the same corridor for the quality rock. Two, you wouldn't have to annex, it's already in the city limits. And three, soon we will have a new school next to the quarry.

Economy improving

MUCH to the chagrin of many, there is a growing consensus that despite all efforts to prevent it until after the next presidential election, the economy is getting better.

Annexation issue

OVER the years there have been repeated calls for planning and zoning in Cape Girardeau County that have been shot down every time. Now the people of Fruitland want someone to ride to their rescue because of the big bad quarries. They wanted unrestricted freedom in the country. They got it; now live with it.

GOP Congress

ALL these Republican strategists who come on the news networks and give their opinions must be from another world, as they are so far wrong it is funny. But at the same time they always bring up that President Obama has done nothing to help the country since he's been president. They don't mention that their Congress hasn't done one thing to help Americans, only themselves and the millionaires and billionaires. If they would work with him, more could be done, but they only want to try to hurt him or take all the credit to get re-elected.

Bad road

I would have to say that the concrete work on the new Big Bend Road is some of the worst I have seen. It is almost as bad as driving down a gravel road.

No to uniforms

NO school uniforms. This is public school. Our children should be free to express their creativity. If there's a problem, then enforce the current code. Don't let the misbehavior of a few students adversely affect my children's freedom to express themselves.