Speak Out 3/4/05

Mega-talented Minnie

THERE WERE many good performances for the Oscars, but I feel Minnie Driver was overlooked for best supporting actress in "Phantom of the Opera." I think she's mega-talented.

Time for food stamps

MY WIFE and I were also on food stamps at one time. We had to have them or we wouldn't be able to eat. But we worked our way off of them. Today I'm glad to say we're both business owners, working hard and own our own house. But there's a time and a place for food stamps. I'm sure glad they were there when we needed them. If everybody would use them the way they were meant to be, there would be plenty for everyone who needed them.

Smart planning

HOW MANY Americans would invest for their retirement if they were not forced to contribute to Social Security? Chances are they would spend the money, and there would be an awful lot of people on welfare eventually. The people who set up Social Security knew what they were doing. It's a wonderful thing.

Location, location

ABOUT RELOCATING the recycling center: It sure will be much easier to throw cans in the street and let the leaves fly than to drive to Southern Expressway.

Bring back our PO

WE WANT our post office back in Millersville. It's inconvenient for senior citizens.

A kind word

ALTHOUGH I am not a teacher, I once worked with children from all backgrounds in a local school. My position in that school sometimes allowed me to be a sympathetic ear to all types of the types of kids. Rich or poor, I saw neglected children come to school with grumbling tummies because they had parents who were either too busy or too strung out to nurture them. Sometimes I saw these children come to school in worn and dirty clothes that brought humiliating taunts from other children. These same neglected children would be in trouble long before the first bell rang for class. They might not cause trouble, but they would be troubled. I soon came to realize just how much a kind word, a smile or an understanding nod can mean to some of these kids. I know, because I was one of these children a long time ago.

Thanks for glasses

I DO water exercise at the bubble. After getting ready to go to my aquatics class last Tuesday, I laid my glasses, by mistake, on the notebook of a young woman who was already in the pool. I want to thank her for turning my glasses in to her swimming instructor's office. He should be very proud of his student. I want her to know how much I appreciate her mature action. They were quite expensive. God bless.

Nab the dealers

WHY DON'T the sheriff and police find out who is selling drugs to the kids they are arresting? If they got the dealers off the street, the kids wouldn't get in trouble. Get after the dealers. That's where our problem is.

Fast-food trash

THIS IS Sunday morning at 8 a.m., I'm out for my regular walk. This is the third day in a row that I've picked up fast-food garbage on Spruce Street and Silver Springs Road. I cannot get our city councilman, Matt Hopkins, to do anything about the litter problem in the Westfield area. We do not want to live in a littered environment.

Where's the warning?

WITH THE storm season fast approaching, many Cape Girar-deau residents would like to know what the city has done to prepare us for a warning system.

We paid our share

SOME OF my fellow senior citizens said the government spends more on us. Get real. We weren't always old, you know. There was a time when we paid taxes. We're still paying. We paid enough to lay the groundwork for the younger generations. They're not giving us senior citizens a thing -- nothing that we didn't earn and work for.

Messy front yard

Jackson, with the motto "City of Beautiful Homes, Schools and Churches," apparently has no ordinances against filling front yards with junk. The Wayne County look is visible in the 1000 block of Highland Drive, where a house has a front yard full of junk. It makes me ashamed not only to live in the neighborhood, but also to live in Jackson. Clean up the mess!.

Fix it first

Instead of making I-55 wider, how about fixing what is there now? It is so rough and a disgrace for Missouri.

Thanks to 1140th

What is wrong with people? As I was heading to work today, the police escorted the 1140th Engineer Battalion as it returned home from Iraq. I pulled over along with several others to show respect and give a small thank you. However, two vehicles almost hit me as the drivers tried to weave through the two lanes of traffic that pulled over. How disrespectful. These men and women have risked their lives for our country, and some people can't show more respect than that. Welcome home, 1140th, and thank you.

Save on architect

CAPE GIRARDEAU is going to pay a fee of over 10 percent of construction costs to an out-of-town architect to design a fire station. I cannot understand why our tax dollars are being paid to a big-city architect. There are half a dozen architects here -- six more opportunities to keep our tax dollars in our community. And any local architect would have done this project for 6 percent or less. On a $2 million project, that's a difference of $80,000. Thank you, Cape Girardeau City Council, for spending our tax money so wisely.

Big influence

Years ago, Southeast Missouri State University was a small state teachers college, and we did just fine. Stop and think how much the Drury family has done for new businesses and jobs. They never seem to get any credit for all they've done.

Haughty defense

For academia to hang its hat on Ward Churchill in defense of academic freedom is a haughty absurdity.