Speak Out 4/24/05

Weeds, not chemicals

I HAVE a beautiful house and a lawn with some weeds. I would rather have them than have my child run around on chemicals.

Wonderful commentary

YOUNG JUSTIN Cox's wonderful commentary should appear in that spot on the Opinion page every day. What a refreshing piece, particularly when compared with the ideological, partisan blowhards whose screeds often appear in that spot.

It's not politics

I HOPE the Southeast Missourian won't belittle itself by running stories that compare the new pope to conservatives or liberals. His views are based on his faith, one shared by many, and should not be tarnished by the lowly name of today's politics.

Ballclub welfare

BASEBALL CLUB owners are just like the rest of us. If the state government wants to give them welfare, why shouldn't they accept it?

Best in many areas

I WOULD have to disagree with the comment about Jackson High School being the top academic school in the area or the state. Central High School in Cape Girardeau is the best in many areas including academics, sports and community outreach. Central will host the biggest student senate convention in Missouri in 2006.

Thief at fund raiser

MY SON'S traveling baseball team had a fund raiser at the Cape Girardeau Wal-Mart. The team raffled a $100 Wal-Mart gift card. In order to show people what we were offering, we had an unactivated gift card laying on top of our table. Somebody stole the card, probably thinking he was getting a card with $100 on it. I hope the person who did this is happy with himself knowing that he was stealing from a bunch of hard-working kids. Thank you so much to all of the people who supported us, and congrats to the winner.

More must be better

MORE THAN one commission has concluded that our overly large, heavily bureaucratized federal government failed in a lot of ways to protect us from 9-11. The solution? Expand the federal government. What else would you expect?

What's in it for me?

YOU CAN tug on the heartstrings of Jackson voters from now until the end of eternity, but you will never get a sufficient number of them to vote for the school bond issue until you convince them that it's in their economic interest.

Infringing on rights

I AGREE with U.S. Rep Jo Ann Emerson on most things, but the Real ID Act sounds more like an infringement of my constitutional rights. I have a right to my privacy, particularly in groups that I am a part of, churches that I do or don't attend and stances on controversial issues. I do not want this information in my driver's license to be used against me when convenient by an extreme administration. I think we can come up with a better way to reduce illegal alien problems than to infringe on our rights. We should make sure to speak to our representatives and senators to let them know that we do not support and will not condone this infringement.

Ode to Dandelions

Dandelions are beautiful.

I grow them in my yard.

Speak Out critics will never stop me.

I'm the dandelion bard.

Officers on the job

MAYBE IF you knew what officers go through trying to get to a call as soon as possible, you would have a different opinion regarding the shortcuts they take. Any shortcut possible helps the officers and the citizens in many ways. If they do not get to a call within a short amount of time, other citizens get angry and complain about that too. Would you rather the officers take shortcuts and get to you sooner? Or take longer on responding to a call? They do not take shortcuts if they do not have to. So let them do their job.

Bond issue advice

I VOTED for the Jackson School District bond issue, but I did so with numerous reservations. If the bond issue is to pass, the administration needs to answer the following: What were the reasons for refinancing the Orchard School bonds, and how was it advantageous to the taxpayers? What is being done to localize training for teachers and administrators through video-teleconferencing? What steps have been taken to trim the fat from the current budget? Answer those questions honestly and admit when mistakes may have been made, and I believe the bond issue will pass the next time. If administrators continue to treat us like we're completely uninformed, the district will lose more yes votes than it will gain. Doing simple things like mowing the grass around the high school football field will go a long way in showing voters that the district can handle additional caretaking and management responsibilities.

Dangerous curves

WHY IS County Road 621 in Cape Girardeau County such a popular place to cycle? I passed a pack of six cyclists while coming home yesterday. If you've ever traveled this road you know there's no place for six cyclists to go, so it's up to us in the motorized vehicles to swerve to avoid an accident. I implore you, cyclists, please use the bike trail made specifically for you. It's very stressful having to share the road with bicycles.