Speak Out 4/28/08

Get it done

MARGARET THATCHER once said, "In politics, if you want someone to make a speech, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman."

Schooling and rent

SOMEONE PLEASE reveal to me how people are supposed to pay high rent? Don't you feel the pinch in the grocery stores and at the pump? I know I do. Do landlords even think of our children? I am a nontraditional college student, married with two kids. I am living in Sikeston but am trying to get to Cape Girardeau so I can work on my degree at Southeast Missouri State University. But I can't fathom paying $700 to $1,200 rent for a house. Wear and tear on homes is inevitable, but it would be less of a hassle if rents fit needs, because the turnover would be less and landlords would have better luck with renters. I decided to go back to school so I could pay bills better, but getting to that day when I have my degree is costing me my livelihood. Does anyone care anymore?

Waiting in line

HOW MUCH gasoline could be saved if the federal, state or city governments closed all drive-through lanes for a week or year? Everyone of us waits in drive-through lanes with our engines running. The wait can be as long as 15 minutes. Closing these lanes for a while could increase the amount of gas on the market, and gas prices would drop. You have a choice. You can avoid drive-through lanes by parking and turning off your engines.

Highway corridor

INTERSTATE 66 should cross the Ohio River a mile or so north of its confluence with the Mississippi River. Then it should connect with I-57 to Sikeston before it continues down the U.S. 60 corridor. The only option that does not include the expense of a $500 million bridge would be to cross the Ohio River at Paducah on the I-24 bridge then cross Southern Illinois to the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge at Cape Girardeau.

Widespread suffering

A GROWING number of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Though it's early, that's the journalistic understatement of the 21st century. Estimates are 300,000 soldiers are suffering from PTSD and another 300,000 from traumatic brain injury.

Commission meetings

RESIDENTS OF Cape Girardeau County are unable to attend our county commission meetings because of the time and days it meets. Most residents are at work trying to make ends meet during the day. I can see why our commission is against webcasting meetings with the way commissioners go behind those closed doors. This is the way they operate when no one is watching over them.