Speak Out 6/1/11

Stealing papers

THIS is to all the extreme couponers out there. When you go buy your newspaper, you buy one. If you take more than one, you're stealing. I just witnessed a lady who put her money into a newspaper box and instead of taking one paper, she took eight. That's theft. That's why the newspaper prices keep going up. You pay for the number of papers you get. If you need more than that, pay for it.

Stop blame game

TO the caller blaming the Democrats for not stopping the wars: Where have they been? Bush is a Republican, and he was in the White House for eight years. This blame game needs to stop.

Enforce ordinance

WHEN Jay Knudtson was mayor, he cleaned the city up from signs blowing in the wind. I believe someone even went to jail over it. Cape looked great. What happened? Why pass an ordinance if it's not going to be enforced? Look around, they're everywhere. Especially in Town Plaza.

Be proud

TONIGHT I turned on C-SPAN. There was our President Obama and our first lady Michelle in Dublin, Ireland, at the College Green making a speech to thousands of people, young and old. The band played on and on as our president greeted the crowd with handshakes, kisses, cameras flashing with pride and love. It was like a grand old movie. We Americans should be proud the way thousands greeted our leaders.

Frisbee golf

I love the Frisbee golf at Capaha Park. It's my new favorite hobby.

More sirens

I live on the west side of Cape Girardeau close to Lexington Avenue. We've lived here about 11 years, and I have never heard the weather sirens. Even when I knew they were going off, I'd go outside and listen. I have good hearing; it's just that we live so far away we can't hear them. I think Cape Girardeau should check into getting more of those and spread them around town since the town has grown so much. I think that instead of a dog park, these would benefit more people in Cape Girardeau.

Obama listens

I think many of us like Obama better than George Bush and the reason is that Obama will listen to the people. George Bush made it clear he never was going to listen to us. He didn't care how the American people thought.

Sinkholes

YOU showed pictures in our newspaper of sinkholes in Cairo. Well, that's like many other towns in this area. Cairo has storm sewers underneath the streets that were made out of wood 100 years ago and now that wood is starting to rot out. They need to put in new storm sewers so the wooden ones won't collapse and cause sinkholes. It's going to be an expensive problem. Every town in the area probably has 100-year-old wooden storm sewers. They're going to rot.

Storm shelters

I grew up in the 1960s and remember fallout shelters we had to have with concrete walls two feet thick. Couldn't they be used for storm shelters? There have to be some left.

Extreme couponing

IT looks to me that extreme couponing is an addiction and a selfish act. What about those who don't have the time to invest when they need an item and the shelf is empty? I believe stores need to set a limit and enforce it.

Letter People

Over the years, I have been outraged by hundreds, no thousands of Speak Out comments, but nothing has upset me more than to read that the exclusive and most important thing I remember from my early years in school that helped me take an interest in letters, words and reading are now apparently going to be removed from an area school district's classroom. This is unconscionable. I speak of the removal of the world famous Letter People.