Speak out 7/14

I LIVE in Scott City, and we're having a real trash problem here. I was just wondering? Can we only pay half our trash fees since we only get half-time delivery? It's trash day. No trash pickup. This is not the first time, and it probably won't be the last. When does that contract run out?

County road plan

I HAVE a partial solution to raising extra money for the Cape Girardeau County Road District. Anyone living in the county cannot check materials out of the Cape Girardeau Public Library without paying a fee. The North County Park and South County Park are maintained by the county, but the parks are enjoyed by everyone. Start charging a fee for those entering the county parks and do not live in the county. The solutions are out there. It doesn't take a committee years to figure it out. Just ask the county residents.

Buck stops with Bush

PRESIDENT BUSH is blaming the CIA because he got wrong information. Like Harry Truman said, the buck stops with Bush. It was his responsibility to double-check the information.

Just another lie?

NOW THAT George Tenet has admitted that the CIA screwed up by allowing President Bush to make a false statement in the State of the Union address, I feel the name of his agency should be changed to the Central Intelligence Guessing Agency. Tenet's information was so suspect that Colin Powell did not use it a few days later at the United Nations for his major address. If heads do not roll in the administration for these screw-ups, I will assume that it's just another lie by a Bush president. Remember when the first President Bush said, "Read my lips, no new taxes"?

War isn't helping

LIKE FATHER, like son. We've got a war, but unemployment is the highest it's been since World War II. The Republicans amaze me. They manage to have a war and still manage to have high unemployment. We'd better get wise in the next election.

Chivalry isn't dead

I'D LIKE to say that chivalry is not dead. My car was stuck on Mount Auburn Road. I had gone to the doctor because my daughter was very ill. Two men stopped to help us, let us use their phone and made sure we had help coming before they left. I'd just like to thank them for stopping.

Worried about fireworks

I AGREE that we should ban fireworks in Cape Girardeau. We absolutely enjoyed the Libertyfest fireworks downtown, but we were wondering the whole time if our house on fire because of neighbors' kids.

Fireworks expression

FIREWORKS ARE the way everybody celebrates the Fourth of July. Banning fireworks would be just like taking away our freedom of speech. We don't need to ban fireworks. People need to be more responsible with them.

Use precautions

WHY SHOULD we ban fireworks just because some people do not use precautions when they light them? I have had fireworks every year, but not bottle rockets. Don't ban fireworks just for the stupidity of some people who don't know how to use them.

Thanks for wallet

I WOULD like to thank the kind person who turned in my wallet at Food Giant. I really appreciate it, and God bless you.

Bring back the roses

I HAVE always thought of Cape Girardeau as being the City of Roses. That's what it was called when I first moved here in the early 1950s. Then progress came along, and the roses were all removed for the new highway between Cape and Jackson. Don't you think $42,000 would buy and plant an awful lot of roses again and restore the name City of Roses for Cape Girardeau? Let's vote on it and involve the people in the city in it.

Great Jackson fireworks

HATS OFF to the organizers of the Fourth of July celebration in Jackson. The fireworks display was spectacular this year. The rapid pace and the choreographed, multiple displays were beautiful.

A happy ending

A RECENT caller analyzed the benefits of carrying a concealed weapon and concluded that someone would get shot anyway, implying this was a bad situation. I disagree. If I draw my gun and kill or wound the criminal, I've protected myself and my property. I've taken another criminal off the streets. I've provided deterrence to other criminals because they know their victims may be able to defend themselves. This sounds like a happy ending to me.

Thanks for purse

I WOULD like to give huge thanks to the kind person who turned in my purse found in a cart in the Wal-Mart parking lot. When I found it missing, I thought to myself that I had to have faith in people. That faith paid off when I returned to Wal-Mart and learned my purse was turned in. Thank you for being honest. You will be rewarded.

Enforce those laws

THANK GOD we are past the Fourth of July for another year. My neighborhood sounded like World War III for at least three weeks, and there were bottle rockets aplenty. It seems like the city ordinances on this are mainly ignored and not enforced. They are like the noise ordinance: much-publicized but never enforced. Laws written on paper are only as good as the enforcement behind them.

Nasty birds

PEOPLE MAY like to see ducks at Capaha Park, but my guess is that it's duck droppings which are the source of the stink. Ducks are nasty, even more nasty than pigeons, another public park favorite for some reason unknown to me.