Speak Out 7/19/08

Fine the litter bums

THE PROBLEM with litter is the existing laws are not enforced. I'm tired of hearing how citizen groups are expected to pick up after the bums who litter. Fine the dickens out of people who do the littering. It sounds like Cape Girardeau would rather put an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff rather than a fence at the top.

Smoking survey

DR. KEN Dobbins, president of Southeast Missouri State University, had nothing to do with the smoking survey. That survey was sent out by a committee of smokers and nonsmokers, faculty, staff and students. And most people wanted smoking completely banned from the campus.

Stay at the airport

I THINK that Libertyfest and air show did really well considering organizers only had a short time to prepare to have the events at the airport. As far as the crowd control, I think it works a lot better than having it downtown. I hope the events are at the airport again.

Vehicle storage

SOMEONE WAS wondering why we leave valuable things in our vehicles. That's our personal vehicle. It is our property. We can leave anything we wish in it. If a thief breaks in and steals what is ours, he should be held responsible.

Tackling the litter

IT WAS good to see the mayor of Sikeston has set up a litter hot line to help clean up his community. I pick up trash around my home every week in Cape Girardeau, and I see trash all over town. I wish Cape cared enough to do something positive about it too.

Long time ago

I CANNOT believe what Lincoln Scott said about African-Americans not wanting to come to Southeast Missouri State University to teach because of the proximity to Cairo, Ill., and the race riots. That was 40 years ago. That's in the past. Let a sleeping dog lie.

Fixing potholes

REGARDING THE comments in Speak Out about all the potholes and damage that's being done to people's cars in Cape Girardeau, I've been calling the city for years about potholes. Either the city does not respond or uses a temporary asphalt mix to fix the hole. The city needs to come up with a comprehensive plan of fixing these potholes and overlaying the streets with better methods to prevent this from happening in the future.

Cash for casinos

MICHAEL JENSEN'S op-ed on casino loss limits is well-presented and right on target. To take full advantage of the casino's awards program, one needs to keep putting cash into their machine of choice. This means cashing out from time to time and putting in more cash. You can lose, break even or come out ahead and still play the system. The only thing the loss limits prevent is your ability to continue playing. That's why some would avoid Missouri and go elsewhere -- say Metropolis. Everyone wants to help problem gamblers, but loss limits are not the answer.

Bye, American-made

CAN YOU believe it? Anheuser-Busch, one of the few things left that is American-made, and you let that go too. What's next? The theme parks where my children play?

Gas-saving idea

I WONDER how many hundreds of thousands of gallons of gasoline would be saved if we quit using the drive-through at all fast-food places and banks. Another plus would be the extra calories we would burn. How about it?