Speak Out 8/16/05

Lower prices?

THE PRESIDENT is signing the energy bill. Now when can we expect lower gas prices?

Special delivery

TO THE postman who bought the spices for me at Schnucks, I'd like to say thank you, I appreciate it. And God bless you.

Trail concerns

I'M CALLING to say that I sure do enjoy walking along the hiking trail that's been developing along Mount Auburn Road, but I don't like the rude bicyclists who don't get out of the way when you have a baby in a stroller. And I don't like the fact that the Department of Conservation sprays around all its signs in the public-use area. It should either weed the area or trim it with a weed eater rather than spraying toxic chemicals in an area where people like to enjoy nature.

Time for action

I'D LIKE to know why our elected officials cannot take five to 10 minutes in their busy schedule to talk to someone who calls seeking their help. We put them in office. We pay their salaries. That makes us their employers. They should talk to us. Officials who won't talk to voters won't be getting my vote again. We should do something about it instead of letting elected officials give themselves what they want.

Costly scheduling

WE NEED to find the genius who thought up the idea of letting schools out in May and starting again in August and present him with the utility bills. If school started the day after Labor Day and let out Memorial Day week, you wouldn't need all this air conditioning.

Too cold to shop

YOUR ARTICLE on the Plaza Gallaria was sweet but very misleading. I owned a business there, and the temperature was not for shopping, just skating. We were promised that the temperature would be above 70 degrees, but it wasn't, and it put us out of business. Moving in there was the worst decision of my life.

Another sandwich

PREDATING PEANUT butter-and-banana sandwiches and sliced radishes on buttered bread is the one I'd often like to serve some who write opinions contrary to mine: a knuckle sandwich.

Valid alternative

CONTRARY TO the spin that many are attaching to intelligent design theory, it is not a religious theory per se. Intelligent design theory is a valid alternative and criticism of purely naturalistic Darwinian evolution. Intelligent design theory states that many observable features in nature, such as the genetic sequence and other complex systems, are only possible by intelligent design.

Low-priority roads

ALL THESE people complaining about the condition of the road they live on remind me of others who move next to an airport and then complain about the noise. You chose to live on a low-priority road in the country. Deal with it.

Left-wing darling

CINDY SHEEHAN is the new left-wing media darling. I hope she soon sees that the more she supports our enemies at home and abroad, the more blood of our soldiers she will have on her hands.

Benton's library

ALMOST 50 years ago I got my first library card in Benton, Mo. Even though we lived out of town and still do, going to the library was a fantastic and rewarding experience as a child and still is to this day. Now I hear that Scott County pays Sikeston to allow residents of Miner the use of the city library. Isn't that enough? Now Miner wants our library too. The way I see it, there are some political strings being pulled. Our library is accessible to everyone. It is also used for a number of other activities. Shame on Miner for wanting to take that away from so many schoolchildren and families when it has a perfectly great library, much larger than ours, to use in Sikeston.