Speak Out 8/23/05

You can keep him

THIS IS one Jackson resident who would prefer that the Oran police chief stay where he is. We are just fine in Jackson. Except for the slow drivers lollygagging in the passing lane, all is well. And I live on Highland Drive. There is a lot of traffic, but I wouldn't call it a raceway. A lot of residents park their cars on the street to slow the traffic down. I don't agree with the reasoning. I feel it's more dangerous for the children. But to each their own.

Uninformed decision

I AM not a dodgeballer. I am a tennis enthusiast. But I find the action the Jackson Board of Aldermen has taken to ban the dodgeballers from the upper courts to be unjust. The board has banned them without an opportunity to present a case for dodgeball. The city's reasoning that dodgeball will destroy the tennis courts is absurd. The aldermen should watch them play instead of making uninformed decisions. Such injustices are the exact opposite of the ideals this country was founded on.

Surprise move

I CAN'T speak for everyone, but I'm disappointed in the Jackson Board of Aldermen for springing this decision about the tennis courts on us without any notice. If we were given prior notice that the dodgeball situation was to be addressed, we could have come to the meeting and had our chance to be heard.

Looking for ballet

I WAS wondering what ever became of the Southeast Missouri Ballet Theater. I haven't heard any mention of it for quite awhile. We need more opportunities for our youth and adults to showcase their dancing abilities. All art lovers need to show Southeast Missouri that there is more than one kind of dancing. I hope we can all learn to broaden our horizons. And I hope the River Campus will help.

No need for water park

WE NEED a water park like we need a kick in the butt. I don't know of anywhere in the country where a water park has been successful year after year. Once the newness wears off, people quit going, but the maintenance continues. We have too many parks with lakes we don't go to, so why would we want another park we won't go to?

What? No pork?

YOU MEAN to tell me there was no federal pork for a water park? That's outrageous.

Meshed agendas

I ABOUT passed out when the Southeast Missourian published a harangue by Nat Hentoff. This First Amendment absolutist's columns usually appear in far leftist publications. However, I felt a lot better after I read the piece and realized that on the matter at hand Hentoff's views meshed with the political agenda of the Southeast Missourian.

Give us a fair shot

AS ONE of the people who has been there since the inception of the Jackson Underground Dodgeball League, I can tell you that it is rare to see tennis players at the upper tennis courts in Jackson, especially after 8 o'clock on a Friday night. It seems to me that, since there are more people who use the courts for dodgeball on Friday nights and the fact we have repaired the courts out of our own pockets, we should be given a fair shot at defending our right to use the courts as opposed to having the Jackson Board of Aldermen make a decision at a meeting we weren't aware of. If we had been aware, the meeting room would have been full of adults and children ready to protest the decision. These youths are going to be aldermen -- and even mayor -- within a decade or so.

Don't believe it

TO THE caller who thinks our economy is getting better: Try buying gasoline that is over 100 percent higher in price than before George Bush became president. If you believe what the GOP puts out about the economy, you are a fool.

A donor for life

I RECENTLY donated blood at an American Red Cross blood drive. It was my first time donating, and I was nervous. I had always wanted to donate, but I never got up the courage. We should be proud of our local Red Cross. I was treated with respect, kindness and the utmost in professionalism. The nurse's name who took my blood was Jamie, and he took the extra time to explain everything to me and was truly concerned about my well-being. He is an outstanding nurse and deserves to be recognized. So a big thank you to Jamie and the rest of the staff of our local Red Cross. You guys are the best. You have earned a donor for life. Thanks again.

Highway slowpokes

THE SPEED limit between Fruitland and Jackson is 55 mph not 40. If you look in your rearview mirror and see a bunch of cars lined up behind you, you're going too slow.

Unnecessary ban

REGARDING JACKSON'S ban of all non-tennis activities on the city park's upper tennis courts: I find it hard to believe that a bunch of kids running around in tennis shoes throwing dodgeballs at each other caused the cracks in the surface that sparked the decision to seek a rehabilitation of the courts. Unless Mother Nature has anything to say about it in the form of heat or ice damage, I believe the city's investment is safe without the need for such a ban. I can't imagine dodgeball players causing any more damage to the surface than tennis players.

Running the parks

WHAT MAKES the Jackson Board of Aldermen more of an expert on how to run its parks than the city's parks department all of a sudden?

Running things

TIME FOR a change in leadership in Jackson. If one man can push through an expensive tennis court repair and then turn around and make sure no one else uses it, that means it's time for someone new to run things.