Speak Out 8/27/05

Try an empty lot

I DON'T understand young people. When I was a kid, we played dodgeball, but we didn't need new tennis courts to do it. Why can't they play in an empty parking lot? Why do more of our tax dollars have to subsidize their fun and games?

Remember the lake?

MAYBE INSTEAD of asking for a water park, we should think outside the box and look to something larger. It's time to seriously consider a large recreational lake in Cape Girardeau County. Not so long ago, the plan for a lake nearly had a green light, but it was soon forgotten. Having a large lake in the county would be a benefit for all the surrounding communities.

Literary boon

WELL, I never. Get off Morley Swingle's back. International best-selling author Elmore Leonard referred to Swingle as the next James Michener. We may have another John Grisham on our hands. Self-promotion and community promotion of Swingle and his efforts are to be encouraged.

Familiar ranting

I SEE that traffic fatalities are up 11 percent over this time last year. Our state highway system is a scheme hatched behind closed doors in Columbia. How many more people must die supporting this illegitimate plan? Our highways were perfectly safe until people started driving on them. If we would just stay off them they would stop killing people. I demand that all road crews be immediately recalled and a commission formed to investigate this travesty. I also demand that the heads of the Missouri Department of Transportation be fired and charged with manslaughter. Sound familiar? The rantings of the left sound just as ridiculous to reasoning and intelligent citizens.

Irrational law

THE NEW law allowing the state to suspend the driver's license of a minor caught drinking and not driving is the most irrational legislative screw-up I have ever heard of in my life. It's like cleaning before you use the bathroom. It makes no sense. Who came up with this? It means a young man or woman who has served our country in Iraq or Afghanistan or some remote place in the world can come home under the age of 21 and not be able to drink a few beers without the fear of having their driver's license suspended.

Movie reputation

I WAS all for the filming of the movie "Killshot" in Cape Girardeau until I heard a comment from the author of the book it is based on. He said the reason he chose Cape Girardeau as a locale in the novel was because the floodwall reminded him of a prison. Now I am forced to think about how our town is going to be portrayed in this film. Several years ago the city of Benton, Ill., welcomed a Hollywood film crew with open arms. To their horror, when the film was released the title had been changed to "Poor White Trash," and it presented a negative view of the residents of this region. Any Benton resident will tell you that the temporary influx of cash was not worth the damage this movie did to that town's reputation.

Should be ashamed

I SAW the article about Debbie Shank's accident. Wal-Mart employees should be ashamed. This poor woman was only trying to make a living. Does anyone really think she asked for this or wanted to be in a nursing home? Nobody asks to be left like this.

That really hurts

GASOLINE PRICES have become so high that I have had to give up drinking, smoking and chasing women.

Library for students

EVEN THOUGH some schools have good libraries, students don't have time during the day to use them. When school is over for the day, the school library is closed. Since the Benton library branch is used by students in area schools, we need to keep it open.