Speak Out

Thanks for wallet

I JUST wanted to put in a positive note to the person who found my wallet at Wal-Mart. So often you hear the negative things, but this person turned my wallet in. There was $100 in it. I just want to thank the person who turned it in along with the money in it. I don't know who you are, but it made me have a sense of appreciation for living here in Cape Girardeau. I just want to say thank you.

Online reliability

YOUR EDITORIAL was right on about the Internet having a lot of good Web sites but also having some bad and very unreliable information. For example, the online version of the Southeast Missourian is among the best and most reliable. However, it stands in stark contrast to the bad apples like the online versions of National Review and the Drudge Report.

Control those cats

CATS ROAM all over this city at night and then they're let back in the house in the morning. I don't appreciate howling felines breeding, fighting, hunting, killing rabbits and birds, messing in the flower gardens and stinking up a yard. How about animal control for cats?

No comparison

IN COMPARING Cape Girardeau to Paducah, Gary Rust is way off course. He didn't mention the paintings on the floodwall. Paducah's floodwall is absolutely spectacular. Cape's floodwall is horrible. Paintings on the old Shivelbine building and the old Idan-Ha Hotel building are far superior to what the floodwall has. Most cities of any size have public transportation. Not Cape. If it were not for the Kelley family, there would be no transportation at all. I'm a senior citizen, and I can remember when Cape had street cars. Don't try to compare Cape to Paducah. We aren't even in the ball park. Same applies to shopping and the downtown area. After Cape gets first things first, then maybe a River Campus would be in order.

They should listen

WE PAY ridiculous amounts of money for physicians and attorneys, and we rely upon their expertise. But after the initial dollar is spent and we become a client or their patient, they completely quit listening to us. It's really frustrating, because they are paid to listen to us. I have found more doctors to be a little bit more attentive to needs, but lawyers are a completely different story. I just wonder if lawyers and doctors, after they've been in a profession for a while, really remember what made them go into that profession. Have they lost sight of who they're trying to help? They need to listen to their patients and clients. After all, we're paying their salaries.

Fireworks tradition

THANKS TO all for the fireworks. I enjoyed the sparkles and booms as a child, as a parent and now as a grandparent. It is a tradition, and it should stay one. Too many traditions are lost because of a few. For those who do not enjoy fireworks, pretend it is storming and stay inside.

Blame it on George

SO FAR it's President Bush's fault the terrorists attacked our country. It's his fault that we have a shaky stock market, corporate fraud, war in the Middle East, hot weather, pesky flies, mosquitoes, chiggers, ticks, tall weeds, warts, pimples and dandruff. Do I sound like a dysfunctional Democrat? You bet I do.

More barking dogs

TO THE people in Cape Girardeau wanting to move to Jackson because of the barking dogs: Don't move to Lakeview Acres in Jackson. We've got dogs that bark all night long and all day long.

River Campus stadium

HOW COME no one's brought up the idea of having all SEMO athletics at the River Campus? Tear down the buildings and have the stadium face the river. That would be one of the nicest facilities in NCAA sports. We're so far behind everyone else regarding stadiums and renovations. Make the River Campus a sport complex. All the music and arts could have all the other buildings. I really think that would be a good idea.

Unpatriotic fireworks

SETTING OFF fireworks in a residential area does not show patriotism. It shows disrespect for neighbors and their property. People who set off fireworks in residential areas do not care that the noise bothers their neighbors. They do not care that they are causing a fire hazard. They do not care that they are trashing their yards or driveways.

We love our pork

COLUMNIST CAL Thomas recently went off on Congress for its pork-barrel spending and blamed it for the emergence of another ballooning deficit. The often callous Thomas gave as an example of wasteful pork-barrel spending: the appropriation of $100 million to build a depleted-uranium plant in Paducah, Ky., an area very close to that served by the Southeast Missourian. Be careful. Although we condemn other pork projects, we love our own.

THIS IS awful and makes me very angry. I've heard some old boys around here say they hope the St. Louis Cardinals move to East St. Louis, Ill., so that they'll be able to go to a ball game and then catch one or two girlie shows.

Proving the need

THE MAYOR and city council of Cape Girardeau have established the Citizens Finance Task Force to assess the city's financial situation. I'm quite sure the task force will find the situation just like the city management said: There isn't enough revenue to cover the cost of operating the bureaucracy. I'm also quite sure the mayor hopes the task force will help get yes votes for a tax increase. Family income has been dropping for the past few years, and families are finding ways to cope with less revenue. Perhaps the city should find ways to cope with less revenue by trimming the bureaucracy, downsizing, outsourcing and contracting out work. The real question is whether the city will find new ways to save money or starts intimidating voters by telling them the city will have to cut services such as trash pickup.

HILLARY AND Bill Clinton should open all their files, release all their documents and make all their business records available for public scrutiny. What are they hiding? If they really are innocent of any wrongdoing, they'll show us the documents. Wait. Did I say Hillary and Bill Clinton? I meant to say George Bush and Dick Cheney.