Speak Out 9/20/07

Using the pool

SOME PEOPLE still think the Central Pool is solely a recreation facility used to get a tan in the summer. They forget the pool is used year-around by high schools and swim clubs around the area and also by many people who enjoy water sports. I agree that a permanent structure to keep the pool usable should be a priority of the parks and recreation department.

Bronson is better

I KNOW this comes across as sexist, but when it comes to vigilantes, I prefer Charles Bronson to Jodi Foster.

Deserve better pay

I'M GLAD to see law enforcement could be going union in our region. I'm for it, because these men and women need some type of representation, and it gives them the opportunity to work toward better pay scales, which they deserve. Southeast Missouri law enforcement officers are some of the lowest paid in Missouri, and they deserve better than that.

Which nations?

David Limbaugh, tell the American people the 36 nations that are helping us in Iraq. Nobody else seems to know. Maybe you do.

Waiting at stoplights

HERE IT is 6:15 in the morning with not another vehicle around, and we're sitting at the stoplights at Mount Auburn Road and Bloomfield Road. We're waiting for phantom cars When these lights were put in, we were promised they would be up-to-date and we wouldn't have to wait on cars that were nowhere to be found. What's wrong with these lights? Let's get them working, please.

Safer to merge

IT'S MUCH safer to merge from the center lane than to drive all the way across three or four lanes of traffic. I would much rather use it as a merge lane and get a ticket than have an accident. I would like Jackson to reconsider and maybe even change the law where we can use the center lane legally, because I will continue to use it as a merge lane rather than have an accident.

Wonderful leader

I WANT to comment about Floyd Penny, the fellow who is raising chickens and teaching his daughter and granddaughter how to raise them. I've known him for a while. He's just done a lot of things. He's delivered food to hungry people who couldn't afford it. I remember he went in on a hail of bullets on Morgan Oak Street to break up a robbery. It's wonderful to have a leader like this, someone who will teach his children to raise these animals. This is the kind of people we need in this country.

Illegal parking

IT'S PLAIN to see the city wasted its money putting up "No parking' signs in the western part of town during the SEMO District Fair. Every night there was a wrecker parked on Luce Street. There were cars parked on Pindwood Lane and Hemlock Street. It's a waste to put up the signs if the police are not going to enforce the no-parking rule.

Blocking the view

TO THE people who complain about cell phone users in automobiles: Tinted windows are more dangerous. I find tinted windows to be inappropriate, especially in this age of terrorism, Windows should be clear so you can see everyone in the car.

Respect for flag

CAPE BUSINESS owners, if you're going to fly an American flag, please make a point of checking it to see what kind of condition it is. For example, there is a flag flying at one business in horrible disrepair. It's ripped, and it's a disgrace to have it up. The Missouri flag there isn't much better. Check your flags and show the flag some respect.

Thanks for concert

MANY THANKS to the Jackson banks and the Cashbook Journal for bringing Saxy Jazz Transitions to the Jackson Park. This group of musicians put on an outstanding concert. I hope our local businesses will bring them back in the future. It was great fun for the entire family.

School bullying

I AGREE with the comments about teacher and staff bullying at Central Junior High School. My daughter has never been in trouble and is a straight-A student. She has come home several times concerned about behavior she has seen from teachers and other staff members. Teachers make cruel comments about students and their grades in front of their peers. This is ridiculous. I called the principal. He said this was not true. How interesting that he didn't even bother to check it out. There's no reason for a student to be afraid to turn in work or ask a question, but that's the situation my daughter and other children are faced with every day.

Treatment of animals

"THE TIME will come when men ... will look on the murders of animals as they now look on the murders of men." -- Leonardo da Vinci. "We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." -- Immanuel Kant. Apparently humanity still has a long way to go on the actions and thinking on this subject. How sad.

Social reality

EUROPE'S ECONOMY is not better than ours. Unemployment there is substantially higher than ours, double digits in many places. We still have the highest productivity in the First World. We still have the best, most efficient health care. There is one thing the Europeans have that we do not: an average tax rate of 40 percent.

Manners in Chaffee

WHILE DRIVING home I saw two boys throw trash in an elderly man's yard. When the man said something to the boys, they made a rude gesture and kept walking. This is how things are in Chaffee. I asked a young man to move out of the road one evening so I could get by. He said, "You want a beating, old man?" This was in the middle of town. This city needs to elect people to city positions who will do something for the betterment of the city.