Speak Out A 07/16/02

Major shot in the arm

CONGRATULATIONS TO everyone who worked so hard to save the Marquette Hotel. Anyone who doubts the viability of this project needs to head to downtown Paducah to take a look at the great turnaround that happened when that city decided to renovate its historic downtown buildings. I can't wait to see the Marquette in all its glory, full of life once again. We've just gotten a major shot in the arm to make downtown a center for recreation, business and residential life in Cape Girardeau. Again, well done.

Building a courthouse

I READ with great interest the editorial on the new federal courthouse. I had never heard of a ground-clearing ceremony, but I guess when you spend $470,000 to have someone tear down a few buildings, you really do need a ceremony. That's just what GSA is going to have on July 29 at the new courthouse site, and taxpayers get to pay for it. There will be building superintendents, GSA officials of all ranks, politicians and politicians' representatives, and they will all be so proud of the work they have done with your money. When is someone from one of these ranks going to stand up and say, "Enough!"? I only hope some of the workers for these high-dollar construction comes from the local area, because that is the only way the people from the area will be able to relate to what is happening here.

A long wait

WILLIAM O. Green, chairman of the U.S. 60 Corridor Committee, ended his verbal temper tantrum directed at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce and Missouri Department of Transportation by asking, "When can we expect MoDOT to join us?" in reference to building a bridge into Mississippi County. Given the tone of Green's tirade, I would suspect the answer to his question would be whenever that place down below freezes over.

Going too far

DAVID LIMBAUGH has gone to the well once too often in his failed attempt to convince the public that Democrats who are calling for serious reform to try to prevent corporate abuses are collectivists, a euphemism for communists and socialists. The guy who says that he sees a systemic problem with corporate capitalism as it is currently being practiced is not a Democrat. Rather, he is the Teddy Roosevelt of our era, the honorable Republican senator from Arizona, John McCain.

Influencing people

CORD DOMBROWSKI needs to brush up on Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People." He won't win much public support for the prestigious and private Prestwick Acre's proposed taxpayer-assisted project by saying, in effect, that he thought there would be no opposition to it until he realized that the public was too dumb to understand it.

Patriotic plugs

I AM glad to see that there are so many people in town so patriotic that all they can do is whine about fireworks and the noise they create. Get some ear plugs.

Waiting for a cab

RECENTLY A group of my buddies and I went out downtown. We decided we should get a cab, based on the amount of alcohol we consumed. I called a cab company at approximately 10 minutes after 1 a.m. The dispatcher informed me it would be a 20-minute wait. No problem, because that is the time the bar closed. About 35 minutes later, I called the cab company again and was told it would be another 20-minute wait. I approached a police officer parked nearby and explained the situation. He immediately called the cab company in an effort to expedite the cab. I waited for another 10 minutes and called the dispatcher for the third time. The dispatcher was rude and sarcastically informed me it would be an additional 20 minutes. I would like to thank the policeman for the effort put forth. I certainly hope there is someone in Cape who has the authority to push the issue and get these cabs to the people who need them and in a timely manner.