Speak Out A 09/02/01

Positive article

I'D LIKE to commend the Southeast Missourian on the article on Monroe Hicks. You need to run articles that are positive.

Turnaround story

THE STORY about Monroe Hicks brought tears to my eyes. I want to congratulate Monroe on turning his life around. Thank God for people like the Yates family who took him into their home. You go for it, Monroe. Don't let anything get you down. I'll be watching for you in the paper. Remember, God loves you.

Not good choice

IF THE Cape Girardeau School Board brings back Ferrell Ervin, the entire board needs to be voted out. The people have expressed their opinions about Ervin.

Need to hear more

CONGRATULATIONS TO Bob Miller for the outstanding article on Monroe Hicks. I'm sure there are a lot of other young people out there that qualify for this type of coverage, and we need to hear more about them. Best wishes for Hicks to succeed.

Wonderful story

THERE WAS a wonderful story Gary Rust used at the end of his column. It would certainly be appropriate in any church to build a sermon using that vignette. Those kinds of stories would be nice to see more often in the news.

Cartoon reminder

THIS NEW tax refund reminds me of the old Popeye cartoon when Wimpy would say, "I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today."

Defending farmers

IN RESPONSE to the comments about farmers being a leech on American society and always having their hands outstretched: Obviously whoever said these things doesn't know any farmers personally. My father along with most of the men in my community are farmers. And they are some of the hardest-working people I know. They pay the very same taxes that they're supposedly making so much money from. They break their backs for every dime they make, and if anyone deserves a little help, it's the farmers. But they would be too proud to take it.

Reparations for soldiers

WHY DOESN'T the black community and the NAACP pay some sort of restitution to the living relatives of the Union soldiers killed in the Civil War for freeing the slaves? These soldiers gave their lives so the slaves could be free. I think passing the hat among the relatives of the slaves would be a great gesture, and a thanks for their freedom. Maybe Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton could get the ball rolling.

Hilarious, accurate

JOE SULLIVAN'S article regarding local street repairs was both hilarious and accurate, no matter what Hizzonner says. Go, Joe!

Sentence fits crime

A MAN had a history of dropping off dogs on the highway. The community had enough of it. He came before a judge and was sentenced to spend every night at the city dump in the winter. He could only take insulated overalls with him. Maybe this would be a worthy sentence to people who are crude enough to dump helpless animals.

Longtime payments

THE PERSON who thought that payments to farmers are something new doesn't know anything about government programs. I remember in the 1930s when a government employee came to my grandfather's farm and measured the bin and put up signs as part of the granary program. Today I got out my 2001 Almanac and found that the government payments in 1935 were over 7.4 percent of the total cash income of farmers that year and have been going on continuously since then.

Jackson water slide

YOU DON'T have to go to Farmington or anywhere north of here to go to a water slide. There is a very nice one in Jackson.

A great employee

The Lutheran Home is also very fortunate to have a caring, friendly cleaning lady. She is Margie. I see her friendly smile as I go to visit my relatives. She cares so much about each resident, calling them by name and chatting with them. I know, as a family member, how much we take notice of the caring the employees give our loved ones. Every smile and every kind word is so precious. Thank you for these kind people.

Don't change back

IF FERRELL Ervin is not re-elected by the community, then he should not be reappointed by the school board as a temporary member. Remember, Bob Fox said it was time for a change.

Illogical logic

RANDY MILLER'S recent letter to the editor seemed to assert that members of the news media who bought lottery tickets could not possibly objectively report on Powerball. Using Miller's logic, one would be led to assume that articles on Social Security could only be written by people who do not work and pay Social Security taxes.

Religious test

I'D LIKE to comment on all the callers calling about Christianity. If you want to know if you are in a real church, remember when the Monica Lewinsky scandal happened. If your preacher did not have a sermon about adultery and marriage, you are not in a religious church.

Being born again

WHEN YOU are born again, it is just that. A new beginning. A fresh start. And like Adam and Eve, your eyes are open to sin in your life and in the world. A new desire comes into your heart to conform your life to what God calls righteous living. We also desire to help those still trapped in sin and its consequences. The sinful stand judged by God's law and are condemned to hell just like we were. Our society is drifting further every day from being a Christian nation. Satan is destroying our families and lives by our slavery to sin. Jesus said his purpose in coming was that we may have life to its fullest. Only when we become born again into his salvation can we know the truth, and his truth will set us free.

Need more sidewalks

HAS ANYBODY noticed that most of our streets in Cape are designed for cars, but not pedestrians? There are lots of runners and walkers. It would be nice if we had more sidewalks. Pedestrians are people too.

OK to block streets

TO THE person who thinks the streets shouldn't be blocked off for a festival: Obviously this person has never lived too many places. A city such as Cincinnati blocks off streets for Octoberfest. As someone who lives in the Jackson area, it is good to see the street being used for something because most of the businesses in those areas haven't really gotten me there.

Guard built the field

THIS IS in response to the Jackson School Board. I would like to remind the board and everyone associated with this issue that the soccer field was originally built as a football field, and all the soccer moms and dads decided that it's a soccer field only. They have told the tackle football league it cannot practice or play football there. If this goes very much further, the local National Guard unit that built that field will get a request to publish those papers to show it was initially a project approved by the Missouri Army National Guard as a football field. So before we talk about spending any amount of money, especially $40,000, we need to remember who built that field.

Political veterans

I READ repeatedly in Speak Out how veterans have fought for freedom. Being a veteran, I just want to get something straight. The last time we fought for freedom was in World War II. Vietnam, Korea and Desert Storm were not fights for freedom. They were fights for politics. A lot of us veterans did not fight for freedom but for a political agenda.