Speak Out A 09/16/02

Traffic on Route K

CONCERNING TRAFFIC signals at Notre Dame Regional High School on Route K: That is a very good idea. But if you are concerned about accidents, there also needs to be a traffic signal at Eagle Ridge School as well as a reduction in speed. When the classes at Notre Dame dismiss, Route K is a real speedway between the school and Wal-Mart. Please look into this.

Time for war mode

WE ARE now in a war the terrorists have started. We need to ration gas and use it only for work and business. Arrest all who leak out government secrets to the media. When President Bush bombs Iraq, Saudi Arabia and other Islamic countries will stop oil shipments to us. Bush says business as usual. Not so. Everything should be on a war footing like FDR did after Pearl Harbor. A year has passed, and 99 percent of the people do not realize we are even in a war for our very survival. Reinstate the draft, because we will need more servicemen very soon.

Talking trash

I CAN relate to the comment about county trash. If you look in Cape Girardeau, there's trash all over the place. There's just no community pride anymore. There are mounds of garbage on Big Bend Road outside town. It's terrible. I don't know what people are thinking when they throw their trash out. It's an eyesore. I wish people would take responsibility for themselves.

Too much power

IT WAS announced last week that Duke Power was going to stop construction of two 1,500-megawatt generating stations it was working on in California. They said that since the energy games played by Enron and other energy trading companies had been stopped, the energy situation in California did not show the need for more generating plants. This brings me to the Kinder Morgan Power Co. plant. This plant would have one-sixth the generating capacity as the Duke plant. This makes the Kinder Morgan plant a very dubious value to the taxpayers of Cape Girardeau County. My feeling is if Kinder Morgan thinks the plant is such a good deal, let them finance it themselves. On top of all of this, a 1,500-megawatt coal-fired electric plant is planned in Southern Illinois. So we want to be very careful of getting tangled up with Kinder Morgan.

Environmental agenda

IN READING comments from environmentalists, it's become apparent to me that they are more anti-free enterprise than they are pro-environment. In almost every case, they mention some perceived environmental problem and then rail against capitalism and free enterprise, all the while enjoying the highest standard of living in the world made possible by our economic system. I'm convinced that the main agenda of the environmental movement is not preserving the environment but changing our way of government.

It's hypocritical

HYPOCRITICAL POLITICIANS praise and mourn and attend the Sept. 11 tributes. Yet when the ceremonies are over, they continue to blame America and refuse to support an all-out effort to rid the world of terrorists. What if most Americans had had these values during World War II?

Money priorities

I CAN'T believe the county commissioners wish to pay this gentleman $250,000 for a home when there are gravel roads in this county that need to be paved.

No trash citations

NOW THAT the right of way has been mowed, the trash along Route K is visible for all the see. It's outrageous. I called the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department in June complaining of trash blowing off a compactor truck. The deputy refused to consider issuing a citation to the driver or even coming to look at the situation. I talked to two our county commissioners who told me to be sure to call the sheriff. I did. Guess what? You can't talk directly to the sheriff. A deputy handles all complaints. I still see trash coming off these trucks. Taxpayers deserve better from our elected officials and county employees.