Speak Out A 12/08/02

A Christmas surprise

I HAVE arthritis. Shoveling snow from the driveway is really difficult for me. I went out to shovel my driveway and got not even half done when this young man in a burgundy truck stopped and asked me if I needed him to shovel my driveway. Bless his heart. He had no hat and no gloves, but he shoveled the rest of my driveway. I thanked him very much and I was willing to pay him but he didn't want any money. He just shoveled my driveway and left. I want to thank him again so much for doing that for me. I wish him a very merry Christmas.

Message to the city

DEAR CITY Council: No new taxes. Put it on the ballot, but no new taxes.

A horrible thing

REGARDING THE fatal fire that killed the infant and the 16-year-old mother: Why in the world were these people without permission allowed to live there? And why in the world was somebody allowed to live in a shed, not even a house or apartment or trailer. This is such a horrible thing.

Taxing questions

ABOUT THE water park: The article says that should all four taxes not pass the city would use whatever funds it receives from the taxes that pass and take care of its top priorities first. The taxes will be voted on specifically for a reason. How can the city use that money for something else? If the city is that short on money, why doesn't it take money out of the restaurant sales tax and pay for what it needs instead of handing it over to the university?

Let Jackson do it

I JUST finished reading about the proposed taxes and the water park. There was another article about Jackson considering a water park. That is good news. So I say to our mayor in Cape Girardeau and the city council, if you put it on the ballot, I will come, but I will vote no. I say let Jackson do it. I like to go to Jackson anyway.

Dealing with bullies

BULLIES WILL always be in our schools and on our buses. Zero tolerance should be used in dealing with bullies. It is inconsistent to have each school bus driver make the decision as to what punishment should be for each incident. Some will be more strict than others. Years ago, if a student did not obey the rules of riding the bus, we gave a written report to the transportation director. The report was reviewed by the principal of the school the student attended. The principal took care of the situation, or the principal and the transportation director solved it.

Money talks

I THINK that if you have enough money, you can buy the legal system. Take the case of the man who stole the letters from SEMO. He might get seven years, but the insurance agent in Jackson got nothing -- and she stole from 30 clients. Where is the justice in this? It's like my granny used to say: Money talks and bull manure walks.

Make it private

I THINK the aquatic center should be funded by private enterprise like a group of doctors or lawyers similar to the one in Poplar Bluff. We're only going to use this three months a year. The other nine months it will sit there and deteriorate. Most of the people who would benefit from this are restaurant owners and business people. All the taxpayers get is more traffic in the city and something to keep up. It's kind of like the roundabout. All the cities get roundabouts, so we have to have one. Now it's water parks. Everybody needs a water park now. We don't need anymore taxes.

Purse is returned

WHILE SHOPPING in Cape Girardeau, I went to a restaurant for lunch. When I started to pay, I found that my billfold was missing. The young lady at the restaurant was so nice. She got a cell phone for me to call Wal-Mart where I had been shopping. Someone at Wal-Mart had found the purse and returned it to the office. I don't know who it was, but I would like to thank that person and also the young lady at the restaurant. May God bless both of you.

Can't afford children

IN REGARD to the comment about parents who are working for $6 or $7 an hour and who just barely make ends meet with no health insurance or amenities: It stands to reason that people who are earning only that much money have no right to be parents in the first place. If they can't afford them, they shouldn't have them.

Teachers' salaries

A TEACHER said she was only making $22,000 and had been teaching for 22 years. The Jackson School District's salary schedule for certified employees for the year 2001-2002 has a starting salary of $25,500 with a bachelor's degree. If you have a master's, you'd be paid $28,629. The highest salary would be for a teacher with a master's plus 24 years of teaching. With a master's and 22 years of teaching, the salary would be $43,097.

Water park: Not now

WHENEVER the city or the school board wants people to vote for tax increases, the first thing they do is threaten cutbacks. We don't need a water park right now. Things are tight. The people cannot afford four more taxes. People are getting sick of this. We need equipment. We need other things before a water park. And a water park will not bring in as many people as the city says it will.

Support downtown

I SEE where someone is complaining about the lights in downtown Cape Girardeau. I was a merchant on Main Street for over 30 years. These lights were purchased by the local merchants along Broadway and Good Hope Street. They're put up by AmerenUE, our electric company, free of charge. Downtown has been forsaken. I know there's a lack of parking downtown. But by the same token, a lot of these small merchants cannot do anything about fixing the holiday lights. How many lights do you see out on Kingshighway in front of the big chains? How many do you see out on Siemers Drive? Support the downtown merchants and they might be able to fix the lights.

YOU KNOW it's really sad that a lot of little children think Christmas is all about bright lights, getting presents and Santa Claus. They really don't know that Jesus is the reason for the season.

Teaching our children

MY OWN mother was married at age 16. She married someone older, and they settled into a house and set up housekeeping. I was born when my mother was 17. The thing we have to learn is to teach our children to not set up housekeeping in a shed that has no windows and certainly don't overload your circuits if you're going to do this. There's commonsense things you can teach your children that will prevent tragedy. Finger-pointing is not the solution.

Incorrect information

I'D LIKE to say thanks, teachers. I want to express my gratitude to the people in the field of education who will take time to correct misinformation which seems to be growing every day in Speak Out about our schools. Teachers have enough trouble getting through each day trying to deal with each individual child. I speak from experience. I'm a retired teacher with more than 30 years of experience. Too much false information is going around about our schools and our children. People, get your facts straight before speaking out.

He said-she said

AS I read the article about the tragic death of the 16-year-old girl and her little baby, your article sounded like a he said-she said type of thing that you hear in junior high school. Did this need to be printed that way?