Speak Out

The complaints seem to be that the aquatics center is not centrally located and therefore money should not be expended on it. However, by that same standard, Cape Splash should not have been built, and especially the SportsPlex would not have met that criteria. ...

Why does the City of Cape Girardeau not require re-mesh when pouring concrete for city streets? They would last longer! The city of Jackson has decided to go ahead with plans to build another roundabout on East Main Street. This sickens me and probably thousands of others considering what I see at the glorious roundabout that was built at the intersection of Main Street and Highway 61...

Businesses in uptown Jackson look like fools complaining about Homecomers. The celebration has been around for a century, and it’ll be here long after you stop selling trinkets and firewater. ...

There is simply no atmosphere like Friday night at The Pit in Jackson. And they pack the stands without giving away t-shirts, without letting students in for free, without a marketing department, without begging alumni, and without gimmicks. Winning and winning the right way puts people in the stands...

The Jackson football stadium, known as "The Pit," had a great atmosphere Friday night. The student section tunnel that the players ran through was a really nice change from last year! And so was the return of the Indian banner that players ran through. 6,000 fans at a high school game is pretty special!...

Here we go again. Gasoline prices went down on the open market about a month ago 30 cents per gallon -- what did we see passed on to us -- all of 10 cents. If you are going north, you can fill up at $2.09 per gallon in the St. Louis area, which is what it should be here...

So today's headline says we are scrapping safety, changing storm-shelter codes for our children in schools so we will have enough money to build an unsafe building for a pool nobody wants attached to a school and not having code for safety at Alma Schrader expansion. Pool at ant cost? Anybody ready for a referendum?...

I have something rare for Speak Out: A positive comment. I'd like to compliment the great resurfacing job on William street. It's a pleasure to drive on and really looks sharp. I don't care what Jackson city leaders have to say about the Center Junction project. ...

Recent decisions by Planned Parenthood have indicated that they are no longer concerned with women's health needs and instead wish to focus on promoting abortions. First, they removed a very pro-choice CEO because she wasn't extreme enough. Then they decided to reduce providing women health care needs in order to keep being able to promote abortions. The Planned Parenthood of old is gone, the one that cared about women's needs. It has been replaced by one solely focused on abortions...

If Trump and Company use every weapon in their economic arsenal for a recession that "isn't a recession," what do they plan to do when the next big one hits? Pass the popcorn. This is going to get interesting. Uptown Jackson businesses are the only businesses operating in the world whose owners think additional foot traffic (compliments of Homecomers) is a bad thing. Here's your sign...

The so-called liberal ruling class elites are probably high fiving each other for encouraging the leftist educational complex to indoctrinate students with hate for the United States. The most recent event demonstrating these lessons was a very privileged U.S. ...

Democrats' faux outrage comes and goes with the blowing of the wind. The causes of the day won't matter tomorrow. Remember when they were going to close Gitmo? Pass meaningful immigration reform? End the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? I'm not sure what teachers in Jackson are buying out of their own pockets. ...

ICE is just doing their job. What everyone seems to leave out when they are commenting on this is that they are not just immigrants. They are illegal immigrants. They are breaking the law. If you or I break the law we should expect the same. They were working, but how can they pay taxes if they don't have a Social Security number? Then they are breaking other laws by not paying taxes...

If justice was served when ICE picked up the 680-plus workers in Mississippi, they would have arrested the law breakers who hired them, the owners of the companies and the people who supervised them. If you want illegal immigration to stop, arrest the rich people at the top of the food chain who are the truly guilty ones. ...

I would like to commend MoDOT for the excellent resurfacing of William Street from Kingshighway to Mount Auburn Road. The work was all done at night. It was striped and finished in record time. The surface is a smooth ride now. The picture of 10- and 6-year-old boys playing in the Mississippi River in today's paper was appalling. ...

OK, Wow, Just crazy: why is ICE, our government, busting immigrants at a poultry processing plant where they are working to support themselves and their families? They are not running drugs, or raping, or shooting our citizenry. They are trying to become part of our workforce, often doing jobs no one else will do. We need to stop doing crazy...

All you politicians that denounce the NRA should take step back and actually look at the NRA members and the organization. The NRA haås done more for the education of safe firearms handling through its Eddie Eagle training than any other group. The NRA is a first class organization with 5 million members who believe in gun safety and in the constitution of this country. I am proud to be one of those members, all firearms owners should be members of the NRA...

Let me say first that I am a staunch Democrat who voted for Governor Jay Nixon and I would do it again. But the recent Missouri National Guard Adjutant General corruption that was exposed by the St. Louis Post Dispatch is sickening. The man allegedly used his position to sucker low-income housing credits for his family and cronies...

I want to commend the Cape Girardeau Fire Department for its help when I had some serious damage to my home. They were very professional and made sure that the structure was safe before anyone could re-enter the house. We are very lucky to have such fine people willing to risk their own safety to help all of us...

Why is expecting any president’s administration to keep their communications (email and phone) available for the public record something to be voted on by party lines? The law says the government employees and whatever Trump’s family is considered are supposed to do government business in an open and public fashion. No private emails. No personal cellphones. No encrypted apps. ...

Let me say upfront that I am a staunch Republican, a woman of 43 years of age, who voted for Greitens and would again. That said, I was very concerned, and said so publicly, when he appointed former Cape resident Drew Juden to a state position. As I pointed out then, under Juden's leadership, the Sikeston PD was continually beset by internal problems as documented even by Republican-leaning media. ...

The Jackson area youth football program has been a real mess for several years. They can barely field enough teams to play each other. The Cape youth tackle league is in even worse shape. Eventually, they need to look at a new direction and some new leadership...

The weather cooperated Wednesday with a perfect evening for music in the park. The program offered entertainment from two groups, the Cape Municipal Band and Jerry Ford's Band. A variety of overtures and marches, directed by Neil Casey, was appreciated by the large gathering of music enthusiasts. Hearing Jerry's rendition of "On the Sunny Side of the Street" was a real mood lifter...

Veterans Memorial Drive is just like every other outer road. They’re a waste of taxpayer money and only used by people too lazy to drive three miles in either direction on the interstate. ...

Great commentary by Jon Rust in last Wednesday's paper. Even handed, honest, realistic. All of those items are lacking in the public discourse for quite a few years now. I have a problem with Cape and Jackson schools being overly concerned about the state requiring a later starting date. ...

The "Ask a Foodie" writers are incredibly talented! Their descriptions and narratives make for such interesting reading plus they make you want to go try the food immediately! Excellent writing! I wish all these sports figures that hate our country, our flag, our National anthem and our president would just leave this great country and give up their citizenship. It would not take them long to realize they made a horrible, and if I had my way a irreversible, mistake. God bless the USA...

Republican claims of a "fantastic" economy seem to missing Missouri -- and especially Southeast Missouri. Zero inflation? What planet? Lots of debt -- business, consumer, student and government debt rising daily! If everyone is so well off, why are they in debt up to their eyeballs?...

I disagree with both the person who wrote to Speak Out and also John Voss, who have said that Veterans Memorial Drive was a waste of taxpayers’ money and that the extension should be removed from the list of road projects in the city. People do use this road, although not at the same level of Mount Auburn, for example. This road has been a lifesaver for many who live near and past the interstate. It needs to be extended and completed to the south so that it can be utilized even more. ...

Disagreeing with you doesn't make me a racist. It could simply be that you're wrong, uninformed, ignorant, or maybe you're just a knucklehead. The Cape swimming pool advisory committee's recommendations included everything other than a unicorn wading pool and rainbow-making machine. ...

The Trump White House supposedly released a plan to fix immigration this week. They couldn't find a Republican willing to support it. They have zero negotiation skills to "make a deal" with Dems. And Trump admits "if it doesn't get passed, it's a campaign issue." This Chaos Crew has zero interest in governance. Everything is about the next election...