SPEAKOUT

Snakes are beautiful

SEVERAL WEEKS ago I placed an articulate and well-written plea to area readers for any information about how to acquire a venomous snake license. I got a reply from someone who said I should be in a padded cell or a psychiatric program. Obviously this fine citizen was raised by some backwoods rednecks who just love to kill snakes or was taught by his parents that all snakes are scary and dangerous, which anyone with a brain can tell you is just not the case. Venomous snakes are possibly the most majestic and beautiful animals found on the planet. They command more respect and admiration than any other species of animal I have ever seen. Without them the world would be a rat-infested, horrible place to live. The bad press they receive just fuels the fire of ignorant people passing their fear and misunderstanding on to their children. Since the health department, Cape Girardeau County Sheriff Department, Cape Girardeau Police Department and the Missouri Department of Conservation could not clarify for me if a license was required or not, I caught some venomous snakes. I hope that this time someone with an intelligent thought process who has some idea how to obtain a license will reply without making comments that a redneck would make.

School-sharing plan

I READ that the Cape school board wants to add an 1,800-student high school. Well, they're going to shut down a 300-student Schultz school. That means that we'd have room for an extra 1,500 students. But we all know that the student population in Cape Girardeau is declining. It declined last year and the year before. So I have a solution. We could take this extra student capacity and rent a school to Jackson where they need some school buildings. Then we could take the money that Jackson pays us for the extra school building and use that to hire teachers. Now that would work out.

Notebook pages were interesting

MY HUSBAND and I really enjoyed the Millennium Notebook pages in the paper. Thank you very much for printing them. They were very informative and very interesting.

Interchange relief

I'M CALLING about the northbound traffic problem in Scott City where the traffic backs up all the way east of IGA and takes several light changes to get through the signal. Someone came up with the idea to connect Jane Street in Scott City with the northbound exit ramp. I think this is a great idea that would relieve the northbound traffic. I believe the state needs to act quickly on this proposal, for this is a cheap solution to the northbound traffic problem in Scott City.

Headed the wrong way

I WANT to comment on the foreign aid that the U.S. is giving out, especially to Russia. Now it comes out that Russia is using our money to develop germ warfare which can be used on us. America is in a sad state. We need a new leader. This leadership of Clinton/Gore is leading us the wrong way.

Don't need county P&Z

I JUST read in the Southeast Missourian that they are going to vote on county planning and zoning on the April ballot. I'm opposed to planning and zoning, as I'm sure the majority of the county is. We voted it down in 1992, and everything seems to be running smoothly. The last thing the county needs is more government control. Let's show them at the polls. Vote no to county planning and zoning.

Not everyone is unhappy

THIS IS to the smart aleck who said that Millersville was all for getting the water when it was free. Not everybody from Millersville is griping about the water. It's just a certain select few that have more money than God who are bitching about it. So keep your opinions to yourself.

Gore's the best candidate

I'D LIKE to be the first to congratulate Al Gore as our next president on Nov. 7. He surely is the best candidate, and his party has done more for this country in the last eight years than the 12 years prior to that when we nearly starved to death during the Reaganomics years.

Thanks for the help

ON JAN. 18 at the U.S. 61 and I-55 intersection, I was involved in an accident. I would like to thank Highway Patrolman Brad Lively, off duty and on his way home, for coming to my aid. Also the two witnesses I don't know them, but I surely appreciate them sticking around and giving the officer a statement. There are truly nice people in our area, and I thank you.

Put off P&Z election

IT SEEMS to me like the county planning and zoning commission is jumping the gun on this election. They don't even plan on having hearings on this proposal until the end of February. Then they're going to think about things that are brought up at the hearings? Are they going to change their proposal the week before the election takes place? I think they need to put this election off until we know exactly what they've come up with.

Tractor-trailer not to blame

I'M CALLING about the article on the front page of the Southeast Missourian. The caption that was under the photo of the fiery accident in Kansas City stated that the accident was because a truck jack-knifed on the icy stretch, causing a fiery multicar accident that killed 10 people. It also said that the story was on page 3A. In your story on page 3A, it clearly states that the accident was caused because a car clipped a tractor-trailer, sending the rig out of control. I feel sorry for the truck drivers who, on the most part, are much safer drivers than most of us, but seem to always get blamed. Statistics prove that most accidents between tractor-trailers and vehicles are not the fault of the tractor-trailers. I feel like the blame went to the wrong place, and your caption was very misleading. I have also heard from other sources that the accident was caused by a car going out of control.

Water is worth the price

THIS IS to the individual who called in and commented on the place I call home, which happens to be Millersville. My husband's family has lived in Millersville for over 50 years. What is so great about Millersville is that it's a small community, and everyone is friendly and everyone knows everybody. That was until the rest of the world found out how great it is to live in a small town. Here's the problem: The more people who live out here, the more water it will take to supply all of us. So in turn, they had to raise our water bill every month. Some of us who are dedicated to living in Millersville and care about our small community do not seem to be affected that much by the water bill going up. So please don't classify all of us as complainers. I'm proud to live in Millersville and do not mind that my water bill has increased.

Now they have values

LOOK AT all the people who have gotten family-value religion in the Elian Gonzalez case. There's Fidel Castro. His tyrannical rule in Cuba has broken many families, including Elian's, and has pushed many people to flee his country. There's comrade Clinton. He's always thought that a family is one with a wife, husband and the husband's concubines. There's Janet Reno. She looked the other way when a government sniper killed a pregnant woman at her home at Ruby Ridge, Idaho. Or, who ordered the government's siege on the Branch Davidian compound, knowing there were families with women and children inside? Seeing Reno show compassion for "that little boy" is like watching Saddam playing with his grandchildren. You know it's contrived. There are the Democrats in Congress. Just a year ago they were feeling no embarrassment about the first family's infidelities. Now, Sen. Barbara Boxer thinks the Elian situation is an embarrassment. They think Elian should be sent back to Cuba. It's like the old Democrats who wanted to send the blacks back to Africa. Now even some black Democratic representatives want to send Elian back to Cuba. Sounds like a case of when the shoe's on the other foot.