SPEAKOUT

Air show was too noisy

WELL, I'M the glad the air show is over. Now I can enjoy my home that I worked so hard for. The noise of the planes was excruciating, and the planes flew way too low to people's homes. I would like to know who gives them permission to fly that low. It sure isn't the homeowners. I wonder if whoever puts on the show would like to pay to make my home soundproof. I hope it won't be back again. I know a lot of people enjoyed it and paid to see it, but there are also people who didn't enjoy it and wouldn't pay to see or hear it, who would rather stay home and enjoy their homes in peace and quiet. What is really bad is I don't live close to the Cape airport.

Shouldn't have charged for games

AFTER MAKING a trip to the Jackson City Park, I was appalled to find out the Jackson Baseball League was charging people to enter the area and watch the games. For myself, being a senior citizen and on a fixed income and having four of my grandchildren with me, this could have become somewhat expensive. Their reason for charging was this was a state-sanctioned tournament, and they had obtain to charge admission to watch the games. After several phone calls to city officials, I discovered there was no permission given to charge a fee, nor was it a common or legal practice. After spending my entire life as a resident and supporter of the Jackson youth sports programs, I feel the Jackson Baseball League owes me and all the citizens of Jackson an apology.

Bad choice of words to print

THE SOUTHEAST Missourian is very out of line allowing such words as "pervert" to be used in reference to the president of the United States. A pervert is a child molester, a deviate. If I were Bill Clinton, I would sue the newspaper for everything it's worth, but he won't because he's a gentleman. He made a mistake. Hillary Clinton is not playing the victim. That's an out and out lie. She has a right to run for the U.S. Senate in New York just like Jo Ann Emerson had a right to run for Congress in this district. I think the president of the United States has done a wonderful job. He's a compassionate man.

Tired of more gun-control laws

I AM so tired of hearing about more gun-control laws. America, are we as stupid as the government think we are? You can take all of our guns away from us law-abiding citizens and leave us completely defenseless, but it won't keep guns out of the hands of the evil person. We need tougher laws on those kinds of inhuman people. Don't waste our tax money on lengthy trials. Pass a law that it's an immediate death penalty within a year instead of 20 years or most likely never. These people know they can kill and will get by with it. Why punish us innocent people for a crime we didn't have any desire to commit? Hello, there's something wrong with this picture.

Fake pay raises with fake surplus

NOW THAT we have a fake surplus, Congress is talking about raising its own pay. Well, we all know that the surplus is a fake because the national debt keeps rising. That means we're spending more than we're taking in. It's a fake. If they want a pay raise, let's give them a fake pay raise. Pretend to pay them extra, but don't do it. Let's not have any pay raises, especially for the president, until we actually balance the budget.

Now we have to pay for paving

NOW THAT the county has paved the roads of a few chosen people for free, they tell us we can have our road paved if we pay 80 percent of the initial cost.

Thank you for Angie's recipes

THANK YOU very much for having Angie Holtzhouser's recipes in each week. I really enjoy them. I cut every one out and am putting them in a book.

Time should fit the crime

I WAS just reading in Speak Out about abolishing the death penalty in Missouri. No way. The time should fit the crime. You commit murder, you join your victim.

Still waiting for park cleanup

THERE'S A group of us living on Stoddard Street and Stoddard Court wondering when the city intends to finish its cleanup job in the park. They left a large split tree trunk standing, and the fallen part is lying on the ground. This happened during the storm on May 17.

First it goes out, then back in

WHAT IS going on with this creek project? Last summer, they hauled the dirt out. This summer, they hauled the dirt back in, making it miserable for the residents here. I hope this time they have got it right.

Let people vote on congressional raises

I'D LIKE to speak out about Congress voting pay raises. Most of them are high-priced lawyers anyway. Why should they be able to vote themselves a raise and some poor people on Social Security, Medicare and stuff like that are sitting here about penniless? I think it's about time America gets to vote on their raises. It would be flat voted down. There's too many lawyers in Congress as it is now.

Can't afford health insurance

I SINCERELY hope the person who wrote in about spending priorities and health insurance never has to choose. My husband and I get between us $1,500 a month. We had to drop our insurance because it was costing us $200 a month out of what we had, plus we had to pay for our medicine on our own. One prescription of mine cost $106 a month by itself, and I couldn't afford another which cost $135 a month. We also keep our utilities, phone, house insurance, car insurance and taxes paid. We're not lazy. Fast food is cheap, but we do not get that often. We do have our priorities straight. We just cannot afford health insurance. We pay for what we can afford, not just what we would like to have.

Lifeguards deserve hourly breaks

I'M CALLING in response to the person who wanted to know about the lifeguards and why they have a safety check. A guard has gone through the training. It's 95 degrees out, and they can't stand up there for more than an hour staring at kids playing around. I think that they should get at least a 10-minute break to get out of the sun so they don't get melanoma by the time they're 20. Also, the hourly breaks allow staff to change positions, check the pool and locker rooms. It gives customers a chance to visit the restroom and concession stand. If any patron has a problem with these rules, they can come up and talk to the lifeguards.

Safety checks are beneficial

IN REGARD to the Speak Out concerning safety checks at Capaha pool, I must say that I support the 10-minute safety checks. As the mother of two boys, I find that safety checks give me time to put on suntan lotion on my boys and to give them much needed rest. Safety checks give me time to check on my sons and make sure they're getting plenty of liquids. I would also rather have a rested guard watching my children than an exhausted one. I wish that more parents would see safety checks as a benefit for both the lifeguards and themselves.

There aren't any curses

WHAT A terrible tragedy that John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife and sister-in-law are lost at sea and feared dead. We hear so much controversy over it and what I hear is the Kennedys have been dealt worse hands than others or it's a family curse or whatever. But I can't believe that. I think that where there's more people, you just take a chance of more happening, good, bad or indifferent. A lot of times we make wrong choices. Our choices aren't always so smart, and sometimes we think we can do everything and be everything. I think we have to take personal responsibility for our actions and say it's just a terrible tragedy. But for me and my house, we serve the Lord, and I just don't think there are any curses.