SPEAKOUT

Another favorite funny call

I WOULD like to say thank you to the caller who reminded us of funny Speak Out calls. My favorite was the caller who was mad about a woman who could not get a job even though she had a BSA, and the caller wanted to know why she couldn't get the job no matter what type of car she had.

Tear down old hospital building

IT'S TERRIBLE the way the city council and the rest of the city officials do not get something done about old St. Francis Hospital. Get it torn down completely. Do something with it. If not, you all go out there and live for a while. Maybe two or three months living in that hospital will do it. Get rid of that old St. Francis Hospital.

Hey, those NFL players are underpaid

IF THE television networks can pay billions and billions of dollars to have the professional football games televised, the poor, poor football players are underpaid.

Building on Broadway is eyesore

WITHOUT A doubt one of the biggest eyesores in Cape Girardeau is the old gray shack at Broadway and Whitelaw. I would think that if the owner had any pride in Cape Girardeau, he or she would do something about this building. Doesn't the city have the power to condemn and tear down such delapidated piece of property?

Who can be trusted nowadays?

WHAT IS happening with the criminal justice system in Cape Girardeau County? A prosecuting attorney publicly criticizes a jury when they don't see sufficient evidence to convict a man. It's no wonder people don't want to serve on juries. They have to miss work. Then if they don't agree with the prosecutor, they get trashed in the newspaper. Now I see that a lieutenant and a sergeant with the Cape County Sheriff's Office admitted in court that they lied. This absolutely, positively can't be tolerated. If we can't trust our police and sheriff's office, whom can we trust?

Less taxes, not extra taxes

I HAVE been noticing extra taxes added on to my purchases at the grocery store and other stores lately. Have I missed something that has been passed on to the consumers? I buy my groceries, and when I pay for them there is tax No. 1 and tax No. 2. I wonder what they're for. Any answers, please.

REPLY: Good news: You are paying less sales tax, not more. The state sales tax on groceries was dropped last year. However, many items purchased at a grocery store do not fall into the category of tax-exempt groceries. So your cash-register receipt breaks out the amount of tax for groceries and the amount of tax for other items you purchased.

Go to the Caribbean for a cruise

AS FAR as where the Missouri gambling boats sit, I couldn't care less if they are in a moat, a river, a stream or the Capaha Park lagoon. I go there to enjoy gambling. If you want to take a cruise, take a vacation on the Royal Caribbean Line.

Watch out for `cigawrecks'

THIS IS in response the complaint about not hearing about people's smoking while driving and having wrecks and what not. A friend of mine coined the term "cigawreck." That's where you drop your cigarette and are trying to hunt for it while you're driving and you nearly have a wreck. And it has happened. I don't know if it's killed anybody, but those things do happen.

Advance working on meth problem

REGARDING THE Advance Police Department. Yes, the methamphetamine problem is an issue, but it is not only happening in the city of Advance. Methamphetamine is a problem in Stoddard, Cape, and Scott and other counties. As far as people sitting on their duffs and letting other departments come in, I'm not smart, but I believe the decision was made for another council to come into Advance, and the decision was made. When the story is told, only half comes out, but not everything you read is true. Advance is doing as much, if not more, as anybody else. Rest assured, they are doing their part.

Police deception is unethical

THIS THING I saw in today's paper, "Judge finds deception but still allows evidence": This is the highest form of the misuse of ethics in our local government.

Give us back our money

I'M CALLING in response to the Speak Out article on eliminating debt and not having tax cuts. The reason why it's not in the news is that the debt is pretty reasonable compared to the amount of income that the United States is receiving yearly. Last time I looked, there was $8 trillion income for the government, and the debt is only $4.7 trillion. Most Americans have debt that's more than their yearly income. The government does not. And they're talking about their grandchildren being strapped by the debt. I doubt that would ever happen, especially with the yearly income that the government receives. I say cut taxes and give some of that money back to the taxpayers rather than tying up our money in the government and not giving people the opportunity for small businesses and for schools. I think that's the biggest thing we need to focus on: getting our money back so that we can use it instead of the government tying it up forever.