SPEAKOUT

Best interest of Cape Girardeau?

I'M COMMENTING about the recent letter to the editor about the Drurys giving much to Cape Girardeau. I'm not even a resident of Cape Girardeau, but I enjoy doing business often in Cape. I was stunned that a few members of your City Council could reject such a reasonable request for a special-use permit for a sixth-floor addition to the Auburn Park office building. Cape Girardeau is so very fortunate to have such a successful and community-oriented family that has helped the city to grow tremendously in the last several years. Sure, the Drurys are making money, and very well they should be. Look at the growth and economical boost they are giving to Cape Girardeau. I think the City Council has a few members that need to ask themselves if they have the best interest of Cape Girardeau in their recent decision.

Voting responsibility is serious

WITH EVERY election I am more and more dismayed and distraught at the dwindling number of voters who bother to turn up at the polls. I signed up to vote on my 18th birthday, and I can count on one hand the number of elections -- local, state, national -- that I've missed since then for really good reasons like I was hospitalized or my absentee ballot didn't come in the mail. And this is why I really have to call in once again and give Tamara Zellars Buck a mucho stamp of approval for her column. I can't believe that people are so cavalier about who runs the country, but they're the first ones to shoot off their mouths the first time the least little thing goes wrong with something responsible people have voted in. You know, I'm not really a tyrant or dictator or control freak, but in a way it makes me feel good that I and about three people in the county are in charge of the rest of you all. I guess that's kind of an ego boost there. I'm so glad to know that people really care so much to get off their butts and vote. And all I have to say is, if you don't vote, don't complain. Just keep it to yourself. The rest of us don't want to hear it. After all, we did our duty.

Cable out during storm warnings

THE STORM warnings don't do any good if the TV doesn't work. And every time we have a storm or a rain, the TV goes out. As much money as the cable company charges, it looks to me like it could afford to fix it. We pay enough to watch TV, and we really like to watch the storm warnings and tornadoes.

Limit prayer in public schools

IT THINK that prayer in public schools should be allowed at graduation and baccalaureate services. But I do not believe that prayer should be held in a large crowd in the halls every day. If the parents of Bell City want their children to pray in school, let them pay to send them to Christian schools.

It takes longer to earn taxes

I NOTICED when you asked people's opinions about the April 15 deadline, you asked do they give taxpayers enough time to file their tax returns. Everybody said yeah, yeah, plenty of time. That's not the point. It may not give people plenty of time to come up with the tax money to pay, and I think since we spend the first four or five months the year earning money to pay these taxes, some consideration could be given to that.

Waiting for response column

WHEN THE university's administration acted decisively in regarding basketball problems at the university, Marty Mishow, in his column, was very critical and indicated he would be prepared to "rip the administration" unless substantial charges were found and those charges were supported by the NCAA investigation. Now that they have been found and supported, I looked in vain in column for Marty to congratulate the administration on its responsible, courageous, albeit unpopular actions at the time. Come on, Marty.

More info on the ruined shoes

NOT TO make a federal case out of my dog-poop tragedy, but I was so upset the night I got back from my uncle's funeral and stepped in dog poop in the pitch darkness. I'm glad that one caller agreed with me about the pooper scooper law, but someone's criticized my pitching my own shoes. You weren't there, so I'll just tell you how it was. Not to be graphic, but this wasn't a little dried up pellet or two. I'm talking huge, soft, fresh, atrocious smelly portions that had to have come from a great big dog completely saturated the soles and went halfway up the sides. By the by, the shoes were fabric, not leather or vinyl. They were delicate dress shoes. I'm not squeamish. I can eat a plate of linguine and red clam sauce while watching surgeries and autopsies on TV. Ask anyone. Squeamish isn't the issue. Hygiene is. Dog feces are teeming with millions of harmful bacteria and other interesting microscopic life. No one on Earth has ever been poor or needy enough to warrant donating these lost-cause shoes. Needy people have dignity too, and it would have been insulting to expect anyone to wear these shoes which were at the very least destined to wear a permanent incredibly, foul odor. Any takers? I don't think so. Had I scrubbed and soaked them, how could I have ever been sure they were clean just because they looked clean? If that's your cleaning philosophy, I ain't coming over to your house for dinner. Yuck. And before you call me lazy, just let me give you a footnote. My elderly mother who was with me also stepped in another area of our property full of the same substance that night. Fortunately it was just one shoe, and not much got on it. But she unwittingly tracked it all over the house before we discovered it. Tired and grieving as were, this necessitated a huge cleanup. This is why I'm so upset with the owner of this dog. Can you understand now? We salvaged her shoes, because we could. The next day, we hosed down the entire outside and washed this stuff away which took a long time because there was a lot of it. I'm willing to put this to rest now. May it rest in peace.

President adheres to Constitution

REGARDING THE person who commented that the president "is supposed to be a role model for everybody." Strange, I don't remember having ever read that in the Constitution anywhere. The only thing I can remember is the president is supposed to uphold and protect the Constitution of the United States, and President Clinton has done that quite well, much better than many of his predecessors. I also don't believe that he's jumped in bed with everybody, and even if he did, here again, that's a moral judgment. While I'm not personally in the business of doing that, I don't think any of these do-gooders should do that either.

Thank you to an honest man

THERE WAS a man who found my wallet and turned it in, and I got it back, There was quite a bit of money in it. I would just like to put this thank you in. There are still some honest people left in this world. I know there is one, at least, who lives in Cape. Thank you, Mike Pate.