SPEAKOUT

Try bed and breakfast

IF NEWT Gingrich had a Lincoln bedroom, he could pay off his $300,000 loan in three nights.

Trash rates going up

THE CITY administration is once again threatening the taxpayers of Cape Girardeau with an increase in their trash pickup. We just had a three percent increase this year and last year both. It appears to me that the city council has got a weapon now that they can use against the taxpayers to raise taxes anytime they want. This has to change. I am not against the city employees receiving pay raises, but the city council must think about the senior citizens who are living on fixed incomes. Some can't afford to buy their medicine now. They need to find a different way in order to finance this increase in salary. It appears that there is no end to raising the trash fees. After taking one pickup a week away from us, they've taken one to two bags away from us per week. What's next? One bag? If the council and the mayor and the city manager proceed with this increase in trash pickup, they can rest assured I will no longer recycle, because if I'm going to pay more for my trash, then I'm going to have trash to pick up. I'm sorry that I have to take this drastic measure, but you see I'm on a fixed income, me and my wife both, and we simply cannot afford any more taxes and not having any trash to pickup. This is ludicrous. Stop and think, city council, before you do it.

Golf provides comedy

I AGREE with the Speak Out comment about golf not being a real sport, but if you are amused by comical, pathetic looking clothing or bodies that should not ever be so attired, I recommend a sightseeing tour in Cape of the golf courses. And they do get exercise -- at loading their golf riding carts.

Graffiti suggestion

IF THE president is so interested in cleaning dirty graffiti off the walls, I'd like him to come to Cape Girardeau and clean Rush Limbaugh's picture off the wall downtown.

Clinton and North Korea

BILL CLINTON is wanting to help North Korea, which is a communist country that may still have American servicemen in prison camps in the north. Perhaps if this man would have had to go and fight these people like a lot of American boys did, he wouldn't be worrying about North Korea. This is what's wrong with our political system today. The people who are guiding our country are more interested in the foreign countries than they are with their own country. But I don't guess we can expect much more than what we've got with a draft dodger in the White House.

Too many errors

BEING NEWCOMERS to Cape Girardeau, we are favorably impressed with the Southeast Missourian, its editorials, its informative articles concerning area activities, and its local news coverage. However, we are becoming quite concerned about it's accuracy. In recent weeks, we have seen four glaring errors. The first I would discuss is pictures misidentified. One day there was a woman's name under a man's picture and directly below it was the man's name under the woman's picture. Also, in another picture, a group picture, there were more people in the picture than identified below the picture. The second glaring error that we saw was tennis tournament scores that were reversed so that the loser was shown as the winner. Can you imagine the hurt of the teen-age winner who worked hard for that victory? If a correction was printed, we didn't see it. The third example that I have is recipes. I've seen recipes just this week printed with a typographical error, and I'm not sure I want to try cooking recipes when a typing error could make a catastrophe out of a good recipe. The fourth example I would show is an erroneous announcement this week that said the city would hold a sale at the new Osage Building on Thursday, May 24. Well, May 24 is on a Saturday and the only Thursday that is the 24th was in April. So which was it?

REPLY: We regret these errors, as always, and we continue to work hard to avoid making such mistakes in the first place. We appreciate the kind words about the newspaper. We hope we can continue to improve the content -- with fewer errors.

Richardson needs prayers

IF MARK Richardson had been a Democrat, you would have plastered his DWI story all over the front page. Surely, you will not deny that. This young man seems to be brilliant and dedicated. Perhaps he has a problem, and he needs our prayers.

Regulate alcohol too

YOU KNOW, I feel like if they're going to treat cigarettes like drugs, then they need to do the same thing with alcohol. I have yet to see anybody smoke a cigarette, go driving down the road and kill somebody. I haven't seen it yet, so they should be more concerned about alcohol than they are about cigarettes.

Things that won't get done

THERE ARE three things in my life I can be completely sure of. I will never climb Mount Everest, I will never pitch a perfect game for the Cardinals and, most of all, I will never waste one minute of my life listening to Rush Limbaugh.

Lead by example

I WANT to comment about this project that Bill Clinton has put together will Colin Powell, this volunteerism that they want other people to do. You know, here's a good idea. Why don't they give up their retirement checks? That would do more than all the volunteerism that people do on the side. Just give up the huge checks. Colin Powell draws a big check. Dole draws a big one. Clinton could give up some of his campaign funds that he got from the foreigners. But beyond that, wasn't it Mr. Clinton who, when he was asked to go to the Army and volunteer to do duty to his country, went over and burned the American flags over in Moscow while American prisoners were being held in prison camps? What gall this guy has to ask other people to go volunteer and sacrifice when he wouldn't sacrifice when he was called.

Get some help

EVERYBODY IS really working their worry beads about Mark Richardson's career. I propose that there's a greater problem at hand. His life is in danger, not just his but the life of his little girl. Denial ain't just a river in Egypt, Markie buddy. You'd better get yourself hence to an alcohol treatment program, wake up, smell the coffee, drink some coffee and stay off the Robitussin.

Tiger Woods does good work

WHOEVER CALLED in that comment about kids thinking golf is cool and walking around the golf course, he should be ashamed of himself beyond compassion. You think about our youth, drugs, alcohol, sex and drugs. Will you think about Tiger Woods and the impact he may have on our youth? Shame on you. And thank you, Tiger Woods. Keep the good work up and don't let the media change you one bit.

Disappointed with support

I AM very disappointed that state Reps. Mary Kasten, Patrick Naeger and David Schwab would publicly voice support for Rep. Mark Richardson for his recent charges of DWI and endangerment of his four-year-old daughter. I agree with Rep. Heckemeyer and Rep. Larry Thompson that this reflects badly on lawmakers, and I also agree with Sen. Peter Kinder with his statement that this is none of his business.

Elderly and the young

I'M CALLING about Peggy O'Farrell's column April 28. Her comments were right on the button. I also know a grandmother 76 years old who is raising her 7-month-old granddaughter. So who do we think we are that we have the right to condemn, almost, this woman for having her own baby at 63?

Our representation

POOR MARK Richardson in trouble again. But not with our representatives from Cape here, Kasten and Schwab. They say he's a fine fellow and a family man. It's time to take a look at the people we're sending to represent us. Peter Kinder said he doesn't think he should say anything. That's a great help. I can't help but wonder where this child's mother is that she allows this to happen.

Follow the law

I WOULD say to Mark Richardson, he was lucky he was a representative because he could bail out immediately. If he had shock jail time, maybe he'd wake up. He's still in denial and if the guy has a drinking problem, that's neither here or there, he can quit drinking just like Bill Emerson did. I don't know why it has to get so politicized. They ought to just follow the law like everybody else does.

Safety for triathlon

I'M CALLING concerning the Steamboat Triathlon held here in Cape Girardeau. I was not a participant in this event. However, as a spectator, I noticed some things that I was ashamed of. These athletes come out for four hours one day out of the year to prove something and to find healthy competition. As citizens, we should allow this short amount of time on our streets without interruption or fear of our careless driving. More than once I saw vehicles riding too close behind the biker or passing a biker when there was one coming both ways. These actions could have caused someone's life to be taken away. Wouldn't you rather be a few minutes late? Don't be so insensitive. I have a lot of respect for these athletes to push themselves to their physical limits. They deserve it.

Don't drink and drive

I HAVE no quarrel with a Democrat or Republican who has a few beers, but they shouldn't drive while under the influence, especially with a child in the car.

Need land to soak up water

NO NEED for the rivers to overflow their banks. We need the ground which soaks in rainwater and melted snow and what have you. A 650,000-square-foot-plus parking lot will ensure terrible floods for the future for this area around Cape. So we should do something about spreading out, covering our land. Have high-rise parking basements and three- or four-story buildings mandatory.

Lawmaker breaks the law

CONGRATULATIONS, Sen. Peter Kinder for your commonsense answer to Richardson's problem, "I don't think it's any of my business to comment," you said. I guess all those who cannot pass a breathalyzer can count on Dave Schwab and Mary Kasten to voice support for them. You people make laws. Richardson is a lawbreaker. We keep hearing about the Clintons being suspicious of breaking the laws. Regardless of party or law, he's a lawbreaker.

Be more specific

YOU KNOW those of us who are part of Cape Girardeau County but who live in Jackson have been mildly curious and quite puzzled as to why paper and television media have not told exactly where that drug bust gone bad chase wound in our town. To simply say, "and it wound up in Jackson," does no good geographically for us at all. We, do live in this area, you know, and we would like to know.

Pay the price

I CAN'T believe that state Rep. Naeger thinks of Mark Richardson as a victim. Perhaps if Mr. Naeger had ever lost a family member because of a drunk driver, he would change his opinion of who the victim really is. Mr. Richardson made a conscious decision to drive even though he had been drinking and was legally drunk. He should know, above all people, that is against the law. Even if you're in the state legislature, you have to abide by the rules that all of our citizens of Missouri have to abide by. He should have to pay the price just like anyone else who has ever been arrested for drunk driving.

State of denial

I'D TO talk about the Mark Richardson situation. Mark Richardson has an incurable disease: alcoholism. It is quite apparent from his actions and his appearances on television that he is in a state of denial. The man has a very hard road ahead of him as far as getting in control of this disease. I have lived with a spouse who is an alcoholic-drug addict for 25 years. I know what the story is, and the man is kidding himself. He has an immature personality with feelings of omnipotence. That is what the psychiatrist in charge of one of the largest medical treatment centers in the Midwest for drugs told me personally. That is the problem of the alcoholic. This man had better get his act together, or he's going down that long road.