SPEAKOUT

Church bells are welcome relief

AS THE walls of our home and in fact our very bodies vibrate with the obnoxious beat of many boom boxes, and as our ears are assaulted by the weekly Friday- and Saturday-night blaring of horns, drag races and peeling tires, it is, with a deep sigh of contentment, that we are once again able to listen to the beautiful church bells of Grace United Methodist Church. In these days of loud, offensive noises, the sound of the church bells offers one a moment for peaceful reflection on the good things the Lord has given us. Thank you, Dawn Strong and Dr. Larry Gallamore, from your friends in the 1800 block of Thilenius.

Congrats to the Kelly Hawks

I'D LIKE to say congratulations to the Kelly Hawks softball team. The girls won today over Jackson and brought them home another conference win.

Options to living in a growing town

I JUST read the comment from the person who says he's tired of all the people moving to Jackson. I haven't lived in Jackson all my life, only for about 25 years, but when I moved here, I found Jackson to be very clanish, very small-town. I love the progress in this place. Time only moves forward. If you can't stand all the people in town, you have choices.

More about the AmeriCorps program

I'M CALLING in response to the letter to the editor written by Bill Thompson, the project director of the AmeriCorps program in Cape Girardeau. It seems Mr. Thompson was upset about some issues that were not clear in a previous story. He wrote that allegations of poor management came from members who did not wish to abide by the federally mandated program's policies and procedures. However, Mr. Thompson failed to mention that many of the members who quit did so because we were being harassed by one of the full-time program staff members he spoke so highly of in his letter. Yes, all of us did sign contracts with the program, but where in those contracts did it say that members must tolerate consistent harassment, discrimination and having each other's personal business spread throughout the office? Many members also discussed this situation consistently with Mr. Thompson, who didn't seem to have the time of day for us. Mr. Thompson also claims that there were many members counting volunteer hours that they had not actually done. Think about this, if we were going to lie about hours, we'd have completed all 1,700 of them that first day of the program. It's important that you practice what you preach. Our supervisors are often gone from the office, yet they still get paid for days when they aren't even there. Why is it acceptable for staff to go home and do laundry, meet with friends or just drive around town all day running personal errands? I think the article written by Tamara Buck was excellent. She did her job. She interviewed many people, those who have good and bad experiences with the program, as well as an article telling the community exactly what the AmeriCorps program was all about. That article was based on information she received from Mr. Thompson and his staff. If Mr. Thompson is upset, then I guess it's because Ms. Buck printed what was true.

Flat tax would help the wealthy

I HOPE you people understand what is being done to you. The Republican Party is having the hearings on the IRS. The only reason they're having the hearings is because they want to change the way the tax code is written so they can help their friends. They want the flat rate which will serve the very wealthy the most. The flat rate tax is a joke, because if it would have been good they would haven't pooh-poohed it when Jerry Brown presented it several years ago. All they're trying to do is play hard-ball politics and help the very wealthy. It's a very sad situation.