SPEAKOUT

Hotels all booked up

THE ONE thing that Cape needs: They seem to have a lot, but they need more hotel rooms around this town. They seem to all be booked up. I encourage any businessman, if he wants to make some money, to build himself a hotel.

Back to mean and nasty

I'M TRULY enjoying reading about all the many random acts of kindness, but I'm saddened when I realize that this week you'll be printing all those mean and nasty insinuations that are not based on facts. Your paper, especially Speak Out, could be and should be informative and enjoyable if your staff would just clean up its act.

REPLY: It's hard to tell: Is this a kind message or a mean and nasty comment? Speak Out is for readers to have their say. Sometimes readers get a little steamed up. Speak Out is a place to let off some steam. If you think the comments that are printed are mean and nasty, you ought to see the ones that are considered unsuitable for publication. And don't forget that Speak Out callers frequently have positive things to say, even when it's not Random Acts of Kindness Week. Thanks for your call.

Firefighters say thank you

KINDNESS KUDOS to John B. Johnston and his staff at HRH Dumplin's restaurant. They were kind enough to invite the entire on-duty Cape Girardeau Fire Department to lunch at their facility, and we thank them very, very much for that random act of kindness during kindness week.

An eight-day week?

DID ANYBODY notice that Random Acts of Kindness Week, May 12-19, is actually eight days?

REPLY: Yes, a lot of folks did. Most of them thought it was wonderful to have an extra day of kindness. Is it possible to have too many kindness days in one week?

I WANT to ask a question that a lot of people don't understand. What is the procedure for impeachment? Let's say that Bill Clinton was impeached. Who tries him? Is it the senators trying him? Would there be a judge or anything? If you could, please give us the outline how they go about impeaching the president. Is it the House brings charges and then the Senate tries him? What is the procedure?

REPLY: You pretty much have outlined the scenario: The House of Representatives impeaches the president by bringing charges against him. The Senate then serves as a jury during the impeachment trial, which is presided over the chief justice of the United States.

Lots of good news

I WOULD like to comment on the articles for Random Acts of Kindness Week in the paper. It was very nice to look forward to reading your daily paper knowing there was going to see some good news in the paper. I would like to see it continued.

REPLY: Thanks for the comments. Kindness has a way of spilling over, so look for more upbeat stories in the future.

Kindness week was wonderful

I JUST want to say that I think the Random Acts of Kindness is a wonderful idea and that your paper, the Southeast Missourian, did an excellent job of promoting and publicizing it.

Airport is a liability

AFTER HAVING spent many years at the Cape Girardeau airport, I wholeheartedly agree with Dr. Walker when he said the airport is a liability, not an asset. It is a growing liability and one the citizens of Cape Girardeau should be unwilling to continue funding. Just ask the airport board and city council how money it's costing Cape every year. As I say, this is a background I have known for many years.