SPEAKOUT

Cook's credibility

BEKKI COOK says she has restored credibility in her office. I think she needs a new motto. She certainly has not restored credibility. Her first day on job she acted without integrity. After a vote was for speaker of the House and her crony, Bob Griffith, lost, she held the voting open allowing liberal Democrats to twist more arms. Her excuse was, "I didn't know what to do. I'm not politically minded." Just recently after votes were counted, she declared a Democrat winner when in fact a Republican won. This seems a serious lack of credibility. I'm surprised she didn't respond as Bill Clinton, "It was just a bureaucratic snafu." Those elected and appointed to high office cannot plead ignorance of the laws. These are people educated in law and they need to practice the virtues of responsibility and honesty.

REPLY: The vote tally in the Republican congressional primary for the 9th District in Northeast Missouri was reported incorrectly because the votes were improperly recorded. Members of the secretary of state's staff worked into the early-morning hours to confirm the correct results, which changed the outcome that had been reported earlier.

Not a good neighbor

A GOOD neighbor is not someone who puts garbage out beside the house for everyone else to see and smell, parks junky old grease-dripping cars and trucks in front of somebody else's home, cleans game and fish in their front yard and throws the remains in the back yard for everyone else to smell, never cleans up after dogs they have tied up in their back yard on chains and never cleans up around their place. This is in a nice neighborhood with the exception of one bad apple.

What did you expect?

I'D LIKE to make a comment in reference to the story that said drug use by teen-agers has increased. Well, that's what you get when you elect a dope-smoking, draft-dodging, womanizer for a president. Of course, nothing is wrong with the drug problem for him, because that's what he did.

Water bond issue

I'VE BEEN reading in the paper about the bond issue on the water. The paper says the water supply is low because of commercial business. According to the last census, Cape's population is going down, but the city of Cape wants the taxpayers to foot the bill for businesses. It's either pass the bond issue or take a 59 percent increase on your water bill. It sounds a lot like the Mafia. It's either do it my way or else.

REPLY: There will be two issues on November's ballot. The first is the bond issue for water improvements. The second is a half-cent sales tax to pay for the bonds. If the bond issues passes but the sales tax fails, then the water rates are likely to go up. If the bond issue fails, there will be no need for a sales tax or a water rate increase.

Clinton's no worse

TELL ME how come they're always complaining about Bill Clinton, a draft dodger and such as that. Well now, what happened to Reagan in World War II? Why wasn't he drafted? He's the same age as my husband, and my husband was called up to be drafted. They complain all the time about Bill Clinton being a draft dodger. Could you please tell me why they are doing that? I'd love to know because he's not any worse off than what Reagan or any of the rest of them are that didn't go. I'm sorry, but that's the way it is.

Cigarettes are harmful

I DO know cigarettes are harmful to your body. I lost my husband to them. He would beg me, "Please take the cigarettes away from our young children of today before they get like me." And why not? They know cigarettes are harmful. Why don't they do something about it? When you think about it, how is welfare and our medical system going to help out all those children smoking today? Please do something about it before it's too late. Because your child and my grandchildren are seeing that and are doing that. Please help them because I know what my husband kept telling me.

Focus on the candidates

BEHIND EVERY strong man is a strong woman whether Nancy Reagan, Hillary Clinton or Elizabeth Dole. Let's top looking at the presidential hopeful wives and focus on the candidate. And value wise, I'm sure Dole will win hands down.

ACT test is easier now

TO THE caller who was commenting that students' scores on the ACT had risen and therefore Outcome Based Education must be working: I would simply say that I think he misinterpreted the whole thing, because Outcome Based Education and Goals 2000 has done nothing but dumb down the students by ruining the education system of the past. The test scores have shown improvement because the U.S. students were doing so poorly against other countries' test scores that they had to do something to keep from being embarrassed in this country. Therefore they changed the test. That sounds reasonable, doesn't it? They made the test simpler, they got easier questions, they gave them longer time to take the test, and this was in the Missourian of which he criticized for not putting the other information out. But if he had read the reviews and analysis and commentaries on this test thing, he would have found that the reason they're doing better is because they got a test that kids in elementary school could have passed a generation back in the 1940s and 1950s.