SPEAKOUT

Pardon is good idea

I WOULD like to make a comment on the mayor having the power to override the judge. Splendid idea. We have one caller that says that the mayor has a private law practice and it could be conflict of interest. I notice what was said about Judge Calvin having a private law practice besides being a judge. That could be a worse conflict of interest. He could hear someone's case that he's suing over a legal matter. That makes me shudder to think about going before him, whether I would get a fair chance or not. So I think everyone of us should be overridden because we're not always right. That's the American way.

Using the calculator

I JUST wondered what's wrong with Jefferson School that kids have to use a calculator to do their math assignments, and now my son says he can't do his math assignments without a calculator because he can't figure it up in his head. How are they learning anything this way?

Another puzzler

HERE'S ANOTHER puzzler for you. Why do they call it color radar weather if it's on the radio? We can't see it. They probably can't see it either because it probably doesn't exist. Please, Mr. Radio Station, can't you tell me why your continue to say color radar weather?

Chung was deplorable

CONNIE CHUNG did a deplorable thing in revealing a confidence to the public. She apparently is no more than a Hedda Hopper of Capitol Hill. I'm sure the majority of people in this country agree with the House speaker's elderly mother.

Newt's mom was right

NEWT'S MOM was correct. However, she was politically incorrect.

Get ready

THIS IS to all the people in Cape upset about the nude bar coming to town. Wake up. This is just going to be the beginning. As soon as those riverboats hit the banks of MIssissippi and all that money starts getting pumped into this community, nude bars, bars in general, prostitution, drugs, dirty money -- it's all going to go through the roof. So brace yourself. It's on its way.

I WOULD just like to comment on the topless bar. I just wonder if all these people don't realize when you build a field, it comes. If these are the type businesses that Cape Girardeans want, those that voted for gambling, these are the types they're going to get. I'm sorry.

Teen hangouts

I'VE LIVED in Cape all my life and enjoyed seeing the names of a lot of old teen-age hangouts, but one was left out. It was located in the 300 block of South Sprigg known as Kemick's Cafe, popular in the 1930s and 1940s. They had the old lunch counter booth and the old jukebox.

Survival kit

THIS IS about Mark Bliss' column in Jan. 3 paper. My Dodge Caravan is also carrying a 2-year-old, and I consider it a survival kit. If I'm ever stranded in a snow bank or something, I have plenty of blankets, a coat and toys to keep a 2-year-old happy. Plus those french fries can come in handy if you're stranded very long.

Newspaper numbers

I WOULD like to talk to somebody about the product that we are getting from the Southeast Missourian. I would like to talk to a bunch of people there that know proper English and proper punctuation. Wish you all would have a number, or at least put a number in your paper where we could call someone and speak to them about some of the concerns that we have about the Southeast Missourian rather than have to put it on a recording or call and call and not have anybody answer the telephone.

REPLY: Telephone numbers for all the departments at the Southeast Missourian are listed every day on Page 2. If you have a concern, we would welcome hearing about it. That way we will be able to address the problem. Thanks for calling.

Parental responsibility

I JUST READ in the paper that several new babies arrived on New Year's Day. What a joy for the parents and what a responsibility. How you are going to bring those children up? They are the most precious thing there is. So it is up to the parents to get things started in the right direction. It is up to you to bring them up. Teach them right from wrong. There are many, many things, and it is up to you parents to take care of them.

Those blue tags

THE BLUE and white handicapped tags are to be used to park in handicapped areas. They are not to be left hanging in your mirror while you are driving as they can obstruct your view. When you park, you hang them and before you move your car you are to take them down and put them in your glove compartment. Do not drive with them hanging as you can be ticketed.

You're old when...

YOU KNOW you are getting old when you're not out partying and dancing on New Year's but your grandchildren are.

Flying response

I WOULD LIKE to respond to the person whose mother didn't get boarded at the airport. I am a frequent business flyer out of the Cape Girardeau airport. The tickets you purchased require you to check in at least 30 minutes before your departure. People that do work there have to be at the ticket counter, outside to flag in the aircraft, unload it and load it and also do security. In other words, they have to be in three places at the same time. I think they do a fine job, but people do need to be there at least 30 minutes prior to departure, and older people need more time due to their special needs. Thank you.

Need portable toilet

IF SEMO University closes the restrooms at the outside track, I think it would be a good idea if they would place a portable toilet there. Students use the track to practice, plus the other people who go there to walk and jog. Thank you.

GOP and labor

IN RESPONSE to the GOP, the name calling, the communist, the liberal or socialist, whatever, saying he or she had to resort to name calling: I think the caller did not imply dissatisfaction with the Cape Girardeau's labor movement or workers. He just merely stated a fact that the Republican party has no reputation of being for the working man or for the poor. I think their record proves that. I certainly think that if that is the Republican way, if he calls himself a Republican name-caller, he must be the descendent of Sen. Joe McCarthy, accusing someone of being a communist if he's on the side of the working and the poor. I think the caller doesn't need to go to Chicago. I think he is needed right here, and this caller certainly proved that. Thank you.

Food for thought

I WOULD LIKE to give your readers some food for thought. Whether or not it is worthy, it is up to the individual. I am from Arkansas, 30 miles from where Bill Clinton was raised. I know Arkansawyers. People like to call them Ar-Kansasians, but we are not from Ar-Kansas. We are from Arkansas. I know Arkansawyers. My entire family lives all over Arkansas. The reason they voted for Bill Clinton for president was simply because he was from Arkansas. Whether or not they liked or disliked him, approved of him or did not approve of him, they voted for him simply because he was from the state of Arkansas, and that is a fact.

Self-centered drivers

IT IS WELL known that this region is full of rude, stupid, lazy and self-centered drivers, and they are multiplying like cockroaches. Just ask the cops. There are lots of incidents to cite, but I will focus on just one for now. This call is directed to the lousy traffic flow set up at the Jackson Post Office and especially to the arrogant, selfish twits who compound the problem. You clogs know who you are. You are the ones that turn into the PO parking lot, block the entrance and back traffic up through the four-way intersection at Highway 61 and Main just so you can get the closest parking space to the door. And you are ignorant too, because in this day and age who is dumb enough to thoughtlessly tick off a bunch of strangers behind you? Well, you jerks are, so don't whine when some of us irate drivers present you with an unpleasant surprise you so rightly deserve. Happy motoring.

No charitable feeling

IT MAKES ME angry when I donate to a charity and, before my check clears, I have received two more notices and requests for more money.

All about seat belts

HOW COME nothing gets in your paper about the seat belts? I am so tired of reading your paper, because you don't print the truth and you don't print in Speak Out everything that comes out. Let me tell you a true story about the newspaper in Cape Girardeau: There are just as many people get killed wearing seat belts as there are people who don't wear seat belts. You won't print the people's names or print anything about it. You have to get killed or get hurt in a seat belt. But, boy, you will spread the gossip about it when they don't wear the seat belt. I am so sick and tired, I am quitting your paper tomorrow. Thank you.

Riverboats for families?

CONGRATULATIONS to all who voted for riverboat gaming. Now we can have good clean family fun at the new strip bar. Heck, by the time Boyd gets the boat docked, we will probably have a dozen of those bars and no telling what else.

More on police pay

THIS IS ABOUT pay for police officers in Southeast Missouri. Everybody is talking about their pay. The starting pay for the Scott City police department is $12,716 a year. There are several different positions in the city which have a greater starting pay than this.

ACT tests available

THE CAIRO seniors who were complaining because they missed their ACT and messed up their college entrance are wrong. Those seniors could have taken that test at any number of test centers including Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, which is not very far from Cairo. They are administered five times a year. They had made it sound like they had one opportunity and the teachers messed it up, and it is not true.

No real stripping

THIS IS in regard to the proposed Cape Girardeau strip bar. No. 1, if they really research it quite heavily they will find out that there is no real stripping going on. All of the girls are required to wear a G-string and pasties. Now take a look around in the summertime at the girls around the pools, out in the parks, you will actually see more there than you will see at this strip bar. It is more confined in a strip bar than it is out in the open public. However, it is under supervision, and if they have ever been around they will find out that it is not as bad as what they are letting on. I am in 100 percent in favor of having a nudie bar. I might go, I might not. I don't know what the big deal is about it. Apparently a lot of people in Cape don't understand the actual policies of it. Research it, check it out and you will see that it is not as bad as they think it is.

Stay in Paducah

THIS IS A message to Ms. Regina, who runs a very clean-cut nude dancing saloon in Paducah, and an irritated lawyer. If our city council does not have the gonads to deny you a liquor license to establish your bar in our community, we can take matters into our own hands. Once you see us picketing in front of your establishment and taking down the license plate numbers of the patrons to your nude dancing bar you might figure just to cut your losses. Stay in Paducah or find another community to establish in. City council, don't let this happen.

Announcer should go

I WOULD like to make a comment on the Christmas tournament. I really enjoyed the U-High Christmas tournament. I just didn't enjoy the announcer. The guy pretty well took the tournament away from the kids, I felt. The way he was doing the announcing seemed like he was trying to bring the attention to him. I really enjoyed the tournament other than that.

Procrastinators goofed

LET ME STATE first that neither I, nor any of my family, is employed by the Postal Service. I think the post office is getting a bum rap on the 3-cent stamp deal. One, it was a well-publicized fact that there would be an increase in rates as of Jan. 1. Two, some time ago we received in the mail an envelope where stamps could be ordered by mail. Three, if you didn't take advantage of the previous opportunities to get the 3-cent stamps and ran into difficulties, then at least be mature enough to say "I goofed" instead of pointing an accusing finger at the post office. Thank you.

What's the big deal?

I'M CALLING about the article on the residents objecting to the strip bar. I don't really see what the big deal about the strip bar is. When these male strippers come to town and perform at local clubs, They are sold out immediately and there is always a big crowd. I probably will not ever go to the strip bar but I'm sure the city could use the extra revenue that they bring in. Also the prosecuting attorney said an example of obscenity would be pop music star and actress Madonna stage act. There have been many music stars arrested for obscenity. Madonna is not one of them. None of the contents of her concerts have met the legal definition of obscenity.

Who pays for Hill?

WHAT a shock to see the Southeast Missourian newspaper headline: Anita Hill to speak at SEMO. I wonder how much Southeast Missouri State University is paying for Anita Hill to speak. I would be interested to know the amount.

REPLY: Anita Hill will receive a $10,000 fee for her appearance in Cape Girardeau. It is being paid for by the university's Harrison College of Business, the College of Liberal Arts, the College of Education and the president's office, as well as some money from student fees.

Stamps no excuse

I CAN'T BELIEVE that man in the story on the front page about the post office. Why would he want to take his letters back home instead of buying a 32-cent stamp? Just because they were out of 3-cent stamps is no reason not to mail his letters. As far as him writing on the back of the letter to the insurance company and the other companies explaining why he might have been late, what good would that have done? It's very strange to me.

Dirty bookstores?

I DON'T KNOW why people should object to the strip bar coming to town. They voted for the riverboat gambling. Next is the strip bar, then next is the dirty bookstores, then next is the girls in the windows downtown.