SPEAKOUT

Likes Del Farm store

IT IS going to be a very sad day when Del Farm closes its doors. I will really miss all the people at Del Farm.

REPLY: No decision has been made to close the store, because the proposed sale of National (owner of Del Farm) to Schnucks hasn't been completed. Besides, even if the sale is completes, Schnucks might keep the store open.

Sidewalk problems

I WOULD like to know to whom I would speak about a sidewalk problem in 700 block of Themis on the northeast corner of North Ellis. It is a mess for the size of a city such as Cape Girardeau. There are broken bottles, tree roots, weeds, cracks and uprooted concrete where you cannot walk safely. It is a disgrace for the city and the neighborhood.

REPLY: The city's public works department can be reached by telephone at 334-9151. The department is located at 219 N. Kingshighway.

Blackwell's attitude

CHEERS FOR Sam Blackwell's columns "In search of Camelot, the death of hip." If everyone had Sam's attitude, this would be such a nice world to live in.

Hit the road

TO THE person who is moving out of town because of the strip bar. Strip bar or no strip bar, who gives a care if you leave town? Get on, hit the road, Bud.

No forced viewing

THIS IS to all those people who think Regina's House of Dolls is so bad. If they don't like it, they don't have to go to it. Nobody's forcing them to go to see them.

Burning ordinance

WE HAVE a city ordinance for outdoor burning in Cape Girardeau, but the people on the hill by College Street burn night and day. The smoke is coming through the windows and making my family sick. This is ridiculous. Why can't they burn this stuff in an isolated area away from the residents?

Cover thy nakedness

SOMEONE questioned the signs carried by the pickets at Regina's House of Dolls. I would suggest that your read the 18th chapter of Leviticus in the Old Testament, It's full of do not uncover thy nakedness. You will find it very explicit.

No fat-slob baseball

IF THE major league baseball owners think I'm going to pay even $2 a ticket to go see a replacement bunch of out-of-shape, fat-bellied slobs making fools of themselves, they better think again. This pathetic imitation of ball players will be an insult to a real fan's intelligence.

Taxes and dancers

WAKE UP, Cape Girardeau. Those dancers at strip bars here are an economic benefit to us. Between wages and tips, they are earning a living, spending money in Cape Girardeau and putting money in collection plates at churches on Sundays. Contrast that situation with what happened to some of the money we Cape Girardeau taxpayers send to Washington, D.C. There the National Endowment for the Arts decides that dancers in the New York City Ballet Company should be subsidized with a federal grant. Federal money also goes to help pay the salaries of violinists for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. No federal money ever comes back to that fiddler in a local country and western band. Where is the justice when wealthy elites can dip into the tax till and get everyone else's money to help pay for their dancing and music, but we Joe Blows down here receive no federal grants for our music and dancing?

A jury of peers

I WANT to comment about the O.J. Simpson case. There are nine black people on the jury. I hear people all over saying he's not going to be found guilty, because the black jurors won't vote to punish another black for doing crimes against whites. I know there are a lot of reasons for blacks to mistrust the whites because all they're went through, much of it justified. He has a jury of his peers. What about in New York where these Muslims have been accused of blowing up buildings? What if they want radical Muslims for a jury of their peers? The O.J. Simpson trial is going to do the judicial system -- prove how it's just not worthy anymore -- what Clinton's presidency has done to America's ability to defend itself. It's a turning point in our country. People ought to tell their kids that there was honor in this country, but not after 1992.

Watching the landlords

IT IS about time that some of the landlords are made to clean up, fix up or either get out of the business. I was real glad to see the first one get justice served.

How much government?

IN REGARDS to the Southeast Missourian article about welfare reform, suggesting that the federal government get out of the welfare business. What's it going to be next? The federal government get out of the farmer's business, public housing's business? How much do the conservatives want to cut the government out? The only thing these conservative congressmen are interested in is to stay in power to give them their paychecks and to work on their pensions. What do they want to do, make the federal government a figurehead and each state is by itself? We're the United States. We're all one country. We do need state government, and we do need the federal government. We do not need the government on our backs, but there are times we sure do need the federal government by our sides.

Crackdown on cheats

HURRAH AND congratulations to Massachusetts for having the foresight to cut back on the welfare cheats. This will sound the alarm. Probably the other states will do likewise in the future.