SPEAKOUT

WELL, THE BOLLINGER big mouths finally got their way on the Cape County-Bollinger County lake. It's a real shame not only for the citizens of Cape County but also for the youngsters in Bollinger County who would have benefited so much in so many ways. It's amazing to me that so many people in Bollinger County have turned their backs on what would have surely been a wonderful opportunity to improve the welfare of themselves and their families. Yes, Bollinger big mouths, you think you've won but you've really lost.

IN RESPONSE TO one of Thursday's callers who said that basically we shouldn't bother finding a cure for AIDS so that certain groups can continue to carry on like they have been, I have the following comment: Never in my life have I read something so ignorant, so venomous and full of poison and hatred. If this person feels that medical care should be based on some quality of life that they feel is important, don't they realize that these certain groups that they are talking about might have also had cancer, or diabetes, or high blood pressure, or heart disease? Disease does not strike only those with a drug-use habit or need for blood transfusions; disease strikes randomly. This person would have made the Nazis proud. Thank you.

WE'RE IN JEOPARDY. We're at the mercy of a greedy Congress who will look you in the eye and lie as easily as they take communion. Most of us in this country are over 30 years old and we are the ones who have paid the most, and now is the time for those who pay taxes, which only go for providing our state and federal officials with a high-on-the-hog lifestyle, to rebel. Simply refuse to support them any longer. Refuse to pay any more taxes for the sake of our children. If we think it's bad now, you ain't seen nothing yet that can compare to what our children will face. Let's all go to jail together and see which federal or state official will do his job without pay. Thank you.

ISN'T IT AMAZING how we have all these budget cuts. We have taxes having to be raised all the time yet the Senate can vote themselves a $23,000 pay raise. That's more than most people can make in a year's time. I think it stinks.

I'D LIKE TO comment on the lake vote in Bollinger County. I think it's really unfair the way they did it; that they ran it in the newspaper. People who don't get the newspaper, like me, are very much for the lake and did not get the opportunity to vote. I think its just a well-known fact that the majority of people who are against it are the ones who are going to be sure to vote against it. The ones who are for it don't really find it necessary to voice their opinion. We weren't even notified that there was going to be such a thing. I think it's really unfair. I would have liked my say on it but now it's over, and supposedly I'm not going to get to vote on it.

I WOULD LIKE this message in as soon as possible. I would like for the voters in this area to call their senators and express their disgust at the recent pay increase they voted themselves. Thank you.

COULD YOU TELL ME what earth-shaking event has happened that the price of gasoline jumped seven cents a gallon in a matter of minutes in Cape Girardeau? Surely something terrible must have happened to one of the oil-producing countries.

I'M READING THE WEDNESDAY morning, July 17, newspaper, and on the front page is Art Walhausen of Southeast Missouri State University talking about the Proposition B tax increase. That's interesting to me because it seems as though, if they're going to enlist students to help vote for this measure, the students will not be paying income tax for several years to get to the level at which the increases are designed. So to me, that seems a little ironic. I'd like to see them cut the waste from higher education's budgets and perhaps some of the high salaries that the administrative staff make. Thank you.

LEAVE IT BE. Cape County does not want a lake either.

I WAS JUST wondering if someone could tell me if a cocker spaniel dog could stand the weather in the winter time outside. I've been wanting to get a cocker spaniel, but I do not want to get one if it cannot stand the outside weather because I cannot have a dog in the house. Please answer me, someone. I will appreciate information. Thank you.

IF PEOPLE WOULD mind their own business here in Cape, this town would be a little better. Thank you very much.

I JUST WANTED TO say we just came in from vacation. We were in Springfield, Mo., and I can't understand why they can sell gas over there all over the place for 93 cents a gallon and ours just went up to $1.05. I mean, they've got to truck it all the way over there and our terminal is right here in Scott City. They don't have to drive but five miles Thank you.

I WANT TO KNOW why every time something happens in Cape Girardeau people worry about other people's business. Why can't they mind their own business and take care of their own backyard. Thank you.

FIFTEEN YEARS SINCE the United States stopped fighting in Vietnam. A couple of years ago Congress voted on some of the largest tax hikes in history and gave themselves the largest raise in history. Meanwhile 2,200 Americans are sitting over in Vietnam listed as MIAs. Come on, people, wake up. Let's get these people back home were they belong. They're Americans.

THIS IS TO the couple that makes $17,000 a year. Yes, we have four children; yes, we have an old car; no, we don't use air conditioning; we have no medical insurance because it is not furnished where we work; and we sure can't afford it. We rely a lot on our families for food and clothing because they know we do all that we can. My husband works 60 hours a week and I work 40. We make too much to be eligible for food stamps, and it is hard, yes, very hard. But where are the jobs that pay better? I can't find them. I guess we make it by the grace of God and the love of our family.

SCOTT CITY'S TAX proposal to be voted on in August should read tax so everyone in Scott City can have a say. I'm tired of paying taxes for other people's streets to be repaired when I don't even have a street. Thank you.

I WANTED TO call to say that I agree with the caller concerning the need for a YMCA in the Cape and Jackson area. What I would like to know is, where do concerned citizens like myself and others call and to whom do we speak about getting this YMCA started? The need is definitely there. Thank you.

I'M A 15-year-old teenage girl. My friend and I were sitting on the wall on Broadway yesterday evening. As we were sitting there a policeman came up and told us we couldn't sit there because of all the littering from the kids on the weekends. I can't say I've never littered. Why don't you put a couple of trash cans up there to put the litter in? Thank you.

IN REGARDS TO Wednesday's Speak Out, the item regarding Southeast Missouri University activities. I don't mind contributing anything to all the organizations mentioned except for the Gay and Lesbian Student Association. I can't believe that this even exists in our nice town. If I'm considered small-minded, I hope and pray I stay this way. Thank you.

THIS IS TO the lowlife who get their kicks out of trashing cemeteries. I just returned home from cleaning up the mess you had such a good time having in trashing my husband's grave the same time you trashed at least two others. It is very difficult for me to believe there are people such as you walking the face of the Earth, but obviously there are more than one of you. When I was a child I always wondered why there were fences around cemeteries. Well, now I know why: it is to keep people like yourself out. You have no regard, respect, feelings of any good kind for the dead or the living. Your lives must be pretty sad or sick to have to stoop that low to have a good time. I have a great deal of sympathy for the parents and families who have wasted their love on you. I say waste because you don't deserve love. Yes, you have been able to get away with destroying things at both of the cemeteries in Chaffee and in Cape and surrounding areas. And I guess it makes you feel pretty big to have caused pain to those of us who have loved ones resting there. Maybe someday you will get lucky enough to have a loved one, and someone will do the same thing for you or to you that you have done to others. I am not too sure you will feel what we feel, but I truly hope so. You have gotten away with it for now; however, I would advise you to look twice before you do it again. All good things do come to an end sooner or later.