SPEAKOUT

TO SEE A storybook town or to go through a place that looks like Santa Claus' village, go to Kelso and see the sites. When you come into town it looks like you're coming into a storybook town or storybook village. The lights are beautiful. Good job, Kelso. Thank you.

TWO OF THE most beautifully lit homes in Cape are on County Road 621. One is just past the Jaycee Golf Course and the other is just past Teen Challenge. They are beautiful Christmas displays.

AS FAR AS the William Kennedy Smith trial went, I think the prosecution make a mistake when they sent a woman to do a man's job. Thank you.

TO THE PERSON who said they think Barbara Streissand is too hard to look at, well, did you ever think that maybe people would think the same thing about you? Thank you.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE SEMO teacher education program for their recent award, but please, Southeast Missourian, don't bury it next time on Page 11C.

THIS IS CONCERNING the gay and lesbian controversy about the Christmas display in the county park. I think it's pretty. Why shouldn't everybody enjoy the Christmas holidays without any nitpicking about what your preference is? Hey, they're part of Cape Girardeau, and we might as well learn to live with it.

I'M WONDERING ABOUT the burning of trash in Cape Girardeau. Is it legal for one to burn their trash on a weekly basis in an incinerator in their backyard or a metal trash container? It seems I see more burning on a regular basis, especially in the Fairlane area. Perhaps part of this is coming about because we now have only one regular trash pickup a week. I don't think burning of trash should be allowed in the city limits of Cape Girardeau. It seems very dangerous to me. Thank you.

Fire Chief Gene Hindman said burning of solid-waste trash is prohibited within the city in anything other than a state-approved incinerator like those used by some grocery stores. Burning of grass clippings, leaves and garden trimmings is permitted between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., he said. Larger brush fires require issuance of a free permit by the fire department, he said.

I'M SICK OF PAYING higher and higher taxes as I am sure everyone else is. There is no difference between the Democrats and Republicans anymore; they both steal your hard-earned income. The only difference between the two is how they spend it. I think that people are fed up with this nonsense. People ought to take a hard look at the Libertarian Party for 1992. I'm sick to death of watching U.S. tax dollars becoming blank welfare checks for every country in the world. The Libertarians will put this to a screeching halt. Thank you.

I AM A teenager and agree with the person who wrote in about the new place for teenagers. I've been in the new place and it is really fixed up nice. Whoever ran the teenage place in the Plaza should try and get this new place going before it is too late.

THERE'S BEEN A big rivalry about school spirit at Central High School. For those who don't think it's important, fine; for those who do think it's important, fine. It's not necessary but it makes life at school a little more interesting. It just adds some "umpf" to the sports teams and it shows that someone cares. The senior class doesn't seem to care that they don't have any spirit and neither does the junior class. You don't hear much about the sophomore class. As a sophomore at Central, I'm glad that our class is just a little more exciting. I think maybe the seniors and juniors are jealous. Don't be jealous, just jump in and help. Thank you.

A WORD ABOUT the Soviet breakup: There is one reason that the Soviet Union is dissolving today, because we had our greatest president, Reagan, stick to his guns, defeat the communist and all these little countries such as Grenada all over the world, and showed them that they couldn't win. The Reagan buildup in the '80s is going to save us. It cost us money then, but in the long run the arms race is over, and over the long run we're going to reap the untold benefits of this buildup that we had in the '80s. I just think that a lot of people are ungrateful. They won't say that Reagan did it, but Reagan is the reason we've got this peace and it's the reason the Soviet Union did not bury us. Thank you.

LET'S TALK ABOUT a new garbage pickup system. I'm sure the average family doesn't have enough recyclables to warrant a pickup every week. Why not have pickups once every two weeks and go back to our normal garbage pickup the other week? We're not getting much for our money, that's for sure.

A FEW DAYS AGO I heard a news brief on KFVS TV about the recycling center in Poplar Bluff. If I'm not mistaken, they reported that the Bluff center is recycling tin cans. If this is true it would be good news for our effort in Cape Girardeau because it would mean that the Bluff center has found a market for the cans. A good part of our solid waste is made up of tin cans. By recycling, these would take a big part out of our solid-waste pickup and thereby solve some of the problems of a large buildup of the regular solid-waste pickup day.