SPEAKOUT

I WOULD JUST like to say that I am very proud of our troops who served in the Middle East. I would just like to wish them the best of luck and I hope that all of them return home safely, especially my uncle Derek because I miss him very, very much. I really truly love him and I just hope he returns just like the rest of the troops.

I'M VERY SICK of this caller who stated that producers and record people were giving criminals a chance to be stars in show business while straight, trustworthy, talented people are being left unnoticed. Jesus had been accused of mixing with drunkards and prostitutes and sitting at the same with criminals. He came to seek and to save those that were lost. Christians are to do the same thing. We petty criminals are better than the so-called straight, trustworthy people because they felt convicted of their sin by the Holy Ghost and repented. This was Jesus' mission on Earth. Thank you, Speak Out.

I'M WONDERING what other Christians are thinking now. Are they turning their heads away from the cries of the Iraqi people and the Kurds that are being killed? When the gulf war started, I heard a lot of talk and attended a church meeting on what was a just war for Christians. I think a just war is one that you make yourself look good, militarily, politically, socially, and keep your paycheck coming in at the expense of the young, American soldiers. I wonder if God answered the millions of prayers across the country because the gulf war was a just war or because it was not a just war. What do you think? Thank you.

I JUST WANTED to issue a little warning out there to people about locking their car. Be sure and lock up your glove compartment because I lost two very value tapes out of mine just recently, tapes that I can't replace. One had my deceased husband's voice on it and the other was an instructional tape for my Cadillac, and another one a beautiful Hawaiian tape. These were taken out and I didn't miss them until a week later when I needed to get into the glove compartment to look for something. Please, lock up your glove compartment and take that key with you. Thank you.

I'M CALLING IN regard to the recycling hours. It says that you can only leave your recycled materials from 8 to 4 Monday through Friday. What about those poor people that have to work from 7:30 to 4:30? You ask each and every one of us to do our part, and it's rather disheartening when you've got practically a trailerload that you can't get rid of because you can't make it during the hours of service. Also, they do say that they'll prosecute if you leave it after hours. Where can a person leave their recycled materials after hours?

I WOULD LIKE to know who or whose permission was given for doing away with El Camino Park along Highway 61 between Cape and Jackson. The park had been there for better than 50 years on the north side of the highway. I noticed that the state put an entrance back into the park, but didn't put an exit out. But now someone has come along and put a cable up across it to keep anyone from going in and out, and then they came along and cut down all the trees in the park. I think it's terrible to do away with our parks along that roadway. There used to be roses along there and now they're all gone. There used to be a park and apparently it's all gone. I'm very upset over this. I was wondering if you might contact the highway department and find out who and why, and have we done away with our park along that roadway? Thank you.

The land on which the roadside park was situated is privately owned and has never been owned by the state, said Mike Helpingstine of the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department at Sikeston. He said the department maintained the park, built by the WPA, until 1981, when all facilities there were removed and the park was closed because of litter problems and lack of usage. An adjacent landowner asked that the entrance be allowed to remain, and the department agreed, said Helpingstine. The property owner is cutting the trees and put the cable across the road, which is not on state right of way, said Helpingstine.

I WOULD LIKE to thank everyone who was so nice to me during my stay in St. Francis hospital when I had my surgery. Thank you very much.

I'M CALLING ABOUT the people discussing what to do with an engagement or wedding ring when the affair falls apart. The jewelry should not be considered jewelry; they are tokens of a covenant, and the intent of the token is to remind the person who wears it that they are under a covenant. Therefore, if they choose not to perform those things that are necessary to the covenant, they have no reason to be wearing or owning or possessing the symbols of that covenant. Thank you.

I WAS CALLING just to say what an excellent editorial there was in the Tuesday, April 2, paper in the Be Our Guest column by Ted Hirschfield. It was just an excellent article. Two things crossed my mind: One, how much courage it had to take to write it and, two, his objectives or reasonable suggestions are so much overlooked. The students were brought into it again. Who better knows who the good teachers are? And they do. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I thank Ted Hirschfield for taking the time to write it and you for taking the time to print it.

I'M A STUDENT AT SEMO and I love it down in Cape Girardeau. I think it's great down here, but it really irritates me that I drive to St. Louis and I visit my family and they have cheaper gas prices at the pump than they do in Cape Girardeau. I always thought that Cape Girardeau was so much more economical to live in. It is true in some aspects, and I'm just really mad about this, and I think the consumers are being taken to the bank at the gas pumps in Cape Girardeau. I'm sorry to gripe about Cape Girardeau, and I do like it down here, but if they keep hiking up the prices I might have to find a new college. I'm sorry to have to gripe because I've been down here for three-and-one-half years and I really, really like it. Thank you.

MY BOSS IS just like Saddam Hussein: He loses battle after battle. Everybody hates him but he's still in power.

I THINK THE people who burn leaves have no respect for their neighbors who have to smell the smoke. Thank you.

WHY DO ALL MOVIEMAKERS, with the possible exception of Walt Disney movies, think we are all depraved? I have no more desire to watch two people make love than I have to actually witness the brutal torture of a dumb animal, and there is something dreadfully wrong with a person who does. Thank you.

I'M CALLING ABOUT the article April 1 in Out of the Past; the last article in the 75 years ago where the oldest white male citizen of Cape died at his home. It says he was born in 1824. Now that would make him 142 years old. Is this really true or is this an April Fool's joke? Thank you.

It was neither. The heading, 75 years ago, was correct, but the date beneath it was wrong. The date should have said April 1, 1916, not 1966.

I LIVE ON LACEY Street and around the whole block on Broadway, Clark and by McDonald's there are about 15 or 20 cars going around, starting at about 7 in the evening until 4 or 5 in the morning. They have their stereos going, loud motors, lights, and they're laughing and hollering, screaming and going on; and this is every day, not just once in a while. I've called the police about it. If they come out I don't see them, but they quieted down for a few minutes. Then, as soon as they're gone, they're back at it again. I'd just like to know if there's something that can be done about all of this. I don't think it's right for the parents to let their kids go out and aggravate old people. On this street there's nothing but old, retired people and I'm one of them. I am sick and I can't stand this. It was 4 this morning before they quit going around. Thank you.

I THOUGHT MISSOURI had laws against littering the highways. A few days ago as I was coming down I-55 I came upon two trucks from a landfill that were allowing trash from the containers they had picked up to spread all along I-55. I can only assume that this continued through Scott, New Madrid, and Stoddard counties. Why can't this be put to an end? Thank you.

OUR SON IS one of the servicemen who was featured in the Gulf Mailbag. Not only did he hear from old friends of his as well as the families, but from many people he did not even know. Thank you for taking time to write our son and thank God they are all coming home soon if they are not already here. Thank you, Missourian, for featuring this in your paper. I only hope and pray that this article does not have to be restarted any way soon. Thank you so much.

IT DOES NOT appear AA's purpose has been served by quotes and statements in the newspaper even though they appear to be anonymous. Question: Whose ego is being served by AA's name being in public controversy? Trusted servants, examine your motives by studying AA's preamble and traditions. Thank you.

LEE ATWATER DIED last week. This man completely destroyed Michael Dukakis with his dirty, lying commercials that he never knew were wrong. Shortly after the election, he was stricken with a malignant brain tumor that took his life. When he realized he was dying, he apologized and asked for forgiveness from Dukakis and Ron Brown, the Democratic national chairman, which they both granted him. Peter Kinder, take note.

See Kinder's column addressing this subject today on Page 8.

I WOULD LIKE TO congratulate the SEMO Otahkians Basketball team for the real good year they had. Also, I would like to know if they are going to be on the eight-year deal like the men are. Could you find out for me? Thank you.

CONGRATULATIONS TO SHARON Crowden on her victory for Chaffee school board. We know you'll do a good job.

I'D LIKE TO congratulate all the people out there who got a pay raise because of the new minimum-wage law that went into affect April 1. I'd also like to remind you that a Democratic Congress passed this over George Bush's disapproval. Remember that next time there's a presidential election. Thank you.

I GRADUATED FROM Cape College in 1922, and that article by that Hirschfield fellow contained the most cuts I've seen up there in a long time.

IT SEEMS SHAMELESS to me that we have stirred up Hussein in the Persian Gulf. So many people are being slaughtered and there is no one to help them now, all in order to build the popularity of George Bush. That's exactly what this war was all about. How can people see it any other way? If this is a new world order, they can have my part of it.

THIS IS IN response to the two ladies, and I use the term loosely, who responded on the proper etiquette towards returning an engagement ring. I, as a male, am appalled at their assumption that every man is a worthless, no-good fellow who is all the cause of the grief and problems for these breakups. I think that they need to analyze themselves and take the responsibility when it's due. I'm tired of men constantly being accused as the source of all the problems when an engagement or any relationship breaks up. And I think it is a gross injustice when we are generalized into one category. Not all men are bad.