Speak Out 5/1/07

Bus danger

SO JACKSON School District administrators knew back in December that a woman was filming the buses? One administrator claims what she was doing was a danger to students. What was she doing that was a danger to our children? What did officials do about it?

Speak your mind

SPEAK OUT callers say we need a public hearing on the ouster of Frank Ellis. Why not go to school board meetings and speak your mind? The meetings are open to the public. Other callers are threatening to vote board members out of office. Voters have the shortest memories on record. Look at all the recent uproar in Jackson. The voters resoundingly kept the same people on the board despite calling for the need for new people.

Properly concerned

READERS SAY they are ashamed to say Sheryl Crow is from Southeast Missouri because of her stand on global-warming issues. I am not a fan of Crow's, but she seems to be concerned for the Earth and those around her.

Left behind

TEACHERS ARE complaining about No Child Left Behind. What about a country left behind? Wages are down, health care coverage is declining, manufacturing jobs are disappearing, poverty is up, infant mortality is going up, school systems are failing, the middle class is disappearing and this government keeps giving to the corporations. One area doing well: Corporate profits are at an all-time high, but then they would be if employers don't have to pay decent wages, provide health care and move the jobs to $1-an-hour countries.

Not telling the truth

PAT TILLMAN was killed by friendly fire. My cousin was killed by friendly fire in Vietnam. The family was told this up front and issued a formal apology. President Johnson was no better than President Bush. He lied to advance the war in Vietnam. But the Bush administration has told so many lies, it doesn't know the truth anymore.

Bus for religion class

THE LEOPOLD School District uses the school buses to run one hour early to pick up children for church and religion classes before school starts. This is a public school bus. You can't use it to pick up children for church and religion classes. This is another law the district is breaking.

Bus safety

AS A parent of a Jackson student, I am shocked and outraged by the conduct of the Jackson School District bus drivers. I am even more shocked and outraged by the lack of concern by the school officials. It is only by the grace of God that no one has been harmed yet. Those bus drivers are acting irresponsibly and using poor judgment with our children, and it is unacceptable. I would like to see immediate action taken against those drivers who chose to act in this manner, When I put my child on the bus to go to school, I expect my child to be safe. Jackson schools have proven that is not the case.

Doing their jobs

I HAVE been reading in Speak Out here about the Scott County prosecutor and sheriff not doing a good job because these high-profile cases are dismissed. It is not their fault that the charges were filed and later dismissed. There was enough probable cause to charge former sheriff Bill Ferrell and officer Daniel Ayers. People make false allegations all the time to and about the police. I agree these women should be charged for making a false police report, but do not blame Sheriff Walter or Paul Boyd. These men were only doing their jobs. Anyone would have done the same thing in their shoes.

Better materials

REGARDING THE "Using carbon" comment: What the caller was describing was a carbon arc light, invented in the 1800s. We have much better electrode materials now than carbon, ceramic for example, and they do not burn up like carbon will. What could be done though is instead of burning fossil fuels, use them in gasifiers to increase the usable energy per pound of fuel. You can even run a car off of gas produced by wood.

Paying Social Security

OF COURSE the president and members of Congress pay into Social Security. Prior to 1984 they did not and were covered by a different retirement plan. Members of Congress in 1984 were allowed to remain in the old plan but still had to contribute to Social Security. Just because an e-mail is forwarded to you does not mean it is accurate.

Replacing services

ARCHBISHOP RAYMOND Burke and others bash Planned Parenthood, but none of them offer consistent alternatives for women across the state to find necessary medical care. Is the Catholic church going to set up clinics to replace the other services Planned Parenthood provides? This is yet another way the leaders of the Catholic church show how little they care for women and children.

Archery season

IF YOU want to do something for the deer in Cape Girardeau, encourage the city council to authorize archery deer hunting within the city limits. The end of a deer's life can be quick at the hands of a skilled hunter or prolonged and brutal off the bumper of an SUV. I wonder how many auto-deer collisions there were in the city limits last year.

Ready to collect

"I WILL bet you the best dinner in the gaslight district of San Diego that military action will not last more than a week." Quote from Bill O'Reilly, Fox News , Jan. 29, 2003. I wonder who I talk to to collect?

Bad seeds in school

BAD SEEDS who rarely pull themselves up by the bootstraps in schools usually do so at great expense to those eager to learn, and are often kept in school so as to keep state funding at the highest level.

Less medieval

THANK YOU, Sheryl Crow, for speaking out about environmental concerns and making Southeast Missouri appear less medieval.