Speak Out 10/31/03

WE LIVE in a small farming community. My children had a couple of exotic birds they were using for a science fair project. We received a letter stating we had to get rid of the pets and dismantle their house because of a zoning violation. We went before the local government to ask to keep the pets. We were denied. But the mayor was able to keep his various different kinds of livestock because he had special permission. What was supposed to be a learning experience for my children taught them a different lesson: It's not what you know but who you know and who you happen to be.

Clean up highway

WHY DOESN'T MoDOT mow the grass and weeds and clean up the median between Cape Girardeau and Scott City? It's a pitiful sight. The weeds are 3 to 4 feet tall, and there is trash all over the place. Why can't they clean this up?

Clear the trees

I CAN'T imagine why the people fighting the wildfires out West don't use dozers and push over trees and cut them up. I know that would destroy some trees, but the fires destroy trees and houses and everything else

Not religious zealots

SORRY, BUT our forefathers were not the religious zealots many of you seem to think.

Congress keeps pushing

I DO not believe special interests run America. I believe the Supreme Court is no longer supreme, because Congress is always making laws to undo what the Supreme Court says. Members of Congress think they know more than the Supreme Court.

Why we burn leaves

WE LIVE in a neighborhood with a lot of trees. Every fall we have a big job clearing our lawn of leaves. We know the city picks up leaves, so a few years ago we raked them to the curb, and the city picked them up. We had a three-foot strip of dead grass where the leaves. We decided it's not a good idea to leave piles of leaves on the lawn. Now we burn leaves early in the season. We hope our neighbors can be patient with a little smoke during daylight hours. At the end of the season, we will rake some leaves to the curb, but they won't be there long. That's why some people burn leaves. And it is legal.

Canadian drugs

IT IS time for our two U.S. senators to get off the fence and come out in favor of imported drugs from Canada. We're getting a large percentage of our drugs in this country now from Third World countries.