Esicar's status

THIS is about Esicar's meat store. It caught on fire in the spring and I was told it was going to reopen. Would someone please let me know if it's going to reopen, because I bought my mother and my father a $40 gift certificate for Christmas. We have tried several times to get a hold of the people, having called the number on the side of the building. It says that it is disconnected. We were told that they were going to open back up once they got everything fixed, but we haven't been able to get hold of anybody.

Borrowing

TO the person who said that Ronald Reagan didn't dip into the Social Security and that it started with Jimmy Carter, he should learn his history. The president who started taking money out of Social Security was Lyndon Johnson, and every president, including Ronald Reagan, has dipped into Social Security since that time.

Farmers market

CAPE Girardeau should follow Jackson's lead. Jackson is moving its farmers market to a park, and I'd like to see Cape Girardeau do the same. Capaha Park is now ready for change with two large parking areas, plenty of shade and green grass. It would be a family-friendly location with a playground and plenty of parking for vendors and shoppers.

Trading Rasmus

THIS is in regards to the Cardinals trading off Colby Rasmus. I think that's one of the best moves they've made. Like they said, they gave him more than enough chances to quit calling daddy and asking for advice, because they've got professional people there that are paid for this, to help him with his hitting. He neglected to take advantage of it. He just needs to grow up.

Cape patrol

WHY does Cape Girardeau have city police officers out on the interstate sitting in the median? This is the job of the state patrol, and now I hear they don't have enough officers to patrol the city, so they are going to hire some more. Go figure.

Free contraceptives

THE evening news was saying that the insurance companies would provide free contraceptives by the year 2013. That's great but how many would use those insurance benefits? What's smarter than a girl getting pregnant out of wedlock, living with her lover and the taxpayers taking care of her baby and sending her through school for free? These kids are smarter than Washington lawmakers.

Need port-a-potty

I think there should be port-a-potties put up at Arena Park for people playing volleyball or tennis. There is one there, but it has never been upright. I think it's time that when they have these tournaments they need to at least have a port-a-potty nearby.

Eyesores

I was reading in Speak Out about the eyesore at Themis and Main streets. There's also one on the corner of East Rodney Drive and Kingshighway that is really bad. They're hiding everything behind the fence. They need to clean it up. There's also one on Nottingham Lane, and there's so many toys and garbage on the lawn and coming out of the garage you can't believe it.

Democrats' legacy

I hear different people, especially Democrats, wanting the government to pass this ever-increasing national debt along as they get their checks. Check the price of potatoes and tomatoes and the price of milk and gasoline. This is what the Democrats will bring you.

Articles of Confederation

CAN we quit fooling around and cut to the chase? If we want to reduce the authority, size and scope of the federal government, all we have to do is scrap the current framework of government and return to our nation's first constitution, the Articles of Confederation. That way we would have 50 more or less independent nation-states.

Backhoe, texting

I use to think that I'd seen it all until recently. I was driving down Broadway in Cape Girardeau when I saw a man driving a backhoe. He was texting while he was driving it. Is that scary or what? God help us all.

Tiger pride

ENJOYED a walk with my family between Clark and Caruthers avenues around two Cape Girardeau schools that share a campus. I see signs for Tiger pride. That pride is overflowing the trash cans, with trash laying all over the campus. The pride springs forth as tall weeds between the cracks in the side walk. Pride before tender loving?

S&P downgrade

NOW that S&P has downgraded our debt to AA+, it is time to pass a balanced-budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. That is the quickest way to work out of this mess. But my question to this newspaper is what will happen in the next couple of years? Will the downgrade cause inflation and higher prices or will it cause an economic slowdown and deflation?