Speak Out 2/8/12

Mail service

I would like to ask people on this post office deal what happens with senior citizens like me. We don't have computers. We depend on our mail service to our homes because a lot of us don't drive to get somewhere. What do we do if they take away our mail? Not everyone pays their bills on the computer. Please consider us.

Keeping kids safe

I pick my daughter up from the middle school every day. My car is parked on Caruthers Avenue, and it is amazing that around 3 p.m. how people speed by, totally ignoring the crosswalk stop signs. Recently I noticed more of a police presence there and seen them writing several tickets. Way to go, Cape Girardeau Police Department, for making our kids safe.

Bohnert legacy

BILL Bohnert began pitching when the Little League started in Cape Girardeau back in the 1950s. From there, Bohnert continued to pitch at various levels, capping it off with an illustrious pitching career with the Capahas. I have long contended that Bill pitched more innings in Cape Girardeau than anyone else. I recently read where his granddaughter, Brooke Bohnert, was a key player for coach Renee Peters and the Notre Dame Bulldogs basketball team. She also was an outstanding volleyball player. It is satisfying to me that the tradition of outstanding athleticism that began with my boyhood idol, Bill Bohnert, lives on.

France, NATO

FRANCE is again showing that it wants all the other countries to fight its wars. They are pulling out of NATO in Afghanistan. Americans fought their battles and paid the high cost of the war. France never paid its debt. America wrote it off. No wonder they can afford fine wine.

Ice age?

I just watched "The Day After Tomorrow." You remember, that flick from a few years ago that warned us about the coming ice age that would turn North America into one big glacier and that we would all have to move to Mexico to stay warm? What happened to that theory? Did I sleep through the promised ice age? Or did it disappear because Al Gore couldn't find a way to profit from it?

Cigarette taxes

MISSOURI cigarette taxes are some of the lowest in America. This attracts consumers from bordering states to buy their cigarettes. These consumers will more likely than not purchase other goods as well. Raising state taxes on cigarettes could have a negative effect on Missouri tax revenue from other goods sold.

Homework, lectures

SOMETHING new in education is being tried and is working in great numbers. Some schools and classes are trying something called flipping. They do homework in class and the lectures at home. They can really see the difference in the students' grades too. The students have the teacher there that can help them grasp homework problems, as a lot of parents can't help their children. I was good in math, but I could not solve my son's math problems like he needed to do them. I could get an answer, but it was the way I was taught. Also, there are a lot of parents that work at night or have more children to attend to.