Go outside to smoke

REGARDING THE person who said that because he was paying a bill, he had a right to smoke in a restaurant. I was always told that there were certain things that did not go well with food and made others sick, i.e. picking things, scratching things, making odors or noises, and in this case, fouling the air with smoke. So now I guess we would be taking his rights away by asking him to do the right thing and go outside and smoke to his heart's content.

Take some time off

REGARDING "Wheel of Fortune" which we enjoy watching and Vanna White's pregnancy again. I just hate to go through this again and hear her measurements, her cravings, how big she is and Pat feeling her tummy. If I have to go through that again, I just don't know. Last time we went through her pregnancy, it was simultaneous with Paula Zahn's, so we'd have to watch the news and have to hear all this about Paula Zahn, how big she was getting, and her measurements and Smith tapping her belly and then in the evening we'd have to watch the same deal with Pat and Vanna. With the big bucks these gals are making, I can't believe that they can't take three or four months off when they're pregnant.

A question of trust

REGARDING THE 69-cent tax increase for the schools. I would just like to point out that this is all about buildings. There's nothing about quality of education or raising the standards of learning. Buildings do not educate. After 30 to 40 years of a poorly run school system, you expect me to believe after one year that I can trust this board and school administration with this huge tax increase. Be for real. I wasn't born yesterday, and I support our schools and I want a good education for our children, but this board has to prove itself first before I would trust them with that much money.

Put lake in South Cape

IT'S GOOD to see the information in the paper about Rep. Schwab's proposal. I think it's a fine idea. I have another suggestion. If the big-money men in Cape Girardeau want a lake so bad, why don't they slap a levee across the south part of Cape Girardeau, flood the whole area down there? If they want a lake so bad, they can donate the land for the big lake and they can have it right there are their doorstep, and they won't have to drive clear out in the western part of the county to reach the lake. They ought to try giving their land instead of getting the farmers out there to give up farms that's been in the family for 100 years or better.

What's the difference?

I'D LIKE to ask the caller who feels that Democratic fund-raising tactics during our last presidential campaign is not an important issue to explain to me why it was so important a couple of months ago when the Democrats and liberal media were so adamant about punishing Newt Gingrich whose offenses were minuscule in comparison what Clinton has done. Also, it has to be wrong and it's very scary to me to have foreign governments contributing to a United States presidential campaign. Why would they do that? Think about it.

Car in accident was towed

TO THE person who thought they needed to call the police when my vehicle broke down. I pulled it off the road as far as I could, and I was unable to get it home due to the damage. Only 15 minutes after the incident, I found out the police were going to tow and impound my vehicle. I can't believe someone was so inconsiderate. Wait until it happens to you and treats you the same way.

Schwab plan would kill lake

DAVID SCHWAB'S talking out of both sides of his mouth. He says he doesn't want to defeat the lake project, yet his amendment, if enacted, will do just that. Rather than represent all of his district and let the people who pay the taxes vote on the bill, he's willing to let less than 100 people kill a project that would benefit a awful lot of people. Wake up, David. We know you're a farmer, and this has evidently influenced your decision. But there are an awful lot of us who want it and we would clearly love a beautiful lake right here in our own backyard. Let us vote.

Using an outside law firm

AS AN employee with the city of Jackson, I am confused. As I understand it, I don't need union representation from an outsider, but it is OK for the city administrator to hire a law firm from St. Louis to instruct him and the Jackson City Council on how to deal with employees interested in unionizing. Why is the city using an outsider in dealing with its employees? What is this law firm costing the taxpayers of Jackson?

Lake a big money-maker?

I JUST have a thought that I think most people should think about. If this Bollinger-Cape Girardeau County lake is supposed to generate so much money, why hasn't anyone taken out a loan to build this lake? Or why hasn't any financial institution offered money at a low interest rate to finance this thing? I mean, this thing is supposed to generate so much money, you could possibly pay the people for their land at $5,000 to $10,000 an acre for it up front, because this thing is supposed to bring in so many visitors and be so profitable. So in turn, this lake should pay for itself in a very short time, which to me would be a good business venture, according to the feasibility study and the RCGA. But wait a minute. Nobody has stepped forward to do this, at least in the last 10 years, which leads me to believe that this lake project is not profitable at all but only very costly to the taxpayers. So this makes this thing a very bad business venture, a big money loser and, therefore, somebody is not telling us the truth about this lake.

Cape needs storm sirens

DAVE HILL says he isn't in a hurry to get tornado warning sirens here. He evidently wasn't here in Cape when the we had the devastating tornado in the late '40s. I was, and I'm ready. I have also lived where sirens awakened my family from a sound sleep in a house with all windows closed and covered with storm windows. I've heard the argument that it's too expensive. Tell that to people who have lost loved ones and/or their home. Tornado season is here again, and Cape Girardeau is not ready.

Proud of Indian nickname

I WAS very surprised on reading the headline from the Thursday paper that the Southeast Missouri State University committee is going to reconsider the use of the Indian nickname. This is already been publicly discussed. There's been quite a bit written in the Southeast Missourian, and then because one member on the committee objected, the entire committee is going to reconsider. Whatever happened to the majority vote? I think this is very irresponsible. I am a SEMO alumni, and I have never seen the term of the Indian used in a degrading manner. Indeed, just the opposite. I've always felt proud of the Indian nickname for the school.

Inauguration costs

THE UNIVERSITY constantly raises tuition and other fees until many qualified students cannot afford to attend. Yet, this same university plans a big-bucks extravaganza for the inauguration of Dr. Dale Nitzschke. To me, this seems a reckless and irresponsible expenditure of funds.

Many landowners want lake

I'M CALLING in reference to David Schwab's plan about the proposed Millersville lake. I've lived in the Millersville area for 23 years and will definitely be affected by the lake should it come in, I'm not receiving anything from David Schwab, questionnaires or anything else. I don't know where he's getting his list, but he's missing a lot of people who are interested in getting this lake. There are quite a few people in this area who definitely want the lake. It's progress for the community for the whole, and we need that out here.