Speakout 11/21

There is a fat opossum underneath the house I am renting. Please, will someone tell me how to get rid of the varmint? Most of the time it is underneath the house where my bathtub is and it sounds like he is trying to come through the shower and sometimes it even keeps me awake at night. It really is no laughing thing. I want it gone. I have seen it and closed all my vents, etc. Help!

You need to contact your landlord as soon as possible because by keeping your vents closed, you will not be able to get heat inside the home. Have you called animal control? Call 471-2512.

I am calling about the $20-10 years. You need to know that most molestation comes from home, not drugs. They have been molested as a child and grow up to be molesters. If this had been a white guy, he would have gotten a pat on the back. That's the problem. All our young black men are behind bars because they can't find a decent job so they try to sell drugs. A detective sent a crackhead around the corner to get the $20 rock. Who knows? He might have smoked it himself. I hope you and people like Boyd are ready to spend your hard-earned money to house him for the next 10 years. By the way, what does it cost, about $30,000 a year?

This is about the recent article about the 18-year-old offender who received 10 years in prison for selling $20 worth of crack. It's not fair by any stretch of imagination. The punishment does not fit the crime. It is far too severe. While our area is running rampant with meth, Judge Dolan and Paul Boyd sent a message that dealing crack will not be tolerated, but meth dealers get probation. If this was an 18-year-old selling $20 of meth, would he have received 10 years in prison? Our prisons are full of non-violent offenders while child molesters, rapists and violent offenders are released early. Sending these young men to prison for this long does not make them better or productive citizens. It is far too costly to taxpayers.

I read the article about Laxscotto Simpson. I happened to have been in Scott County when Simpson went to court one day. He is 21, not 18, but that doesn't make much difference. He seems to be a nice young man and wasn't violent or anything. He had sold some crack cocaine to an informant and got 10 years. When he goes to the Department of Corrections, the Board of Probation and Parole has already asked that he not be put in jail for 10 years. He's going to walk in a few years on parole. For the next three years of his life, he will miss his girlfriend having a baby (she will probably be with another guy). So as far as what everyone is saying (I didn't even know Simpson until I met him in the Scott County Jail), welfare will probably be taking care of his child and of course he won't even be able to go out anywhere and look for a job. He was looking forward to when he would get out of jail if he would have been released on probation and working and staying totally out of drugs. It would be nice if all the people in Sikeston who like to do drugs would speak up.

I am calling about the articles on Laxscotto Simpson. You all know so much - half of the things that have been said about him are false. Everybody is still trying to judge him. You can't judge someone you don't know. By the way, he is not 18 years old and has been compared with other dudes that are ages 16-19 and that is still not his age range. Find out his real age. With this being his first offense, he did not deserve to be sentenced to 10 years. It's done, but not over with.

I enjoyed the Christmas walk in downtown Sikeston. My concern is, why doesn't someone clean up those two empty storefronts in the middle of the block and that junk shop on the corner? How long is that mess going to remain in what we call our beautiful, historic downtown area? Shame on the owners of those properties.