SpeakOut 10/21

Call 471-6636

I'm calling about the Oct. 7 SpeakOut about the child at Middle School who has been eating peanut butter sandwiches because the mother didn't pay last year's lunch bill. If you will put in the paper how much she owes, I will pay it.

I wrote the school board a letter in May regarding my son going to district competition, asking for reimbursement for travel and room since no one from the school saw about him going. I have never received an answer from the superintendent or the school board member, none of them. I am certainly interested to think that if one of the teachers did a parent this way, that they would be very upset. I think they should respond to my letter from May.

I am calling about bus No. 17 with the Sikeston School District. He pulled out in front of me this morning and I really don't appreciate it. The reason I'm calling is because I want to know who is going to stand up for the kids in our community before every one of them gets hurt or killed. Whether it was the bus driver's fault on the west end of town or not, when the little girl got killed, doesn't matter. Bus drivers need to wake up and understand that they need to slow down. Those are our children they are taking to school and there are other children out there on the road. They should show courtesy also. I would appreciate it if you would put this in SpeakOut. My babysitter has called the school board office to complain about the bus driver and I called again this morning. I don't know if they're going to do anything about it or not. Somebody needs to stand up for the children in our community before something bad happens to them, or even worse than what's already happened.

The coming election is so important to our senior citizens. Our country's leaders seem to attack Medicare and Medicaid at every opportunity, while at the same time, voting substantial raises for themselves. Many seniors already live on so little and are now in danger of losing more benefits. Our congressman, Lanie Black, is voting for all these cuts that will affect Medicare. I want to urge all seniors to check the platform of all candidates and vote accordingly in November.

We live in a subdivision east of Miner close to the John Deere plant. There are a lot of houses on Karen Street and not a lot of traffic and would be a great place for children to live. Not many children live out here and we would really like to have some here. I know they come to the Sikeston Factory Outlet Mall for Halloween and they could just come on across to our neighborhood. We would like to have them. We'll be watching for you. We can't wait until you all get here and we will have some special treats for you.

I have a question for all the people out there who have checking accounts. Who told you that the clerks inside the stores are responsible for having a pen for you to write your check with? I would say that eight out of 10 customers have to ask for a pen to write their checks with. It's not their responsibility. It is yours.

When Jim Talent was in Congress he co-sponsored HR 306. This bill would have reduced the amount of money paid into the Social Security Trust Fund and would have required every citizen to invest a portion of their Social Security dollars in private investment accounts. This is known as privatization. The bidding Wall Street to fund Social Security may appear less attractive now that stock prices are sinking and the markets are looking like a casino rigged for the house. Which way is the wind blowing now, Jim?

I'd like to SpeakOut about the item in the paper about my daughter, Crystal Burleson who was arrested in Matthews on two counts of third degree burglary. They have that all wrong. It was an assault charge. It makes her look like she's a thief. The sheriff's department is way out of order and I'd like to get that straightened out, please.