Speakout 4/8

Thursday, April 8, 2004

Michael Jensen wrote on April 1 about political possibilities we may consider. That does seem to ring a bell. It is kind of a mirror image of our last presidential election. De ja vu again. Thank you for your one-sided political observation.

Several weeks ago we read in SpeakOut that the construction on I-55 south of Cape would be completed by late winter. It is now April and the work is still not completed. It seems that only a few to no workers are seen daily working on this project. Can you check with your sources again and find out when we can expect this inconvenience to end? Also, is the construction company paying a penalty for going past the completion date? It seems that benefit from our tax dollars are once again being denied us.

According to the Missouri Department of Transportation, the contract completion date is June 1. The final bridge deck is being poured today (April 6). If the contractor goes beyond the June 1 date, a penalty will be assessed. The long and short of the reason this job has been delayed so much is that they had a lot of work to do in the Diversion Channel itself. When the river comes up or there is a heavy rain, the channel carries a lot of water and runs the workers out and they can't work below the deck until the water recedes. This has caused delays for several days at a time.

Am I the only person who feels that Miner and Sikeston could benefit by pooling their resources and becoming one?

Support your local businesses. Whether it is the purchase of a vehicle, groceries, dinner, clothes, lumber or widgets, when we purchase from the local guy, we employ others in our community and the profits stay here as well. Those profits are then reinvested and recirculated right here, which makes our community stronger. A local chain store is not evil, but it is not local. All the profits generated at this local store leave this area, never to return. The same is true of the other national chains doing business in Sikeston with home offices elsewhere. Sikeston has plenty of locally owned and operated businesses which can and will flourish if they are supported. If you don't support them they will fail, leaving a monopolistic giant behind with no incentive to provide more or better service at a better price. So before you rush off to Cape, Poplar Bluff, St. Louis or Memphis to do your shopping, remember that they are Sikeston's competitors. Although it may seem fashionable to buy elsewhere, when you spend your money in those communities, you make their businesses stronger and Sikeston's weaker. The taxes you pay in those communities help make their police departments, fire departments, streets and parks better and make ours weaker. by the way, this also applies to your public schools. Send your kids to them and they too will grow stronger.