Feb. 7 - SPEAKOUT

Call 471-6636

I'd like to SpeakOut about what I heard on the news about England, Fla., where the mayor is allowing herself to mix religion and politics and government together. It's sort of like we've got now - the American Taliban. Either you be a Christian or leave town. That's how it started in Afghanistan and now it's started in the United States. It makes religion look very evil in the eyes of a lot of people, and I thank you for letting me SpeakOut about it.

I think the NAACP should start checking out some of the high school basketball games because there's some discrimination going on with the referees and it needs to be looked into.

I don't know why Sikeston even bothers to have a humane society. It's a shame because every house or apartment that you read in the rental section says "no pets." I've got news for you people. I've rented a house before and I'd much rather have a house with dogs in it than with kids. I've seen where people with dogs take much better care of property than some people do who have kids.

In the Jan. 29 paper you had an article, "Keep in touch" where it listed Sen. Kit Bond and Sen. Jean Carnahan's addresses and phone numbers. This would be a wonderful thing if all of our senators and representatives would put this type of information in the newspaper so people would have an opportunity to contact them if we need to. We need to contact Gov. Bob Holden now because he plans to cut Medicaid and I think someone needs to get in and look at his plan because he's going to take a lot of things away from the disabled, the elderly and children in our state and we need to get some letters in to our senators and representatives. If this information is in the newspaper, then we would have the addresses to write to them. It would be very, very helpful.

Here are some addresses for Missouri lawmakers that you may be looking for: Gov. Bob Holden, State Capitol, Jefferson City, Mo. 65102; Sen. Peter Kinder, Room 326 State Capitol, Jefferson City, Mo. 65101 or 301 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, Mo. 63701 (toll-free number: 1-800-699-2377), e-mail peter_kinder@senate.state.mo.us; Rep. Peter Myers, State Capitol, 201 W. Capitol Ave., Jefferson City, Mo. 65101 or P.O. Box 99, Sikeston, Mo. 63801 (phone: 573-471-3700 or 751-5471), e-mail pmyers@mail.state.mo.us; Rep. Lanie Black, Room 101-I State Capitol, Jefferson City, Mo. 65101 or 671 N. 407th Road, Charleston, Mo. 63834 (toll-free number: 934-5408), e-mail lgblack1230@aol.com

When are the doctors at a Sikeston clinic going to start washing their hands before and after they see a patient? Does it really matter?