Speakout 3/22

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

I want to Speakout about a fifth grader - my 11-year-old grandson that I have. He recently got a hard spanking at school for something about going off on the other children. When these other kids had picked on him and called him names and stuffed and he went and smacked the kids or something, the principal called him and he got a real hard paddling but the other little boys didn't get any correction at all about this and to top it off, he left big mark whelps on my grandson's bottom. If I would have spanked him with a paddle or anything and left marks on him, then I would have gone to jail for child abuse. What can I do about this? Why don't they correct the other kids in school? Why do they just pick on one certain child, like my grandson? Can anything be done about this principal who left this big long white whelp on my grandson? I call it purely child abuse. Would somebody give me some advice on this.

I'm calling about the blackbirds. I know there is a lot of talk about them going off but they are running wild up here at Grant City and when you look out in the morning, the trees are full. They are all over the place, messing on people's stuff. The farmers say they can get rid of them. If they can't come up here and get rid of them, I would like for them to tell me how because I would like to get rid of every one of them.

I am a volunteer at the Sikeston Area Humane Society and I just want to let everyone know that the Shelter is in need of a washer and dryer. They use these every day to wash the bedding for the animals. It doesn't have to be new as long as it works. If you have a new one and want to get rid of your old one, please think of the animals that need clean beds every day. If any of the businesses would like to donate a discontinued model or one with a ding or scratch it would certainly be appreciated and would also be a nice tax deduction. Any help we could get at all would be greatly appreciated.

To the person who was wondering about smoke-free restaurants, Kirby's downtown is smoke free.

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This is regarding the entry in Speakout, "Does anybody know," about smoke-

free restaurants. The only thing I can say is brown-bag it and if you have a cell-phone I would appreciate it if you wouldn't use it because you are giving me brain cancer.

Why don't you quit worrying about abortion and start worrying about people who need stem cells to help with neurological disorders and diseases and spinal cord injuries.

To the school: The pregnant girl on the front cover of your newspaper looked like you were endorsing teen pregnancy and it is just another sign of the way our society is going down the tubes.

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I think you are missing my point. I'm not condemning the teenage girl who is pregnant. She deserves a second chance and she also deserves an education. I was just shocked to have it put on the front page of the Sikeston high school newspaper. I'm disgusted with TV showing us all these live-ins and unwed actresses. If that is the way they want to live, that is fine but I can turn them off but I don't feel like a paper that I subscribe to should show a picture such as this on the front page of the school newspaper. Those kind of controversies can be handled in other ways than flaunting them in front of the public. I really hate it for the little girl's sake but those things happen and I just wish people would drop the situation and remember that I don't condemn them, I was just condemning the paper for putting it in the paper - the Bulldog Barker.