SpeakOut 2/27

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Call 471-6636

As everyone probably knows, New Madrid has had a lot of controversy over the utility rate increase due to the need for utility upgrades. In my opinion, I feel this is not to be blamed on the current council. From what I gather, they inherited a problem that should have been taken care of by the past administration. They were notified of the problem 10 years prior to the new mayor taking office and nothing was done. They eliminated the tree trimming program which is a vital part of utility maintenance, according to any utility company you speak with. If the past council felt the budget was too tight to make any upgrades, they should have enacted a slow increase in rate so it wouldn't have been such a shock to the citizens. Because of the lack of planning by the past administration, the current administration shocked the citizens with the increase. According to other sources, the rate implemented was a portion of the recommended rate that I saw at the town hall meeting on Mill Street. I am thankful that the current administration has foresight and lessened the blow as much as they could. They have also had pro-active approaches to future maintenance and emergency planning. The citizens of New Madrid are protected now by tornado sirens and diesel powered back up generators for the pumping stations throughout town. All this information I have gathered by reading my local newspapers.

Well, King George, you know - the perfect one? He is at his camp. I heard him being interviewed on TV recently. After seven years I suppose he thinks we the people are all ignorant. After seven years in office he had the nerve to say he inherited the recession. Up until then, he always said how great the economy was. Since it's caught up with him, he's like a lot of the country says, "It's not my fault." I hope the last few months pass quickly so we can get the U.S. straightened out again.

I just wanted to take the time to thank all the utility company employees, no matter which company they work for. These folks have braved the sub-

freezing temperatures and dangerous road conditions restoring power to thousands of customers. These employees are always on call for this type of emergency. I hope they know how much they are appreciated.

I'm calling in response to What's in a name. The couple that got in trouble for the underaged party. People need to get off their butts. I'm not even friends of theirs. I'm just getting tired of hearing about it. I personally worked at Rhodes for two years. During that time when seniors were graduating, there were many, many couples that came in and bought booze for the children to party at their house. This is not the first time this is happened. It will not be the last. These people were just unfortunate enough to get caught - probably because someone doesn't like them. But I can't tell you times we have sold for senior parties to the parents.

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I totally agree with What's in a name. That not only goes with the drinking party of the wealthy couple, but it also goes for the wealthy who get arrested when driving while revoked, DWI's, drug possession and many other charges. When you have a stack of the green bills along with the name, you can buy or pay yourself or your child out of trouble. I've seen it happen for too many years. It's even more sad because I taught and brought my children up to respect and trust our police and highway patrol, sheriff, deputies and attorneys. Because we used to, and I stress used to have honest ones and ones that had integrity. Sorry to say that's been long gone for years, which breaks my heart. I had one of the most horrible experiences of my life a year ago Jan. 27, 2007, and still have nightmares of it. All the special news reports on police and their love of TASER guns and how they get carried away from them is sad but so true. I had to see this happen in my own home when it was a medical emergency I say - not a criminal emergency. The person was completely, and I mean completely unconscious and having a seizure. Not fighting, hitting or anything. The only thing they did while still not knowing what they were doing was get up and walk down my hall and two police attacked them and an officer started tasing them like they were a toy. And like the TASER gun was a toy. I have prayed for the officers that lie, and thanked God for the ones, along with the paramedics that told the truth. They will reap what they have sown in this life.

This is to the person who was questioning the benefits of the 42-year-old getting Social Security $950 a month. Only getting that. Honey, you need to figure out how Social Security works if you want to figure it out. I'm 61 years old. I only get $700 and some dollars a month on Social Security/Disability. And that is because my lifetime I worked and dang near killed myself for very little wages. Now you all are getting big bucks. My top job, when I left, I was making what most of you people start out with. It goes on your income when you're paying it in. So they must have made pretty good bucks to get $950 a month. I'd like to have $950 a month and I worked my hind end off. So, if you're making twice that much and you're 10 years younger, you must have had a dang good paying job. So what are you complaining about?