Speakout 2/29

After reading several letters and opinions of the citizens and officials of Sikeston, one thing is pretty clear. There is no consensus as to what direction this town will go towards. Our Section 8 housing issue is so overwhelming, and yet, the letter I read in Wednesday's paper seems to have the idea that the problem is the "slumlords" not being given the chance to upgrade their dilapidated properties; and that if we would just give them the chance, they'd be glad to throw thousands of dollars in towards making those needed repairs, and that, in turn, would stimulate the local economy with jobs, and the purchase of local lumber, sheetrock, roofing supplies, insulation and so on and so on. Nothing, from what I read about section 8 housing, could be further from the truth. The owners of these properties make just enough repairs for the property to be "approved" for voucher for Section 8 status. After that, a fair rental rate is established, the property owner then "rents" this property to an individual or family for a fraction of the published rental rate, and the federal government picks up to balance, actually paying that difference to the landlord. Am I dead wrong on my facts? If not, what would ever prompt a property owner to make real changes in the property? As long as Uncle Sam is subsidizing the rent to the property owner, he could care less about the quality of the property. Tell me where I am wrong, Mike. Maybe then I could actually sleep at night. Unfortunately, more sleepless nights are ahead because many of your points are correct.

I am a parent who lives by Sunset and that Morehouse Elementary School is one of the nastiest schools I have ever seen. The floors are dirty, the bathrooms stink and the roaches are so bad, it's pathetic. I went to a board meeting and they said I couldn't do any talking there for about two or three months. Something needs to be done about this.

Superintendent of Schools Steve Borgsmiller said no one has contacted him with the complaints contained in your call. You should call the Principal Jeff Williams at the school or contact Borgsmiller at 472-2581.

What's going on in Sikeston? I heard that Bill Green is no longer at city hall. I think he was director of economic development for the city.

Sikeston city officials declined to offer comment other than to confirm the city is accepting resumes for the position of director of the economic development department until 5 p.m. March 12.

This message is from SpeakOut to the person who has called several times and asked for "Edith." Please check the number you are calling. 471-6636 is the Standard Democrat SpeakOut telephone number.

Let's all put up yellow ribbons. The 1140th National Guard left the United States for Iraq on Feb. 21. We need to support them, so let's put up the yellow ribbons for all the men and women who will be gone for 12-18 months. I've been looking in all the stores for yellow pre-made ribbons and nobody has them. Let's go to the stores and flower shops and ask for them. Hopefully we can flood our area with yellow ribbons in support of all our loved ones. Also, please keep the 1140th in your prayers.

What is a person to do? You go to the doctor when you are sick. He gives you a prescription and says you really need it. You take the prescription to the drug store and they say Medicaid won't pay for it, you can't afford to buy it because you're on a fixed income. What are we supposed to do just because we have a cheap, no good governor? He ought to get sick and not be able to get his medicine. He could put a stop to all this nonsense if he wanted to.

Call your doctor and ask him to call a different prescription in to your pharmacist. Your pharmacist will be able to tell the doctor's office if the new medicine ordered is covered by Medicaid.