Speakout 3/3

Sunday, March 3, 2002

If you live in Southeast Missouri and want to know who the biggest recipient of the welfare, is go on the Internet and go to www.ewg.org and then click on farm subsidies and after you click on farm subsidies go to the map there and click on Missouri. After you click on Missouri, put in your zip code and you'll see all these farmers that get all these subsidies off your tax dollars. They're living off your tax dollars. That makes them the biggest recipients of welfare there is in the United States.

I just read about all the trouble Miss Cleo's in. If she's knows everything about everybody's business, how come she didn't know she was going to get her butt in trouble. And I still don't believe she's from Jamaica. She came out of the slums of Detroit or Chicago.

I'm a mother and I like to protect my kids, but it's kind of hard in the Sikeston area. There's no much you can pretty much go that doesn't have some kind of liquor. You go to Wal-Mart to shop, they have liquor; you go to the gas station to get gas, they have liquor; you go out to eat and they have liquor. People want people not to drive drunk. How do they expect them to do any different when they serve them at these different establishments?

I'm calling about the Matthews School District in Matthews. About 30 years ago they sold the idea of a central trade school. The idea of a trade school was popular at the time so they consolidated with New Madrid and Central was born. A few years went by and I was told it was too expensive for the school in the town. So do away with the high school, move Central, build a new pod and keep the junior high and grade schools in our town. About four years ago, they came up with another plan. That was to build a pod for the Central school system and have four years junior high. The people in Matthews were told that they would never move their grade school because it was too far to transport the kids. Now they want to move K-5 to Central and leave no school in Matthews. We want to leave the school districts the way they are.

I just drove by and saw on South Kingshighway where they get their commodities and there they were outside. I have been by there when it was raining and there were little children outside, and there was a cripple person and one in a wheelchair the other day. Why do they have to stand outside in the cold and rain when there are so many empty buildings in Sikeston? Why are the people in our government sitting in heated or air conditioned offices and sending food from overseas to people who have killed our own people? Why can't they find a building for these people to go in?

I would like to address some of the citizens of Sikeston. Please be more considerate to the employees of Kmart. They have enough to deal with without having to listen to you nag that your store is closing. What you fail to realize is, if this store closes, the employees in the store will be without the means to support their families. So with that, I will leave you to your conscience.

I'm calling about the front page article, "Computer system is considered in Charleston." I wish you would consider looking into Rolla or local schools. I've seen their design projects and their graduating students with degrees in computer engineering. They do these projects for free; set them up and everything. I just want them to know there are other options out there.