Speakout 11/10

Monday, November 10, 2003

The front page of the Oct. 29 edition of the Standard Democrat had a headline, "Ex-Howardville police chief pleads guilty." This is a headline that will get your attention, especially in an African-American community. It is well-known in the Bootheel that the community of Howardville is African-American. What is not known is a major fact that most of the crimes committed in this community are by people who don't live here. But we continue to get more than our fair share of negative light. Another well known fact is that he is a former member of the New Madrid County prosecutor's office, a former member of the New Madrid County Sheriff's office, these would make a better headline, following by maybe saying that he served as police chief in Howardville. I'm not trying to tell anyone how to print but all communities have bad things that happen and all of them are not being reported. The focus of printing a negative story on a community is unjust. Nobody wants to be in a negative light.

The headline specified ex-police chief because it was Timothy Collins' most recent law enforcement job prior to his arrest for distributing cocaine base. His other law enforcement jobs were included in the story.

I would like to thank a heating and cooling service in Matthews. They came and fixed my problem. He came over here two or three days and didn't even charge us for the extra time he put into it. He did a great job.

What's wrong with Missouri's roads? It seems like as soon as they get them built they start tearing into pieces. There must be a weakness in the construction or something? When they get a new interstate or dual-lane highway built, in about six months they start popping up in the middle and holes come out of them big enough to throw an animal into. They need better engineering or something.

I subscribe to your paper. I live in St. Louis and want to say how much I enjoy reading Larry Elders' columns on your editorial page. He is such a fresh voice and we don't hear that kind of outlook in the media that often. Hat's off to Larry and please feature him and keep on doing it. Great for him; we love it! I also enjoy reading columns written by your editor, Mike Jensen. They are both sensible, intelligent columnists. Thank you so very much. We enjoy reading them.

Hope it works

You had a good article on Oct. 28 about lady-like clothes, pretties clothes and fashion this spring. Let's hope so and let's hope teen-age girls get the message and cover up their navels and dress appropriately. What a great change that would be. You have a great paper. Keep up the good work!

It's 2:39 p.m. Nov. 4 and I witnessed a little blue car over by Virginia Street. They almost hit and killed a little kid. I couldn't tell if the driver was male or female, but they didn't slow down or anything. They were going about 60 mph down that road. I thank God that He was with that little kid. I hope the police get you for speeding!

To the person who responded about Section 8 housing. OK. You're a white female with a college education and are living in Section 8 housing because of a disability. It should be by now that you have some kind of income. If you've been living in Section 8 housing, it's time for you to move out and get your own place. How many boyfriends do you have and how many illegitimate children are we taking care of, also?