City has changed over last 35 years

It was 35 years ago last week that I first walked into the newsroom of this newspaper and started getting paid to write the news. I made $93 a week and after six months received a $5 a week pay raise. That first morning I was assigned to write a story on a poor health department rating for a local eatery. The owner never forgave me and took that anger to his grave.

In other words, I was off and running!

In the 35 years that followed that first day, it's hard to imagine the changes in both the newspaper industry and this small town newspaper in particular. That very first story was written on a manual typewriter. This week someone was looking for a typewriter around the office and after a lengthy search one was finally located deep in a closet somewhere. Today, computers dominate every aspect of this newspaper and that's just the beginning.

This 35-year journey has been marked with both accomplishment and failure. But I suspect that's the path of most newspapers or most businesses for that matter.

But one thing sits quietly in the background of change during those 35 years that outranks any changes at this newspaper.

Our community has changed more in the past 35 years than any change at this newspaper or any business in our community. And it's those changes that impact this community much more than any other single aspect.

I could spend much more time and space than possible outlining the changes in Sikeston during my brief travels through her daily newspaper. Suffice to say I find the changes unsettling and responsible for a slow and painful decline.

Let me say here that some disagree with my assessment. They point out the ample progress that we have witnessed. And their argument has merit.

But you can't discuss the future of Sikeston without accepting that the changes here have limited our progress. If you compare the changes in our community with some others in this region - Cape Girardeau or Poplar Bluff - you see that the past 35 years have been less than kind to us in many ways.

Here's where we made our mistake. First, we opened our arms to a dependent population, first through subsidized housing. That opened the door to relatives and friends following that dependent population. And that is exactly where the decline began.

Others argue that our problems stemmed from large landowners who overpriced their land and curtailed development many years ago. I don't accept that argument.

As our dependent population grew, crime increased. Drugs made a strong appearance on the scene. The school system began to experience problems. The hospital shifted from a private pay to a largely government-paid patient profile.

At the same time, many of the old-line industries here began to falter though none of that was of our own doing. But we paid the price in many ways.

Yet there is ample reason for optimism. Our city has at long last decided to take a stance against the violence and the drugs and the lifestyles that have hampered our growth. For that, we should all stand proud.

And after 35 years in the newspaper business in this community, your daily newspaper continues to grow and expand consistently.

I can only imagine the changes in the next 35 years for both our newspaper and our community. I won't see all of those changes. But I do know this. It is up to the community - you and me - to mold and nurture this community.

And if you sit back in silence, you may not like what you get. That's what happened several years ago. And we pay the price for that silence today. Let's hope our children and grandchildren don't continue to pay that price.