On a corner of Broadway in Cape Girardeau sits an unassuming green and white building with a clock on the front. Inside of Zoi's Gyro Corner, foodie magic has been happening since 1994. Zoi has always greeted me at the drive-thru window with a smile without fail. I feel like I have walked into my favorite aunt's house, and she only wants to sit me down and feed me. I have to believe that Zoi makes everyone feel this special and welcome...

For a creamy cauliflower soup without cream, we relied on cauliflower's low insoluble fiber content to produce a velvety smooth puree. To ensure the cauliflower flavor remained at the forefront, we cooked the cauliflower in seasoned water (instead of broth), skipped the spice rack entirely, and bolstered the soup with sauteed onion and leek...

PANAMA CITY, Fla. -- Hurricane Michael killed at least 16 people in Florida, most of them in the coastal county that took a direct hit from the storm, state emergency authorities said Tuesday. That's in addition to at least 10 deaths elsewhere across the South...

NEW YORK -- U.S. health officials Tuesday reported a jump in cases of a rare paralyzing illness in children, and said it seems to be following an every-other-year pattern. At least 62 cases have been confirmed in 22 states this year, and at least 65 additional illnesses in those states are being investigated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Similar waves of the same illness occurred in 2014 and 2016...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Concerned about downed power lines sparking wildfires, two major California utilities for the first time cut power to some customers amid high winds -- and another power provider was considering similar action. Pacific Gas & Electric began cutting power Sunday night to tens of thousands of customers in Northern California after the National Weather Service warned of extreme fire danger across the state due to high winds, low humidity and dry vegetation...

PANAMA CITY, Fla. -- Joanne Garone Behnke has replayed every possible scenario in her mind a hundred times. Maybe her 79-year-old aunt sought shelter at the sturdy condo nearby, which survived Hurricane Michael's devastating winds. Maybe she was rescued and is lying in a hospital bed somewhere. The pile of rubble that was once her Mexico Beach home is shallow, too shallow for a body to go unnoticed, Garone Behnke tells herself...

NEW YORK -- There's not much about the physical details of Google's new Pixel 3 phone you can't find elsewhere. That bigger display and curved design? Apple and Samsung phones already have that. But the Pixel doesn't intend to wow people with its hardware anyway. It's really a showcase for Google's latest advances in software, particularly in artificial intelligence...

BOSTON -- What does it take to make a 17th century house livable today? Ask Barbara Kurze, who lives at the James Blake House, which the Boston Landmarks Commission says is the oldest house in Boston. The five-room, two-level house was built in 1661 by Blake, an English immigrant, in Dorchester, now a neighborhood of Boston. Kurze was offered the chance to become live-in caretaker of the property, owned by the Dorchester Historical Society...

Imagine a duck, roving itself through the water. Above the surface, the duck is seemingly gliding, flawlessly; below the surface, its little feet are rapidly sifting through calm or crazy water, whether you can see it or not. This is the analogy Sheree Pursley gave when talking about her and her family's last decade of life, living with dwarfism...

Pumpkin, pumpkin everywhere. As I wandered through the grocery store aisles there were numerous items for sale with pumpkin as the main theme. There were Pop Tarts, cookies, coffee creamer, and numerous baked good, all ready to welcome in pumpkin season...

Saw a Western cartoon of a sheriff, an old cowboy on a horse and a pickup with a kid driving and he had to stand on the seat to see over the steering wheel. The caption was of the old cowboy telling the sheriff that the kid was too young to ride a horse so he had to drive the pickup. ...

Most people are at least somewhat familiar with Psalm 23. Its pastoral and tranquil images of God as our shepherd easily captures our attention. Psalm 23 brings us comfort and assurance. The psalm placed directly before Psalm 23 is vastly different...

I want to introduce you to Olivia. To borrow from a football motif, Olivia is not only in the last quarter of her life; she is in the final two minutes of the last quarter of her life. Her body is constantly riddled with pain. Her mind is a battleground of emotions. ...

Regional baseball teams in the Southeast Missouri region began as early as 1909. At that time, the Pemiscot Argus newspaper reported that nine teams were to be included in a proposed Southeast Missouri Baseball Association. It took another five years before the organization officially formed, in the spring of 1914. Cities that provided teams were Cape Girardeau, Sikeston, Portageville, Chaffee, Caruthersville and New Madrid...

I have been searching for this recipe for years. Early in my career, I worked with a girl who was originally from Ireland. Most weeks, she would make wheaten bread and bring it to the office with a stick of soft butter. I fell in love with it. It was so satisfying, a nubby whole-wheat quick bread made in a loaf pan, sliced thick and slathered with smooth butter. ...

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) has special prizes to offer at the Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center kids-only fishing pond, according to a recent news release. MDC fisheries biologists have stocked and tagged fish in the pond, adding a challenging twist to fishing with an opportunity for children to win prizes. Children who catch a tagged fish at the pond may turn it in at the nature center to collect a prize...

Hannah Dodson, a senior at Notre Dame Regional High School, was recently named a Commended Student in the 2019 National Merit Scholarship program, according to a recent news release. Dodson is the daughter of Dr. Rob and Heather Dodson of Cape Girardeau. She is on the girls' volleyball team and manages the boys' volleyball team. She is a member of the National Honor Society, National Art Honor Society, National Spanish Honor Society and Future Business Leaders of America...

The Southeast District Fall FCE Meeting was held Oct. 4 at Temple Baptist Church in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, hosted by Butler County. Butler County was in charge of registration and morning refreshments. Shirley Kirkley, Southeast District Director from Poplar Bluff, presided. ...

Submitted by Safe Harbor Animal Sanctuary Sherman is a 2-year-old pure chocolate Lab in need of a loving forever home! He is available for adoption at Safe Harbor; call (573) 243-9823.

The tiny mushrooms I have photographed here are only about one and a half inches tall. I found them a few days after our last period of rain. One day I walked an area of sparse grass at the edge of a woods and saw no sign of these mushrooms. The next day I walked the same area and there were hundreds of them in several colonies...

Monday: Shepherd's pie or Polish sausage with potato, sauerkraut, Prince Edward veggies, whole-grain bread and sugar-free apple crisp or mixed berry crisp. Tuesday: Roast pork with gravy or teriyaki, au gratin potatoes, pickled beet salad, whole-grain hot roll and cinnamon applesauce or streusel cake...

LOS ANGELES -- Jewelry with the toxic metal cadmium is showing up on the shelves of national retailers, including Ross, Nordstrom Rack and Papaya, according to newly released test results. Analysis done for the nonprofit Center for Environmental Health revealed some jewelry sold with women's dresses and shirts was nearly pure cadmium, which can cause cancer and reproductive harm after prolonged exposure...

WASHINGTON -- First lady Melania Trump says she could be "the most bullied person" in the world, judging by "what people are saying about me." She made the remark during a television interview in which she promoted her Be Best initiatives, which take on online bullying. Critics have pointed out her husband, President Donald Trump, routinely mocks people for their looks and for what he says is a lack of talent or intelligence...

MIAMI -- Hurricane Michael gained new strength Monday and is expected to keep growing stronger ahead of an expected midweek strike on Florida's Panhandle, forecasters said. Michael could become a major hurricane with winds topping 111 mph by tonight before the anticipated landfall Wednesday on the Panhandle or Big Bend, according to the National Hurricane Center...

EMIGRANT, Mont. -- U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke approved a 20-year ban on new mining claims in the towering mountains north of Yellowstone National Park on Monday, after two proposed gold mines raised concerns an area drawing tourists from the around the globe could be spoiled...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Facebook is launching the first electronic device to bear its brand, a screen and camera-equipped gadget intended to make video calls easier and more intuitive. But it's unclear whether people will open their homes to an internet-connected camera sold by a company with a questionable track record on protecting user privacy...

Cape Girardeau was a boom town at the beginning of the 20th Century. Between 1900 and 1910, the city's population jumped 76 percent. The Frisco Railroad built a rail line in 1904 providing direct connections to both St. Louis and Memphis. Taking advantage of the rail access, the Roberts, Johnson and Rand Shoe Company opened a factory in 1907...

As the days get shorter and the leaves start to fall, pumpkins are plump for picking, apples are ripe for plucking and tractors are ready for wagon-pulling. It's the time of year for families to take trips to farms and local pumpkin patches to enjoy the weather and time together...

BOSTON -- Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has announced plans to redevelop the old Navy yard in Boston, home to the USS Constitution, the world's oldest commissioned warship still afloat. Zinke and Navy Secretary Richard Spencer visited the Charlestown Navy Yard on Friday to tout the approval of $3 million in federal money for the effort...