SHORT HILLS, N.J. -- Online retailers are getting physical. A growing number of brands born on the internet are now opening brick-and-mortar stores and moving into the suburban malls once considered doomed as more Americans shopped online. But they're taking it even further by doubling-down on the tactile experience. ...

TUALATIN, Ore. -- Rosa Villarreal's three young sons jumped and ran around the field of Christmas trees like jackrabbits, their excitement palpable as they raced from evergreen to evergreen. The boys, ages 2, 4 and 6, were picking out a real tree this year -- a new tradition their young parents hope will create lasting memories...

WASHINGTON -- Melania Trump highlighted the spirit of giving Tuesday by sorting toys and making Christmas cards for an annual toy drive held by the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. The first lady said she had been looking forward to the Toys for Tots event all year. The charity collects new toys and distributes them to needy children at Christmas...

U.S. airlines expect a 5.2 percent increase in air travel during the Christmas and New Year's break, to more than 2.5 million people a day. The busiest day is expected to be the Friday before Christmas. The trade group Airlines for America said Tuesday it forecasts 45.7 million passengers will fly on a U.S. airline during the 18-day stretch that starts Dec. 20 and runs through Jan. 6, the Sunday after New Year's Day...

NEW YORK -- Many companies including McDonald's and Kellogg are purging artificial colors from their foods, but don't expect your cheeseburgers or cereal to look much different. Colors send important signals about food, and companies aren't going to stop playing into those perceptions...

Since working with the Founder's Collection at the Cape Girardeau County History Center, I've acquired an appreciation for the Whitelaw family of Jackson and Cape Girardeau. Turn back the clock to the early 1800s. Nicholas Whitelaw and his wife, Elizabeth (Beaszley), came to Missouri from Fredericksburg, Virginia, in 1818. ...

Jackson High School sophomore and FFA member Emily Peters recently won a national competition -- and brought home a British White heifer calf, whom she named Annabelle, to the family farm near Bertrand, Missouri. Peters said the last few weeks have been a roller coaster of emotions, and one she wasn't really expecting to happen...

Now that we are officially a few weeks away from Christmas Day, there should be no reason not to sing Christmas Carols, though some of us are still reluctant to sing. I would like to offer four reasons to sing Christmas Carols, even if your singing is a bit off key...

During the second week of Advent, we are to reflect upon the virtue of peace. When most of us hear the word "peace" we probably think of peace treaties or peace signs. My sister used to decorate her bedroom with tie-dyed peace signs. My brother and I would walk by her bedroom door, roll our eyes, and mutter, "What a hippie."...

We have two kinds of chickadees in North America. The Black-capped chickadee has a northern year-round range that does not reach into southeast Missouri, but does come as close as central Missouri. The Carolina chickadee has a southern year-round range that does include southeast Missouri...

Monday: Chicken Parmesan with marinara pasta or cabbage roll with mashed potatoes, Italian-blend veggies, garden salad, whole-grain bread and tropical fruit or cookies. Tuesday: Ham and beans or rotisserie chicken, stewed tomatoes, seasoned spinach, cornbread and sugar-free apple crisp or apple dump cake...

Submitted by Safe Harbor Pepper is a sweet 3-year-old male with a twin that he needs to stay together with. They need a loving always home! They are available for adoption at Safe Harbor; call (573) 243-9823.

Geoff and Sandy Burns have said the Pledge of Allegiance hundreds of times since arriving in the United States from South Africa in 1995. When the time came to put their hands over their hearts and recite the pledge on Oct. 13, 2017, it felt different and emotion overcame the Poplar Bluff couple...

I was going to do something in my four-wheeler the other day so I went to put my gloves on. I wear leather gloves year round. I had the right hand glove under something so I went to put my left hand glove on first. It just seemed weird putting the left hand on before the right. ...

Lutheran Family and Children's Services of Missouri is collecting donations through Dec. 10 at LFCS offices throughout the state. The office at 3178 Blattner Drive in Cape Girardeau serves as a drop off point for gift cards, diapers and wipes, formula, or unopened and unwrapped toys...

The Nov. 8 meeting of the Town and Country FCE was conducted at the Senior Citizen's Community building with Karen Murphy as hostess. Club members read the Club Collect. The devotion entitled, "Autumn Blessings" was read by Alene Hamilton. Roll call was answered by stating something that each member was thankful for in their life. The minutes and treasurer's reports were approved as read. Pennies for Friendship were collected...

Southeast Missouri State University senior Aaron Wendel was honored with the Rising Star Award from the St. Louis chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) during its St. Louis ImPRessions Awards ceremony Nov. 15, according to a news release...

Booths at this year's gift and decor trade fairs featured lots of deer and reindeer motifs -- some specifically for the holidays and others to leave up and enjoy after the festive season is over. Incorporating the woodland icon into your home decor can be a fun departure from an otherwise luxe and elegant holiday aesthetic...

HONOLULU -- More than 75 years after nearly 2,400 members of the U.S. military were killed in the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor, some who died on Dec. 7, 1941, are finally being laid to rest in cemeteries across the United States. In 2015, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency exhumed nearly 400 sets of remains from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii after determining advances in forensic science and genealogical help from families could make identifications possible. ...

NEW YORK -- The national school lunch program will allow refined grains back onto menus. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said its decision will give flexibility to schools struggling to serve only whole grain-rich foods. It says half of grains on menus will have to be whole-grain rich. The agency is also giving schools more time to reduce sodium and scrapping a final, stricter sodium limit...

Opened in 1999, Reis Meat Processing in Pocahontas has perfected tasty meats and taken them to the next level. Family owned and operated by the Reisenbichler family, Reis Meat (pronounced RICE) has earned its reputation of creating wonderful brats, sausages and snack sticks...

Happy 20th Birthday, Recipe Swap! It was 20 years ago this week that I received a call from Joni Adams-Bliss from the Southeast Missourian asking me if I would be interested I writing a weekly recipe column. Never in my wildest dreams had I ever thought about writing a recipe column, especially with a new-born baby at home and a full time job...

NEW YORK -- Elm Pet Foods is the latest maker of dog food to issue a recall over elevated levels of vitamin D, which can cause kidney failure at high enough levels. Similar recalls have been issued by ANF Inc., Sunshine Mills Inc., Natural Life Pet Products and Nutrisca over the last month...

The maker of Marlboro cigarettes is joining some of the biggest names in beer in exploring the budding cannabis marketplace. Altria Group Inc., which owns Philip Morris USA, is the latest big company to show interest in marijuana. Late Monday, Canadian medical marijuana company Cronos Group Inc. confirmed talks with Altria about a possible investment...

NEW YORK -- An Arizona company is expanding the scope of its recall of raw beef potentially contaminated with salmonella, federal officials said Tuesday. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a news release a unit of Brazil's JBS is now recalling a total of more than 12 million pounds of raw beef shipped around the U.S. ...

CHICAGO -- American Airlines is investigating how a 67-year-old woman in a wheelchair was left alone overnight at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport when her flight was canceled. The incident, first reported by CBS 2 in Chicago, started Friday night when Olimpia Warsaw's flight from Chicago to Detroit was canceled and a porter was assigned to take care of her. ...

NEW ORLEANS -- Here's a good news fashion trend, if you're an alligator in Louisiana: Prices for skins are down to less than half what they were just five years ago, making for a slow wild harvest. The director of the state's alligator program estimated about 18,000 were taken from the wild this year...

Skip the costly electronic games and flashy digital gizmos. Pediatricians say the best toys for tots are old-fashioned hands-on playthings young children can enjoy with parents -- blocks, puzzles, even throwaway cardboard boxes -- sparking imagination and creativity...

The most often asked question this time of year may be, “Are you ready for Christmas?” Responses vary from, “Well, I’m hanging in there,” to “Are you kidding?” Actually, the question doesn’t really need an answer. It’s one of those comments people make in passing like, “How are you doing?” and “What’s new with you?”...

Long before it was the subject of a jazzy musical number in the movie version of “The Polar Express,” the hot chocolate described in the storybook entranced me. As a child, my experiences with hot chocolate never had met my expectations. I would eat the mini marshmallows off the top of the steaming mug, but by the time it was cool enough for me to drink, it just seemed like warm brown water … a very, very diluted version of the chocolate I was hoping for. ...