BURLINGTON, Vt. -- An 84-year-old pole vaulter isn't putting her pole down anytime soon. Flo Filion Meiler left Thursday for the World Masters Athletics Championship Indoor in Poland, where she'll compete in events including the long jump, 60-meter hurdles, 800-meter run, pentathlon and pole vault, for which she's the shoo-in...

Wandering into the Southeast Missouri State University Baptist Student Center on Friday evenings, there's a sense of family and camaraderie among individuals sharing a few important connections: Chinese culture and faith. Nearly three years ago, Ron Winstead and his wife, Ina, connected with Chen Wu to create a community-focused Bible study that would allow Chinese students to be exposed to both English and Christianity, through ministries beginning at First Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau...

Well, it's spring. Jonquils are beginning to bloom. I have seen some magnolias that have flower buds beginning to expand and will be blooming soon. What a promising time of the year. Unfortunately if you are a lover of a nice green lawn without weeds' then you need to be on the watch. This is also a time of the year when broad-leaved lawn weeds such as chickweed, henbit and dandelions begin to bloom...

Buchheit Inc. recently donated a Farmall tractor to the Oak Ridge FFA Chapter. Former Buchheit CEO Kenny Buchheit presented the tractor to Oak Ridge FFA Chapter advisor, Nick Thiele. The FFA chapter plans to use the tractor as a fundraiser for their chapter activities, specifically the chapter award program and participation in the Missouri State FFA Convention...

As the weeks of March pass, native wildflowers take their turn blooming in the Southeast Missouri woods. On St. Patrick's Day, I photographed this cluster of beautiful little flowers. This plant is called bloodroot. Its leaves often have the appearance of fingers encircling a single delicate slender stem that sports a flower. Each flower has eight brilliant white petals and yellow filaments and stamen...

Submitted by Safe Harbor Animal Sanctuary Dara is a ten-month-old sweet girl looking for a loving, forever home! She is available for adoption at Safe Harbor; call (573) 243-9823.

The Jackson Community Outreach Board is accepting applications for tourism grants. Application forms are available at City Hall, the Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce, or the JCOB Facebook page at "City of Jackson Community Outreach Board." Any tourism event scheduled to be held within the city limits of Jackson between May 1, 2019 and May 1, 2020 is eligible. Completed applications can be mailed to JCOB Tourism Grant, 101 Grant Street, Jackson, MO 63755. Deadline is April 3...

Submitted by Chris Davault Karen James, Bollinger County Farm Bureau insurance producer, was recognized for 20 years of service with Missouri Farm Bureau Insurance Companies. James began her career with Farm Bureau in April 1998. She is pictured with Blake Hurst, president, Missouri Farm Bureau, left, at Missouri Farm Bureau’s All Star Conference, March 7 and 8 in Branson, Missouri.

The meeting of the Town and Country FCE Club met at the home of Sue Jones on March 14. The evening began with an international dinner of foods from South Korea prepared by the members of the club. Mary Klaproth, Judy Niswonger and Jones were on the committee. ...

I can hardly believe we are but a week or so away from the first of April. We have had a cold and wet winter, but for the past couple of weeks it seems like we have warmed up and are finally drying up as well. I wore my muck boots all day a few days ago and didn't get any mud on them. Kind of unreal with all the rain we've had this winter...

Thomas Parrish Green came to the Missouri Territory in 1817 from Chatham, North Carolina. He was a well known ordained Baptist minister during the time when there was an upsurge of the denomination in Southeast Missouri. It was March 1818 when he was called to pastor the historic Bethel Baptist Church south of Jackson, a position he kept until 1826 when Elder Benjamin Thompson was called as leader. It was because of Green's due diligence that the old Bethel's minutes were preserved...

Now that Lent 2019 is in full swing, I'd like to hand out some participation trophies. For those who may be unaware, a participation trophy is a crippling idea that has crept into America's national consciousness. The notion of a participation trophy could be called the spiritual equivalent of rewarding not achievement but simply "taking part," as the name implies...

I took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. I felt the rush of joy as it swooped within my being. The air I breathed was like what I was feeling -- the calming breeze of the fresh, sun-covered park and my neighborhood. All was peaceful, yet vibrant with expectation -- much as Easter will be, in a few weeks...

It can be easy to get caught up in making plans for the future as a way to try to understand it, as a way to escape from the present, as a way to feel we know our purpose and can adhere to it. It can also be easy to make mapping out a plan for the future more difficult than it needs to be, focusing on understanding "God's will" in a way that distracts us from doing God's will in the present moment...

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

My most recent foodie adventure took me to the hospital. I woke up on a recent Wednesday morning feeling like I was at death's doorstep. One look at me, and my doctor suspected (and later confirmed): Type A Flu. Have you ever felt so horrible you started bargaining with God?...

WASHINGTON -- The way most of us speak today is shaped in part by how long ago our ancestors gave up chewing tough, raw meat. It's widely known that languages evolve as societies develop and change, but the sounds we utter are also shaped, literally, by the placement of our jaw -- and that is influenced by how we chew our food, researchers report Thursday in the journal Science...

Cooking quantities and habits have sure changed since our children are out of our house. It is quite an adjustment to cook for two and not a teenage boy. Scott does not mind an occasional casserole but he sure doesn't want to eat leftover leftovers...

NEW YORK -- Labrador retrievers aren't letting go of their hold on U.S. dog lovers, but German shorthaired pointers are tugging on the top ranks of doggy popularity, according to new American Kennel Club data. Labs topped the list for the 28th year in a row. Yet there's been plenty of movement over time on the purebred pup-ularity ladder...

Samuel Tyler doesn't wax poetic about his start on drums. In his telling, there's no kaleidoscopic first encounter with Buddy Rich tapes; no obsessive reverse-engineering of Questlove grooves. He just saw a friend playing drums one day and thought it looked fun. So he started with the basics, which for him was less about how to hold down a 4/4 rhythm and more about how to hold the drumsticks without hands...

The latest U.S. research on eggs won't go over easy for those can't eat breakfast without them. Adults who ate about 1 1/2 eggs daily had a slightly higher risk of heart disease than those who ate no eggs. The study showed the more eggs, the greater the risk. The chances of dying early were also elevated...

Buchheit of Jackson recently donated a $500 gift card to the Saint Francis Foundation to be auctioned at the annual Friends Gala, held March 9 at Isle Casino in Cape Girardeau. The gift card was included in a home makeover package. Pictured are Jackson Buchheit store manager Jay Stafford, left, and assistant store manager John Sander, right...

On Christmas Eve 1893, James Munday Samuel succumbed to heart trouble in Oak Ridge. His obituary detailed military service in two wars, but referred to a singular incident occurring during the Mexican War. James was 6 feet, 2 inches, with black hair and black eyes, and a trained brick mason when he enlisted in the 3rd Mounted Missouri Infantry. ...

When you hear the word "worship," what comes to mind? Most church people will likely automatically think of musical worship or perhaps they may think of a worship service. Some of you might be experiencing some PTSD at remembering the "Worship Wars" that gripped churches in the 1990s and early 2000s...

My kitchen table is home to four container tulips. Each is struggling to emerge. One is showing its color. Two look like short, fat fingers sticking out of the dirt. The third is dwarfed in size, a victim of too much water, not enough sun, or both. By slowly emerging these four flowers have symbolically captured the spring that has struggled to show itself -- a reminder of the challenges we each face when we enter new seasons of life...

I may have written about this before and if I have, sorry. This has been on my mind for the past couple of weeks, so I decided to share with everyone. I guess I'm old enough I can blame it on old age. It was probably 10 years ago a good friend of mine came by our place and had some horns and such. ...

The following students have been awarded scholarships to attend Southeast Missouri State University for the 2019-2020 academic year: n Hunter Hendershott of Marble Hill, Missouri, has received the Copper Dome Scholarship and Residence Life Leadership Award. Hendershott is the son of Arron and Cheryl Hendershott of Marble Hill. He will be a 2019 graduate of Jackson High School...

Uptown Jackson Revitalization Organization will hold its first Spring Fest Auction from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday at the Jackson Civic Center. Theme of the event is "Say Goodbye to Winter and Channel Your Flannel." Tickets, which include food and drink tickets, are $25 and may be purchased at Cobblestone Corner or by calling (573) 243-4300. ...

The spring beauty is a small native early-blooming woodland plant. In February, it can be found growing under the dead leaf litter on the forest floor. When daytime high temperatures regularly reach into the mid-50s and higher, the spring beauty feels the leaves covering it warm, and the little flower grows out from between the leaves and blooms...

Submitted by Safe Harbor Animal Sanctuary This is McHammer. He is almost 2 years old, very friendly but would probably do better in a home without dogs. He is fine with other cats though! He is available for adoption at Safe Harbor; call (573) 243-9823...