Columns

Our military deserve the utmost respect -- for all they do, for the price they pay, for the sacrifice they make. Yes, they sacrifice so much for us, so it is exciting to hear how many of the lives of troops in Missouri are being transformed by the sacrifice that was made for them...

An opinion article by Cape Girardeau County Assessor Bob Adams ("Ameren trying to game system, forgo $20M in taxes owed," Aug. 11) contained factual inaccuracies. Although I won't detail every incorrect claim, the important points for local readers to know are:...

Dr. Trevor Blattner is a thinker. Methodical. Thoughtful. A diagnostician in both dentistry and questions like: What's life about? The dentistry part might not surprise readers. After all, he is well educated as a endodontist. A graduate of the University of Kansas, Blattner went to dental school at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and attended the University of Maryland in Baltimore to earn a Master of Science degree in Oral Biology with a certificate in endodontics. ...

The next best thing to a time machine is a visit to the old home place after years of absence. That's what I did last Saturday. The lure for my return to my favorite hometown in the Ozarks over yonder was an invitation to help judge the First Annual Tim Savage Memorial Fish Fry Cook-off sponsored by the Piedmont Chamber of Commerce with assistance from the American Legion Auxiliary...

Most people are familiar with the following quote or a version of it. "Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it." If you understand and believe this quote is true, you should be upset with recent events. During World War II the United States was attacked by Japan. ...

Last week the Southeast Missourian implemented a new policy to govern how crime reports are made available to search engines. As I wrote when announcing a draft of the change, "The new policy seeks to strike a balance between the Southeast Missourian keeping the public informed and recognizing, sympathetically, that in today's world of instant digital search, long-past minor indiscretions can play a disproportionate role in a person's online identity."...

Way back in the 1970s, a brainy group of MIT professors and researchers developed a computer model that predicted the "end of civilized life as we know it" by 2040. And as part of that computer prediction, the first major change that will usher in this decayed social structure will occur in 2020...

I like that President Trump is willing to fight. Fight the mayors' intent on maintaining so-called sanctuary cities. Fight the Chinese with tariffs for trying to take advantage of the United States economically. Fight Turkey for the release of Andrew Brunson, the American pastor held there since 2016. But please -- please! -- stop fighting LeBron James...

Normally, this week would be the first day of school for the Jackson R-2 School District and I would be reminding everyone to drive extra carefully in the Jackson area as traffic increases with buses, parents, and students traveling to and from classes. ...

What does it take to be a leader worth following? Or ask it another way. What areas in a one's life need to improve to be a better leader? Your answer to this question may depend on if you are the leader or the person being led. On Thursday morning more than 400,000 people globally participated in the simulcast of the Global Leadership Summit at Willow Creek Community Church based in South Barrington, Illinois. LaCroix Church was the host site for Cape Girardeau...

Ameren likes to portray itself as a good corporate and community citizen. Why, then, has its board of directors chosen to drag out the multiyear legal battle against 16 counties in Missouri related to the valuation of its locally-assessed gas distribution system? At stake is an estimated $20 million in tax revenue that has been held in escrow from public schools, libraries, roads and bridges, fire protection districts, sheltered workshops, health and senior services and other public services in those counties. ...

There's not a lot of traffic on the street in front of our house, so when we see a car passing by we tend to take notice. Which is how I came to be watching, the other day, a particular car that stood out for a couple of reasons. First, it was an old car. ...

It seems that every day is the anniversary of some major event in world history. Some of these anniversaries mark the beginning or the end of a major event. While the entire world may take note of these events, they are quickly pushed into the dust bin of history as present events take over the headlines...

It's good to be back in the country. As my wife Victoria likes to say, "Being somewhere is fun. It's the travel, especially the older I get, which is hard. I need a rocket." One of the benefits of life back in the States for both of us is clean finger- and toenails. ...

Vacation has not been "a thing" for me throughout most of my years. I didn't grow up going on vacation annually like many families. I remember going to South Carolina twice during my elementary school years, but that's it. I still have never been to Disney World or Disneyland or whatever other Disneys there are. ...

Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer has a new book out titled "The Briefing: Politics, the Press and the President." The book is a memoir, but shares Spicer's approach of communicating to the media. Spicer operated differently than many of his predecessors. In the book he shared several examples of how he shook up the daily press briefing...

Last week I told you how, in my eight years of retirement, I've made a career of doing only the things I want to do. I also told you how, for a couple of days last week, I was stretched well beyond my goal of doing just one thing a day, with weekends off. As a matter of fact I was challenged to do a dozen things...

After reading Holly Rehder's article on Right to Work, renamed Freedom to Work so it sounds better, I am compelled to write a response. I wish she would have listed a few of these companies that are bypassing Missouri and running to our neighboring RTW states. ...

On Tuesday, Missouri voters will weigh in on Proposition A to determine the fate of Missouri's Right to Work law. A yes vote would end forced unionism in Missouri, while a no vote would block workers from being protected by Right to Work. Despite the many millions of dollars -- much of it in forced dues seized from workers -- spent by Organized Labor to confuse voters about Prop A, Right to Work is remarkably straightforward and simple...

In 1966, the American public was aware we were sending military advisors to a country called South Vietnam. The country was under attack by communist guerrilla fighters trying to overthrow the government, and the advisors were there to help build a functional military to fight the communists. The communist force was a carryover from the Viet Minh units that had fought the Japanese in World War II and then the French in a fight for Vietnamese independence from its colonial status...

One of the joys of an international marriage is visiting relatives abroad, and I'm writing this column while on vacation in rural Russia. My wife grew up in a city of two and a half million people but spent her summers with grandparents in a small Russian village. ...

Manhattan was purchased from native Americans by the Dutch in 1626 for 60 guilders or about $1,000. Calling itself the cultural, financial, media and entertainment capital, Manhattan is perhaps the most expensive piece of property in the world. But there's a little chunk of California that is shaking up the real estate world and is trying to rival Manhattan's high-priced digs...

In June, the City of Jackson Board of Aldermen designated Jackson's first local historic landmark. McKendree Chapel Memorial Foundation applied to have Old McKendree Chapel and Cemetery designated as the first landmark under the city's Historic Preservation Ordinance. The application was reviewed and recommended by the Historic Preservation Commission, a five-member citizen board established in 2017...

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view -- until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." This is one of my favorite lines from "To Kill a Mockingbird." And everyone knows how much I Iove that book...

This weekend the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame will induct new members into its club of top players, managers and broadcasters. So it would seem an appropriate time to look at the state of baseball -- at all levels. Working my way through college, I spent many summer nights umpiring youth baseball. Everything from 10-year-olds to Babe Ruth and American Legion games...

Believe it or not, I have been retired from my newspaper career for nearly eight years. It seems like yesterday ... . In those eight years, I have made a new career of sticking to my retirement mantra, which is a response to the question I'm often asked: "What are you doing, now that you're retired?" Answer/mantra: Whatever I want...

In the last seven-plus years, Syria has been involved in a terrible civil war as a large anti-government faction fought to overthrow Bashar al Assad as Syrian President. What began as political demonstrations erupted when Syrian military forces opened fire on demonstrators. ...

Today the Southeast Missourian announces a DRAFT of a new policy regarding misdemeanor crimes reported in the newspaper. For the next two weeks (until August 8) we will take comments on the changes. News management, publisher and assistant publisher will review the comments before finalizing policy...

With an incendiary President capable of mass alienation and mid-term election history on their side, the Democrats should be poised for the upcoming November election showdown. Instead, the Democrats find themselves in search of a message. Still stinging from their massive defeat in 2016, a vocal and energized wing of the Democratic party believes the road to success lies in socialism...

Blowing up, cussing folks out and kicking guests out of the building are definitely not the way to show you're not suffering from some type of "derangement." It is, however, the way to prove you are. I'm talking about Whoopi Goldberg, co-host of "The View." The diagnosis is acute chronic derangement of the Donald Trump type -- in layman's terms, Trump Derangement Syndrome...

Some people know Jane Cooper Stacy as the former First Lady of Southeast Missouri State University. To others it's her connection to sister Betty Hearnes (wife of the late Gov. Warren Hearnes). But most know her as the longtime alumni director at Southeast Missouri State, a position she held for 35 years...

In the early 1950s, everyone of voting age in the Ozark hills over yonder was either a Republican or a Democrat. There were no Communists in the brambles that I know of, and that had nothing to do with the McCarthy witch hunt. Most everyone in the vicinity of Killough Valley was a Republican or a Democrat because his parents and grandparents and great-grandparents were. ...

On Monday, President Trump and Russian President Putin met for discussions and then held a news conference in Helsinki. Comments made by President Trump and the answers to questions posed to President Trump were less than satisfactory. Trump was asked if he could find fault with the Russian actions such as those that resulted in the grand jury indictments against Russian military intelligence agents. ...

Of all of the places I would like to visit, San Francisco is not on that list. Given the current political and cultural climate in alifornia, there's not a whole lot there that interests me. But San Francisco takes the cake. The Golden Gate mecca has a new mayor but an old problem...

It's been a beautiful love story: Ken and Jeanine Dobbins. Together, they cared for each other in their careers, supported each other with their own and extended families, and raised a proud son who forged his own success in family and work. Most will think of Ken Dobbins as one of the longest serving presidents of Southeast Missouri State University: a man who dedicated 24 years to Cape Girardeau in leadership at Southeast. ...

Serena Williams almost did it. Her run at another Wimbledon Grand Slam title just ten months after giving birth to her daughter was nothing short of remarkable. I love the Williams sisters. I've watched Serena and Venus play tennis ever since their teenage years donning beaded braids, looking like they had just stepped off the bus from Compton, which, pretty much, they had...

It's 10:30 Tuesday morning at Cape Girardeau Central High School and more than 130 students from fifth through eighth grades are at the three-day Fellowship of Christian Athletes Power Camp. High school students volunteer their time to lead campers in team-building activities. ...

In this -- the era of computer-generated "reality" -- there is much to celebrate when real-life drama ends heroically. Most of us alive on the planet the past two or three weeks have been following every scrap of information coming from a complex of caves in Thailand. That is where a dozen young soccer players and their coach were stranded in a life-or-death drama for days and days...

In most teachings of the Declaration of Independence the debates, the arguments, and the editing of the document are not really emphasized as much as they deserve. The final document is representative of the constant debates which have marked the history of the nation begun on Independence Day...

Three cheers for the diving teams who helped save the Thai soccer boys from the flooded caves! Led by two Brits considered the "A Team" for dive rescue in the world, the group was heavily international. On Sunday, when the evacuations began, several sources indicated there were roughly 90 divers involved, 50 from overseas. Of the specific group who brought the first of the boys out, 13 of the 18 were international...

Did you hear that the Department of Agriculture spent $4 billion in improper food stamp payments last year? Now granted, it's just a measly $4 billion overpayment in a $63 billion budget for food stamps. That's just a little over 6 percent of the total food stamp budget in incorrect payments of your tax dollars...

Health care costs and spending continue to be top issues for many Americans. Lawmakers in Washington continue to debate how best to reform a trillion-dollar system, while closer to home, our state legislature is also trying to figure out how to best manage costs for Missourians...

Remember the time when people had respect for human life? Seems like a lifetime ago -- or science fiction. I am appalled at how little value human life and decency have in today's society. Something has gone terribly wrong. Last week, a 92-year-old man taking a walk was knocked to the ground by a woman with a child, whereupon she and four men attacked him, beating him with a piece of concrete. ...

Liberal extremists are taking their open borders strategies to new lengths with their latest rally cry to eliminate the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE). Extremist calls to "abolish ICE" -- sometimes without even understanding what the brave men and women who enforce U.S. immigration laws do -- should send shivers down the spines of Americans everywhere...

American patriotism filled the grandstand of Arena Park in Cape Girardeau Wednesday evening. Following the Cape Girardeau Municipal Band's performance of patriotic music the Southeast Missourian recognized Raymond G. Buhs as the 16th recipient of the Spirit of America Award...

My friend Ford was wondering why he hasn't heard any cicadas this year. Or was it locusts? Apparently, I'm not the only one who gets the two confused. And I'm certainly no bugologist. A quick Internet search resulted in hundreds of attempts to explain the difference between locusts and cicadas, even though cicadas often are lumped in with locusts...

History will not likely portray this time in our nation as our finest hour. We are indeed in the midst of an ideological civil war that threatens to undermine confidence in our federal government. Having spent the last half of the 1960s on a college campus, I am familiar with protests. Changing attitudes and policies on civil rights and the strong and growing opposition to the war in Vietnam combined to incite countless protests across this country from coast to coast...

It's easy to pick on the media. I receive phone calls weekly complaining about one thing or the other. Regularly, there are threats. Advertisers have said they would pull all their ads if the newspaper didn't do something they wanted; we didn't. They did. ...

Everyone reading this, I imagine, observes the Fourth of July and is eagerly awaiting Wednesday's festivities (or is dreading it because it comes with family gatherings that sometimes provide more reasons to pull apart than get together, but I digress). The tradition, of course, is rooted in celebrating the Declaration of Independence and freedom from British rule...

The latest edition of B Magazine was published this week and took a look at development topics such as historic property redevelopment, housing options designed primarily for college students, workforce development and many issues real estate developers are faced with when they start a new project...