Columns

On Saturday night, Nov. 16, at the Arena Building in Cape Girardeau, area military veterans will be the guests of honor at a celebration and fundraising dinner for the Stars and Stripes National Museum in Bloomfield, Missouri. It promises to be an evening of patriotic spirit, tribute to service members and American red, white and blue fun, featuring the full Jerry Ford Orchestra and his “Andrew Sisters.” If you are a veteran — or family member of a veteran — and would like to attend, thanks to the generosity of sponsors they have a seat for you at no cost as long as tickets remain. ...

Four-hundred forty-two thousand: That’s roughly the number of children in foster care in America. I was with a former foster child, now a mother herself, earlier this month. We were screening a short, powerful documentary called “I Lived on Parker Avenue,” about the challenges and rewards of adoption. ...

You have got to see it. I’m not a big movie person. It’s rare that I’ll watch one, much less recommend one. But “Harriet” is one you’ve got to see. A week ago, I went to see this movie based on the life of Harriet Tubman, a slave, runaway, abolitionist and conductor of the Underground Railroad. It’s incredible...

As the Cape Girardeau City Council begins deliberations on the next Transportation Trust Fund proposal to be voted on in April, it has to consider all of the proposed projects. Most were discussed by the TTF-6 committee and commented on by you, our citizens. We plan an open discussion at our next council meeting Nov. 18...

Angela Davis is scheduled to speak at the annual tribute dinner to the honorable Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at Southeast Missouri State University on Jan. 29. I must ask: Of all great potential speakers, why Davis? I believe wholeheartedly in the First Amendment and free speech in America. ...

David Limbaugh doesn’t pull punches. His latest book, “Guilty by Reason of Insanity: Why the Democrats Must Not Win,” is a hard-hitting exposé on how the Democratic Party has been taken over by the hard left, from gender and racial extremism to abortion, immigration and a full embrace of socialism...

Multiple forms of socialism, from hard Stalinism to European redistribution, continue to fail. Russia and China are still struggling with the legacy of genocidal communism. Eastern Europe still suffers after decades of Soviet-imposed socialist chaos...

So much of today's culture is disturbing, especially how disagreements (and differences) become flashpoints for wars of personal destruction. Many have assisted the creation of this culture, and much of the media inflames it, which is why it was affirming to hear former President Obama recently offer his views about youth activism and "woke" culture. His words warrant careful consideration...

It's simple to explain but maybe impossible to fully understand. Unless you're in the family. The bond among those who serve -- and served -- in the military is one of the strongest, with no regard for space or time. I haven't worn a military uniform in going on a decade, but my service is seldom far away. Part of the reason why is my brothers and sisters in arms remain close...

Editor's note: The following letter was submitted to Scott Meyer, city manager of the City of Cape Girardeau, and Dr. Neil Glass, superintendent of the Cape Girardeau Public School District, regarding the ad-hoc aquatics committee's recommendation for an aquatic center. The city and school board will hold a joint meeting today to discuss the recommendations by the committee. The full presentation can be found with this letter on semissourian.com...

A column about coffee? Who does that? Well, until now, I certainly had not, but I realize the subject is not as silly as some would think. Folks are serious about their coffee, which was confirmed for me even more last week. So depending on where you fall on the spectrum, you'll either find value in this article or wonder why I'm not writing about "really important" things going on, like the nonsense in a place called D. ...

There is something poetic about baseball. Teams with the highest payrolls, most home run hitters or hardest-throwing pitchers don't always come out the victor. A photo of New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge (6 feet, 7 inches tall and 282 pounds) standing next to Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve (5 feet, 6 inches tall and 162 pounds) is a good illustration. ...

People seem shocked that recent polls show millennials are enamored of socialism -- an economic system that reasonable and educated Americans have long known is disastrous. They shouldn't be; this has been a long time coming. The latest survey by Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation shows that 70% of millennials are likely to vote socialist. ...

More than 2 million Californians were recently left without power after the state's largest utility, Pacific Gas and Electric -- which filed for bankruptcy earlier this year -- preemptively shut down transmission lines in fear that they might spark fires during periods of high autumn winds...

The headline in the Southeast Missourian over the weekend summarized it perfectly: "Rain, rain, go away: SE Homecoming parade canceled, first time since '73." Overall, the rain gauge at the Cape Girardeau airport indicated nearly 4 inches fell between midnight and 1 p.m. ...

I find myself back in this place periodically, tears sneaking up on me. I'll be minding my own business, doing what I do. When you do what I do for a living, running smack into tragedy is par for the course. My full-time job as an editor for a major news and politics website entails publishing articles about happenings all over the world -- too much of it sad. You'd think I'd be used to it by now. Apparently not -- and God forbid that ever happens...

The best stories oftentimes come from unexpected places -- places such as Scopus and Sedgewickville, Missouri. In 2013, Randy and Brenda Johnson were visiting with a group of friends at Bollinger County Country Club. The couple, who at that time resided in Scopus, suggested they would like to host a one-day event at their home with food, raffles, music and vendors -- a fun social event. ...

Last week an acquaintance sent me a text with the photo of a column I wrote more than 25 years ago, February 1993. Among his comments: "Jon, you wrote this special article quite some time ago. It reached my heart. I'm thankful you wrote it. I've lost a number of friends and students along the way to drugs and poor life choices. I thank God for rescuing me. I was headed that same way."...

Imagine being in debt due to medical bills. Some don't have to imagine; they're living it. Now, imagine that debt being forgiven due to the generosity of others, the generosity of a church that was moved to contribute to the debt cancellation of people they don't even know. That's the love of God, and that's what Cape First Church in Cape Girardeau demonstrated...

Six million dollars. That's the amount of medical debt that will be forgiven thanks to the generous outreach of Cape First Church, a multi-site church with locations in Cape Girardeau, Sikeston and Marble Hill, Missouri. The church raised $61,388 last Sunday -- approximately three times its goal of $24,000...

Strong, independent, upbeat and alluring, a new woman rules elegantly over Cape Girardeau. You can see her framed by foliage on the side of The Indie House at 605 Broadway, a beautiful new mural painted by Southeast Missouri state alumnus Terry Davis, which features a young woman wearing a crown that harkens Lady Liberty, holding sunflowers, in front of billowy clouds with the words "You are my sunshine."...

The Oliver-Leming House on North Street, a Cape Girardeau landmark, would be an unlikely place to start a mule movement. As fate would have it, something strange occurred at the home known as Tara of River City. In the early 1990's, American Legion Post 63 Commander Woody Woodford made a startling discovery where Mrs. Oliver had designed the Missouri state flag, using thread her Native American assistant, Marietta Coshise, hand-dyed blue from dried petals of the Yontonguelip flower...

While this is not intended to be a performance review, it is an explanation of how the initial contact was made to get the world famous Cho Liang Lin here to perform with our Southeast Missouri Symphony Orchestra at the Gala Season Opening Concert Oct. 8...

I cannot seem to get away from them. Reminders of the things that matter scream at me from every direction lately, and what matters aren't so much what I find people spending their time on. What matters are the things we often take for granted: the relationships we have, the ones we're working to build and the legacy we want to leave...

What Speaker Pelosi and her progressive pals are doing in the halls of our U.S. Capitol seems to defy even Ruth Bader Ginsburg's most liberal interpretation of the Constitution and laws of the United States. Our Founders crafted the remedy of impeachment for serious situations and provided instructions for how that process would happen. ...

The Jackson Police Department's Annual Report for 2018 has been published and is available in hard copy or online on the department's website, jacksonpd.org. I encourage everyone to review the report as it has valuable information about JPD's accomplishments, the makeup of the department and statistics for the past year...

The sign on her kennel said, "Take me home today." That was my first introduction to Missey, my childhood Schnauzer of 14 years. I was 15 years old when my family started looking to adopt a dog. We called the Southeast Missouri Humane Society and asked if they had a dog that was hypo-allergenic, house broken and somewhat of a guard dog -- at least not one afraid to bark. After the person on the line finished laughing at this fairly specific request, the she said, "Well, we do have one."...

The Southeast Missourian has made several changes over time in how it manages comments below articles online. Throughout, our goal has been to encourage a positive forum for people to engage ideas, connect and be entertained. At the same time, we understand that self-expression is messy, and anywhere people gather to share ideas and opinions, differences will emerge. ...

Should there be an age limit to run for President of the United States? The question came to me after learning of Sen. Bernie Sanders' heart procedure. Just last week, I wrote about my own age and various accomplishments in my late 40s. Let's take a look now at age as it relates to running for the highest office in the land, though. Same concept -- or totally different story?...

At only 27 years of age, Madison Gesiotto's resume is impressive. Attorney, Miss Ohio USA winner, political columnist and Fox News contributor. She can now add National Women for Trump co-chair to her vitae. Gesiotto was in town Thursday to speak at a fundraiser benefiting state Rep. Holly Rehder, a Republican candidate for Missouri Senate. She spoke with me prior to taking the stage about how she got involved in politics and why President Trump's agenda matters -- especially to women...

In these times of near civil war, Americans agree on almost nothing. Yet sometime in 2019, almost all of America finally got "woke" on China. For years, our leaders had yawned about Silk Road neo-imperialism in Africa and Asia, and gross abuses of human rights against Chinese religious minorities and political dissidents...

When I was a wee lad of 8 or 9, my brother, Rex, and I were superstitious football fans. For each game we would don our St. Louis Cardinals football jerseys, white football pants, red-striped socks, Cardinal-emblazoned helmets and take our positions around the TV. ...

Forty-nine years old? When did that happen? I mean, was it not just yesterday I was 21 crossing the stage at college graduation, then 25 walking into the classroom for the first time as a teacher? Ah, I think I remember now: This 49-year-old-thing began when I turned 30 and found myself depressed that I had left my youth behind. But now that I just turned 49 a few days ago, let me share that growing old ain't all bad. I'm just getting started really, and I hope you are, too...

Leading with grace. That is the motto of Sikeston pastors Kenny King and William Marshall as they merge their two churches to form a new church, Grace Bible Fellowship. The churches, Smith Chapel, a historically black church and Trinity Baptist, a historically white church, voted to merge earlier this month. That is no small thing in this community...

Fred Burgard is a self-described utility man. No, he’s not a doctor, lawyer or Indian chief — but he’s not far off. The longtime pastor and his wife Sharon, former advisor to student athletes at Southeast Missouri State University, have lived in Cape Girardeau for 26 years.

Since President Donald Trump's first day in office, and from my first day as his health secretary, our country's opioid crisis has been one of our most challenging missions. But there were always sources of inspiration: We heard from the Americans on the front lines of the fight against addiction, and we set about bringing them what they needed to continue the fight...

Has there been a more delicious regular season series for the Cardinals this century than their four-game sweep of the Cubs the past weekend? Each white-knuckle game was won by a run -- with the Cards three times taking the lead in their last at bat. ...

As summer recedes into fall, so too will the vivid images of the record-shattering Mississippi River flooding that once again disrupted lives and livelihoods this year in both Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois. The near-annual summer ritual of volunteers and National Guard troops furiously filling sandbags was little match for 144 consecutive days of flooding that ravaged Alexander County farmland, shut down the Mississippi River bridge in Chester for nearly three weeks, pushed out families from their homes, and forced Illinois commuters to wade through knee-high water along otherwise impassable roads to get to work in Cape Girardeau.. ...

The Uptown Jackson Revitalization Organization (UJRO) presented its annual report to the board of aldermen this month. They reported on their progress from the last year and goals for the coming year. The first area in the report was organization. The UJRO has contracted with Missouri Main Street Connection (MMSC) as an affiliate member and was awarded affiliate membership status with the National Main Street America...

Prayer changes things. It's more than a slogan. Many of us have witnessed it in our own lives. We can testify God does truly answer prayer. Time and time again, I've seen God move when people pray, and there's something extra special when young people pray. On Wednesday, multitudes will do just that once again as they gather around school flagpoles for the annual See You at the Pole...

Some may remember Jackson Junior High School principal Cory Crosnoe for his baseball success. The Cape Girardeau Central and Southeast Missouri State University standout had an impressive career on the field. So much so that he spent a couple seasons in the '90s playing minor league baseball for the Atlanta Braves organization. ...

Sometimes in life you come across a talent and personality so big, that you know you're in the company of someone special. At the Southeast Missourian, Heidi Hall was a talent for the ages. A reporter here in the 1990s, she rose to managing editor 2000 to 2003, before departing to become an editor in Florida and Nashville, then for the past five years, a public affairs officer at Vanderbilt University. ...

Being in the spotlight is a crazy thing. Many look at the lives of famous people and desire to live as they do -- the fame, the fortune, the fan base; it all sounds wonderful -- until it's not. Take Joe Biden, for example. Thursday night's Democratic presidential debate reminds us of how tough it is to be out front. ...