Columns

It’s 2009 again, or feels like it. That was when spontaneous, grassroots protests against overweening government sprang up and were widely derided in the media as dangerous and wrongheaded. The protesters then were inveighing against Obamacare; the protesters now are striking out against the coronavirus lockdowns...

"We are continuing to see community spread, and with an increase in testing and reopening, there will be an increase in case numbers," said Maria Davis, health educator with the Cape Girardeau Public Health Center.

Don't listen to White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany's predictable critics. The level of vitriol the leftist media hurls at her daily -- during and apart from the press briefings -- conclusively proves she is doing a superb job. Liberal journalists whip their long knives in her direction and seem shocked she doesn't grovel. ...

The current U.S. budget deficit could soon exceed a record $4 trillion. The massive borrowing is being driven both by prior budget profligacy and a hurried effort by the Donald Trump administration to pump liquidity into a quarantined America. The shutdown has left the country on the cusp of a self-inflicted economic collapse not seen since the Great Depression...

Every now and then as a diversion from hard news about the coronavirus, I like to write about family. Something funny. Or at least an attempt at humor. In this case, COVID-19 has changed how I approach an important part of worship. How about you? Can you relate?

Do you remember when Pope John Paul II went back to his native Poland, about eight months into his pontificate? The Communist officials couldn't not let him in -- he was too beloved. As Pulitzer Prize winner Peggy Noonan, author of "John Paul the Great," has written, from the moment he eventually arrived behind the Iron Curtain, "the boundaries of the world began to shift."...

While serving as a sentry with French forces in the Argonne Forest in 1918, a black American private fought off German attackers. Unfazed by his wounds, he hurled grenades until they ran out, shot his rifle until it jammed, used his rifle as a club until it broke, and finally used a bolo knife until reinforcements arrived...

Most local Memorial Day services were canceled this year due to the coronavirus. That didn’t stop Jackson resident Steve Sebaugh from paying his respects to America’s fallen heroes. I drove through the Avenue of Flags at Cape County Park on Monday where 727 flags waved in the air. After stopping at Veterans Memorial Plaza where a granite wall honors Cape Girardeau County’s military veterans, I noticed Sebaugh walking up with his trumpet. ...

Lockdowns are ending as states are loosening restrictions resulting from the Chinese coronavirus. Missouri opened things up a couple of weeks ago. Some are uncomfortable or even downright fearful but are doing their best to resume activities. Then there are those who are not. It is to that latter group I speak...

It’s not March anymore. The coronavirus has taken a heartbreaking toll on Americans, but the course of the virus is not the same as it was a few months ago. We are on the other side of the curve. There are encouraging signs all over the country, and no early indications of a reopening debacle...

Three short months ago, I received an encouraging text from my friend Ravi Zacharias. Now, as if in a blink of an eye, he has passed away. Along with countless thousands, I grieve. When he wrote, he was reeling from excruciating back pain but wholly unaware of the cancer diagnosis that would soon follow. Despite his suffering and his onerous schedule, he shared that he was praying for my brother, Rush, who had just been diagnosed with cancer...

I've been mostly impressed with Missouri Gov. Mike Parson's leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic. It's certainly been a big improvement over some blue state governors, like Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, whose actions make little sense in some cases and are a significant government overreach in others...

Dr. Keith Graham is a living miracle. On Tuesday afternoon, just days after being released from Saint Francis Medical Center, Dr. Graham and his wife, Tammy, spoke with me via video chat from their home. Keith was hospitalized for nearly two months due to complications resulting from COVID-19. A pulmonologist, he said it was ironic to be on the other side of the doctor-patient relationship...

Red- and blue-state America was already divided before the coronavirus epidemic hit. Globalization had enriched the East Coast and West Coast corridors but hollowed out much in between. The traditional values of small towns and rural counties were increasingly at odds with postmodern lifestyles in the cities...

ALLENTOWN, Pa. President Donald Trump, speaking to the Washington Examiner ahead of an event at a medical supply facility in this key swing state, took aim at Joe Biden's mental faculties, at one point claiming his Democratic challenger "has absolutely no idea what's happening."...

Stacey Abrams has another distinction to add to her resume -- she's among the most preposterous potential vice-presidential candidates ever. Her attempt to leverage a failed Georgia gubernatorial bid into a spot on the Democratic ticket is so brazenly absurd that it's hard to think of precedents...

"Don't believe the hype!" We've all heard that expression. But what about the [non]hype? How many of us believe that? I challenge each of us, instead, to reject it and do the thing we think is too big, too late, too good to be true. Hyping, to keep it simple, is exaggerating. ...

I picked up carryout at a couple restaurants last week, and in both cases the restaurant was either open for inside business or preparing to open. Tables had been separated to provide required social distancing. Wait staff was in masks. It was affirming to see the restaurants implementing public health guidelines, which have been stressed and reinforced by all levels of government from the White House to the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center. ...

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a crisis around the world. It has drastically affected our country and our state. Comparably, here in our county and in Cape Girardeau we have fared better than most. As we begin to reopen our city and local businesses, please continue to follow the guidelines where possible. Social distancing, wearing masks and sanitizing will be with us for awhile. It is still a matter of common sense and individual responsibility...

Perhaps you listened to the Supreme Court oral arguments in the Catholic school case on C-SPAN? Even with it happening over the phone and us listening in live, it added a whiff of that longed-for "normalcy" to the week and a little nostalgia, too, for the days when we had debates outside of pandemics...

No, President Donald Trump is not ranting and raving about Obamagate to keep himself center stage or to distract attention from COVID-19, as liberal media are suggesting. They still don’t get Trump. Two recent columns contend Trump has ulterior motives in harping on Obamagate — the notion that the Obama administration tried to destroy Trump with the myth he colluded with Russia to steal the 2016 election...

One of my heroes is C.S. Lewis, the brilliant British author who wrote the Chronicles of Narnia, starting with "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." Lewis was also an inspired lay theologian and commenter on current events. One of his essays, "On Living in an Atomic Age," is making the rounds online because of its wisdom in an age of fear. His message, written in 1948, is prescient, providing important context to those panicked by the coronavirus...

After speaking with Mark and Scott Rhodes Thursday morning at Plaza Tire in Cape Girardeau, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson was greeted by a customer who said he appreciated Parson's performance on the job. "And I'm not even a Republican," the man quipped. The governor, press gaggle and handful of community leaders behind him, chuckled. It was lighter moment in what's clearly been a stressful period of time for Missouri's 57th governor...

For his critics, Dr. Anthony Fauci cemented his status as the Rasputin of public health with his Senate testimony the other day. The National Institutes of Health official gently, but unmistakably struck a different tone than President Donald Trump, earning rebukes from radio talk show hosts and Fox News anchors, as well as fueling the outrage of the #FireFauci claque on Twitter...

Two local medical professionals have recovered or made significant strides in recovery following battles with the coronavirus. Amber Morgan is the respiratory therapist from Jackson who spent 14 days in New York helping patients in one of the nation's COVID-19 hot spots...

New York is the greatest city in the world. It also is uniquely suited to the spread of the coronavirus. As the national debate over reopening continues and the political blame game intensifies, it's worth considering the scale of New York's outbreak. There is nothing like it anywhere else in the country, and almost nothing like it in the rest of the world...

Seventy-five years ago this month, Germany surrendered, ending the European theater of World War II. At the war's beginning, no one believed Germany would utterly collapse in May 1945. On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, the day of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, German invaders were on the verge of capturing Moscow. Britain was isolated. London had barely survived a terrible German bombing during the Blitz...

BELLE VERNON, Pennsylvania -- As Ron Necciai recalls, the first two batters both went down in strikes. The third guy got lucky -- sort of. The ball got away from the catcher, who quickly got the batter out at first. It was May 13, 1952, a cold, damp Tuesday night for 1,100 people at Shaw Stadium in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Necciai was pitching for the Bristol Twins, a Pittsburgh Pirate-affiliated Appalachian League farm team, against the Welch Miners...

The race issue is a complicated one, even in 2020. Ahmaud Arbery brings this truth to the forefront, reminding me that most things, excuse the pun, are not black and white -- but that's not a prerequisite for justice. When a black man is shot by a white man, immediately, allegations of racism are hurled. ...

In parts of Cape Girardeau over the weekend it looked like many people believed the coronavirus had disappeared. Presto magic. No longer a worry. In two grocery stores I visited, almost no one other than grocery staff wore masks or face coverings. Some restaurants did not appear to be providing proper social distancing. ...

The "Shark Tank" initiative put forward by U.S. Senators Roy Blunt and Lamar Alexander is underway, and if the plan goes as intended it could play a significant role in the fight against the novel coronavirus. Blunt (R-Mo.), who chairs the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor/HHS), spoke with me Friday about the effort to couple private sector ingenuity with federal government backing...

Why should Joe Biden get due process, but not others accused of sexual misconduct? That’s the question raised by the progressive reaction to Tara Reade’s accusation against Biden on the one hand, and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ new rules for handling sexual harassment cases on college campuses on the other...

Meet my Corona. She won't make you sick but be warned: She may just inspire you during these tough times caused by another corona. "My Corona" is actually my grandmother, whose first name is Corona. Her friends call her "Coonie." Born at her family home in New Hamburg, Mo., my grandmother said she walked to school every day (just down and then up the hill, she said), and when she was about 10 or 12 years old, she would milk three cows every day before school and after school...

County governments in Missouri are receiving significant CARES Act funding to be used on coronavirus-related expenses. Nearly $521 million is being distributed collectively to most Missouri counties, with an additional $173 million-plus going to St. Louis County and more than $122 million going to Jackson County...

The left's position on the nation's proper response to the pandemic, though shrouded in the language of compassion, is incoherent and morally repugnant virtue signaling. Since this calamity began, many national Democratic leaders, the left-wing media and various never-Trumpers have been more interested in smearing President Donald Trump -- no change there -- than helping to solve the myriad problems caused by the coronavirus...

Speaking on "Meet the Press" a few weeks ago, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams called the coronavirus crisis "our Pearl Harbor moment" -- invoking the greatest call to action in our nation's history. Within days of the Japanese aerial attack, hundreds of thousands of Americans decided to quit their jobs or interrupt their pursuit of college degrees in order to enlist in the U.S. ...

Let's start with respecting others -- and realizing that we're all in this together -- and that there are legitimate reasons for disagreement. That there are difficult trade-offs for any decision. And if you don't believe there are, then you may be part of the problem.

Editor's note: The following column was published Sunday on reclaimourregion.com, a website operated by the chambers of commerce in Cape, Jackson and Scott City as well as VisitCape and the Cape Girardeau Area MAGNET. With our economy mere hours away from "reopening," I came across a lovely post shared by a Cape Chamber member that I couldn't help but pass along on behalf of Reclaim Our Region. While it may seem elementary, a reminder of kindness is always worth sharing, in my opinion...

Joe Biden is the apparent Democratic presidential nominee. After all, he had a seemingly insurmountable lead in delegates going into the rescheduled August convention in the postponed Democratic primary race. Biden was winning the nomination largely because he was not the socialist Bernie Sanders, who terrified the Democratic establishment...

BRISTOL, Tenn./Virginia State Line Joe Deel is behind the chrome-trimmed turquoise counter of his legendary diner, the Burger Bar in Virginia, working with his wife, Kayla; daughter Emily; and sous chef, Corey Young. They can see people going to lunch at the State Line Bar and Grill in Tennessee, just across the street and less than 50 yards away. But their round, black-topped stools remain as empty as they were nearly two months ago when the coronavirus first shut down the country...

We will be in a fight against the coronavirus for months, if not years, and yet it is time to declare mission accomplished on one very important goal. The lockdowns of much of the country were undertaken "to flatten the curve" and largely to prevent the hospital system from being overwhelmed. It was a near-run thing in New York and New Jersey, but the dykes held, thanks to the incredible sacrifices of front-line health care workers...

I don't know if Joe Biden did it or not -- sexually assault Tara Reade, I mean. What I do know is that hypocrisy turns my stomach. You, too? So Me Too, please hear this. The "believe every woman" Me Too folks do just that -- believe every woman -- if doing so helps their agenda. But they dismiss every woman who hurts their chances of hurting President Donald Trump's chances -- which is their ultimate desire, decency be darned...

HUMOR COLUMN: I'm pretty sure my fish started talking to me this week. I was feeding them, wondering how they liked being stuck within the same four walls all the time, and a voice piped up: "Not bad, Papa. We have short memories. And the food is good." Yes, one of them did call me "Papa."...

We began the month of May with a necessary interview with the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, about a sexual-assault allegation. The questioning, of course, came after an introduction that included the unholy litany of accusations against the current president of the United States...

If you thought the coronavirus presented difficult policy questions, don’t worry — we have science. California Gov. Gavin Newsom tweeted the other day, “The West Coast is — and will continue to be — guided by SCIENCE.” Joe Biden has urged President Donald Trump, “Follow the science, listen to the experts, do what they tell you.”...

What are we to make of the dire predictions of President Donald Trump’s political doom — that he doesn’t stand a chance for reelection in November? I’ve read numerous mainstream media reports gloating over polls that show presumed Democratic nominee Joe Biden surging and Trump plummeting. I’m not one to casually dismiss polls, but I view them skeptically, especially given their poor track record in more recent elections, and pollsters’ brazen manipulation of them to sway public opinion...

Rob Mehner is a familiar face to many in the area. He was on staff at LaCroix Church before pursuing a call to international missions with his wife Kristy. For the last three years, the couple has served in Guatemala through New Life Advance International, a Christian missionary organization...

A few weeks ago, I reported about the outbreak of COVID-19 at the Sikeston Convalescent Center, where at the time 16 of 19 residents on the memory wing tested positive. According to several sources, cases there continue to spread. One of them cited the total number of COVID-19 at the facility, including staff, to be "at least 27 cases." One reason for the spike is that more residents and staff were tested this week as part of a general test program...

Few Americans can remember past vice presidents such as Charles Curtis, Charles Dawes or Thomas Marshall. In more recent memory, almost no one can recall vice presidential nominees who lost such as William Miller, Sargent Shriver or Lloyd Bentsen. John Nance Garner served as Franklin D. ...

For millions of Americans, religion offers hope and purpose greater than the challenges of the immediate. Taking it to heart, we are encouraged to reach higher than the egocentrism, political bickering, pettiness and hate that mark so much of the world around us. ...

We, the Islamic community of Cape Girardeau, would like to express our deepest gratitude and greatest appreciation for the outstanding assistance and compassion we received from the City of Cape Girardeau Municipal Government during the time of this horrible tragedy that occurred in our beloved, peaceful town at the very first day of the Holy month of Ramadan...

We had to destroy the hospitals to save them. You could be forgiven for thinking that's the upshot of the coronavirus lockdowns that have suspended elective surgeries and generally discouraged people from going to hospitals. Many hospitals are getting pushed near, or over, the financial edge. ...

OHIOPYLE, Pa. -- Like most places in the United States, this tiny patch of a town is struggling to stay afloat. Like most places, people here are trying to help others out. And like most places, those who live and work here wonder whether their community will ever be the same...

Corona means crown, which makes sense because it's definitely presented itself as the king of confusion. So many mixed messages, and I know I'm not alone when I say that enough is enough. I'm all about taking precautions and using wisdom, but I'm not into ridiculousness, and there's plenty of that right now...

"Surreal" is a word people have been using a lot in the last month or so, under the new coronavirus reality. The word can be used to touch upon the terrifying and the life-endangering, as well as the merely inconvenient. Many of our lives are not what they once were. Routines are out of whack, and work and family dynamics are shifting. And, of course, there is the all-around uncertainty, and the wistful thought that maybe this is all just a bad dream we will wake up from...

COVID-19 is so new and information is changing so rapidly that it is difficult to separate fact from fiction and truth from partial truth. Like everyone else, I’m just trying to make sense of the evolving information. Many of us have been monitoring the daily reports measuring the number of deaths relative to the number of cases. We’ve been treated to crash courses in lay epidemiology via daily press briefings and voluminous articles...

Forgive Jacksonville, Florida, for it has sinned. The largest city in Florida partly reopened its beaches, and it became something of a national scandal. CNN ran a disapproving segment, and the hashtag #FloridaMorons trended on Twitter. As the CNN report put it: "The scene at Jacksonville Beach wasn't one of caution in the middle of a worldwide pandemic. Crowds cheered and flooded the beach when police took the barriers down. People were seen swimming, biking, surfing, running and fishing."...

Suicides have bumped up locally along with drug hospitalizations. Domestic abuse cases are rising, along with trauma cases. But, contrary to some concerns voiced in online commentary, a group of local officials are, in fact, meeting daily to chart a course for Cape Girardeau County, analyzing local numbers while listening to guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control, White House task force and Missouri governor. Here is information about these topics and more.

The B Magazine Progress Edition is included in today's print edition of the Southeast Missourian. Individual stories from the magazine will be published on semissourian.com in the coming days. You'll find profiles of area businesses, stories about how companies are responding to COVID-19, and other business news...

At a coronavirus task force briefing at the beginning of April, White House adviser Jared Kushner explained the approach that would -- as events proved -- get the country through its ventilator crisis. He was relentlessly pilloried, mocked and distorted in the press for it...

Given the coronavirus upending our way of life, Americans are depending on elected and appointed officials to safeguard our health and economy. However, we as citizens also have the responsibility to stand up for our American way of life. This means we have to be even more vigilant about protecting our freedoms and the rule of law...

"What we have seen thus far is Southeast Missouri is trending very differently than the rest of the state," said Maria Davis. "The state of Missouri is trending down right now, and Southeast Missouri is trending up. People need to understand we will have to make decisions based on what is going on in our area."

The world was a dangerous place before -- and will be after -- the coronavirus pandemic. While Americans debate the proper ongoing response to the virus and argue over the infection's origins, nature and trajectory, they may have tuned out other, often just as scary, news...

The following column was published April 20 by The Wall Street Journal. There is no safe path forward to combat the novel coronavirus without adequate testing. To contain covid-19 and persuade Americans to leave their homes and return to work and school, the United States will need tens of millions of diagnostic tests. Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the coronavirus task force, says there are now 1 million tests available weekly; by mid-June, there will be 2 million to 21Āˇ2 million available...

I've found that if you ask a sensible priest or nun these days what might help us keep our sanity in this time of quarantine, they tend to say: The Liturgy of the Hours. It's pretty simple: You wake up and you pray. You stop at midday and you pray. In the evening, you pray, and before you go to sleep, too. When you pray the night prayer, or compline, you really take a look at your day and ask God to forgive you where you need forgiveness. You live your life, guided by prayer...

For more than 17 years Jo Ann Emerson represented the 8th District of Missouri in the United States House of Representatives, one of the first Republican women elected to Congress in the state and a political force who regularly won re-election with more than 70% of the vote. ...

Amber Morgan is exhausted -- physically and mentally. The Jackson resident has been working in New York for the last two weeks as a respiratory therapist, providing life-saving treatment for COVID-19 patients in one of the country's biggest coronavirus hot spots...

I have thought and prayed quite a bit for businesses as the nation endures the effects of the coronavirus. Many have suffered great loss due to mandatory closures, and others have closed shop for good. In the blink of an eye, life has changed for business owners, who, like the rest of us, did not see this coming. ...

MIDDLETOWN, Md. -- There is an argument to be made that the coronavirus pandemic could change the food supply chain for the long term. It may disrupt across the board our reliance on distant producers, processing plants and large chain grocery stores...

An irony of the coronavirus debate is that the more successful lockdowns are in squelching the disease, the more vulnerable they will be to attack as unnecessary in the first place. A growing chorus on the right is slamming the shutdowns as an overreaction and agitating to end them. ...

The liberal media are urging Joe Biden to form a shadow government to upstage President Donald Trump's crisis response effort, which illustrates its consuming partisanship -- and its insufficient attention to the health and welfare of the American people...

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley says we can either continue funding unemployment benefits during the coronavirus pandemic to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars a month or we can take a different approach, one that protects workers and provides employers with the talent they need as America's economy begins to reopen...

We are a few days away from a rendezvous with some tough conclusions about COVID-19. A number of concurrent developments are coming to a head. Most will bring light where so far there was only heat. Greater information about the virus might cause as much acrimony as conciliation. Some experts will be discredited, others reaffirmed...

On a recent call with Missouri U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, he talked about one of the challenges of working from home with around-the-clock work: knowing what day it is. The new "days of the week are basically yesterday, today and tomorrow," Blunt said. Information is changing so quickly outside of the consistent message of wash your hands regularly and at length, social distance and (relatively new) wear masks when in public, that some things known today might be different tomorrow. ...

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. -- Chet Eby is making sure you will get all of the bacon you need for breakfast, or that thinly sliced prosciutto and provolone sandwich you've been craving. It is a Wednesday afternoon, and the 31-year-old has his young sons, Austin and Evan, with him hauling a load of 20-pound piglets from Cumberland County to Iowa. ...

Ron Watts, Mark Anderson and Gary Brothers pastor three of Cape Girardeau's largest churches, representing thousands of members and regular churchgoers. The three have also developed a unique friendship. But this week, the pastors are making a specific request: A day of prayer and fasting on Wednesday...

Children grow up with this moment in mind. They watch their older siblings experiencing it, join with family members preparing for it and even see old pictures of their parents enjoying it. And now that it's their turn, the C-word seems to have ruined it. The senior year, with all of its long-awaited end-of-the-year festivities, has come to a halt for many...

President Donald Trump slammed the World Health Organization at a news briefing last week and was immediately accused of scapegoating. Peter Baker of The New York Times tweeted that “Trump has found a new villain for the coronavirus pandemic,” and The Guardian newspaper described the president as “in an increasingly frantic effort to shift blame.”...

Marshal Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto commanded the Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II until he was killed in April 1943. Despite the dialogue from the 1970 WWII film "Tora! Tora! Tora!" Yamamoto probably did not say in the aftermath of the Pearl Harbor attack, "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."...

There are numerous angles to the chaos of COVID-19, ranging from health to financial to education. But there's also an emotional toll that each of us copes with in different ways. Consider children, now home and missing time at school with their friends. How does a child cope?...

The pace of change and new information can be daunting. But what holds firm is the human spirit -- and those helping others in times of need and disruption. I see it in the people I work with -- and in many of the stories we report. I see it at the grocery stores. In the chamber offices. With our municipal employees and staff. In our hospitals and doctor's offices. With teachers and pastors and in our churches. The list goes on. So many people are inspired to work and serve in care of others, even at their own risk or inconvenience.

A pandemic is not the time for imprudent public policies. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 crisis, like many earlier ones, has resuscitated some seriously flawed ideas. I fear we may see two such notions implemented within the next few days or weeks. One such unwise idea is a call by White House trade adviser Peter Navarro for an executive order to bring pharmaceutical and medical supply chains back to the United States, in part by placing new "Buy American" requirements on certain government agencies. ...

Many things about Christianity are counterintuitive but none more than this: God the perfect Father sent Jesus the perfect Son to Earth as a human being to suffer and die for the sins of imperfect human beings so that those who believe in the Son would receive the perfect Holy Spirit and live in eternal love with God...

With federal health authorities encouraging the wearing of masks in public, I made my first trip to the grocery store in one. It was from a batch of masks bought years ago from a hardware store for a home project. I'm not sure how much protection it actually has against the coronavirus, but it certainly provides a reminder not to touch eyes, nose or mouth. I matched the mask with disposable gloves from a box I originally bought for disinfecting doorknobs around the office...

A country learns about itself in a crisis, and one revelation in the coronavirus emergency is that we can't make our own penicillin. The first patient successfully treated with the antibiotic was a woman suffering from sepsis in a Connecticut hospital in 1942. Her treatment took up half the country's supply. Yet in short order we figured out how to mass produce the medicine, saving the lives of countless soldiers in World War II. Once, factories throughout the country made the stuff...

BROTHERSVALLEY TOWNSHIP, Pennsylvania -- Anyone who drives along the narrow, winding township road just off of U.S. Route 219 immediately finds themselves whisked back in time, if only for a moment, as their car enters the Burkholder Bridge. The 150-year-old structure has cherry-red shingles; a charming sign bearing its name across the arc of the roof; and alabaster white sidewalls, which are distinctive because their openness allows much of the structure to be exposed. ...

"What are you afraid of?" Pope Francis asked this question during his March 27 prayer service, just two Fridays before the strangest Good Friday of most contemporary Western Christians' lives. At a time of such uncertainty, it was a reminder to trust in more than we can clearly see, more than is of this world...

Unless something changes in the next few days, this will be an Easter like no one has ever experienced, just as it was a Palm Sunday like no other. The reason for the season is Jesus, of course, as Easter is a celebration of His resurrection. It's also the emergence of spring, vibrant colors and renewal. The coronavirus cloud now hanging over us, however, puts a damper on the usual ways we celebrate, so it's going to take intentionality not to cave to the chaos and its ensuing emotions...

It's coming. The end of this awful pandemic is coming because this too shall pass. But we've got an ugly fight ahead of us in our area. I'm a nurse, and I'm proud to say we're up for it. But we need your help. In one week's time the number of cases of COVID-19 in Cape Girardeau and surrounding counties has more than tripled. I work in long-term care, and I can tell you it's here. This is what we need from you:...

When President Donald Trump announced a restriction on travel from Europe in a mid-March Oval Office address, European Union officials erupted in outrage. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, issued a joint statement with the president of the European Council thundering, "The coronavirus is a global crisis, not limited to any continent, and it requires cooperation rather than unilateral action."...

To help residents understand the facts around COVID-19 in our area, I'm providing answers to common questions posed to the newspaper. Sources of information today include both local hospitals, as well as the Cape Girardeau County Department of Public Health. I also talked to some officials who shared information, not for attribution, but which I verified. Here are some questions and answers...

Jackson resident Christy Brey said it was a video on social media platform TikTok and a desire to engage in ministry outside the "four walls of church" that led her to organize two prayer events this week at local hospitals. Brey, a customer service representative at The Bank of Missouri, told me she saw a video from a Georgia hospital of people in their cars, lights flashing and prayers being lifted up for patients and health care workers...

A current global myth alleges that America under the Trump administration is not leading the world fight against the coronavirus in its accustomed role as the postwar global leader. Yet the U.S. was the first major nation to issue a travel ban on flights from China, with Donald Trump making that announcement on Jan. 31. That was a bold act. It likely saved thousands endangered by Chinese perfidy and soon became a global model. None of the ban's loud critics are today demanding it be rescinded...

A unified proclamation of state of emergency was made by the county health department, county commission, mayor of Jackson, and mayor of Cape Girardeau to follow the emergency guidelines as set forth by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and Missouri Department of Health (DHSS). ...

Though some deny it, many harbor a strong hostility toward Christians in our society, especially those who obediently wear their faith on their sleeves. You know what they find worse than an outspoken evangelical Christian? An outspoken evangelical Christian who's also an outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump. Talk about a perfect storm of contemptibility!...

As positive COVID-19 diagnoses increase in the area, questions are pouring into the Southeast Missourian. Over my next several columns, I will try to answer some of these questions and then update as information and numbers change. If there's something you want to know, please email jrust@semissourian.com. Or ask online beneath this column...

Earlier in March, both President Donald Trump and Gov. Mike Parson declared a state of emergency based on concerns with the COVID-19 virus pandemic. These are unprecedented times in our country. We as citizens need to do everything we can to comply with the guidelines established...

On Jan. 20, the United States confirmed its first case of the coronavirus. The nation's political and media elite obsessed over Mitch McConnell's just-announced resolution governing the impeachment trial of Donald Trump. On Jan. 23, China locked down the city of Wuhan. Cable news in America lit up with praise for the epic, nay historic, performance by House impeachment manager Adam Schiff in the trial's opening arguments...

CHAMBERSBURG, Pennsylvania It is early Sunday morning along one of the few congested stretches of the Lincoln Highway when an empty parking lot below the familiar cheery yellow sign for the local Waffle House catches the eye. The 24-hour diner chain, born in the Atlanta suburbs 65 years ago and now spreading across 25 states with nearly 2,000 locations, is primarily known for its ability to serve as a touchstone in every community it serves. ...

There have been a few moments in recent weeks when the new reality of the coronavirus epidemic hit me in special ways. One of them was when Amazon put books on the bottom of its priority list. Bookish type that I am, that is what Amazon is for me: books. ...