Editorials

An unfortunate part of life is watching money go down the drain. For some Cape Girardeau city utility customers, the activity became a little more intense when the new billing system incorrectly transferred sewer-usage data. The computer software glitch undoubtedly had some people doing double takes earlier this month, when up to 1,400 customers citywide could have received inflated utility bills for water, sewer and trash services...

The Cape Girardeau Airport Advisory Board is hoping the city airport soon will be able to offer flights to and from Chicago. It’s only a first step, and there are several more hurdles to jump before this becomes a reality. The concept of a Chicago flight appeals to those needing connection flights. There are many more opportunities to fly directly to destinations from Chicago than St. Louis...

A couple of prominent local historians have taken on different roles in the community. As reported by Marybeth Niederkorn, local historian William Eddleman soon will replace Frank Nickell as associate director at the Cape Girardeau research center for the State Historical Society of Missouri. Nickell took on a new role at the Kellerman Foundation, a local historic preservation organization...

Caring, competent teachers backed by top-notch facilities are key factors in the education of students. However, a grumbling stomach can trump all in the quest to expand minds. Hunger can stunt growth in more ways than one. It's the sort of matter Cape Girardeau public schools superintendent Neil Glass has prioritized since assuming his position July 1. ...

The skill sets involved in various sports can be as different as the balls involved. However, there are common elements that play out on all fields -- conditioning, training and sportsmanship. All three will be covered at the "Power Camp" presented by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes that will be held July 25 to 27 at Cape Girardeau Central High School...

A thoughtful, purposeful path can lead to fulfillment. The restoration project and building campaign at St. Mary's of the Barren in Perryville, Missouri, appears to have that at its core as the historic grounds receive a renovation in anticipation of the 100-year anniversary celebration of the Vincentian priests founding of the Association of the Miraculous Medal in 1918. ...

This time of year, many think of educational expenses in terms of college tuition and room and board. To be sure, those are the ultimate, big-ticket items in an education. However, a fact of reality is expenses are part of the equation from the first day of prekindergarten...

There's quite a dramatic story slowly developing in the agriculture world. It involves a herbicide called dicamba, a multinational ag chemical and biotech corporation named Monsanto and farmers across the Midwest. The controversy surrounding dicamba has pitted neighboring farmers against one another even to the point of homicide...

A lot of work is underway in the Cape Girardeau County Parks. Levi's Adventure Trail, a special playground, is under construction at County Park South. At County Park North, Freedom Rock has been painted, and now the pavers are going in. At a recent county commission meeting, park superintendent Bryan Sander said the existing sidewalk would soon be replaced with donated pavers, according to a story by Marybeth Niederkorn...

There's a new set of wheels trolling around downtown. A new trolley -- really just a shuttle bus dressed up as a trolley -- will provide free rides throughout downtown Cape Girardeau beginning today. The trolley will run from 4 to 11 p.m. on Thursdays and from noon to 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays...

Carlos Vargas Aburto was given a new, three-year rolling contract to continue as president of Southeast Missouri State University. The decision came last month by the university's board of regents. Vargas is in the midst of managing and leading the university through troubled fiscal waters, as state funding has been rolled back. Vargas and his team are making cuts, which include no raises for university employees for the time being...

Saturday evening's Semoball Awards was everything it promised to be: suspenseful, celebratory, inspirational. It was all that and more, as some of the finest high school athletes in the area received due recognition for their talent and hard work. To top it off, David Eckstein, the former St. Louis Cardinals shortstop, was in the Bedell Performance Hall at the River Campus to help honor them...

This area is steeped with so much culture and history that it is easy to forget to take time to appreciate it all. In fact, Cape Girardeau's Missouri Wall of Fame is one place that highlights some of Missouri's own and their accomplishments. The newest addition to the wall, the late Gen. Seth McKee, is almost complete...

The City of Cape Girardeau is hoping a new approach to developing blighted property might turn around a couple of eyesores on Good Hope Street. As reported by Mark Bliss, the buildings at 631 and 633 Good Hope Streets are in disrepair. A third building collapsed in 2014, and the city levied a $51,684 tax lien against the property to recover the cost of clean-up...

Not long ago, we wrote a story about a church that was holding a special Vacation Bible School for those with special needs. Last week, we had the pleasure of publishing a story about a local hairstylist, Chrissie Shay, who provides free haircuts to special-needs children...

J.K. Rowling, the famous author of the Harry Potter books, wrote near the climax of her fantasy series, just after the protagonist had made the ultimate sacrifice, "It is a curious thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it. Those who, like you, have leadership thrust upon them, and take up the mantle because they must, and find to their own surprise that they wear it well."...

The Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department is once again organizing the annual Parks and Rec Day. The free public event will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday at the Osage Centre, and serves as a kickoff to Parks and Recreation Month. There will be several activities for all ages and abilities as well as ice cream on hand. ...

Happy Birthday, America. Today we celebrate our nation's independence. We will do so with picnics and barbecues and fireworks. Maybe we'll watch a baseball game. In doing so, let's remember our personal freedoms today. Let's celebrate that we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable Rights, which include life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness...

On Tuesday, the Southeast Missourian will address the crowd at the Arena Park grandstand at the city of Cape Girardeau's Great America Fourth of July. Before the fireworks we will introduce this year's Spirit of America Award winner, Pete Poe. Poe is an extremely humble man, who has done much good work for this community. Please see our story on Poe in today's newspaper to find out more...

TechWeek is making an appearance again in Cape Girardeau. From July 21 to 28, children in grades three to six can learn the basics of coding and robotics as part of Youth Code Camps. Adult developers will compete to solve problems during a Hack & Help Hackathon, as well as have the opportunity to attend “fireside chats” with tech leaders, including the founder of PluggedIN, Colleen Jenkins, according to a recent story reported by Tyler Graef...

Overcoming addiction requires a major, life-changing mental adjustment. We can't overstate the psychological rebuilding that has to take place in order to give up the chemical dependency of drugs or alcohol. At Adult and Teen Challege mid-America, addicted men are making the effort to make the change. The faith-based institution desires to create a foundation for basic principles to begin life anew, physically, spiritually and mentally...

The building used to be a Wal-Mart building. For the past several years it's been a library. Now the folks at Jackson's Riverside Regional Library are trying to give the building a look that more represents the building's use. Recent Southeast Missouri State University graduate Terry Davis is painting a mural on the building...

With Ward 6 Cape Girardeau City Councilman Wayne Bowen taking a new job in Florida, the council at large is now met with the responsibility of appointing a new member to the city council. As reporter Mark Bliss reported last week, the city council will hear from applicants for the vacancy in July, and will make an appointment at the Aug. 7 meeting. The term will expire in April 2018. Bowen is expected to remain on the council through July...

Southeast Missouri State University launched a couple of test weather balloons last week in collaboration with Space Center Houston-Manned Space Flight Education Foundation. The test mission was to prepare for the launch of two such balloons in August before the solar eclipse event at Southeast. The launch of the balloons in August will be at noon on Aug. 21, the day of the eclipse, at Houck Field...

More than 90 percent of 700 Jackson residents who responded to a survey said the city is a "good" or "excellent" place to raise children. That's according to a presentation Monday night of a community survey at the board of aldermen meeting. According to journalist Tyler Graef, who attended the meeting, the numbers showed positive trends in many areas. About 75 percent said the city was moving in the right direction...

Construction is proceeding in earnest of a new, exciting playground at Cape Girardeau County Park South in Cape Girardeau. Levi's Adventure Trail is being built with a private-public partnership, and will honor Levi Collom, who died unexpectedly in March 2012. Levi's Adventure Trail should be open in September or October, and should add a wonderful complement to Melaina’s Magical Playland, an all-inclusive playground in the north park on the other side of Highway 61...

Local volunteers are collecting diapers and other baby and child necessities for poverty-ravaged children in Africa. Teresa Birk is coordinating the efforts, and donations will be accepted through June 29 at Roy's Tire and Auto at 408 E. Jackson Blvd. in Jackson and Realty Executives at 2511 Independence St. in Cape Girardeau...

When Dr. James Welker retires at the end of next month it will be the first time in nearly 10 years the Cape Girardeau School District has had a new superintendent. That in itself is quite an accomplishment. Though there was a certain amount of controversy on Welker's watch, from the school's new dress code policy to the elimination of a school period at the high school, he provided a sense of stability that the district desperately needed...

Add St. John's United Church of Christ in Jackson to churches enjoying longevity. Yes, 140 years after opening its doors, St. John's remains a pillar in the community. "Cherishing Our Past and Embracing Our Future" was the theme for this anniversary celebration, which took place on Sunday, June 11...

It was a joy to see hundreds come to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Safe House for Women at the Isle Casino Cape Girardeau Event Center on June 9. The luncheon highlighted the good work the organization has done throughout the years and focused on the work ahead...

Editor's note: The following is our annual Father's Day editorial. The best fathers are the best teachers. They teach us how to throw a fastball, set a hook, tie our shoes, ride a bike. They teach us right from wrong, good from bad. They teach us humor and humility, discipline and decency...

Cape Girardeau is gearing up for a very artsy weekend. The annual Summer Arts Festival is officially Saturday, though there were three comedy shows leading up to the festival earlier this week. The festival is expected to draw thousands of people with a strong lineup of shows, art, booths and food...

We are just a few weeks away from the annual Semoball Awards, coming July 8. Semoball.com, a regional sports website for high school, college and community sports, recently announced the spring sports finalists for standouts in track, baseball, softball, girls soccer, golf, tennis and other awards. For a complete list, please go to semoball.com/awards...

The Cape Girardeau County Commission recently voted to participate in the statewide sales tax holiday from Aug. 4-6. The state of Missouri has set aside that particular before-school-starts weekend to offer parents and teachers a break on sales tax to help consumers buy school supplies...

Excellence in sports is a tough task to begin with, so imagine our awe that a handful of teams in the area have managed to accomplish great things this season, making high school baseball and soccer and college track and field exciting to follow. Consider the Bell City baseball team, which captured its third consecutive Class 1 championship. ...

A church in Cape Girardeau is doing something special. Bethany Baptist is holding a vacation Bible school. What's so special about that? Many churches do it; VBS, as it's universally called, is a regular summer event. Yes, but churches do not usually have one specifically for children with special needs. Bethany Baptist does now, and it begins on June 19...

The leaders and employees of the Tailor Institute were shocked. Out of nowhere, with no warning or discussion, Missouri state government pulled their state funding. And everyone involved in the process, at least local lawmakers, a lobbyist and those in former such roles, say it never should have happened. ...

The Southeast Missourian has a special interest in local history. As the first version of history, newspaper journalists go out a to gather the news and images of the day, and tell a community's story over time. We enjoy sharing this local history on an ongoing basis. We don't just cover the news of today, but we share the news and images of the past to remind us how far we've come and sometimes how far we still need to go...

Our community is blessed to have so many people with warm and generous hearts. Fred Pennington belongs high up on the list of those people in Cape Girardeau. As features writer Jeff Breer recently reported, Pennington, 62, has for several years been organizing trips for disadvantaged youth in our area and taking them on trips to experience culture and history that they would not otherwise get to experience...

The Cape Girardeau region is a place where its people love the stars and stripes. Another way of recognizing veterans was unveiled on Memorial Day, when a new painted "Freedom Rock" was introduced to the public. Freedom Rock is a 32-ton limestone boulder in Veterans Plaza at Cape County Park that features a patriotic tableau honoring local military servicemen, according to a recent story by Ben Matthews. ...

The Humane Society of Southeast Missouri may have to limit the number of animals it accepts in Cape Girardeau, board president Charlotte Craig said. While this is concerning, it demonstrates the prudence we expect from the city. The Southeast Missourian's Mark Bliss reported on May 25 that the Humane Society requested "the city pay $82,500 in fiscal 2017, about $23,000 more than it currently is providing to the animal shelter." Prices have gone up, Craig explained. ...

This year's opening of the Cape Splash Family Aquatic Center was a big hit for the Memorial Day weekend. Once again, the area attraction brought tons of fun to children and adults looking to get the summer season started off right. Just as exciting as the new additions to the water park is the economic benefit the park brings to our area...

There are many ways to look at the recent electric rate/economic development bill passed by Missouri's legislature in the recent special session. The process revealed some political infighting and questions about how job creation falls on the list of priorities compared to the raising of electric rates by the mega power utility, Ameren...

This summer will mark the 15th year for the Southeast Missourian Spirit of America Award, an honor that celebrates someone who goes above and beyond to help others, give back to the community and uphold the American spirit. We hope that you might know someone worthy of the honor and nominate that special person...

Southeast Missouri State announced recently that several of its teams finished with cumulative grade-point averages above 3.0 The women's tennis team recorded a 3.79 GPA, while the women's cross-country and women's soccer team posted cumulative scores of 3.75 and 3.70, respectively...

As the school year has winded down, many of us have attended graduations of family and friends. During the ceremony, we have taken note of each high school's valedictorian. Being a valedictorian is an honor, as earning this distinction is no easy task...

Congratulations to John Danforth, a former Missouri attorney general, U.S. twice-elected senator and U.N. ambassador, who is the latest recipient of the Winston Churchill Leadership Medal. The award comes from the National Churchill Museum at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, from which Churchill delivered his "Iron Curtain" speech in 1946...

Editor's note: The following is our annual Memorial Day editorial. When the first ceremonies were held following the Civil War to honor those soldiers who had lost their lives in battle, communities sought to pay proper respect to fallen heroes. Over the years, those observances have been adopted nationwide as Memorial Day. Several special events are planned throughout this holiday weekend, which also traditionally marks the start of summertime activities...

Every Friday night during the spring and into early summer, a little slice of Cape Girardeau culture unfolds on Lorimier Street. Moms and pops and kids and couples unfold their law chairs and lay down the blankets as music wafts over the shade of the courthouse park overlooking the Mississippi River and downtown below...