Editorials

Salvation Army Lt. Matthew DeGonia calls the annual Thanksgiving Day meal a "staple" in Cape Girardeau. He's right. It's not only a place for those who may be alone or poor to come have a warm meal on Thanksgiving, it's a chance for others to lend a hand...

This weekend is a holiday for some — the opening of firearms deer season for Missouri. This means an extra dose of safety is in order. The hunting season is timed such that it coincides with mating season, meaning deer are on the move. For drivers, that means extra caution is needed on the roads and highways at all times, but particularly around dawn and dusk hours, when deer are their most active. ...

Anyone who reads this space regularly knows we like to step back periodically and take a look back to appreciate where we are. The opening of the Courtyard by Marriott hotel in downtown Cape Girardeau is another one of these moments. You have to go back to 1971 to remember the last time there was a hotel operating in downtown Cape Girardeau...

By now you know what today is. Your social media feed has been peppered with reminders. Your TV stations have been inundated with ads. Your newspaper has been chock full of stories about races, local, state and national. It’s Election Day 2018. The midterm election...

Dear Mr. President Trump, Welcome to Cape Girardeau. Thousands of supporters from our city and miles beyond will flood the Show Me Center tonight. Most of them are your supporters. Some 70 percent of this part of the state supported your presidency and most still support your ideals...

If you're a casual sports fan or not a sports fan at all, you may have missed the memo: The Southeast Missouri State University football team is having quite a season. One week after another, Southeast has put together impressive games, whether late-comeback dramatics, record-breaking offensive performances or ending conference winning streaks of nationally ranked opponents...

Today is your last day to fill out a survey on the proposed indoor aquatic facility being funded by the Cape Girardeau Parks, Recreation and Stormwater Sales Tax initiative. Information provided by the community through the survey will be used to help consultants develop a draft plan for the city council's consideration...

Next week's election, the midterm, has been hailed across the country as an important election. On the national stage, the country's two biggest political parties are battling for majorities as President Donald Trump's brash style motivates voters one way or the other...

We hope you've stocked up on your candy by now, and for parents, now is the time to check off your safety list. Trick-or-treaters will be scurrying throughout neighborhoods Wednesday. It's a good idea to make sure your ghosts, princesses and superheroes have reflective costumes or tape attached to them or their candy buckets. ...

In one of the most bizarre ballots in memory, the Nov. 6 ballot contains three, yes three, options to approve marijuana for medical purposes. In a nutshell: n Amendment 2 would allow doctors to prescribe medical marijuana to patients with specified medical conditions such as cancer, glaucoma, epilepsy and chronic pain and allow limited cultivation of marijuana by individuals and impose a 4 percent sales tax...

Jackson High School theater students are set to perform a female-focused "The Odd Couple" today and Friday. Eight students make up the cast and more than 30 others are responsible for all the other aspects of the performance. Taylor Hamlett is directing for the first time at Jackson. She had previously worked as the theater instructor at Scott City. Hamlett is from Jackson...

The overlap of politics, government and religion creates complications. In a nation that guarantees freedoms in religion and speech, are there limits? How much religion should be injected into our politics vs. our government? These are questions that have been debated since the country's founding...

It’s time to do something about Missouri’s roads. Anyone who drives on our highways knows this. Many of our highways and bridges are in rough shape. The Missouri Department of Transportation is trying desperately just to maintain what we have. Maintenance slips behind every year our highways are underfunded...

The models walk strong for the women who can't. The VintageNOW fashion show in Cape Girardeau is growing in popularity, and for all the right reasons. This weekend the show will celebrate its ninth year. For the first time, it will be held at the Show Me Center, after outgrowing all its previous venues. In the past, they've had to turn people away at the door...

One of the neat things about downtown Cape Girardeau is the variety of people who are attracted to it. For those who enjoy high level, cultural entertainment, downtown Cape is a place for you. For those who enjoy local flavors and restaurants, downtown Cape is a place for you...

The Cape Girardeau Police Department continues rolling out proactive and innovative programs to help deter crime, rather than just react to it. The latest program is called The Crime Free Multi-Housing Program. It's a three-phase, international initiative that engages apartment owners and residents, police and other agencies, according to a recent report by Mark Bliss...

A lot of work is being done these days to prepare students for just that: work. Two recent Southeast Missourian stories highlighted the efforts. The first example was the Youth Entrepreneurs program, a national organization being instituted at Central High School. ...

This weekend is Homecoming weekend at Southeast Missouri State University and as usual there are lots of activities scheduled, beginning Friday with the reservation-only Copper Dome Society/Alumni Awards Dinner at 6 p.m. On Saturday, activities are scheduled all day, beginning with coffee and doughnuts at the Alumni Center at 8 a.m., followed by the parade at 9:30...

Over the weekend about 300 people turned out for the American Cancer Society gala in Cape Girardeau at the River Campus. ACS, according to the gala's website, is the largest private, not-for-profit funder of cancer research in the country. This was the 32nd year for the gala, but the first held at the River Campus...

Jerry Ford has been involved in public or civic service for nearly all his life. He's been involved in politics and music, among many other community activities. He's earned many awards and recognitions and this week he'll earn another, having been selected for this year's Distinguished Service Award at Southeast Missouri State University...

If more is better, this year's Oktoberfest in Jackson should be the best yet. Oktoberfest has become, next to Homecomers, the biggest event in Jackson every year. For the first time, it will be a two-day event this year. It begins Friday with a "pre-party" which will encompass the Cape Girardeau County Courthouse square lawn and High Street in the Uptown district...

When you announce that Krispy Kreme is adding a location to your town, people go crazy. People not only have an affection for pastries, but all sorts of different kinds of food. Another eatery, Rosati's Pizza Sports Pub, known for Chicago-style pizza also recently announced it was moving to the Town Plaza along Independence Street...

On Monday, it was announced that a pair of scientists had won the 2018 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for independently finding a way to unlock the body's immune system to attack cancer more effectively. James P. Allison, of MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas, and Tasuku Jonjo, of Kyoto University in Japan discovered different ways to put the brakes on the immune system. ...

The City of Cape Girardeau, in the early 2000s, took quite a bit of time finding its fire chief. Mike Lackman resigned in 2002 and Mark Hasheider filled in admirably as the interim chief for 18 months before the city found its man in Rick Ennis in 2004...

"This is my third one like this," Joe Corso told reporter Tyler Graef while polishing his 1957 Chevrolet Bel-Air. "It's just playin' with cars, man. All these old guys still playin' with cars." Old classic cars have a way of taking us back in time. The 41st annual River Tales Class Car Show was held earlier this month in downtown Cape Girardeau. Downtown is a perfect setting for such an event, with the historic buildings providing the perfect backdrop for all those historic rides...

The music was fantastic. The food was tasty. The beer was cold. The company, the best. The only thing that didn't cooperate was the weather. The Southeast Missourian and rustmedia would like to offer our thanks to everyone involved in the inaugural Shipyard Music Festival...

Did you know Southeast Missouri State University is a magnet for scholars of William Faulkner? The Center for Faulkner Studies is housed in Kent Library, and was established in 1989 under the leadership of its founding director, Robert Hamblin. The university acquired the Louis Daniel Brodsky Collection of William Faulkner Materials, according to the university's website. The collection was assembled over a 30-year period...

The annual The Best Years’ Active Living Expo is back for a third year, as the senior magazine hosts a fun event at Isle Casino Cape Girardeau. The event will focus on available resources for seniors, plus some fun activities such as games, crafts and music...

The Shipyard Music and Culture Festival will rock downtown Cape Girardeau on Saturday. Rustmedia, a marketing media partner of the Southeast Missourian, is bringing you a music festival like you've never seen in Cape Girardeau. Our hope is that it grows over the years, but we want to make the first year special. Gates open at 11 a.m. and concerts will go on throughout the day...

Despite heavy rain on opening day, the SEMO District Fair welcomed 93,000 people over eight days, according to numbers released by the fair recently. That was about the same turnout as last year. This year's fair had new rides and entertainment, but mostly it was a repeat of what we love about the fair: Great food, a close look at the farm animals and the overall ambiance of the lights and sounds...

Command Sgt. Maj. Timothy Metheny has fought in battle, he's learned the ropes and now he faces a very difficult task in his military career. Metheny is a graduate of Cape Girardeau Central High School. The U.S. Army veteran was back home visiting family and friends before heading out on another two-year deployment. ...

Jim Eddleman had a big idea. And his big idea is becoming reality. The Vietnam veteran promised himself in 1968 that if he made it home, he’d find a way to honor the people he fought with. What’s spawned from that promise is The Missouri National Veterans Memorial in Perryville. ...