Columns

Husband-and-wife journalists Bob Miller and Callie Clark Miller use this space to offer their views on everyday issues.

Dear Dr. Dobson: Help! I'm a mother of two sons, and I feel as if I've been thrust into a strange new world. Are boys always so rough? Sometimes the noise level in our house is more than I can take! Is this normal?

Apparently, I'm not the only one who thinks we have just endured — and maybe are still experiencing — one of the gloomiest winters and springs in recent memory.

I turn 24 on Tuesday. I think it's time I write my memoirs.I was born in the southernmost tip of the contiguous states. I've been to all but four states in the Union. I went to school, and now I have a job at a newspaper.Yep, that about sums it up.

May 8, 2008

This past week marked the best of times and the worst of times on the Missouri political front. OK, so the preceding bit of literary theft has a tad too much hyperbole, so let's just say there was some good news and some bad news — in my opinion — for Missourians.

As the Missouri Legislature quickly approaches adjournment for another session, one critical piece of legislation dedicated to improving both the business climate and judicial climate continues to be held hostage. House Bill 2241, introduced by state Rep.

By Paul Schock

Attention political candidates — John Mehner, president and chief executive officer of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce, knows how to put a positive spin on what could otherwise be viewed as seriously bad news.

The city of Jackson is beginning its second phase of a plan to lure business. According to Mayor Barbara Lohr, the Tax-Increment Financing (TIF) Commission is being reactivated.

Husband-and-wife journalists Bob Miller and Callie Clark Miller use this space to offer their views on everyday issues.

By Tina Dohogne

It's hard to believe that, until last Saturday, my wife and I had never been to Brazeau, a tiny Perry County community with a well-deserved reputation for hospitality that stretches back 200 years.

May 1, 2008

Maybe it's time to get serious in planning for $5 a gallon gasoline. Even the thought itself would have been ridiculed not too long ago. But study after study says that world consumption — especially from Russia, India and China — will continue to push gas prices higher and higher.

Cape Girardeau County commissioners have been busy lately. Four closed meetings in recent weeks aside, the board has made some public decisions at Thursday's meeting.

A new publication hit the streets of Cape Girardeau this month.

By Thomas M. Fisher

Dear Dr. Dobson: Our family physician wants to examine my 13-year-old son without my being in the room. That's OK with me, but I expect him to tell me what my boy says and what his medical condition is. That's where we disagree. He says he must keep their conversation confidential.

By Kathy Blevins

The official dogwood-azalea festival in Charleston, Mo., was last weekend. But if you visit what I consider to be the prettiest town in Missouri this weekend, you won't be disappointed.

By Mike Geske

April 24, 2008 Dear DC, At midnight, a day and a half after I left Cape Girardeau, the air near the Delhi airport looks hazy, almost like it's raining. "No, it's dusty. From the construction," my driver says.

By Shelly Shetley

For this week's Street Spirit, I'd like to stray from Southeast Missouri and take you to Beale Street. Eight days from now kicks off the Memphis in May International Festival. In Memphis, Tenn.