Rural population losses are Cape County's gain

It was a little more than a century ago, in the waning days of World War I, when a song titled "How Ya Gonna Keep 'em Down on the Farm (After They've Seen Paree?)" rose to popularity.

The song expressed a concern American soldiers wouldn't want to go back to their rural roots after experiencing European city life during the war.

In the 102 years since it was published in 1919, the song has generally been associated with any migration of people from rural surroundings to "city life."

The lyrics seemed particularly appropriate over the weekend as I looked at some of the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

You may have read the story I wrote about the population gains over the past 10 years in places such as Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Paducah, Kentucky, as well as the population losses in Alexander County, Illinois, which experienced one of the nation's biggest population declines, losing more than a third of its residents between 2010 and 2020.

However, I didn't have room in my story to mention the Census Bureau's finding roughly 85% of all Americans now live in or near an urban area, more than ever before in our nation's history.

Art Wallhausen, longtime newspaperman and retired assistant to the president at Southeast Missouri State University, took a look at the census data and shared some interesting observations with me. He pointed out that with the exception of Cape Girardeau County, which had an 8% population increase in the last decade, the populations of almost every other Southeast Missouri county fell during the same time frame.

Here's what he found by county:

• Cape Girardeau — 2010: 75,674. 2020: 81,710. Gain: 6,036 (up 8.0%)
• Bollinger — 2010: 12,363. 2020: 10,567. Loss: 1,796 (down 14.5%)
• Butler — 2010: 42,794. 2020: 42,130. Loss: 664 (down 1.6%)
• Carter — 2010: 6,265. 2020: 5,202. Loss: 1,063 (down 17.0%)
• Dunklin — 2010: 31,953. 2020: 28,283. Loss: 3,670 (down 11.5%)
• Iron — 2010: 10,630. 2020: 9,537. Loss: 1,093 (down 10.3%)
• Mississippi — 2010: 14,358. 2020: 12,577. Loss: 1,781 (down 12.4%)
• New Madrid — 2010: 18,956. 2020: 16,434. Loss: 2,522 (down 13.3%)
• Pemiscot — 2010: 18,296. 2020: 15,661. Loss: 2,635 (down 14.4%)
• Perry — 2010: 18,971. 2020: 18,956. Loss: 15 (down 0.1%)
• Reynolds — 2010: 6,696. 2020: 6,096. Loss: 600 (down 9.0%)
• Scott — 2010: 39,191. 2020: 38,059. Loss: 1,132 (down 2.9%)
• Stoddard — 2010: 29,968. 2020: 28,672. Loss: 1,296 (down 4.3%)
• Wayne — 2010: 13,521. 2020: 10,974. Loss: 2,547 (down 18.8%)

The numbers are intriguing and speak not only to the significant population gain in Cape Girardeau County, but also to the population losses in rural counties throughout the region.

Of particular interest, Art said, were the losses in the Bootheel counties of Dunklin, Mississippi, New Madrid and Pemiscot, which experienced a combined loss of 10,608 residents, or 12.7% between 2010 and 2020.

One other interesting census fact, he said, was Cape Girardeau County had a net population gain of 6,036 residents, which was more than St. Louis County's population growth of 5,171, increasing from 998,954 to 1,004,125, a 0.5% gain.

Meanwhile, the City of St. Louis had a population decline of 17,716 over the past decade, dropping from 319,294 to 301,578, representing negative growth of 5.5%.

I'm not sure what it all means, but perhaps they should change the song lyrics to "How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm, after they've seen Cape County?"

Vaccine postscript

Last week in my column I wrote about "Jane," a nurse at an area hospital who has chosen to retire partly because more and more unvaccinated people are testing positive for coronavirus. She said they're showing up at her hospital seeking care when a simple shot could have prevented their infection, or at least reduced the severity of their symptoms to the point they could have been managed at home.

I also mentioned in my column the position taken by the Missouri Nurses Association (MONA), saying it "supports workplace mandates" and "strongly encourages" health care workers to be vaccinated.

As you might imagine, I received a number of responses, both in favor of and against mandatory vaccinations.

One of those responses came from a local nurse and retired university faculty member, Desma Reno, a past president of MONA.

Desma has given me permission to share her response:

"Jay, thanks for keeping the dialogue going about vaccinations and how we, as health care workers, can better serve our community if we protect ourselves first.

"I recently retired from my role as professor of nursing at Southeast Missouri State University and taught future nurses and other nurses who were advancing their education. My retirement was planned prior to the pandemic and, while not teaching formally, I continue to advocate for health care across the board. I have continued to advocate by doing contact tracing and staying involved in my nursing association (American Nurses Association/Missouri Nurses Association).

"As a former president of MONA, I stand with the associations who are advocating for vaccinations for health care workers and our community at large. To care for others in a variety of health care settings, we, as health care providers, need to step up to health keep ourselves, family/friends, patients and our community as safe as we can.

"I understand some will have waivers for not vaccinating ... and I realize that not all will be in agreement with my personal/professional stand, but despite that I will always support the need for health care reform, public health care and other health care initiatives that will improve safety and access to health care for those in my community, state and nation.

"I urge those of you who are not vaccinated to reconsider your reasons for not doing so. Contact your health care provider regarding the merits of vaccinating and get vaccinated if appropriate for you."

Drive through food truck

I learned over the weekend, too late for inclusion in the Business Notebook, that Fit Fuel is opening this week at 3465 William St. in Cape Girardeau, next to Take 5 Car Wash (also known as Elite Car Wash).

Although the business name sounds like it could be a service station, Fit Fuel is described as the area's "only drive thru food truck, serving a healthy and refreshing way to fuel your mind and body for the day ahead," according to a social media post about the business.

More information, including Fit Fuel's menu and hours of operation, may be found on Fit Fuel's Facebook page.

Center Junction reminder

In case you missed the news last week, traffic along U.S. 61 below Interstate 55 at the Center Junction interchange between Cape Girardeau and Jackson will shift Tuesday night from the north to the south lanes, weather permitting.

The lane shift should be complete by Wednesday morning and will allow highway construction crews to finish work on the north lanes as the project moves closer to completion, possibly by early October, several weeks ahead of its contractual timeline.

I-55 ramps at the interchange will remain open, although some turns will continue to be restricted.

Another week ...

... and we're still waiting for the refrigerator we ordered Oct. 2 when we began our kitchen remodeling project.

It's been 46 weeks now.

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