Area Web Sites

~Want to know what's going on around town? Need a doctor? Or a new job? How about taking a gourmet cooking class or learning to speak Spanish? Answers to these questions and many more can be found at several local and area Web sites.

News, information and more

The best site for information about daily living in the area is www.semissourian.com, which is the online mega-site of the area's largest daily newspaper. More than 120 local news stories are posted each day by the newspaper's award-winning staff along with dozens of photographs that may or may not appear in print. This content, however, represents only a small fraction of the site's content.

There are movie reviews, sports chat rooms, community calendars, weather reports, and local multi-media features that are available online only. Free. Particularly popular is the site's headline email service, which delivers local news, sports and entertainment stories to email inboxes each morning. Many long-time area residents have also discovered that semissourian.com is the first to break most local, state and national news stories, even before broadcast radio, TV or the newspaper, so checking the site throughout the day is a great way to stay informed.

Another news site with a good headline email service is kfvs12.com, the online version of the local CBS affiliate, KFVS television. Here you can find text versions of some of the stories that appear on the station's news programs, as well as links to national news. But the best parts of the site are the sections on local weather and the features about the station's on-air personalities.

Several radio stations have Internet sites, but they are more promotional vehicles than news. Www.krcu.org is the Web site of the local National Public Radio affiliate. For information about the city of Cape Girardeau direct from city officials without media filtering, visit www.cityofcapegirardeau.org.

Business development

For information about opening a business in the area, three must-visit sites are www.capeareaeconomicdevelopment.com, www.capechamber.com and www.jacksonmo.com. The first is produced by the Cape Girardeau Area Magnet, while the two others are, respectively, the online sites for the Cape Girardeau and Jackson chambers of commerce. Here you can find pertinent information about the local business climate and helpful links to business information and important contacts.

Another business site not-to-be-missed is semissourian.com/business. This searchable site maintains an archive of past business stories and related information. There are also links on this site to job openings in the area. Another link will take you to Business Today, the region's only monthly business journal that contains business articles, business openings, names of new hires, special recognitions, and lists of tax liens and bankruptcies.

Find a new job

To see the most comprehensive list of local job openings on the Internet, go to www.sejobsonline.com. This job site, produced through a partnership of five daily newspapers in the area and several chambers of commerce, also includes resume services, job interview tips and much more for the job seeker.

Conventions

If you're organizing a convention in the Cape Girardeau area or attending one, a great site to visit for information about the town is the local convention and visitors bureau's www.capegirardeaucvb.org. This site is constantly being expanded, so check back if you haven't visited it in a while.

Medical Questions

For health and medical information, visit www.southeastmissourihospital.com and sfmc.net. These two sites are produced by the area's leading hospitals: Southeast Missouri Hospital and Saint Francis Medical Center. The first is a comprehensive medical Web site with online answers to health questions from A to Z, including extensive information about the hospital and the local medical community. The Saint Francis site focuses more on just the services it provides locally. Both have been recognized with awards for their design.

Education

Recently revamped, the Web site of Southeast Missouri State University is one of the top university sites in the nation. Found at www.semo.edu, the site divides information for users according to their status of interest in the university. For example, there are sections for prospective students, current students, faculty, parents, etc. Thanks to the recent redesign, every page of the site now includes intuitive links to other areas of interest. The university site also contains a comprehensive calendar for all campus events, as well as sections on the history of the university and its staff.

Local school districts have their own sites, which can be found through the state's department of education: www.dese.mo.gov/links/School_Home_Pages. For the Cape district, visit cape.k12.mo.us. Jackson is jackson.k12.mo.us. For information about Notre Dame High School, visit notredamehighschool.org.

Entertainment

For information about local and regional entertainment offerings, the best site is the entertainment section of semissourian.com. This easily navigable Web site contains the most up-to-date information about local theater and music productions, the bar scene, movie schedules and reviews, and an interactive TV Guide. Here you can also play the Movie Trivia game, sponsored by Wehrenberg Theaters' 14-plex in Cape, to win free movie passes. Two are given away each weekday.

Most of the area's big name shows perform at the Show Me Center, which is the modern performance arena located on the Southeast Missouri State University campus. For information about upcoming events direct from the Show Me Center, go to www.showmecenter.biz. Online ticket purchasing is an option for most shows, oftentimes available in advance and at a discount to box office prices. To join the Show Me Center's All Access Club and become eligible for such ticket privileges, go to www.semissourian.com/showme.

Community Web sites

With more than 210 community organizations in its index, the primary zone for local clubs and organizations is www.sebuzz.com. Here you can find descriptions and newsletters from groups as disparate as the Rotary Club, churches, a dog owners society, to the local gay and lesbian support group. The site also provides the most comprehensive community calendar.

Rosecity.net, a labor of love of a local webmaster, is another comprehensive community site. Among its many informative links are guides to the history of the area. More off-beat community sites are offmagazine.com and thecaperock.com. The first contains creative, edgy content about nightlife and the entertainment scene in Cape Girardeau, while the second is a general parody of the community and many of its newsmakers. With thecaperock.com, the longer you live in the area, the funnier it gets. Its writers have a wit for skewering about everybody.