CHRISTMAS WILL BRING EARLY CLOSINGS

Because Christmas falls on Saturday, all federal, state, county, and municipal offices will be closed all day Friday and Saturday. Most banks and financial institutions will close at noon Friday for the weekend.

The license fee office in Cape Girardeau will close Thursday at 4 p.m. and remain closed Friday and Saturday; the Jackson license fee office will close Thursday at 4:30 p.m. and remain closed Friday and Saturday; and the Chaffee license fee office will be closed Thursday and Friday. All license fee offices will reopen Monday.

Driver's and commercial driver's licenses tests and road skills examinations will be given at the regular time Thursday at the Naval Reserve Training Center in Cape Girardeau. There will be no tests on Friday. Testing will resume Monday at the Jackson National Guard Armory.

Offices in the Cape Girardeau Federal Building will be closed Friday, as will all state offices in Cape Girardeau and Jackson.

All Cape Girardeau County offices will close Thursday at 4:30 p.m. and reopen Monday.

Municipal offices in Cape Girardeau, Jackson, and Scott City will be closed Friday. Chaffee city offices will be open Friday until noon and closed all day Monday.

In observance of the Christmas holiday, changes will be made in the Thursday and Friday trash pickup routes in Cape Girardeau. Thursday's routes will be picked up today, and Friday's routes will be picked up Thursday. There will be no Wednesday special pickups until Jan. 5.

In Jackson the Friday trash pickup routes will be consolidated with Monday's routes. The Jackson landfill will close at 3 p.m. Thursday and reopen at 9 a.m. Monday.

There will be no trash pickup in Scott City on Friday. Residents may double their bag limit on Tuesday. Those who live outside the Scott City limits will have their trash picked up on Thursday instead of Friday.

The Cape Girardeau Post Office will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m Friday and closed Saturday. There will be no home delivery or box distribution of mail on Saturday.

The last collection of mail from drop boxes in the city will be 5 p.m. Friday. The next collection from the boxes will be 5 p.m. Sunday.

Most schools in the region have already dismissed for the Christmas-New Year's holiday. Jackson schools will close today. Schools will reopen Jan. 3.

Offices at Southeast Missouri State University will close at 5 p.m. today and remain closed until 8 a.m. Jan. 3. The spring semester classes will begin at 8 a.m. Jan. 10.

Two organizations that will not be taking off for Christmas are the Missouri Highway Patrol and Illinois State Police. Last year 13 people died on Missouri highways in traffic accidents over the Christmas holiday. Of the 10 people killed who were in vehicles that normally have safety restraints, eight were not buckled up.

"Seat belts do save lives," said Col. Fred M. Mills, superintendent of the Missouri Highway Patrol. "Each time you get in a vehicle, especially when you are traveling over the holidays, it's important to take that extra time to fasten your seat belt and make sure children are properly restrained."