Commissioner extends olive branch during Cape Girardeau County meeting

In a departure from the agenda at Thursday's Cape Girardeau County Commission meeting, Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones extended an olive branch to Commissioner Jay Purcell, literally.

Jones recently returned from a vacation to Greece, where the tour guide spoke about the symbolism of olive branches and asked if anyone in Jones' group needed to make such a gesture to someone in their lives. Jones said he accepted an olive branch to give to Purcell.

Jones and Purcell are known for their heated disagreements during county commission meetings.

Purcell accepted the olive branch with thanks to Jones and there was no further discussion on the matter.