HOLIDAY WEEKEND WILL BE HOT; MANY OFFICES WILL BE CLOSED ON MONDAY

Americans will celebrate the 217th birthday of the United States on Sunday, so the holiday officially will be observed Monday by federal, state, county and municipal governments and financial institutions.

The Cape Girardeau license fee office will be closed Saturday and Monday. The Chaffee license fee office will be closed Saturday, Monday and Tuesday. The Jackson license fee office will be open Saturday and closed Monday.

No driver's license or commercial driver's license exams will be given Monday at the Jackson National Guard Armory. Testing in Jackson will resume on July 12.

All banks and savings-and-loans will be closed Monday. The Cape Girardeau Post Office will be closed Monday. No box mail will be put up on Monday; however, Express Mail will be delivered on Sunday. There will be no home delivery of mail on Monday.

The last collection of mail in Cape Girardeau will be Saturday afternoon. There will be no collection on Sunday or Monday. The next mail collection from drop boxes will be Tuesday.

In Cape Girardeau, the Monday solid-waste and recyclables pickup routes will be run Tuesday. Tuesday's routes will be run Wednesday. There will be no Wednesday special pickup next week.

In Jackson, Monday's solid-waste pickup routes will be consolidated with the Tuesday routes. The Jackson landfill will be closed Monday.

There will be no solid-waste pickup Monday in Scott City. Monday's route will run on Tuesday and Tuesday's route will run Wednesday.

Residents of Chaffee should have their solid-waste containers at curbside early Monday for pickup.

July 4 celebrations in the area will be held Sunday in Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Oran, with fireworks displays in all three towns.

Cape Girardeau will celebrate the Fourth of July with a bicentennial "Pops Concert" at 7 p.m. Sunday in the A.C. Brase Arena Building. Following the concert, there will be a fireworks display at 9:15 p.m. in front of the grandstand.

The fifth annual Jackson Jaycees July 4 Picnic will be held Sunday, in Jackson City Park. The activities begin at 8 a.m. with a Fun Run and 5K Run, both starting from the Jackson swimming pool. Mud volleyball game competition begins at 9 a.m. and continues throughout the day. The car show starts at 10 a.m., followed by a horseshoe tournament at noon.

At 1 p.m., the greased pig contest for kids will be held. Between 1-4 p.m., there will be various children's games. Adult game competition will begin at 4 p.m.

At 4:30 p.m., there will be a pie and watermelon eating contest. A kiddie tractor pull starts at 5:30 p.m.

The fireworks display begins at 9:30 p.m.

The Jackson Heritage Association will sponsor a July 4 ice-cream social at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at the historic Oliver House.

The Oran Knights of Columbus Council 4311 will present its annual July 4 picnic at the Oran KC Hall and grounds. Events will include an open horseshoe tournament, games, live music, an all-you-can-eat dinner and supper, followed by the fireworks display at 10:30 p.m.

Last year over the Fourth of July, 10 people were killed and 737 injured in 1,488 traffic accidents on Missouri roads and highways. The Missouri Highway Patrol said nine of the 10 victims were not wearing seat belts.

Five of the fatalities and 123 of the injury accidents involved the use of alcohol. The patrol said more than 50 percent of the accidents were caused by driver inattention; speeding caused another 20 percent.

The patrol and Illinois State Police will be enforcing traffic laws over the holiday period as part of Operation CARE (Combined Accident Reduction Effort).

The National Weather Service says the holiday period - Saturday through Monday - will be hot and humid, with a slight chance of widely scattered thunderstorms each day. Highs Saturday through Monday will be in the mid 90s and lows in the low 70s.