NUMEROUS OFFICES ARE CLOSED FOR THE HOLIDAY

Americans at home and abroad will put aside the daily hustle and bustle Thursday to pause and give thanks and enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner.

To those whose family members were deployed to the Persian Gulf at this time last year, Thursday will especially be a day of thanksgiving.

As families gather for the annual holiday meal, the less fortunate will not be forgotten. The Salvation Army will serve its annual free Thanksgiving dinner from noon until 2 p.m. at the Salvation Army headquarters, 701 Good Hope. The Army also will deliver meals to people who are unable to get to the headquarters.

A free Thanksgiving Day buffet also will be served from 2 to 5 p.m. at Mollie's restaurant, 627 Good Hope.

Inmates at the Scott County Jail at Benton will be treated to a traditional Thanksgiving meal at noon, courtesy of Sheriff Bill Ferrell. This has been a tradition at the jail since Ferrell became sheriff in 1977, and is provided at the sheriff's expense.

"We provide this special meal to somewhat soften the pain for inmates separated from their families at a normally festive time of the year," said Ferrell. "Although the inmates are in jail as a result of their own doing, this small display of humanity and compassion could contribute in some way toward rehabilitating someone now in jail."

All federal, state, county and municipal offices will be closed Thursday.

All state, county, and some municipal offices will be closed Friday, giving their workers an extended weekend. City offices and departments in Chaffee and Scott City will remain closed Friday and reopen Monday.

City offices in Cape Girardeau and Jackson will be open Friday.

There will be no solid-waste pickup Thursday in Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Scott City or Chaffee. The regular pickup routes will be run Friday in Scott City and Chaffee. In Chaffee, the pickup for the entire city will be Friday, officials said.

In Cape Girardeau, the solid-waste transfer station will be closed Thursday and reopen Friday. Thursday's residential routes for solid waste and recyclables will be picked up today. There will be no Wednesday special pickups. Regularly scheduled pickups will resume on Friday.

License fee offices in Cape, Jackson and Scott City will be closed Thursday. No driver exams will be given on Thursday. The license fee offices in Cape Girardeau and Chaffee will remain closed on Friday and Saturday, reopening Monday.

The Jackson fee office will open Saturday from 8:30 a.m. until noon for routine vehicle license transactions. The office will not renew drivers' licenses on Saturday.

All area schools will close at the end of school today and reopen Monday. Southeast Missouri State University has canceled classes for Thursday and Friday. They will resume Monday. Special holiday hours at the university Student Recreation Center are: closed Thursday; open noon to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

The Missouri Highway Patrol will be out in full force during the Thanksgiving holiday, said Superintendent C.E. Fisher.

The holiday period officially begins at 6 p.m. today and ends at midnight Sunday. Last year, 16 people died in traffic accidents in Missouri during the Thanksgiving weekend.

Fisher recalled the tragic traffic death toll during the past Labor Day weekend when 20 people were killed, the largest number for that period in 20 years. He said all available troopers will be assigned patrol duty during the holiday period to try to avoid repetition of the Labor Day weekend.

"I urge everyone who will be on our highways this weekend to drive defensively, obey the speed limits, don't drive and drink; and, above all, wear your seat belts and make sure your children wear their seat belts or are secured in a child-restraint device," said Fisher.

The Southeast Missourian will publish a Thursday edition, which will be one of the largest editions of the year.

Partly sunny skies and a high around 60 is forecast for Thursday. There's a chance for rain Friday, then turning cooler and drier Saturday and Sunday with highs in the 40s.