Jackson cleanup

About 50 people showed up at Jackson City Park -- before the area was flooded -- to help clean up debris from last month's ice storms.

That's a generous gesture by town residents who take pride in their parks.

But good news for Jackson last week came with the announcement that emergency funds had been approved for 18 counties, including Cape Girardeau County. The city of Cape Girardeau had already hired a contractor to clean up storm debris. That, coupled with the fact Cape Girardeau was not hit as hard as Jackson, put Cape Girardeau well ahead of Jackson on cleanup.

Jackson Mayor Barbara Lohr has said she expects that city's storm cleanup to cost at least $1.5 million. After state and federal reimbursements, Jackson will pay about 15 percent of the cost. The city now has requested bids for a cleanup contractor of its own.

That's good news for the hundreds of homeowners still left with tree limbs on their curbs.