Stories from Saturday, November 27, 2021

DEXTER, Mo. -- Saturday evening the 13th annual Dexter Christmas Reading will take place in downtown Dexter. The reading will be held on Stoddard Street across from Mathis Funeral Home. One of the event's directors, Greg Mathis, said they are expecting a large crowd for the event, which will be the first reading outdoors in three years...

Southeast Missouri's delegation in the state legislature is unanimous in its support of Gov. Mike Parson's decision to sign the "Operation Open Roads" initiative Monday. The letter supports policies aimed at eliminating supply chain shortages being felt all over the United States...

A Missouri judge ruled Tuesday that health orders implemented by local health departments are unconstitutional. The ruling by Cole County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Green challenges the legality of health departments to mandate mask requirements and other health orders under authorization from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS)...

People love their pets, and pets love their people. It’s a bond built on love, service and dependence. They need us, but it seems we need them, as well. And as much work as they add to our lives, what they give in return is invaluable. They are loyal, loving and make us laugh. ...

In his basement, Robert Ward has dozens of paintings on display or stored away. Not too far from his easel is a painting of flowers completed more than 100 years ago by his grandmother. She is one of his inspirations, which include his father, Bill Davidson, and Herb Wickman, Ward said...

Today is Saturday, Nov. 27, the 331st day of 2021. There are 34 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Nov. 27, 1978, San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and City Supervisor Harvey Milk, a gay-rights activist, were shot to death inside City Hall by former supervisor Dan White. (White served five years for manslaughter; he took his own life in October 1985.)...

With its bell ringers and red kettles greeting holiday shoppers outside area stores, the Salvation Army has raised $10,000 toward its goal of $160,000 in its annual Tree of Lights campaign; for the second year in a row, the actual Tree of Lights will stand in front of West Park Mall; the money raised will help the less fortunate in Cape Girardeau...

Decorating for the Christmas season has never been easier when you call Knaup Floral for your holiday needs. Fresh evergreen wreaths, swags and loose evergreen branches are available and will give you the feel of Christmases past and the ease of convenience present...

Tim and Debbie Gainey of Cape Girardeau will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary Saturday, Nov. 27, with a dinner at their home. Gainey and the former Debbie Payne were married Nov. 27, 1971, at First Baptist Church in Morehouse, Missouri. The Rev. Dale Amos performed the ceremony. Their attendants were Terri Gainey Tracey, sister of the groom, and Tom Gaubatz...

Kent and Teal Mangels of Oran, Missouri, announce the engagement of their daughter, Kirstie Lynn of Oran, to Marc Phillip Jannin of Perryville, Missouri. He is the son of Darrell and Norma Jannin of Perryville. Kirstie is a 2009 graduate of Oran High School. She received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Southeast Missouri State University in 2013. She is a registered nurse with SoutheastHEALTH in Cape Girardeau...

Kenneth and Sharon Woodard of Cape Girardeau celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary Nov. 26. Woodard and the former Sharon Frazier were married Nov. 26, 1966, at Red Star Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau. The Rev. Earl Tharp performed the ceremony...

Thanksgiving is a time for reflecting on all those things for which we are grateful. It seems particularly important now at the end of the second year featuring a pandemic and unprecedented restrictions. This past year also brought many abuses of government powers with long-lasting consequences. Americans' discontent is incredibly high, and some scholars worry that for the first time in over 150 years, we could be heading toward an epic slip downward...

Millions of citizens long ago concluded that professional sports, academia, and entertainment were no longer disinterested institutions, but far Left and deliberately hostile to Middle America. Yet American conservatives still adamantly supported the nation's traditional investigatory, intelligence, and military agencies -- especially when they came under budgetary or cultural attacks...

It started about a year into the pandemic and before vaccines were widely available. I was looking for my next book to read and my friend Christi told me I "had to read" Tara Schuster's "Buy Yourself the F-cking Lilies," so I did. It was exactly what I needed and right on time in so many ways. One chapter was about writing thank-you notes, and after a year of isolation, that sounded like a wonderful idea...

I quit Fox News after more than a decade as a contributor. So did my business partner and friend Steve Hayes. We explained our reasons on the Dispatch, a media company we founded. But the decision was a long time in coming. Like Ernest Hemingway's description of bankruptcy, it came gradually and then suddenly...

Do we not have HIPAA Laws in this country? Joe Biden doesn't think so. His mandate that employers require all employees to get vaccinated or he will punish them with fines is illegal if we still have laws to protect our privacy. The Biden administration ignores laws that interfere with their agenda. ...

Liberal media and Democrat leadership are promoting the idea that Rittenhouse was a vigilante, and therefore loses his right to protect his own life, and they want him guilty of murder. Call it the "he's-guilty-because-he-shouldn't-have-been-there argument."...

O Father God, thank you for good friends and the fellowship they provide. Amen.

The St. Avit family loved the holidays. Each year, the Christmas season was busy and profitable. Their popular mercantile/grocery store at the southeast corner of Spanish and Independence streets was fully stocked with beautiful porcelain, textiles and other goods, not only from their native France, but other European countries. ...

A ray of morning sunlight glanced off a tree limb and reached toward me as I held the camera at just the right angle. Autumn is a beautiful time to embrace the woods. The colors of the leaves can give a hint to what kind of autumn tree you might be looking at. ...

Monday: Cheeseburger or turkey bacon melt, Tater Tots, winger-blend veggies, whole-grain bun or bread and cinnamon applesauce or brownie. Tuesday: Beef and bean chili and half sandwich or cabbage roll, steamed broccoli, half baked potato, whole-grain crackers and mixed fruit dessert or chocolate cake with peanut butter icing...

This writer is generally loathe to comment on the experiences of celebrities who go public with their stories of faith. In the 15 years penning this column for the Southeast Missourian, my memory is only once has an entertainer's faith postulations made it into this space...

How was your day at work, today? Was it a good day in your estimation, or did it seem like the same old thing as yesterday? Did you sit and look at the clock, counting the hours until it was time to leave? Those are view-points most of us take, many times, whether we're taking about work or pleasure...

Have you ever done something only to realize you really made a dumb mistake? About right then, you are really wishing you could roll back time and do a "retake" or a "do-over, please." Man I have. Years ago, I went with Lewis Hamilton hunting at Mingo, which is a big swampy, state-owned area in Missouri. ...

The Cape Girardeau County History Center in Jackson will hold an indoor Nativity walk. It will be held 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday, except Dec. 4, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day through Dec. 31. It will be open from 4 to 8 p.m. on Dec. 5...

Members of Kage FCE met Nov. 18 for lunch at the Cape Girardeau Senior Center. Joybna Daume presided and also gave the devotional "have no fear." Members were reminded of the County FCE Christmas Party to be held Thursday at the University of Missouri Extension Office in Jackson. Registration will be at 9:30 a.m. with the meeting beginning at 10 a.m...

Cape Girardeau County Commission 9 a.m. today 1 Barton Square, Jackson Communications/reports -- other elected officials n COVID-19 Update: In an effort to keep Cape Girardeau County residents safe and aware regarding the status of the virus, Emergency Management Agency (EMA) director Mark Winkler will be issuing an update at County Commission meetings. ...

WASHINGTON -- The Biden administration on Friday recommended an overhaul of the nation's oil and gas leasing program to limit areas available areas for energy development and raise costs for oil and gas companies to drill on public land and water. The long-awaited report by the Interior Department stops short of recommending an end to oil and gas leasing on public lands, as many environmental groups have urged. ...

NEW YORK -- Stocks sank Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly falling more than 1,000 points, as a new coronavirus variant first detected in South Africa appeared to be spreading across the globe. Investors were uncertain whether the variant could potentially reverse months of progress at getting the COVID-19 pandemic under control...

Thanksgiving Day. The Salvation Army dining room is packed with the hungry and the helpful; most of the former are older people who don't want to spend the holiday alone, while others come with their families; many don't have the means or the energy to cook a holiday feast; the 150 volunteers serve more than 900 meals in the dining hall or delivered to people's homes...

Son to Sarah McConnell of Cape Girardeau, Southeast Hospital, 10:19 p.m. Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. Name, Hudson Jude. Weight, 7 pounds, 7 ounces. First child. McConnell is the daughter of Mac and Shari McConnell of Cape Girardeau and Deborah and Buck Schott of New Hamburg, Missouri...

CAPE GIRARDEAU Cape Girardeau Fire Department responded to the following calls. Nov. 23 n Medical assists were made at 9:17 a.m. on Talbott Drive; 9:32 a.m. on Wisteria Drive; 10:26 a.m. on Minute Men Way; 11 a.m. on Independence Street; 11:02 a.m. on Linden Street; 3:19 p.m. on South Henderson Avenue; and 10:25 p.m. on Bloomfield Street...

CAPE GIRARDEAU COUNTY The Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Office released the following items. Arrests to not imply guilt. Arrests n Misty D. Howard, 49, of Jackson was arrested on a Cape Girardeau warrant for failure to appear on multiple charges. n Sharon E. Smith, 36, of Cape Girardeau was arrested on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance...

PHOENIX -- Alice Roselee Wachter, beloved wife, mother, and friend passed away at age 84 on Nov. 4, 2021, in Phoenix. She had responded with dignity and courage to the personal sufferings caused by lymphoma and complications from a recent fall. Roselee was born in East Chicago, Indiana, to parents George and Palma Lee Newman. ...

Cecil Starkey, 87, of Whitewater died Friday, Nov. 26, 2021, at his home. Services are pending at this time Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau is in charge of arrangements.

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Audrey Sandlin, 98, of Perryville died Nov. 13, 2021 at Integrity of Columbia in Columbia, Illinois. The visitation and funeral will be held Dec. 3 at Ford and Young Funeral Home in Perryville. Visitation will be from 9 to 11 a.m., followed immediately by the funeral. Burial will follow in Home Cemetery in Perryville. The Rev. Gerold McBride and Pastor Benjamin Chapman will officiate...

Sigifredo "Sigi" Ramos III, 37, of Cape Girardeau died Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021, in Cape Girardeau. Arrangements are pending at this time. Burial will be at Cape County Memorial Park in Cape Girardeau. Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements...

Michelle Dawn Enke Perkins, 52, of Cary, North Carolina, formerly of Cape Girardeau died Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, at Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina. A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Friday at Ford and Sons Funeral Home, with the Rev. Rod Benkendorf officiating...

Patricia Pennington, 71, of Thebes, Illinois, died Thursday, Nov. 25, 2021. Funeral arrangements are pending at Ford and Sons Funeral Home.

Wanda Nell Minner, 90, of Benton, Missouri, died Thursday, Nov. 25, 2021, at The Arbors of Westrich Place in Sikeston, Missouri. Arrangements are incomplete at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Benton.

Drusilla L. "Dru" Laurentius, 60, of Jackson, passed away Thursday, Nov. 25, 2021, at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born April 3, 1961, in Cape Girardeau, to William and Wilma Petzoldt Stone. She and Gary Laurentius were married May 9, 1987, at New McKendree United Methodist Church in Jackson...

Kenneth Ray Hindman, son of the late Leo and Flora Hinkle Hindman, was born Oct. 10, 1928, in Greenbriar, Missouri, and departed this life Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau at the age of 93 years. On Nov. 28, 1968, he married Mary Camille Burnett. She preceded him in death on Feb. 1, 2008...

Glenn Haas, 85, died Friday, Nov. 26, 2021 at Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Funeral services are pending at this time. Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Robert "Bob" Edwin Dolle, 91, of Cape Girardeau passed away peacefully Sunday, Nov. 21, 2021, at Saint Francis Medical Center, with his family by his side. He was born Aug. 31, 1930, in Cape Girardeau to Luther and Flora Johnson Dolle and was a lifelong resident here...

Sue Ann Austin, 68, of Cape Girardeau passed away Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, at her home surrounded by her family. She was born June 10, 1953, in Topeka, Kansas, to the late Malcolm and Dorothy Nuss Brown. Sue Ann and Michael Austin were married Dec. 28, 1974...