The annual Christmas PARADE OF LIGHTS will be this Sunday starting at 5 p.m. at Capaha Park and continuing down Broadway to Main Street where it will disband in front of HUTSON FURNITURE'S Christmas windows which open this Thanksgiving morning. A lot of love, effort and money go into these windows ... a must stop for our grandchildren and children of all ages.

The parade will be preceded down Broadway by Cape Girardeau Road Runners. The group is sponsoring a one-mile run/walk for the Toybox charity. Entry fee is a new toy or $5. You can sign up for the race between 4 and 4:45 p.m. at the Broadway and West End Boulevard intersection.

The JACKSON JAYCEES are sponsoring the annual JACKSON CHRISTMAS PARADE on Dec. 5 at 1:30 p.m. To register, call the Chamber of Commerce at 243-8131.

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Over the weekend, we said goodbye to two fine citizens and good friends to Cape Girardeau. PEGGY SPRADLING was a great lady and an incomparable helpmate to her husband, Sen. Albert M. Spradling Jr. for all their 55 years of married life and especially during his 25 years representing us in the Missouri Senate, where he was such a dominant figure. Senator Spradling always gave credit to his wife for doing the work of raising their two boys, one is now serving as mayor of Cape Girardeau, while he was away in Jefferson City.

ED BRASINGTON also won many friends over the years he pastored FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. Ed was a gentle soul who loved his church and the life he led here, remaining active in the Cape Girardeau Rotary Club and, later on, among friends at Chateau Girardeau. Our sympathies to his widow, Rickie. We are grateful for having known and learned from such a fine southern gentleman.

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General-aviation piston (found on most single-engine airplanes) sales surged 85 percent during the first nine months of 1998 with Cessna's 172 and 182 leading the charge. As of September piston deliveries totaled 1,051 for 1998 versus 567 aircraft for a comparable period in 1997.

Why the increase? Because of lower cost allocations after the recent law change which limited (in general terms) airplane manufacturer liability to 15 years after construction.

Lawyers were winning million-dollar settlements on 40-year-old airplanes that had accidents because of pilot error. So ... the manufacturers either quit making smaller airplanes (larger corporate airplane sales continued to grow) or basically priced themselves out of the market.

We've had class-action law suits against tobacco, breast implants and, recently, guns and rifles. More people are killed in auto accidents. ... And can't we sue the gambling boats, lottery and bingo sponsors for mental stress? Alcohol makers for whatever? Any number of fast-food facilities for obesity? Schools for not educating your children? Dates for not being on the pill and becoming pregnant? Polluters for our allergies?

One of these days we're going to realize that we can't afford the protection and so-called good intentions of government.

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HAPPY THANKSGIVING to everyone. All of our family except for our son and his wife and two children in Osaka, Japan, will be in Cape Girardeau over the holiday. Wendy and I are looking forward to being with our five other children, three spouses and nine grandchildren. That's a houseful ... but that's the way it used to be all of the time.

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Note: We're redesigning and including more information on our newspapers Web page (semissourian.com) which can be picked up on the Internet ... even in Japan. It's a good way for children, friends, former residents and vacationers to keep up with the Cape news.

Also we're putting our classified ads on our regional network which covers all of Southeast Missouri, Northeast Arkansas and Western Tennessee. If you use the Internet ... take a look ... you'll bookmark us as a must visit.

Shortly we will be adding deaths and obituaries so out-of-town friends and vacationers will be able to extend sympathies.

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Ozark has landed another chance to spread its wings: Ozark Airlines, a Midwest carrier done in by larger rivals in 1986, may be on the verge of reappearing.

A Columbia, Mo., physician, who bought the rights to the name from St. Louis-based Trans World Airlines, plans for Ozark to resume flying next year by providing service between Columbia, Missouri's sixth-largest city, and Chicago. Later, Dr. William Stricker plans to add service to other Midwestern cities, including Kansas City.

While many harebrained airline start-up schemes have been hatched over the years, Stricker says he's serious about returning the Ozark name to the skies. He's even hired an experienced aviation industry executive to help. -- John Schmeltzer, Chicago Tribune

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Reform education: The government mandates that poor parents send their children to schools that fail them in every way. These institutions do not teach them how to read, write or compute. They do not teach them the love of learning or the joy of overcoming academic challenges.

I am not anti-public education. I am pro-child. I am in favor of the main factor that makes schools work: competition. Bad schools will always be bad unless someone threatens to put them out of business. Frederick Douglass said, "Some people know the importance of education because they have it. I know the importance of education because I didn't." We mustn't let our children remain enslaved to ignorance. -- U.S. Rep. J.C. Watts Jr. (R-Okla.)

~Gary Rust is president of Rust Communications, which owns the Southeast Missourian and other newspapers.