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Newsmakers 2016: Laura Simon (8/15/16)As photo editor at the Southeast Missourian newspaper, Laura Simon, 34, is quite literally a newsmaker. Simon, who began working at the Southeast Missourian more than six years ago, started out as a freelance photographer and worked her way up to the full-time position of photo editor. She oversees two other photographers and works closely with the news and feature teams to coordinate photo coverage ranging from breaking news and centerpieces to magazine covers and fashion shoots...
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Newsmakers 2016: Mary Jo Bammel (8/15/16)Mary Jo Bammel and her husband, David, moved to Perryville, Missouri, three years ago and saw a need for a comic book store and a good coffee shop in the community. "I'm from De Soto, Missouri, and my husband is from Michigan," says Mary Jo Bammel. "I was transferred down here to manage a gas station three years ago."...
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Newsmakers 2016: Aaron Horrell (8/15/16)Aaron Horrell, age 64, has been an artist for nearly his entire life. "I started painting in high school and actually gave away the first painting I did in 1970," he says. He continued to paint and create art even after a stint in the Navy Seabees. "I was in the construction battalion," he says...
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Newsmakers 2016: Kim Voelker (8/15/16)Kim Voelker has worked at the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce for three and a half years, and in that time, one of her most enjoyable projects has been launching a network especially for women. "It was something we always knew we wanted to do, and to see it come to fruition and be successful right out of the gate is very exciting," she says...
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Newsmakers 2016: Anna Galeski (8/15/16)Anna Galeski, senior planning analyst at SoutheastHEALTH, has worked for the hospital system a little more than five years. In that time, she's been able to put her Type-A, detail-oriented personality at the forefront of her daily endeavors, and is proud that she began her job right after earning her master's degree in business administration from Southeast Missouri State University. Her undergraduate degree is in marketing...
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Newsmakers 2016: Brian Gerau (8/15/16)This isn't Brian Gerau's first time as a Newsmaker. In 2009, he was honored as one of Business Today's "40 Under 40." Now a bit older, a bit wiser, but just as meticulously dressed, Gerau continues to make a name for himself by helping make a name for others as director of the Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce...
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Newsmakers 2016: Jason Bandermann (8/15/16)Jason Bandermann has accomplished much in his 36 years, but especially since he has worked for the Saint Francis Healthcare System. Bandermann, who signed on there in 2007, has served in a variety of roles, with the most recent being director of ambulatory services and administrator of the Physicians Alliance Surgery Center...
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Newsmakers 2016: Stan Polivick (8/15/16)Stan Polivick's work isn't always visible, but it is evident. When heavy rains flood the Mississippi River and threaten to overpower the city's sewer system, Polivick's efforts keep the potentially detrimental storms at bay. Polivick knows storms. He worked in Slidell, Louisiana, and saw the city through Hurricane Katrina. ...
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Newsmakers 2016: Liz Glastetter (8/15/16)For Liz Glastetter, an exciting part of her job is getting to be involved in the most monumental time most families will share. Glastetter, lead service line director for maternal/child services in the Saint Francis Healthcare System, began the position in December and says she couldn't be happier about it...
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Newsmakers 2016: Jennifer Icaza-Gast (8/15/16)Jennifer Icaza-Gast's go-to motto is, "If you're not giving, you're not living." More than a decade ago, Icaza-Gast began to cry as she watched her children eagerly open their presents on Christmas morning. "I started crying at the thought of other little kids going into their living room at that very moment and finding nothing under the tree," she says...
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Newsmakers 2016: Robert Smith (8/15/16)There are few people with a heart bigger than Robert Smith, who at 66 is still a practicing attorney in his own law firm in Poplar Bluff, Missouri. Smith takes many pro bono cases and works heavily with family and juvenile law cases involving methamphetamine-addicted individuals, especially those who are parents of children...
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Newsmakers 2016: Shelly Kaiser (8/15/16)When thinking of a community volunteer, many would think of someone like Shelly Kaiser. Kaiser, who is married to Jason Kaiser and has two daughters, is an assistant vice president/mortgage loan officer at First Midwest Bank in Jackson. She volunteers for a host of not-for-profit groups, including Project Charlie, the Cape Girardeau and Jackson chambers of commerce, Jackson Noon Optimist Club, Levi's Children's Charity, Nolan Weber Foundation -- Believing Beyond, United Way of Southeast Missouri, March of Dimes and the American Cancer Society.. ...
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Newsmakers 2016: Sarah Hickey (8/15/16)Audiologist Dr. Sarah Hickey found professional success by listening. She listened to her grandfather, who struggled with hearing aids and his own hearing loss, and she wanted to help him. In college, when Hickey found herself frustrated with her original field of study, speech pathology, she listened to her adviser, who suggested she turn to audiology. The new area of focus put her down her current career path and allowed her to understand the issues affecting her grandfather...
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Newsmakers 2016: Penny Williams (8/15/16)When it comes to Penny Williams and the Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department, you can't have one without the other. Originally born and raised in Perryville, Missouri, Williams attended Southeast Missouri State University and earned a degree in recreation...
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Newsmakers 2016: Tyler Brune (8/15/16)Farming and the business of farming are in Tyler Brune's blood. His father and grandfather were both farmers. The year Brune was born, his family started Brune Custom Feeds. At 15, Brune took out his first loan, made through the Farm Service Agency, to purchase 30 head of cattle. Three years ago, he started renting out his first storage unit...
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Newsmakers 2016: Victoria Moon (8/15/16)Victoria Moon doesn't let being a busy wife and mother of four young children stop her from volunteering. She was co-chair of the gala committee for the American Cancer Society in 2013 and 2014, and she is co-chair for this year's event as well. The gala is one of the biggest local fundraisers for the American Cancer Society, and Moon spends countless hours helping to make the event a success...