O Jesus, may the Word of God direct us so we may bring honor to you. Amen.
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Make America affordable againVeronique de RugyThe Republican National Committee just released its 2024 platform. While calling it a platform is a stretch, the list of bullet points gives an idea of what the potential next Trump administration’s goals are. Here’s one issue that should be front and center: End inflation and make America affordable again.
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An excellent SCOTUS decision on homelessness (7/13/24)Star ParkerHomelessness, unfortunately, has become a persistent and growing problem in the United States. The Supreme Court, in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, just dealt with one big issue associated with this problem — the ability of cities to prohibit camping on public property.
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The coup against Joe Biden (7/11/24)Rich LowryThe Democratic Party is divided. On the one side is the faction that wants to dump the presidential candidate chosen by more than 14 million Democratic primary voters. On the other side is the faction that wants to keep the presidential candidate who almost certainly will not serve out his four-year term, leading to the ascension of an unelected president and unelected vice president.
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What many don’t understand about Trump’s agenda (7/11/24)Jonah GoldbergDonald Trump isn’t normally thought of as a consensus-builder, but in one sense that’s exactly what he is. Many of Trump’s most ardent fans and foes alike believe he is the leader of a political movement with a clear and defined set of principles and goals. They disagree only on whether that agenda is good or bad.
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All options must be on the table to deliver tax relief (7/10/24)20Jason SmithRepublicans are already hard at work to once again deliver for working families and small businesses by building on the success of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act next year. The 2017 tax law is a blueprint for prosperity that should be made permanent, and all options are on the table to ensure the biggest winners continue to be low- and middle-income people.
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The power of ‘Possum Trot’ (7/9/24)Kathryn Lopez"The whole town. The whole town wants kids now!" The caseworker with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services was giddy with a mixture of elation and disbelief. A pastor and his wife were in her office explaining that 22 families were ready to foster some of the most difficult children in the surrounding area. The pastor emphasized the point: There are more couples than babies available to adopt.
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Why GOP must rethink its nominee (7/11/24)I demand that Republicans immediately replace former President Donald Trump as their nominee for president due to his astonishingly anti-American performance at the debate. President Joe Biden had a bad night. Former President Trump had a terrible night promoting his usual disgusting, darkness-in-America, twisted version of reality.
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The promise of school choice (7/9/24)Reflecting as a parent, I want to share my story so all parents can learn from my family’s experiences. My son is currently 18 and out of school. He is smart and loved school in his early years, but as he entered junior high, he wasn’t challenged. His love of learning deteriorated to the point where he refused to go to school.
In case you missed it
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Editorial: Behavioral health unit will continue its work under new ‘ownership’ (7/12/24)1Not every call for law enforcement help involves a law and order issue. Often — nearly five times per day from 2020 through 2022, according to Cape Girardeau Police Department statistics — the situation isn’t of a criminal or civil nature. It’s a behavioral health matter. Recognizing this and understanding that a police officer, while trained in multiple disciplines, doesn’t necessarily have a medical or counseling background, Cape’s police department implemented a Co-Responder Unit in 2020.
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Speak Out: Speak Out 7-10-24 (7/10/24)__No more Obama__ We do NOT need four more years of Obama! He set the stage for the shape our country is in now and he has been running things for years while Biden continues to mentally decline. Having Michelle Obama in office would be the death of this country! The only thing she did while Barry was in office was screw up the public school lunch system! That gives her a lot of experience running this great country and standing up to communist countries. If this is the best the Democratic Party has, they are in BIG trouble!
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Editorial: Consider answering a prayer by adopting (7/10/24)Possum Trot, Texas, is a little unincorporated community in Shelby County, Texas. It’s closer to Shreveport, Louisiana, than it is any of the Texas centers of Dallas, Houston or Austin. But the community is the subject of a movie focused on real events, “Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot”.
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Column: Don’t let calm seas in uncharted fiscal waters fool you (7/9/24)Veronique de RugyThe United States is full steam ahead into uncharted fiscal waters, with rapidly growing federal debt promising a choppy economic future. Candidates Joe Biden and Donald Trump have added trillions to the national debt during their recent presidential administrations, leaving America at a critical juncture that demands urgent, bipartisan action.
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Letter to the Editor: An American’s thoughts on July 4th (7/9/24)Pam LeightonThis July 4th, I am wondering what it means to be an American anymore. I used to believe it meant a shared sense of values, morals and a deep love of country combined with a commitment to democracy and freedom. A collective knowing of the difference between right and wrong.
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Editorial: Discover endless fun at Parks and Rec Day (7/8/24)Another summertime tradition is coming up this week with fun for the entire family: Parks and Rec Day. This year’s celebration, set for 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, July 10, at the Osage Centre in Cape Girardeau, promises to be a memorable occasion. ...
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Column: Jack Smith should go away (7/8/24)46Even the Democratic deus ex machina is having a bad stretch. No matter how favorable the presidential race has looked for Donald Trump, there’s always been the possibility that special counsel Jack Smith would get to trial with his Jan. 6 case before the election and, at the very least, dominate the news cycle for weeks and, in all likelihood, convict Trump in a case involving more serious matters than hush money to a porn star. ...
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Column: Guest commentary: Kathy Swan’s Spirit of America speech (7/6/24)Kathy SwanThe Spirit of America — what comes to mind? Do you immediately think of our nation’s founders? What was it that made them so successful? Determination, creativity, courage, grit? Most certainly.
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Column: Dems’ defense of Biden mirrors GOP rally of Trump (7/6/24)4Jonah GoldbergThe fallout from President Biden’s miserable debate last week is giving me deja vu. In the political right’s intramural arguments over Donald Trump, I got some things correct and some incorrect. But I believe I was indisputably right in one respect: From the outset, I argued that Trump’s presidency would end badly because, to echo Heraclitus, character is destiny.
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Editorial: Spirit of America Award winner — Kathy Swan (7/5/24)2Where to start? Service as an elected and/or appointed official — school board, city council, Cape College Center, state representative, state Coordinating Board for Higher Education and state Labor and Industrial Relations Commission. Volunteer for various organizations — Southeast Missouri Food Bank, Zonta Club Cape Girardeau, United Way of Southeast Missouri, American Cancer Society and American Heart Association...
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Column: Beware Gretchen Whitmer (7/3/24)Rich LowryIn 1960, the New York Yankees fired their legendary manager Casey Stengel for being too old. "I’ll never make the mistake of being 70 again," Stengel quipped. If Democrats dump Joe Biden, the president might want to say the same thing about being 81. The biggest loser of the debate, besides the president himself, was First Lady Jill Biden.
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Column: An unsurprisingly uninspiring debate (7/3/24)1Kathryn Lopez"I did not have sex with a porn star." Donald Trump’s statement in response to an arguably ad hominem attack from Joe Biden during their June 27 debate must have given more than a few of us flashbacks to Bill Clinton -- specifically, his "It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is" dance as he tried to linguistically sidestep allegations about Monica Lewinsky.
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Editorial: Congratulations, valedictorians (7/3/24)1For the past few weeks in the Weekend Good Times section, we have been highlighting the region’s high school valedictorians. We particularly enjoy this annual project for a few reasons.
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Column: Stop the Ukrainian meat grinder? (7/2/24)Victor Davis HansonNearly 11 months ago, in August 2023, the New York Times reported that U.S. officials had estimated that some 500,000 Russians and Ukrainians had been killed, wounded or missing in the then 18-month Ukrainian War. Both Russia and Ukraine underreport their losses. Hundreds of thousands of additional casualties have followed in the 28 months of fighting.
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Column: Turning dreams of growth into reality (7/2/24)2Avery FrankWhen you consider how Missouri has failed to keep up with states like Florida and Texas in economic and population growth, the reasons may seem obvious. We didn’t get the sandy beaches and warm weather that Florida and Texas got, not to mention Texas’s fossil fuel reserves. But that explanation isn’t good enough. It doesn’t account for another state that is leaving Missouri in the dust: Tennessee, the state I grew up in.
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Editorial: The significance of Independence Day and its timeless traditions (7/1/24)2Independence Day holds a special place in the hearts of Americans as it marks the birth of a nation founded on the principles of liberty and justice. On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed, setting the stage for the United States to emerge as a beacon of freedom. This day serves as a reminder of the struggles and sacrifices made by the founding fathers and early Americans to secure the freedoms we enjoy today. ...
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Speak Out: Speak Out 6-29-24 (6/29/24)__Lexington roundabout__ The roundabout on Lexington Avenue has been taken over by weeds and waste-high grass. The city needs to keep this under control. It’s an eyesore and safety hazard. Other local roundabouts are kept up with landscaping rocks and flowers, but this one is regularly ignored. Please address.
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Column: Tim Scott’s important message (6/29/24)2Star ParkerSouth Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott hosted an event in Washington, D.C., marking the Juneteenth holiday, which showcased why he has been included among the candidates Donald Trump is considering as his running mate. Juneteenth, now a national holiday, commemorates June 19, 1865, the date of the final implementation of the Emancipation Proclamation in the State of Texas. It’s considered the official end of slavery in the United States.
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Column: The triumph of ‘The Blues Brothers’ (6/29/24)Rich LowryBy the time the makers of the "The Blues Brothers" had finished filming the movie’s epic finale in Chicago’s Daley Plaza, they’d spent $3.5 million on that scene alone. According to Daniel de Vise in his enjoyable new book on the iconic 1980 comedy, it was reportedly the most that had then ever been spent filming a movie scene in a big city.
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Column: True test of leadership: Fiscal responsibility in the Presidential debate (6/28/24)Veronique de RugyDuring and after this week’s presidential debate, we must look beyond rhetoric and personality to the core issues shaping America’s future. The most pressing is the unsustainable growth of government spending and ballooning national debt, which promises to rob Americans of wealth and living standards in the coming decades. Make no mistake, it’s a genuine crisis demanding immediate attention. Dealing with it responsibly should be the litmus test for presidential leadership.
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Editorial: Become an organ donor — at any age (6/28/24)Orville Allen lived a life worth remembering. A retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve, he was a veteran of World War II and Korea. He was a pilot and an artillery communications officer. After the wars, he did what many veterans did — became a teacher — and also farmed. For nearly four decades, he taught vocational agriculture at Neelyville High School.
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Column: The debate that could sway undecided voters (6/27/24)11Jonah GoldbergI’ve changed my mind: This week’s presidential debate matters. Before I continue, a quick recap: Last month, I expressed my long-standing view that presidential debates aren’t very meaningful and are very stupid. They are pseudo-events, the historian Daniel J. Boorstin’s term for manufactured media spectacles that feel significant because we imbue them with significance.
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Column: How California’s paradise become our purgatory (6/26/24)4Victor Davis HansonCalifornia has become a test case of the suicide of the West. Never before has such a state, so rich in natural resources and endowed with such a bountiful human inheritance, self-destructed so rapidly. How and why did California so utterly consume its unmatched natural and ancestral inheritance and end up as a warning to Western civilization of what might be in store for anyone who followed its nihilism?
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Editorial: Be wary of false messages and their consequences (6/25/24)24Last week, a physicist-turned-elections “expert”, Douglas Frank, spoke at a regular meeting of a local group, Guardians of Liberty. About 80 people listened to his presentation. Offered as fact and opinion, Frank’s message was pretty simple — our elections systems are a sham, and we, the people, should seize power over them, by force if necessary...
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Column: Missouri state treasurer urges residents to claim their share of $1 billion in unclaimed property (6/25/24)By Vivek MalekDuring June and July, newspapers across Missouri are publishing tens of thousands of names of people for whom the State Treasurer’s Office is holding unclaimed property totaling more than $1 billion. This is not the state’s money – it is Missourians’ money, and I am committed to returning it to its rightful owner.
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Column: The true meaning of freedom (6/25/24)Kathryn LopezNow is the time of year that stores and companies move from displaying pride flags to draping everything in red, white and blue. Independence Day is about freedom. But what does that mean? A mature and educated understanding of freedom is not libertine. It is not about doing everything we want. It is not about hyper-individualism. We make choices about freedom every day, and we all need them to be rooted in civic duty and virtue.
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Editorial: Brian Jordan to keynote Semoball Awards (6/24/24)1A former St. Louis Cardinal outfielder and two-sport professional athlete will keynote this summer’s Semoball Awards. Brian Jordan, who played 15 years in Major League Baseball and three seasons in the National Football League, will serve as the keynote speaker for the red carpet awards show recognizing the top high school athletes in Southeast Missouri. The event, presented by Mercy, is set for Friday, July 12, at La Croix Church in Cape Girardeau. ...
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Column: Maddow and Behar want four more years — for Trump (6/24/24)4Who do the liberal ladies of “The View” think they’re kidding? Last week, Joy Behar and her ragged troop of pretend political pundits were again acting terrified by the specter of Donald Trump — aka, Adolf Hitler 2.0 — returning to power this fall. ...
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Column: SCOTUS takes on Congressional malaise and executive branch overreach (6/22/24)Veronique de RugyThe United States Constitution vests all legislative powers in Congress. Yet, over the past century, we’ve witnessed a disturbing trend of legislators increasingly delegating much of the authority to set the laws that govern the land to the executive branch, which includes unelected officials at administrative agencies. This undermines democratic accountability, contributes to government bloat and abuse of powers, and disrupts the balance of power crafted so carefully by the framers.
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Speak Out: Speak Out 6-22-24 (6/22/24)Capahas baseball I just noticed that the Capahas baseball team has shut down after 130 years. What a sad day for the locals. I played for Jess my last year after 13 years playing in the Bi-State League and that year the players we had would have beat up on anyone — and we did. ...
Prayer of the Day
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Red Flags When Working with a Business Broker
Be Advised by Jennifer Smith Broeckling (7/15/24)
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BBB's Safe Shopping Tips for Prime Day and Summer Sales
BBB Marketplace Survival Guide by Sydney Waters (7/10/24)
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Thad Stubbs calls it a career
From the Morgue by Sharon Sanders (7/9/24)
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JULY PRODUCTION ANGER MANAGEMENT OPENS THIS THURSDAY……..
River City Players Community Theatre blog by Debbie Barnhouse (7/8/24)
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BBB's Tips to Avoid Grandparent Scams
BBB Marketplace Survival Guide by Sydney Waters (7/3/24)
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The Doyle house succumbs to 'progress'
From the Morgue by Sharon Sanders (7/2/24)
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BBB's Tips For Pool Owners
BBB Marketplace Survival Guide by Sydney Waters (6/26/24)
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Mapping the recovery from the 1949 tornado
From the Morgue by Sharon Sanders (6/25/24)
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BBB's Tips for Older Adults and Caregivers
BBB Marketplace Survival Guide by Sydney Waters (6/19/24)
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Missourian survey demonstrates residents' indomitable spirit after 1949 tornado
From the Morgue by Sharon Sanders (6/18/24)2