This afternoon on seMissourian.com

Bond announces retirement

It's been a long run for Missouri's senior U.S. Sen. Kit Bond, who was first elected to office over 20 years ago.

But now the senior senator says he's ready to hang it up. Bond announced today before legislators in Jefferson City that he doesn't want to be Missouri's oldest senator in history.

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And in other GOP political news, we learned today that U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson will be the top Republican on a powerful house financial subcommittee.

Former car salesman charged with felony stealing

A Bertrand, Mo., man who used to work at a Cape Girardeau car dealership was charged today with felony stealing for allegedly scamming customers of the dealership, the Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney said today in a news release.

The alleged scams involved false claims to customers of Auffenburg Chrysler that the dealership was conducting a promotional special where they could pay several payments up front, the business would make the remaining payments.

The dealership, however, wasn't part of the scam, the prosecutor said.

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Cape Girardeau Macy's not among stores closing

After a rather disappointing holiday sales season, department store chain Macy's has announced it's going to close several stores across the country.

However, the Cape Girardeau store, located in the former Famous-Barr location in West Park Mall, isn't among the stores closing.

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Friday on seMissourian.com

Visit seMissourian.com Friday morning for more on Bond's retirement, an in-depth look at the county's chip-and-seal paving program, and whether the paving method is worth the money, as well as a look at the budget in Jackson, where revenue is at its worst in 16 years.