Stories from Sunday, September 4, 2022

SIKESTON — For over 100 years, the former Smith House at the corner of Center and Stoddard has been a fixture of Sikeston. Soon the building, which is owned by St. Francis Xavier Church, will be standing no more. “In its day it was really something,” said Toni Grojean, director of religious education for St. Francis Xavier. “You can tell by looking at it that it was a neat home.”...

Doniphan was voted as one of the Missouri Humanities’ Small Town Showcase program’s 2023 “Featured Five”. MoHumanities’ Small Town Showcase strives to highlight the uniqueness of Missouri’s small towns, and to showcase the bigger picture of what Small Town America really is and why it should not be overlooked, overshadowed, or under appreciated...

The SEMO District Fair, a Southeast Missouri staple for nearly 170 years, returns Sept. 10 to 17 with entertainment headliner Blues Traveler performing Sept. 15. Darrell Aufdenberg, president of the fair association, said he and others who put on the fair are really excited about this year’s rendition. Aufdenberg, himself a farmer, said he’s looking forward to the youth livestock shows. There has been an increase in entries this year...

NEW MADRID, Mo. — New Madrid's city administrator has announced his resignation. Richard McGill, who has served as city administrator for the past seven years, announced on social media he is stepping down. McGill did not give a formal date for his departure and indicated he intends to remain with the city through the hiring process and the transition of his successor...

SIKESTON — U.S. Rep. Jason Smith kicked off his annual farm tour in Southeast Missouri last week, including a stop on Friday at an industrial hemp provider in Sikeston. Every year, Smith participates in a farm tour in each of his 30 counties to highlight the diverse types of farms, ranches and agricultural businesses in Missouri’s Eighth Congressional District...

On Sept. 11, Green Forest Church of Christ will begin the latest in the series of spiritual growth seminars begun in 2014. Minister Adam Noles has been with Green Forest since 2012 and remembers when they began. “Traditionally, we used to do a lot of evangelizing but we realized that we needed to work on us,” he said. “We needed to educate ourselves as Christians before getting out in the world.”...