The Gazette-Democrat

Trick or treat? Snow and cold temperatures were turning old Jack into a grump last Saturday morning...the photographer can attest to that...

Old Man Winter shows up on Snovember 12...

I’m pretty sure Mr. Jack O’Lantern was cackling in the cold last Saturday morning...

The inspiration for this week’s column came from an email featuring this image. Gotta love those emails...

'Hope something good happens to you today...'

The brain waves seemed to have pretty much stopped functioning smoothly Monday night when this little gem was crafted.

Tower Rock on the Mississippi River at Grand Tower. Leo Driscoll photograph from National Weather Service office in Paducah website.

Very low to record low river stages reported in region

Driven by months of drought and periods of extreme heat during the summer and fall months in 2022, very low to record low river stages have developed along the Lower Ohio and Mississippi rivers in the region, the National Weather Service office in

Lots of folks were taking the opportunity to visit Tower Rock in the Mississippi River last Saturday afternoon.

Sometimes...life is just a walk on the beach...

Last Saturday afternoon was a nice time to go for a walk on the beach... ...so that’s what we did.

A very bright Hunter’s Moon was lighting the night sky last Sunday over your writer’s hometown. The moon was bright enough to cast shadows.

It was a dark and stormy night...

It was a dark and stormy night... ...except that it wasn’t. Which made last Sunday night’s power outage in our hometown a bit baffling.

An armadillo did not seem to be worried at all about the photographer’s presence last Saturday afternoon.

Cruisin' on the river...an armadillo...and other stuff...

Trying to find some sort of a connection in a story involving a former president, a $13,000 cruise on the Mississippi River, a book sale and armadillo might seem a little bit shaky at best. Oh, well. Here we go...

Church offers dinner for Thanksgiving

A Union County church is planning to offer a Thanksgiving dinner for members of the community. The free dinner will be served by the First Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Anna. Those who would like a dinner are asked to call 833-5225 to make a reservation by noon on Monday, Nov. 21. Meals are...

Dongola Thanksgiving service set

An annual Dongola area community Thanksgiving worship service is planned Sunday evening Nov. 20. The service is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. All are welcome. This year’s host for the service is First Lutheran Church of Dongola. The Rev. Che’re Riedel is pastor of the church, which is located at 108...

Shawnee to have girls’ basketball this season

The girls’ basketball team at Shawnee High School in Wolf Lake will be short on numbers this season. “We will be an inexperienced team this year,” Shawnee head coach T.C. Schaefer said. “We only have six girls.” Shawnee did not have a team last season because not enough players came out. Junior...

One starter returns for Cobden boys’ basketball

The Cobden High School boys’ basketball team returns one starter from last year’s 22-9 squad. “We will be inexperienced, but we’ve got good numbers,” first-year head coach Karl Sweitzer said. “It’s hard to tell a lot now, but our practices have been competitive.” The lone returning starter is 6-6...

A-J girls working hard to prepare for new season

First-year Anna-Jonesboro Community High School girls’ basketball head coach Rob Shepard likes the work ethic his team has shown as it prepares for the upcoming season. “We’re going to be a young team, but this is the hardest working group I’ve ever coached,” Shepard said. “They’re working hard and...

Southern 7 Health Department encourages blood lead screening

Southern 7 Health Department is working to promote awareness about blood lead screening. The buildup of lead in the body is known as lead poisoning. Of the 1 million children aged 6 years and younger in Illinois, approximately 100,000 have blood levels that are too high, the health department...

60 percent turnout in general election

Sixty percent of eligible voters in Union County cast their ballots in last week’s 2022 general election. The election was Tuesday, Nov. 8. Unofficial results tallied at the Union County clerk’s office in Jonesboro showed that 7,083 ballots were cast in the general election. Records showed 11,889...

New budget on agenda for county board meetings

A new budget is on the agenda for a regular meeting of the Union County Board of Commissioners which is planned Thursday, today. The meeting is set for 8:30 a.m. at the Union County Courthouse in Jonesboro. The agenda for the meeting includes a review for posting of a combined annual budget and...

Stories about veterans sought for display at Illinois Capitol

To help pay tribute to veterans and to honor their legacies and sacrifices, State Sen. Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro, invites constituents to submit a photo and story about their loved one who served the nation so it can be displayed in the rotunda of the Illinois Capitol from Nov. 10 through Nov. 28...

‘Hansel and Gretel Revisited’ musical set at Anna Arts Center

The Shawnee Hills Arts Council’s Anna Arts Center is planning to present the musical “Hansel and Gretel Revisited.” The arts council shares that “Hansel and Gretel Revisited,” written by Macky Cohen, “has a wicked twist that you do not want to miss. Do Hansel and Gretel survive their meeting with...

Obituaries

Vern F. Henson II

Vern F. Henson II, 71, died Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022, at 2:18 p.m. at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. He was born on May 2, 1951, in Anna, the son of Vern Francis and Ruth McCluskey Henson in Anna. He married Barbara Dare on Jan. 26, 1970. He retired from TVA in 2005. He loved...

Charles Larry Keller

Charles Larry Keller, 74, of Dongola, died Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. He was born on Sept. 23, 1948, in Anna, the son of Charles Jefferson and Mazel Beatrice Youngblood Keller. He married Linda Hartline Keller on Oct. 20, 1967. He was a 1967...

Fawn Pete Follis

Fawn Pete Follis, 85, of Ware, went home to be with the Lord on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022, peacefully surrounded by his family. He was born on Dec. 12, 1936, in Ware, the son of Coastal Lincoln and Lucile Marie Morneweg Follis. He married Carolyn Wilson of June 20, 1959, in Harrisburg. He is...

Alvira June Pender

Alvira June Pender of Indianapolis, Ind., died on Nov. 20, 2022. She was 86 years old. June was born in Oran, Missouri to her parents Clarence and Lilly Holderfield. She attended high school in Illinois. June met her husband George and together they shared 62 years of marriage. She worked as a...

Jerald ‘Jerry’ Hoffman

Jerald “Jerry” Hoffman, 41, of Carbondale, and formerly of Anna, died Monday, Nov. 7, 2022, at Memorial Hospital of Carbondale. He was born on Jan. 24, 1981, in Cape Girardeau, the son of Bryon and Jackie Scivally Hoffman. He was a cook at the Good Samaritan Homeless Shelter in Carbondale. He was...