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A condiment crisis is threatening our country. From sea to briny sea, fast food restaurants are guarding their packet reserves. Ketchup. Salt. BBQ sauce. Sugar. These tiny flavor enhancers are being …
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By Robin Leach
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11/4/26
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As the old dude sits looking out at leaves falling from the River Tree as autumn segues toward winter, he’s gotta take a breath.
Getting old. There’s a mess to think about, for all of us. …
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By Jim Martin
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11/4/26
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Dear Editor,
Are the rumors true? Did Donald Trump ask the leader of China, Xi Jinping, to pull his finger?
National prosperity seems to be the goal of Donald Trump’s tariff riddled trade …
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To the Editor
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11/4/26
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Election Day is less than two weeks away, so naturally we’re talking about 2028.
More specifically, the question that’s been making the rounds in Missouri political circles for months: Will …
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By Jason Hancock
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10/28/26
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Kids of the 1960s looked forward to Halloween night with an excitement that made October seem magical. We whispered and giggled our costume ideas to our friends for weeks before the Big Night, trying …
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By Robin Leach
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10/28/26
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It’s judgment time.
Hold onto your shorts. SittinG here sippinG iced tea, reminiscing under the old River Tree, the old guy’s gotta admit he’s been around awhile.
Whatever his …
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By Jim Martin
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10/28/26
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Dear Editor,
Missouri voters are no dummies. They proved that back in August by overwhelmingly defeating Amendments 4 and 5.
Apparently we have to do it again here in November.
…
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To the Editor
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10/28/26
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Have you got the balls to vote blue? It’s the only way you’re going to get your old Republican Party back. Our Republican-led state legislature doesn’t respect your vote.
Our Republican …
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To the editor
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10/28/26
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It’s Sunday afternoon. All is right with the world. The air is cold and clear, the sky is dotted with fluffy clouds, and the birds are dining at the bird feeder.
But that’s MY world. …
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By Robin Leach
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10/21/26
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You know the codger loves to read.
Nothing better than sitting here in the “cool” (?) autumn breeze under the River Tree with a good Sandford or Grisham, or maybe even sci-fi, if you can …
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By Jim Martin
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10/21/26
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We’ve all done stupid things. We look back on them, shake our heads, and admit to ourself, “That was stupid.”
We simply stopped thinking and jumped in oblivious to the consequences. What I …
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To the editor
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10/15/26
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You know, this past spring, the old guy took it upon himself to undertake a little building — or should I say rebuilding — project down on our pond just a stone’s throw from the River Tree.
…
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By Jim Martin
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10/15/26
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Farmers across Southeast and South Central Missouri have been dealing with some of the most difficult economic circumstances in a generation in recent years, which is why President Trump and House …
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By Jason Smith
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10/15/26
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Children’s Church didn’t exist when I was young.
We sat in “big church”—first on our mothers’ laps and then on our own bottoms.
Learning how to behave in church was as much a …
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By Robin Leach
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10/15/26
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On Wednesday, October 7, 2026, at approximately 1:50 pm Perryville Police Department officers were detailed to the 1000 block of North Main St. in reference to a vehicle versus pedestrian traffic …
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For the Republic-Monitor
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10/15/26
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The old galoot, as the years have passed, is probably like a lot of us of a “certain” … harumph ... age — increasingly more aware of the passage of time. But in this case the clock is …
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By Jim Martin
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10/8/26
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Bedtime. I trudge to the kitchen, grab the container that holds my daily medications, and begin the ritual.
One by one, I jiggle capsules and tablets from iodine-brown translucent bottles. I …
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By Robin Leach
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10/8/26
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When the Declaration of Independence was signed 250 years ago, newspapers throughout the colonies shared the life-changing news with their readers.
With all of the enormous changes in this …
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By Benjy Hamm
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10/8/26
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There are rough months in politics.
And then there are months when you get summoned before the Missouri Supreme Court, found in contempt, sued repeatedly, accused by a former employee of …
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By Jason Hancock
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10/1/26
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A narcissist is a person with a rigid, unhealthy personality style marked by a grandiose sense of self-importance, a deep need for admiration, and also the lack of empathy for others.
Trump …
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To the Editor
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10/1/26
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It’s 9 a.m. I’ve finished Wordle, read the latest obits in the area, and scrolled through Facebook. The world outside my living room window is chugging along: cars whizzing here and there, people …
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By Robin Leach
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10/1/26
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The old guy was born in a little house on Old St. Mary’s Road a shade less than eight decades ago.
The road was graveled, dusty and rural. We had an outhouse, chickens, and — for a while — …
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By Jim Martin
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10/1/26
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Most likely, every living person who graduated from PHS and St. Vincent’s before 1960 gets a Social Security check each month and pays for part of their Medicare insurance, myself included. There …
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9/24/26
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Dear editor,
Amendment 3 is not about protecting trans kids from surgeries and medications. Missouri law already has provisions for this.
The real focus of Amendment 3 is to remove medical …
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9/24/26
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The old galoot in his burgeoning senility loves to pretend he can carry a tune.
He’ll get up in the morning and warble verses from CCR’s iconic “Lookin’ Out My Back Door”, or …
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By Jim Martin
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9/24/26
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