Perry County Republic-Monitor

Preschool children line up to go outside at the Ralph Hawley Head Start Center in Emeryville, Calif., in December. The Trump administration has proposed major changes to the Head Start program (Florence Middleton for CalMatters). The Trump administration appears poised to gut the central policies that shape Head Start, a popular and long-established early childhood education program that serves the country’s neediest children.

Rob Stone, pictured with his mother, Jeneva, has a rare genetic movement disorder, dystonia-parkinsonism, that limits his mobility and speech. He has advocated for the preservation of state-funded services that allow him to live in his community, rather than in an institution. Federal and state policy changes and budget cuts could make it harder for many people with disabilities to get home- and community-based care.

One Nation Overcharged, a national coalition working to raise awareness about health costs, invited people at the River Market Aug. 2 to take a free popsicle and answer the question, "What healthcare charges do you want to chill?" (Suzanne King/The Beacon).Kansas Citians who buy health insurance through hearthcare.gov can expect to pay much more for monthly premiums next year.

(Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight).Lawmakers must stop pretending this Farm Bill works. As Charles Givens once said, “Doing more of what doesn’t work won’t make it work any better.” The U.S. Senate has released its version of the Farm Bill and lawmakers are already calling it “a strong safety net” and “support for producers.” But out here in rural America, we can see plainly what Washington refuses to admit; this Farm Bill does not fix the problem. It doesn’t even try.

On Thursday, July 30, 2026, at approximately 1:22 a.m., the City of Perryville Fire Department responded to the 200 block of Hospital Lane in Perryville, Missouri, following a report of a fire alarm activation. While crews were enroute, dispatch advised that smoke had been observed coming from the structure, prompting the incident to be upgraded to a commercial structure fire response. The first arriving fire unit encountered heavy smoke coming from the front entrance of the building.

Sikeston — MFA Oil Company raised $100,000 for Feeding Missouri in June, helping support hunger-relief efforts for families across the state. Feeding Missouri is a coalition of Missouri’s six regional Feeding America food banks. Through a statewide network of more than 1,200 community and faith-based organizations, it delivers hunger relief to every county in Missouri and the city of St. Louis.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol responded to an accident on July 28th involving a motorcycle. A male, aged 17, was seriously injured after losing control of his 2022 Honda Navi. The bike crossed the center of the highway and went off the road, southbound on Missouri Highway E at approximately 10:20 p.m. The driver was airlifted to SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital.

CAPE GIRARDEAU – Pamela Slaven-Lee, DNP, APRN, FAANP, will lead Mercy’s Southeast Missouri Hospital College of Nursing and Health Sciences in Cape Girardeau as its new president, as selected by the college’s Board of Trustees. Dr. Slaven-Lee comes to Mercy from C3 Cares, a nurse-led community healthcare organization helping underserved communities in Washington, D.C., where she was chief operating officer.

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Mercy Hospital Perry has received the American Heart Association’s Get With the Guidelines - Stroke Rural Gold Plus achievement award, demonstrating a commitment to following up-to-date, research-based guidelines for the treatment of stroke. Stroke is the No. 4 cause of death in the United States, according to the American Heart Association’s 2026 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics Report.