History

This story is updated. Rob Lewis has long been curious about what President William Howard Taft said nearly 112 years ago when the 17-boat flotilla carrying the nation's 27th president and many other political dignitaries stopped at the Cape Girardeau waterfront early in the morning of Oct. 26, 1909...

Cape Girardeau County Sheriff John Jordan said aiming high and being persistent landed the county a record award of $1.5 million from the U.S. Marshal's Service to help expand the overcrowded county jail; "In April the county commissioners and I submitted an application for $1.8 million to help with the expansion of the jail," he said; "The commissioners and I were aware that most CAP (Cooperative Agreement Program) funds are from $400,000 to $500,000, but we thought, if we're going to be a bear, we might as well be a grizzly.". ...

STILLWATER, N.Y. -- Military veterans who carefully dug and sifted through clumps of dirt this month at a Revolutionary War battlefield in New York did more than uncover artifacts fired from muskets and cannons. The meticulous field work gave the veterans -- some dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder and physical injuries -- a familiar sense of camaraderie and mission...

Bishop John J. Leibrecht blessed the ground at the site of the new Notre Dame High School just west of Cape Girardeau yesterday and asked God for help in the second half of the local effort to raise the $5 million it will take to construct the school; volunteers have already collected contributions of more than $2.7 million in a little more than two months...

The ringing of cathedral bells announces the beginning of the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau; the event begins at 2:30 p.m. at St. Mary's Cathedral; around 300 people join together outside on the south side of the church to await the invitation of Bishop John J. ...

Apple Creek Presbyterian Church, a congregation that has not met regularly since 1939, held a 200th anniversary celebration Sunday a half-mile east of Pocahontas. Trudy Lee, vice president of university advancement at Southeast Missouri State University, is a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Cape Girardeau...

CHARLESTON, Mo. — Mississippi County Prosecuting Attorney Darren Cann died early Thursday at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston, Missouri. He was 56. A post Thursday on the Charleston Department of Public Safety official Facebook page said Cann died from complications associated with COVID-19...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Greer Chapel Church members have decided to rebuild; the question now is where, says Alice Henry, a longtime member of the church, which was destroyed in an arson fire Sept. 13; church members met last night to discuss the congregation's future; members of the Missionary Baptist congregation are trying to decide whether to stay on the site about two miles north of Sikeston on Highway ZZ or to find another site for the church...

COVID-19 has now killed about as many Americans as the 1918-19 Spanish flu pandemic did -- approximately 675,000. The U.S. population a century ago was just one-third of what it is today, meaning the flu cut a much bigger, more lethal swath through the country. But the COVID-19 crisis is by any measure a colossal tragedy in its own right, especially given the incredible advances in scientific knowledge since then and the failure to take maximum advantage of the vaccines available this time...

Jay Knudtson, chairman of the Cape Girardeau Park Board, and Dan Muser, parks and recreation director, like to talk about the newest Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation facilities to be available next year; the Osage Park Community Center, a 33,728-square-foot building, is expected to be ready by the first of the year, and the new Shawnee Park Softball Complex and Concession Building will be ready for the 1997 spring season; the combined projects cost $5.3 million...

When Bill Clinton and Bob Dole square off in presidential debate, Cape Girardeau's opinion of their performances will count; Cape Girardeau is among 18 national research sites participating in Debate Watch '96, a project of the Commission on Presidential Debates; Jay Goff and Tom Harte, both of Cape Girardeau, are state coordinators for Debate Watch '96 and will help collect personal opinions of the debates...

Missouri Highway and Transportation Department district engineer Scott A. Meyer told a gathering of Scott City Chamber of Commerce members last night that once riverboat gambling comes to Scott City, the department will start building roads; many at the meeting expressed some skepticism that Meyer would be able to meet his promise of speedy road improvements to coincide with a gambling boat...

Two centuries ago, a little band of Scotch-Irish pioneers of the Presbyterian faith came from North Carolina, through the Cumberland Gap, and crossed the Mississippi River at Moccasin Spring aboard Mr. Green's ferry. They established the Apple Creek Presbyterian Church in a shady grove, just a half-mile east of Pocahontas to launch their mission...

Dr. Dale Nitzschke can think of no better birthday present; the Southeast Missouri State University president celebrated his 59th birthday yesterday with the dedication of the school's new business building; it was a birthday celebration too for Dr. Kala Stroup, Missouri's commissioner of education and former Southeast president, who observes her birthday today; around 500 people attended the dedication of Robert A. Dempster Hall...

Motorists and pedestrians in downtown Cape Girardeau are noticing an upgrade underway on the steps leading from North Spanish Street to the mid-19th century-built former Common Pleas Courthouse -- the latter of which is now part of the new City Hall complex due for completion Dec. 1...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- The community is already promising to help rebuild a historic Black church destroyed by fire early Friday morning; the fire that destroyed Greer Chapel Church has been ruled "incendiary in nature" by the state fire marshal's office...

COLUMBIA, Mo.-- Two lawyers are demanding the removal of two courthouse murals in Columbia showing a white man pointing a gun at a Native American man, shirtless Black men chained by their ankles, and white men being hanged and whipped. Gary Oxenhandler and Rusty Antel say the artwork in the Boone County Courthouse, which was painted by Sidney Larson in 1994, has been "personally and professionally upsetting," The Columbia Missourian reported Tuesday...

The Rev. Paul J. Short is installed as pastor of St. Andrew Lutheran Church; the service is followed by a reception in the fellowship hall; Short, a native of Katy, Texas, has served churches in Texas, Kentucky and British Columbia. The Rev. Brendan P. Dempsey is installed as pastor of First Presbyterian Church; leading the service is Emily Wigger, moderator of Giddings-Lovejoy Presbytery, and the Rev. Robert C. Reynolds, executive presbyter; a reception follows in the church's fellowship hall...

O'FALLON, Mo. -- A Missouri cave containing Native American artwork from more than 1,000 years ago was sold at auction Tuesday, disappointing leaders of the Osage Nation who hoped to buy the land to "protect and preserve our most sacred site." A bidder agreed to pay $2.2 million to private owners for what's known as "Picture Cave," along with the 43 hilly acres surrounding it near the town of Warrenton, about 60 miles west of St. Louis...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Missouri State Museum employees tried to defend an LGBTQ history exhibit to state officials before it was removed from the state Capitol after being displayed only four days, according to emails between museum and state officials...

NEW YORK — Comedian Norm Macdonald, a former "Saturday Night Live" writer and performer who was "Weekend Update" host when Bill Clinton and O.J. Simpson provided comic fodder during the 1990s, has died. Macdonald, who was 61, died Tuesday after having cancer for nine years, but keeping it private, according to Brillstein Entertainment Partners, his management firm in Los Angeles...

Walter Phillips was barely a year old when his parents took him to see the livestock and exhibits at Fairgrounds, now Capaha, Park; since his first visit, Phillips hasn't missed an attraction at the SEMO District Fair, except when there wasn't one; the fair was canceled for about 10 years during the Great Depression and World War II...

Police attribute at least eight burglaries in Cape Girardeau over the past four months to a man who has been targeting elderly people; in each burglary, the man has broken into homes late at night while residents were asleep and demanded money from them; the most recent first-degree burglary and robbery occurred Thursday at about 1 a.m. ...

Fire of undetermined origin heavily damaged the former Polar Therm plant near Frederick and Independence streets late yesterday; firefighters responded to an alarm at 5:36 p.m. and battled intense, stabbing flames for over an hour and a half; despite poor water pressure, the fire was brought under control...

An advertisement in the Cape Girardeau Western Eagle newspaper in August 1850 includes the following, "FASHIONABLE DANCING AND WALTZING ACADEMY, Mr. Frederick E. Bruns announces that he has opened a Dancing School in the Ball Room in the Tavern of Mr. Penny ... will teach a variety of dances. Apply to Mr. W. Penny."...

Street corners in Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Scott City are flooded with activity in the morning as more than 100 YELL volunteers, dressed in aprons and waving flags, hawk newspapers to passers-by; special editions of the Southeast Missourian are sold as part of the Youth Education Literacy and Learning project, in its sixth year...

Along with a pet parade in front of the grandstand yesterday, the SEMO District Fair staged a horse show with about 400 animals in 19 classes competing for honors; today's entertainment before the grandstand will be a demolition derby. NASA astronaut and Southeast Missouri State University alumna Linda Godwin will speak at the school's Sept. ...

The building formerly housing the Broadway Theatre in downtown Cape Girardeau has been officially donated to a not-for-profit aiming to restore it. Suzanne Hightower said paperwork was finalized Sept. 1. Hightower heads Cape Broadway Theatre, a not-for-profit with a mission to renovate the Broadway Theatre...

The Rev. Bradford M. Robinson was installed last night as pastor of First Pentecostal Church in Cape Girardeau; speaker at the special service was the Rev. W.C. Parkey, pastor of Cornerstone Tabernacle in Poplar Bluff, Missouri; also in attendance was the Rev. Doyle Randol, presbyter of Missouri District United Pentecostal Church; the Rev. Gourley, retiring pastor, has been named pastor emeritus...

RICHMOND, Va. -- A towering statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond is expected to be taken down today as a symbol of racial injustice, more than 130 years after it was erected in tribute to the South's Civil War leader. While many other Confederate symbols across the South have been removed without public announcements beforehand to avoid unruly crowds, Gov. Ralph Northam's office is expecting a multitude and plans to livestream the event on social media...

Gov. Mel Carnahan announced yesterday that Cape Girardeau will receive an added $738,585 in federal and state money to expand the flood buyout program; this will give residents living in the Meadowbrook Drive neighborhood an opportunity to sell their homes and relocate to higher ground...

After 34 years at the helm, Professor John S. Cobb relinquished principalship of his beloved Lincoln School to Professor Oliver Odell "O.O." Nance. As successor, Nance likely felt the pressure of oversight (Cobb stayed on as a grade teacher for four additional years), but saw the open door of opportunity at the region's model Cape Girardeau school...

Construction of Cape Girardeau's new Mississippi River bridge is slated to start today, but the initial work won't make a big splash; a coffer dam will be built, which will allow work to proceed on construction of the first of two bridge piers; "It is going to look like it is slow moving because it is down in the hole," says Matt Girard, project manager for the contractor, Flatiron Structures Co. of Longmont, Colorado...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A Democrat state senator has demanded an explanation after an exhibit on the gay rights movement in Kansas City was removed from the state Capitol following Republican complaints. Kansas City Sen. Greg Razer, the only openly gay member of the Missouri Senate, said Thursday he was "appalled" when he was told the exhibit, "Making History: Kansas City and the Rise of Gay Rights," had been removed from the Missouri State Museum at the Capitol...

Volunteers collect $314,121 from people in the Cape Girardeau and Marion, Illinois, areas as part of the annual Labor Day Muscular Dystrophy Association Telethon; nationally, Jerry Lewis' telethon raises a record $49.1 million in pledges and contributions for the battle against neuromuscular diseases...

ALTENBURG, Mo. -- Lutheran Hour speaker Dr. Dale Meyer preaches at the outdoor mission festival of Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg at the fairgrounds; Pastor Willard Kassulke says the church has tried to get Meyer as speaker for five years and had to book him two years in advance...

In five days, members of SEMO Lifesavers, a chapter of Missouri Right to Life, arranged for two national speakers, 4,400 white, wooden crosses, and more than 2,500 persons for a prayer vigil prior to President Clinton's arrival yesterday; speaking at the anti-abortion rally at the Cemetery of Innocents on Siemers Drive near Interstate 55 were Phyllis Schlafly of St. Louis, president of Eagle Forum, and Penny Lea of Boone, North Carolina, director of "I Believe in Life."...

Liz Lockhart was a journalism teacher at Cape Girardeau Central High School when President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore came via bus to Capaha Park on Aug. 31, 1996. The two men had come to Cape Girardeau with their wives as they campaigned jointly for a second term in the White House...

A shirt-sleeved President Bill Clinton tells a cheering, sign-waving crowd estimated at up to 30,000 people at Capaha Park that he wants to be re-elected to "build a bridge to the 21sth century"; the campaign rally marks the first time in the city's history that a sitting president and vice president -- Al Gore -- visit Cape Girardeau at the same time; Clinton and Gore are accompanied by their wives, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and Tipper Gore, and the Clintons' daughter, Chelsea, although the latter doesn't appear on stage.. ...

LOS ANGELES -- Ed Asner, the burly and prolific character actor who became a star in middle age as the gruff but lovable newsman Lou Grant, first in the hit comedy "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and later in the drama "Lou Grant," died Sunday. He was 91...

One of 34 operational North American B-25J Mitchell planes called "Maid in the Shade" will be heard in the region as it provides flight tours out of the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport this weekend. Bob Gates, flight crew chief, said the World War II-era aircraft tend to be heard before seen...

Preparation is the key to enjoying the events surrounding President Bill Clinton's speech at Capaha Park Friday; prepare for hot weather, but don't bring a cooler; bring sunscreen, water and a sack lunch; and above all else, be prepared to walk -- parking won't be allowed within close proximity to the park...

Delta in southern Cape Girardeau County has a fascinating history, beginning long before its incorporation. Settlers first came to the swampy land in the 1880s. Some were loggers, others fur trappers and hunters. The logging industry and railroads gave Delta its start, according to the Southeast Missourian archives. By 1887, three railroad companies -- Cotton Belt, Iron Mountain and Houck Railroad -- went through the depot at Delta...

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Despite Richard Kline's Republican primary win, his party will back Jo Ann Emerson for the 8th District congressional seat; members of the 8th Congressional District Republican committee met here last night; with a vote of 41-0, they nominated Emerson as their candidate in the upcoming special election...

In the many articles written since the fall of Afghanistan to Taliban forces earlier this month, attempts have been made to link the events in the Afghan capital of Kabul to the fall of Saigon in the former South Vietnam in April 1975. The images of thousands of Afghans fleeing Taliban rule flooding the tarmac of Kabul's airport recalled the military helicopters evacuating staff from the U.S. Embassy in Saigon 46 years ago...

Free tickets are being distributed at various outlets in 25 counties of Southeast Missouri for President Bill Clinton's campaign rally in Cape Girardeau; Clinton, Vice President Al Gore and their wives will attend a rally at Capaha Park Friday afternoon before the campaign hits the road with a bus tour to Memphis, Tennessee...

A 240-acre industrial site in Nash Road Industrial Park is listed for sale in New America Network's National Sealed Bid Event, a list of 48 properties in 20 states; the property described in the 58-page publication is leased for farming purposes that generate $16,500 a year; however, the lease may be canceled by either party with a 60-day notice; the site, between Nash Road and the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, is a half-mile from Interstate 55 and potentially can be subdivided into three 80-acre parcels.. ...

After 38 years in the ministry -- 32 of them at St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Cape Girardeau, the Rev. Louis Launhardt is retiring; beginning Sept. 15, he will be coordinator of chaplaincy at Missouri Veterans Home; Launhardt delivers his final sermon as pastor of St. Andrew in the morning...

LONDON —Charlie Watts, the self-effacing and unshakeable Rolling Stones drummer who helped anchor one of rock's greatest rhythm sections and used his "day job" to support his enduring love of jazz, has died, according to his publicist. He was 80. Bernard Doherty said Tuesday that Watts "passed away peacefully in a London hospital earlier today surrounded by his family."...