History

For 80 years, the Baptist Student Center on Southeast Missouri State University’s campus in Cape Girardeau has aimed to reach out to the community through education and fellowship. Tonight, it will celebrate that legacy with an event at The Courtyard by Mariott. The Rev. Bruce Gentry said he’s only the fourth director in the center’s 80-year history...

A Cape Girardeau County sheriff's deputy escaped serious injury yesterday when a tree limb fell on his police cruiser as he drove in the 900 block of Broadway; deputy Mike Englemann suffered face and hand lacerations after the limb broke from a tree near First Baptist Church; the limb shattered the windshield and driver's side window and dented the hood, roof and back of the car...

Firefighters from around the area battled a three-alarm fire Saturday night that started at Lanter Co., 226 Linda St. in Cape Girardeau; the fire spread to Plaza Tire and burned until Sunday morning; about 10,000 square feet of the 40,000-square-foot complex was destroyed in the blaze; Cape Girardeau firefighter Randol Morris suffered a compound fracture in his upper leg and a fractured hip Saturday night when a burning wall collapsed on him...

Stac Underwood of Cape Girardeau, who recently signed a country music contract on the 21st Century label in Nashville, Tennessee, is the featured guest at a gospel concert at First General Baptist Church in the evening; she has two songs that recently have been on the country music charts...

Hours of hard work were spent unloading the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority's new locomotive Thursday; the General Motors locomotive, formerly Army property, was built in 1951 and overhauled in 1979; Dan Overbey, executive director of the port authority, oversaw its transportation from Fort Carson, Colorado, to Texas...

Nearly 500 people gathered to honor military veterans and the Stars and Stripes National Museum in Bloomfield, Missouri, at the inaugural Spirit of Democracy celebration Saturday at the Arena Building in Cape Girardeau. Proceeds from the event will benefit the museum, which is devoted to preserving the history of the Stars and Stripes military newspaper...

CAIRO, Ill. -- A teachers' strike in Cairo public schools enters its second day; 73 teachers in the district's four schools are on strike, wanting a 7% pay increase; the action forces the cancellation of classes for 1,048 students. Cape Girardeau's Convention and Visitors Bureau plans to cash in on the fame of native son Rush Limbaugh III; beginning early next year, excursion buses will travel by some of the locations of Limbaugh's youth; tourists will pass by Southeast Hospital where Limbaugh was born, his boyhood house at 412 Sunset, the local barbershop on Broadway near Houck Stadium where he shined shoes, and radio station KGMO, where the conservative broadcaster and author got his start.. ...

The approach to a new Mississippi River bridge, from Interstate 55 to Sprigg Street in Cape Girardeau, will be finished in 1997, officials with the Missouri Highways and Transportation Department say; Joe Mickens, chief engineer with the department, spoke last night at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce Highway Dinner; he said, "Work is underway on the Missouri side of the river, and Illinois officials have allotted funds for core drilling on their side of the river."...

Don Louis Lorimier, as the representative of Spain, and later France, typically granted land to new settlers in the Cape Girardeau District based on age, gender and slave status in the individual household. An important exception to that rule involved a military action in 1802 to 1803...

Max Stovall, who lost a race for 2nd District associate county commissioner last week by a narrow margin, has asked Cape Girardeau County Clerk Rodney Miller for a recount; Stovall lost to Republican Joe Gambill by 39 votes. School administrators are imposing a more restrictive dress code at Cape Girardeau Central High School in an effort to discourage gang and gang-like attire; the dress code will take effect once the students are notified, possibly as early as tomorrow...

The ties that link the Cape Girardeau city hall project and the county's justice center project are rooted in Jackson contractor Phil Penzel's German heritage. Penzel's firm is building the new courthouse in Jackson and his design-build team was recently hired to transform the Common Pleas Courthouse and Annex into a new city hall...

A design-build team plans to preserve the beauty of the historic Common Pleas Courthouse and Annex and construct an addition that will blend in with the existing architecture. Contractor Phil Penzel's design-build team was recently chosen by the Cape Girardeau City Council for the $12 million project to repurpose the old buildings as a new city hall...

Greg Chenoweth was picked from a list of 160 applicants as Cape Girardeau's new airport manager; he comes here from Hutchinson, Kansas, where he was in charge of the airport since 1986. John Jordan took the oath of office Monday, becoming sheriff of Cape Girardeau County; Jordan, who had worked as a lieutenant in charge of investigations during he administration of former sheriff Norman Copeland, will serve the remainder of Copeland's term, which expires Dec. 31, 1996...

Twelve tenants at 137 S. Spanish St. escaped injury yesterday morning when a fire gutted their six-unit apartment building; firefighters were on the scene for more than three hours battling the blaze. ORAN, Mo. -- Walt Madigan, a former member of the Oran Board of Aldermen, is seeking a state audit to find $11,893 reported missing in the most recent city audit; the audit for the fiscal year ending March 31 shows a cash shortage...

CAIRO, Ill. -- The Rev. Ellsworth B. Stone celebrates Mass for the last time as rector emeritus of the Church of the Redeemer in Cairo; immediately following the 10 a.m. Mass, a social gathering is held in Stone's honor at Cairo Elks Lodge; Stone, who is blind, will reside in a retirement center in Cape Girardeau...

Doris Ford, a teacher at Clippard Elementary School, completed her reign as president of the Missouri State Teachers Association earlier this month, having helped increase the group's membership 6.5%; other accomplishments she lists during her tenure are helping lead an aggressive campaign against Amendment 7 and forging a better retirement package for teachers...

Veterans Day. In observance of the holiday, parades are held in Jackson and Chaffee, Missouri; former state senator John Dennis is the honorary grand marshal of the Chaffee parade, which is sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3127; the Jackson parade is sponsored by VFW Post 10495 and American Legion Post 158; grand marshal is Edna Hopkins, a chartr member of the Jackson American Legion Auxiliary...

Profits from the 1994 SEMO District Fair were almost the same as last year, netting $46,945; the fair generated about $10,000 more in revenue this year, bringing in a total of $387,879 during its eight-day run in September; fair expenditures were almost $9,800 higher than last year, totaling $340,934...

John Oliver, with family and slaves, migrated to north Cape Girardeau County from North Carolina in 1819, "to better his condition." Uncompensated laborers made the farm very productive, providing generations of Oliver wealth and well-being. By 1860, son John Oliver Jr. enslaved 34 men, women and children, who worked 1,000 acres of land and livestock (horses, mules, oxen, cattle, sheep and swine)...

EAST CAPE GIRARDEAU, Ill. -- Approximately 7 miles of highway from East Cape Girardeau to Gale and McClure, Illinois, will undergo improvements such as culvert extensions, stabilized shoulders and concrete resurfacing; a contract calling for flood repair work along Route 146 from the Mississippi River bridge east to the routes 146-3 intersection and Route 3 from north of Gale to north of McClure will be carried out over the next year...

Nancy Mattingly, Southeast Hospital cancer program coordinator, has received the American Cancer Society's Distinguished Service Award for Missouri, the highest award presented to an individual by the Missouri Division. Cape Girardeau's minimum property maintenance code, which is scheduled for final readings at tonight's City Council meeting, could hamper public safety officers from doing their jobs, fire chief Robert Ridgeway says; Ridgway wants the council to revise the code before giving final approval to the measure; he wants the code amended to allow police or fire officials to file complaints when they observe life- and property-threatening violations; he also wants the council to waive the five-workday waiting period to allow city inspection of properties when warranted.. ...

The Rev. Don Covington was recently certified as a rural chaplain in the United Methodist Church, a form of Christian ministry concerned with the needs of rural and small-town America; he is associate pastor of New McKendree United Methodist Church...

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court is wrestling with a modern-day dispute involving the pirate Blackbeard's ship that went down off North Carolina's coast more than 300 years ago. The justices on Tuesday heard arguments in a copyright case over photos and videos documenting the recovery of the Queen Anne's Revenge, discovered in 1996...

Plans to transform the historic Common Pleas Courthouse and Annex into Cape Girardeau’s new city hall will include construction of a two-level parking structure, city officials said Monday. It’s one of the reasons why the City Council approved an agreement Monday with Penzel Construction Co., in partnership with architecture firm TreanorHL, to renovate the 165-year-old Common Pleas Courthouse and the adjacent annex and construct a connecting addition at 44 N. Lorimier St...

Cape Girardeau City Council members rezoned the historic Reynolds House on Monday as a private foundation plows ahead with renovations to the brick structure. The goal is to complete work on the 162-year-old building by February, said Alyssa Phares, president of the board of directors of the James Reynolds House Foundation...

The Missouri Department of Conservation recently got 37.38 acres of natural area and named it Cape Woods; it is being placed in its Urban Wild Acres program; the land borders Hopper Road on the south and Mount Auburn Road on the west; it lies along Cape LaCroix Creek and adjoins Osage Park on the north and east; approximately 80% of the tract is young, bottom land forest and the rest grass...

The sign in front of the Pilot House restaurant says it was established in 1962 and the menus say it opened in 1961, but owner Jim Byrd says both those dates are wrong. Byrd has owned Pilot House since 1986 and, until recently, he also believed it opened in the early '60s. But a couple of weeks ago, he ran into a man who, as a teenager, worked at the Jaycee Golf Course just up the hill from the restaurant on Perryville Road north of the Cape Girardeau city limits...

The City of Cape Girardeau announced Friday afternoon a $12 million plan for Penzel Construction Co. Inc. and architecture firm TreanorHL to renovate the 165-year-old Common Pleas Courthouse and move City Hall back to its first home. Cape Girardeau City Hall — currently in the building that was once Old Lorimier School — sits at 401 Independence St...

Property owners would like the city to extend Silver Springs Road and make it a through street; a hilly stretch of land stands between the paved section ending on the south side of William Street and another ending south of Independence Street; the route would go through Saint Francis Medical Center land and the hospital doesn't want the street extended at this time...

The Cape Girardeau and Bollinger counties Major Case Squad was activated yesterday evening to investigate the death of a 3-year-old boy in Cape Girardeau; Police Chief Howard "Butch" Boyd Jr. said Bobby J. Miller died shortly after he was taken to Southeast Hospital Wednesday morning...

Lula (Lulu) and Leona Belchamber were the daughters of James Albert Belchamber Sr. and Louvenna Elizabeth "Vinnie" Peterson. James's father, Daniel Belchamber, came from England, while his mother, Phoebe, was born in Canada. The family moved to Bollinger County, Missouri, in the 1890s. Lula Etta was born Aug. 6, 1889, in Bismark, Missouri, and Leona Alice on Nov. 23, 1896, in Glen Allen, Missouri...

CAIRO, Ill. -- The Ambulatory Surgical Treatment Center opened recently in the Cairo Mega-clinic; the same-day surgery center will hold its grand opening Nov. 18; it occupies space in the 20,000-square-foot mega-clinic, which opened in October 1992...

Beginning today, callers making long-distance telephone calls within their own area codes will be dialing more numbers; what callers used to reach in seven digits now takes 10; in Eastern Missouri, callers will have to dial 1 or 0, plus the 314 area code for all calls beyond the local calling area...

Southeast Missouri State University observed its Homecoming with a variety of activities, including the annual parade down Broadway and the Copper Dome breakfast at the Show Me Center; during the latter gathering, Southeast president Dr. Kala M. Stroup presented Judith Wilferth the Friend of the University award...

In celebration of Scott County’s bicentennial in 2021 — and for the first time since 2003 — plans are in place to publish a hardback, collector’s quality book of submitted articles and photos pertaining to family stories and information on churches, schools, farms and organizations from the area...

Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority has purchased a 5.8-mile railroad line for $300,000 from Union Pacific; the line stretches from the Thebes, Illinois, bridge north through Scott City to the port and into Cape Girardeau; it will give the port access to Burlington Northern, Southern Pacific and Union Pacific railroads...

Charlene Montgomery might have gone to sleep counting sheep yesterday afternoon, but she awoke counting deer -- at least the one that was in her apartment at 537 N. Sprigg St.; after returning from track practice at the university, Montgomery decided to take a nap; about 4 p.m., a deer jumped through a window and ended up in her bedroom; police pulled the curtains back from a window, and the animal ran out on its own...

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis has declared the Vatican Secret Archive isn't so secret after all. Francis on Monday officially changed the name of the Holy See archive to remove what he said were the "negative" connotations of having "secret" in its name...

A proposed $60 million Nash Road Redevelopment involving an Arkansas steel company appears to have collapsed when that company found a better deal at home; there are those in the know who believe the project was nothing more than a ploy by the company to get a richer package in Arkansas...

The Cape Girardeau School District will embrace new teaching proficiency standards, but according to Superintendent Dr. Neyland Clark, it likely won't be the contentious Outcomes Based Education; Clark says the district is "moving toward Mastery Learning as a way to establish a proficiency standard that all students can meet."...

In the 1944 movie "Double Indemnity", Fred MacMurray said, "They say all native Californians come from Iowa." That line could just as easily have been about Missouri. Cape Girardeau, in particular, was the hometown for a large contingent of people who moved west to Southern California. They hoped to take advantage of a booming economy and a climate with pleasant weather that lasts for more than two weeks out of the year...

Alton Bray paused to reflect as he sipped a cup of coffee earlier this week at Chateau Girardeau. Someone had just asked for his secret to a long life. “I never really thought about it. It just happened,” he eventually answered, with a slight grin. “Maybe there was God’s will in this. I’m a strong believer in the power of God.”...

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Calm returned to Charleston yesterday after a disturbance in which police fired shots into the air to disperse an angry crowd protesting what was believed to be a police killing; the disturbance, involving up to 200 people, happened Sunday night, with around 60 officers from the Missouri State Highway Patrol and surrounding communities called in to assist local law enforcement; leaders with the local NAACP say the near riot following the apparent suicide of a jail inmate was the culmination of longstanding racial tension.. ...

NEW YORK -- A remarkable trove of fossils from Colorado has revealed details of how mammals grew larger and plants evolved after the cataclysm that killed the dinosaurs. The thousands of specimens let scientists trace that history over a span of 1 million years, a mere eyeblink in Earth's lifespan...

MADRID -- Turning a momentous page in its history, Spain on Thursday exhumed the remains of dictator Gen. Francisco Franco from his grandiose mausoleum outside Madrid and reburied them in a small family crypt north of the capital. The day-long operation featured Franco's coffin being flown by helicopter to its new resting place, and the event was broadcast live on television and watched closely across the country. ...

BENTON, Mo. -- Scott County property owners will feel the sting of 1993's Senate Bill 380 when they receive their 1994 tax bills next month; tax rates in the county's seven school districts will increase between 51 and 75 cents per $100 of assessed valuation...

State highway officials are planning to interview four consulting firms as a step to decide where to upgrade highways 25, 34 and 72 in the Cape Girardeau and Jackson areas; major improvements in the three highways are included in the state's 15-year road plan; District 10 highway engineer Freeman McCullah says the department is taking a unique approach to the projects by studying them together, rather than individually...

Seven finalists have emerged from a list of more than 160 applicants for the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport manager's job; assistant city manager Doug Leslie will interview finalists and hopes to name a new airport manager in a few weeks. Civil War enthusiasts re-enact the Centralia, Missouri, train massacre of Union troops at Jackson; in addition, the day began with the Daughters of the Confederacy presenting the city with a monument honoring Col. William T. Jeffers at Jackson City Cemetery...