Out of the Past

One of the five barges that broke loose from a towboat Monday struck the Mississippi River bridge here; officials say the bridge wasn't damaged; the other four barges floated under the bridge before they were corralled; the Midwest Explorer, owned by Midwest Marine Management in St. Louis, hit a sandbar with its load of grain at about 1:15 p.m. while traveling south; that caused a cable holding five of its 20 barges to break loose...

"Education is still the best spaceship to your dreams," says Dr. Charles I. Rankin, keynote speaker at the 12th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast; the event is the first in a series of local events commemorating the King holiday; planning committee co-chairman Debra Mitchell-Braxton says approximately 500 Southeast Missouri State University personnel and others attended the breakfast...

Ford Groves Motor Co. at Jackson is operating out of a new $350,000, 5,000-square-foot facility at 825 Highway 61 East; the building has a two-car showroom, two bays in the back, six salesmen's offices and two manager's offices; Ford Groves Motor of Cape Girardeau first opened a Jackson branch in 1986...

Fire destroyed a Cape Girardeau house yesterday, leaving a family of four without a place to live; firefighters and police responded to a call of a fire started by a furnace at about 1:30 p.m. at 418 S. Hanover; nearly 20 firefighters battled the blaze for over an hour in Friday's frigid weather; the fire destroyed the house and all the contents of Natria Taylor, who lived in the rental property with her three children...

Former Meadow Heights High School principal Rick Chastain, who was fired after blowing the whistle on financial improprieties in the school district, has filed a lawsuit asking for his job back and unspecified monetary damages; the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau, names the school district and former and current members of the school board as defendants and asks for a jury trial...

Prolonged cold has increased the amount of ice in the Mississippi River, prompting the Coast Guard to warn mariners and sightseers to be careful; there are reports of icing north of the St. Louis harbor, and predicted continued sub-freezing temperatures makes river watchers fear the situation will worsen...

Southeast Missouri and southern Illinois experienced their own "ice age" yesterday; a storm covered the region in sheets of ice, closing schools, government offices and some businesses, and interrupting electricity in some areas; more frigid air is on the way...

School board races have developed in a number of districts in advance of today's filing deadline for the April election; Chaffee, Missouri, heads the list with six candidates on the ballot: Danny Finley, Kathy Kinsey, Debbie Patterson, Alvin Vandeven, Candace Witcher and Linda Wessel...

After more than a half century in pediatric medicine, 79-year-old Dr. James Kinder is switching gears; at a time when his contemporaries have long been settled into retirement, Kinder has become a full-time staff member at the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center's Primary Care Clinic...

John Seabaugh of Millersville has been recognized for outstanding service to the Royal Rangers scouting ministry by the Southern Missouri District Assemblies of God. A service of dedication is held in the morning at Maple United Methodist Church, the third anniversary of the congregation's move to the current location at Cape Rock Drive and Jean Ann; the service is in celebration that the sanctuary, parsonage and land are debt-free...

Strong northerly winds coupled with bitterly cold air turned the snow-covered Missouri into a big deep freeze yesterday, and little letup is expected; the National Weather Service issued a wind chill advisory Friday, cautioning people against temperatures of zero or below Friday night; with gusty winds, the wind chill in the Cape Girardeau area made it feel like minus 15 to minus 30 degrees...

Some see the 6 inches of snow blanketing Cape Girardeau as an opportunity to earn some green; the heavy accumulation means there are people willing to pay to have their sidewalks and driveways shoveled; the rate one young entrepreneur charges is $10 to $15 per home, depending upon the size of the driveway...

President Clinton may oppose construction of any federal courthouses or office buildings in fiscal 1998, according to a federal court official; such a move could delay efforts to construct a new courthouse in Cape Girardeau. A snowstorm swept through Southeast Missouri and southern Illinois yesterday, making driving hazardous by early evening; more than 2 inches of snow had fallen in Cape Girardeau by 10 p.m. Wednesday, with an accumulation of 4 to 8 inches expected before ending today...

SIKESTON, Mo. -- A local pastor says an attempt to burn his church early Tuesday has only motivated him to try harder to improve his neighborhood; the Rev. Rickey M. Anderson was called out to the Prince of Peace Baptist Church about 9 a.m. after his secretary smelled smoke when she arrived for work; sometime during the night someone had scaled a 6-foot chain-link fence behind the predominantly Black church, kicked in two windows and threw what appeared to be motor oil into the building and set the oil on fire; the blaze did little more than consume two curtains; the church's cinder block and brick construction saved it from more serious damage.. ...

In the wake of unpopular programming changes, the Cape Girardeau City Council passed a resolution last night censuring the local cable television operator for failing to consult the public; "I certainly think this is in order, to show our displeasure of their handling of our city's customers and residents," Councilman Richard Eggimann said after the resolution passed unanimously; Denver, Colorado-based, Tele-Communications Inc. operates the cable television systems in Cape Girardeau and Jackson...

Cape Girardeau County led the region in crashes in 1995 but also in seat-belt usage; Cape Girardeau County ranked 11th in the state in speed-involved crashes and 14th in accidents involving drunk drivers; it ranked 10th in accidents involving drivers under 21 years of age and 11th in accidents involving drivers 55 years of age or older; Cape County had 3,158 accidents in 1995, more than any other Southeast Missouri county...

The congregation of Father's Arms Fellowship has moved to a new location at the corner of Main and Lincoln streets in Scott City. MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- A grant of $15,000 from Conference Congregational Development funds has been awarded to First United Methodist Church in Marble Hill; the money will be used toward relocation and construction of a new facility; the congregation purchased an 11-acre site about two years ago and has raised $20,000 toward construction of a new building; groundbreaking is expected some time this year.. ...

Old Man Winter has been locked up in Canada for the majority of the past three weeks, but he is expected to get out today; meteorologists say the unseasonably warm weather the region has enjoyed this week will end with the arrival of more seasonal temperatures as early as this afternoon; record high temperatures have been set this week all across the Plains and parts of the Midwest and South...

House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who may be facing a reprimand and other sanctions, has the backing of two freshman Republican lawmakers with ties to the Cape Girardeau area; both U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson of Cape Girardeau and Rep.-elect Kenny Hulshof of Columbia, Missouri, say they will vote to re-elect Gingrich as speaker when the new Congress convenes Tuesday; Hulshof was a public defender and then assistant prosecuting attorney in Cape Girardeau before becoming a special prosecutor for the Missouri Attorney General's office.. ...

Polar-bear conditions don't materialize for the Cape River Riders Jet Ski Club, but it is still cool sailing as members of the club perform on the Mississippi River downtown; the Ski Freeze, which includes trick skiing on jet ski crafts on the river by more than a dozen riders, including two women, is conducted to raise funds for the PTO of the Parkview State School for the Handicapped in Cape Girardeau; between 125 and 150 spectators crowd the riverfront for the more-than-two-hour show...

The room was filled mostly with faces familiar to county government as the winners of November’s county elections took their oaths of office Tuesday; of the seven people sworn in at the Cape Girardeau County Commission chambers by County Clerk Rodney Miller, only one — 2nd District County Commissioner Max Stovall — is a freshman officeholder; the returning incumbents to receive their commissions were 1st District Commissioner Larry Bock, Sheriff John Jordan, Assessor Jerry Reynolds, Treasurer Bill Reynolds, Public Administrator John Ferguson and Coroner John Carpenter. ...

When area cable subscribers turn on their televisions tomorrow morning, KFVS will be there, and it should remain on TCI cable television for at least the next two months; officials from the cable company say a 60-day extension on a contract with Cape Girardeau's CBS affiliate has been approved verbally; the deadline to reach an agreement was to be midnight tonight...

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Perry County is starting a task its southern neighbor finished three years ago -- giving everyone in the county a new address; the updated addresses are necessary for the new Enhanced 911 system. Six members of the U.S. Naval Academy Men's Glee Club sing the National Anthem before the beginning of the Charleston/Delta basketball game in the University High School Christmas Tournament at the Show Me Center; Cape Girardeau native Clayton Hahs, 21, son of David and Candy Hahs and president of the Glee Club, convinced six friends and fellow club members to leave Annapolis, Maryland, and visit his hometown over the holidays; the group will also sing the National Anthem at the St. ...

First General Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau will celebrate its 70th anniversary with activities throughout the month of January, a different theme marking each week of the celebration; former pastors have been invited to speak, and special music will be presented by different groups from the past; a reception is planned for the latter part of the month in the Common Pleas Courthouse -- in the same courtroom where the church was organized...

Dr. C. John Ritter plans to quit his job so he can provide medical care where it is needed most -- in third-world countries; the 59-year-old internist plans to close his private practice at the end of the month; in a letter to his patients, Ritter said he will devote his time and energy "to the services of God and mankind in both foreign and domestic fields"; he wants to undertake more medical missions with the Doctors to the World charity; he also hopes to work with the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center.. ...

The trappings of Christmas disappear quickly; even the trees don't stay up long; area residents discarded Christmas trees at Arena Park yesterday in what has become an annual holiday ritual; each year, the city of Cape Girardeau provides a site in the southeast corner of the park for people to drop of their trees; the Missouri Conservation Department takes most of them and sinks them in area lakes as fish habitat...

Santa delivered about 30 parcels and Express Mail in Cape Girardeau yesterday; mail carrier Jimmie Roberts of Chaffee, Missouri, donned the red suit, white beard and black gloves and boots to make the holiday deliveries. One minute it's sleeting, the next snowing, and the next raining; then it changes back to snow; it least it seems that way to Don Semancik of Midwest Weather Inc., as he observes the morning's rapidly changing precipitation; motorists slide on slick roads in Cape Girardeau after less than a quarter of an inch of sleet mixed with rain and snow falls early in the day; snow follows, but doesn't accumulate.. ...

Instead of "Up on the rooftop, click, click, click," on Christmas Eve at one Cape Girardeau restaurant, it was "In through the window, smash, crash, bash," as a confused deer got trapped in Bessie's Restaurant & Smorgasbord, 3254 William St.; when police officers arrived around 3:30 p.m., they found a smashed front window and a 250-pound doe cornered in a storage closet in the kitchen; officers managed to corral the animal, and it was released in a secluded area west of town...

ST. LOUIS -- Mercantile Bancorporation Inc. and Roosevelt Financial Group, Inc., announced yesterday the organizations have signed a definitive merger agreement which will create the largest locally-managed and independently-owned financial services organization headquartered in the lower Midwest; Mercantile is headquartered in St. ...

Southeast Missouri State University and the Cape Girardeau School District want to help students and industry tap into new technology; the university plans to do it by building a technology center and the school district by constructing a new vocational-technical school; both facilities would house the kind of computerized, high-tech equipment that is an important cog in business and industry today; if funding is secured, both buildings could be constructed and opened by the spring of 1999...

Bishop John J. Leibrecht of the Springfield-Cape Girardeau Diocese ordained Deacon Randy Tochtrop to the priesthood Nov. 29 at St. Mary's Cathedral; among those attending the Mass were his parents, Walter and Margaret Tochtrop; a sister, Rhonda, and more than 50 priests; Tochtrop is a native of Wentzville, Missouri; his first assignment will be as associate pastor of St. Mary's Cathedral, effective Dec. 30...

A live nativity presentation begins at Hanover Lutheran Church, 2949 Perryville Road, with two showings this evening and tomorrow night by the Youth Group and Men's Club; refreshments are served in the parish hall. Cable provider TCI has dropped plans to remove Chicago super-station WGN from cable television systems in five states, but the move won't affect lineup changes slated for Cape Girardeau and Jackson systems; plans to drop WGN effective Jan. ...

Plagued with financial trouble, the Cape Girardeau Civic Center will welcome an alternative school with open arms and open palms; the Alternative Education Center, part of Cape Girardeau public schools, will be moved from the Salvation Army building at Good Hope and Sprigg streets to the Civic Center building on Broadway; when the AEC moves in, it will bring $8,500 grants along with it; the school system will also pay most of the utilities...

ST. LOUIS -- The family of a Southeast Missouri State University student killed in a fraternity hazing Feb. 15, 1994, reached a $2.25 million settlement yesterday with the fraternity and its members; the settlement was approved by St. Louis Circuit Judge Robert H. Dierker Jr. for the family of Michael Davis, a Kappa Alpha Psi pledge from St. Louis...

Cape Girardeau public schools earned nearly a half-million dollars in grants this year, and more are expected before the end of the school year; the money provides teachers and students with technology, equipment and opportunities the district might not have been able to afford otherwise...

The 10 members of the new Cape Girardeau County Planning and Zoning Commission were introduced by the Cape County Commission; members and the townships they represent are Dan Seabaugh, Apple Creek; Don Sievers, Byrd; R.J. McKinney, Cape Girardeau; John Lorberg, Hubble; John Dudley, Kinder; Don Moore, Liberty; Scott McDowell, Randol; John Wichern, Shawnee; Jerry Cox, Welch, and Gene Wills, Whitewater; the commission's task is to come up with a simplified plan for planning and zoning in the county.. ...

Southeast Missouri and southern Illinois residents are surprised when they awaken to the first significant snow of the season; a 30-mile-wide area from Poplar Bluff, Missouri, to Marion, Illinois, received 3 to 8 inches of snow; it closes schools, creates slippery roads and strands motorists in portions of the district...

In addition to holding services for the second Sunday in their new location at 2411 Abbey Road, members of the 106-year-old congregation of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) also hold a service of dedication and an open house; delivering the dedicatory sermon is the Rev. Stephen Cranford of Jefferson City, regional minister of the Christian Church of Mid America...

The flow of information concerning recent burglaries in Cape Girardeau continues to increase steadily, say police; the increase in calls to the police department is partly due to the enticement of a reward being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the culprits; the reward fund is at $6,600...

Jackson Mayor Paul Sander will ask the Board of Aldermen on Monday to endorse formation of a task force to study the feasibility of building a multipurpose community center in the city; with Jackson's growing population, Sander believes such a facility is needed, and at the very least merits in-depth consideration...

Reflecting the concern older Cape Girardeans have over the rash of burglaries targeting senior citizens here, Cape Girardeau County Sheriff John Jordan reports the number of gun permits issued has gone up since the burglaries began; Capt. Steve Strong, acting police chief, says everything possible is being done to catch the culprits: "Right now we think this is the most important thing on our plate"; 16 burglaries targeting elderly residents have occurred here since May, mostly south of Broadway and east of Kingshighway.. ...

Members of the Noon Lions Club believe if anything good comes from the recent rash of burglaries targeting the elderly, it will be creation of a Crime Stoppers program here; the club is seriously looking into the national program that allows citizens to help law enforcement by donating reward money for the capture and conviction of criminals...

The Cape Girardeau County Commission will look into increasing after-hours security at Common Pleas Courthouse in Cape Girardeau in the wake of an attempt by an arsonist over the weekend to set fire to the historic building; while damage to the 142-year-old courthouse was negligible, Don McQuay, head supervisor of buildings and grounds for the county, cautions the commissioners not to take the incident lightly, because the arsonist and the motivation for the crime remain unknown...

A man waiting for services to begin yesterday at First Presbyterian Church found signs of arson at the Common Pleas Courthouse, next door to the church; according to a police spokesman, the church member found a gasoline can by an outside electrical box; gasoline had apparently been dumped on the box and set on fire...

The fifth annual German/English Christmas service is held in the evening at Old Hanover Lutheran Church; guest preacher is the Rev. Gregory D. Jans, pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Mascoutah, Illinois; the liturgy, carols and sermon summary are printed in both languages; the church is decorated with the traditional cedar Christmas tree and kerosene wall lamps...

Cape Girardeau County paved only about half of the gravel roads it had hoped to pave before this year's construction season ended; the County Commission planned to pave about eight miles of county roads before cold weather set in, but only managed about four miles; "It was a learning experience for us," says Commissioner Larry Bock...

A burglary Wednesday at the home of a 70-year-old Cape Girardeau woman brings to 16 the number of burglaries at the homes of elderly city residents since May; the most recent burglary was in the 300 block of Mill Street, the farthest north of any of the break-ins; the woman, who was unharmed, reported two men broke into her home at 8:16 p.m. by kicking in a deadbolt lock on the back door; they stole about $55, two jewelry boxes and her purse...

Gasoline prices in the Cape Girardeau area have climbed to nearly $1.25 a gallon for regular unleaded fuel at most stations, the highest price since January 1991; Mike Right of the AAA Auto Club of Missouri says gasoline inventories are at the lowest level nationally since the 1960s; he says low supply is the main reason for high fuel prices...

Southeast Missouri State University wants a new mascot to root on its Indian and Otahkian athletic teams; after abandoning its traditional Indian chief and princess mascots 10 years ago, the school experimented with two other mascots -- SEMO Red and Thunderbird; both proved unpopular and were quickly dropped...

After a four-month search for police and fire chiefs, Cape Girardeau has both; city officials have hired Daniel White, fire chief in Springdale, Arkansas, to take over the Cape Girardeau department on Jan. 2; Richard Hetzel, police chief in Norcross, Georgia, starts his new job here Jan. 13...

The last original member of the Cape Girardeau Area Industrial Recruitment Association's Board of Directors is replaced by the Jackson Board of Aldermen; City Administrator Steve Wilson is chosen to take the city's seat on the association board for a one-year term beginning Jan. 1; he'll replace former Jackson city administrator Carl Talley on the board...

The Parade of Lights, in its fourth year, travels Cape Girardeau's downtown streets as an annual kickoff of the Christmas season; the parade, consisting of 110 floats, starts at Capaha Park, heads east on Broadway to Main Street, and then south to Hutson's Furniture; the parade is sponsored by the Downtown Merchants Association and KBSI-TV...

The New Madrid Fault grumbled another reminder of its restless existence late Thanksgiving Day, with its largest earthquake in five years; the 4.3 magnitude tremor occurred at 11:41 p.m., with the epicenter near Blytheville, Arkansas; no damage or injuries resulted from the quake, which could be felt in six states...

Many senior citizens in Cape Girardeau have lived with two dominant emotions since May: anger and fear; there have been 15 burglaries in the city in the past six months with victims' ages ranging from 60 to 95; in each burglary, either one or two men have broken into homes at night and demanded money from elderly residents; most of the burglaries have occurred two blocks south of William Street, between South Ellis Street and Sheridan Drive...

Thanksgiving Day. The Salvation Army dining room is packed with the hungry and the helpful; most of the former are older people who don't want to spend the holiday alone, while others come with their families; many don't have the means or the energy to cook a holiday feast; the 150 volunteers serve more than 900 meals in the dining hall or delivered to people's homes...

With its bell ringers and red kettles greeting holiday shoppers outside area stores, the Salvation Army has raised $10,000 toward its goal of $160,000 in its annual Tree of Lights campaign; for the second year in a row, the actual Tree of Lights will stand in front of West Park Mall; the money raised will help the less fortunate in Cape Girardeau...

Yesterday, about six months after artist John Hunn began drawing his History of Medicine Mural in his St. Louis studio, the 72-foot-long mural was revealed at Southeast Hospital; hundreds of people turned out to celebrate the artist's talent and to remember the man who financed that talent -- John H. Wiseman...

The final worship service and activity of Hanover Lutheran Church's 150th anniversary celebration is held in the morning, with Dr. Donald Feuerhahn, professor at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, as guest preacher; the theme of the year-long celebration has been "Living in the Light" and has included a special worship service each month, guest speakers, congregational banquets and fellowship activities, mission projects, a commemorative photo directory, Christmas ornaments and plates...

Another burglary at the home of a Cape Girardeau elderly couple -- the second this week and the 14th since May -- occurred Thursday night; the most recent happened while the residents were home, and money was taken by force; the back door to the home of the 85-year-old man and his 75-year-old wife was kicked in, and two men in ski masks, one brandishing a knife, entered the house and demanded money...