Out of the past: April 27

1999

After two years of planning, Cape Girardeau County will break ground on an $8 million addition to the county jail; the ceremony is set for 11 a.m. tomorrow at 216 N. Missouri in Jackson, and excavation is scheduled to begin soon after the ceremony; the completed building will be called the Cape Girardeau County Justice Center; it will include the jail and a 120-bed expansion.

Walt Wildman has been named director of the Cape Girardeau operations of East Missouri Action Agency; among the agency’s best known programs are Head Start, subsidized housing, family planning, employment and training, and emergency services; Wildman has operated his own consulting firm on business and governmental matters including a proposal for an Interstate 66; he has also served in recent months as interim administrator of Maple Crest Manor in Cape Girardeau.

1974

State Rep. Marvin E. Proffer says he won’t serve next year on the House Appropriations Committee unless Chairman James “Jay” Russell, D-Florissant, is replaced; “I won’t continue to serve under him,” Proffer declares. “He runs the committee like a Gestapo. There is no input.”

Four men from Southeast Missouri are among those announced as having passed the Missouri Bar examination; they are A.M. Spradling III, son of Sen. and Mrs. A.M. Spradling Jr., of Cape Girardeau; Michael Lee Richey of Cape Girardeau; Ronald R. Rhodes of Advance and H. Max Hilfiker of Gideon.

1949

A bond issue election to seek voter approval of a new swimming pool, two new fire stations and completion of the Arena Building appears definite in the immediate future after an informal conference of Cape Girardeau City Council members yesterday to go over the proposal; Mayor Walter H. Ford says council members have been working on estimates for cost of each of the three bond issue proposals, but have arrived at no definite figures, except possibly completion of the Arena Building, for which $25,000 will be sought.

Jackson voters yesterday approved an increase of 25 cents in the school levy at a special election, 267 for and 17 against; the proposition failed at the regular school election in April; the increase, to go to the incidental fund, will make the total tax levy $1.50.

1924

No worship services are held at Christ Episcopal Church owing to the absence of the rector, the Rev. J.H. Taylor, who has been called to Charleston, South Carolina, by the death of his father.

Bowman Brothers Realty Co. announces the sale of a lot on Marie Street to the Cape Girardeau Methodist Conference, upon which an eight-room brick house will be built as the home for the presiding elder; the district conference formerly owned a home in Sikeston, which was used by the presiding elder, but disposed of it in order to re-invest in Cape Girardeau; the cost of the home will be between $7,000 and $8,000.

Southeast Missourian librarian Sharon Sanders compiles the information for the daily Out of the Past column. She also writes a blog called “From the Morgue” that showcases interesting historical stories from the newspaper. Check out her blog at semissourian.com/history.