BLANK FILES FOR SCHOOL BOARD SEAT

After serving eight months on the Cape Girardeau Board of Education, Robert Blank will ask voters to put him on the board for three more years.

Blank Tuesday became the first candidate to file for the school board. Filings opened Tuesday morning. Candidates have until Jan. 31 to file.

Four members will be elected to the board, three for three-year terms and one to a one-year term.

Blank was one of three men appointed last spring by the Cape Girardeau County Commission to serve on the board until the April election. Appointments were necessary following resignations by three board members: Kathy Swan, Pat Ruopp and John Campbell.

Also appointed were Harry Rediger and Dr. C. John Ritter. Board member Steve Wright's three-year term is up.

Last week Blank said he thinks the board has worked well over the past few months.

Blank is a lifelong resident of Cape Girardeau. For 25 years he has been president of Bi-State Oil Co., a petroleum marketing company in Cape Girardeau. Blank served four years on the Trinity Lutheran Grade School Board of Education, two as board president.

Since being appointed to the board, Blank has served on the buildings and grounds committee.

Blank and his wife, Gaye, have two children.