Looking back

For Southeast Missouri, 2006 was a year when tornadoes took a toll, a major Hollywood movie came calling and the war in Iraq hit home.

In government, Cape Girardeau County unveiled a new transit system, answering a need that had long gone unmet, while other actions, like the Oran police chief's campaign to crack down on speeders and Cape Girardeau's sign ordinance, drew fire from residents.

Baseball fans will remember this year as well, because the St. Louis Cardinals hoisted a World Series trophy for the first time in 24 years.

The following, in no particular order, are the top stories of 2006.

Disaster

Two devastating tornadoes struck Southeast Missouri in 2006. The first, in April, hit Caruthersville, Mo., leaving an already poor town wrecked by 200 mph winds.

About 50 people were injured and two confirmed dead: one in Braggadoccio and another in Circle City.

The front page from April 4, 2006

The winds left more than half the city damaged and more than 250 homes destroyed. Roads in and out were impassible as branches and building debris clogged the streets.

Volunteer cleanup crews from Cape Girardeau, Jackson and elsewhere spent most of two weeks helping the town dig out. The Federal Emergency Management Agency spent months in Caruthersville and distributed 133 trailers to the displaced. Today, the town's 82-year-old high school is still unusable. A bond issue to raise money for a new facility failed, but students won't return to the old building until school begins in 2008.

A second twister hit Crosstown, Mo., nine miles south of Perryville, in September when most of its residents were at the East Perry Community Fair. The worst recorded injury was a broken arm. Still, 63 homes were destroyed in and around the community of some 200 people.

'Killshot'

A major motion picture, "Killshot," based on the Elmore Leonard novel of the same name, filmed in the Cape Girardeau area for five days in January. The cast and crew cavorted in local bars, closed off portions of Main Street and the Missouri Dry Docks for filming and infused an estimated $700,000 into the economy.

Front page from Jan. 12, 2006

The film starring Johnny Knoxville, Thomas Jane and Diane Lane is expected to be released "sometime in 2007," according to those close to it. "Killshot" had been slated for release in fall or winter of 2006, so the delay has raised eyebrows and worries that it may be headed straight to video.

War abroad, Guard at home

2006 was also a year when the war in Iraq, which has taken just under 3,000 American lives since it began in 2003, touched home.

In September, Pfc. Jeremy Shank, 18, of Jackson died in a small-arms gunbattle in Balad, Iraq. Shank's father, Jim, drew attention when the Southeast Missourian reported his son had questioned the war weeks before his death. "This war, you can't ever say we won. It's a holy war," Jeremy Shank said, according to his father.

In October, 1st Lt. Camden Bock, 24, died when his Humvee struck a roadside bomb. Bock, a West Point graduate from New Madrid, Mo., was brought home with more than 1,000 mourners lining the streets and waving American flags during his funeral procession.

Military units were also activated back home. Twice -- in July and December -- members of the 1140th Engineer Battalion based out of Cape Girardeau were activated to respond to electric outages.

Front page from Feb. 20, 2006

Troubled cities

It was also a year of troubled relationships between government and the governed.

In Cairo, Ill., the city council rarely conducted business in 2006 due to feuds between Mayor Paul Farris and most council members.

As of Dec. 19, 10 people had filed to run for Cairo mayor and 26 for city council in the April 2007 general election.

In Oran, many in the town of about 1,300 bristled at the enforcement style of police chief Marc Tragesser. Tragesser pursued a policy of cracking down on minor violations like speeding and obeying stop signs -- offenses residents say his predecessor often let slide. Residents held a candlelight vigil in April to highlight what they termed "a police state." In November, citing hostile conditions, Tragesser and his entire police force resigned. Oran is still seeking his replacement.

A Cape Girardeau sign ordinance limited when and where people could place signs for garage sales, causing an outcry among residents. The ordinance was later amended.

In Cape Girardeau, the city council stirred up trouble when it approved an ordinance in April to reduce the number of signs cluttering commercial areas. The ordinance quickly drew protests as people holding garage sales and not-for-profit organizations found they were prevented from advertising.

By summer's end, after much debate and several amendments allowing directional signs for both real estate and garage sales, the furor died down.

Building for the future

At the state level, a much-debated plan by Gov. Matt Blunt to sell assets of the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority and use $350 million for construction at state universities seems on track. The sale will mean $17.2 million for Southeast Missouri State's River Campus project, now under construction and due for a fall 2007 opening.

A tour group walked past the view of the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge at the River Campus. The arts school is now under construction and slated for a fall 2007 opening.

The plan followed a bumpy road. In February, Speaker of the House Rod Jetton, R-Marble Hill, demanded three members of the Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents resign as a condition for his support of River Campus funding. That didn't happen, although the university promised that future projects would not move ahead with bond issues when state funding hadn't been secured.

A longtime cry for affordable, efficient public transportation was finally answered in 2006. In April, Cape Girardeau County announced it would pay $360,000 to purchase taxicab company Kelley Transportation and offer a fixed-route bus system that started July 10.

Transit authority leaders have called the introduction a success. The county is already looking at plans to open a north-south route and expand the hours.

tgreaney@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 245