PLOT CONTAINING CROSS COULD GO TO CAPE DOCTOR

Dr. Christopher Jung of Cape Girardeau might soon have a new cross to bear: a large concrete cross off North Kingshighway.

The Missouri Highways and Transportation Department is considering giving a small, 9-foot-wide section of land and the Cape La Croix Cross to the adjoining property owner, Jung.

The cross gained statewide attention earlier this week when a Wisconsin-based group said the cross violated the First Amendment and wanted the monument moved. The Freedom From Religion Foundation said the cross, dedicated to three French missionaries in 1947, indicated the state promoted Christianity, violating the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of freedom of religion.

Don Koenig, an attorney with the highway department, said the state has an excessive right of way where the cross is and hopes to let Jung absorb the property, adding that the paperwork for the land transaction has been set in motion.

"I don't know if it will satisfy them," Koenig said of the land transfer, "but it will satisfy the law as I see it."

Foundation spokeswoman Annie Laurie Gaylor said she had reservations about the highway department giving the land to Jung.

"I have to wonder if what they're really doing is in the best interests of the citizens of the state of Missouri," she said. "This looks very sleight of hand. With the prominence of the cross, people still might think it's on public property."

Gaylor was pleased to see the highway department respond but said she would need to see proof of the transaction before changing her initial reaction from "one of reservation."

Jung refused to be interviewed Thursday afternoon, but his representative said he would accept the land and cross from the highway department and agree to maintain it.

Koenig said the earliest the transaction could be finalized was the first Friday in May when the highway commission meets and could ratify the transaction.

"We hope this finalizes everything," Koenig said.