TV reporter will blow up old bridge

KFVS news reporter C.J. Cassidy will have the honor of blowing up the old Mississippi River bridge in Cape Girardeau next year.

A date hasn't been set, but the Missouri Department of Transportation plans to demolish the 75-year-old bridge in the months after the new Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge opens.

Five names were picked in a drawing at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce office on Friday, and the five people were allowed to choose, in the same order their names were drawn, one of five prizes.

Tickets for the drawing were available for a suggested $5 donation, said John Mehner, chamber president and CEO, and the chamber raised $2,000 for the new bridge dedication ceremony, set for Dec. 13.

The winners and their prizes were: Cassidy, who will be allowed to press the demolition plunger; Austin Dunmeyer of Paducah, Ky., first car ride across the bridge; Milford Redman of Advance, Mo., "Eastern Access" print of the new bridge; Bob Dodson of Cape Girardeau, a piece of Emerson Bridge cable; and Tim Drury, St. Louis, a piece of the old bridge.