Week of Sept. 11 - 17

Record Crowd Hears Sousa and His Band

Thousands From All Southeast Missouri Enjoy Children's Program in Afternoon and Adults' Musical Treat in Evening.

Playing before two record crowds, each including persons from virtually every Southeast Missouri county, Lt. Cmdr. John Philip Sousa and his band in concerts in Cape Girardeau Saturday did the expected -- presented two of the most pleasing musical programs the city has known.

In the afternoon at a free concert for the children of Southeast Missouri, the greatest bandmaster delighted a throng variously estimated from 7,500 to 10,000 persons. In the evening he played to a capacity crowd in the Teachers College auditorium.

The crowd at the afternoon concert was perhaps the largest gathering of children in the district's history. They came from far communities, some of them in trucks with their teachers, and some in automobiles...

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Sept. 14, 1988

Reagan pays visit to Cape

By Mark Bliss

Staff Writer

Amid pomp and circumstance, President Ronald Reagan visited Cape Girardeau today, marking only the second visit by an incumbant president in the city's history.

The only other incumbent president to visit Cape Girardeau was William Howard Taft on Oct. 26, 1909.

Air Force One, the sleek presidential jet, arrived at Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport at 11:35 a.m. today. A 25-car motorcade whisked the 40th American president to the Show Me Center on the SEMO University campus. A capacity crowd awaited his midday speech.

Exiting the plane with Reagan were Congressman Bill Emerson, a Cape Girardeau Republican, and Missouri Sens. John Danforth and Kit Bond.

For security reasons, the airport was closed to the general public...

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Sept. 12, 1998

Two men charged in murder of Gina Brooks

By Joni Adams

Southeast Missourian

FREDERICKTOWN, Mo. -- For nine years, the disappearance of 13-year-old Gina Dawn Brooks has tormented family, friends and authorities in the small town of Fredericktown.

On Friday, the Fredericktown police department issued warrants for two men, charging them with killing the teenager in August 1989.

Charged with first-degree murder was Nathan D. "Danny" Williams, a convicted child rapist who is serving a 30-year sentence at the Jefferson City Correctional Center. The 38-year-old has been a suspect in the Brooks case for nearly two years.

A second suspect, Timothy R. Bellew, 28, was arrested Friday afternoon and charged with second-degree murder and is being held...