Week of Sept. 4 - 10

Sept. 7, 1954

Public Schools Have Bigger Enrollments in First Day of Term

Increased enrollments were the rule today as Cape Girardeau schools, public and parochial, opened classrooms for another nine-month term.

Supt. L.J. Schultz reported an increase of 87 in public school enrollment over the first day a year ago. Today's enrollment was 3,165, including kindergartens. A year ago the first-day figure was 3,078, also including kindergartners.

Integration of Negro and White pupils went into effect for the first time. Mr. Schultz said there were 36 Negro pupils enrolled at Jefferson School, which was retained on a voluntary basis for any children who wished to go there. A total of 23 Negro children reported at Washington School, 24 at Central High School, nine at May Greene School and two at Lorimier School.

Greatest increase in enrollment was at Franklin, where 69 more pupils were present than on opening day a year ago. Extra rooms have been partitioned there to provide additional space and the kindergarten class was limited. Central High School showed an overal increase of 33 pupils...

---

Sept. 10, 2000

Newspaper Hall of Fame joined by Naeters, Walhausen

By Marc Powers

Southeast Missourian

ST. LOUIS -- Three icons of Southeast Missouri journalism were immortalized Friday with their induction into the Missouri Press Association Newspaper Hall of Fame.

Southeast Missourian founders George and Fred Naeter and Mildred Walhausen of the Charleston Enterprise-Courier are among the nine Missouri journalists who make up the latest group to be enshrined in the hall.

The Naeter brothers moved to Cape Girardeau from St. Louis in 1904 and took over the bankrupt Cape Girardeau Republican, which they later renamed the Southeast Missourian. Fred Naeter was MPA president in 1914.

Walhausen, 86, is one of only two living inductees in the hall's class of 2000.

A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Walhausen started her newspaper career with the Poplar Bluff Daily American Republic in 1933...

---

Sept. 10, 2004

Bridge blast brings surprise ending

By Mark Bliss

Southeast Missourian

A demolition blast Thursday tore apart the old Mississippi River bridge at Cape Girardeau, doing more damage than expected and leaving wreckage scattered across the river like the backdrop of a disaster movie.

It wasn't supposed to happen that way.

The demolition blast dropped the 671-foot-long span nearest the Missouri shore into the river as planned.

But the blast also set up a chain reaction that damaged the other remaining spans of the bridge. The blast caused the other 671-foot section of the main span to jackknife into the river, tearing out part of a concrete pier and sending one end of the remaining 314-foot span crashing into the water...