Out of the past 1/11/07

25 years ago: Jan. 11, 1982

The good news was that Cape Girardeau was the garden spot of the state yesterday, having claimed the day's high temperature.

What has been termed an "informal" gathering last night between four members of the Cape Girardeau Board of Education and two school administrators has been criticized by the leaders of two teachers organizations here; the gathering, unannounced to the news media or to teachers, came two days before the board's regularly scheduled meeting and three days after a public hearing regarding a proposal to alter class assignment time on the secondary level.

50 years ago: Jan. 11, 1957

Inspection teams next week will begin visiting some of the more than 100 suggested sites for the proposed new federal prison; several sites in the immediate area of Cape Girardeau have been suggested, including ones in the vicinity of Rockview, Mo., and another between Illmo and Commerce, Mo.

The former riverboat Cape Girardeau, now renamed the Gordon C. Greene, is headed to Bradenton, Fla., where it will be a tourist attraction and floating museum, restaurant, theater and cocktail lounge.

75 years ago: Jan. 11, 1932

As the Automobile Club of Missouri has given up the handling of automobile license tags in this state, the Chamber of Commerce has arranged to distribute them in Cape Girardeau for the community's convenience; otherwise, the nearest place that Girardeans could get their tags would be Sikeston, Mo.

Citizens of Illmo tomorrow will vote on a proposed bond issue of $45,000, which would provide a waterworks system for the town.

100 years ago: Jan. 11, 1907

J.D. Vanetten has returned from a two-day trip in Scott County, where he sold two fine instruments; he says there are worlds of water down there, along with thousands of bushels of corn in fields still ungathered.

According to a rumor which originated in the meeting of the Catholic clergy in Cape Girardeau earlier this week, Southeast Missouri will in the near future be established as a bishopric.

-- Sharon K. Sanders