Out of the past 12/31/10

25 years ago: Dec. 31, 1985

A Cape Girardeau woman is in satisfactory condition in a local hospital after being shot last night during an armed robbery as she was closing up the SEMO Laundry, 123 N. Pacific St.; two men are in custody in connection with the shooting.

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- A weekend raid on an alleged cockfight in Advance, Mo., won't result in any charges, because a state statute which outlawed such activity was recently ruled unconstitutional by the Missouri Supreme Court.

50 years ago: Dec. 31, 1960

Residential construction, for the second consecutive year, paced Cape Girardeau's ever-expanding building growth in 1960, pausing just slightly under last year's record-breaking total, although more new houses were built; city building inspector records show property owners constructed 235 houses in 1960 having a declared dollar value of $2,977,300.

Walter Joe Ford, coroner, who takes the oath of his office in the morning, is the last of county officials elected in November to be officially sworn into their positions; all but one of the officials elected Nov. 8 will formally take office tomorrow; the exception is Edwin Blumenberg, county assessor, who by law doesn't formally take on his responsibilities until Sept. 1.

75 years ago: Dec. 31, 1935

Highlighted by the building of high-type residences, the construction program during 1935 saw the erection of 98 new buildings at a cost aggregating in excess of $412,453; of that number, 83 were residences.

Shipping on the Mississippi River in the vicinity of Cape Girardeau is imperiled by the ice gorging in the stream as heavy floes grind relentlessly against the river craft of the U.S. Engineers and private contracting companies; more than 30 pieces of floating equipment are endangered.

100 years ago: Dec. 31, 1910

It is reported that the town south of Cape Girardeau on the Cotton Belt, lying between Ancell and Illmo, and known as Edna, will have a new name early in January; it will be called Fornfelt, by which name the place is already officially known in the post office directory; the town is so close to Illmo, it is a pity the residents couldn't see their way to join the two and make one real good town.

Henry Rozier of Ste. Genevieve, Mo., and John Tlapek of St. Marys, Mo., are in Cape Girardeau attending to telephone matters.

-- Sharon K. Sanders