Out of the past 12/7/09

25 years ago: Dec. 7, 1984

The Southeast Missourian, which has for the past decade sponsored Toybox with the Cape Girardeau Jaycees, is this year beginning a companion project -- Christmas for the Elderly -- specifically for seniors.

According to Cape Girardeau County Circuit Court Judge A.J. Seier, City Attorney Fred Boeckmann and Peter Kinder, attorney for a group of residents opposed to building the multipurpose building on the Southeast Missouri State University campus, the question of whether to call a special election on the site question will be decided by either the Missouri Court of Appeals or the state's Supreme Court.

50 years ago: Dec. 7, 1959

Cape Girardeau faces a crisis in its refuse and garbage collection, with the only solution apparently lying in the city taking over the business, now held privately under a contract which expires on Dec. 31; no bids for a new contract are submitted to the council today, deadline for their receipt.

A permit has been issued the Burton Gerhardt Contracting Corp. for construction of a one-story masonry building at 2150 William St.; the building will be a part of the development of the Town Plaza Shopping Center.

75 years ago: Dec. 7, 1934

A thin blanket of snow, the first of the season, covers Cape Girardeau as the mercury dips lower; the colder weather finds transients seeking shelter at the Salvation Army quarters and in the basement of police headquarters.

The proposed annex to the Public Library can't be built with funds derived from the library tax, now 5 cents on the $10 valuation, because this levy is as high as state law will permit.

100 years ago: Dec. 7, 1909

Two city councilmen and the city engineer resigned last night; the council accepted the resignations of A. Brunkhorst from the Second Ward and George Meyer of the Third Ward, and City Engineer C.C. Hawley.

The city fathers have run out of patience with the hoboes and common drunks in the city; all those who aren't escorted to the city limits at the end of a policeman's club will be put to work breaking cobbles for paving the city's streets.

-- Sharon K. Sanders