Out of the past 2/11/06

25 years ago: Feb. 11, 1981

An attorney is expected to prepare a substitute measure for Rep. Marvin E. Proffer's bill to establish circuit court divisions within Cape Girardeau County, while the city of Jackson and others prepare to file a lawsuit in an effort to force county officials to move the circuit clerk and probate offices from Cape Girardeau back to Jackson.

KENNETT, Mo. - Former U.S. Rep. Paul C. Jones, who served the Missouri Bootheel as its representative in Congress for more than two decades, died yesterday at age 79; Jones, who retired from Congress in January 1969, died at a Senath, Mo., nursing home.

50 years ago: Feb. 11, 1956

The edge of a snowstorm that moved northeastward caught Cape Girardeau last night, dumping a wet, heavy blanket nearly two inches deep on the city; the storm extended into St. Louis, where five inches were recorded.

The Southeast Missouri area got started toward a better 1956 traffic record during the past January than it did the similar month of last year, according to a report from the highway patrol; there were 12 fatalities in the 14-county area last month as compared with 17 deaths in January 1955.

75 years ago: Feb. 11, 1931

Negotiations are underway which, if completed, call for the construction of six buildings in Cape Girardeau within the next month or six weeks; Mid-Continent Petroleum Corp. is considering building four separate gasoline stations, three in the city limits and one west of the intersection of West Broadway and Highway 61.

Charles Blattner, a farmer of Cape Girardeau, has taken over management of the Farmers' Co-operative Association store, 12 S. Frederick St.; Blattner formerly was a partner in a feed business where the store is now located before it was sold to the farmers' group.

100 years ago: Feb. 11, 1906

The county court last week honored The Weekly Republican for the second time with the contract for the county printing; this means that all the official statements and notices of the court will be printed by The Republican.

The Fair and Park Association met Friday and elected two new directors, filling the vacancies caused by the recent deaths on the board; F.A. Kage and Joel T. Nunn were elected directors, and Kage was made superintendent of the fairgrounds; the latter was the unanimous choice to succeed August Shivelbine in the work.

-- Sharon K. Sanders