Out of the past 4/11/08

25 years ago: April 11, 1983

A levee at Powers Island near Commerce, Mo., damaged in the December floods, was breached yesterday, flooding thousands of acres of Scott County farmland.

Tomorrow is election day in Southern Illinois; close mayoral races in Cairo and Anna have sparked controversy; in Cairo, a special prosecutor is looking into alleged vote fraud concerning absentee ballots in March's primary; in Anna, another special prosecutor is investigating financial dealings between the city and businesses owned by city officials.

50 years ago: April 11, 1958

Under the baton of Dr. Warren M. Angell, choral director from Oklahoma Baptist University at Shawnee, 2,891 voices of pupils from 50 high schools in the district are raised in song during the annual Choral Festival concert held in the evening at Houck Field House.

The largest construction program in State College history will be started within three weeks; general contracts are J.W. Gerhardt for the science building, Ray Clinton of Sikeston, Mo., for the women's physical education building, and Frank Huffman of Steele, Mo., for the practical arts building.

75 years ago: April 11, 1933

The Jackson school board, at its meeting last night, re-engaged the entire staff of teachers in the high school and grade school, with an average cut in salary of about 11 percent.

Herman Koenig, 68, sustains a fractured right leg and two broken ribs when he is kicked by a mule while trying to put a bridle on the animal in a stable on his farm near Pocahontas; he is in satisfactory condition at Southeast Missouri Hospital.

100 years ago: April 11, 1908

The rite of confirmation is performed at Trinity Lutheran Church; confirmed are James Goza, Walter Hager, Robert Lamprich, Arthur Bruenig, August Siemers, Christ Wolf, Otto Ross, Benjamin Willer, Bertha Graulich, Josephine Buckner, Paula Bock, Anna Schlegel, Amanda Reichwein, Edna Bender, Antonie Schrader, Edwin Koeppel, August Koeppel, Werner Mueller, Clara Koeppel and Lillian Bergman.

CHAFFEE, Mo. — Herbert Lewis, 21, who was bitten by a mad wolf Feb. 23, dies here.

— Sharon K. Sanders