Out of the past 5/1/06

25 years ago: May 1, 1981

Attendance at Cape Girardeau Central High School drops significantly as nearly 20 percent of the student body takes part in the pupil-organized annual "senior skip day," leaving behind empty desks, hallways and parking lots; it is estimated that more than 200 pupils are absent by the end of the day.

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Ballots are being counted to determine whether employees of the troubled Southeast Missouri Legal Services will affiliate with the United Auto Workers; the move is the latest in a series of problems for the agency headed by former governor Warren E. Hearnes.

50 years ago: May 1, 1956

J.W. McBride, commissioner of parks and finance, is acting mayor of Cape Girardeau, filling the office left vacant by the formal resignation of Mayor Narvol A. Randol at yesterday's city council meeting.

Broadway's next musical star may well be Jo Sullivan, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H.B. Sullivan of Cape Girardeau; she has the lead in composer Frank Loesser's new musical, "The Most Happy Fella," which has won the praise of critics in Boston and Philadelphia, and which opens Thursday at the Imperial Theater in New York City.

75 years ago: May 1, 1931

Approximately 40 men and 15 teams of horses and mules begin excavation work for the basement and foundation of the new Missouri Utilities Co. plant at Cape Rock; the men using teams are employed at the rate of $6 per day, and laborers doing other work are to receive from 35 to 45 cents per hour, according to the type of work they do.

Plans are to operate 24 hours per day in rebuilding the Little River Drainage District levee southwest of Cape Girardeau, according to H.W. Frissell of Cape Girardeau, a U.S. engineer; three construction shifts will work, each handling the big machine eight hours.

100 years ago: May 1, 1906

The proposition of the Liberty Buggy Co. of St. Louis to establish a plant in Cape Girardeau was nearly clinched at the special meeting of the Commercial Club last night.

The county court is sitting in executive session at Jackson with the courthouse building committee; they are examining bids for the courthouse; there are four bidders for the big job, including Ed Regenhardt of Cape Girardeau, Taylor & Morton of Jackson, one from Kentucky and one from Florida.

-- Sharon K. Sanders