Out of the past 5/19/12

25 years ago: May 19, 1987

The Jackson Board of Aldermen last night proceeded with its plans to annex 22 acres of land near Highway 61 and Interstate 55 as requested by the property owner, Jim Drury; the aldermen held a public hearing on the matter at which no one spoke in favor of or against the proposed annexation.

The city of Cape Girardeau will operate on a $20.1 million budget next year, a decrease of about $600,000 over the current fiscal year, tentative budget figures show.

50 years ago: May 19, 1962

Twin projects to give the Cape Girardeau Public School system additional classroom space have taken shape with the erection of the steel skeletons; five prime contractors and their sub-contractors are building six new classrooms at Jefferson School and eight at Alma Schrader in jobs that began late last winter and are expected to be completed by Aug. 15.

A living memorial to Donald H. Crittendon and Herbert L. Goss, the Cape Girardeau policemen who lost their lives in a gun battle last March, will be dedicated at Courthouse Park tomorrow afternoon; the cedar tree planted recently by the Exchange Club will be marked by a plaque recognizing the two officers' sacrifice.

75 years ago: May 19, 1937

Legal hangings in Missouri county seat towns are apparently a thing of the past; the Missouri House approves a bill providing for executions by lethal gas at the state prison in Jefferson City.

A man working in a field near Altenburg, Mo., was killed by lightning, bolts struck at two points at Cape Girardeau and at one in Chaffee, Mo., and the district was swept by a severe rain during a storm which rode roughshod over Southeast Missouri last night; Martin Kermse, 54, working in a field a mile south of Altenburg, and three horses he was driving attached to a harrow were killed.

100 years ago: May 19, 1912

Several Protestant churches in Cape Girardeau suspend their morning worship services, allowing congregations to attend the baccalaureate service of Central High School at Centenary Methodist Church; speaking at the service is Centenary pastor, the Rev. Ivan Lee Holt.

No evening worship services is held at First Baptist Church, as the pastor, the Rev. Frank Y. Campbell, is the baccalaureate speaker at Will Mayfield College at Marble Hill, Mo.

-- Sharon K. Sanders