Out of the past 7/17/09

25 years ago: July 17, 1984

The Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport tower could be back in operation later this year under a Federal Aviation Administration plan in which the city would hire the air traffic controllers, but the operating costs would be paid by the federal government.

The Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents rejects a meeting between that body and the Cape Girardeau City Council to discuss the controversial multipurpose building project, saying such a meeting would serve no purpose.

50 years ago: July 17, 1959

Parke M. Banta, general counsel for the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, cuts a ribbon in a morning ceremony formally opening the new office of the Social Security Administration, 612 Broadway.

A little tornado flirted with Southeast Missouri yesterday afternoon, then finally moved off again into the clouds; the threat was in Scott County, between Benton and Morley, and an unusually heavy rain followed the twister's appearance.

75 years ago: July 17, 1934

The General Box Co. has donated to the city of Fornfelt the ground on which its factory stood; the 3-acre tract will be converted into a city park, which will include a swimming pool, a baseball diamond and tennis courts.

Cape Girardeau has the opportunity to purchase land and have it developed at the expense of the state into a permanent relief site; the Rev. A.H. Beardsley, chairman of the county relief garden committee, yesterday asked the council to consider the purchase of a 32-acre tract of land on West End Boulevard or some other desirable location.

100 years ago: July 17, 1909

A special train of coaches pulls out of Cape Girardeau in the afternoon, carrying four companies of the 6th Regiment, Missouri National Guard, bound for the state encampment at Nevada.

With the river gauge registering 34.8 feet at noon, the floodwaters are still creeping upward toward a predicted crest of 35 feet; all the lowlands in Illinois are submerged clear back to the bluffs; in Cape Girardeau, there is about 3 1/2 feet of water over the Frisco tracks between Themis and Merriwether streets.

-- Sharon K. Sanders