Out of the past 7/8/07

@sco:25 years ago: July 8, 1982

Presiding Circuit Judge A.J. Seier swore in a grand jury comprised of six men and six women yesterday to investigate the unsolved slayings of two Cape Girardeau women in recent months; however, his general charge to the panel didn't limit the scope of the jury's investigation to the homicides.

Charley Pride, Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers Band, and Eddie Rabbit are the major entertainers scheduled to appear at the 1982 edition of the SEMO District Fair, Sept. 13 to 18 at the Arena Park Fairgrounds.

@sco:50 years ago: July 8, 1957

The Municipal Airport Board meets with the Cape Girardeau City Council to ask that a special election be called to vote a $295,000 bond issue for improvements at the airport; among improvements projected are construction of an administration building and airplane ramp, rebuilding 2,200 feet of the original 4,000-foot main runway, and rebuilding of a taxi-strip along the runway.

Plans for the construction of a 50-unit motel on Kingshighway, just north of the Colonial Tavern property, are announced by the Rev. Gayle Jackson, a Sikeston, Mo., minister, who says work will start tomorrow.

@sco:75 years ago: July 8, 1932

The lawsuit filed two weeks ago by Carl Rude of Harrisburg, Ill., seeking a receiver for the Cape Girardeau Bridge Co., has been transferred to Federal Court in Cape Girardeau; C.A. Vandivort of Cape Girardeau has been named receiver for the bridge.

A ballot more than two feet long and wider than usual will be handed voters Aug. 2, when they go to the polls in Cape Girardeau County for the primary election; most of the ballots will have well over 100 candidates listed from which the voter will choose.

@sco:100 years ago: July 8, 1907

The drawing for town lots in the shoe factory scheme is held in the morning at the Cape Girardeau Commercial Club rooms; about 100 interested residents, who had put out their good money for lots in order to secure the factory, attend the drawing.

Claud Clark goes to Farmington, Mo., to take charge of his new piano store there for a couple months; after that, he will go west for his health.

-- Sharon K. Sanders