Out of the past: April 1

1998

For the first time in four years, state Rep. Mary Kasten will face opposition in her bid for re-election in District 158; the Cape Girardeau Republican will face Cape Girardeau lawyer and Libertarian David Rosener in the November election; Rosener represented Regina's House of Dolls strip-tease club in its legal battles with the city in 1995 and 1996 over the city's efforts to restrict adult businesses; Rosener was one of a number of candidates in Southeast Missouri who filed for legislative seats by Tuesday's filing deadline.

The Sander family has been selling hardware on the Jackson square since 1936; they intend to stay in the business Albert Sander started; his grandson, Jim Sander, along with wife, Judy, and son, Randy, now run the store; but times change and so does business; two weeks ago, Sander True Value Hardware relocated to a new building at 2310 E. Jackson Blvd., an address that doubles its floor space and provides a huge increase in traffic outside the door.

1973

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Ground is broken for a new church recently approved by the voters of Immanuel Lutheran Church here at a cost of $624,991; the new church will be built on West Street, across from Perry County Memorial Hospital; Hanner-Bretweiser-McLaughlin Architects Inc. of Chester, Illinois, designed the structure.

Jerry Reynolds, who is a member of the Cape Girardeau City Council, has purchased Southeast Missouri Lumber Co., including facilities at Cape Girardeau and Illmo, from Mary Louise Carlos of Honolulu, Hawaii; the purchase included both the business operation and the real estate; the Cape Girardeau facility is located at 411 Jefferson Ave., while the Illmo yards are adjacent to rail facilities separating Illmo and Scott City; the firm is one of the oldest in the area, having been established as Phillips Lumber Co.

1948

Consolidation into one large school district of the 16 present districts in the southern part of Cape Girardeau County is being considered following a meeting of leading residents of the communities at Randles; teachers and residents, feeling the current arrangement is inadequate to offer the proper schooling to children of the area, outlined a plan for consolidation; the 16 rural districts would be consolidated and have Delta as the central high school and ward schools where there are enough pupils to warrant.

Floodwaters of the Ohio River, still surging upward to a predicted crest of 52.2 feet at Cairo, Illinois, Tuesday, are holding back the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau, allowing only slight relief from the pressure of high water; Cape Girardeau port warden Lee Albert records only a drop of two-tenths of a foot in 24 hours, the reading here at 8 a.m. being 37.2 feet.

1923

Easter Sunday. Thousands attend Easter services in Cape Girardeau, setting a record for the day, according to local pastors; bright, clear weather and a rapidly soaring thermometer sent hundreds to church in their "Easter best"; a two-week revival ends at Grace Methodist Church with 28 persons professing faith in Jesus Christ and joining the church; an enthusiastic congregation at First Baptist Church pledges $1,233 to assist in paying for the Broadway lot purchased for construction of a new church.

Lower Broadway, the 100 block, boasted the Buckner-Ragsdale store at left and, across the street the three-story Palace Bar. This photo was taken around 1919.Southeast Missourian archive

Lower Broadway, the 100 block, boasted the Buckner-Ragsdale store at left and, across the street the three-story Palace Bar. This photo was taken around 1919.Southeast Missourian archive

John T. Sackman has bought from Betty Hempstead the three-story building on lower Broadway, just east of the building occupied by the Metropolitan restaurant and will have it modernized; he will then offer it for rent; for many years the place was occupied by a saloon.

-- Sharon K. Sanders