Out of the past: April 12

1997

TAMMS, Ill. -- The Illinois communities of Tamms and Pulaski are reeling after a double homicide, abduction and two high-speed chases Thursday night and early yesterday morning; the incident started as an apparent robbery at D&M Quick Shop, near Tamms at Highway 127 Thursday; store owner Donald Murphy, 62, of Tamms and a customer, Gary Wheaton, 43, of Mill Creek, Illinois, were shot and killed at the shop; another customer was abducted, beaten and shot and is in serious condition at a local hospital.

Connie Simmons, a Cape Girardeau pediatrician, was honored for her contributions to the community Thursday, when she was given the 1997 Womancare Award at the annual Woman Care Conference, sponsored by Saint Francis Medical Center.

1972

Construction of the section of Interstate 55 from Fruitland to Oak Ridge, contracted first among the projects remaining for completion, lags far behind all the others; since the Bernard McMenamy Co. of St. Charles, Missouri, received the contract for this 7.5-mile section of I-55 on Sept. 25, 1969, four other sections, contracted after that date, have been completed and three others are running far ahead in their construction progress.

A race is assured in the November election for the office of Cape Girardeau County sheriff with the filing yesterday of Herbert H. Riehn, county coroner; unless others file, Riehn, a Democrat, will face incumbent Sheriff Ivan E. McLain, a Republican.

1947

Wayne Goddard, State College graduate and one of the greatest sports luminary in the history of the institution, has been appointed football coach, co-coach of the track team and co-instructor of physical education at the college; he succeeds Emmett R. "Abe" Stuber, who recently resigned to take up head football coaching duties at Iowa State College at Ames.

Continuing to inch its way upward, the Mississippi River this morning is at 34.3 feet, a rise of 1.1 feet in 24 hours; it lacks just seven-tenths of a foot from covering the Frisco Railroad tracks and Water Street; preparations are being made by the Red Cross to aid Smelterville residents who wish to move from their homes before the water comes in; arrangements have been made to store all furniture in the Park Theater; white families escaping the flood will be housed at the Arena Building, while Black families will be cared for at the Negro Masonic Lodge.

1922

The Mississippi River rose another seven inches overnight, sending the waters over the sidewalks on Water Street and cutting off traffic on that thoroughfare; water crept into the basements of the business houses along Water Street, and in a number of places water stands on the main floors as well; South Cape Girardeau -- a large lumber manufacturing district -- is partially under water; attempts are being made to prevent stacks of lumber from floating away; people living in the area are abandoning their homes for drier locations.

Louis Blattner, a farmer living on Bloomfield Road, has purchased a Holstein bull expert breeders say is the finest of its type ever brought to Missouri or southern Illinois; the animal was purchased from the college of agriculture at the University of Wisconsin.

-- Sharon K. Sanders