Out of the past: April 27

1998

The Otahki Girl Scout Council honored volunteers at the annual Appreciation of Volunteers program Saturday; Carolyn Goodin, president of the Otahki Council, presented the awards; the Thanks Badge, one of the highest awards, went to Jean Bollinger of Cape Girardeau and Joy Braeuner of Oak Ridge.

Facing a problem with mounting paperwork, Cape Girardeau County is considering a new building to store records; county officeholders and architect John Dudley met to look at the feasibility of a county records and archive center perhaps in conjunction with expansion of the county jail; the county began addressing the records problem a number of years ago when the it essentially ran out of storage space.

1973

The Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau climbs above the 44-foot level at Cape Girardeau, the highest in all recorded history; but the Army Corps of Engineers sector office here says levees remain strong, and there is no cause for alarm; Charles Grojean of the sector office discounts unfounded reports the levee at McClure, Illinois, was threatened; he declares, "Right now we can see no reason why that levee will not hold 52 feet on the Cape Girardeau gauge."

A tax-supported rural fire protection district for Cape Girardeau was struck down Thursday afternoon by Circuit Judge Stanley A. Grimm, who ruled the proponents of the district had failed to give valid reasons why he should declare the district organized and call an election; after leading a successful plan to kill the proposed district, a spokesman for the county Farm Bureau says that organization has no plan that would provide protection in the near future; the group of farmers had objected to the proposed real and personal property tax -- up to 30 cents per $100 valuation -- that would have financed the district.

1948

The teaching slate for Cape Girardeau public schools was approved last night by the Board of Education, which established a new guidance department at Central High School; appointed to the post of guidance counselor was Paul Jenkins, principal of Central High for 13 years; his place will be taken by R.L. Sheets, former principal of Washington School and now director of elementary education; Sheets will be succeeded by Paul H. Sturgeon, now superintendent of schools at Bismarck, Missouri.

The Cape Girardeau City Council, meeting Monday, heard an application of the Cape Transit Corp. for an increase in fares to 10 cents or three tokens for a quarter to ride the city buses; but the council delayed action pending further investigation; bus line officials, armed with figures to show the need, presented a lengthy list of items on which costs have risen from the time since operations began in 1941.

1923

Street car service in Cape Girardeau is greatly retarded when a portion of the loop-track on William Street is closed by Dunnegan Construction Co. installing the West End sewer; cars are forced to relay their passengers at William Street and Henderson Avenue; representatives of the Missouri Public Utilities Co., which operates the street car service, and Dunnegan will meet late this afternoon in an effort to smooth out the difficulties between them.

State Sen. Tillman Anderson of Commerce, Missouri, who was arrested yesterday on a charge of taking an adding machine and typewriter stand belonging to the state, has returned home from Jefferson City after posting a $1,000 bond; "This whole thing grows out of politics," Anderson declares.

-- Sharon K. Sanders