Out of the past: April 4

1997

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- A Boone County jury deliberated for an hour and 40 minutes before finding Russell E. Bucklew guilty yesterday of first-degree murder; Bucklew was also found guilty of forcible rape, burglary, kidnapping and armed criminal action; he faces the death penalty or life in prison without parole; the charges stem from the March 21, 1996, shooting death of Michael L. Sanders.

BENTON, Mo. -- The Scott County Commission will resubmit a quarter-cent county sales tax but this time will tell voters exactly where the money will go; Commissioner Dewaine Shaffer said he has heard Tuesday's tax proposal was defeated by voters because it was not earmarked for a specific program; "We as commissioners felt like that was a plus for us; that way we could use the money in the area where it was needed," Shaffer said; "Evidentially the people want to know exactly where it's going."

1972

Is it legal? The question is being posed by some of the 1,474 voters who go to the polls in the morning to vote in the Cape Girardeau city and school elections, but find such difficulties as no signature forms, no ballot booths and no locked ballot boxes.

Cape Girardeau County no longer has a Civil Defense organization; instead, it has a County Disaster Planning and Operations Office, headed by a coordinator instead of a director; the County Court adopted the changes in a court order signed Monday, which supersedes a court order of 1962 under which Civil Defense operated.

1947

Burglars last night carried or hauled away a 250-pound steel safe from the Marquette Oil Co. office building, 16 S. Frederick St.; it contained approximately $65 in cash, $300 in U.S. Treasury bonds, three Eagle trade stamp books, a motor truck title and various other papers; nothing else in the station was stolen.

A new retail firm, the Sides-Miller Men's Store, featuring men's clothing exclusively, will be opened in the near future at 625 Broadway; the structure has been leased from the Clay family by Lowry Miller and Gene Sides.

1922

James A. BarksSoutheast Missourian archive

Carrying every precinct in the city, James A. Barks is re-elected mayor of Cape Girardeau by a 991 majority over his opponent, Walter D. Black; Louis Wittmor, present commissioner, and Roy J. Brissenden were elected to the City Council; in addition, the proposition to bond the city for $125,000 to improve Fairground Park is defeated, 1,461 to 771; the school levy measure for a tax of 100 cents on the $100 valuation for school purpose carries 1,154 to 604.

Construction began Monday on the new tennis courts being built on the athletic field, south of Academic Hall at Teachers College; surveys were made and the approximate location of the 10 courts was laid out; they will at first be made of clay, but later will be filled in with some hard substance.

-- Sharon K. Sanders