Out of the past: Aug. 20

1997

Cape Girardeau's school superintendent, Dr. Dan Tallent, stood firm against a barrage of questions yesterday from members of a joint legislative committee charged with developing education funding legislation; Tallent was the first witness to testify during a public hearing before the 18-member Joint Interim Committee on Desegregation and School Finance Issues; more than 60 school administrators and others attended the hearing, which took place at Cape Girardeau Central Junior High School; it was the first of five public hearings scheduled throughout the state to consider how Missouri can move beyond court-ordered desegregation of public schools in St. Louis and Kansas City.

Southeast Hospital is considering construction of a professional medical building; the hospital recently purchased property on Broadway near Pizza Hut to be used for expansion, said James W. Wente, Southeast administrator.

1972

A week of work to maintain the 9-foot channel in the Mississippi River along the Cape Girardeau waterfront has ended for the Corps of Engineers dredge S.S. Kennedy; the sight of the big vessel, with its boom out into the channel spouting sand, attracted many viewers during the week; since 1932, the year the paddle-wheel vessel was built, the Kennedy has been steaming up and down the Mississippi insuring that commerce can move on the river.

The staff of the Cape Girardeau Public Library is boxing books for storage until larger facilities are obtained; the books are being stored in the library, but renting storage space outside the library in Courthouse Park may be necessary within a year, says librarian Martha Ann Maxwell.

1947

A tentative minimum sum of $2,500, considered necessary for revival of Teen Town on an adequate basis, was established last night at a meeting of representatives of community organizations with members of the Cape Girardeau Jaycees; the largest problem facing the project is securing quarters for Teen Town.

With temperatures moving back into the high 90s, Cape Girardeau and the district suffer through another sweltering day, and there is little relief in sight; the mercury hit 98 degrees yesterday, the highest reading in 11 days of this torrid weather and bringing back memories of the July 21-Aug. 6 period, when the temperature reached or passed the 100-degree mark; meanwhile, the Associated Press says the cool air front which Midwesterners were counting on for relief from the heat wave has changed direction and will cool only the northernmost section of the country if it moves eastward.

1922

The simultaneous rival in the 40 Methodist churches of the Cape Girardeau district closes in the evening; the full results of the revival aren't known, but some have predicted 2,000 converts because of the evangelists' efforts.

The home of Dr. D.H. Hope, near the Teachers College, is ransacked by thieves who evidently don't find anything of value after their search of bedrooms; it isn't known whether anything of value has been taken, owning to the absence of Dr. and Mrs. Hope.

-- Sharon K. Sanders