Out of the past: Aug. 23

1998

Grill Guerrillas converged on Arena Park yesterday for day two of the sixth annual Cape BBQ Fest, sponsored by the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's agribusiness committee; competitors came armed with aprons and tongs, not to mention pounds and pounds of ribs, pork steaks and burgers to grill; top honors in the contest went to the team from Davis Farms in Southern Illinois; that team received a $200 prize and the Charles E. Knote Grand Champion Trophy; Knote, who died last year, founded the barbecue contest.

Methamphetamine is ravaging Southeast Missouri; brewed in clandestine labs in the region and smuggled in from California, the illegal stimulant has destroyed lives and taxed the resources of state, federal and local law enforcement agencies trying to combat it; the Southeast Missourian takes an in-depth, week-long look at the meth problem, beginning today with an examination of what makes Missouri a meth mecca.

1973

Work resumes at Cape Girardeau public schools following a five-judge decision in the Court of Appeals in St. Louis yesterday that upheld a temporary injunction against unions and contractors and forcing the withdrawal of carpenters' pickets from school construction sites; if plumbing and water can be at least minimally completed, Lorimier and Washington schools will open Monday; but there is just too much work to be done at Franklin to estimate when classes will start there; Carpenters Local 1770 went on strike Aug. 14 in a wage dispute with the Southeast Missouri Contractors Association, shutting down renovation work at those three schools.

Back in the old days, cattle rustlers used horses for transportation; these days, it seems they're employing helicopters; sheriff's offices in the area have been receiving numerous reports of helicopters making night time flights over farms, with lights beamed toward grazing land or feed yards; most people agree the flights are being made to seek out beef on the hoof.

1948

Cape Girardeau County's new Selective Service Board is faced with an 18-day registration period that begins today; along with caring for the military registration of this county's young men, there is a possibility paperwork for Perry and Scott county registrations may have to be handled here as well; the boards for those counties have yet to secure clerks.

The Board of Trustees of Southeast Hospital orders bids for the new laundry and power house structure to be erected adjacent to the present building; bids will be opened Sept. 13, and construction is expected to begin shortly thereafter.

1923

Plans for a bridge to span the Diversion Channel south of Cape Girardeau are rapidly being pushed to completion, according to Frank B. Newton, district engineer for the state highway commission; early estimates put the bridge's price tag at nearly $100,000; it will span the entire distance between the north and south government levees; it will be located about one-half mile up the channel from the present span and will be 900 feet in length.

The Federal State Crop Reporting Service at Jefferson City says Missouri farmers will seed only 75% as many acres of wheat as last fall; the acreage seeded in 1922 was 3,132,000 acres, and farmers intend to seed 2,349,000 this fall; the reasons assigned for the reduction are the unremunerative price, chinch bugs, Hessian fly, low yields at some points and a desire to put in more hay, possibly corn; some farmers intend to return acres to pasturage, which had been plowed out for grain crops during war time.

-- Sharon K. Sanders