Out of the past: Dec. 20

1998

Christmas decorations are going up at Shepherd's Cove Children's Home near Gordonville, a sign that things are moving ahead on schedule; foster parents Howard and Danielle Bellew and their six foster children moved into the house last week; the children's home is a project of Abundant Life Church in Gordonville and has been on the drawing board several years.

WASHINGTON -- On a day of history and upheaval, President William Jefferson Clinton was impeached yesterday by the Republican-controlled House for perjury and obstruction of justice; a defiant Clinton rejected calls for resignation and vowed to remain in office "until the last hour of the last day of my term."

1973

Wind-blown snow nearly a foot deep in portions of Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois left one person dead, cars and trucks jammed along highways, schools closed and mail deliveries delayed; winter's first major assault on the area began yesterday with rain that turned to snow late in the afternoon; by this morning, the scenery is beautiful, but few pay attention as they devote their energies to digging out their cars and skidding to work; Cape Girardeau's official snowfall measures 5 inches.

City employees will be getting a 5% cost-of-living salary increase; the wage increase was approved by the Cape Girardeau City Council last night; the pay raise becomes effective Jan. 1 and will be reflected in the payroll of Jan. 15.

1948

Cape Girardeau swings into the final days of the Christmas buying season with indications of swelling crowds and heavy last-minute purchases, while observances of the Yuletide season started yesterday in Sunday church services with song and story; to aid those who must do their buying this week, stores in Cape Girardeau will remain open until 8 each night, with the exception of Friday, Christmas eve, when following a custom of years, they will close at the usual time.

Virtual complete normalcy has been restored to Mississippi River traffic in this area, it is reported by the U.S. Fleet, although some dredging work is still going on; the river here is 8.2 feet in the morning, a fall of four-tenths of a foot under the Sunday mark; helping with river navigation south of here is the fact that the Ohio River is on the rise.

1923

BENTON, Mo. -- Benton's community building is assured; the last of the 67 lots which were offered for sale to raise the money to finance the construction of a suitable community meeting place has been sold, and the contract for the new structure is to be let within a few weeks; approximately $4,000 was raised by the sale of the lots, and the remaining part of the $6,000 necessary for the building has been raised by popular subscription; the village has purchased 12 of the lots in the subdivision two blocks east of the courthouse, which will be made into a park, while eight more will be used for a playground; the community building will be erected in the center of the tract.

W.A. Juden, a former resident of Cape Girardeau, now located at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is preparing to move his family back to this city and has purchased the Thomas S. Lilly home at 221 Merriwether St.; he will return here with his wife and a daughter; Juden is a brother of Charles Juden of Cape Girardeau and a nephew of J.T. Nunn; two other brothers live in Texas.

-- Sharon K. Sanders