Out of the past: Dec. 21

1994

Twice in eight years, voters have rejected a transportation sales tax to fund street improvements; but Cape Girardeau Mayor Al Spradling III thinks the third time will be the charm; he has suggested the council put a half-cent transportation sales tax on the April ballot.

The staff of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Department determined the state's 15-year road plan would be underfunded during a progress review requested by the highway commission; about $2.2 billion of the shortfall came from errors made by department staff in late 1991 and early 1992, when it drafted the plan; another $2 billion shortage could come from changes in federal funding allocations and a change in state law giving counties a greater share of state gas tax money.

1969

Five choirs of the First Baptist Church present traditional Christmas music during the evening worship service; the music ranges from ancient carols of the past to more popularly treated carols of today.

The 911 emergency telephone number system, now well in its second month of operation here, is proving successful except for one thing; about half the calls aren't emergencies, reports Southwestern Bell Telephone Co.; this complaint was relayed to the company by the Cape Girardeau Police Department, which actually receives the calls.

1944

Pfc. Charles M. Holshouser, 30, died Dec. 8 of wounds received in action in Germany Nov. 30, his wife of Cape Girardeau is advised by the War Department; he is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Holshouser of Cape Girardeau.

JEFFERSON CITY -- John A. Ferguson submits his resignation as a member of the Public Service Commission to become executive director of the Independent Natural Gas Association of America; a resident of Cape Girardeau when he was appointed to the commission in 1936, Ferguson has the distinction of having been appointed by three different governors -- two Democrats and a Republican -- a record reportedly not having been held by any other appointee.

1919

The home of A.C. Rief, a Frisco engineer, at 310 N. Pacific St., is badly damaged by fire in the morning, the roof being burned off, the outside boarding being badly scorched and the entire interior of the house water soaked; it is believed the fire starts from a burned out flue.

Two of Jackson's venerable women are called to rest; Laura A. Ranney, about 70 years old, dies in the morning of pneumonia at the home of her half-brother, H.S. McFerron, several miles northwest of the city; she was a daughter of Johnson Ranney; Magdalena Loos Koehler passes away at her home west of the city at the age of 70 years, 2 months and 1 day; her death comes two months to the day after that of her husband, Henry Koehler.

-- Sharon K. Sanders