Out of the past: Dec. 26

1995

At first, the Cape Girardeau Central High School Pompom Squad looks like any other -- 24 girls dancing on the court at halftime; then the observant fan looks a little closer: One of those girls is a guy, and he's really good; 15-year-old Neil Totton is Cape Central's first male pompom squad member, no small achievement for a black teen-ager attending a conservative, predominantly white school; but after 11 years of dance lessons, once-a-year recitals weren't enough; it was time to show off his talents.

AutoZone, a retail auto parts chain, has moved its Cape Girardeau store to South Kingshighway and Bloomfield Road; the new, 6,600-square-foot store opened Friday.

1970

A strong guy wire supporting a utility pole in the 2300 block of Broadway near Highway 61 was the only salvation for a Scott City man whose car left the roadway and ran off the bridge over Walker Creek Thursday afternoon; saved from what could have been disaster for him in a 35-foot plunge to the creek bed, the driver was arrested by police on a charge of driving while intoxicated.

Lighting is expected to be installed at two hazardous traffic locations within Cape Girardeau in the near future; the City Council has approved its part in lighting an area on North Kingshighway near the Cape LaCroix Creek bridge and the Kage Road junction; the other location is on Route K at its intersections with Gordonville Road, Mount Auburn Road and the Interstate 55 service roads.

1945

Flat River, Cape Girardeau Central, Elvins, Anniston, College High, Leadwood, Sikeston and Caruthersville turn in victories in the opening round of the holiday tournament in Houck Field House; Hornersville, No. 3 seeded team, and Van Buren, seeded No. 6, are the only favored teams to not come through with a victory.

A Plymouth car, belonging to Al Sanders and stolen last night from near Colonial Tavern, is found on a road east of Illmo, near Grays Point; the thief apparently didn't damage the car, but locked the trunk and other compartments and took the keys.

1920

Margaret Hinchey, after spending the holidays in Cape Girardeau with her parents, leaves in the morning for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to rejoin her company in a singing tour of eastern cities.

Professor T.A. Abbott, graduate of the Teachers College and former pastor of Maple Avenue Methodist Church, has been in Cape Girardeau visiting the W.B. Crites family; Abbot is superintendent of an army school in San Antonio, Texas; he expects to leave here Monday for St. Louis, before returning to his duties in San Antonio.

-- Sharon K. Sanders