Out of the past: Dec. 9

1996

A man waiting for services to begin yesterday at First Presbyterian Church found signs of arson at the Common Pleas Courthouse, next door to the church; according to a police spokesman, the church member found a gasoline can by an outside electrical box; gasoline had apparently been dumped on the box and set on fire.

Not quite two months after being assured their Interstate 55 interchange was on the way, Oak Ridge residents may be in for another disappointment; meeting Thursday in Kansas City, the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission decided to commit to road and bridge projects through 1999, but to scrap the rest of a 15-year plan created in 1992 because of a funding shortfall; both Oak Ridge and Jackson had Interstate 55 interchanges on the 15-year plan.

1971

Clarence Lee Shirrell, vice president of Cape Ready Mix, has been elected by the board of directors to serve a second term as president of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce; Shirrell was president in 1963 and becomes the third man to head the organization twice; the others are Ray W. Call and A.C. Brase.

Two telephones manned by State College student volunteers for four hours each night make up "Rap Line," a new listening service which provides a sympathetic ear to callers with problems; the service is geared toward high school and college students.

1946

Common Pleas Courthouse, undated.G.D. Fronabarger ~ Southeast Missourian archive

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Supreme Court rules the federal government may condemn public park property in the city of Cape Girardeau as a site for a post office, customhouse and court building; Justice H.H. Burton delivers the unanimous opinion; Iska W. Carmack, a descendant of Louis Lorimier, who gave the park land to the city, opposed the condemnation; her objections were upheld by lower federal courts, and the Justice Department appealed to the Supreme Court.

The lights are on again in Cape Girardeau; the sudden end to the coal strike brought forth a blaze of electric signs over the weekend, and today Missouri Utilities Co. crews are preparing the reduced street lighting system for full illumination tonight; weather permitting, the Christmas street lights and evergreen festooning will be installed, with the system to be lit by Friday.

1921

Contractor F.W. Keller plans to take his force of men on Monday to work on Kingshighway south from Cape Girardeau, between the two bridges across the drainage ditches; he completed the final work on the Main and Independence streets paving project today.

Six persons report to Police Chief W.J. Segraves in the morning to answer complaints registered against them last night by members of the department, who found their automobiles parked in violation of the new traffic ordinance; the new ordinance specifies that autos must be parked parallel with the street, with both the rear and front wheels within one foot of the curb on all streets of the city except two blocks on North Fountain Street, where angle parking is permitted.

-- Sharon K. Sanders