Out of the past: Feb. 1

1991

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to relocate and double the space of its Cape Girardeau operation. The company will expand from the current 84,100-square-foot store at 210 S. Silver Springs Road to a 168,000-square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter in Cape West Business Park, off Route K.

Harris Truck and Trailer Sales Inc. has closed its business operations on Airport Road in the Nash Road Industrial Park. The firm employed about 40 people, all of whom were let go because of the closure.

1966

Winter throws its most wicked punch at Cape Girardeau and Southeast Missouri, mixing sleet, snow and a drizzle of rain into an icy package of trouble for thousands. The combination of sleet and snow is measured at between 2 1/2 to 3 inches by Weather Bureau observer Lee L. Albert in Cape Girardeau. The amount of melted water shows the equivalent of 11 inches of snow.

A class of 61 Boy Scouts and Explorers from the 14-county area of the Southeast Missouri Boy Scout Council will receive Eagle badges at an Eagle Court of Honor on Feb. 20. Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Leif Sverdrup, a St. Louis businessman and engineer, will sponsor this sixth annual class.

1941

With cooperation from all sides, the dimes campaign to raise funds in Cape Girardeau to help defray expenses of fighting infantile paralysis gets off to a good start. Throughout the day, a line of dimes placed on the sidewalks on Broadway and on Good Hope Street grows. Many interested people stop to make contributions.

The Cape Girardeau City Council has been asked by the chamber of commerce and the Jaycees to call a special election for reconsideration of a proposition to offer part of Courthouse Park in exchange for the present federal building on Broadway. The park space would be used for construction of a new post office and U.S. Court building.

1916

The Mississippi River reaches the 36-foot mark at Cape Girardeau in the afternoon. The sidewalk at the corner of Themis and Water Streets is covered with water, necessitating the construction of a board walk for pedestrians. Water runs into the Hobbs building every time a train passes.

Yesterday the second term of the public schools began, and pupils were promoted. A new group of pupils was sent from Lorimier School to Central High, and fifth- and sixth-grade pupils are promoted from all grade schools to the higher grades at Lorimier.Jefferson School is so crowded, many pupils have had to be sent from that building to Broadway and Lorimier schools.

-- Sharon K. Sanders