Out of the past: Feb. 15

1998

State Sen. Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, won't be running for state auditor this year after all; he announced yesterday he is backing out of the race and will instead support Republican contender Chuck Pierce, who announced Friday he will seek the office; Pierce is deputy state auditor under incumbent Margaret Kelly.

Cape Girardeau County Collector Harold Kuehle has lots of plans for the future, but none of them involve collecting taxes; Kuehle, who has served as county collector for more than three decades, plans to retire when his term ends Feb. 28, 1999; by that time, he will have completed 32 years as the county's tax collector and 34 years in county office; the 62-year-old Kuehle has been in office longer than any other current Cape Girardeau County officeholder.

1973

Gene E. Huckstep, operator of a volunteer emergency extricating service here, shows his happiness upon receiving the 1973 Peace Officer of the Year Award. He cited teamwork between law enforcement agencies as the contributing factor to success of the service. (Southeast Missourian archive)

Gene E. Huckstep, operator of a volunteer emergency extricating service here, shows his happiness upon receiving the 1973 Peace Officer of the Year Award. He cited teamwork between law enforcement agencies as the contributing factor to success of the service. (Southeast Missourian archive)

Gene E. Huckstep of Cape Girardeau is the 1973 Peace Officer of the Year; he was given that honor last night at the Cape Girardeau Exchange Club's annual banquet for law enforcement officers at the Colonial Manor; although Huckstep isn't a full-time police officer, his dedication to law enforcement work and, more specifically, his dedication to the volunteer emergency extrication service he operates earned him the honor.

Doyle Dumas, director of the Southeast Missouri State University Choir, announces the choir will perform a series of concerts in several Western European countries early this summer; the choir will depart from Chicago on May 20 and return June 4; Dumas will be accompanied by LeRoy Mason, head of the Music Division at the university; the group will perform concerts about every other day as they visit Holland, Germany, Austria, France and Switzerland.

1948

Outstripping the totals recorded a week ago, Cape Girardeau Sunday schools set a new February mark, with 3,936 persons in classes; the aggregate is 750 more than attended on a similar Sunday a year ago; there are eight schools held.

In a special meeting of the congregation of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Jackson, it is agreed to make preliminary plans for construction of a new four-room school on the lot west of South Second West Street, a plot of ground measuring 300 by 150 feet and now occupied by the principal's dwelling; the planning committee is authorized to obtain sketches from several architects, from which a selection will be made in April; the expansion is necessary because the present school, erected in 1934, is inadequate to take care of the increasing enrollment.

1923

Pete Deimund, manager of Cape Girardeau Sand Co., announces construction of a steam sand boat to cost nearly $10,000 will begin next week; the boat will be 80 feet long, 20 feet wide, and the hull will be 3 feet in depth; the hull will be constructed at the sand company's pier at Cape Girardeau, and $6,000 in machinery will be put in place there; it is expected to be completed this spring; capacity of the sand company will double with the addition of this boat.

Commercial relations between the Cape Girardeau Northern Railway and the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway will be re-established tomorrow, according to orders issued by the State Public Service Commission after a hearing of the complaints filed by C.G.N. of an embargo placed on it by the Frisco; in reply to the complaints, the Frisco held that a debt of $6,000 was due from the C.G.N. covering rental of cars, which was the reason for the embargo.

-- Sharon K. Sanders