Out of the past: Feb. 17

1999

The City of Jackson formally committed last night to an intergovernmental agreement that would accelerate improvements at the Highway 61-Interstate 55 interchange called Center Junction; the improvements would be financed and carried out by a not-for-profit corporation composed of the cities of Jackson and Cape Girardeau, Cape Girardeau County and developer Jim Drury; Cape Girardeau also approved the agreement last night, and the County Commission is scheduled to consider it soon, leaving the next move to the Missouri Department of Transportation.

The late Margaret Woods Allen of Sikeston bequeathed $860,000 to the Southeast Missouri State University Foundation through her estate; the money will support programs in the Donald L. Harrison College of Business and the nursing and music departments.

1974

The Rev. Robert Jank, a former missionary to India and pastor of local Lutheran churches, has been awarded the 1974 St. Paul the Apostle Award by St. Paul's College in Concordia; Jank, a 1921 graduate of the college, was cited as the outstanding alumnus of the year on the basis of his contributions as a missionary, congregational pastor and Army chaplain during his career.

The Rev. Ed Wilkinson is the new pastor of New Testament Christian Church in Cape Girardeau, replacing the Rev. Orby Beard; Wilkinson formerly served as the associated minster of First Christian Church in Bridgeport, Illinois; he and his wife, Cathy, have one daughter, 5-month-old Carrie Denise.

1949

Cape Girardeau may soon be using the sanitary fill method of handling the refuse problem at Arena Park, if plans now in the making to purchase a combination bulldozer and high lift materialize; under the sanitary fill method, the bulldozer blade would be used to dig a deep trench into which garbage would be thrown; when filled, a second trench would be dug, and the dirt from it would be used to cover the first.

Hundreds of pieces of children's clothing were destroyed or damaged by a fire which seared the rear stockroom of Mercer's Tot-Teen Shop, 127 N. Main St., in Cape Girardeau last night; the estimated damage is placed at more than $10,000; the building is owned by V.J. Clemens, while the store is owned by Christine C. Mercer.

1924

Girardeans say farewell to the Rev. and Mrs. J. Richard Spann; the former resigned the pastorate of Centenary Methodist Church last week; he and his wife will leave tomorrow for a short trip through the East, before he takes up his duties as head of the department of city administration in Southern Methodist University at Dallas, Texas; Spann's sermons at both the morning and evening services at Centenary are in the nature of farewells to the many friends he and his wife have made in their 16-month residence in Cape Girardeau.

A Black Baptist church has been organized in Smelterville and was formally opened last Sunday; the Rev. M.E. Edwards is pastor of the church, which has these officers: William Brewster, president; J.W. Wilcox, vice president; George Birdell, secretary, and Mrs. F. Fennell, treasurer.

-- Sharon K. Sanders