Out of the past: Feb. 18

1997

Just before sunrise, with a clear sky, sky watchers might be able to catch a glimpse of a comet that is making its first appearance in this neck of the galaxy; the Hale-Bopp Comet was discovered two years ago when it was 650 million miles away; astronomers say its size and brightness will become a beautiful sight in March and April as the comet comes closest to Earth.

Weather observers have been a fixture at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport for decades, but that will end March 5 when the National Weather Service goes to an automated system that will provide continual weather observations from the airport; the automated system will be cheaper to operate; the weather observations currently are handled by a St. Louis area firm, Midwest Weather Inc., under a contract with the Federal Aviation Administration.

1972

It was a full house of prospective Republican governors -- Rep. Steven Burns, State Auditor Christopher "Kit" Bond and Rep. R.J. "Bus" King -- at the annual Lincoln Day Dinner here last night; the candidates, their issues and a surprise announcement from Cape Girardeau County Collector Harold D. Kuehle that he would seek the office of secretary of state gave nearly 1,200 area Republicans something to think about between now and November.

A second woman -- Roxanne Huckstep -- has filed as a candidate for the Cape Girardeau City Council, while no man has yet declared intentions of seeking one of the two municipal posts to be filled at the April 4 election; Huckstep is a junior at State College.

1947

Heralded by a statement that "This ought to show that we mean business once and for all," the Cape Girardeau City Council, without discussion, at its meeting yesterday ordered immediate enforcement of an ordinance passed in early January saying bus companies must locate their terminals along Independence Street and use that street for the major portion of bus travel; the motion that enforcement begin was made by Commissioner Frank Batchelor, who observed, "They (bus companies) haven't paid any more attention to us than if we were Charlie McCarthy here without Edgar Bergen."

Growing out of a strike which began Feb. 7, a suit was filed in Common Pleas Court yesterday by Master Baking Co., 700 Broadway, against 19 striking union employees; the suit asks the court to rule that a contract was in force and that employees, in walking off the job, violated that contract.

1922

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Fire of undetermined origin last night caused $25,000 here, destroying the Parks Flour Mill and badly damaging the Bank of Marble Hill building; also destroyed were buildings housing W.D. Allen's blacksmith shop and George Conran's law office, as well as a number of small frame structures; the Alexander garage also sustained a heavy loss.

Hazel Huhn, Cape Girardeau girl and college junior, was named "Princess of the Sagamore" in a Vanity Fair contest that closed yesterday at Teachers College; a total of 344,800 votes were cast for the winner; she led her nearest rival, Margaret LaPierre of Jackson, by 79,500 votes.

-- Sharon K. Sanders