Out of the past: Feb. 2

1995

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- A 34-year-old homeless man was arrested yesterday, moments after allegedly robbing Commerce Bank West of several thousand dollars; he was arrested on suspicion of robbery of a federal institution just seconds after leaving the bank on foot; between $4,000 and $5,000 was stolen.

JEFFERSON CITY -- Legislation to designate the mule as Missouri's official state animal continues on a fast pace in the House of Representatives; members of the House Tourism, Recreational and Cultural Affairs Committee voted the bill out of committee yesterday; it may be debated on the floor next week; the effort to designate the mule as the official state animal originated in Cape Girardeau with the American Legion.

1970

The first two candidates for the Cape Girardeau Board of Education file in the office of Hal B. Lehman, the school system's business manager; Mary Kasten, an incumbent, and Hilary F. Schmittzehe, a newcomer to the field, announce their candidacies shortly after the filing date opens.

Cape Girardeau's glazed streets spawn an eruption of traffic accidents, 11 of them within a three-hour-and-15-minute afternoon period; most of the accidents are minor, but three injuries are reported; city streets become slippery about midday, after rain turns to freezing rain and then snow; it is the 12th snowfall here this season.

1945

SIKESTON, Mo. -- T-Sgt. Stanley F. Wallace, 35, of Sikeston was one of the American prisoners of war held by the Japanese in the prison camp on Luzon, Philippine Islands, who were released in the daring raid by the Yank Rangers; Wallace is a veteran of 15 years of service in the Army; he was sent to the Philippines in October 1941 and was on Bataan when that peninsula fell to the Japanese.

Twenty-five members of the Cape County Milk Producers Association meet in the petit jury room in the Jackson courthouse in the evening for their annual meeting; a resolution is adopted deploring the "critical and unjust attitude" taken by the City Council and the press of Cape Girardeau regarding the milk situation in this county.

1920

At a meeting of the Cape Girardeau City Council, a petition is received from property owners on Main Street to pave that thoroughfare from Broadway to Independence Street, the majority specifying their preference for brick paving.

There has been a decrease in the number of influenza cases in Cape Girardeau over the last 48 hours, ending at 2:30 p.m.; the total number reported during that time was 36; Saturday there were 23 new cases; doctors believe the peak of the epidemic here has passed.

-- Sharon K. Sanders