Out of the past: Feb. 22

1997

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- An investigation into the fire that destroyed the Mississippi County Courthouse has turned up no suspects, and it could be months before anyone is charged, investigators say; it has been over a week since investigators determined that the Feb. 10 fire at the 96-year-old courthouse was deliberately set; "It's obviously not progressing as fast as we'd like. We have a few leads that we have been following up on but we probably have a ways to go," said Butch Amann, an investigator with the Missouri fire marshal's office.

Bruce Loy, a licensed commercial pilot who previously was an airport manager in Washington state, is the new manager of Cape Girardeau Regional Airport; he will take over as head of the airport here April 2.

1972

Jefferson County is in Southeast Missouri's 10th District under a new Missouri congressional redistricting plan; the possibility of the district gaining Jefferson County, next door to St. Louis, generates considerable opposition, and the new plan submitted today by a special three-judge court is expected to draw fire.

The Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors names David A. Graves of Cape Girardeau acting executive secretary of the chamber; Graves manager for 20 years of Montgomery Ward Co. here until he retired in 1969, replaces Willard A. Robinson, who died of a heart attack Feb. 12.

1947

Ten families in which there are 32 children will be cut from the general relief rolls and must face the remainder of the winter with greatly reduced incomes as the result of orders received Friday by the Cape County Welfare Office providing a cut in general relief funds; in addition 56 other clients, including 26 families with 61 children, will find their general income -- in many cases the only source -- greatly reduced.

An explosion at his machine shop at 539 N. Main St., costs Charles E. Adkins, 43, his left hand; the remainder of his body is virtually untouched by a tank blast which rips three windows out of the building and cracks panes of four others; the shop has a number of the 165-gallon torpedo-shaped tanks, built as belly tanks for airplanes; owned by Kelso Oil Co., Adkins was preparing them to be used as storage tanks by farmers.

1922

Cape Girardeau Rotarians observed the 17th anniversary of the founding of Rotary, the 190th anniversary of the birth of George Washington and Rotarian John P. Meyers' birthday all at one celebration last night in the Elks Building; women were guests at the banquet, with married members bring their wives and bachelors their "best girls."

Thirty-one instruments for the 140th Infantry Missouri National Guard band arrive here and are being unpacked in the guard headquarters; bandmaster O.T. Honey of Chaffee, Missouri, is superintending the work; the instruments cost approximately $3,000; they are all silver, with gold trimmings.

-- Sharon K. Sanders