Out of the past: Jan. 1

1996

Kala Renise Betts arrives at 6:31 a.m. at Southeast Hospital, the first baby born in Cape Girardeau in 1996; she is the daughter of Latricia Betts of Charleston, Missouri.

Capital Bank becomes Union Planters Bank; Charles Daniel, president and chief executive officer of the new Union Planters operation here, and Benjamin W. Rawlings Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Union Planters Corporation, announce the financial service companies have completed the merger process announced in mid-1995.

1971

A new year -- 1971 -- arrives and with it a new daughter for Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Smith of Malden, Missouri; the child, born at 1:35 this morning at Southeast Hospital, is the year's first baby to be delivered in Cape Girardeau; the infant, named Christy Nico, weighs 5 pounds, 2 ounces, and is the couple's first child.

Two boxcars in a Missouri Pacific freight train derail in Scott City around 9 p.m., startling the residents of Scott City and neighboring Illmo; "It sounded like a big explosion," one resident says; one car is carrying lumber and the other salad oil; damage is minor.

1946

The first baby born in Cape Girardeau on New Year's Day is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Chester Stewart of Charleston, Missouri, who arrives at 10:24 a.m. at Saint Francis Hospital.

More than 200 persons attend the New Year's Day service in the morning at Grace Methodist Church under sponsorship of the Kiwanis Club; True Taylor, superintendent of Southeast Hospital, talks on "The Agenda for Today."

1921

Members of Cape Girardeau B.P.O. Elks Lodge No. 639 enjoy their annual get-together at their spacious club rooms on Themis Street in the evening; the night starts with a banquet and concludes with applause that is loud and long for the cabaret show provided by a hard-working entertainment committee; at the banquet elk meat, secured from Oklahoma, is served.

N.J. Hutson was succeeded by William Browning of Jackson as county sheriff last Saturday and is again a resident of Cape Girardeau; he moved back here the day he gave up the office to Browning; with his family he is domiciled at 343 N. Henderson Ave.; rumor has it Hutson will again become chief of police here.

-- Sharon K. Sanders