Out of the past: Jan. 15

1999

A proposal by the chief justice of the Missouri Supreme Court to appoint rather than elect the state's circuit clerks has met with opposition from the longtime clerk of Cape Girardeau County; the proposal, made yesterday by Chief Justice Duane Benton in his annual State of the Judiciary address, would change the method to select Missouri's circuit clerks; Cape County Circuit Clerk Charles Hutson voices his opposition to the proposal, saying he regards the change as undemocratic.

Southeast Missouri State University hopes to recruit more Illinois students by offering a tuition break; SEMO announces it will offer a tuition break to eligible students in 35 Illinois counties beginning this fall; the area covers all of Southern Illinois and extends to the Springfield area to the north.

1974

The Jackson City Council unanimously resolved last night to ask city attorney Kenneth L. Waldron to investigate the possibility of attempting to enjoin the Cape Girardeau County Court from building the proposed county law enforcement complex on the County Farm at Cape Girardeau; earlier in the day, the court judges voted to build the facility on the 23-acre farm tract.

An Army private in World War II, Col. James R. Crites of Cape Girardeau has been promoted from commander of the 135th Engineer Group of the Missouri National Guard here to deputy commander of the 35th Engineer Brigade at Jefferson Barracks; he will succeed Brig. Gen. O.T. Dalton of Charleston by July 1975; Crites will be succeeded as commander of the 135th by Col. Hal F. Robertson, manager of the Federal Land Bank in Sikeston.

1949

C.A. Juden was elected president and E.J. Bauerle was elected secretary at the organization meeting of the board of supervisors of the Main Street Levee Improvement District yesterday afternoon; Juden will serve a five-year term on the board and Bauerle a one-year term.

The Southeast Missourian publishes a photograph of a scale model of a federal armory building proposed for construction in Cape Girardeau for the National Guard; the structure would be two stories high, with a full basement; its overall size would be 280 feet by 150 feet, with the main floor approximately 220 feet long by 100 feet wide; the entire building would contain 91,670 square feet; city leaders are discussing locations for the armory, with a site in Capaha Park getting the most attention.

1924

Dozens of Black men, women and children, mostly from the South, who came to Cape Girardeau in search of employment here or in adjoining territories, are forced to spend the night either at the Frisco railroad station or by the side of a campfire in the south part of town; no adequate arrangements to take care of the travelers have been made here; last night, 25 to 30 men and women took shelter in the rail station; a number camped south of the Frisco freight depot, while a few slept in the basement of the police headquarters; while many had money to pay for lodging, none was available here for Black travelers.

Charles Schweer, former farmer and now field secretary for the Southeast Missouri Agricultural Bureau, formally announces his candidacy for the Republican nomination for sheriff of Cape Girardeau County; he says he will stand for strict and impartial enforcement of all laws.

-- Sharon K. Sanders