Out of the past: Jan. 21

1995

PATTERSON, Mo. -- More than 600 people showed up at a rally last night to seek changes in the way Lake Wappapello is operated by the Corps of Engineers; the rally was also a show of support for a man who was sentenced last month to 46 months in federal prison without parole on charges of felonious assault of two Corps rangers.

STAMFORD, Conn. -- Thomson Newspapers Corp. has announced it will sell 25 of its smaller newspapers as part of a plan to regroup its newspapers into regional clusters; among the newspapers being sold are the Mexico (Missouri) Ledger, The Sedalia (Missouri) Democrat, The (Sikeston, Missouri) Standard Democrat and The Leavenworth (Kansas) Times.

1970

Sub-zero temperatures and a low water stage create new problems for residents of the Cape Girardeau area and for traffic on the Mississippi River; as the mercury plunges to a frigid 3 degrees below zero, the river stage here drops to 6.3 feet; new ice is developing on the river, and the danger of more gorges forming in narrow spots is among problems facing the Coast Guard, the Corps of Engineers and commercial towboats.

Another outdoor "rink" for ice skaters is announced by Steve C. Propst, superintendent of Cape Girardeau's parks and recreation program; it is on the former stock car track in front of the grandstand in Arena Park; the track is a solid sheet of ice 30 feet wide and extending the full length of the track on the side immediately in front of the grandstand; the ice is being cleaned off by city workers to make it available for skaters this evening.

1945

Between 100 and 200 young people from over the Cape Girardeau district of the Methodist Church are attending the midwinter Methodist Youth Fellowship Institute, which began Friday night at Grace Methodist Church; around 40 churches are represented.

A memorial service for Lt. Kenneth Colmar, a son of Hazel Colmar of Cape Girardeau, who was killed in action Dec. 1 in Germany, is held in the afternoon at the Christian Church; organizations participating in the service are a boys choir composed of fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade pupils of Lorimier and May Greene schools, the Louis K. Juden Post of the American Legion and Boy Scout Troop 9.

1920

School superintendent J.N. Crocker reports a second-semester enrollment of 2,091 pupils in Cape Girardeau public schools, almost the same as last fall; the count by schools is: Washington, 263; Jefferson, 278; Broadway, 366; Lorimier, 414, including part-time school; Lincoln, 210, including part-time school; and Central High, approximately 560.

J.A. Glenn, night watchman for the International Shoe factory, fell down the third-floor flight of stairs in the building Sunday night; he was taken to the hospital, where an X-ray showed no breaks to his leg; it is thought there is a bad sprain, and he won't be able to work for a month.

-- Sharon K. Sanders