Out of the past: Jan. 6

1996

You may not be able to fight city hall, but the parishioners of New McKendree United Methodist Church bought it Friday; the church paid $206,000 for the old Jackson City Hall at public auction; the church property and that of the old city hall join each other on South High Street.

Republican members of the Missouri House of Representatives are calling for changes in chamber rules, many designed to dilute the power of the House speaker; during his 15 years as speaker, Rep. Bob Griffin, D-Cameron, has wielded tremendous power and control over what legislation made it to the floor for debate; Griffin intended to resign Wednesday, but remains in office while Democratic leaders work to unite the party behind the Democratic nominee to succeed Griffin, Rep. Sam Leake.

1971

Organized criminal elements in St. Louis and Kansas City have spread into Southeast Missouri in the form of labor racketeering and corruption of some public officials; that charge was made yesterday as the Missouri Task Force on Organized Crime released a lengthy report on organized crime in the state; the report blames "organized criminal facets" in St. Louis for "featherbedding" at the construction site of the Noranda aluminum complex at New Madrid; it also connects many area burglaries with organized crime.

A resolution initiated in the mid-1950s calling for a study of the Mississippi River waterfront in Cape Girardeau to determine whether a small boat and commercial harbor is feasible will finally come to the public hearing stage in March; the Corps of Engineers will conduct a public hearing March 3 at the Federal Building.

1946

A site for a plant in Cape Girardeau is being sought by the Seven-Up Bottling Co. of St. Louis; the company had a small distributing establishment on Middle Street, but had to give this up and is preparing to move to a new location on North Main Street pending the selection of a site and construction of a plant.

Kenneth Johnston applies for a license to enter the ministry at a quarterly conference meeting in the evening at Centenary Methodist Church, and the board recommends the district conference accept the application; Johnston is said to be the first native youth of the community to seek a license to preach from Centenary; he is the son of Mrs. Martin Johnston of Cape Girardeau.

1921

Dennis Scivally of Cape Girardeau, inspecting state highway engineer for this district, leaves for St. Louis to attend the meeting of the Engineers Association of Missouri, which is holding a three-day session at the Planters Hotel; improved methods of road construction, the recently voted $60,000,000 road bond issue, the high cost of labor and the lowering of the cost of construction are the main questions being considered.

E.R. Whistler goes to Chicago to spend two weeks visiting his uncle, Henry X. Whistler, a former resident of Cape Girardeau; the latter is connected with a motion picture distributing house.

-- Sharon K. Sanders