Out of the past: July 2

1996

Foreclosure on St. Vincent's College will sever the city of Cape Girardeau's ties to the property and to Colonial Cape Girardeau Foundation; thanks to a short-term loan from the Vincentian Fathers of St. Louis, who owned the seminary, the foundation took the title to the property in April 1995; but plans to pay off the loan didn't materialize; after extending the payoff date too many times, the Vincentians decided to foreclose on the property; the city had worked with Colonial Cape Girardeau Foundation to pay off the land purchase.

SIKESTON, Mo. -- The Standard Democrat, Sikeston's daily newspaper, has been sold; Michael Jensen and Don Culbertson, both of Sikeston, and Gary Rust of Cape Girardeau have purchased the six-day-a-week operation from American Publishing Co.; Jensen has served as publisher of the Standard Democrat since 1989, and Culbertson is the former general manager of the paper; Rust is president of Rust Communications of Cape Girardeau.

1971

Up the lazy river it came, calliope playing and paddle wheel churning the muddy waters of the Mississippi; the Delta Queen, last of the nation's overnight river steamers, docked here two hours yesterday afternoon, where approximately 2,000 people lined the levee to greet the old riverboat, and perhaps say goodbye; the Queen is operating under special exemption of the Maritime Bill until 1973, but Congress has threatened to shut down the steamer because of inadequate safety measures to meet the Safety at Sea Act.

The Burton J. Gerhardt Contracting Corp. of Cape Girardeau is asking the city for a special use permit to be utilized at the Idan-Ha Hotel site, Broadway and Fountain Street, giving further indication a solution may be near to the problem of the condemned property; the permit is requested for remodeling and reconditioning of the present buildings to provide 55 apartment units and six or seven retail store outlets on the ground floor of the buildings.

1946

Cape Girardeau's city treasury will swell by an estimated $12,500 this fiscal year under provisions of an ordinance given first reading yesterday by the City Council; the measure calls for an increase of 12 cents in the tax rate from 78 cents to 90 cents on the $100 assessed valuation; city officials stress the action is necessary to meet increased costs of municipal operations.

An inquiry into the airplane falling into the Mississippi River here Sunday afternoon which took the lives of the pilot, Charles J. Petersdorf, and his 14-yeear-old brother-in-law, Henry W. Becker, is being made by Civil Aeronautics Board inspectors James P. Colton and Roy M. Prine; the pair came here from St. Louis yesterday.

1921

Mr. and Mrs. Louis Hecht bought the Dr. C.E. Schuchert bungalow at the corner of Bellevue and Fountain streets, one of the most attractive homes in Cape Girardeau, the consideration being $7,500; they will get possession Aug. 1; although it is in fine condition, the Hechts will make alterations to it before occupying it.

P.E. and John Mollenhour closed a deal yesterday with Charles M. Black, purchasing the Black garage on Broadway; Black and his family are on the way to California, which they intend to make their home.

-- Sharon K. Sanders