Out of the past: June 10

1997

Area municipal pools have been getting the cold shoulder from residents since Memorial Day because of unseasonably cool weather; Doug Gannon, recreation and aquatics coordinator for the Cape Girardeau Parks Department, said attendance was down by a third during this Memorial Day weekend compared to last year.

The acquittal of former Missouri House Speaker Bob Griffin on federal bribery charges brought a mixed reaction yesterday from Southeast Missouri lawmakers; State Rep. David Schwab, R-Jackson, said the bribery case has given the Legislature "a black eye," regardless of the verdict; State Sen. Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, agreed; "It lessens public confidence in representative government," he said; but state Rep. Joe Heckemeyer, D-Sikeston, accused Republicans of trying to destroy Griffin, a Democrat.

1972

A 35-foot yacht, a late model Chris Craft, was stolen from Honker's Boat Dock in Cape Girardeau Wednesday night or Thursday morning; it was transported four miles down the Mississippi River and 400 yards upstream into the Diversion Channel; it was found there Friday, tied ashore with only the bow and superstructure above water in between 30 to 50 feet of water; the yacht is owned by Charles Foerg of Chicago and had been towed to Honker's dock over three weeks ago after its two 318 horsepower engines broke down near Hickman, Kentucky.

The landfill in South Cape Girardeau, which has drawn numerous complaints from residents of that area the past years it was operated by City Sanitation Inc., is being permanently closed; a new sanitary landfill with a new engineering plan is now being used by the company at a site on Highway 177 about a mile north of the city limits.

1947

In the first year of home-dedicated operation, the traffic bridge returned a net profit of $130,477.60, a report of the Cape Special Road District shows; the report covers the period from June 8, 1946, when the bridge was acquired from private owners, to June 1, lacking only eight days of being a full year.

Although open last week, the summer playground program was given its initial fully supervised start yesterday with 298 youngsters participating in recreation programs at six sites in various parts of Cape Girardeau; the largest attendance was at Fairground Park, where the all-day program drew 80 participants; the other locations are Koch Suburb, May Greene School, Holy Family Catholic Church, Red Star and Cobb School.

1922

Cape Girardeau has been selected as one of seven sites in Missouri that will be considered for the location of the orphanage and school to cost more than $2,000,000 that is to be started by the Brotherhood of American Yeomen within the next few months, according to P.A. Stark, state manager of the lodge, who is here to look over the town; more than 1,500 acres of land are needed for the site of the orphanage.

An invitation is to be extended to William Jennings Bryan, nationally known orator and lecturer, to open the simultaneous revival campaign in the Methodist churches of the Charleston, Missouri, district Aug. 8; Bryan will be here on the Chautauqua platform tomorrow night.

-- Sharon K. Sanders