Out of the past: June 19

1998

Efforts by local merchants to make downtown Cape Girardeau more attractive and inviting are being undercut by the actions of a thief who has stolen 16 hanging baskets that graced the downtown streets; Kent Zickfield, a member of the Downtown Merchants Association beautification committee, says someone has intentionally and systematically stolen the flower baskets that the committee just recently hung in the downtown area; on Sunday night, six of the 18 baskets were stolen; the next night, six more were stolen; Wednesday night, four of the remaining six were taken.

Residents in Oak Ridge have waited 29 years for an interchange at Interstate 55 and the Route E overpass; this week, they received news that the interchange is set for construction; it's been a bumpy ride for Oak Ridge residents, who have been lobbying for the interchange since plans for I-55 were drawn in 1969; the Oak Ridge project is on a list of regional priorities and has been placed on the construction schedule for 2000.

1973

The trimester-modular scheduling plan at Cape Girardeau Central High School will continue next fall; Dr. Arthur Mallory, state commissioner of education, rules that since a contract is involved, a majority vote of the board is required for a passage of a motion and, therefore, a motion to discontinue the scheduling plan failed to pass at the June 11 Board of Education meeting on a 3-3 vote.

"Anyone who does not think we have problems has been asleep," said Dr. W.T. Holland, pastor of First Baptist Church here, in welcoming a large crowd to the church last night for discussion of the controversy raging over alleged mishandling of funds of the Missouri Baptist Convention; the three-hour meeting heard accusations, pleas for solutions and intense oratory; after all the talk, however, there was no clear-cut winner, although many questions were brought to bear by some of the key figures of the controversy.

1948

Cape Girardeau's parking meters will be put into operation Monday, says Mayor Walter H. Ford; pennies and nickels will be used; all meter stands have been cemented into place in the city's business districts, and workers are in the process of mounting meters on the stands; painting crews are working each night outlining the 22- to 24-foot parking stalls at the curbs; only stalls on Broadway remain to be painted.

A group of Main Street business men may ask the Cape Girardeau City Council to convert the parklet to the south of the Frisco passenger station into a public parking lot; the parklet is owned by the city and formerly was maintained by the Frisco Railroad; in recent years, however, the railroad turned back maintenance to the city.

1923

Bingo and other games of chance played with corn or tickets will hereafter be abolished in carnival shows in Cape Girardeau; in addition, the City Council is considering raising the charge of $25 per day for carnivals to $50 a day.

ORAN, Mo. -- Fritz Bailey, 17, a young farmer, was instantly killed yesterday afternoon, when he was struck by a bolt of lightning while working in a wheat field near his home, one mile west of here; Bailey had been driving a wheat binder and was preparing to unharness the four mules being used to pull the binder, when he was struck; the mules were also killed, and Bailey's half brother was knocked unconscious.

-- Sharon K. Sanders