Out of the past: June 20

1996

Russell E. Bucklew is believed to have spent the last of his 64 hours of freedom seeking revenge; he was captured Wednesday at 4:26 p.m. on Highway 177 south of Egypt Mills in a stolen truck after allegedly assaulting Barbara Pruitt and her friend Ed Frenzel; he had escaped via the jail trash Monday with the aid of a jail trusty; although Bucklew reportedly attacked Pruitt and Frenzel with a hammer, neither was seriously injured; Pruitt is the mother of the woman Bucklew is accused of kidnapping on March 21 after he allegedly killed her ex-husband.

Elizabeth Dole, in Cape Girardeau yesterday to campaign for her husband and presidential hopeful Bob Dole, found time to visit the Missouri Veterans Home here before attending a late-afternoon GOP rally at the Holiday Inn.

1971

Two hazardous traffic locations within Cape Girardeau will soon have better lighting; seven 400-watt and one 250-watt bulbs were placed at 30-foot mounting heights on Route K at its intersections with Gordonville Road, Mount Auburn Road and the Interstate 55 service roads; also receiving better lighting is an area on North Kingshighway in the vicinity of the Cape LaCroix Creek bridge and the Kage Road junction.

A new Shrine club has been formed in Cape Girardeau in an "effort to foster Shrinedom" as well as extend support for the Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children; officers elected recently are president, Al Fulenwider; first vice president, Kenneth Myles; second vice president, Hugh Logan, and treasurer, John Hale.

1946

A 28-degree temperature drop, bringing relief from a week's heat wave, features the last full day of spring; the mercury fell from a high of 93 degrees at 2 p.m. yesterday to 65 degrees at 9 a.m. today; the turnabout weather includes a light shower.

Taking about the only precautionary measure possible to safeguard the health of swimmers in view of the lack of a purification system, the city has again started cleaning the swimming pool at Fairground Park three times a week, which will continue throughout summer; the program calls for the pool to be emptied on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, with children given a free swim on Wednesday mornings before it is drained in the afternoon; when the pool is empty, a crew scrubs out the interior with a solution of lime and disinfectant before being refilled.

1921

Walter Webb, county school superintendent of Shannon County, enrolls at Teachers College; likewise, James A Dotson of Oregon County, also a county superintendent, signs up for classes in the morning.

The Capahas outplayed the Southlands of Poplar Bluff, Missouri, both defensively and on the offense, in the first game of the baseball season at Fairground Park yesterday; Jean Dale out-pitched Tom Seabaugh, 5-4; a heavy rainstorm at noon threatened to spoil the game and did cut the crowd to 800 paid admission; the first five innings were played in a drizzle.

-- Sharon K. Sanders