Out of the past: June 21

1997

Southeast Missouri State University plans to construct new athletic fields at Sprigg and Bertling streets; the improvements include three soccer fields, two recreational softball fields and an intercollegiate softball field; all the fields will be lighted, and restrooms and a concession area will also be built, along with parking for 200 vehicles; the project is estimated to cost $2 million.

Dr. Dale Nitzschke, president of Southeast Missouri State University, will pocket a $6,250 pay raise after just one year in office; the Board of Regents met behind closed doors yesterday and voted unanimously to give Nitzschke a 5% pay raise; Don Dickerson, president of the board, announces the pay hike today.

1972

Relocation of the Missouri Highway Patrol's Troop E area headquarters has developed into a two-fold controversy mixing politics and economy; four Southeast Missouri towns -- Poplar Bluff, Dexter, Bloomfield and Sikeston -- are trying to land the headquarters; in the middle of the controversy are Gov. Warren E. Hearnes, accused of trying to steal the headquarters from Poplar Bluff, and that city of 16,000 which fears the economic loss it will suffer if Troop E moves out.

Christopher "Kit" Bond, campaigning in Cape Girardeau yesterday, is actively courting the support of Democrats and independents, as well as Republicans in his bid for governor of Missouri; Bond said he sees nothing wrong with seeking votes from outside the GOP camp "because in Missouri a Republican needs the support of Democrats and independents to win"; he was quick to point out his loyalty to the GOP, especially his unswerving support for a second term for President Nixon.

1947

Cape Girardeau port warden Lee L. Albert warns of the possibility of a major flood, with a forecast of 39 feet by Saturday, or "higher if there is more rainfall, and more is predicted"; this morning the stage is at 37.42 feet, a drop of almost 5 inches since yesterday morning; a new levee, with a 6-inch pump, has been constructed to protect Leming Lumber Co.'s Mill No. 2: M.E. Leming Jr., owner, says he hopes to have the mill in operation Monday, although Mill No. 1 will remain closed because of high water.

Interest is mounting in the special election on Monday at which a sheriff will be elected for Cape Girardeau County, and some predict a fairly heavy turnout; the campaigns of Alvin Klaus as the Republican banner bearer and Walter H. Ford, Democratic nominee, will close this weekend; the sheriff chosen will serve the 18 months which remain of Sheriff H.K. Sewing's term, after he was fatally injured May 24.

1922

The two-story building at the left with the iron balcony was torn down in 1922. It formerly housed the Charles Buehrmann drug store.Southeast Missourian archive

With the wrecking of the old brick building on Themis Street, between Main and Water streets, said to have been built more than 90 years ago, passes one of the oldest structures in this city and with it memories of the early days when Cape Girardeau was the center of all trade in this territory; in 1870, when the trade on the Mississippi River was at its height here, the building that has given way to pick and sledge was occupied by Charles Buehrmann, who conducted a small drug store on the first floor and lived on the second with his two maiden sisters.

W.H. Bohnsack Jr., a Rotarian, who with John P. Meyers attended the international convention in Los Angeles, today is commenting on the former Cape Girardeau people he saw on his trip, all of whom are prospering; while in Los Angles, he saw brothers William, Ed and Harry Wheeler, who left here 30 years ago; he also visited with Martin Sheridan, attorney Arthur Roehle, Harry Machen, Col. Tom Frissell, Richard Bosse and Ben Adams.

-- Sharon K. Sanders