Out of the past: June 29

1995

In an effort to improve safety at a dangerous crossing, traffic lights are being raised for the intersection of Interstate 55 and Highway 61 between Cape Girardeau and Jackson, also known as Center Junction; numerous accidents there prompted the highway department to place the traffic lights at the intersection; they should be operational in two weeks.

A month of deliberation on the Oak Ridge or Jackson interchange dilemma climaxes in a two-minute news conference, where the Cape Girardeau County Commission says Oak Ridge's exit ramps should be completed first.

1970

Spec. 5 Earl W. Tharp Jr., 20, son of the Rev. and Mrs. Earl W. Tharp of Cape Girardeau, was killed Friday afternoon as a result of hostile enemy mortar fire at his base camp in Vietnam; he volunteered for the Army in June 1968, after graduating high school; he attended Officers Candidate School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and had been accepted for helicopter pilot training to begin after his tour of duty in Vietnam.

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Rep. Vernon Bruckerhoff files a legal deposition with the U.S. Department of Transportation that will require the Chester (Illinois) Bridge Commission to answer a series of complaints involving the operation of the bridge; most of the complaints center around tolls, which some deem excessive, and withholding information concerning the financial details of the bridge operation.

1945

A group of men representing the service clubs, Jaycees, the schools and two labor organizations of Cape Girardeau meet at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce office with Philip H. Steck, head of the city health department, to discuss the matter of establishing a new municipal board of health to replace the one that resigned about three years ago; Steck assures the men he would gladly recommend four doctors for the board, if they will agree to serve.

Louis Blattner Jr., operating the Sunny Hill Farm on Bloomfield Road, is finding much use for his pickup and field hay-baling rig since labor is short; a one-man machine, it can process from 700 to 800 bales of hay per day.

1920

For 15 or more years, some old buildings on the riverfront below Cape Girardeau have stood as markers of an enterprise that "went by the board"; these old buildings, collectively known as the "Smelter Plant," and the 15 acres on which they stand are sold by the Cape Girardeau Smelting & Manufacturing Co. to Anton Haas for $2,800 at public auction.

C. Elsasser of West Lebanon, Indiana, is an interested and interesting visitor in Jackson today; just 60 years ago, Elsasser was a resident of Jackson and worked in a shoe shop in a building that stood on the ground that is now part of the public square; Elsasser finds no one here he remembers.

-- Sharon K. Sanders