Out of the past: May 11

1993

The Missouri Highway and Transportation Department will open bids May 28 for the demolition of structures along the new Mississippi River bridge route in south Cape Girardeau; the demolition work should begin in late June or early July.

Joseph E. Doner has been named the new manager of the Procter & Gamble Paper Products Co. plant at Cape Girardeau; Doner's appointment will become effective July 1; current site leader Philip W. Larson, who has been manager of the local plant since 1988, will be come site leader of the Food and Beverage Product Supply Plant in Lexington, Kentucky.

1968

A twin-engine private airplane belonging to R.B. Potashnick, Cape Girardeau contractor, crashed and partly burned near the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport last night, killing the pilot and injuring the daughter of the plane's owner; the pilot, Jack D. Starkweather, 47, of Cape Girardeau was pronounced dead at the scene; his passenger, Mary Harrison of Cape Girardeau, 38, suffered a back injury and a fractured leg.

The Elfrink Construction Co. of Cape Girardeau has been awarded a contract to erect a construction building for Fruin-Colnon Construction Co., which has the contract to build the new Procter & Gamble plant north of Cape Girardeau; building the construction headquarters will be a major undertaking in itself; the building will measure 40 by 90 feet and will be two stories high; it will be constructed near the plant site in the Neelys Landing area.

1943

Cape Girardeau and district are soaked thoroughly as the result of the heaviest rains in recent months; the fall yesterday amounted to nearly four inches; small streams are out of their banks, and considerable damage has been done to farmland, fences and rural roads; the Mississippi River rose nearly five feet overnight.

WASHINGTON -- The War Labor Board steps into the labor controversy holding up construction on the emergency oil pipeline in Scott County by urging strikers to return to the job, which is described as "vitally needed in this war effort"; workers have been on strike since April 28, objecting to working with non-union employees of the Oil States Construction Co. of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the C. Hobson Dunn Construction Co. of Dallas; the strikers also protest the use of armed guards by these companies.

1918

Capt. Paul R. Williams has gone to St. Louis for a few days' visit with his brother; he is recovering from the effects of his late attack of pneumonia, but won't be able to resume his duties in the military hospital for some time.

Amon Nevins, the well-known auto driver, received a postal card from his son, Lynn Nevins, Friday advising that he has arrived safely in France; young Nevins left Cape Girardeau last summer with the Company L boys.

-- Sharon K. Sanders