Out of the past: May 11

1998

Craig Scheer is just one step away from the majors -- Major League Soccer, that is; Scheer, a 1994 graduate of Cape Girardeau Central High School, is currently a midfielder with the A-League Hershey (Pennsylvania) Wildcats, the top minor league affiliate for the MLS Kansas City Wizards.

Old, new and future Cape Girardeau Central High School alumni are on hand to see the first school flag raised and flown over the school; Board of Education members, administrators, faculty and elementary school students join Central graduates from the 1950s through 1990s to watch the flag raising, which takes place during an all-school assembly on the front lawn; the program is sponsored by the Renaissance Club, a student organization that recognizes excellence in academics and athletics and advocates school pride.

1973

A bizarre hailstorm pelted Cape Girardeau yesterday afternoon, shattering some windows and punching holes in a few roofs, but damage doesn't appear to be extensive; the violent storm struck around 3:45 p.m. and lasted nearly 30 minutes, flooding numerous city streets and snarling traffic.

Three Cape Girardeau County banks -- Farmers & Merchants and Cape State Bank in Cape Girardeau and Cape County Savings Bank in Jackson -- have filed objections to a proposed fourth bank here and will argue their reasons at a hearing in Jefferson City on May 24-25; William R. Kostman, Missouri commissioner of finance, approved a charter for Mark Twain Cape Girardeau Bank on April 12.

1948

Irvin A. Keller, instructor in College High School, will teach a driving course this summer to high school teachers using a dual-controlled automobile, and they in turn will take the lessons back to their own communities for similar classes for senior class pupils; the class will be conducted from July 12 to 16, for eight hours a day in the afternoons and evenings; the course will include safety training and over-the-road instruction.

Cape Girardeau is in the market for a new pound warden; Leonard Beckett, appointed by the City Council just a few weeks ago, has resigned the post; it is reported at police headquarters that calls regarding stray dogs continue to come in, registering complaints about the animals running in packs, across gardens or molesting children.

1923

Dedication of the new Teachers College Education Building will be observed Wednesday evening, May 23, with Missouri's Lt. Gov. Hiram Loyd delivering the main address; commencement exercises for the Training School seniors will be held the same evening, and Hiram intends to address that assembly as well; the Education Building is nearing completion and will shortly be ready for installation of fixtures.

BENTON, Mo. -- The influx of Black cotton help will mean the establishment of several new schools in Scott County; already there are enough Black children living in the Lusk, Missouri, district to establish a school there; more schools will probably have to be established in other districts in the county; Commerce, Missouri, already has a Black school.

-- Sharon K. Sanders