Out of the past: May 19

1998

Mayor Paul Sander last night vetoed a vote by the Jackson Board of Aldermen that would have rezoned property at the intersection of West Jackson Boulevard and Old Toll Road from residential to commercial; the board had voted 5-3 to approve the rezoning; Sander vetoed the decision because he favors waiting to rezone until the Missouri Department of Transportation decides on a plan for the future of Highway 72; the highway could become five lanes under one MoDot proposal opposed by the city.

A $66,674.57 contract for construction of Phase IV of the city's recreation trail was approved by the Cape Girardeau City Council Monday; Nip Kelley Equipment Co. Inc. submitted the low bid for construction of 1,810 linear feet of the trail, which will stretch from North Kingshighway to Lexington along Cape La Croix Creek.

1973

Traffic signals on Kingshighway may soon be activated by the flow of traffic as they were originally designed to do rather than operating on a fixed time basis; Lionel T. Murray of Sikeston, Missouri, District 10 highway engineer, says the State Highway Department is in the process of installing the necessary parts so that the signal lights will function as designed in the traffic activation mode.

Common Pleas Courthouse Park becomes a tree-shaded, sun-dappled art gallery as 57 artists from three states take part in sixth annual Art in the Park exhibition sponsored by Cape Girardeau Creative Arts Guild; the show will continue tomorrow.

1948

Louis A. Kassel, president of the Cape Girardeau Municipal Band, announces the concert season will open next Wednesday night with a program at Courthouse Park; Kassel says a larger band will be on hand than in former years and, while some of the 31 members who were in service during the war haven't returned, their places have been taken by others; director of the band is William Shivelbine.

Missouri Gov. Phil M. Donnelly appoints Russell L. Dearmont of St. Louis and C.D. Matthews III of Sikeston as new members of the Board of Regents for Southeast Missouri State College; they succeed the late Rep. Orville Zimmerman and the late R.E. Bailey.

1923

Loy E. Rast, cotton expert from the Wilson plantation at Wilson, Arkansas, has good things to say about Cape Girardeau County cotton; Rast made an inspection trip through Scott and Mississippi counties in Missouri and the lower part of Alexander County, Illinois, this week; after visiting eight or 10 cotton fields in Cape County, Rast found in only one field will it be necessary to replant, because the seed was planted too deep; some fields are looking exceptionally fine, he says.

Sliding smoothly off its supports and settling into the water with a disappointingly faint splash, the sand boat constructed by the Cape Sand Co. at a cost of nearly $15,000 was launched in the Mississippi River at the foot of Themis Street at 4:55 p.m. yesterday; only a few spectators were on hand to witness the event, even though it is an uncommon sight here; only a few workers and Pete and Linder Deimund of the sand company were present when the boat dipped into the water, settled for a moment and then came up buoyantly; today, the boat is riding at ease at the wharf.

-- Sharon K. Sanders