Out of the past: May 20

1999

Power remained out for some AmerenUE customers yesterday, two days after high winds whipped through Southeast Missouri; the Monday afternoon storm left about 44,000 AmerenUE customers without power in Cape Girardeau and the surrounding area to as far south as Oran; by late yesterday afternoon, nearly 3,000 customers were still without electricity, said AmerenUE district manager Doug Groesbeck; many of those customers live in Cape Girardeau.

Sharland Reed is the new executive director of the Family Resource Center in Cape Girardeau; the center was formed in June 1995 as a task force of the Community Caring Council; the center will serve those residents who live south of William Street and east of West End Boulevard; it will strive to bring services to that area of the city, such as an after-school program, GED classes, family counseling and health care.

1974

Judge Marshall Craig rules that Cape Girardeau County Court can build the proposed county law enforcement complex on the County Farm in Cape Girardeau; his six-page ruling says the court “finds that the County Court has acted and further indicates that it will act in good faith and in the best interest of the county”; Jackson city attorney Kenneth L. Waldron says he will recommend that the City Council appeal the decision to the Missouri Supreme Court.

Cape County Private Ambulance Service is moving to a new location; a building at 1458 N. Kingshighway has been leased from the William R. Schott Co.; the service will, after slight building renovation, begin operating from the new location next week, reports George Rouse, owner of the service; the business is currently at 3304 Independence St.; the latter structure is owned by Saint Francis Hospital and will be removed.

1949

Tornado funnels, dipping at intervals out of a rolling, turbulent mass of ground-hugging clouds, damaged a broad area of Southeast Missouri late yesterday afternoon, destroying houses, barns and field crops, but causing surprisingly few casualties; moving out of the northwest and traveling an erratic course, the storm first struck near Fisk in Butler County on Highway 60, moved in on the town, followed a path into Stoddard County where it hit the Bernie area, then moved across country to Parma, Risco and Marston before apparently spending itself; most extensive damage was done in Parma and the farming area west of there.

On the heels of a tornado that swept across a four-county area south of Cape Girardeau yesterday, a hard rain storm, accompanied by severe electrical disturbances, hit the city late last night and early this morning; in its wake, the local storm leaves only minor damage to telephone and electrical service; one building was damaged when a bolt of lighting struck a neon sign at 1028 N. Sprigg St.; the building is occupied by Central Sign and Body Shop.

1924

West Broadway, from West End Boulevard to Perry Avenue, is to be paved; rejecting a remonstrance filed by several property holders who objected to the improvement, the Cape Girardeau City Council yesterday voted to continue with the plans for the paving and ordered estimates and specifications made by the city engineer to be filed; cost of the improvement will be approximately $5.15 per front foot, exclusive of engineering and incidentals; the total approximate cost for the 1,430 feet to be improved will be $13,660.20, this to include a “cut” of about a foot on the street near West End, and the moving of the present rock and gravel from the street.

Vest C. Myers, superintendent of schools at Charleston, was elected president of the alumni association of the Southeast Missouri Teachers College at the annual dinner last night in the Home Economics Building; E.C. Abernathy, class of 1924, was named vice president; Helen Settle, secretary, and professor H.S. Moore, college faculty member, treasurer.

Southeast Missourian librarian Sharon Sanders compiles the information for the daily Out of the Past column. She also writes a blog called “From the Morgue” that showcases interesting historical stories from the newspaper. Check out her blog at www.semissourian.com/history.