Out of the past: May 3

1999

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A DreamWorks jet and some famous passengers made a bit of a stir at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport on Friday afternoon; actress Kate Capshaw dropped her daughter, Jessica, off at the airport to attend the funeral of her former mother-in-law, Juanita Capshaw of Chaffee; passengers in the plane included Tom Hanks, who has twice won an Academy Award for best actor, and his wife, actress Rita Wilson.

MARTIN, Tenn. — Southeast Missouri State University’s softball team left no doubt as to who is the Ohio Valley Conference’s best squad; and as a result, the Otahkians are headed for the NCAA Division I Tournament for the first time in school history; the top-seeded Otahkians completed a dominant OVC Tournament here Sunday, first crushing second-seeded Middle Tennessee 9-0 in five innings in the winner’s bracket final and then routing fifth-seeded Eastern Illinois 7-1 for the championship.

1974

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The strike against St. Louis construction contractors reaches into Southeast Missouri, shutting down one major Cape Girardeau project and threatening another; striking members of Local 513 of the Operating Engineers here, a branch of the St. Louis Operating Engineers Union, halt work at the Saint Francis Hospital site in the morning and threaten a halt on the Student Union building at Southeast Missouri State University.

Special citations to two Cape Girardeans highlighted the closing luncheon yesterday of the 41st Annual Convention of the Federated Garden Clubs of Missouri at the Arena Building; O. David Niswonger, an iris hybridizer, was honored for his work developing new iris varieties; Mrs. T.G. Harris received a citation for her dedication to the development of the Rose Display Garden in Capaha Park.

1949

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John R. Mabrey was sworn in last night as the new mayor of Jackson; several appointed personnel were then named, including Louis H. Schrader as city clerk; Walter E. Kasten, superintendent of sewers and streets; Arthur Crandall Jr., deputy marshal; Walter E. Kasten and Henry A. Loos, special police; August Peetz, night marshal; August Voshage, sexton; and T.A. Quade, city tapper; the new council then directed the Karpark Meter Co. to remove the present parking meters, which yesterday finished a six-month trial in Jackson.

Once again this spring, highway foreman J.L. Rose, who supervises development of Ten-Mile Garden, reports fresh plantings by his workers are being stolen; most recently a nice magnolia plant and six rose bushes were noticed missing; last spring about this time, two magnolias and some evergreen plants disappeared.

1924

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A muddy track doesn’t slow down M. Hamby of the Sikeston High School, as he breaks a seven-year record in the half-mile run with a time of 2 minutes and 7 1/2 seconds at the annual Southeast Missouri High School Track and Field Meet finals in front of the grandstand at Fairground Park; Hamby bests the record set by Aubuchon of Festus in 1917 by 2 seconds.

Speaking on “The Heritage of the Constitution”, John Weirich, representing Cape Girardeau Central High School in the national high school oratorical contest, won first place in the zone elimination trials at the Central High auditorium last evening; second place went to Ella Bondurant of Illmo and third to Walter L. Asling of College High School.

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.