Out of the past: Nov. 12

1997

Cape Girardeau School District finances are stressed to the point that significant changes in spending will be required; school superintendent Dr. Dan Tallent and business manager Dr. Steve Del Vecchio informed the board yesterday of extremely low fund balances during a special meeting to finalize work on the current budget; they said the district is solvent and operational, but available funds are significantly low and spending will need to be corrected as soon as possible.

The Cape Girardeau Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously recommends approval of a special use permit and rezoning request to allow operation of a controversial halfway house program; opponents of the project vow to carry their objections to the City Council; several people speak out against the project, which would serve clients of the Missouri Division of Probation and Parole at the Gibson Recovery Center, a drug and alcohol treatment center at 1112 Linden St.; opponents say they're concerned the parolees will pose a security threat to the neighborhood.

1972

The president of the three million-member Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod, Dr. J.A.O. Preus, speaks at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in the morning; the service is in connection with the observance of the fifth anniversary of the church here and the 125th anniversary of the synod.

Workers have completed razing the old Cape Girardeau Memorial Co. building at 2103 Broadway; Cape Girardeau Federal Savings and Loan Association, which recently purchased the property, reports no definite plans have been made for the site, but it is available for future project development; the monument firm is at a new location on North Kingshighway.

1947

Official information as to the declaration of taking of the post office site in Courthouse Park by the federal government and notice that it has taken possession of the ground are included in formal notices sent to defendants in the post office site matter; an order along this line has been filed in Federal Court; defendants include the city and city officials and heirs of Louis Lorimier.

Lt. Gen. Sir F.A.M. Browning, who has been selected as business manager for the household of Princess Elizabeth of England, is a nephew of the late Capt. George E. Alt of Cape Girardeau; his mother and Capt. Alt's father were siblings; as manager of the future queen's household, Sir Frederick, a cousin of George T. Alt, 436 N. Frederick St., will handle all her financial affairs, supervise the staff and see to the running of the house generally; he is being transferred to the post from the War Office by King George VI himself.

1922

Many of Cape Girardeau's churches forgo their regular evening services, the pastors dismissing their congregations to hear the lecture by Jnananjan Niyogi, noted social science and temperance lecturer of Calcutta, India; he speaks at Centenary Methodist Church, his topic being "India's Struggle with the Strong Drink Problem."

Purchase of a new steamer, the Capella, for use as a transfer boat between Bird's Point, Missouri, and Cairo, Illinois, has been announced by the Missouri Pacific Railroad; the boat will handle passengers from both the Cairo branch of that road and from the Cotton Belt, as at present; the new vessel is on the ways in St. Louis, having its sides coated with steel to protect it while running through ice in winter; it will be rechristened the J.J. Gillispie, in honor of the master who for many years was in charge of the transfer service at Bird's Point.

-- Sharon K. Sanders