Out of the past: Oct. 15

1998

Gov. Mel Carnahan lost out to his father when it came to naming Southeast Missouri State University's renovated social science building; the university officially dedicated the nearly century-old structure yesterday afternoon, naming it A.S.J. Carnahan Hall in honor of the governor's father; the Carnahan family -- including Mel Carnahan and his wife, Jean, and their children -- were among the 200 guests who attended the outdoor celebration.

The Cape Girardeau Planning and Zoning Commission met yesterday with Missouri Department of Transportation officials and representatives from QST Infrastructure, the state's consultants on the Highway 34-72 corridor study; the commissioners told the visitors widening Highway 34-72 through Jackson won't solve traffic congestion on Route K and might even add cars to the already crowded roadway.

1973

Preliminary enrollment figures for the fall semester at Southeast Missouri State University show a total head count of 7,632 students, the largest in the 100-year history of the university; the unofficial figure was released Saturday by Dr. Mark F. Scully, university president, at an Alumni Association luncheon.

At least three new business are preparing to open in Cape Girardeau; the new Ponderosa Steak House in Town Plaza will open Monday, Oct. 22; two new businesses operated along the handicraft lines, employing leather and jewelry, are Catalyst, 117 Themis St., and Leather Lion, in the former barber shop quarters in the Marquette Hotel building.

1948

The traditional two-day session of the district teachers association hereafter will be alternated with a single-day program, beginning next fall, as the result of withdrawal from the organization of some 2,000 St. Louis County teachers; the formation of a separate association of St. Louis County teachers means a loss of $400 to $500 in revenue from dues to the southeast district group.

Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Delta, as new high school centers under the three-district school reorganization plan recommended by the Cape Girardeau County Board of Education this week, would add several hundred pupils to each and many thousands of dollars in assessed valuation to their teaching systems; Cape Girardeau, as center for nine rural districts, would gain 341 pupils on the basis of present grade school enrollments in those county schools; the high school figure would expand the number even more, although the exact number hasn't been determined.

1923

The Southeast Missourian announces it will take part in the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Southeast Missouri State Teachers College by issuing a special illustrated supplement showing the development of the institution; the section will be part of the newspaper's Oct. 25 edition.

Gilbert Bowers of Chaffee, Missouri, a lineman for the Missouri Public Utilities Co., is brought to Saint Francis Hospital in Cape Girardeau suffering with a broken leg; he was hurt when a telephone pole on which he was working broke and fell to the ground, striking his leg.

-- Sharon K. Sanders