Out of the past: Oct. 17

1996

CHESTER, Ill. -- The on-again, off-again project to repaint and renovate the Chester bridge over the Mississippi River is on again; work could start by Dec. 2, a Missouri Department of Transportation spokesman says, but an actual startup date remains uncertain.

Jeff Gordon, last season's NASCAR Winston Cup champion, was in Cape Girardeau Wednesday, where he signed autographs and met fans -- about 400 of them -- for two hours at an invitation-only event sponsored by Auto Tire & Parts; his first-ever appearance here was due mostly to Gordon's sponsorship ties; the primary sponsor on his No. 24 Chevrolet Monte Carlo is DuPont Automotive Finishes, a company whose products are distributed regionally by Auto Tire & Parts.

1971

Six bids, ranging from $148,000 to $311,421, according to the type of proposal offered by individual contractors for the proposed new hangar facility at Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport, are being studied by the Municipal Airport Board; three of the proposals are for a prefabricated steel structure, one for structural steel type, one for masonry and the other for pre-cast concrete.

Firemen at Station 1, Independence and Frederick streets, spent a hectic hour Friday night repairing the overhead door to the pumper and aerial trucks room, after it was jammed shut when a car struck the building; the car didn't hit the door, but the corner of the building and wood support to the door.

1946

Cape Girardeau and Southeast Missouri can definitely have a Naval Reserve Division, with $100,000 annual payroll plus thousands of dollars in equipment, if it can find suitable quarters, it is determined following a conference between local leaders and Capt. Charles L. LaBarge, officer in charge of Navy Reserve in St. Louis; the housing problem appears to rest on the outcome of negotiations by the Airport Board with the War Assets Administration for at least three hangars at Harris Field instead of two recommended by the Civil Aeronautics Authority; a single hangar would give ample space for the naval division.

Official notice is received by the Cape County Selective Board that no more men are to be sent for induction or pre-induction physical examinations until after Jan. 1; the Army has found volunteers are exceeding expectations.

1921

Indications are that every one of the 30 counties in this district will send delegates to the Red Cross regional meeting that will begin tomorrow in Cape Girardeau; the speakers for the meeting have begun to arrive, including Verna L. Weaver, nutrition specialist from Reynolds County, and Susan E. Ramsey and Ava D. Steele, both from the Southwestern Division of the Red Cross.

"I will continue to act as mayor until a mayor is appointed," declares Dr. C.E Schuchert, commissioner of finance and accounts, at a City Council meeting in answer to an expressed doubt as to whether Cape Girardeau has a mayor since H.H. Haas resigned that position; Schuchert quotes Section 8383 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri, which states that in the absence of the mayor or a vacancy of that office, the vice president of the council -- in this case, Schuchert -- is acting mayor.

-- Sharon K. Sanders