Out of the past: Oct. 9

1996

There's no magic dollar amount that the Cape Girardeau School District can afford or people will approve in a bond issue, but an 11-member committee has created a financial plan that would give the district the "biggest bang for its buck"; the committee recommended that the school board approve a $14 million bond issue to fund a two-phase construction project.

A weekend burglary at Jackson High School has school district officials searching for ways to protect valuable equipment; someone broke into the "A" Building through a basement window, making off with a computer and CD-ROM, but leaving the monitor behind; this isn't the first such an incident this school year; someone burglarized Jackson Junior High and stole several small items, and there was also a break-in at the high school's "C" Building; in that instance, nothing was taken, but the building was vandalized.

1971

Cape Girardeau County's new board of visitors will become a reality next week, hopefully ending what has been a long stalemate between the County Court and Circuit Judge W. Osler Statler over whether a new county jail or a juvenile detention home should be built; Statler appointed the six member board -- John Meisenheimer, Lloyd Law, Sister Barbara McCord, Dennis Underwood, Mary Kasten and Mrs. Robert S. Todd -- yesterday.

Construction of the long-proposed Student Union on the State College campus here has been given the go-ahead by the Board of Regents; the board has authorized college officials to prepare an application for federal funds and to appoint a committee to select an architect.

1946

Rep. Orville Zimmerman of Kennett, Missouri, steps in to negotiate with the Office of Price Administration in St. Louis and adverts a near crisis in the construction program in Cape Girardeau, which had been virtually halted when Cape Girardeau Sand Co. suspended operations last week upon denial of a price increase for its product; after consulting with Zimmerman, the OPA authorizes the sand company to resume operations and grants an increase in price to 80 cents, the amount which had been sought.

No. 1 on Cape Girardeau's wish list -- construction of a new municipal swimming pool -- receives an official setback when the Civilian Production Administration rules that no swimming pool costing more than $200 may be started without express permission.

1921

Fire Prevention Day is observed here, with the city firemen answering a call at the home of Addie Jackson, 225 Mill St.; a spark from a defective flue ignites the roof; before the firefighters can extinguish the blaze, the entire roof is burned off; water soaks the walls and household effects, and very little is salvaged.

"Mending Broken Humanity," the sermon delivered at First Christian Church in the evening by the Rev. Charles H. Swift, deals with the problem of the Ku Klux Klan; the minister speaks of the KKK as an organization going about stirring up hatred and strife, while hiding behind masks and under cover of night; a large crowd listens to the sermon with interest.

-- Sharon K. Sanders