Out of the past: Sept. 23

1996

Bishop John J. Leibrecht blessed the ground at the site of the new Notre Dame High School just west of Cape Girardeau yesterday and asked God for help in the second half of the local effort to raise the $5 million it will take to construct the school; volunteers have already collected contributions of more than $2.7 million in a little more than two months.

J.J. Bittenbinder works a crowd more like a televangelist than a homicide detective; but instead of lecturing on the evils of sin, he speaks about the evils of becoming a victim of crime -- a sad event that doesn't have to happen; a nationally recognized expert on crime, Bittenbinder spoke to a crowd of 500 at the Show Me Center Sunday; the riveted audience learned how to avoid rape, carjacking, burglary and a variety of other crimes.

1971

A damage suit asking a $1 million judgment from a former Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney and a Cape Girardeau policeman is on the docket for the fall term of Federal District Court here opening Nov. 1; the suit was filed under the Civil Rights Act by Douglas Wayne Thompson, convicted murderer of Herbert L. Goss, Cape Girardeau auxiliary policeman; named in the suit are Stephen E. Strom, then prosecutor for the county, and police Sgt. Robert F. Ross.

Sen. Adlai E. Stevenson III speaks to 500 southern Illinois residents in the evening at the Purple Crackle Club; the event is the conclusion of PADCO Day -- Pulaski, Alexander Development Corporation -- which started in the morning at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport and covered tours of industrial and educational assets in the two-county area.

1946

One Cape Girardeau packing plant, closed for two weeks, reopens, while another announces it will be closed until Oct. 1; a third continues limited operations as the meat famine continues with little sign of abatement; Central Packing Plant, which closed Sept. 9, opens in the morning with enough beef cattle on hand for butchering this week; Nenninger Packing Co. reports the beef quota for September has been reached and operations will be halted until next month; and Pipkin-Boyd-Neal, which has continued in business despite the acute shortage of livestock, reports it will function this week.

Richard Mulkey of Cape Girardeau is sworn in as a Cape Girardeau police patrolman, bringing the force to 16 men, including Chief M.H. Morton; Mulkey, who is married, is a veteran of Navy service.

1921

Members of the jury in the case of Luther Little, charged with the murder of Cape Girardeau policeman Willis Martin, reported to the court last night they were unable to agree on a verdict and were discharged by Judge Frank Kelly; the final vote of the panel was nine for conviction and three for acquittal; failure of the jury to agree means the case must be tried again.

H.H. Haas, recently appointed postmaster of Cape Girardeau by President Warren G. Harding, tenders his resignation as mayor of Cape Girardeau at a special meeting of the City Council; his resignation takes effect at midnight Saturday; by law, the council must appoint Haas' successor within 30 days.

-- Sharon K. Sanders