Out of the past: Dec. 14

1999

​MARBLE HILL — A Houston, Texas-based company may build a $200 million, peak-energy power plant in Bollinger County; the Bollinger County Commission is negotiating with Duke Energy North America, which would pay money to the county in lieu of taxes; the company wants to build a plant to generate electricity during periods of peak demand and sell it to other utilities.

Despite the recent steady rains, Southeast Missouri remains in a severe drought, with rainfall still measuring more than 10 inches below normal for the year; the more than 4 inches of rain that have fallen in Cape Girardeau so far in December ended seven straight months of below-average precipitation, a string that equaled a record set in 1936 during the Dust Bowl years.

1974

​Nearly half of the sun was eclipsed by the moon Friday morning, and students in the Southeast Missouri State University physics department lined up on campus to observe the celestial event under nearly perfect conditions.

Cape Girardeau may soon have an arts and crafts gallery, if the Southeast Missouri Council on the Arts, formerly the Cape Girardeau Arts and Recreation Council, can find adequate facilities, the Council Board of Directors announced; the council is asking the public to help it find accommodations; “Perhaps a Good Samaritan can be located to donate an older building that could be renovated,” says council director Sharon Dow.

1949

​The State College Alumni Association has offered the College Board of Regents a $1,000 fund to be used as an investment, with the income to be applied toward a scholarship for the highest ranking freshman student at the college during his sophomore year; income from the investment will be applied on the student’s tuition.

Katherine Kennedy, Dunklin County home agent for the past six years, has been named home agent in Cape Girardeau County, announces A.D. Arnhart, extension agent; Kennedy, who will assume her duties Jan. 1, will succeed Ruth Crowley; the latter has accepted a position on the state 4-H Club staff and will be quartered in Columbia.

1924

​Enough Christmas trees to landscape a large park were brought down on the steamer Cape Girardeau on Saturday morning, the first being consigned to various local grocers; more than 300 trees were in the shipment that, it is said, won’t begin to supply Cape Girardeau’s demand; an average-size spruce tree costs $1.50, local grocers say, with larger ones selling between $2 and $3; the prices are up from last year.

Riverside Lumber Co. will start work in January on a new structure to house its plant, to be located on the lot occupied by the old building that was recently destroyed by fire; the building will be of brick, one story high and will represent an investment of approximately $15,000; the office and sheds will occupy the whole lot, about 120 by 180 feet, and the building will be made as nearly fireproof as possible.

Southeast Missourian librarian Sharon Sanders compiles the information for the daily Out of the Past column. She also writes a weekend column called “From the Morgue” that showcases interesting historical stories from the newspaper.