Out of the past: Dec. 28

1999

Finally ... Barbara Blanchard Elementary School was finally accepted by the Cape Girardeau Board of Education yesterday and signed the occupancy permit, which allows the school district to move into the newly-constructed school; Blanchard School, costing $3.4 million, features 18 classrooms, all with exterior windows, marker boards, a sink and ample storage space, and three kindergarten classrooms, each with its own restroom; site work on the project began in October 1997, and the building was scheduled to be ready the following summer; but repeated construction problems delayed the project.

Motorists traveling along Highway 61 in the vicinity of the Interstate 55/Fruitland interchange should expect some 15-minute delays over the next few days; new steel girders — supports for the new overpass driving surface — will be placed along the southbound lanes of Interstate 55, starting this morning.

1974

At a hearing yesterday held by the Missouri Public Service Commission, owners on Crites Street in Scott City voiced strong opposition to a proposal to close railroad crossings at Crites and Delmar streets and install signal lights and gates at three other crossings; the businessmen were all mainly concerned about the Crites closing, which they said would injure their businesses and cause them personal inconvenience.

An allocation of $157,147 in federal funds is expected to be received this school year by the Cape Girardeau School District for operation of Title I programs under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; Title I provides for remedial education for those children whose educational achievement is significantly below normal for their grade level.

1949

The fifth annual holiday basketball tournament, sponsored by College High School, opens in the morning at the Arena Building, with Clarkton defeating Bloomfield 25 to 23 in the first game and Cape Girardeau Central Tigers downing the Dexter High five, 53 to 32.

The Littleten Shoe Co., which started operations in Cape Girardeau in February 1946, has moved most of its machinery from its location at 725 Broadway to its new home on Spring Avenue; most of the shoe manufacturing equipment is on the floor, and a crew of workers and electricians are making the final adjustments prior to resumption of operations, expected some time next week; W.R. Rodgers, president, and his son, Bud Rodgers, secretary-treasurer, say the new plant will afford much more convenience and space for the company, which formerly operated on two floors of the building on Broadway.

1924

The sub-zero weather claims its first victim in Cape Girardeau County; Sylvester Crader, 20, a farmer living near Crump, is found dead in the snow on a highway a short distance from the home of his father, Morris Crader, early in the morning, several hours after leaving his father’s house to return to his own home a mile away; Dr. E.R. Schoen, newly-qualified county coroner, examines the body and announce death was due to a heart attack, precipitated by the extreme cold.

The largest sale of land in Cape Girardeau during the past week was the purchase of the lot at the northeast corner of Broadway and Ellis Street by the Pierce Oil Corp.; the lot, fronting 50 feet on Broadway, was sold for $170 per foot, bringing a total of $8,500; the sale was made for Lizzie Jaeger by the Deevers and Braun Realty Co.; work will start within the next week on what is expected to be the finest gasoline filling station in Cape Girardeau.

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.