Out of the past: Dec. 29

1999

Two St. Louis-based companies have expressed an interest in developing cost estimates to build a new Cape Girardeau high school; representatives from Glenn Construction Co. and Wm. B. Ittner Inc. will submit cost and design estimates to the school board next week explaining what they believe it would cost the district to build a functional high school to hold about 1,600 students.

A number of the nation’s banks will remain open on New Year’s Day, but not in Cape Girardeau; a check with all banks in the city reveals that some workers will be at each bank, but the institutions won’t be open; the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will check on all banks to make sure everything is working well as the Y2K computer bug approaches.

1974

Tom Runnels is a man with a heritage; his father trapped, his grandfather trapped and his grandfather’s father trapped; Runnels, an accomplished sculptor well-known in the area, now traps the area around his home in Marble Hill, where the family has lived for generations; he shared some of his knowledge recently with two young Cape Girardeau boys, Eric Wisner and Kirk Bowman, when he took them on their first trapping trip.

Mark Beussink didn’t have his normally good shooting eye; the high-scoring Notre Dame senior had scored only eight points and had repeatedly missed his best shot throughout the game; but Beussink made the one shot that mattered, a 15-footer with five seconds left in the game at Houck Field House, to give the Bulldogs a 51 to 49 victory over Charleston last night and the championship of the University High Christmas Tournament.

1949

LUTESVILLE – Several blasts from a Highway Patrol riot gun, following a 90-mph chase over treacherous Highway 34 yesterday afternoon, brought to an abrupt end the two-day crime spree of a 27-year-old Illinois man, which included a burglary, armed robbery and the theft of three automobiles; he was taken into custody at the end of the chase eight miles west of here by Trooper D.E. Crites, who exchanged several shots with the bandit.

The Lloyd Dale Clippard Post of the VFW will sponsor a new Boy Scout troop in Cape Girardeau, with sons of members forming the nucleus, it is announced following a meeting of troop committeemen and Scout officials; Murray Grace will be scoutmaster and Ben F. Wiseman assistant scoutmaster.

1924

The Cape Girardeau City Council issues a permit to Pierce Oil Corp. to construct a gasoline filling station at the northeast corner of Broadway and Ellis streets; the oil company complied with all stipulations of the ordinance and has releases signed by Lizzie and Joseph Jaeger, F.F. Braun, Glenn C. Hope, F.M. Finney, Fred Bauer, E. Frisch and J.L. Jones; in order to erect a filling station, property owners within 300 feet must give their consent.

Temperature in Cape Girardeau, under a cloudy sky, is beginning to slowly ascend, following the third arctic wave of the winter which struck Saturday night, bringing with it what is said by some to have been the coldest December weather since 1917; yesterday morning, when the cold snap was its worst, the mercury here stood at 8 below zero.

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.