Out of the past: Feb. 12

2000

​The Show Me Center is expected to be filled to the rafters this evening for the crucial Ohio Valley Conference basketball showdown between Murray State and Southeast Missouri State University; it could prove to be the largest sellout for a Southeast hoop game in the 13-year history of the Show Me Center; the game will be nationally televised by ESPN2; the game will be a battle for first place in the OVC.

Plans for a $4 million renovation to the obstetrics unit at Southeast Hospital were announced yesterday by the hospitals board of directors; the renovation will convert the Dennis B. Elrod, M.D., Obstetrics and Gynecology Center into an LDRP — labor, deliver, recovery, postpartum — birthing center, says Southeast administrator James W. Wente.

1975

​A Cape Girardeau businessman was killed last night when his twin-engine airplane crashed in dense fog into a muddy field approximately one mile south of Highway 74 and about 3 1/2 miles west of the Interstate 55 interchange with Highway 74; the pilot was identified as Herman C. Todt, 58, president of Todt Industrial Supply; Todt, flying home from Streator, Illinois, was on his final approach to land at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport, when the control tower lost radio contact with the plane; he apparently approached the runway at too low an altitude and probably struck treetops.

Cape Girardeau County Sheriff Ivan E. McLain charges that a House bill introduced by State Rep. Marvin E. Proffer, D-Jackson, is aimed at “discriminating against” his department by transferring the power to appoint deputies and setting their salaries from the circuit judge to the county court in second class counties; McBride, a Republican, also contends the controversy over the location and cost of a new country jail has developed into a “political power struggle” and that his department is suffering because of it.

1950

​Officers for the coming year were recently elected during a meeting of the Cape Girardeau Ministerial Alliance; they are: president, the Rev. C.E. Mount, pastor of First Presbyterian Church; vice president, the Rev. Laurence W. Cleland, pastor of First Baptist Church; secretary-treasurer, the Rev. Vernon A. Hammond, pastor of First Christian Church; Mount succeeds the Rev. R.C. Holliday of Centenary Methodist Church as president of the alliance.

The 40th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America is observed at a special service of worship at First Christian Church in the morning; the pastor, the Rev. Vernon A. Hammond, who has served as a Scout leader for more than 30 years, speaks on the theme “When Jesus Was 12”; leaders and Scouts of Troop 9, sponsored by the church, are special guests.

1925

​Dr. C.E. Schuchert, director of the Cape Girardeau Municipal Band, is attending a meeting of band directors at Jefferson City this week; the meeting is being held to organize lobbying efforts for a bill pending before the State Legislature, which would empower cities with populations of between 10,000 and 15,000 to levy a small property tax for the purpose of maintaining municipal bands.

With 40 acres definitely assured, the drive to secure the required 300 acres of tomatoes necessary for the establishment of a canning plant in Cape Girardeau continues; farmers interested in the project met last night at the public library; at the meeting, it was also decided that the campaign won’t be confined to farmers in Cape Girardeau County; an effort will be made to interest farmers in the northern part of Scott County in the movement as well.

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.