Out of the past: Feb. 18

2000

​The FBI’s 165-page investigative report of a police conflict with a crowd of about 150 people blends together sometimes conflicting views of more than 50 people on what happened in the 400 block of Good Hope Street on June 11, 1999; but the combination of interviews, medical reports, police reports and witness lists gives no final opinion from the FBI on possible violations; that is left up to the U.S. Department of Justice, says FBI Agent Mike McComas.

Rick Hetzel will remain chief of the Cape Girardeau Police Department after removing himself from consideration for an identical post closer to his hometown; Hetzel says he told Columbia city officials earlier this month to remove his name from the list of candidates to become that city’s new police chief; he adds, he has no desire to leave Cape Girardeau and isn’t seeking a job with other departments.

1975

​Jackson could end up being the location for a new state school for the handicapped as a result of the Cape Girardeau Board of Education’s disagreement over providing the Missouri Department of Education land for the proposed facility; the Jackson City Council voted last night to “support and encourage” a Jackson Chamber of Commerce attempt to provide land for the $775,000 school for the severely handicapped, which would replace State School No. 11 on the County Farm between Jackson and Cape Girardeau.

A veteran state highway patrolman and two longtime area educators will be recognized for meritorious services at the 99th convention of the Southeast Missouri District Teachers Association in Cape Girardeau on March 13-14; sharing the spotlight will be Sgt. Joe Matthews, safety director of Troop E of the Missouri Highway Patrol; Carl Wright, a retired social studies teacher at Sikeston; and Dr. Mark F. Scully, retiring president of Southeast Missouri State University.

1950

​A “watchful waiting” policy still prevails along the Birds Point floodway front in Mississippi County, with the Mississippi River receding only slowly, and the threat to soggy levees remaining; strengthening of the levee in the Dorena area continues, but there is a feeling that the fight to save the floodway from complete inundation has been won.

Rumblings deep in the earth and sudden sounds in the night, combined with an 18-inch settling of a big section of earth, has created a mystery for residents of the northeast part of Cape Girardeau; the district affected is in the St. Vincent’s Park addition, about one quarter mile north of Country Club Drive at Vincent Avenue and approximately a quarter of a mile east and over the hill from the Standard Hatchery on Bend Road; the settling on a hillside continues day by day, growing deeper and extending its radius ever wider.

1925

​Louis Houck, 83, pioneer railroad builder, distinguished Southeast Missouri citizen, author and attorney and for more than 38 years a regent of the State Teachers College in Cape Girardeau, died last night at his rural home, Elmwood; born in St. Claire County, Illinois, he lived in that state until 1869, when he moved to Cape Girardeau; he is survived by his wife, Mary Hunter Giboney Houck; a son, Giboney Houck; daughter, Rebecca Frissell; and four grandchildren.

Alfred L. Harty, 55, widely known Southeast Missouri banker, is the new president of Sturdivant Bank in Cape Girardeau, succeeding Will Hirsch, who resigned Friday; Harty, who is also president of the Southeast Missouri Trust Co. of Cape Girardeau and the Stoddard County Trust Co. at Bloomfield, will divide his time among the several banks.

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.