Out of the past: Feb. 24

2000

The superintendent of St. Louis public schools welcomes a proposed charter school for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders; Dr. Cleveland Hammonds Jr. says the proposed Lift for Life Academy isn’t competing for district students but rather would take at-risk students who are in danger of dropping out of the city’s traditional public schools; organizers of the proposed academy applied Feb. 14 to Southeast Missouri State University for a charter to establish the school.

A pin oak tree in front of the Jackson Chamber of Commerce, which died as the result of a severe trimming a few years ago, will be turned into art that promotes a source of great civic pride: the Jackson High School Indians; August Bird has agreed to sculpt the trunk of the tree in the image of an 11-foot-tall American Indian.

1975

Carroll Williams, a graduate of Southeast Missouri State University and assistant basketball coach at the school for the past five years, has been named to replace Coach Bob Cradic, who is resigning at the end of the year; Williams is no stranger to basketball; before accepting the assistant’s position, he spent 10 years as head man at University High School.

Following a weekend of heavy rainfall that caused minor flooding in low-lying sections of Southeast Missouri and southern Illinois, snow flurries move into the Cape Girardeau area in the morning; city streets and area highways become slippery as the intensity of the flurries increases, giving the area its first major snowfall of the season; snow is expected to continue through tonight, with an accumulation of 2 to 3 inches expected.

1950

Letters go out from Cape Girardeau Mayor Walter H. Ford to property owners on Broadway from Lorimier to Middle asking that they join with the city in requesting assistance from the Cape Special Road District in reconstructing or improving the pavement along the two-block stretch; it is the city’s third attempt in a year to improve heavily traveled streets through combined participation by city, road district and property owners; hanging fire is a similar proposal for Sprigg Street north and south of the Morgan Oak Street intersection.

A possibility that State College’s building troubles might end soon is seen in an announcement that the architect and contractor for Myers Hall and Memorial Hall will inspect the facilities next week and try to reach an agreement.

1925

Judge Oscar A. Knehans in Common Pleas Court asks attorneys present to assist in the formulation of new rules of procedure for the local court; these rules will be published, he says, and will govern the conduct of attorneys in all cases; he names a committee composed of A.M. Spradling, R.B. Oliver Jr. and T.D. Hines to draft the new regulations.

Striking at “price-cutting” and “ambulance chasing” lawyers, the Cape Girardeau Bar Association, at a re-organization meeting at Common Pleas Courthouse, votes to name a committee to investigate all applications for members and to fix a minimum schedule of prices which should be charged in all cases.

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.