Out of the past: March 16

2000

SALT LAKE CITY – Southeast (24-7) comes just inches from overtime and a shot at winning an NCAA Tournament game in its first opportunity; but a Louisiana State University 3-pointer with 18 seconds left seals the Indians’ fate as the fourth-seeded Tigers (27-5) knock off the 13-seeded Indians 64 to 61 in a West Regional thriller at the Huntsman Center here.

Southeast Missouri State University plans to hike graduate and under graduate tuition and general fees for the 2000-2001 school year generating about $990,000 in added revenue; the money would go to help fund salary increases for faculty and staff, improve computer services for students and cover other expenses.

1975

Members of Bethel Assembly of God Church, 1855 Perryville Road, celebrate the seventh anniversary of their church pastor, the Rev. J.S. Watson; the all-day service includes performances by Jack Campbell and the Ambassadors and a covered-dish lunch.

Missouri Supreme Court Justice James A. Finch Jr., formerly of Cape Girardeau, is the new president of the board of directors of the National Center for State Courts; Finch was elected at the board’s annual meeting yesterday in San Francisco; he succeeds retired California Supreme Court Justice Louis H. Burke.

1950

A crowd which filled one side of the stands and occupied most of the portable bleacher section, almost 1,000 persons, heard six Southeast Missouri high school bands in individual, 20-minute concerts last night at the Arena Building; the concert was the windup of the annual spring band festival of the northern division of the Southeast Missouri Band Association, with nearly 400 musicians taking part.

A representative of a Cape Girardeau business firm who travels in Southeast Missouri says information is being spread in the cotton-growing areas that farmers won’t receive refunds on gasoline used on the farm under the proposed new road law; the false statements of this whisper campaign are beginning to have an effect, and the sentiment appears to be against the new road proposal; under the new road law, refunds to farmers of the tax they pay on gasoline used for farming purposes will continue as under the current law.

1925

Damage estimated at more than $8,000 was caused by a fire of undetermined origin, which destroyed four residences and badly damaged another at Fornfelt before midnight Saturday; all of the property destroyed was owned by Joseph Diebold of Kelso; the fire started in the frame residence occupied by J.B. Baldwin and family and soon spread to the homes of J.E. Hughes, J.E. Duvall and August Springer, destroying all three; heavily damaged was a house occupied by A.B. Miller.

The Cape Girardeau Central High Tigers used an overtime period to defeat Jackson High, 25 to 21, in the closing game of the Southeast Missouri basketball tournament Saturday night at the Teachers College; the Tigers will play in the state tournament at Springfield this weekend.

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.