Out of the past: March 6

2000

The Southeast Missouri State University Indians are riding a wave of popularity that carried them to a berth in the NCAA Tournament and could take them even further; the team established a school first by winning the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Championship yesterday afternoon with a 67-56 victory over Murray State University at Nashville, Tennessee; winning the championship game qualified the team for the NCAA tournament — its first ever in university history.

Cape Girardeau could get a new public works site for $491,000, if the council approves a lease-purchase agreement this evening during its regular meeting at City Hall; the new site, a 12-acre tract along Corporate Circle near Southern Expressway, would give the city public works division a chance to spread out and work better.

1975

The 4-year-old Education and Psychology Building on the Southeast Missouri State University campus will be renamed for Dr. Mark F. Scully, president for 19 years, who will retire this summer; the name change — to Scully Education and Psychology Building — was approved by the Board of Regents at a closed meeting Feb. 20, but wasn’t confirmed until yesterday; the board’s handling of the name change is seen as unusual, because it occurred at a private meeting at which no minutes were taken, nor was the vote of the six regents recorded.

A detailed, 31-page opinion by Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney A.J. Seier, written at the request of the County Court, says a reversal of the court’s decision last year to build a jail on the County Farm in Cape Girardeau would be hazardous and would expose the county to additional litigation because there is no legal cause or reason for reversal and because money has been spent as a result of the original order.

1950

Center Winfred Wilfong of the champion Puxico High School Indians carried off the Class B basketball tournament high scoring honors with 109 points for an average of 36 points a game; he sank 45 field goals and 19 free tosses in the three games; Puxico defeated the Clarkton Reindeer 62-45 on Saturday night at the Arena Building to take the Class B crown; the Indians will next play Thayer High School in the opening game of the state tournament Wednesday night at Springfield.

The west end sewer system, long a major item of contention, has another airing before the Cape Girardeau City Council, but this time with an new twist and from a new source; instead of complaints from the Broadway section — subject to flooding with each heavy rain — the new arguments for adequate storm water flowage come from property owners on Rose Street.

1925

A father’s struggle to make a living and at the same time rear eight small, motherless children, the eldest being 12, has earned the admiration of the residents of the Leemon community, 18 miles northwest of Cape Girardeau; Noah King is the man who, at middle age, lost his wife, infant and 6-year-old daughter within a short period; his neighbors have asked the county for assistance on his behalf, but King has refused the aid and is still grimly going about a job that his acquaintances say is impossible.

Preliminary work toward getting Cape Girardeau’s 1925 paving program underway starts; Carroll Knox, who has a contract under Keller & Haas, begins grading Frederick Street, from Good Hope to College Street; if fair weather continues, paving may begin within 30 days.

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.