25 years ago: March 6, 1986

A sharply divided Cape Girardeau City Council narrowly gave final approval to a recommended increase in sewer rate charges following a series of tie votes yesterday that Councilman Peter Hilty said amounted to "quibbling over a few pennies"; the ordinance established a $2.40 monthly service charge and a volume charge of 47 cents per 100 cubic feet of water usage.

State Rep. Mary Kasten, R-Cape Girardeau, has filed her candidacy for a third term in the office; she was first elected to the legislative seat in 1982.

50 years ago: March 6, 1961

Strong winds blew across Cape Girardeau at about 3 a.m., doing minor damage to buildings and flattening a few trees; at Riverside West lumber company, a large section of a materials shed roof was ripped away.

Cape Girardeau was hit by a wave of break-ins Saturday night in which eight businesses were entered and an attempt was made to enter a ninth; a total of $135 was taken; the break-ins broke a monthlong burglary drought in the city.

75 years ago: March 6, 1936

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Work on the Chaffee school addition and gymnasium, a $23,000 project, will start under the Works Progress Administration next Wednesday; the old primary school, near the high school, will be razed for the structure.

The massive cement retaining wall along the north edge of the Lorimier School grounds, at the south side of Independence Street, is being broken apart and hauled away by Works Progress Administration workers employed on the landscaping project; the ground will be reshaped so it slopes back from near the sidewalk.

100 years ago: March 6, 1911

Another telephone line is to be installed in Cape Girardeau County to be connected with the network of lines that covers the county in all directions; the new line is known as the Hickory Ridge Telephone Co.; it will start at Arbor, will run through the Rum Branch settlement to Allenville, and will then extend to Bollinger County.

William Vedder's new home just north of Cape Girardeau is nearly completed, the plasterers expecting to finish their work in two or three days.

-- Sharon K. Sanders