Out of the past 1/29/07

25 years ago: Jan. 29, 1982

A spurt of interest has been shown in a one-year unexpired term on the Cape Girardeau Board of Education; Carolyn Kelley files for the one-year unexpired term of Mary Kasten, who has announced she will step down from the board April 6; Catherine C. Otto and Mary Lou King have also filed for the one-year term.

CAIRO, Ill. -- Southern Railways announces it is purchasing the 120-mile Cairo to Mount Carmel, Ill., Conrail line for $4.6 million; the 100-year-old Cairo branch line has been threatened with abandonment since Conrail filed for permission to drop the line in March 1981.

50 years ago: Jan. 29, 1957

Electric power was extended last night to Caruthersville, Mo., the largest of the towns in Southeast Missouri hardest hit by the ice storm Sunday night; however, service to Senath, Caruth, Hornersville and Arbyrd in lower Dunklin County remains disrupted.

Jefferson School is the name selected last night by the school board for Cape Girardeau's new elementary building, continuing the title of the school which for many years bore that name.

75 years ago: Jan. 29, 1932

Rush H. Limbaugh, former Cape Girardeau city counselor, says he hasn't reached a decision regarding the report that he will enter the race for mayor.

One hour after sawing away two bars to a second floor window and escaping from the Cape Girardeau jail, police capture the 30-year-old fugitive and return him to the lockup; he is making his escape in a taxicab, when he is recaptured on South Sprigg Street in front of the Blue Hole Garden barbecue stand by patrolman Morris Huckstep.

100 years ago: Jan. 29, 1907

A special naval recruiting officer has arrived in Cape Girardeau from St. Louis and will remain until Feb. 7; those interested in enlisting may obtain information without make a trip to St. Louis headquarters; C.E. Miller, the officer in charge, is located at the Riverview Hotel.

A small blaze at the Green Tree Hotel at Good Hope and Frederick streets in Cape Girardeau threatens to destroy the place; the fire emanates from a second-floor linen closet; considerable damage is done by the water thrown on the floor, and the mud and feathers scattered around.

-- Sharon K. Sanders