Out of the past 5/20/04

10 years ago: May 20, 1994

Longtime Central High School coach and teacher Mark Ruark hopes his new job will give him chance to put his coaching skills to work on larger scale; Ruark is named one of two new assistant principals for Central High.

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Riverboat gambling is still a loser in Perry County; election officials recounted April 5 punch card ballots twice Thursday, but results were unchanged from election night tally; voters rejected gambling amendment by vote of 1,330 against to 831 for.

25 years ago: May 20, 1979

First Assembly of God of Scott City holds open house and dedication in afternoon for new fellowship hall, gymnasium and kitchen facilities; the Rev. Frank Heitman of Dexter presides.

KELSO, Mo. -- Despite steady downpour, annual "blessing of the tractors" goes off as scheduled at St. Augustine Catholic Church in afternoon, though all activities move indoors and only one tractor shows up; each May during planting season, area farmers bring their farm implements to St. Augustine's, where they are blessed by pastor, the Rev. Raymond Orf.

50 years ago: May 20, 1954

Mayor Narvol A. Randol announces appointment of Kenneth Cruse as director of Cape Girardeau's civil defense program and composition of five-member municipal Civil Defense Council to formulate police and develop community civil defense plan; appointed to board were A.H. McNeely, Jack Himmelberger, Elmer C. Stehr, Luther Hahs and Walter H. Ford.

Jackson City Judge Joe M. Knox, 84, sustained broken hip when he fell at his home last night; he is in good condition at St. Francis Hospital.

75 years ago: May 20, 1929

KENNETT, Mo. -- Dramatic fight against rising waters of St. Francis River, to save 50,000 acres of fertile Dunklin County land, ends with failure, when weakened portion of levee three miles southwest of Kennett fails.

Increased use of motor trucks as freight carriers and decline of timber industry in Southeast Missouri are two principal reasons advanced by Frisco Railroad in support of its motion to abandon parts of its lines in Stoddard and Dunklin counties.

-- Sharon K. Sanders