Out of the past: Jan. 12

1998

Cape Girardeau County prosecutors set a new record in 1997 for the number of cases filed; figures released by Cape Girardeau Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle show 2,056 felony, misdemeanor and infraction charges filed last year, up slightly from the 1996 figures; prosecutors also filed 3,699 traffic violation charges, not included with criminal filings, in Cape Girardeau County in 1997.

CARUTHERSVILLE, Mo. -- A runaway barge struck the patron boarding ramp of Casino Aztar riverboat Sunday night; no one was on the ramp, and there were no injuries, but the loading ramp was damaged; patrons aboard the "City of Caruthersville" riverboat, which houses the gambling casino, had to exit by an employee boarding ramp.

1973

Petitions bearing the signatures of approximately 1,400 Illmo and Scott City residents requesting the State Highway Commission to go ahead with plans for a proposed overpass above railroad tracks in Illmo will be presented to the commission at a public hearing Tuesday at the Community Building of the Illmo Housing Authority; the hearing follows the commission's decision to give tentative approval for the relocation of approximately a quarter-mile of Route K in Illmo; the plan would provide a new two-lane pavement from Route N on the north southward to near Hickory Street.

An Army Corps of Engineers patrol boat is stationed at Cape Girardeau to watch for danger signs in the continuing heavy ice floe on the Mississippi River; the boat, "Pathfinder," is in constant communication with commercial towboats battling the ice as they make their way upstream; the Corps is also keeping a wary eye on a small ice buildup reported in the morning at Greenfield Bend, four miles north of Cairo, Illinois.

1948

A large timber wolf was killed north of Oak Ridge in the Apple Creek Valley school neighborhood Friday; the wolf had been seen several times on farms, and many farmers have lost small animals this fall, but had attributed the losses to the many foxes that live in that area.

A preliminary check of petitions in the hands of solicitors discloses that in the first day of the canvass Saturday, approximately 475 signatures were secured asking the mayor and Cape Girardeau City Council to call a special election on establishing a city manager government here; the minimum number of signatures needed is 715.

1923

T.J. Haig, for many years superintendent and manager of large tent and awning factories in St. Louis, is in Cape Girardeau with his wife; after a thorough investigation, he has decided to locate a similar business here; he has leased the second floor of the building at 13 S. Spanish St.; he plans to have his machinery and stock here early in February to begin business.

Announcement of the appointment of a division chief and two deputy collectors for the office of the Internal Revenue Department here is received in Cape Girardeau; those named are Frederick F. Mabeuse of Marble Hill, Missouri, division chief; Charles Vernon of Poplar Bluff, Missouri, and Scott F. Rhodes of Campbell, Missouri, deputy collectors.

-- Sharon K. Sanders