Out of the past: Feb. 13

1998

A Cape Girardeau police crackdown on illegal sales of tobacco and alcohol to minors has resulted in the issuance of 20 criminal court summonses to employees of local convenience stores; the violations were identified during an alcohol and tobacco compliance inspection program conducted the night of Feb. 6, as part of the police department's Operation Safe Streets program.

President Bill Clinton's former senior policy adviser, George Stephanopoulos, will lecture at Southeast Missouri State University next month; he will speak March 3 in the University Center Ballroom on "Politics, A View from Washington"; the evening event is open to the public, and admission is free; the lecture is sponsored by the Student Activities Council.

1973

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Tears of joy and thankfulness welled from the eyes of Mrs. Harry Warren of Charleston yesterday as she saw her nephew, Air Force Col. Robinson Ristner, step from a hospital plane signaling the end for him of 7 1/2 years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam; Ristner, 48, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, a POW since 1965, was the first of the freed POWs to come down the ramp of the second plane from Hanoi when it arrived at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines on Monday morning.

In a lengthy and sometimes heated discussion over a proposed 1973-74 school calendar with fewer workshop days and a limit on make-up days, representatives of the Community Teachers Association accused members of the Cape Girardeau Board of Education of lending deaf ears to their recommendations last night; they said teachers don't quite believe or trust the administration or school board; the board pointed out this could be a two-way street.

1948

A freezing rain, extending south to a point a few miles north of Millersville, tied up traffic with an icy glaze over pavements, canceled bus schedules and coated trees and shrubs with a covering of ice last night; several motorists who made their way to Cape Girardeau during the night are stranded here, unwilling to attempt the return trip over slippery highways.

Dr. E.T. Miles, a chiropractor, announces he will open an office at 512a Broadway next week; he comes here from Marion, Indiana, where he had engaged in practice after returning from three years of military service; Dr. and Mrs. Miles are residing at 1731 Broadway.

1923

The Cape Girardeau chapter of the American Red Cross no longer exists; bitterly condemning the County Court for refusing to appropriate money to continue the health service in the county, the executive board of the Red Cross voted last night to close the health center; charging gross ignorance and prejudice on the part of the opponents of the health work, one speaker declared, "It's time for the funeral -- let's have it now and quit."

Patrolman Robert Wilson is in active charge of health work in Cape Girardeau, following his appointment by the City Council late yesterday; he will carry on the work as the official health officer and a part time policeman; Clarence Fuhrman, formerly a guard at the Frisco Railroad shops, was appointed by the council as patrolman for the Broadway beat; with the addition of Fuhrman as patrolman and Wilson to do health work, Cape Girardeau now has a police force of seven men, including the chief, H.F. Wickham.

-- Sharon K. Sanders