Out of the past: April 6

1998

Cindy King is about to receive a statewide teaching honor, but she seems more excited about ticket sales for Notre Dame High School's upcoming musical, "The King and I"; on May 4, King will travel to Mexico, Missouri, to receive the Educator of Achievement Award from the Missouri Council for American Private Education; she will be one of only eight private-school educators across the state to get the award.

A special-use permit that would have allowed Drury Southwest Inc. to build and occupy a sixth floor of an office building under construction on William Street is rejected by the Cape Girardeau City Council; construction of the addition has already begun, but DSW's Larry Westrich says the additional space, originally planned as an attic, will be completed as such and won't be occupied by tenants.

1973

The prediction that the Mississippi River will begin a steady fall on Monday is welcome news to the thousands who have been forced from their homes throughout the vast Mississippi River floodplains in Illinois and Missouri; they look forward to the task of returning to their homes and cleaning up the mess that will exist; to many farmers, however, this flood has meant a loss of income; most fields, particularly in the Bootheel, won't dry up in time for spring planting.

A new one-day record for attendance was set yesterday at the 17th annual Southeast Missouri Regional Science fair as 2,205 fairgoers streamed through the doors of Houck Field House to view the exhibits by some of the area's top young science pupils.

1948

Missouri Auditor Forrest Smith is in Cape Girardeau, calling on friends and party leaders in the interest of his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for governor; from here, he goes to Caruthersville and other points in Southeast Missouri.

A larger-than-normal vote is being cast in today's general city election; a check at noon shows 1,548 ballots had been cast in the 11 wards up to that time; this compares to a noon vote of 1,148 in the primary election two weeks ago; should this rate continue, 6,200 votes may be cast in today's balloting.

1923

Immediate steps to check the measles epidemic spreading rapidly throughout the Washington School district are taken by health officials, following the reporting of 15 new cases to City Clerk A.P. Behrens early this morning; 133 pupils of Washington School, out of an enrollment of 252, are absent when classes begin this morning; local health authorities say not all measles cases have been reported, but a strict investigation is underway by health officer Robert Wilson to quarantine every case reported by physicians.

A campaign to assure the planting of 900 acres of cotton in Cape Girardeau County this season, following a definite announcement a cotton gin will be located here, will be launched by the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce and its farm committee next week; more than half of the acreage needed has already been pledged, but nearly 400 acres remain to be pledged.

-- Sharon K. Sanders