1998

Thanksgiving Day. Charles Hutson and his crew of designer elves worked late last night, putting the final touches on the annual Hutson Furniture Christmas window at 43 S. Main St.; crowds gather early for the 10 a.m. unveiling of the window, which this year depicts Santa's Candyland.

Area motorists are thankful for low gasoline prices this Thanksgiving; travelers at self-service pumps fill their vehicles for as little as 72.9 a gallon for unleaded at some Jackson stations; in Cape Girardeau, many stations are selling gas for 79.9 cents a gallon.

1973

Chances of more showers and thunderstorms hang over Cape Girardeau and the area following a weekend of stormy weather that dumped 7.1 inches of rain within the city in a 79-hour period; the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau rose 5.2 feet in 48 hours to today's height of 27.1 feet; a series of high winds and thunderstorms swept across Southern Missouri Saturday and Sunday; Robert Miller, 64, and his wife, Ruth, 68, were killed about 10:30 Saturday night when high winds ripped apart their home near Clarkton in Mississippi County.

Considerable damage was done Saturday afternoon when water entered the lower level of the Cape Girardeau Library, where the young adult section is located; the water came in the southeast corner of the room and was several inches deep, reaching the section's checkout desk.

1948

Another surprise appears in the question of franchises for the Missouri Utilities Co.; in a public announcement the company says that if the people do not vote for the natural gas franchise four days from now, the fuel cannot be supplied to the city; unless the franchise is approved, the company says, the Missouri Public Service Commission won't issue it a certificate of convenience and necessity for the transmission and distribution system; contacted by The Missourian, a PSC spokesman says the commission would issue a certificate regardless of the outcome of the vote and further points out that Cape Girardeau already has a distribution system and plant in operation that has served the city with manufactured gas for many years without a franchise.

SIKESTON, Mo. -- A twin-engine plane from Hillside, Illinois, crashes and bursts into flames here in the afternoon; it appears the plane was on a cross-country flight and that all three aboard were killed.

1923

Woman's part in politics, and especially in the Republican party, is discussed at a regional conference of Republican women of the 14th Congressional District at the Common Pleas Courthouse; 20 women from Cape Girardeau, Jackson and nearby towns attend the afternoon session; principal speaker is Mrs. Lon O. Hocker, state committeewoman of St. Louis.

J. Grant Frye, former student of the Teachers College here and now a student at the University of Missouri, has been called as pastor of the Christian church at Sturgeon, Missouri, according to word received by friends here; Frye is widely known here, having been prominent at the college in student and religious work, and in oratory and debating; he was married here last summer to Emma Brucher, a former college student.

-- Sharon K. Sanders