10 years ago: April 12, 1992

Palm Sunday. Good Shepherd Lutheran Chapel begins Holy Week with festival Palm Sunday service in morning; children participate in procession of palms, and each worshiper receives palm leaf as reminder of Christ's entry into Jerusalem.

Seating in Houck Stadium will be upgraded under plan approved last week by Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents; regents authorized officials to seek bids on project; project, estimated to cost $104,500, will involve filling in south side center section entrance, located at 50-yard line, and installing chairback seats; it will also involve replacing surrounding bleacher seats with chairback seats in that center section of stadium.

25 years ago: April 12, 1977

Cape Girardeau public school pupils have scored from 2 to 7 percent higher than statewide average on assessment of Missouri high school seniors, school board learned last night; test of seniors was administered last December; results are typical for local system, which in past has consistently scored higher than statewide average.

New president and three board members of Cape Metro Merchants Association are installed at association's annual meeting, which is largest in group's history; more than 100 people attend meeting; new president of association is J. Ronald Fischer; board members are Jack H. Koopman, Darrell D. Schweitzer and Wallace Knight.

50 years ago: April 12, 1952

Supervisory employees operate switchboards at Southwestern Bell Telephone Co., second time within 24 hours they were called from their regular jobs, as Western Electric pickets march with strike signs at front and side entrances to telephone building; pickets had appeared yesterday afternoon at main building for first time since Tuesday morning.

Osnabruck, Germany, birthplace of William H. Vedder of Cape Girardeau, is one of European cities Mr. and Mrs. Vedder will visit this summer; couple's tour will include England, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and France; trip will mark Vedder's first return to Osnabruck since coming to America in 1881 as lad of 12 years.

75 years ago: April 12, 1927

Group of business men go to site of new Southeast Missouri Hospital at solicitation of A.L. Harty to see cornerstone set; efforts were made to have impressive ceremony, but inclement weather and other things intervened, so work is done unostentatiously.

Benton - Five prisoners who dug their way through brick wall of Scott County Jail late yesterday and escaped, were captured hour later in field less than two miles from jail; Constable Gene Berthand, armed only with single-barreled shotgun, apprehended fleeing prisoners as they were crossing field near his home and herded them back to jail at point of gun.

-- Sharon K. Sanders