1999

Tents were going up, carnival rides were being trucked in, and a small village of travel trailers was beginning to form yesterday on the grounds of the SEMO District Fair at Arena Park; by this afternoon, the grounds will look like the fair is ready to open, says Pete Poe, president of the SEMO District Fair Association; the fair will kick off Sunday.

Seven gold shovels and a new name yesterday marked the beginning of a technological future for Cape Girardeau schools and other districts in the region; the shovels were used by area school superintendents representing Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Scott City, Chaffee, Kelly, Oran and Leopold school districts as they officially broke ground for the new regional vocational school being built on Silver Springs Road in Cape Girardeau; the facility will be known as the Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center.

1974

Calling President Ford’s pardon of former President Nixon “ill advised”, 10th District Rep. Bill Burlison, D-Cape Girardeau, says Ford should now pardon others connected with the Watergate crimes of the Nixon administration; Burlison contends Ford had a pardon in mind for Nixon when he announced recently his decision to seek amnesty for draft evaders and deserters; further, Burlison questions how Nixon can be pardoned, when he hasn’t been proven guilty of crimes against the country.

Judge Les Lankford, who presides over Scott County Court, says residents of North Scott County, including the towns of Benton, Chaffee, Perkins, Rockview, Kelso, Illlmo and Scott City, must now call the Cape County Private Ambulance Service when medical help is needed, because Amick-Burnett Funeral Home no longer offers this service.

1949

A timetable listing early December as the probable date for voting on three proposed bond issues in Cape Girardeau is announced by Mayor Walter H. Ford after he and Cleo Johns consulted Thursday with the St. Louis architect making plans for a new swimming pool and dressing quarters; along with a pool, the bonds would help pay for two new fire stations and completion of the Arena Building.

A whirlwind campaign to raise $10,000 as Cape Girardeau County’s share of the nationwide Polio Epidemic Emergency Drive will be launched next week, says Albert M. Spradling Jr., local chapter chairman of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis; the campaign officially started yesterday, but the continued influx of cases at Saint Francis Hospital brought such a load on local officials that it was impossible to make plans for the campaign by the opening date.

1924

Five persons – four women, all nurses at Saint Francis Hospital in Cape Girardeau, and one man – are admitted into citizenship in the United States by Judge Frank Kelly in circuit court in Jackson; Rosa Sherron, Ida Caroline Faist, Augusta Budzinski, Helene Toeen and Robert Schmittzehe of Cape Girardeau are the successful applicants; Sherron came to America from Ireland and the remainder from Germany.

Damages totaling $2,963 are awarded W.H. Heisserer and Mrs. T.S. Heisserer of Benton by a jury in circuit court at Benton for a right-of-way obtained by the state highway commission, from the new diversion channel bridge, south to Ancell, as a proposed route for Highway 9 in the north end of Scott County; the case was tried in circuit court, after it had been certified from the County Court, when Heisserers and members of the court couldn’t agree on the amount of damages; the Heisserers had asked $15,000 for the property.

Southeast Missourian librarian Sharon Sanders compiles the information for the daily Out of the Past column. She also writes a blog called “From the Morgue” that showcases interesting historical stories from the newspaper. Check out her blog at www.semissourian.com/history.