August 20, 1948
• Automobiles parked on Main Street the first of the week were smeared with and literally dripping road oil, which they encountered between Tarkio and Burlington Junction. No. 4 was getting a fresh coating of oil when drivers inadvertently ran into the sticky stuff and had no choice but to proceed.
• Miss Beulah Bayless has been appointed lecturer in English at the University of California in Santa Barbara. Miss Bayless, a Tarkio College graduate of 1927, is well-known for her productions of radio theatre as well as a prominent western writer.
• The Ritz Cafe has a new owner in G.V. Smith of Stanberry, Missouri, who has purchased the restaurant from John Workman.
• The tenant house on the W.H. and Orval Thomas farm southeast of Rock Port and occupied by the Lee Slemp family was destroyed by fire about 9:30 Sunday morning. The fire was discovered in the attic or roof when it was too far advanced to be extinguished.
• Five members of the Rock Port Future Farmers of America and their leader left Monday for the state leadership camp at Lake of the Ozarks. On their way home, they will stop in Sedalia to attend the Missouri State Fair.
August 16, 1973
• Rock Port R-II recently sold the house built by the various classes at the school to Virgil Watts for $27,600. Watts was one of only two bidders. The house, with three bedrooms, double garage, and a full basement, is located at 700 Center Street. The next house will be built on East Cass between the Paul Cox and Paul Bramble residences.
• There may be as many as 35,000 children in Missouri who are not receiving the benefit of an education due to mental or physical handicap. Under a new law signed by the governor, public school districts will be required to provide special education for all mentally or physically handicapped pupils.
• Pastor Herbert Johnson, 38, will arrive in Rock Port September 25 to take the post of pastor at the Lutheran Church. He will replace Pastor H.H. Bernhardt, who retired in July.
• An open house in honor of Mrs. Mary Klute’s 80th birthday will be held August 26 at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Duane Klute, northeast of Tarkio.
• Just to give readers an idea of what the newspaper headlines looked like back in the old days and how difficult it was to find the important issues, this week’s Atchison County Mail has been set the old fashioned way. “Someday, we are going to challenge our readers to write headlines . . . And besides that, we are on vacation.”
August 13, 1998
• Volleyball and football practices began this week. There are 24 girls, led by six seniors, out for volleyball and 33 boys, led by seven seniors, out for football.
• Star Hill Prairie Art Institute had 21 kids turn out July 30 for a session of the summer arts program. The kids enjoyed watching a video on “King Midas” and painted butterflies gold and white.
• Harmonica virtuoso Robert Bonfiglio will be performing in Brownville, Nebraska, Sunday, August 16. Bonfiglio has performed on CBS Sunday Morning, Live with Regis & Kathy Lee, The Larry King Show, and The Tom Snyder Show.
• Hamburg City Hall in Hamburg, Iowa, reports that a contract to build a new levee west of the city has been awarded to Phillips Grading and Construction, Inc. of Booneville, Missouri, in the amount of $910,358.
