W W W. S E M I S S O U R I A N . CO M
ESTABLISHED 1904, CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO. $2.00
THURSDAY
FOOD & DINING / 3A
Panaderia Oaxaquena A Mexican food slam dunk during March Madness
APRIL 1, 2021
SPORTS / 1B
SEMOBALL
Awards will hit big screen in July at Rock ’N’ Roll Drive-In
Area counties Crews battle fire Wednesday at former Broadway Theatre see slight declines in jobless rates Cape Girardeau County numbers are still higher than pre-pandemic levels BY JAY WOLZ
SOUTHEAST MISSOURIAN The employment pic≠ ture in Cape Girardeau County continues to im≠ prove, according to the latest data released this week by the Missouri De≠ partment of Labor and Industrial Relations. Elsewhere in Southeast Missouri, the new unem≠ ployment report indicated slight unemployment≠ rate declines in most counties by fractions of a percent≠ age point. Februaryí s coun≠ ty≠ by≠ county jobless data, released by the state Tuesday, places Cape Gi≠ rardeau Countyí s latest unemployment rate at 3.9%, down four≠ tenths of a percentage point from Januaryí s 4.3% rate. The number of initial unemployment beneÆ t claims Æ led by unem≠ ployed workers in the county also declined from 554 in January to 427 in February. Although it was lower for the third consecutive month, Cape Girardeau Countyí s February un≠ employment rate was
still higher than pre≠ pan≠ demic levels; in January and February 2020, the countyí s jobless percent≠ ages were 3.5% and 3.2%, respectively, before climb≠ ing to 9.5% in April as thousands of businesses throughout the region closed ó either perma≠ nently or temporarily ó because of the COVID≠ 19 pandemic. Those closures forced millions of people ó including more than 5,000 in Cape Girardeau County alone last April during the height of eco≠ nomic disruption. Of the Missouri coun≠ ties adjoining Cape Gi≠ rardeau County, only Scott County had a sig≠ niÆ cant decline in its un≠ employment rate in Feb≠ ruary, dropping several tenths of a percentage point to 4.5% from 4.9% in January. Meanwhile, Perry Countyí s jobless rate remained almost un≠ changed (4.1% in Janu≠ ary compared to 4.0% in February) and Bollinger Countyí s rate went up from 5.0% in January to 5.4% in February. See JOBS, Page 16A
SARAH YENESEL ~ Southeast Missourian
Firefighters use hoses to put out a fire in the former Broadway Theatre on Wednesday in downtown Cape Girardeau. BY J.C. REEVES
SOUTHEAST MISSOURIAN Multiple Æ re crews battled a blaze Wednesday evening at the former Broadway Theatre in downtown Cape Girardeau. According to Cape Gi≠ rardeau Fire Department battalion chief Brad Dillow, at approximately 5:30 p.m., crews responded to a report of smoke at the building, 805≠ 809 Broadway. Upon arrival, crews saw heavy smoke and Ø ames show≠ ing from the second Ø oor.
Crews had the Æ re extin≠ guished at approximately 6:30 p.m. No injuries were reported at the scene. The Broadway Theatre Æ rst opened Dec. 24, 1921, when John T. Sackmann felt the city needed a more modern theater. Sackmann undertook Æ nancing of the new vaudeville and picture theater along with William Bartels, William Vedder, C.O. Hobbs, A.W. Blattner, Charles Boutin and Hen≠ ry Sanders, among others. This group formed the Cape
ONLINE Photos More photos of the Wednesday fire are in a gallery at semissourian.com. Find this story on the website to see historical photos of the former Broadway Theatre throughout the decades. Theatre & Realty Co. The original proposal was for the construction of
a $55,000 building, which ended up costing nearly $100,000 by the time it was complete. Since the build≠ ing was still unfurnished, Sackmann enlisted the help of S.E. Brady, who was will≠ ing to invest in furnishing the theater. Cape Theatre & Realty signed a 10≠ year lease agreement with Brady to manage the theater and oversee its construction. Fox Theatre leased the building and purchased it 20 years later. See FIRE, Page 16A
Southeast senior to put stock market crash to music in recital Southeast Missouri State University senior Landon Schnurbusch, an alum of St. Vincent dePaul High School in Perryville, Missouri, has turned Dow Jones stock market data into a musical composition using a Yamaha Disklavier piano.
BY JEFF LONG
SOUTHEAST MISSOURIAN
Submitted
WEB:
semissourian.com
Landon Schnurbusch, a Æ fth≠ year senior with a double ma≠ jor in musical composition and mathematical actuary science at Southeast Missouri State Univer≠ sity, loves music and numbers. The Cape Girardeau≠ born student, a 2016 graduate of Per≠ ryville, Missourií s St. Vincent dePaul High School, will get to combine both during his upcom≠ ing senior composition recital at 7:30 p.m. April 20 at Shuck Recital
COVID-19 coverage
Hall on the River Campus. Using a hybrid piano called a Disklavier, Schnurbusch plans to play a piece he wrote based on the 2008 economic crisis by crunching data culled from the Dow Jones Industrial Average. ì I was in fourth or Æ fth grade when (America) was going through the recession and I was old enough to recognize some≠ thing bad was going on,î said Schnurbusch, who will graduate from Southeast in May. ì I have data points being changed into musical notes,î Schnurbusch
WEATHER
Flourish Read the Spring 2021 issue of Flourish magazine online at semissourian.com/flourish.
Local, state and national coronavirus coverage at semissourian.com/coronavirus.
INDEX
Church Directory ................11A Classified...................................6B Comics .......................................4B
Crossword .....................12A, 4B Daily Records ................ 6A, 7A Dear Abby .............................13A
Food & Dining ........................ 3A Obituaries........................ 6A, 7A Opinion .................................... 8A
H:49 L:25 Breezy in the morning; sunny
Sports.........................................1B TGI’F’........................................14A TV listings ...................12A, 13A
Volume 117 • Issue 147
Copyright © 2021 Rust Communications
explained about his piece, titled ì The Financial Crisis of 2007≠ 2008.î ì Pre≠ crash, the notes are high, bright and twinkly, but just as the housing bubble burst and the Dow nosedived, the notes will jump down to the low end very quickly, and ití s kind of scary sounding,î he added. The effect is achieved by using a musical tool Æ rst created in 1982, an acoustic piano with, as its maker claims, ì a record and play≠ back system unlike any other.î See MUSIC, Page 15A