Today is Saturday, Jan. 11, the 11th day of 2003. There are 354 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Saturday, Jan. 11, the 11th day of 2003. There are 354 days left in the year. On this date in 1935, aviator Amelia Earhart begins a trip from Honolulu to Oakland, Calif., that makes her the first woman to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean.
In 1757, the first secretary of the U.S. treasury, Alexander Hamilton, is born in the West Indies. In 1805, the Michigan Territory is created. In 1815, Sir John A. Macdonald, the first prime minister of Canada, is born in Glasgow, Scotland. In 1861, Alabama secedes from the Union. In 1913, the first sedan-type automobile, a Hudson, goes on display at the 13th Automobile Show in New York. In 1942, Japan declares war against the Netherlands, the same day that Japanese forces invade the Dutch East Indies. In 1943, the United States and Britain sign treaties relinquishing extraterritorial rights in China. In 1964, U.S. Surgeon General Luther Terry issues the first government report saying smoking may be hazardous to one's health. In 1973, owners of American League baseball teams vote to adopt the designated-hitter rule on a trial basis. In 1977, France sets off an international uproar by releasing Abu Daoud, a PLO official behind the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
January 11, 1978: Youngstown City Council slices the salary of the Community Development Agency Director, J. Ronald Pittman. Council also questioned the residency of two tax investigators hired by the administration of Mayor J. Phillip Richley.
Slight relief from the bitter cold is expected in Ohio, which has counted at least 14-weather related deaths in the blizzard.
Three persons escape with injury when a Columbiana landmark, the old Union Bank Building at 118 S. Main St., is destroyed by fire.
January 11, 1963: Five prisoners dig out of the Trumbull County jail by using angle irons from their bunk beds and digging a hole through the sagging concrete floor of the 90-year-old structure. Two of the five are captured within five hours in Windham.
The Baltimore & amp; Ohio Railroad will reduce freight rates 20 percent during 1963 on iron and steel shipments, B & amp;O President Jervis Langdon Jr. says.
Richard Cardinal Cushin, Roman Catholic archbishop of Boston Diocese, that he has raised $1 million to help liberate Cuban invasion prisoners. Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro has demanded a ransom of $2.9 million for the release of 1,113 Bay of Pigs prisoners.
January 11, 1953: Billy McCleery, 7, of 1544 Florencedale Ave., is credited with saving the lives of three neighbor children who were overcome by gas fumes in their North Side home. Billy found the children unconscious when he arrived to watch a cowboy movie on TV and sounded the alarm. Anthony Choppa, 7, and his sisters, Patricia, 10, and Lucille, 15, were overcome after the chimney became clogged, allowing the house to fill with fumes.
Seventh Ward Councilman Stephen R. Olenic, senior Democratic member of Youngstown City Council, says he will run for president of council in the May primary.
Relatives and friends in the Youngstown district gave quite a helping hand to their kinfolk in European countries in 1952 by sending an estimated 18,000 to 20,000 packages overseas.
January 11, 1928: Following a five-hour conference between city council members, city administrators and Traction Commissioner Harry Engl, council approves an ordinance setting the streetcar fare for the Youngstown Municipal Railway at 10 cents. A weekly pass will be $1.50.
C.C. Les Choffin is elected president of the Youngstown Builders Exchange at the annual meeting of the Board of Trustees held in the YMCA.
The Rev. D. Scott says work will begin on the proposed new Central Christian Church on Ridge Ave. as soon as the old church on Market Street is sold. Rev. Scott says the new church will cost $320,000.
A long-awaited shake-up of the Youngstown Police Department begins. Two detectives suspended for conduct unbecoming an officer tender the resignations and Mayor Joseph Heffernan demands and receives the retirement of Sergeant James Nolan.