Today is Sunday, Aug.31, the 243rd day of 2003. There are 122 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Sunday, Aug.31, the 243rd day of 2003. There are 122 days left in the year. On this date 200 years ago, explorer Meriwether Lewis departs Pittsburgh, sailing down the Ohio River; he joins up with William Clark near Louisville, Ky., the following October. The next year, Lewis and Clark begin their famous cross-country exploration of the present-day American West.
In 1886, an earthquake rocks Charleston, S.C., killing up to 110 people. In 1887, Thomas A. Edison receives a patent for his Kinetoscope, a device that produces moving pictures. In 1903, popular radio and TV entertainer Arthur Godfrey is born in New York City. In 1969, boxer Rocky Marciano dies in a light airplane crash in Iowa, a day before his 46th birthday. In 1980, Poland's Solidarity labor movement is born with an agreement signed in Gdansk that ends a 17-day-old strike. In 1986, 82 people are killed when an Aeromexico jetliner and a small private plane collide over Cerritos, Calif. In
August 31, 1978: Warren' Bob Lewis wins the Ohio Open Golf Tournament at Mill Creek Park, the first amateur to win the tournament since Jack Nicklaus in 1956. Lewis fired a 5 under par 275 total for 72 holes.
The Canfield Fairgrounds are jammed for Ohio Youth Day at the fair, despite heavy showers.
A Youngstown-based firm, Energy Delivery Systems inc., has a tentative option agreement to purchase the Ohio Edison plant on North Avenue to burn solid waste and produce steam for downtown Youngstown buildings.
August 31, 1963: Attendance records at the Canfield Fair fall for the second day in a row, with 26,678 persons attending. Attendance the first two days totals 6,579 above the first two days of 1962.
Youngstown City Council is asked to find $54,613 as its share of a major runway lighting project at the Youngstown Municipal Airport.
Walter Holmquist, executive vice president of Copperweld Steel Corp., is named chairman of the Poor Relief Advisory Board in Warren.
August 31, 1953: Youngstown Police Chief Edward J. Allen renews his campaign against obscene literature with the arrest of Bernard Bloch, president of the Mahoning Valley Distributing Agency.
Cpl. Charles G. Pixley, a prisoner of the Communists for more than two years, returns to his family's home at 458 Rice St. without fanfare, the first Youngstowner to make it home after the Reds began releasing prisoners in "Operation Big Switch."
Rapidly burning grass fires fanned by a slight breeze burn off a 1,500-acre area of Austintown Township.
August 31, 1928: Youngstown Finance Director James E. Jones refuses to pay a bill for $203 received for an ornate, high-backed leather chair ordered by Municipal Court Judge Peer Mulholland. Jones says any furniture required for city offices must be ordered through his office, which will seek the best quality at the least cost.
Youngstown College will soon have a four-year course leading to an A.B. degree, according to a letter received by Homer L. Nearpass, director, from the Ohio Department of Education.
Plans to make Youngstown a transfer point on a proposed air-mail line between Washington and Chicago and the West are being considered by a company organized with Youngstown capital The company would bid on the proposed Detroit-Washington-Baltimore air mail line.