Today is Monday, June 7, the 159th day of 2004. On this date in 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia

Today is Monday, June 7, the 159th day of 2004. On this date in 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia proposes to the Continental Congress a resolution calling for a Declaration of Independence. IIn 1769, frontiersman Daniel Boone begins to explore present-day Kentucky. In 1948, the Communists complete their takeover of Czechoslovakia with the resignation of President Eduard Benes.
In 1967, author-critic Dorothy Parker, famed for her caustic wit, dies in New York. In 1972, the musical "Grease" opens on Broadway. In 1981, Israeli military planes destroy a nuclear power plant in Iraq, a facility the Israelis charged could have been used to make nuclear weapons. In 1994, 12-year-old Vicki Van Meter of Meadville, Pa., completes a trans-Atlantic flight, landing in Glasgow, Scotland. In 1998, in a crime that shocked the nation, James Byrd Jr., a 49-year-old black man, is dragged to his death behind a pickup truck in Jasper, Texas. In 2003, New Hampshire Episcopalians elect the Reverend V. Gene Robinson, an openly gay man, as their next bishop.
June 7, 1979: Youngstown City Council Finance Committee Chairman Pete Starks says his committee will not recommend acceptance of a new wage pact that provides 10 percent raises for police officers and firefighters because it also includes a wage reopener clause effective Jan. 1, 1980.
Mayor J. Phillip Richley orders extra police patrols in the Uptown area to crack down on drug trafficking, prostitution and after-hours and smut joints.
Susan Ezzo, 14-year-old eighth grader at St. Patrick School finishes eighth among 108 spellers at the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.
June 7, 1964: David L. Lawrence, former governor of Pennsylvania and mayor of Pittsburgh, will be the keynote speaker at the annual conference of the Tri-State Zionist Region at the Voyager Motor Inn in Youngstown.
Plans are being completed for the dedication and open house of the new Garden Center at Fellows Riverside Gardens in Mill Creek Park. The center will serve as the focal point for Garden Forum activities and includes an auditorium that will seat 150.
Coming to Stambaugh Auditorium, sponsored by the Mahoning County Sheriff's Department: Hank Williams Jr. and Tex Ritter. All seats are reserved; cost is $2 and $3.
June 7, 1954: Federal Street in Youngstown takes on a festive atmosphere as more than 1,000 fezzed and colorfully garbed Elks march to the music of 12 bands. The parade was the highlight of a four-day convention of the Ohio State Association of Elks and was enjoyed by about 5,000 spectators.
The city is ready to go to court to appropriate land on West Federal Street at the Belmont Avenue Bridge as the site for a new downtown fire station.
June 7, 1929: Thornton Beeghly, South High student and secretary of the South Hi-Y Club, will join 23 other YMCA boys from the United States on a tour of Europe. The group will visit Switzerland, Austria, Italy, England, France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Scotland.
Mahoning Common Pleas Judge David G. Jenkins padlocks the West Rayen Hotel for a year, saying it is the responsibility of owners of property to assure that a building does not become a nuisance.
Youngstown Health Commissioner Dr. H.E. Welch issues an order that all dogs within the city limits be quarantined, in reaction to the many cases of rabies seen recently.