Today is Friday, March 25, the 84th day of 2005. There are 281 days left in the year. This is Good Friday. On this date in 1965, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. leads 25,000 marchers to the state

Today is Friday, March 25, the 84th day of 2005. There are 281 days left in the year. This is Good Friday. On this date in 1965, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. leads 25,000 marchers to the state capitol in Montgomery, Ala., to protest the denial of voting rights to blacks.
In 1865, during the Civil War, Confederate forces capture Fort Stedman in Virginia. In 1894, Jacob S. Coxey begins leading an "army" of unemployed from Massillon, Ohio, to Washington, D.C., to demand help from the federal government. In 1911, 146 immigrant workers are killed when fire breaks out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company in New York. In 1913, the home of vaudeville, the Palace Theatre, opens in New York City. In 1918, French composer Claude Debussy dies in Paris. In 1947, a coal mine explosion in Centralia, Ill., claims 111 lives. In 1957, the Treaty of Rome establishes the European Economic Community. In 1975, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia is shot to death by a nephew with a history of mental illness. (The nephew is beheaded the following June.)
March 25, 1980: Mahoning County commissioners pass as an emergency measure a half-percent "piggyback" sales tax that will take effect in April. It is estimated to produce $2 million in 1980 and $3.5 million in 1981.
Republic Steel Corp. is one of five corporate giants that a Washington environmental lobby accuses of spending money for political contributions to avoid having to pay for pollution control. Environmental Action says Republic spent nearly 70 percent of its political action money on candidates with poor records on environmental matters.
Five members of Niles City Council reach a tentative agreement to increase sewer rates in the city by 50 percent. The state Financial Planning and Supervisory Committee studying the city's finances had recommended a 74 percent hike.
March 25, 1965: "Automatic" Sprinkler Corp. of America is given a contract for fire protection of the entire office and plant area of the Chevrolet plant being built at Lordstown. At an estimated $650,000, it is the largest contract awarded so far to a Youngstown company for work at the plant.
The Mahoning County Law Library Association wins a round in its eight-year battle for more space in the courthouse in Youngstown. The Supreme Court of Ohio reaffirms its order that Juvenile and Domestic Relations Judge Harold S. Rickert surrender part of his office space to the library.
March 25, 1955: Four attractive Youngstown University coeds are vying for the 1955 May Queen: Catherine Nosich, Aurora Vona, Arlene Barnes and Louise Sarville.
More than 700 delegates from the four-county District 26 United Steelworkers of America are meeting at the Hotel Pick-Ohio in Youngstown for their annual district convention.
Red Cross volunteer workers enter the final week of the 1955 campaign with 20 percent of the $186,700 goal yet to be collected.
Evan L. Morgan, 89, vice president and general manager of the old George L. Fordyce Co., dies at St. Mary Home for the Aged, 278 Broadway.
March 25, 1930: Youngstown City Council passes a resolution opposing the proposed merger of Youngstown Sheet & amp; Tube Co. and Bethlehem Steel Corp. saying it would result in the loss of identity for the local company.
E.T. McCleary, president of Republic Iron & amp; Steel Co., says national news reports about the proposed Sheet & amp; Tube merger that make reference to high freight rates in the Mahoning Valley are discouraging other companies from considering the area for their operations. McCleary says the disadvantage of not having direct water transportation for raw materials is being exaggerated.
A faithful dog leads rescuers to a spot in the Shenango River where little Rocco Bonaquest, age 10, of Sharpsville was found. The dog swam to the spot where rescuers found the body in a deep hole, entangled in debris.
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