Today is Friday, Feb. 29, the 60th day of 2008. There are 306 days left in the year. This is Leap

Today is Friday, Feb. 29, the 60th day of 2008. There are 306 days left in the year. This is Leap Day. On this date in 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson’s National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (also known as the Kerner Commission) warns that racism is causing America to move “toward two societies, one black, one white — separate and unequal.”

In 1504, Christopher Columbus, stranded in Jamaica during his fourth voyage to the West, uses a correctly predicted lunar eclipse to frighten hostile natives into providing food for his crew. In 1792, composer Gioachino Antonio Rossini is born in Pesaro, Italy. In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt appoints a seven-member commission to facilitate completion of the Panama Canal. In 1908, the artist known as Balthus is born in Paris. In 1940, “Gone with the Wind” wins eight Academy Awards, including best picture of 1939. In 1956, President Eisenhower announces he would seek a second term of office.

February 28, 1983: The U.S. Department of Justice files an air pollution complaint against Youngstown Thermal Corp.

Seven of the nation’s largest steel producers and the United Steelworkers union reach a tentative contract at a time when the industry is struggling. Nearly 60 percent of the industry’s work force of 260,000 is indefinitely laid off.

February 29, 1968: William F. Maag Jr., 84, editor and publisher of The Vindicator, dies at his home on Boardman-Poland Road. The Maag family lived on Front Street when he was born and his father was publisher of the Rundschau, a German weekly. Maag Sr. purchased The Vindicator when Maag Jr. was four years old. He was a graduate of Rayen School and Harvard University.

Youngstown’s downtown urban renewal program is ordered halted by Mayor Anthony B. Flask following a rare 7-0 council vote against his proposal for the city board of control to have complete control over sale of UR land.

A Youngstown State University coed, Janice Hettrick, is launching an effort to place an issue on the November ballot to repeal the increase from $1 to $5 for parking tickets in Youngstown.

February 28, 1958: A 31‚Ñ2 month strike against McAllister Dairy Farms of Warren by the Teamsters and Meat Cutters unions ends with the unions withdrawing their pickets and offering to have all union members return to work immediately and unconditionally. Temple McAllister says only a few workers will be recalled because most have been replaced.

The Republican Party could be hurt in coming congressional elections if the nation’s economic situation does not approve, says Vice President Richard Nixon.

February 28, 1933: Russell Weisman, Western Reserve University professor, says that the greatest thing President Roosevelt could do to restore public confidence would be to state in his inaugural address that the value of the gold dollar will not be reduced.

Miss Laura Whitlak, 18, of County Line Street, New Castle, is injured when her heel is caught in a car track and she falls into the path of a car.