Today is Wednesday, June 11, the 163rd day of 2008. There are 203 days left in the year. On this

Today is Wednesday, June 11, the 163rd day of 2008. There are 203 days left in the year. On this date in 1776, the Continental Congress forms a committee to draft a Declaration of Independence calling for freedom from Britain.

In 1770, Capt. James Cook, commander of the British ship Endeavour, discovers the Great Barrier Reef off Australia by running onto it. In 1919, Sir Barton wins the Belmont Stakes, becoming horse racing’s first Triple Crown winner. In 1947, the government announces the end of household and institutional sugar rationing, to take effect the next day. In 1963, Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc sets himself afire on a Saigon street to protest the government of South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem. In 1970, the United States’ presence in Libya comes to an end as the last detachment leaves Wheelus Air Base. In 1977, Seattle Slew wins the Belmont Stakes, capturing the Triple Crown.

June 11, 1983: About 200 teachers — a fifth of those eligible — vote to accept a new contract with the Youngstown Board of Education that doesn’t include a pay raise for the first year but includes a wage reopener clause in 1984.

Lou D’Apolito, president of the Mahoning County Bar Association, defends the bar’s system of recommending judicial candidates, saying it is more than just a popularity contest.

Fred Joseph Jr., 17, is found guilty of aggravated murder in the death of Niles police officer John Utlak. An 18-year-old accomplice was convicted in April.

June 11, 1968: Soda Luscher Construction Co. of Niles is the apparent low bidder for construction of the final 1.6-mile section of I-80 in Trumbull County. The bid was $6,042,540, well below the state’s estimated cost of $6.5 million.

Mario Guerrieri, 36, bar owner and self-styled antique dealer who bragged that he has spent only an hour in jail, is sentenced by Mahoning County Common Pleas Judge Sidney Riglehaupt to a year in the penitentiary after being found guilty of possessing tools used in an illegal abortion.

The Youngstown Board of Eduction hires several former Warren teachers for the 1968-69 school year, but still needs 40 teachers to fill its needs for the 1968-69 school year.

June 11, 1958: Century Food Markets Co. of Youngstown will purchase the Bailey Co.’s main department store and three branches in Cleveland.

An estimated drop of $277,828 in Youngstown city income taxes prompts Mayor Frank X. Kryzan to announce that the city is being put on an “emergency spending” plan.

June 11, 1933: Fish stocks in Lake Newport in Mill Creek Park have been given five years to mature and Park Superintendent F.E. Hughes says fishing on the lake will open July 1.

Youngstown merchants register the biggest Saturday in recent memory, a reflection of higher payrolls in the area. The past week saw the largest industrial pay in the area since mid-1931.

Youngstown police are cracking down on traffic violations in response to 19 traffic fatalities in the city so far in 1933. There were 25 fatalities in all of 1932 and 42 in 1931.