Years Ago

Today is Saturday, Sept. 12, the 255th day of 2009. There are 110 days left in the year. On this date in 1960, Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy addresses questions about his Roman Catholic faith, telling a Southern Baptist group in Houston, “I do not speak for my church on public matters, and the church does not speak for me.”

In 1880, author and journalist H.L. Mencken is born in Baltimore. In 1918, during World War I, U.S. forces led by Gen. John J. Pershing launch a successful attack on the German-occupied St. Mihiel salient near Verdun, France. In 1938, Adolf Hitler demands the right of self-determination for the Sudeten Germans in Czechoslovakia. In 1943, German paratroopers take Benito Mussolini from the hotel where he was being held by the Italian government. In 1953, Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kennedy marries Jacqueline Lee Bouvier in Newport, R.I. In 1958, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Cooper v. Aaron, unanimously rules that Arkansas officials who are resisting public school desegregation orders cannot disregard the high court’s rulings. In 1959, the Soviet Union launches its Luna 2 space probe, which makes a crash landing on the moon. The TV Western series “Bonanza” premieres on NBC.

September 12, 1984: David Wildes, the co-owner of the Elm Beverage Shoppe, is shot and killed and two other people are wounded during a robbery of the popular North Side wine and beer carry-out.

West Side residents are told rehabilitation of the Mahoning Avenue Bridge could begin by the end of the year and will take about five months.

The Mahoning County Juvenile Court is awarded a $449,931 grant by the Ohio Department of Youth Services to improve youth services in the county.

September 12, 1969: Jack L. Warner, the last tycoon of Hollywood’s family-owned movie empires, leaves Warner Bros.-Seven Arts after a half century as a production chief and says he will shift his attention to producing Broadway plays.

Paul Cress, chief of campus security at Youngstown State University, says the key to avoiding major disturbances on the 15,000-student campus is a progressive administration policy of wider student involvement in all phases of academic life.

September 12, 1959: U.S. District Judge Paul Jones, Paul C. Weick and James C. Connell of Cleveland come to Youngstown to inspect the new bankruptcy court quarters in the Youngstown Post Office, where Atty. Harry Doyle is the bankruptcy referee. Weick and Jones are native Youngstowners.

Pennsylvania Gov. David Lawrence denies accusations that he has joined southern interests in an attempt to oust Paul M. Butler as chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

George S. Bishop, chairman of the board of Peoples Bank, gets a surprise 80th birthday party from bank directors during a meeting at the Youngstown club.

September 12, 1934: Thousands of spectators jam the streets of Niles for a Centennial parade that features vehicles and fashions of bygone days.

Mahoning County Judge George H. Gessner dismisses a lawsuit against county commissioners brought by John Garner Jr. in the death of his father, John Garner Sr., who was stoned to death in a riot after he unintentionally cut another man at Evans Field. The suit claimed that commissioners are responsible for preventing lynchings and riots and sought $5,000.

The C.C. Thompson Pottery Co. in East Liverpool and Edwin M. Knowles China Co. in Newell, W. Va., announce expansions that will cost $50,000.