Years Ago

Today is Friday, Sept. 25, the 268th day of 2009. There are 97 days left in the year. On this date in 1789, the first U.S. Congress adopts 12 amendments to the Constitution and sends them to the states for ratification. (Ten of the amendments become the Bill of Rights.)

In 1513, Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa crosses the Isthmus of Panama and sights the Pacific Ocean. In 1690, one of the earliest American newspapers, Publick Occurrences, publishes its first — and last — edition in Boston. In 1775, American Revolutionary War hero Ethan Allen is captured by the British as he leads an attack on Montreal. (Allen is released by the British in 1778.) In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson collapses after a speech in Pueblo, Colo., during a national speaking tour in support of the Treaty of Versailles. In 1957, nine black students who’d been forced to withdraw from Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., because of unruly white crowds are escorted to class by members of the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division.

September 25, 1984: Local Right to Life groups are gearing up for protests when Geraldine Ferraro, Democratic vice presidential candidate, arrives in Youngstown on a campaign visit.

James Bellavia, president of the Youngstown Diocesan Confederation of Teachers, which represents high school teachers, accuses the diocese of attempting to block the organization of elementary teachers in Youngstown area Catholic schools.

A poll conducted by the University of Cincinnati shows that Ohioans prefer President Reagan over Walter Mondale by a margin of 51 percent to 36 percent.

September 25, 1969: A 72-year-old St. Petersburg, Fla., man and his 25-year-old niece are abducted as they left St. Elizabeth Hospital by a man armed with a shotgun, forced to drive to Liberty Road, where the man was robbed and the woman assaulted.

Trumbull County commissioners approve the annexation of 33 acres of land on the east side of Mahoning Avenue to the city of Warren for construction of a $15 million shopping plaza. It will extend the city limits to the Erie Lackawanna and Baltimore & Ohio railroad tracks.

All construction craftsmen report for work at the Lordstown site of General Motors, where tension remains following unrest that led to the shooting death of an iron worker and the arrest of a laborer on murder charges.

September 25, 1959: Boardman Township has a shiny new fire station, and equipment for it at Shields Road and Lockwood Blvd., but no money to open it.

During a visit to Youngstown, Gov. Michael V. DiSalle says construction will begin within two years on a highway from Ashtabula to East Liverpool to link Lake Erie to the Ohio river.

Maurice Stans, President Eisenhower’s budget director, says that if the 11 week old steel strike continues it has the potential for throwing 1960’s budget out of balance.

September 25, 1934: City Council demands that Mayor Mark Moore and Police Chief Leroy Goodwin launch a campaign to wipe out the illegal lottery in Youngstown. Council says that unless progress is made, money will be allocated for an independent investigation and federal help will be asked.

City Council votes to ask the U.S. Department of Commerce to survey possible sites for a municipal airport and make a recommendation of which is best.

The Phi Pi Phi club, a recently organized club of Rayen School students and alumni, is planning a masquerade ball..