28 YEARS AGO — 1997
• This isn’t your standard four‐and‐twenty blackbirds. A mid‐level state appeals court here has ruled that Clinton Correctional Facility officials were right to put a reputed New York City mobster in solitary confinement after they intercepted three hacksaw blades and 12 rifle bullets mailed to him in a package of pastry. The five‐judge panel ruled unanimously that prison administrators had more than enough reason to segregate Robert Francella from other inmates at the prison—even though he may not have ordered the contraband. Francella, 37, appealed the decision to lock him away in administrative segregation, which means he is alone in his cell for 23 hours a day with one hour for exercise. He says he was framed by other inmates who wanted him out of circulation at the maximum‐security prison.
• The Olympic Winter Games could be back in Lake Placid by 2010. Sen. Ronald Stafford, Plattsburgh, will serve as chairman of the Adirondack Games Committee, a non‐profit group planning a bid for the 2010 or 2018 Olympic Winter Games. Stafford is holding a press conference today at 2 p.m. at the Olympic Center to make the announcement. Stafford has been a major supporter of another Winter Olympics in the Adirondacks. “The press conference will address a possible bid for the Olympic Winter Games, but a lot of things have to happen first,” Stafford spokesman Thomas Bergin said. A third Olympic Winter Games in the region would have little resemblance to the cozy 1980 event held in Lake Placid village, according to James McKenna, executive director of the Lake Placid‐Essex County Visitors Bureau. “There is the possibility of establishing another Olympic Winter Games here, but they can never be like they were in 1932 or 1980. A regional approach is needed.”
50 YEARS AGO — 1975
• If you were a city planner, what would you do with downtown Plattsburgh? Which buildings would you demolish? Which streets would become one-way streets or pedestrian walkways? Would you add more parks? Which buildings are worth historic preservation? You’ll soon have the opportunity to play the role of the city planner—and of the merchant, the banker, the hotel chain representative, and everyone else concerned with downtown renovation—with the aid of a game board designed and built by students at the State University College at Plattsburgh. Not only will you play the roles of those concerned with downtown renovation, but your reactions will be recorded and passed on to those charged with the redesign of the downtown area as part of a public consensus on the project. Students in an experimental design class at the college have constructed a model of the section of downtown Plattsburgh bordered by Cornelia Street on the north, the Middle School on the south, Peru and Charlotte Street on the east, and Oak Street on the west. Their six-foot-square game board supports wooden models, made to scale, representing all the buildings in that downtown area. With various color-coded playing chips, participants in the city planning game will signify the changes they envision for the betterment of downtown Plattsburgh. Red chips will mark buildings to be demolished; blue chips will mark buildings to be renovated and preserved; natural color chips will signify buildings worth historic preservation; commercial, residential, and other buildings will also be signified by colored chips.
• Richard Nixon, for much of his presidency, was more concerned with his historical image than with the needs of the American people. Thus, John W. Dean III characterized Nixon to students at Plattsburgh State University College Friday night. The former White House counsel stated that he personally committed but one crime while he served the President, but readily admitted he had been involved in many acts of “questionable morality.” Although the experience of Watergate was among the worst events of his life, it may also have been one of his best experiences, Dean stated. Speaking before a packed house at Memorial Hall gymnasium, the former White House counsel said the chief benefit of Watergate, perhaps, is the fact that it will likely prevent another Watergate. Dean’s appearance was sponsored by the speakers bureau of the college’s student association, which purportedly paid him $3,500 and expenses for his appearance. One student accused Dean of making a large amount of money from the speaking tour and for rights to a book on Watergate. “I guarantee I’m going to support my family the best I know how,” Dean replied. He denied a report that he is receiving $175,000 for his tour and dismissed inaccurate rumors that he and his wife will receive in excess of a half million dollars in advances for a book about Watergate. His four months in prison were an eye-opener, according to Dean. He recalled feeling “personally offended” to learn that one young man, convicted of possession of one ounce of marijuana, was sentenced to 10 years, while he (Dean) had gotten off with four months. When asked why he did the things he did, Dean responded, “The only thing I know of that I did which was of a criminal nature was my part in the coverup. It’s easy to say that loyalty was a reason, but loyalty really lies only in one direction—one’s own integrity.”
75 YEARS AGO — 1950
• Bare legs and shoulders will be taboo in Montreal this spring and summer if the City Council this week accepts recommendations of its Executive Committee. Inspired by many protests heard last Summer against women wandering around along the city’s main streets in sundresses without bolero, and in skirtless shorts, the committee will invite the Council some time during the March meeting to adopt a by-law forbidding these things on Montreal streets. The by-laws will not only forbid women appearing in public in garments which expose too much shoulder or too much lower limb, it will also forbid men wearing any type of dress in public which leaves too much of the torso exposed.
• Police, firemen, employees of the Municipal Lighting and Public Works departments and volunteers will renew efforts this morning to locate the body of five-year-old Harold Healey who drowned late yesterday afternoon in the Saranac River in front of City Hall. The boy, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Healey of 102 Sally Avenue, fell into the river from a retaining wall running along the west shore of the stream. Up to an early hour this morning, his body had not been located. Chief Engineer Richard Norris of the Fire Department said that blasting probably would be undertaken today to break up ice across the mouth of the river. Searchers believe the boy’s body may have caught in the ice. Efforts to saw a channel across the river were abandoned last night at about 10:30 when it became apparent that blasting would be speedier. Firemen alternated throughout the night in maintaining vigil at the scene. They utilized a generator and floodlights belonging to the department, and lights from a variety of other sources. At an early hour this morning, the police and a few other men were still grappling for the child’s body. Patrolman Edward Knuffke, acting as desk sergeant last night, said that seven-year-old Monty Wayne Carlo, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Carlo of 95 Sailly Avenue, burst into police headquarters in City Hall, a few minutes before six o’clock and told them of Harold’s fall.
100 YEARS AGO — 1925
• Three slot machine proprietors were fined $200 apiece by City Judge J. Edgar Downs yesterday and were warned that a repetition of the offense would mean the maximum sentence—a $500 fine and a year in jail. Arthur Bohner of The Pastime, where two machines were seized Thursday night, and Wilfred St. Johns and Lawrence Budrow of the filling station of Budrow and St. Johns on Margaret Street, where three machines were seized, appeared at the opening of court and offered pleas of guilty. District Attorney B. Loyal O’Castell asked for a heavy sentence. In view of the fact that a full warning had been issued through the newspapers a fortnight ago that slot machine proprietors would continue to run them at their peril, he said he thought the penalty should be six months in jail and a fine of $300. City Judge Downs stated, however, that since the men pleaded guilty and it was their first offense, he would let them off with fines of $200 each. The fines were paid. Seven slot machines will go under the axe at 13:30 this morning in front of the police station. Five were seized Thursday night and two previously.
• The 40 World War veterans quartered here by the United States Government will, on March 1, pass from the care of local specialists to a staff of six physicians attached to the local bureau and rated as “tuberculosis specialists,” it was announced today by Dr. Maurice A. Stark, director of the veterans bureau. The new staff will have offices in the bureau building. This change is regarded as the final step to place the Saranac Lake Bureau on a permanent basis as a hospitalization center. Veterans will be quartered as at present in government contract nursing and boarding cottages or, in the case of married men, in annexes. Since coming here, the men have been under the care of noted specialists in the treatment of tuberculosis.