Looking Backward

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012

ARTICLE OPTIONS

A A

The north

10 years ago

Dec. 4, 2002: While Lewis County residents buy most of their medications and equipment in the county, many other retail dollars are spent elsewhere, according to a consumer buying behavior study. According to a release from the Lewis County Empire Zone, the study showed that county residents desire a better selection of clothing, electronics, sporting goods and food items. The study, commissioned by the Empire Zone Administration Board in April, also showed that many residents travel outside the county for at least a portion of their grocery needs.

25 years ago

Dec. 4, 1987: Labeling it as another example of the city’s commitment to revitalization of downtown Watertown, officials today opened the Arsenal/Court Street parking garage with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Officials said the $1.5 million project both alleviated pressure on downtown parking through the addition of 200 spaces and improved the appearance of the Court Street corridor.

50 years ago

Dec. 4, 1962: Closed-circuit television is being experimented with at the Thousand Islands bridge as a means of keeping bridge officials alerted to traffic conditions on any or all of the five spans that connect the United States and Canada, it was disclosed today.

75 years ago

Dec. 4, 1937: The placing of nets in Henderson bay by commercial fisherman under permit of the state Conservation Department today aroused vigorous protests from Henderson Harbor residents who see in the action a threat to the famed fishing of the area.

100 years ago

Dec. 4, 1912: “It will cost approximately $100,000 to build schools on Arsenal and Arlington streets for the accommodation of the pupils of Watertown.” This was the statement made by the Superintendent of Schools Frank S. Tisdale to a Times reporter this morning.

125 years ago

Dec. 4, 1887: Watertown people have been very proud of the last few nights that they lived in a city with electric lighted streets, and felt a corresponding pity for the people of small country villages who are obliged to stumble about in the mud these dark nights.

150 years ago

Dec. 4, 1862: The man who took the overcoat from the Counting Room of the News and Reformer office yesterday will confer a favor upon the owner by returning the same without delay.

The world

Today is Tuesday, Dec. 4, the 339th day of 2012. There are 27 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Dec. 4, 1619, a group of settlers from Bristol, England, arrived at Berkeley Hundred in present-day Charles City County, Va., where they held a service thanking God for their safe arrival. (Some suggest this was the true first Thanksgiving in America, ahead of the Pilgrims’ arrival in Massachusetts.)

Ten years ago: United Airlines lost its bid for $1.8 billion in federal loan guarantees, a major setback to the nation’s second-largest air carrier in its efforts to avoid bankruptcy. Supreme Court justices heard arguments on whether federal laws intended to combat organized crime and corruption could be used against anti-abortion demonstrators.

Five years ago: Defending his credibility, President George W. Bush said Iran was dangerous and needed to be squeezed by international pressure despite a U.S. intelligence finding that Tehran had halted its nuclear weapons program four years earlier. The intelligence report on Iran figured in a Democratic debate on National Public Radio as rivals assailed frontrunner Hillary Rodham Clinton for voting in favor of a Senate resolution designating Iran’s Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization. Pimp C (Chad Butler), a rapper with the Texas hip-hop group Underground Kingz, was found dead in a hotel room in Los Angeles; he was 33.

Thought for Today: “Many are called but few get up.” — Oliver Herford, American author (1863-1935).