News that was making news in years gone by.
December 17, 1937:
** The General Assembly is set to take up the issue of highway speed limits. Currently, motorists can be cited by police for reckless driving, but they cannot be cited for speeding on highways.
December 17, 1964:
** As the state government continues weighing the need for a sales tax, some local governments – in places such as Bristol, Norfolk and Petersburg – already are enacting their own.
** Local residents are making the case to state officials of the need to purchase more land for parks.
** In boys basketball, Wakefield and Washington-Lee have opened the season at 2-0, while Yorktown is 0-2.
December 15, 1966:
** Republican County Board member Harold Casto is urging several members of the School Board to resign, so the GOP County Board majority can appoint replacements.
December 18, 1970:
** School officials have found themselves criticized for planning to upgrade four schools – Jackson, Page, Swanson and Washington-Lee – that are adjacent to the proposed route of Interstate 66.
** State Democratic Party leaders say they will not try to “purge” party members who openly supported U.S. Sen. Harry Byrd Jr.’s re-election bid. Byrd ran as an independent.
** Washington-Lee High School officials have admitted to violating basketball scrimmage rules; a hearing has been set for January.
** The Sun editorial page notes the appearance of two-person “Luv” seats in local movie theaters.
December 15, 1971:
** U.S. Rep. Joel Broyhill, R-10th, says he is keeping an “open mind” about running for the U.S. Senate next year.
December 16, 1976:
** A Sun editorial has praised the selection of Joseph Gwaltney for District Court judge, and said it was “encouraging” that David Bell was appointed to succeed Gwaltney as Clerk of the Circuit Court.
** The School Board has agreed that ninth-graders will attend county high schools starting next fall. Currently, ninth-graders attend middle schools.
December 15, 1992:
** County Board member William Newman Jr. and Judge Frank Ceresi are considered the top contenders for the vacancy on the Circuit Court left by the retirement of Judge Thomas Monroe.
** The County Board has approved mandatory recycling for apartment owners and businesses, to begin next July.