Summaries of local news stories from the pages of the Intelligencer Journal and Lancaster New Era appear in this space each Monday. They are researched and compiled by staff member Tim Buckwalter. Full versions are available on microfilm at the Lancaster County Library, 125 N. Duke St.

25 years ago

WORD OF THANKS: Former Olympic champion Barney Ewell thanked the Lancaster community for raising $5,000 to send him and his wife, Duella, to the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Ewell had won a gold medal and two silver medals for track and field at the 1948 Olympics in London. (July 28, 1984)

ASBESTOS: City school officials said they were making good progress on an asbestos-removal project, and vowed that by summer’s end, all asbestos would be gone from the district’s schools. The district had decided to remove the hazardous material rather than encapsulate it. “Instead of playing games, we want it out,” said Robert Scheffey, the school board president. Schools undergoing asbestos-removal work were Buchanan, King, Lafayette, Hand, Lincoln, Reynolds, Wheatland, Fulton, Reigart, Wharton and Wickersham. (July 28, 1984)

GROWTH CAP: Citing ongoing pollution, the state limited new sewer connections to Lancaster City’s south sewage treatment plant to 20 a month, a move that was expected to drastically restrict growth in booming West Lampeter and East Lampeter townships, and four other municipalities. The cap was to be lifted only after six consecutive months of acceptable discharge from the south plant into the Conestoga River. (July 30, 1984)

50 years ago

EDITOR DIES: John H. Carter, editor of the New Era for 30 years, died at Lancaster General Hospital after a long illness. He was 62. Carter had shunned the public spotlight, but left his imprints on the making of modern newspapers and on community affairs. He had served four years as county treasurer and had been a member and as president of the board of directors of Lancaster General Hospital. (July 27, 1959)

THREATS TO THAD: An inventory of old documents at the Lancaster County Historical Society turned up some photostatic copies of threatening notes sent by the Ku Klux Klan to Thaddeus Stevens, Lancaster’s 19th-century abolitionist congressman. “Your doom is sealed!!!” declared one of the notes. “Prepare thy soul for its swift flight. The bony finger has touched your pillow. Nothing can change its decree.” (July 27, 1959)

WELCOME MAT: If Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev ever visited the United States, he would be welcome in Lancaster, an unofficial poll of local citizens found. The poll was taken as Vice President Richard Nixon discussed a possible U.S. visit with Khrushchev. (July 30, 1959)

75 years ago

TROLLEY TRAGEDY: A motorman was killed and nine other people were injured when two trolley cars on the Ephrata line of the Conestoga Transportation Company crashed head-on south of Akron, at a sharp bend where the rails crossed the road leading from Route 222 to Diamond Station. A coroner’s jury found the surviving motorman guilty of negligence for disregarding a red light at a turnout between Brownstown and Akron, a half-mile south of the crash site. (July 28 and Aug. 1, 1934)

100 years ago

ROAD SUIT: A Quarryville automobilist successfully prosecuted the owner of a team that pulled out in front of him on the Willow Street turnpike. The resulting collision caused $24.35 in damage to the plaintiff’s auto, which struck the wagon full of stone. (July 29, 1909)

BURGLARIES: Nighttime thieves burglarized a liquor store and saddlery on Penn Square, stealing $2 from the former and 75 cents from the latter. (July 30, 1909)

BABY DAY: Thousands of people attended “Baby Day” at Rocky Springs Park, where infants participated in a parade of decorated baby carriages and go-carts. Prizes included a Singer sewing machine, silver ice pitcher, gold neckchains and pendants, and a silver tea set. (July 30, 1909)