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The Roanoke Times

File 1959 "This year the program for the Harvest Bowl football game will sport a new cartoon cover. It is the work of artist James Gibson, head of the art department for Stone Printing Co."

1999 (10 years ago)

n "Genuine Parts Co. will close its NAPA auto parts distribution center in Roanoke, eliminating 70 jobs and a fixture in local business history."

n "Recent rainfall has brought the level of Roanoke's Carvins Cove reservoir up to 21.3 feet below spillway, but it is not enough of an increase to consider lifting the water-saving restrictions, city water department manager Jesse Perdue said Wednesday."

n "The City of Roanoke has put a geographical information system (GIS) on its Web site, allowing those with Internet access to see Roanoke real estate parcel maps, flood plains, zoning information, and the location of sewer lines and fire hydrants."

1984 (25 years ago)

n "The Salem Publishing Co., owned by Ray Robinson and his wife, Jeanne, is purchasing the Vinton Messenger and the Fincastle Herald effective Oct. 1."

n "Comair, a commuter subsidiary of Delta, will begin its service in Roanoke Oct. 15."

n "Western Virginia orchardists are doing their bit to lure Arabian dollars to the state. Three apple growers in Botetourt County ... are frantically packing apples for a huge shipment to Saudi Arabia on Oct. 10."

n "Patients going to Western Virginia hospitals have the lowest average costs per admission of any area of the state, according to a state survey."

n "Under a new ordinance passed by Roanoke City Council, motorists can be issued parking tickets for unauthorized parking in handicapped spaces in shopping centers and on other privately owned property."

1959 (50 years ago)

n "Mahalia Jackson, world-famed gospel singer, has been scheduled to appear in Roanoke Nov. 14 and 15."

n "What has always been a bitter rivalry has now become a top flight football game annually. That's the way things stand between Jefferson and William Fleming, Roanoke's two high school football powers."

n "Downtown Roanoke may soon have 24-hour traffic lights, rather than the blinking red and yellow signals during the early morning hours."

n "Lindsey-Robinson & Co., a major southeastern feed manufacturer, has been bought by Valleydale Packers, Inc., of Salem for an undisclosed price."

n "Battle lines are forming around the city's annexation proposals. Dollars, as usual, are the heart of the matter."

n "The city will be asked Monday to hire Negro firemen and to triple the number of Negro policemen on the city's police force."

n "Thousands, swept by a holiday spirit, jammed downtown Roanoke today as the city's Harvest Festival parade moved out Jefferson street."

n "Banjoist Dick Roberts, a native of Salem, Va., has a new recording, 'The Banjo Kings Go West' "

1934 (75 years ago)

n "Boy Scouts will turn out here 800 strong for traffic and other duties when the chief executive, himself a Scouter for 13 years, visits Roanoke to dedicate the veterans' hospital west of the city."

n "Firemen and policemen here were told yesterday by Mayor Sydney F. Small that city council has ordered a thorough study of the present pension plan of the police and fire departments with the view of assuring the employees that the fund will be entirely adequate to pay their pensions when they reach the age for retirement."

n "Lick Run, a branch flowing along Second street, N. E., is becoming popular with automobile owners as an ideal place to take the old bus for a bath."

n "The City Council expects to take hold, beginning next week, of the major problem confronting the city, the collection of approximately $1,200,000 in delinquent taxes."

n "The carefree days when one could round up a group of genial souls, a couple of ribby hound dogs and an oil lantern and strike out into the crisp cold of a fall night to stumble over logs and tear through briar patches in pursuit of the more or less futile sport of 'possum hunting seem doomed, for there's a price on the sport now, for one and all."

n "Fiddlers, harmonica players, banjo players, guitar players and singers of old-time Virginia music began arriving in Roanoke early this morning for the 'Southern Fiddlers Convention.' "

n "Should John McM. Boon, of Salem, live until October 19, President Franklin D. Roosevelt will be the ninth president with whom he has come in contact."

n "Texas Gladden, ballad singer of Roanoke county, was awarded first prize in the Southern Fiddlers Convention held here Friday and Saturday at the Market Auditorium, for her singing of traditional ballads of Virginia."

1909 (100 years ago)

n "When Nat Thomas ... was arrested this morning by Police Officer Bishop he was a veritable walking store."

n "There is a law in this city requiring that all riders of bicycles shall ring their gongs or bells, especially in turning corners or at street crossings. This law is often violated."

n "On next Monday the Roanoke military company will be called upon to give up its present quarters in the old Roanoke and Southern depot."

n "Virginia College opened yesterday for the session of 1909-1910, and young lady students are arriving in the city on various trains."