Looking back: Feb. 4, 2013

1988 (25 years ago)

• “The competition from three other shopping centers on Hershberger Road doesn’t bother the new owners of Crossroads Consumer Mall.”
• “Billy Sample, the Roanoke Valley native who finished his major league baseball career with the Braves, is returning to Atlanta.”
• “Supporters of historic preservation clashed Wednesday with the owners of 16 buildings in downtown Roanoke that have been targeted for historic zoning.”
• “Today’s your last chance to register if you’re hoping to vote in Virginia’s first presidential primary.”
• “With paid attendance of 8,827, ‘Oliver!’ set a record for Christmas-season shows at Mill Mountain Theatre.”

1963 (50 years ago)

• “A majority of city councilmen apparently oppose a bond issue election this year on the auditorium-coliseum.”
• “Famed and valuable works of art owned by residents of Roanoke and Southwest Virginia go on display tonight at the Roanoke Fine Arts Center’s exhibition gallery at the public library.”
• “The dignity of Roanoke County Circuit Court was disrupted today when two women screamed and created a disturbance after their husbands were given penitentiary sentences.”
• “Back in the old days when Roanoke had 30 or more saloons, a brewery and two distillereries one could eat well for 15 cents a day.”
• “City Sgt. Kermit Allman surprised City Council last night with a report that three meals a day, supplies and utilities at the city jail cost 64.8 cents a day per prisoner.”
• “A roll of nickels spent on cab fare helped Roanoke police arrest three persons for a Botetourt County burglary last night.”
• “Surprise was the chief reaction today in the Roanoke area to Gov. Albertis S. Harrison Jr.’s comment that a special session of the General Assembly may be necessary to deal with problems arising from banning of the poll tax in federal elections.”
• “Biology has gone from the dead to the living at Cave Spring High School in Roanoke County. The school is conducting a pilot experiment with a new method of teaching biology.”
• “They’re vacuum-cleaning heads in Roanoke barber shops. The old-fashioned brush and mug for the application of shaving lather are taboo. These and other regulations came into being this year to assure Roanokers and Virginians, more sanitary haircuts.”

1938 (75 years ago)

• “Roanoke proved itself gratifyingly alive and appreciative in its reception last night of the concert of the National Symphony orchestra under the masterful baton of Dr. Hans Kindler … at the Academy of Music.”
• “Brides of this year and last were urged to file their new legal names with the local office of the social security board, at 605 Rosenberg building.”
• “A feud second only to the one between the Hatfields and the McCoys will break out again at 8 o’clock tonight on the Jefferson high school gymnasium when the Jefferson Magicians begin firing away at the Hilltoppers of E. C. Glass high school, Lynchburg.”
• “An effort is being made by the Roanoke Needlework Guild through February 15 to raise funds with which to furnish shoes for the estimated 889 children in the city public schools in need of footwear to come to school.”
• “Roanoke’s first class in automobile driving and traffic safety has reached the point where most of its 14 members are ready for instruction in parallel parking.”
• “Roanoke county residents who have not complied with the state law in respect to having sanitary toilets at their dwellings and homes are requested to communicate with M. L. Howell, supervisor of the county WPA project for the installation of sanity toilets, within the next few days.”
• “First it was Martin Levy, ‘The Blimp’; then came Goofus Khan, the Hindu mudman without the mud; and now Promoter Pete Moore has gone in for something quiet again — women wrestlers.”
• “What appeared to be a meteor of unusual size, travelling close to the earth, flashed across the heavens shortly after 6 o’clock last night and was visible at many points in Southwest Virginia.”
• “What was believed to have been the longest line of fire hose ever laid here to battle a blaze — 3,800 feet — was used by three fire companies early yesterday afternoon.”
• “Women peace workers, temperance leaders, and society women come in the everyday routine of covering the news but yesterday was the first time that this humble cub reporter ever interviewed a woman wrestler — wow!”

1913 (100 years ago)

• “Yesterday was an unusually busy day for the fire department, no less than six alarms being turned in between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m.”
• “The course of justice in the police recorder’s court ran smoothly this morning, and thirty minutes was sufficient in which to clear up a docket somewhat heavier than the ordinary.”
• “Perseverance conquers a great many things. Last night it was responsible for the fall of the house at 383 Salem avenue, s. w. conducted by Mrs. Ellen Eddy.”
• “Indications are that Roanoke people this morning will awake to the shivering reality of one of the coldest days of this winter.”
• Four new businesses received charters from the State Corporation Commission — V. E. Ballou Company, Incorporated, The Roanoke Ice Corporation, The Century Realty Company and The Richardson-Wayland Electrical Corporation.
• “An old time ‘spelling bee,’ such as modern hurry and flurry has brushed aside, was held last night in the lecture room of Greene Memorial church.”

Weather Journal

2 hours ago

1. Defense heeds the call as Virginia Tech squeaks out win over ECU 

2. One person injured in Friday night shooting in Roanoke

3. William Byrd stuns Salem in football win

4. Lowe's tapes may hold clues to Roanoke woman's death

5. Britney Spears spotted at Lynchburg restaurant

6. East Carolina poses new challenge for Virginia Tech football 

7. Concert review: Timeless Willie Nelson plays to appreciative crowd

8. Blacksburg lawyer Painter’s bond revoked

9. History says this one will matter for Virginia Tech

10. Principal who guided Patrick Henry through integration dies