1989 – 25 years ago
Mayo Clinic physicians announced this week they have pioneered a new way of dissolving the most common form of gallstones. Dr. Johnson L. Thistle, a gastroenterologist, says a gasoline additive, a form of ether, is injected through a tube in the body directly into the gallbladder. This procedure can safely dissolve virtually all cholesterol gallstones, eliminating the need for surgery.
• Charitable gambling in Rochester bars was shot down by the Rochester City Council for the third time in four years. The latest request came from the Minnesota Multiple Sclerosis Society, which wanted to sell pull tabs in local taverns.
1964 – 50 years ago
• The LeRoy Village Council voted to award a $300 scholarship each year to a senior at LeRoy Ostrander High School. The funds are from the estate of the Pangborn family, former LeRoy residents.
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• A new salary schedule was approved by the Spring Valley School Board. The four-year beginning salary was increased from $4,600 to $4,750 per year.
• Current U.S. Civil Service job openings include a right-of-way appraiser with the Bureau of Public Roads and rail freight rate specialist with the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service.
1939 – 75 years ago
• It was announced that the new large indoor arena rink at Mayo Civic auditorium will be opened to the public on selected afternoons and evenings. Admission to the rink will be 25 cents.
• Dr. W.R. Lovelace addressed a group at Harvard University regarding physiological problems of aviation. Dr. Lovelace reported that a new oxygen nose mask is now being tested by Howard Hughes and other fliers.
• Sears is holding a farm sale day and a single tractor disc harrow is $89.95 and a tandem tractor disc harrow is $79.95
From news reports
Ten years ago: Marcus Wesson, the domineering patriarch of a cultlike clan he'd bred through incest, surrendered to police, who found the bodies of nine of his offspring, all but one minors, at their home in Fresno, Calif. (Wesson was later convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death.)
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Five years ago: Disgraced financier Bernard Madoff pleaded guilty in New York to pulling off perhaps the biggest swindle in Wall Street history. The Iraqi journalist who'd thrown his shoes at President George W. Bush received a three-year sentence. (Muntadhar al-Zeidi ended up serving nine months.) Insurance broker Willis Group Holdings announced that Chicago's Sears Tower would be renamed Willis Tower. Lindsey Vonn became the first American woman to win the super-G season finale at the World Cup finals in Are, Sweden. Philanthropist Leonore Annenberg died in Rancho Mirage, Calif. at age 91.
One year ago: Black smoke poured from the Sistine Chapel chimney, signaling that cardinals had failed on their first vote of the papal conclave to choose a new leader of the Catholic Church. Richard Beasley, a self-styled street preacher, was found guilty in Akron, Ohio, of murdering three down-and-out men who'd been lured by bogus job offers posted on Craigslist. (Beasley was later sentenced to death.) Mitch Seavey, a 53-year-old former champion, won the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in nine days, 7 hours and 39 minutes to become the oldest winner of Alaska's grueling test of endurance.
Today's birthdays: Playwright Edward Albee is 86. Politician, diplomat and civil rights activist Andrew Young is 82. Actress Barbara Feldon is 81. Broadcast journalist Lloyd Dobyns is 78. Singer Al Jarreau is 74. Actress-singer Liza Minnelli is 68. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is 67. Singer-songwriter James Taylor is 66. Former Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., is 66. Rock singer-musician Bill Payne (Little Feat) is 65. Actor Jon Provost ("Lassie") is 64. Author Carl Hiaasen is 61. Rock musician Steve Harris (Iron Maiden) is 58. Actor Jerry Levine is 57. Singer Marlon Jackson (The Jackson Five) is 57. Actor Jason Beghe is 54. Actor Courtney B. Vance is 54. Actor Titus Welliver is 53. Former MLB All-Star Darryl Strawberry is 52. Actress Julia Campbell is 51. Actor Aaron Eckhart is 46. CNN reporter Jake Tapper is 45. Rock musician Graham Coxon is 45. Country musician Tommy Bales (Flynnville Train) is 41. Actor Rhys Coiro is 35. Country singer Holly Williams is 33. Actor Samm (cq) Levine is 32. Actor Jaimie Alexander is 30. Actor Tyler Patrick Jones is 20. Actress Kendall Applegate is 15.
