Feb. 2, 1887

First Groundhog Day

1996 -Actor, dancer, choreographer Gene Kelly dies at his home in California

1979 – Sid Vicious dies of a drug overdose in New York

Feb. 3, 1958 – The Day The Music Died Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper die in plane accident

Feb. 4, 1922 – Ford Motor Company buys Lincoln Motor Company

1789 – Washington unanimously elected by Electoral College to first and second terms

Feb. 5, 1994 – Medger Evers’ killer is convicted

Feb. 6, 1952 – Elizabeth becomes Queen

1891 – Dalton Gang tries to commit its first bank robbery

1993 – Tennis great Arthur Ashe dies of AIDS

Feb. 7, 1964 – Beatles arrive in NYC

1968 – Forensic evidence solves a crime

1812 – Earthquake causes fluvial tsunami in Mississippi

1862 – Rebel reinforcements ordered to Tennesse’s Fort Donelson

Headlines in History

Albert McKenzie pleads guilty to a misdemeanor count of embezzlement in Alameda County, California. McKenzie had originally been charged with a felony for taking $52.50 from the sewing machine company for which he worked. However, rather than go through a trial, the prosecution and defendant agreed to a plea bargain, a practice that was becoming increasingly common in American courts.

The right to a trial by jury was considered a central part of the justice system in the early days of the United States. The 7th amendment of the Bill of Rights codified it as an essential part of Americans’ civil liberties. When criminals were caught and charged, the government went through a trial and verdict. But in the 1800s, a trend toward plea bargaining began. In Alameda County, from 1880 to 1910, nearly 10 percent of defendants changed their “not guilty” pleas to “guilty of lesser charges” or pled guilty to reduced charges. Today, the plea bargain is an essential part of the criminal justice system.

The great majority of charges, over 90 percent in many jurisdictions, are resolved through some type of plea bargain. Plea bargaining gains favor in American courts February 7, 1881

Symbionese Liberation Army abducts Patty Hearst – February 4, 1974

Patricia Hearst, 19 year old daughter of publishing billionaire William Randolph Hearst, was kidnapped from her Berkeley, California apartment. Stephen Weed, Hearst’s fiance, was beaten unconscious by the two abductors. Soon, a ransom demand came from the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), a radical activist group led by Donald DeFreeze. The SLA instructed William Hearst to distribute $70 in food for every poor person from Santa Rosa to Los Angeles. Hearst agreed to give away $2 million to the poor in Oakland to have Patty released. More than 10,000 people fought over the food and a riot broke out. Afterwards, the SLA demanded an additional $6 million giveaway, but Hearst refused and Patty was not released. The Hearst story took a strange turn when two months after the abduction, the SLA robbed the Hibernia Bank in San Francisco. The surveillance cameras clearly showed Patty Hearst was one of the machine gun toting robbers. Soon after followed a taped message from the SLA in which Hearst claimed she had voluntarily joined the SLA and was now to be know as “Tania.” On May 17, 1974, police were tipped to the location of the SLA leaders in a Los Angeles home. With 400 police and FBI agents outside the house, a tremendous gun battle broke out. The police threw gas canisters into the house and then shot at them, sparking a fire in which DeFreeze and five other SLA members died. However, Hearst was not inside the house. She was not found until September 1975.

Hearst was put on trial and convicted, spending almost two years in jail. President Carter commuted her sentence.

Kentucky Facts and Trivia:

Cheeseburgers were first served in 1934 at Kaolin’s a restaurant in Louisville. Kaolin’s is still alive and well today on Newburg Road in Louisville. The menu ranges from pub fare to 5-course meals served by candlelight, down-home American cooking served family style to international cuisine from all over the world. A year after Kaolin served up the cheeseburger, the trademark for the name was granted to Louis Ballast of the Humpty Dumpty Drive-In in Denver, Colorado.

Clinton County News Headlines:

February 2, 1950 – Volume 1, #14

Bulldogs win over Edmonton, 60-38

The Bulldogs easily won a 60-38 game over Edmonton Thursday night.

Dixon, with 21 points, led the scoring for the local team. Bill DeForest scored 17, Sloan, 13, Bob DeForest, 6, and York, 3. The second team game was more evenly matched and the Pups won a close decision, 29 to 28. Willard Smith led the parade with 12 points, Young, 9, Cummings, 3, Ned Smith, 2, and Groce, Guthrie, and Melton scoring 1 each. Friday night, February 3, the Bulldogs play Fountain Run in Tompkinsville.

Stolen car found in Dale Hollow Lake

A 1940 model Ford stolen from Albany Motors one day last week was found by fishermen, submerged in Dale Hollow Lake near the Obey River Bridge in Tennessee. Identity of the thief is unknown.

Marie Robinson is new president of Younger Woman’s Club

At the regular meeting Thursday night, Mrs. Ruth Smith resigned as president of the Albany Younger Woman’s Club and was succeeded by Mrs. Marie Robinson, former vice-president. Mr. and Mrs. Randolph Smith are moving to Bowling Green, Kentucky where Mr. Smith is attending school.

Showing at the Clinton Theatre

February 5 and 6 is The Doctor and the Girl, starring Glenn Ford, Charles Coburn, and Janet Leigh.