Oct. 7, 2011: It has been two years since the franchisee of the local Friendly’s proposed tearing down the restaurant on Arsenal Street and building a new one in its place. Now the chain’s parent company has announced it is seeking bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11. Kevin M. Fear, who owns Mattress Express, still wishes the city had sold an adjacent two-thirds of an acre at 120 Haney St. to him for parking for his business next door, at 1241 Arsenal St., instead of to the Friendly’s franchisee, Kessler Family LLC, Rochester.
Oct. 7, 1996: At least one north country pharmacy chain — Kinney Drugs — has started to carry home HIV test kits, and television advertisements have appeared that offer the products through the mail. Those who work with north country AIDS patients and their families have mixed feelings about the home test kits, emphasizing that testing and personalized counseling are always available locally at little or no cost.
Oct. 7, 1971: City police reported today that a section of concrete measuring two-by-four feet fell from the underside of the Court Street Bridge Tuesday morning and onto the middle of Newell Street. The incident is not believed to have been caused by a structural deficiency in the bridge itself, but rather by the effect of frost and water on trim added to the bridge after its original construction.
Oct. 7, 1946: The board of supervisors unanimously adopted a resolution to discontinue the operation of the Bide-a-wee contagious hospital and send all contagious disease cases to the new contagious section of the Jefferson county sanatorium beginning Nov. 1.
Oct. 7, 1921: The toddle top craze that struck Gouverneur in a mild form some time ago, came to a head on the West Side yesterday afternoon when the teachers of that school confiscated between two and three score of tops. The teachers had not paid particular attention to the tops until within a few days, when it began to appear that the youngsters were being distracted from their studies.
Oct. 7, 1896: A few days ago an article was published reciting how the waitresses at the Harris house had evaded the landlord’s edict prohibiting the girls from having callers in their rooms and how cupid got around the difficulties by the aid of the fire escape. The waitresses at this hostelry are estimable young ladies and the proprietor desires it understood that they did not play any such trick.
Oct. 7, 1871: The real estate business seems to be quite brisk at present. Mr. O.G. Staples informs us he has sold three houses and lots in the last two weeks. Mr. Staples builds very tasty and neat houses and we wish him success in selling them. He has built 14 within the last eight months.
1765: Delegates from nine of the American colonies meet in New York to discuss the Stamp Act Crisis and colonial response to it.
1849: Edgar Allan Poe, aged 40, dies a tragic death in Baltimore. Never able to overcome his drinking habits, he was found in a delirious condition outside a saloon that was used as a voting place.
1944: Prisoner uprising at Birkenau concentration camp.
1949: Iva Toguri D’Aquino, better known as Tokyo Rose, is sentenced to 10 years in prison for treason.
1985: Four Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) hijackers seize the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro and demand the release of 50 Palestinians held by Israel.
1993: The Great Flood of 1993 on the Mississippi and Missouri rivers ends, the worst U.S. flood since 1927.
1996: Fox News Channel begins broadcasting.
2001: U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in reaction to the terrorist attacks of 9/11 begins; it will become the longest war in U.S. history.
2003: California voters remove Democratic governor Gray Davis from office in the state’s first successful recall of a sitting governor (only the second successful recall of a governor in U.S. history); a Republican candidate, bodybuilder/actor Arnold Schwarzenegger wins the election to replace Davis 17 days later.
