Saturday, January 21, 2012

Happenings from January 1982

Some interesting tidbits of happenings fro m 30 years ago.  Seems like only yesterday to me.  These items are from the files of the Crittenden Press.

January 7, 1982
It's probably un-American to say anything good about parking meters, but that's exactly what we intend to do.  They have a place and a purpose, and they're needed in Marion.  The Marion City Council was right on target Monday evening when it directed the it's police department to begin rigid enforcement of the meters and collection of tickets.

In the early 70's when the city's old parking meters were worn out and not patrolled.  You could hardly find a place to park downtown because of people leaving their vehicles unattended for hours at a time.  Such a condition is a disservice to both the people looking for parking places downtown and to the merchants thee who need the parking for their customers. 

As the Mayor noted, parking meters are a traffic control device just the same as a stop light.  Their purpose is to keep traffic moving in an orderly manner.

(The parking meters have been removed now for several years.  Once Marion Main Streets were busy with many stores for people to visit and purchase needed items.  Most of these stores have closed and only a few remain.  The need for cars to move on swiftly for others to have a parking place is gone now.)

January 14, 1982 -
Area residents suffer effect of cold and snow.  Western Kentuckians have been buffeted over the past few days by the one-two blows of extreme cold and snow.  Pushed by howling winds, a blast of arctic air plummeted temperatures well below zero throughout the area Sunday morning and as temperatures warmed this week, snow began falling mid-day on Tuesday.  By afternoon the storm had left about two and a half inches of dry powdery snow and up to eight inches in some western portions of the state.  Sunday may well go down in the record books as the coldest day of the Twentieth Century.  Temperatures dropped well below zero.  Marion recorded 4 degrees below zero on Sunday.  The high temperature for the day was 6 degrees above zero.  Home thermometer readings of 12 and 14 below were reported throughout the county.  Strong winds made it fell much colder.  Wind chill factors of about minus 50 were recorded Sunday morning.

January 21, 1982
 Ice conditions in the Ohio River are breaking up and traffic is moving as usual.  There's been ice up to six inches thick over seven to nine tenth of the river, but it's moving again now.  Because of the warmer weather it's breaking up he ice into a mushy state which boats can move through, reported the Dam Lockmaster at the Smithland Lock and Dam.

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