Read it Again: Week of Feb. 20, 2003

80 years ago this week. Ohio state Rep. Buchanan of Carroll County has proposed a law that would require every child above the fourth grade in public schools to commit to memory the 10 Commandments. Teachers would be subject to dismissal if they did not read 10 verses from the Bible each morning to the children. The superintendent of public instruction would selected the passages to be read and the teachers would not be allowed to comment on them. Similar measures have been defeated in the past.

Calling a wife or a husband vile names is not grounds for divorce in Ohio, ruled Judge Dahl B. Cooper of Youngstown in a divorce case in that city. Judge Cooper said, however, that he did not approve the use of such language.

50 years ago this week. The Columbiana County Joint Milk Committee made a surprise move and agreed to “go along” with the redrafted and modified version of the U.S. Standard Sanitary Milk Code.

Farmer groups representing milk producers generally have been opposed to the measure, mainly because they felt it was discriminatory to small producers and would cause more duplication of inspection.

It was pointed out by the board that Columbiana County is becoming a dumping ground for uninspected milk because there is no ordinance to prevent it. Milk is being shipped in for distribution from as far south as Chillicothe.

Findings from the health department revealed that a large percentage of milk sold in the general health district is unsatisfactory. The tests show mislabeling, evidence of unsanitary handling, visible sediment and evidence of considerable Coli and high bacteria count in more than 50 percent of the samples taken.

25 years ago this week. William “Bill” Barricks of Damascus, a charter member of the Northeast Ohio Forestry Association, received the coveted Farmer of the Year award at the annual meeting of the Ohio Forestry Association in Columbus.

In 1976, U.S. farmers paid out over $89 billion to produce crops, livestock and poultry. The report was issued by the USDA and the Ohio Crop Reporting Service and noted that the expenditure averaged more than $32,000 per farm nationally. The major expenditure was for feed, which accounted for more than $14 billion; next came rent at $8.1 billion; wages, $7.4 billion; fertilizer, lime and soil conditioners, $7.2 billion; and purchases of livestock and poultry, $7.1 billion.