Read it Again: Week of Jan. 9, 2003.

80 years ago this week. The Ohio legislature met for its second session and immediately abolished the state tax levy, with the exception of the school levy of 2.65 mills, which is not used by the state but is turned back to the counties, and the levy of three-tenths of a mill to retire bond issued for the soldiers’ bonuses. The action is considered a victory for the agricultural forces.

The levies cut are: .15 mills to care for weak school districts; the .5 mill levy for road construction and repair; the university building fund of 1.25 mills; and the institutional building levy of .25 mill. Reducing these levies will result in a direct taxation savings of about $6.5 million. The activities affected will be taken care of through the general revenues.

50 years ago this week. Farm production of dairy products in the United States is expected to be 114 billion pounds in 1952 compared to 115.6 billion pounds last year.

Biggest decreases in production have been noted in west central and south central states since 1945.

Ohio production shows very little change during the last few years. Total production for Ohio in 1952 was approximately 5.2 billion pounds or less than a 1 percent increase from 1951.

25 years ago this week. The new livestock building will be done for this year’s Ohio State Fair. In 1972 a huge fire burned out the dairy and hog barns west of the coliseum. A new building was started at a cost of about $3 million, which permitted fairs and shows to go on, but the job was never finished. The pens and stalls are temporary, poorly lighted, and with a dirt floor.

The new facility will be completed with a $4.8 million grant. The exterior will be translucent fiberglass overhead doors. The floor will be a 5-inch thick asphalt mixture with a rubberized sealer coating. The building will have 1,013 new semi-portable horse stalls, and another portion will accommodate portable tie rails for some 1,400 head of cattle or another 504 portable horse stalls.

The new facility also includes a milking parlor, restaurant, office and restrooms.

An early morning fire destroyed the junior fair show arena at the Marion County Fairgrounds Dec. 27. Officials estimated the damage at $80,000. No one was injured.