100 YEARS AGO — 1920

 

Wendall Ewing, 19, was accidentally shot with a shotgun in the hands of Lee Ada Coats at her home on Main Street, between First and Stanford Avenue. Ewing was shot in the leg and was taken to the hospital, where it is believed he will recover. According to the statements from the woman and her husband, David, they were “playing” with the shotgun which was accidentally discharged.

 

M.G. Weisiger, who recently purchased a lot adjoining his property on Fourth Street between Main and Broadway last Saturday, bought another adjoining lot from Alex Tribble. This addition will make Mr. Weisiger’s property have a frontage on Fourth Street of 248 feet and runs back about 232 feet, being among the most desirable pieces of property in the city. Mr. Weisiger plans to build a modern theater sometime this year.

 

There will be a mass meeting of the colored people of Danville and Boyle County next Friday night at the courthouse and everyone is urged to attend. Hon. Nelson Rodes and Judge E.V. Puryear will be among the speakers who will discuss the question of good roads. The meeting is being hosted by the Danville Chamber of Commerce.

 

A new federal route being contemplated comes through Lancaster through the famous “Camp Dick Robinson” in Garrard County, traverse Boyle County along the Lexington Pike, through Danville, out Perryville Pike to the historic village of Perryville, where the Blue and Gray fought so valiantly.

 

75 YEARS AGO — 1945

 

Lieutenant Charles Gregory, son of Mr. and Mrs. C.A. Gregory of Harding Street in Danville, had an important part in bringing the war to Adolph Hitler’s doorstep yesterday. He piloted one of the eight P-47 Thunderbolts which attacked the Berchtesgaden railway station. The palace of Berghof — where the Fuehrer is fortressed — was not the objective, but one pilot in the formation dropped his wing tanks in the direction of Hitler’s home.

 

A Danville woman has been charged with aiding in the abandoning of a newborn infant in the backyard of a residence near downtown. The woman is the aunt of the mother of the baby who is under age 18. The infant was found naked and unattended from birth in a shoe box after someone heard his cries. He was taken to the hospital where he was found to be well and normal and he responded to treatment and attention from the nurses. The mother was soon located and charged too. She was taken to the hospital and placed with the infant. She is now caring for the baby at her home.

 

Pedaling toward the front with important 318th papers for Company B Runner Pfc. Carl S. Napps, of Danville, was virtually surrounded by 88 shell bursts as he pursued his duties with this outfit which was part of the 80th Division on the Western Front. Private Napps realized the Nazis had him spotted but he continued on his way. Shells crashed in the frozen ground all around the bicycling Blue Ridger. The fifth round, a dud, hit an icy knoll and skipped into Napp’s bicycle basket. “Lucky I observe Army speed regulations,” Napps said upon delivering the message. “They might have banged up my bike if I’d been traveling more than 33 miles per hour.”

 

A dresser is needed at Neighborhood Home on South Fourth Street for a bedroom which will be occupied by two Centre College students, said Miss Ethel Cunningham, resident social worker at the home. She requested that a generous person to give or lend a dresser can call her at 665-J

 

50 YEARS AGO — 1970

 

Several members of the Boyle County Drug Abuse Education Committee will be presenting brief programs on the use and abuse of drugs at its regular meeting in the lunchroom at SS. Peter and Paul School. It is intended to provide a variety of fresh approaches to the subject, as well as important information.

 

Danville High School’s standout wrestler, Nick Barker, won the state championship of the 130-pound weight class. Barker has lost only one match the past two years and shows a record of 47 victories during this time. The single loss came in the semi-finals of last year’s state meet, and this was on a questionable referee decision.

 

Bluebird trails at the Central Kentucky Wildlife Refuge cover about three miles. For the fourth year , nesting boxes for the Eastern Bluebird are open. The idea of providing nesting boxes for bluebirds is because they require a hollow stump or hollow fence post for their nests. They don’t build nests in trees and bushes like other birds.

 

With 80% of Danville’s parking meters worn out, the city commission voted on a plan to obtain new meters and let them pay for themselves. Acting on the recommendations of the Downtown Parking Committee, the commission will trade in the old meters for new ones. The committee, composed of retail merchants, recommended a parking meter that will accept tokens as well as coins. By special arrangement, the merchants will pay the city for the tokens and give them to customers to reimburse them for parking meter money. This will supplement plans where merchants operate an off-street parking lot and stamp tickets for customers.

 

25 YEARS AGO — 1995

 

The owner of property on the Danville bypass is trying again for a zone change that will allow it to be developed as commercial property. The owner, Mitch Clark, is asking that the land be rezoned from Agricultural-Residential-1 to Highway Commercial. Walmart had wanted to put its new supercenter at that location, but the zone change was turned down by the zoning commission and the city of Danville, primarily because the land-use map showed that corner of the bypass being used for multi-family development.

 

Police are searching for information about an attempted cattle theft over the weekend. A stolen trailer with seven cattle loaded on it was found Monday mired in mud on a farm. The red trailer had been stolen from the Boyle County stockyards after Mike Edmiston left it there. Johnny Walkup Jr. found it about noon on Monday. Police believe the theft was thwarted when the loaded trailer became stuck in the mud.

 

The Danville-Boyle County Board of Adjustments ruled that Centre College can use buildings on St. Mildred’s Court to house students.

 

The Doram-Sledd House in Danville has received a $3,000 grant from the Kentucky African-American Heritage Commission. The historic house, which was built by former slaves and was the long-time residence of a noted black educator, is being restored by the Federation of Women’s Clubs in Danville. It is located on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. When completed, the club will make the building available for club activities and community events. The Busy Sunshine and Domestic Economy clubs make up the federation.