Step Back in Time features news from The Daily Star 25 and 50 years ago.
25 years ago
August 27, 1996
Exactly four years after the “blacklist” incident at State University College in Oneonta, the New York Supreme Court will hear the cases of 13 former college students involved.
On September 4, the appeals court will review two lower verdicts resulting from a September 4, 1992 state police investigation, supported by city police, into a break-in near the SUCO campus.
“There is no consensus that race-based stops are unconstitutional. The question that needs to be decided now is whether there is any harm involved, ”said Scott Fein, an Albany attorney who represents the former students.
The former students filed a class action lawsuit, Brown vs. State of New York, demanding financial compensation for alleging their constitutional rights had been violated.
50 years ago
August 27, 1971
Local auto dealers have not yet felt the effects of Nixon’s “freeze”. Most auto dealers agreed that their sales have not gone up or down since Nixon’s announcement on Aug. 15.
“Our sales were just average,” said William Burr, Vice President of Burr’s Dodge Inc., 316 Chestnut St. “Of course,” he added, “we’re pretty good at getting rid of the 1971 models.”
Burr added that an increase in sales would come as no surprise. “Until the frost is gone,” he said, “consumers will never buy anything like this again.” He said he believed prices “will definitely go up” once the freeze is over.
On the other hand, Country Club Chevrolet Inc. sales are up 20 percent. Gary MacPherson, Company Secretary and General Sales Manager, said, “I think this increase reflects the price change due to the excise tax waiver and the discount on the 71 ‘leftovers.”