25 YEARS AGO — 1984
  There is a feeling of optimism among Clinton County government leaders after Gov. Mario Cuomo, in Plattsburgh, makes it clear he will support construction of a toll-free bridge between Rouses Point and Alburg, Vt.

  Twelve Ticonderoga firefighters are injured battling a blaze that destroys the former Roxy Motel on Route 9N. All the injured are treated and released from Moses-Ludington Hospital. The fire is ruled an arson. The vacant motel was also damaged by fire two years ago.

  The labor strike at the NYCO plant in Willsboro enters its second week, and although a federal mediator has stepped in, there is little sign a settlement will be reached soon.

  Instead of waiting until they are evicted, Town of Ticonderoga officials decide to move out of the Community Building they lease from the village. The village is negotiating a lease agreement with North Country Community College.

50 YEARS AGO — 1959
  Plattsburgh Mayor John J. Tyrell says he will probably recommend the Common Council grant permission to hire more Department of Public Works personnel. More men are also needed in the Department of Water and Sewer.

  Two Montreal women become the first victims of Plattsburgh's short-shorts law when they are arrested on Margaret Street by City Police. The two women, in their 20s, each post $5 bond. Later in the week, a 21-year-old Montreal woman becomes the third person to fall victim to the city's ban on short shorts. She is advised to post $5 bond and await the decision on the challenge to the law in the first case.

  The Macomb Reservation, a short distance west of Schuyler Falls, presents a picture that is entirely different from that which existed three years ago. The New York State Conservation Department has built public camping, picnic, bathing, fishing and hunting areas.

75 YEARS AGO — 1934
  Dora Marshall, 48, of Mooers Forks is seriously injured when she jumps from a second-story window to escape a fire. The fire destroys her general store and the apartment above it. It is believed the fire was set.

  Despite rains, the Bay Pond forest fire at Tupper Lake breaks out again and reaches such fury that Civilian Conservation Corps men from Fish Creek camp are summoned to fight the blaze.

  An additional $4,000 is received in Lake Placid for the purchase of materials to be used in the reconditioning of the Lake Placid Airport.

  Returning from an inspection trip over the new highway to the summit of Whiteface Mountain, Col. Frederick Stuart Greene, superintendent of public works, declares the eight-mile Memorial Highway will prove an asset to the state.

100 YEARS AGO — 1909
  Gregoreo Pennestrio, 20, is found guilty in Clinton County Court of second-degree manslaughter in the death of a fellow miner at Lyon Mountain Feb. 7. He gets 10 to 20 years in prison.

  The coroner rules the tragic shooting death of Edgar Howes, 18, by Walter Cudworth, 16, is an accident. The two close friends were crow hunting in Beekmantown when Cudworth's gun accidentally discharged.

  Peter Neilan dies at his home on Peru Street in Plattsburgh. He is one of the few surviving defenders of Fort Sumpter, where the first shot of the Civil War was fired in South Carolina, and received a bronze medal from Congress for his part in that memorable engagement.

  A new chapel is built at the Shrine of St. Anne in Isle La Motte, Vt., and a pavilion seating 800 people is added and other improvements made.

— Compiled by Contributing Writer Sue Botsford, who can be reached at 834-7201 or botsford@westelcom.com