Summaries of local news stories from the pages of the Intelligencer Journal and Lancaster New Era appear in this space each Monday. They are researched and compiled by staff member Tim Buckwalter. Full versions are available on microfilm at Lancaster Public Library, 125 N. Duke St.

25 years ago

FIGHTING BACK: An 84-year-old Lancaster city man yanked a club from the hand of a husky intruder and clobbered the would-be burglar on the back of the head, sending him fleeing from the victim's Lafayette Street home. (July 22, 1985)

BUCKLING UP: The Let's Lifebelt Lancaster campaign announced that more than 35 percent of local motorists were buckling up. The percentage, leaders of the nonprofit group said, reflected a tripling of seat belt use since the safety campaign had begun six months earlier. (July 24, 1985)

CHIEF RETIRES: Harry Temple — a judo expert, World War II veteran, fisherman, dog trainer, hunter and good Samaritan — retired after 14 years as police chief of Colerain and Little Britain townships. "One thing you have to remember in a rural area is you don't have backup," Temple, 64, said. "You get into a problem, you get yourself out, or you bluff your way out of it. You have no choice, but you can't back down. The moment you back down you're done." (July 24, 1985)

DOUBLE MURDER: Robbery was the suspected motive in the brutal murders of a 55-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman who were found bound, gagged, stabbed and strangled in the man's home behind his typewriter repair shop in the 800 block of North Queen Street. The bodies of Paul R. Conard and Sandra L. Wiker were discovered by a neighbor. (July 25, 1985) (Note: Robert Peter Zook Jr. of South Plum Street was later convicted of the crimes and sentenced to death. In 2006, his death sentence was commuted and he was sentenced to two life terms in prison.)

50 years ago

HAIR COLORING: A group of 16 local barbers completed a training course on the new technique of men's hair coloring. For seven months, the men spent one night a week learning how to camouflage patches of gray hair. Their teacher was Anne Murrey, a representative of Ruox Technical Co. The class was held at the barbershop of Lawrence N. Schilling, 51-w N. Duke St. (July 20, 1960)

MISSILE LAUNCH: A local sailor was aboard the atomic-powered George Washington submarine as it fired two Polaris missiles while submerged beneath the waves 30 miles off Cape Canaveral, Fla. Torpedoman First Class Edward R. Potts, a graduate of McCaskey High School, was a Navy veteran of 11 years. The successful launch from beneath the sea was considered a giant step toward a weapons system that could deter an enemy from a surprise nuclear attack. (July 21, 1960)

FARM & HOME: Two anonymous gifts — one an eight-acre tract, the other $100,000 in cash — were offered for construction of a Lancaster County agricultural center. The proposed center was to include an auditorium, agricultural offices, a banquet hall and educational facilities, and was to be built on Arcadia Road by a soon-to-be-formed nonprofit corporation. (July 22, 1960)

TURTLE PURGE: The Long Park Commission appropriated $50 to buy traps for muskrats and snapping turtles that were overrunning the park's lake. The park's superintendent said one snapping turtle caught in the park had yielded 19 pounds of turtle meat. (July 22, 1960)

75 years ago

BAR NONE: A new state law permitting the return of the old-time bar was greeted with stoic indifference in Lancaster, in sharp contrast to the jubilation that had greeted the return of beer and the repeal of prohibition two years earlier. "People have learned," the proprietor of one place said, "that liquor can be enjoyed just as well, if not better, sitting at a table." (July 20, 1935)

SHARP SHOOTERS: Lancaster guardsmen of the 213th Coast artillery of the Pennsylvania National Guard set a new record at Bethany Beach, Del., as units in the camp repelled mythical air invaders over the Atlantic coast. The second platoon of Battery F, of Lancaster, set the new record for anti-aircraft machine-gun fire when it made 187 hits in a cone-shaped target towed by an airplane at 100 mph. (July 20, 1935)

JALOPY RACING: Lancaster County Court was asked to halt all "jalopy" racing — as well as Sunday racing of automobiles and motorcycles — at the Landisville speedway. The petition, by 378 residents of East Hempfield Township and 552 members of nearby Mennonite churches, followed an accident in which three persons were hurt when a racing car ran off the track an went into a crowd of spectators. (July 23, 1935)

PRIEST DIES: The Rt. Rev. Msgr. Anthony F. Kaul, founder of St. Anthony's Catholic Church, pastor and pastor emeritus of the congregation for nearly 66 years, died at age 89. (July 24, 1935)

FARM VALUES: As a result of the Depression, the value of farm property in Lancaster County was estimated at two-thirds of its value in 1930, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported. On Jan. 1, 1935, there were 8,863 farms covering 519,282 acres, and with a total value of $60,112,558 (or $116 an acre). In April 1930, there were 9,705 farms covering 517,378 acres, and with a value of $87,846,657 (or $170 an acre). (July 25, 1935)

100 years ago

MASONIC HOME: Thirty-three architects were competing to get the contract for the erection of the new Masonic Home at Elizabethtown. Six plans were picked by an architects' jury as particularly adapted to the 957-acre project, and one plan was recommended — in a sealed report — as the best. A decision was expected in two months. (July 19, 1910)

CHAMBER FORMS: The Lancaster Chamber of Commerce was the new title of an organization of Lancaster businessmen whose goal was the mutual benefit of its members and the furthering of the business interests of the community. The new body was formed at a joint meeting of the Lancaster Board of Trade and the Retail Merchants' Association. "I am heartily in favor of a consolidation of the two active local commerce making bodies," Lancaster Mayor Frank McClain said. (July 22, 1910)