Omaha TIme Capsule: Mayor denies report he's quitting

What happened in the Midlands on this day? Here's a sampling from the World-Herald archives.

MAYOR DENIES REPORT HE'S QUITTING

Jan. 29, 1932: Mayor Richard L. Metcalfe, who was on vacation in Washington, made emphatic denial to a rumor circulating in Omaha that he intended to resign and become western campaign manager for Governor Roosevelt, with headquarters in Chicago. When called by The World-Herald on the long-distance telephone, Metcalfe said, "I have never heard of such report. I was never approached on such a proposition and even if I were, I have a duty to serve out my term in Omaha."

1952: A district court lawsuit was being heard that was thought to potentially give the answer to the Carter Lake land problem. A 140-acre tract, now part of Iowa, was the land in question. The Carter Lake Development Society and the City of Omaha were suing Pottawattamie County, which took the land for back taxes, and the village of Carter Lake. The society holds that the area would make one of the Midwest's most beautiful parks. The informal decision was that the City of Omaha would pay $300 and the village of Carter Lake would pay $700 to settle back taxes against 140 acres of Iowa land on the west arm of the lake, said Joel O'D Cornish, Omaha attorney and nephew of the originator of Carter Lake park.

1968: War on Poverty officials notified Northern Systems Inc., that the Lincoln Men's Job Corps Center may soon be closed, J. O. Grantham, director of Northern Systems Inc., said. The New York Times said Job Corps programs in Lincoln and McCook, Neb., would be among 16 to be closed because of congressional cuts in the anti-poverty budget. Clem Griffin, director of the McCook conservation camp, said, "This is news to me; it's the first I've heard of it." Mr. Grantham, who heads the subsidiary of Northern Natural Gas Company that operates the Lincoln center, said he received a phone call from an Office of Economic Opportunity official.

1999: Amtrak would operate a high-speed passenger train proposed for the Midwest, reaching across central Iowa to Omaha, under a plan advanced with a $25 million investment by the government-subsidized passenger line. The Midwest Regional Rail Initiative would connect cities in nine Midwestern states: Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa and Nebraska. Up to six trains a day would pass through Omaha. The network would take $3 billion and 10 years to build, with the 110-mph line reaching Omaha toward the end of that period. Nebraska Gov. Mike Johanns said he supports the plan but would push to have the high-speed line extended across Nebraska as well. "It would be great to have it run through this state and have a number of connecting points," he said.

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