May 23—May 23, 1948, in The Star: Today marks the 30th anniversary of the opening of the Carnegie Library in Anniston. "Certainly, we are about to enter upon one of the most important events in the history of Anniston, the opening of our public library," Mrs. Stephen Thompson, an Anniston club woman, told an audience on May 23, 1918. Miss Anne Van Ness Blanchett was the first librarian and attorney John B. Knox was president of the board of directors. The library opened during that war year with 2,500 books. Today, in 1948, it has 34,000 books and four branch libraries. Also this date: Anniston High School's 170 seniors this morning will hear the baccalaureate sermon as a prelude to graduation exercises four nights from tonight. Graduates of the class include Leamon M. Fite, James Lamar Dill, Lowndes McCaa Butler, Richard A. Box, Sara Darden, Ann Marie Evans and Betty June Dempsey. Meanwhile, seniors and parents of Calhoun County High School at Oxford are getting ready for their graduation, which will be tomorrow at 8 p.m. Principal H. T. Stanford will award diplomas to 71 seniors, after which awards and honors will be presented. The invocation will be given by Ralph Edward Burgess, one of the graduates. Other Oxford graduates in the Class of '48 include William Herbert Goodman Jr., Mark James Hearn, Wade Hampton Miller Jr., Margaret Alice Moore, Mary Nell Spears, Norma Maxine Steen and Sarah Jennell Reeder.

May 23, 1998, in The Star: Escaping the fate of thousands of other highway projects nationwide, Anniston's eastern bypass lost almost no funding in the final version of the new $204 billion federal transportation bill that passed yesterday. Congress specifically allocated $43.14 million to finish the highway from Choccolocco Road across Fort McClellan to U.S. 431 near Summerall Gate. U.S. Rep. Bob Riley said the bypass passed on its own merits. President Clinton said he'll sign the spending bill.