Feb. 26, 1948, in The Star: The Anniston Accountants Society will receive its charter for membership into the National Association of Cost Accountants during a special meeting this evening at the Jefferson Davis Hotel. Upon receiving the charter, the Anniston chapter will become only the second one in Alabama to have this honor bestowed on it. Also, most chapters are located in cities larger than Anniston. Also this date: The toll that inflation has taken on the average Annistonian’s household budget in the course of 10 years is outlined in a news feature article. People’s incomes are certainly higher than they were in 1938, but prices are higher, too, and sometimes the quantity offered is lower. Sugar that sold 10 years ago in a 10-lb. cloth bag for 47 cents is now listed at five pounds for 49 cents. Lemons, apples and bananas that once could be bought for a penny each have risen to a nickel apiece. Another staple, lard, now costs 99 cents for a 4-lb. carton, instead of 41 cents the way it used to be. Onions that cost a dime for three pounds a decade ago now cost 19 cents, and a 4-cent bar of Octagon soap is now priced at two for a quarter.
Feb. 26, 1998, in The Star: The closing of Johnston Elementary School before the fall term will leave the Anniston school system with 80 classrooms in its remaining six elementary schools. That would have been adequate under a rezoning plan designed last summer by an outside consultant, a plan that a U.S. District Court judge signed off on when the Johnston closure was approved. However, after the consultant did his work, the state came back and mandated smaller classes for the lower elementary grades. A lower number of pupils per classroom obviously means more classrooms are needed; Anniston is coming up at least 20 short. Also this date: Workers at two of Calhoun County’s largest employers will take votes on whether to unionize this spring. Werner Company in Anniston, which employs 520 people making aluminum ladders and other moldings, and Federal-Mogul in Jacksonville, where 404 people work at the company’s auto-parts distribution center, are the two companies at which unions are seeking membership.