News Events of 1998
Jan |Feb |March |April |May |June |July |August |Sept |Oct |Nov |Dec
May 1998
5-3-1998 -- First installment of the DDN series "Opening Doors: Literacy in the Miami Valley."5-5-1998 -- Ohio voters overwhelmingly rejected Issue 2, which would have raised the sales tax for school funding, but would also have cut property taxes. In other election news, state Rep. Marilyn Reed of Beavercreek was unseated by newcomer Steve Austria. Reed had been dogged by ethics allegations related to real estate deals with her former husband, Judge David Reid.
5-8-1998 -- Dayton track star Chris Nelloms was charged one count of rape involving a girl under the age of 13.
5-11-1998 -- India detonated three nuclear bombs in an underground test.
5-12-1998 -- The Dayton Contemporary Dance Company opened at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC as part of a weeklong series of performances honoring black choreographers.
5-14-1998 -- Seventy-six million television viewers watched the final episode of "Seinfeld". 5-14-1998 -- Frank Sinatra died at 82.
5-20-1998 -- Dayton area philanthropist John Berry Sr died at 75. He was the son of Loren M. Berry, who pioneered yellow page advertising.
5-21-1998 -- In another shocking school shooting, a 15-year-old boy in Springfield Oregan was arrested after a cafeteria shooting in which one student was killed and several others wounded (one of the wounded would later die). Police later found the boy's parents shot to death at their home.
5-24-1998 -- Five-part DDN series "Are You My Teacher?" began. Editorial writer Ellen Belcher worked as a substitute teacher for the series.
5-24-1998 -- Eddie Cheever won the Indianapolis 500.
5-26-1998 -- Voters in Lebanon recalled Vice Mayor Mary Ann Cole from the City Council.
5-26-1998 -- In Miami County two students were suspended for the rest of the school year for threatening violence at school. Across Ohio school administrators were taking a tougher stance on threats of violance in the aftermath of recent school shootings elsewhere in the country.
5-27-1998 -- The Edison Project announced it would not open a charter school in Dayton, as had been earlier planned. Dayton Community Schools Inc., a local group which had proposed hiring Edison to manage several schools, said it is postponing plans to convert five Dayton schools to charter schools. Charter schools are publicly funded but privately managed, and are freed from some state regulations if they demonstrate improved academic performance.5-28-1998 -- Comedian Phil Hartman and his wife were found shot to death in their Los Angeles home. Investigators said it appeared that Brynn Hartman shot her husband and then killed herself.
5-28-1998 -- The Huffy Corp announced it will shut down its Celina bicycle-manufacturing plant, the world's largest, and permanently lay off most of its 1,000 Celina workers. The Miamisburg company, founded by Horace Huffman Sr. in the 1920s, opened the Celina plant 1955. Huffy's decison came amid the latest of a long history of labor disputes.
5-28-1998 -- Pakistan set off five nuclear explosions, demonstrating its nuclear capabilities in response to similar tests by India.
5-29-1998 -- Republican Party icon Barry Goldwater died at 89. The five-term Arizona senator was his party's presidential candidate in 1964.
5-31-1998 -- A tornado destroyed almost every building in Spencer, South Dakota.
5-31-1998 -- First day of the three-part DDN series, "The Rise of Community Colleges."