Politics and growth headline the news in these excerpts from 2008, 2005, 2002, 1982 and 1972.

Dec. 2, 2008

Mike Huckabee supporters line up for book signing

He’s not quite talking about a 2012 presidential run yet, but former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee shook hands with a long line of supporters Monday at Oxford’s Off Square Books.

The hour-long stop was a brief visit on Huckabee’s three-week, 56-city book tour.

About 200 people came out to meet the Republican.

Dec. 2, 2005

Increase would affect homes, businesses, vehicles

Lafayette County voters will decide on Dec. 6 whether the athletic complex proposed for Highway 314 will be a hit.

Property owners in the Lafayette County School District have the highest tax rate in the county these days, but as a whole they’d be paying less for the proposed sports complex than Oxford School District taxpayers would.

Taxpayers will need to decide if the 4-mill tax levy that would bring in $1.26 million a year is worth it.

Dec. 2, 2002

New owners plan $3 million renovation of Downtown Inn

After experiencing lean times in recent years and a foreclosure sale, the 40-year-old Downtown Inn appears poised for a comeback.

The Chamblee Company Inc. of Flowood has purchased the former 123-room Holiday Inn on North Lamar Boulevard and plans to begin a $3 million renovation of the property this month.

When complete in July 2003, it will be called the Oxford Downtown Inn & Suites, a Best Western Hotel.

Dec. 2, 1982

Oxonians react to operation

History was made when a human heart was removed from a man’s body and replaced with a polyurethane device in the chest connected to a pump outside the body in Utah.

Internist Dr. Milton D. Hobbs had cautious optimism the procedure could further replacements of bad hearts and hopes to see a small internal pump in the future.

University of Mississippi Chancellor Dr. Porter L. Fortune Jr. called the procedure “fantastic news” and said it is a breakthrough in medicine.

Dec. 1, 1972

South African editor visits Oxford

The editor of one of South Africa’s largest and most respected newspapers came to Oxford Thursday to visit William Faulkner’s home.

J. M. W. O’Malley of the Durban, South Africa, Daily News was in Mississippi as part of the International Visitor Program with the State Department.

Known for hard-hitting editorials criticizing Apartheid, O’Malley will spend two weeks observing American news media and its political and social scene.