Bernard Cohn was mayor briefly in 1878, after being appointed to fill a vacancy.

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Early last year, she was said to have been a contender to fill a vacancy in the top spot at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

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The biggest drama, however, comes in an election to fill a vacancy in a congressional district in rural New York, a Republican stronghold near the Canadian border.

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Many thought Mr Gonzales had been Mr Bush's favourite to fill a vacancy on the court. (The chief justice, William Rehnquist, is ill and may soon retire.) But conservatives worried about his relatively easy-going views on abortion.

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In India, it can take up to four years to fill a teacher vacancy.

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Highland Council has defended its efforts to fill a head teacher vacancy at a Gaelic-medium school in Inverness.

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Matalan shares rocketed 20p to 555p in early trade after the company revealed it had poached Asda Walmart president Paul Mason to fill a chief executive vacancy created four months ago with the ousting of highly-regarded Angus Monro.

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He also asked Elena Kagan, the well-regarded dean of Harvard Law School, to be solicitor-general, which increased speculation about her possible appointment to the Supreme Court, should one of the justices leave Mr Obama with a vacancy to fill.

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"The first month, there will be a vacancy that we need to fill, " General manager Brian Cashman said.

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Mr Shannon said fostering authorities were often forced to fill the first available vacancy, rather than choose a vacancy designed for a particular child's needs.

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