STORIES FROM THE PAST
50 years ago
Chuck Stearns, the fastest man on water skis, has moved his water ski school to Salton City on the west shore of the Salton Sea.
The champion, who holds a world speed record of 110.52 mph at this year at Long Beach, now operates Chuck’s Ski School, Inc., in a private channel at Riviera Keys in this sea-desert recreational community. Business manager for this unique ski school is his father, Bill Stearns.
It was on the Salton Sea that Stearns did much of his training on the way to becoming world champion. Here he set his world ski record for a mile each way in 1959. The placid surface of Salton Sea, 232 feet below sea level and California’s largest inland body of water provides an ideal training ground for many water sports enthusiasts, Sterns said.
40 years ago
Valley sports fans will have to understand the reason if coach Emma Joes of Central High School smiles when someone tells her a sad and tearful tale.
The smile will probably remain on Jones face throughout the summer. Her happiness concerns the 1977 All-SCIF Girls’ Softball Teams.
Winning the 1977 Class AA championship did not put the finishing touches on Central’s softball masterpiece. Five Spartans have been placed on the All SCIF team.
Pitcher/outfielder Sally Ritter, a freshman at Central, was named Player of the Year by coaches gathering recently in the Los Angeles area.
30 years ago
Geothermal Resources Inc., which started drilling the first geothermal well in a $160 million project on the East Mesa in April, announced today it has received and $11 million loan for its share in a transmission line to move the power to Riverside.
The loan will provide about 20 percent of the estimated $50 million cost of the 104-mile line. Other partners in the line are Chevron, Magma Power Co. and the Unocal Corp. The line is capable of carrying 600 megawatts of power.
The San Mateo-based geothermal energy company said the arrangement has been completed to borrow the money for its share of a 230-kilovolt transmission line to be built by Imperial Irrigation District to take power to the Southern California Edison Co. in Riverside County. The transaction was jointly announced this week by Geothermal Resources and Pacifi Corp Credit, a subsidiary of Pacifi Corp of Portland, and Oregon utility company.