STORIES FROM THE PAST
50 years ago
District Attorney James E. Hamilton said this morning that he is investigating the case of Erlinda Caballiro Sanchez, the auto crash victim who died in Imperial County Hospital Tuesday after El Centro Community Hospital failed to treat her injuries.
Hamilton said that he will confer with the coroner on the case and other people involved. He explained that it is impossible for him at this state to make any further comment on the matter.
The 38-year-old Oxnard woman was a passenger in a car driven by her 19-year-old son, Arturo, when it went out of control at a curve just south of Wilson’s Corner about 8 a.m. Tuesday. The California Highway Patrol said that young Arturo had tried to negotiate the curve while going too fast. He lost control and the car turned over.
The two victims were taken to El Centro Community Hospital by A&B Ambulance. That was the hospital closest to the scene of the crash and, according to the CHP, the victims “seemed in pretty bad shape.”
At El Centro Community Hospital the decision was taken to transfer the patients to the county hospital. This step is usually taken when it is decided that a patient is indigent or probably indigent. The driver of the ambulance said that the hospital’s administrator of finance appeared to have been involved in making the transfer.
After it turned out, the patients were not at all indigent. The late-model car involved in the crash had been purchased for cash. Yesterday Mrs. Sanchez’ husband arrived from Oxnard. He paid the funeral home in cash and said that he was taking his wife’s body to San Luis, Sonora, Mexico, for burial.
40 years ago
Brawley manager Ross Garcia called on hurler Allen Fowlkes one more time, but over 20 innings of tournament pitching finally got to the lanky righthander.
Defending Babe Ruth World Series champion North San Gabriel Valley jumped on Fowlkes for three sixth innings runs to emerge with a 5-1 victory over Brawley in the Pacific Southwest Sectional Tournament final at Lion’s Field.
The win gives the Southern California representative a chance to defend its Babe Ruth World Series title at Owensboro, Kentucky later this month.
Brawley shocked Northern California champion Pleasant Hill, 4-3 Saturday evening onto reach the final of the double elimination tourney.
30 years ago
The county Health Department is warning people to stay out of the water at Sunbeam Lake because of possible health hazards due to bacterial contamination.
On Tuesday the county Health Department posted signs at the lake prohibiting all water contact sports, because water samples taken during May, June and July showed high concentrations of fecal coliform, a bacteria found in the colon of humans and animals, said Tom Wolf, director of Environmental Health Services.
The July sample showed a coliform count of 2,400. The State standard for swimming water requires a level no higher than 200.
20 years ago
As a board member of the interagency Salton Sea Authority, Brawley resident Don Cox knows the extensive efforts local officials have put the past four years into saving the sea.
Cox, president of the Imperial Irrigation District board, wants to proceed with a plan to dike the sea, which the authority board selected in September after screening more than 50 choices.
However, government officials first want more studies to better understand the sea’s ecosystem, particularly what’s causing the massive recent bird and fish die-offs.