STORIES FROM THE PAST

50 years ago

At least two Calexico city councilmen are making a determined effort to have City Auditor Henry Monroy called into the Calexico Police Department to make a thorough audit of the department’s finances.

Two points are at issue. First, there is apparently well-substantiated information that the police department has been giving special privileges to a few favored persons in the matter of enforcement of parking meter citations.

It has been said that these privileged few have had their parking meter citations held for more than a month on occasion — even though they number between 20-30 tickets — and that they are then permitted to pay the accrued fines on the basis of 50 cents per ticket.

The city ordinance calls for payment of the parking citation on the basis of 50 cents within the first 48 hours after the citation is issued and $2 after that period of time has elapsed. In the case of the average citizen, after a week to 10 days, if a fine is not paid, the police department turns the parking citations over to the Calexico Justice Court and a warrant is issued for the arrest of the defendant.

40 years ago

Flood control efforts continue today while state officials say Gov. Jerry Brown is not expected to decide on emergency aid for Imperial County until at least Tuesday.

James Alexander, coordinator for the state Office of Emergency Services, said he expects to send his damage assessment report to Sacramento late today.

But he said he does not know whether Brown or the federal government will actually declare the county an emergency area.

“Even though the county and the Imperial Irrigation District say damage from this storm is worse than from Kathleen (the 1976 storm), this storm hasn’t been as spectacular as Kathleen.”

“I think all the publicity and media coverage of Kathleen really swung public opinion and were responsible for the emergency declaration. That hasn’t happened this time,” he noted.

He also said that the longer it takes to get accurate estimates into Sacramento, the harder it is going to be to get the declaration of an emergency.

30 years ago

Negotiators for the Imperial Irrigation and Metropolitan Water district’s agree money is the major issue stalling a water transfer between the two agencies, but the real question is for what Metropolitan is willing to pay.

Throughout more than three years of negotiations, Metropolitan has held firmly to its position that it is not interested in buying water outright. Instead, Metropolitan officials say they want to pay for conservation measures in the Imperial Valley in return for the use of 100,000 acre-feet of water the IID has already conserved.

“We come from a frame of reference that the dollars have to have a relation to conservation, but also to make the IID whole for any expenses out of pocket,” said MWD General Manger Carl Boronksay, who is also Metropolitan’s chief negotiator.

20 years ago

Look in the afternoon and you may miss them.

You won’t see blizzards of them on the street as you could when they first invaded in 1991.

But they’re here. They’re silverleaf, whiteflies. Only a millimeter long, they have caused over a half billion dollars in damage to Imperial Valley crops this decade.

Named for causing silver-colored streaks on leaves of squash and other plants, silverleaf whiteflies suck the sap from plants, producing a sticky honeydew and stunting plant growth. If cotton gets sticky, it’s tough to gin and worth less. The honeydew can lead to sooty-mold fungus on melons, lowering their market value.

And the wrath of the whitefly continues, whether on the windshield or in the field.