See the Imperial Valley through readers’ eyes.
50 years ago
Hiroshi Daijo, 21, left his home in Kobe, Japan, six months and $1,700 ago.
In that time he has made it three-quarters of the way around the world by plane, train, car, foot and thumb.
Friday morning Hiroshi was spotted by Thomas Landrum of Calexico as he drove through Coachella on his way to the Imperial Valley. Intrigued with the idea of a hitchhiker from Japan, Landrum stopped. When the latter discovered Hiroshi was from Kobe, where Landrum had been stationed with the United States Navy, it was too much.
“When I found out he wanted to go into Mexico, I offered to take him to Mexicali,” said Landrum.
So it was that Hiroshi found himself eating tacos in Mexicali yesterday.
Asked the inevitable “How do you like the Imperial Valley?” the reply was: “I’ll stay here just a few hours.”
Hiroshi, an economics student at Shiga University near Kyoto, started his journey last March. Crossing the Soviet Union from the west (“because that is the cheapest way for a Japanese student to get to Europe”) Hiroshi visited Yugoslavia and Greece. Working his way north he toured most of the western European countries.
40 years ago
With Henry Alarcon and Dale Gares maintaining that the original denial of a conditional use land permit to the Valley Christian Heritage School was strictly a matter of zoning, the El Centro City Council returned the issue to the Planning Commission for reconsideration.
“I feel that the whole point was nothing more than a change of zone,” said Councilman Henry Alarcon, after the council voted 4-0 Wednesday to send the matter back to the commission. “I am very sympathetic with the church. But in no way would I have acted in any other way. The whole matter was unfortunate, but I feel that it is fortunate that it is going back to the commission so that the kids can go back to school.
30 years ago
A multi-million project to process Imperial County sand for shipment to coastal glass factories moved one step closer to reality Tuesday as the Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors tentatively approved a sale of water to the operation.
The IID board approved in concept the sale of 1,615 acre-feet of water per year at a cost of $250 per acre-foot to the sand refining operation proposed by Wendell Paschall of Riverside.
IID attorneys and its water department staff will meet with Paschall to draw up a final contract for the sale.
Paschall says that after four years of work he has developed a process to economically wash up to 1,000 tons of silica sand from the local desert so that it can be used to manufacture glass.
According to Paschall, the plant will employ about 45 people and have expenses of about $10 million per year.
20 years ago
It’s difficult to imagine that several years ago 18-year-old Christina Claypool’s mother wouldn’t buy her a uniform to wear to tae kwon do classes.
“She didn’t think that I would stay,” explained the recent Southwest High School graduate.
Claypool cleared up any doubts her mother that Tuesday night when she was named the first female tae kwon do black belt at Le Centro’s Southwestern Association of Martial Arts.
“I wanted to be a black belt from the start,” said Claypool. “But I always thought it was too big of a goal until now.”
Senior instructor Frank Rodriguez presented Claypool with her first-degree belt after reading a congratulatory letter from master James Wilson of San Diego.