STORIES FROM THE PAST

50 years ago

The biggest crowd ever to squeeze into Brawley’s Cattle Call Arena will greet Gov. Ronald Reagan on Saturday, local officials predicted today.

“It should be a capacity crowd,” said J. Ward Casey, president of the Brawley Chamber of Commerce.

Capacity is almost 5,000 in the arena, and sources say 10,000 tickets have been printed for the barbecue following Reagan’s speech.

Reagan could be briefly visible to Valleyites on Thursday when he arrives for a meeting of the Commission of the Californias in Mexicali.

40 years ago

Pulling the rug from under another favored Orange Coast Tournament foe, the Imperial Valley College Arabs zipped to a 63-59 victory over Orange Coast College on Friday.

“I told my kids I would like to win a tournament this year,” coach Gary Hulst said, “but I had no idea they were going to try and make it this one.”

The Orange Coast event features outstanding talent. IVC plays for the championship tonight, going out against a highly-regarded team from Saddleback College.

“Saddleback will end the year ranked in the top five,” the IVC coach related, “and earned a shot at the title by knocking off Fullerton, 102-85, Friday.”

Hulst was happy Thursday when his Arabs defeated L.A. City College, 78-56. He felt IVC varsity played a complete basketball game to grab the triumph.

30 years ago

Sen. Pete Wilson, R-Calif., is under fire from environmental groups as well as supporters of the Imperial Valley College museum because of proposed amendments to legislation aimed at clearing the way for an archaeological museum near Ocotillo.

Wilson has proposed adding language to the museum bill that would alter the boundaries of a U.S. Forest Service wilderness planning area in the El Dorado National Forest so that a hydroelectric power plant could be built in the popular Capos Creek area, east of Placerville.

Sally Kabish, Northern California-Nevada field representative for the Sierra Club, said in an interview this week that the influential environmental organization has opposed the hydroelectric project since it was first proposed in 1983 and will oppose the adoption of this amendment at every step of the legislative process.

“Really, Sen. Wilson should come out of the closet on this one,” and introduce a separate bill so the controversy surrounding the Capos Creek project will not slow down the passage of the otherwise non-controversial Ocotillo bill, Kabish said.