STORIES FROM THE PAST
50 years ago
The three-story San Carlos Hotel, located at Fifth and State Streets, El Centro, has been sold by Joe Komenda, administrator of the John Brunner Estate, to longtime hotel manager Mrs. Agatha M. Gandy.
A general face-lifting, repainting, refurbishing of the lobby, redecorating rooms and new carpeting are planned, Mrs. Gandy said. Exterior painting is expected to begin within a week or two.
Mrs. Gandy, who has 30 years experience in the hotel business, took possession of the 36-room hotel Nov. 15. Komenda would not reveal the exact price paid in the transaction but said the hotel was valued by insurance appraisers five years ago at $125,000. He said the sale was on a lease-purchase agreement.
Komenda said the hotel has been running at about 50-60 percent occupancy and has jumped to about 75 percent in the last couple of weeks.
40 years ago
HOLTVILLE — A flyer released by the Holtville Police Officers Association alleges that Councilman Lynn Wilson looked into having Holtville police functions assumed by sheriff’s deputies.
Wilson said today there is “absolutely no truth” to the charge that he “approached Sheriff (Leonard) Speer in recent months to ascertain what would be involved if the Imperial County Sheriff’s Office absorbed the Holtville Police Department.”
Wilson said that while on a horseback ride with the sheriff last January, Speer mentioned that he (Speer) had approached Imperial officials about absorbing police protection in that city.
He told Wilson that he has a contingency plan and could furnish costs within a couple of days for deputy law enforcement in Holtville.
Wilson said he replied, “Oh,” and the subject was dropped.
The charge came attached to a salary survey released by the HPOA which claims Holtville policemen are the lowest paid among cities of comparable size in the state.
30 years ago
Imperial linebacker Alex Necochea was named the Most Valuable Defensive Player and Army-Navy running-back Jason Simpson earned similar offensive honors in voting by the Desert Coastal League football coaches.
Necochea, a 6-2, 190-pound senior, was one of seven Tigers to earn a berth on the all league first team. The Holtville Vikings had four make the first team.
Linebacker Luis Hernandez was the only Calipatria player to be named to the fist team.
Necochea was injured in the first quarter of Friday’s San Diego Section 1A championship game against Mountain Empire and did not return to the game.
20 years ago
A new 1,600-squarefoot book store, the Fifth Ave. Book Center, is set to open in downtown El Centro on Dec. 18.
“The Fifth Ave. Book Center will site to nourish the literary and cultural needs of the Valley,” said Bonnie Olesh, owner of the new book store.
Olesh, proprietor of what she calls a “community book center,” recently completed a one-week training seminar at the Alliance of Independent Booksellers, Inc.’s central office in Ana Arbor, Mich. The training covered bookstore operations such as financial and inventory management, marketing, public relations, computer operations, personnel management, and special events planning.
Olesh has been active in the community, serving as a member of the Mulberry Elementary School board, community theater, the Mulberry Community Club, and the Brawley Youth Roller Hockey League. Since 1993 her professional life has revolved around photography. She previously worked as a photographer for the Imperial Valley Press and hives in the Brawley area.