STORIES FROM THE PAST

50 years ago

Honkers, widgeons and ducks by the thousands are wintering today on the lush acreage provided for them by federal and state wildlife agencies along the southern bend of Salton Sea.

Flying in daily to their winter refugee are hundreds more migratory waterfowl who travel the great Pacific Flyway that stretches from their summer home in Canada.

The bird population buildup will continue until the first week in January and begin to decline early in February, according to L. H. Cloyd, regional manager the State Fish and Game Department.

To the sportsman the pintail ducks and Canada geese (honkers) spell out happy hunting.

To the bird watcher the Salton Sea refugees provide the greatest concentration in the West of both common and unusual species of wintering and migrating birds.

But to nearby farmers, who have seen acres of barley, lettuce and other crops denuded by hungry birds and freshly irrigated fields churned into muddy quagmires by their feet, a sky-full of ducks and geese is neither a thrilling nor happy picture.

40 years ago

Another .27 inches of rain dropped on El Centro Wednesday, bringing the five-day storm total to 1.16 inches.

The latest downpour was followed by a thick fog that was scheduled to lift this afternoon, according to the National Weather Service. The balance of the day will be sunny and clear. The forecast will continue through Friday.

The fog interrupted flight service at the Imperial County Airport. A spokesman there reported zero visibility had prevented landing and takeoff since 2 a.m.

John Taylor, assistant agricultural commissioner in Imperial County, reported “some amount” of agricultural damage as a result of the rain. “The heavier rains we’ve experienced the last few days have beat a lot of the remaining cotton into the ground,” he said. “The wet ground will probably foul up the scrapping operations in many fields.”

30 years ago

Holly Sugar Corp., headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colo., has agreed to be acquired by Imperial Sugar Co. of Sugar Land, Texas, for $78.4 million in cash and an exchange of stock.

Robert C. Hanna, president of Imperial Sugar Co., said today he could not discuss the agreement with Holly Sugar until the agreement was final and would not say when he expected it to be completed.

Hanna did say that Imperial Sugar Co. is family-owned and operated.

Under the agreement, Imperial Sugar will pay $105 per share in cash for two-thirds of Holly’s 1.12 million shares and the rest in stock of the newly merged company.

20 years ago

BRAWLEY — Ashes to ashes, eat my dust. That’s what one county jail inmate apparently was thinking when he tried to escape from correctional officers during his grandmother’s funeral.

Gabriel Valles, 35, of Brawley, was arrested at 11 a.m. Tuesday after allegedly running 40 yards from county correctional officers immediately after Valles’ grandmother was placed in her grave at the Riverview Cemetery north of Brawley.

But after correctional officers nabbed Valles the family’s grieving turned to outrage as members of the family attacked the officers and tried to free Valles.

After a brief struggle, the officers, well outnumbered by family members, took family member Ed-wared Jose Valles, 35, of Brawley into custody on suspicion of inciting a riot. He was booked into county jail with his bail set at $5,000.

“The officers did an excellent job,” said Charles Jernigan, sheriff’s chief deputy in charge of the jail.