STORIES FROM THE PAST
50 years ago
An Ontario man spent more than a day in his small boat stranded out in Salton Sea on Friday and Saturday.
The body of his dead wife was lashed to the side. John D. Larrazolo told the Sheriff’s Office that he and his wife were heading towards Bombay Beach in their outboard Friday afternoon when they were both knocked overboard when the boat hit a floating plank.
Margaret Josephine Larrazolo, 51, was apparently killed when the propeller hit the back of her head.
Larrazolo said that he managed to get back aboard the disabled boat but was unable to pull his wife’s body into the craft. He lashed her to the boat by one of her wrists.
Through the night and during Saturday morning and afternoon Larrazolo was unable to attract the attention of passing boats and aircraft.
At 6 p.m. he finally hailed down Donald L. Hicox of Carlsbad who helped him get his wife aboard and then towed him into Bombay Beach.
40 years ago
WASHINGTON — President Carter said Friday the Imperial Valley is unique regarding the 160 acre limit and he admitted that Interior Secretary Cecil Andrus has had a “hard time with the matter.”
“I wish the problem had never come up,” Carter told this interviewer (J.R. Fitch), following a 30-minute press conference, held in the White House Cabinet room for 22 visiting news executives.
Carter said Andrus has had to avoid taking any action that would violate legal aspects and the rights of litigants in the matter and also is concerned with those who have “vested interests.”
Meanwhile, Andrus today from his Washington office said he had a “personal opinion” regarding the 160-acre issue, hinting that his position differs from the administrations. This might indicate the administration supporters the exemption.
30 years ago
California Department of Food and Agriculture Director Jack C. Parnell, visiting Imperial Valley today, said Proposition 65, the toxics initiative, has passed its first phase of requirements “but is a long way from being implemented.”
Parnell and CDFA Chief Deputy Director Daniel D. Haley answered questions from growers, pest control advisers and pesticide applicators during the 7 a.m. breakfast at La Mexicana Restaurant in El Centro.
Parnell explained the warning requirements of Prop. 65 were completed prior to a March 1 deadline. The second phase of implementation deals with discharge provisions, and Parnell anticipates some battles in determining what pesticides can be discharged onto cropland.
The deadline for the state to implement discharge requirements is Oct. 27.
Proposition regulations prohibit chemicals containing cancer-causing toxins from being discharged. A list of cancer-causing chemicals was released by the state about a year ago and additional chemicals have been added since then.
20 years ago
CALEXICO — Efforts to turn the fence that spans the U.S.-Mexico into a thing of beauty are slowly but surely getting under way.
The bi-national mural project is officially a go after the project’s lead artist, former Calexico resident Armando Rascon, presented the Calexico Arts Commission with a first draft of a master plan Monday.
Arts Commission chairwoman Carmen Durazo said Rascons plan included a rough outline of what will adorn the border fence as well as other projects intended to call attention to Calexico’s history and the advancement of art in this border community.
While the public will get a chance to see the proposed mural, which will represent a weave of the cultures on both sides of the border in the Imperial and Mexicali valleys, the theme of the mural will be unity. The proposal will be available some time next fall.