STORIES FROM THE PAST
50 years ago
The Calipatria Mets opened the 1968 California Connie Mack League Finals Saturday afternoon, defeating La Puente, 5-3.
“This is the first time a Valley team has won a playoff game in Connie Mack ball,” manager Mike Maraccini said.
Maraccini is helping Met manager Don Floyd. Don is manager of Brawley’s entry in the Babe Ruth Tournament. Maraccini is taking care of the Mets in Floyd’s absence.
40 years ago
California power politics are generating plans that could turn the Southwest desert into a major megawatt factory.
Ironically, though Imperial County is eager to export thousands of megawatts of geothermal energy, the utilities and the state are considering the area as a site for plants that would operate with imported fuel, including nuclear and coal.
The state Legislature is considering a bill that would open the door to building a coal plant in the Valley even if it violated the county’s air pollution control regulations.
30 years ago
Rudy Lopez, the Economic Opportunity Commission finance committee chairman, said Thursday EOC is broke, and he would recommend declaring bankruptcy.
Today Lopez said his recommendation will be to seek Chapter 11 reorganization under federal bankruptcy law to get EOC creditors “off our back” so the agency can reorganize into a more viable organization.
After the meeting, Lopez said he will recommend bankruptcy when the board meets at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the El Centro Chamber of Commerce.
The board authorized Lopez to take any actions he felt necessary to resolve EOC’s financial difficulties, although neither Lopez nor the board faced the bankruptcy issue directly in the board meeting. Any action taken by Loepz would be subject to ratification by the board.
Today, Lopez said declaring bankruptcy and closing the doors would be one option, but “if we file for Chapter 11, we may not have to close. We will have some lean times, but we can continue while we explore other avenues.”
20 years ago
CALEXICO — After numerous twists and turns akin to a soap opera plot line, construction on the Calexico 10 Theatres project at Highway 111 and Cole Road could begin as early as Tuesday.
The Calexico Redevelopment Agency, project developers Oliphant and Williams Associates of Palm Desert and Raul and Alicia Estrada, the Calexico landowners of the site on which the theaters will be built, all signed a disposition and development agreement Tuesday enabling the project to get started. But getting to that point wasn’t so easy. Unhappy with aspects of the agreement, the Estradas were the only parties who hadn’t signed the agreement as of last week.
John McClendon of Orange, the Estradas’ attorney, spoke Wednesday, saying, “The basic parameters of the agreement were there, but some of the language in the original agreement was almost cryptic and too brief.”
McClendon said several aspects that ultimately clarified the agreement for the Estradas, and that all involved parties could agree to, had been added to the document, which was signed Tuesday.