STORIES FROM THE PAST
50 years ago
BANNING — The El Centro Spartans got hot in the closing moments of the third quarter and spurted with six straight points to pull away from Beaumont in the consolation semifinals of the Banning Tournament yesterday.
The Spartans defeated Banning, 76-65, and play 29 Palms at 7 p.m. for the consolation championship tonight.
The teams were swapping baskets during the third quarter until the Spartans turned on the steam and zipped to a six point lead. El Centro continued pulling away at a slow pace until building an 11-point lead.
“It wasn’t nearly as easy a victory as the score indicates,” said Spartan head coach Bill Cole. “Even as we were holding an eight-point lead in the final period, it could have gone either way.”
40 years ago
SACRAMENTO (AP) — A cautious state Energy Commission has left the door open for another nuclear power plant in California, but left itself plenty of room to maneuver.
Reflecting Gov. Edmund Brown Jr.’s guarded attitude toward nuclear power, the Brown-appointed commission Wednesday gave preliminary approval to the Sundesert project, after scaling it down from two reactors to one at the Mojave Desert site.
The decision, which saddled proponents with 49 conditions, didn’t appear to anger proponents or opponents, but it also did not totally satisfy either extreme.
R. Denis Richter, a San Diego Gas & Electric Co. vice president, left the hearing saying, in effect, one reactor would be better than none: “You can’t build anything unless you start something.”
He said it would be two weeks, after consulting with other participants in the proposed $3-billion project, before a decision is made to continue seeking a building permit. The original Sundesert plan called for two 950-megawatt reactors at a site 16 miles from Blythe.
30 years ago
LAS VEGAS — The Brawley Wildcats were defeated by Western High School of Las Vegas Wednesday, 77-47.
It was the final round of games in the tournament. The event matches three teams from California against three Las Vegas-area schools each season. It is structured so each game matches a California team against a Las Vegas club.
Brawley’s April Wilhite was named to the All Tournament team. Against Western, Wilhite scored a dozen points and pulled down a dozen rebounds.
The top Wildcat scorer was Cori Pizano, who scored 16 points and had seven steals.
Brawley stayed close early in the game and trailed only 19-12 in the first quarter. But Western led 41-16 at halftime.
Brawley coach Betsy Enders said she felt the Western team was the best in the tournament. Western shot 61-percent from the floor, compared to Brawley’s 24-percent.
20 years ago
The rains Sunday and Monday slowed the Imperial Valley vegetable harvest, but crews returned to work today.
“Rain always makes a mess,” said Steve Sharp, manager of the Imperial Valley Vegetable Growers Association. “It kept people out of the field yesterday.”
While more than half an inch of rain fell, the steady precipitation caused minimal crop damage. That’s more good news, for Valley vegetable growers, who have suffered through a couple of years of low prices but are enjoying strong markets now.
“The market’s a lot better this year than last year. Everybody should be happy this year,” Sharp said. The lettuce market began slowly this month. “It was low. It was just $4, $5, $6 a carton,” said Dick Dillon, deputy county agricultural commissioner.
Now that areas such as Bakersfield and Salinas have ended their lettuce season, lettuce is selling for $16 to $18 a carton, Dillon said.