STORIES FROM THE PAST

50 years ago

The FBI and U.S. Navy investigators are to question two men injured by an unidentified war object Sunday in the restricted Navy bombing practice area near Glamis.

Injured were Edgar Roland Reseck, 34, of Lancaster, reported in “fair” condition at Pioneers Memorial Hospital in Brawley, and Troy Patrick Woods, 25, of Blythe.

A California Highway Patrol man drove the men to the hospital from the Glamis Store. Reseck reportedly suffered severe leg injuries and burns.

A spokesman in the sheriff’s office said the bombing area is “off limits” to the public and that warning signs are posted about the area. The spokesman speculated that the explosive might have been a rocket, flare or small bomb.

40 years ago

Brawley’s four elementary schools were classified as “racially and ethnically isolated” by the board of trustees special advisory committee to look into the problem of segregation.

This conclusion will be presented by the committee’s chairman, Dr. Ramon Rodriguez, at the school board’s regular meeting Tuesday.

The next move will be up to the board. If it decides that a desegregation plan is necessary to alleviate the problem, it could authorize the committee to draw up ideas for one.

So, the first phase of school desegregation is completed with the determination and identification of racial isolation in the schools.

According to the district’s timeline, the next step is developing a plan to correct such isolation.

30 years ago

Residents of the north part of Imperial were left without power for about an hour Thursday afternoon when winds reaching up to 56 mph damaged power lines and toppled power poles around the Valley.

Imperial Irrigation District crews were kept busy repairing eight power poles from Holtville to Seeley that were either damaged or downed by the high winds, including four adjacent poles located along Dogwood Road, near the El Centro Steam Plant.

Customers were not affected by these problems because power was rerouted through other lines, said IID spokesman Ron Hull.

The biggest problem of the day was caused by electrical conductors blown off of power lines near 11th street and the Dahlia Canal in Imperial, Hull said.