STORIES FROM THE PAST

50 years ago

The last, lazy period of the school day Monday at Holtville High School was disrupted when a bullet crashed into the classroom of Mrs. Harlan Bradley.

The stray missile caused some alarm but no real damage when it came in high through the north end of the classroom and crashed into an opposite wall.

None of the Algebra I students, mostly sophomores and freshmen were endangered, but they could have seen, said Mrs. Harlan who reported the incident to authorities.

Holtville Police who investigated reported that the bullet, probably of .22 caliber, apparently came from the gun of a group of juveniles shooting from Tenth Street, two blocks away.

The boys denied shooting toward the city, Taylor said.

40 years ago

The J.M. McDonald Co. will build a second store in El Centro at the Valley Plaza, it was announced today by Robert Clark, a McDonald’s spokesman in Hastings, Neb.

The 30,000-square-foot store will be located in the southwest corner of the shopping center between the George R. Harris Men’s Store and Kloth Korner. The downtown store will stay open, Clark said.

The new building will open onto the mall and complete the west end of the mall which had been promised for years, according to James Houck, vice president of Pacific View Construction Co. Inc., of San Diego, owner of the Plaza shopping center.

30 years ago

With the spectre of the Owens Valley looming in some minds, Metropolitan Water District officials are discussing the possibility of buying land in the Imperial Valley and around the state as a way to secure a guaranteed water supply.

In the report presented to the MWD Board of Directors on Tuesday, Metropolitan General Manager Carl Boronkay called the possibility “an attractive opportunity” from an economic standpoint. But he also noted “numerous legal constraints” such a proposal would face because of political and institutional problems.

“It’s a long-term possibility; it’s not around the corner,” Boronkay said in a telephone interview. “It’s like everything else Metropolitan is looking at; we want to look at everything.”

The basic idea of purchasing land is that in some cases taking marginal agricultural land out of production and shipping the water to the cities might be more beneficial to society than growing crops on the same land, Boronaky said.

20 years ago

CALEXICO — The Calexico High softball team won the battle of errors Tuesday at Emerson Field in Calexico as it defeated Central Union 3-2 on a dropped ball in the bottom of the seventh.

With the bases loaded and two outs, Kristy Hettinga relieved for starting pitcher Tiffany Deyo and got Michelle Briseno to hit a dribbler toward the mound. Hettinga threw to home plate before Kim Valdez could reach it, but the Spartans’ Vera Silva couldn’t hold onto the ball.

“They earned it,” said Central coach Sandy Montalvo, “They came through, and we didn’t.”

Karen Rivera led off the inning with a single, which was followed by a walk by Deyo to Marlene Flores. Deyo struck out the next two batters, but Rivera and Flores moved to third and second on a passed ball.

Vanessa Ochoa then smacked a bouncer through the legs of Central’s Adela Green at third base, which allowed Rivera to tie the game 2-2.