STORIES FROM THE PAST
50 years ago
A Brawley youth, facing felony narcotic charges following a preliminary hearing in El Centro Tuesday, was killed in a crop dusting mishap six miles northwest of Calipatria yesterday evening.
The Imperial County Sheriff’s Office identified the victim as an 18-year-old Brawley resident.
Preliminary investigation by the sheriff’s office indicates that the youth was performing flagman duties for a crop dusting airplane. He was apparently struck by the wing of the plane he was directing.
The pilot of the plane was identified as Robert Hatfield, an employee of Val-Air Co. Inc., of Brawley. The aircraft was reported to be a World War II trainer plane converted for crop dusting.
Representative of the Federal Aviation Agency has been called in by the sheriff’s office to investigate the incident.
40 years ago
The stalled Heber geothermal project may have a new breath of life due to an unexpected $50 million congressional allocation expected to be passed next week.
San Diego Gas & Electric Co.’s proposed 45-megawatt Heber geothermal plant had been stalled since the Department of Energy rejected a $50 million grant for the project last month.
But Monday, Sen. Alan Cranston said U.S. Senate conferees had agreed to add $4 million to the Senate-approved Public Works Appropriations Bill to bring total funding for the Heber project to $50 million.
With that action, Congress is committing itself to picking up about half the cost of building and operating the Heber plant for five years. The total, portions of which will be allocated during successive years, will be about $50 million.
When contacted today, Art Ellis, SDG&E public relations director, said he had heard about the conference committee action late Monday but was not sure what it meant for the Heber plant.
“Naturally, we are encouraged that Congress is interested in the project. We haven’t seen the bill, so we don’t know if we are actually getting the money or if we will have to compete for it again,” he said.
30 years ago
CALEXICO —Supervisor Luis Legaspi said Tuesday he hoped local officials would work toward an eastward expansion of the city limits to include the area surrounding the site of the proposed port of entry facility.
But Redevelopment Agency Director Oscar Rodriguez said an immediate annexation of open land east of the city may be easier said than done.
In an interview Tuesday, Legaspi said construction of a new port of entry east of the city could encourage new industries to locate in the area.
“I would hope the city would have the foresight to move out and fill in that area,” he said, adding that Calexico should do everything it can to promote growth in the area surrounding the site of the proposed port of entry.
20 years ago
SALTON CITY — The bodies of seven suspected undocumented immigrants were found about 27 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border under a salt cedar tree, only miles from potential help.
Imperial County Coroner Investigator Ralph Smith said Friday he and officials with the Mexican consul think they may have come up with identities for up to five members of the group.
The group is thought to have included five men, a young woman and a teen-age boy. At least one of the men is thought to be from the state of Michoacan, Mexico. The bodies were partially mummified from the desert heat, which made it difficult for investigators to initially pinpoint the age, sex or race, according to Imperial County Assistant Sheriff Mike Hackett.
A ranch foreman passing through the Highway 86 U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint near Salton City about 8 a.m. Thursday informed Border Patrol agents there was a group in distress in the desert, according to Assistant Border Patrol Chief Teddy Hampton. Hampton said the man directed Border Patrol agents by map to the site, which was about eight miles south of Highway 78 and about a quarter mile east of Pole Line Road. Border Patrol agents flew an airplane over the area and sent agents to search for the bodies. Agents found the group of seven bodies under a clump of salt cedar trees, huddled together.