stories from the past
50 years ago
GLAMIS — The Border Patrol announced late yesterday that two of its inspectors had intercepted a car carrying 746 pounds of marijuana on lonely Highway 78, 15 miles east of Glamis at 2:30 p.m. Friday.
The announcement of the arrest was delayed, according to the Border Patrol, to allow a “follow-up” of the case. That follow-up included the arrest of another man yesterday who was charged with conspiracy.
The interception of the contraband was not a part of the new “Operation Intercept” at the border. Rather, it was one of the traditional arrests of drug smugglers. While the Border Patrol did not go into details — it never does until a case comes up in court—the job was clearly one involving intelligence to the effect that the shipment was on the way.
The Border Patrol said that the intercepted shipment was worth $1,000 a pound — or $746,000 when finally processed and sold to the consumer.
40 years ago
The trustees of the California State University and Colleges have honored an El Centro resident by naming the auditorium at San Diego State University, Imperial Valley Campus, the Joseph A. Rodney Auditorium.
In this case, the trustees suspended their policy of not dedicating buildings to living persons.
Dr. Rodney, was honored for his service as the founding dean of the local SDSU campus. He served there from 1959 until retirement in 1975.
He started the work of renovating the 600-seat auditorium facility, which is now nearing completion, with the installation of air conditioning, stage and projection booth facilities.
30 years ago
The Imperial Irrigation District would receive more than $1 million from the Coachella Valley Water District under a judge’s ruling released this week, but one Coachella official called the ruling favorable for his district.
In a memorandum of decision filed Tuesday in Imperial County Superior Court, Judge W.J. Harpham ruled that the IID and Coachella are liable for flooding around the Salton Sea based on each district’s water diversions from the Colorado River.
Harpham’s decision covers damages assessed as part of the Anderson case, in which the IID and Coachella were in 1984 found jointly liable for flooding damage to the property of 31 Salton Sea area landowners. However, no determination was made at that time on how much of the damage each district was responsible for. The IID and its insurance companies in 1987 agreed to pay the landowners a total of $6.74 million to settle their claims.
Over the five years 1976-1980, the IID diverted 84.66 percent of the water used by the two districts and Coachella diverted 15.34 percent. When these percentages are applied to the $6.74 million figure, Coachella becomes responsible for damages of about $1,034,000.
Harpham’s ruling could ultimately apply to about $22 million in settlements the IID had paid out in a series of flooding cases, and result in a total liability to Coachella of $3.37 million.