Santa Maria Times from Santa Maria, California • 29

Santa Maria Times Sunday, Dec. 12, 1999 Walk Time The History of Your World HISTORY: Colossal dreams; profound loss Angeles to San Francisco and died in the crash. Burke allegedly shot the pilot and co-pilot, investigators say. The handgun, with all six shots fired, was found in the wreckage alter a "terrible commotion" captured by the cockpit recorder. Four of the dead were administrators tor Chevron USA.

while another man who died as a PSA customer service agent. In June, 1990, a jury in San Diego awarded the family of the pilot. Gregg N. who died at 43, nearly S3.9 million in a wronglul death, lawsuit filed against the airline. 1 his was the last ol the lawsuits stemming from the crash.

The airline, USAir, had admitted because David Burke had retained his ulent it ation badge after being tired and used it to pass security guards ami board the aircraft with the nun. JJJ California, from the north to Santa Maria, got "all shix)k up" Tuesday. Oct. 17. 1989, The Loma Prieta earthquake.

6.9 on the Richler scale, hit just at the start ol World Series game three at Candlestick Park. The quake caused devastation liom San Fran- shocked, seeing streets buckling, dust from collapsed buildings anil leaking natural gas. fa trucks raced through the streets. "I realized how bad it was by seeing what was in the store, but then ou step outside and see how serious it really was." I.opez explained. I he quake prompted an "alert status" from the Santa Maria Police Department the city opened its Emergency Operation Center and waited tor a call lor help liom San Francisco.

A five-unit fire strike team was poised to move north, but fires were brougl.it under control. Officials' of the Arnn National Guard in Ixith Santa Maria and Santa Barbara also were "stand-mn bv," but did not need to be-called up: "JJJ As the earth shook in San Francisco, the teachers shook up. the Santa Maria Joint Union high School District Oct. IS. 1989.

with a one-day sink: because of a break-dow in contract Assistant Superintendent Bob Erikson called the strike "illegal," because. the union had not completed the negotiations process and did not give a JJ Af yy 1 77 ti ti Ll Continued from previous page injection wells. In lyso. the federal hazardous waste management regulations known as Resource Conservation and Recovery Act became ettective. Waste treatment and disposal operations at Casmalia became subject to these new requirements, but an "interim status" permit effectively grandfathered in the existing tinlined waste disxsal units at Casmalia.

In order to maintain the facility's interim status and continue to receive waste, the site fiad to apply tor a formal hazardous waste permit, which Hunter did in IW. In I9SS. the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency notified Hunter they were going to deny his permit, because the unlined landfills did not meet federal standards tor design and operation. Among other problems, drums of liquid hazardous waste were placed into landfills prior to 1 982.

and were deteriorating and releasing their contents into the surrounding ground. Some had even been punctured they were put into tills. Prior to the EPA decision. Hunter had discontinued the use ol the waste disposal ponds and evaporation ponds, after orders to do so from the Cahlornia Regional Water Quality Control Board, which found contaminated groundwater not only on the site, but also to the southwest and near the site access gate to the southeast. Hunter had also discontinued the use of the PCB and RCRA landfills after a settlement agreement with the county.

Followng the EPAs decision to deny the RCRA permit. Hunter tried again, promising that the site be modernized with new lined hazardous waste landfill and treatment systems. In I989, while waiting for the 1 992 decision that would spur Hunter to abandon the site, he was ordered to stop disposing waste in the acids, causticscyanides, heavy metals and sludges and pesticidessolvents landfills, effectively preventing the facility from accepting any additional waste from off-site. JJJ A 1 983 double murder "mystery" remains unsolved here, despite Herculean efforts by Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department detectives. Two deer hunters discovered the bodies of two nude women in a desolated area off Highway 1 66 east of Santa Maria Aug.

1 8, 1 983. They, were identified as Marie Eillenberg, 23, and Maria Wahlen. 25. from Sweden, who had been visiting friends in Redwood City. Both women were sexually assaulted and stabbed.

The women had been seen last hitchhiking beside the freeway in Redwood City on July 22, en-route to Eos Angeles to catch an airliner for home the next day. Missing persons reports were filed when the two tailed to catch their plane. The father of one of the women. Ove Lillenberg. came to Santa Maria to positively identify the victims.

A travel diary" kept by Wahlen helped detectives. It was found, by chance, along with other property belonging to the women in a City of Commerce trash container off Interstate 5. This diary remains in the hands of investigators, according to Cmdr. Bruce Correll, a primary detective on the case in 1 9X3. The case gained new momentum on Sept.

26, I99I. when a worker at the Swedish Consulate in San Diego received a telephone call from a man who talked about the murder and provided a description of the alleged killer. The caller said the killer was a slim man named Leon, a Canadian citizen, who frequently visited California and drove a hand-painted white van, always by a green canoe. Correll turned to the NBC television "Unsolved Mysteries" show of April 8. 1 992.

in an attempt to collect further information, hoping someone would recognize one or more of the mysterious clues. Despite a show reaching 43 million viewers, no evidence tending to an arrest resulted. "We are still working on it," Correll said. Detective Steve Robel is now oh the case, and routinely gets general leads. The agency also is following up every- time a truck driver gets arrested on a murder charge involving girls hitchhiking.

"There have been more than a dozen in the last few years." he said, pointing to the similarity between these slayings and the one involving the two young women from Sweden. "It is unsolved, but we are hopeful that one day we will get the right tip" to solve the double slaying. Correll said. Above, President Ronald Reagan and former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev bring an end to the Cold War. At right, "The Wall," a memorial to those men and women who died in the Vietnam War, becomes the most-visited site in Washington, D.C.

Tom Urbanske. involved preservation of the landmarks on the west side, specifically the Santa Maria Theater and the Cypress Street Post Office: "My feeling is I would like to save as many of the Santa Maria structures as possible. I would like to retain the flavor of Santa Maria." In the end. some buildings along Main and Pine Street survived, but those fronting Cypress and Broadway were lost. 1 he maor exception was the historic First Methodist Church that remains as the comer of Cook Street and Broadway.

On Nov. 5, 1982. the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department announced it would move ahead on preliminary plans lor a new l(X)-bed minimum security ail on Foster Road. County supervisors allotted S60.IXX) tor a needs assessment study. I he new facility was to supplement the 39-bed substation at that location.

Overpopulation at this facility is a definite problem, a sheriffs sxikesman said of the Foster Road sheriff 's substation. No building ever started and Sheriff Jim I nomas, at this time, continues to seek funding for a North County jail. His plans have moved the jail from the nearby residential area of Foxenwixid to a more rural site off Black Road. The sheriff is asking tor a sales tax override to fund the project. Overcrowding continues to be a major problem.

"Exprestofis on expressway not tix favorable," a headline in The Times of Jan. WJ-985 stated. The story explained that 175 persons came out the night before to discuss the proposed East-West Expressway in Orcutt. he expressway remains unbuilt. It was explained that a 22-year-old county plan called for a 4-lane expressway to be build in various stages from U.S.

101 to Highway I The road's original alignment would begin about a quarter mile south of Foster Road and run nearly straight west. Residents of the Foxenwood Subdivision and also the Santa Maria Airport District board protected the route, which could have cut through a portion of the airport. Earlier, Supervisor Torn Miyoshi had urged an agreement between the city, Santa Maria Public Airport official and others on a route. he issue of importation of state water, now a factor on the Central Coast, was a topic to discuss, study, talk and vote about and rebuke and reject during the 1980s. At one point, in April of 1986.

the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisor backed off a previous vote to require a ballot election if any area in the county wanted to import Northern California water or pursue a lix-al independent option, such as raising Bradbury Dam at Lake Cachuma. By rescinding the vote, the supervisors avoided a confrontation with virtually all the water supplies in the county, including the Cities of Santa Maria and Eompix' and the Santa Ynez District, according to The Times. Drought in the late 1980s added to the stress over "water." JJJ On an economic front, Mid-State Bank celebrated its first 25 years in 1989 with a history book. Bank president Carrol Pruett. now about to retire, directed the book to "get the bank's history dow At about the same time.

Oct. 20. 1989, Pruett headed up the bank's public economic symposium, announcing the Central Coast economic climate "ripe with opportunity in the years ahead During his speech, he reported that "merger mania" could threaten progress in banking. But by this year, it was Mid-State expanding its opportunity with mergers. Looking correctly into a futuristic "crystal ball," Pruett also said that the large chain stores will split more and more of the "retail sales pie" with local stores.

Tie suggested a pnxluct niche or service niche for small businesses to stay An oil boom occurred in the 1980s: as fears-of an OPEC conspiracy to limit production, tanker bombings and an unstable import situation affected the Reagan Administration to push even harder for U.S. energy self-sufficiency. The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, on a 3-2 vote, permitted the onshore facility at Las Flores Canyon, despite environmental and air quality fears. Oil companies announced plans for new off-shore platforms and increasing drilling. An illegal agricultural product continued to grow in Santa Barbara County in the 1980s.

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department set marijuana as one of the county's top 10 cash crops during an eradication program Nov. 4. 1982. The agency said marijuana' was growing in all parts of the county: The fciaflonal Forest, on private property, near stream banks and in back yards. That year the agency confiscated more than 3.000 pounds.

A sheriffs spokesman. Lt. Chip Marchbanks. said most of the marijuana was being grown by "major commercial operators," some of whom he speculated had moved from the Northern California communities most notorious for growing grass, because of heavy law enforcement efforts. On a happy note, Santa Marian Ernie Amaril-las became an instant multi-millionaire in early June, 1989.

when the California Lottery called out his numbers. The low-profile Amarillas, involved in welding and farming, remains in the Uval area. I I J. vvV; trr i' MM I I I i I' ll.l. Ml, l.fTlllfl Mil ll.llj Cintrtlwied 72-hour advanced notice.

'leacher Joe Nunez denied Enkson's accusation. The strike caused Santa Maria High School to close liom lack of substitute teachers, with all the substitutes available mined to keep Righetti High School open. Several students were arrested and seven or eight were susXMided. according to Erik-son. No major damage resulted, but a lew trash cans -were lit on fire.

tables were turned over in one, room and. desks overturned in another. A week later the district went to court for a strike injunction. Later a meeting occurred and by January, a state mediator was asked to help settle the contract dispute between teachers and management. Resolution finally came with a new contract.

JJJ Water, westside development, affordable housing, the east-west expressway and a new jail were among the topics concerning various governmental entities in the 1980s. All these issues have continued through the 1990s in one form or another. The City of Santa Maria approved, and saw constructed, the "new" Tow Center West. The Times. Jan.

6. 1985, reported on a city council rev iew of the Westside redev elopment project, with plans to make a decision within the next six weeks. Three different companies provided conceptual plans for the site. A major issue was a plaza concept versus an indoor mall. Obviously, the plaza concept won.

although at the time Mayor George Hobbs favored an indoor facility. "A plaza isn't something people go for in this neck of the woods." he said, citing spring winds and chilly winter temperatures. The council served as the Redevelopment Agency in approv ing plans for the plaza that exists today, supported by S39.7 million in bonds the city issued in June of 1984 for the project. Others favored the outdoor mall, especially one with a pedestrian walkway over Broadway connecting the new project ith the Santa Maria Town Center to the east. Another issue, especially for council member cisco and Oakland to Santa Cruz.

A total of 272 persons died, with 650 injured in the catastrophic earthquake, which in 15 seconds wrecked buildings and felled arxwe-ground freeways. Severed gas lines touched oft' fires, including one that burned a block of buildings in San Francisco, in this second-deadliest quake in U.S. history, surpassed only by the San Francisco quake of 1906. Central Coast residents felt the quake, but only as a rattle of the earth." No property damage occurred. But Santa Marians and others along the Coast immediately moved to aid the Bay Area with donations to the Salvation Army and American Red Cross.

Santa Maria Red Cross director Charlie Lord reported difficulty in contacting Red Cross offices in the Bay Area, advising it might take 72 hours to obtain a list of the fatalities and injuries to provide information to local residents. The quake came Tuesday evening, and by later in the night a Salvation Army truck from Los Angeles stopped to pick up additional blankets, jackets and fixxl for the Bay Area. Local residents also donated for later trucks and pumped money for rescue to the Salvation Army and Red Cross. "We sure appreciate the way Santa Maria has helped out," said Capt. Howard Birks of the Salvation Army.

"It takes a special breed of person to help." By Wednesday. Santa Marians had donated about three tons of supplies and SI JXX) in cash. Former Santa Maria Times writer Lisa Lopez lived through the quake, waiting for change at a Safeway deli in San Francisco. At jhe time, she was working in the Marina district near the epicenter of the quake. "I felt as if I was having a dizzy spell." she told The Times a day later.

"It was so strong and felt like it was lasting forever. It felt as if the store as being dropped." Leaving the store Lopez became even more Tragedy fell rom the sky on Monday, Dec. 7, 1987. when Pacific Southwest Airline Flight 1771 crashed nose-first, killing all 44 passengers and crew, on the Santa Rita Ranch between Paso Rob-les and C.imbria on Highway 46. A search on a hillside off Old Creek Road for survivors was to no avail.

The wreckage covered 15 acres, ith body parts and belongings spread across the ground. A later investigation, conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, confirmed there was a "criminal act on board." Authorities announced a USAir employee, identified as David A. Burke, 35. from Los Angeles, smuggled a handgun on board to kill the boss who had discharged him. Just prior to the crash.

USAir had purchased PSA. The boss, identified as Raymond F. Thomson. 48. Tiberon.

USAir station manager at Los Angeles International Airport, and Burke, were both aboard the 85-seat commuter jet flying from Los.