Remember When

An explosion occurred in a local mine when a shot was fired while gas was in the shaft.

The explosion sent a huge puff of smoke in the air as survivors clambered for the surface. Of the 350 men in the mine, no estimates were available on the number of survivors.

70 years ago

A well-attended meeting of the Law and Order Division, Lassen County Civilian Court of Defense, formulated plans in the event of power blackout or other war-related emergency.

The plan called for Susanville to be divided into eight districts, each with a captain and police to guard the section.

30 years ago

Two Susanville residents were sentenced and another was awaiting trial on charges of smuggling cocaine into Hawaii, according to the U.S. Attorney.

The pair was convicted as being part of an organized effort to smuggle the largest amount of cocaine ever seized in Hawaii.

25 years ago

The California Department of Transportation announced a “lights on” daytime stretch of Highway 395 would go into effect next week, following a request by the city of Susanville and Lassen County.

15 years ago

At the height of last week’s flood on Thursday, Jan. 2, roads were blocked and stores were closed as Piute Creek and Susan River roared.

Homes in the 1300 block of North Street were under three feet of water and Susanville Supermarket closed until water in the parking lot was pumped out.

10 years ago

At the evening session of the Jan. 3 public meeting, Lassen Municipal Utility District President Marino “Buzz” Giannotti announced the LMUD directors would not vote to raise the rates more than one-and-one-half times as expected at the conclusion of the hearing.

Instead, Giannotti told the standing-room-only crowd that the public hearing will reconvene after the state legislature has an opportunity to respond to the statewide crisis in electrical states.

Five years ago

With flood damage already pegged at more than $10 million, the Lassen County Board of Supervisors ratified the local disaster emergency Assistant Director of Emergency Services Chip Jackson declared Saturday, Dec. 31.

At a special meeting Thursday, Jan. 5, the board voted unanimously to forward a copy of the declaration to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

On Jan. 3, Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in 16 counties, including Lassen and Plumas.

Jackson told the board the city of Susanville suffered more than $7 million in flood damages.

County roads suffered almost $2 million in damages.

Jackson said County Agriculture Commissioner Ken Smith’s conservative estimate pegs crop damage at $500,000.

Last year

A Thursday evening crash of a private plane near Chester, Calif. has claimed two lives.

The crashed plane was identified as a Beach Craft Twin V owned by Ronald Gilmore, of Chester. Gilmore, 76, has been positively identified as one of the victims in the crash. The second victim has been tentatively identified as his wife, Janet Gilmore.

At approximately 6:49 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 6, the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office received several 911 calls reporting a possible airplane in distress near or at the Chester Airport. Plumas County Sheriff’s deputies, the Chester Fire Department and the California Highway Patrol were dispatched to the area.

At approximately 7:25 p.m., units from the Chester Fire Department located the downed plane approximately one-quarter mile southwest of the airport. Upon further investigation, the two bodies were discovered in the plane, and Plumas County Sheriff’s deputies and Chester Fire Department personnel removed the bodies.

Frank B. Dursoe, secretary of the Chico Chamber of Commerce, has been in Susanville in the interest of building a road connecting with the Susanville-Red Bluff lateral of the state highway system to Chester.

The proposed road will be built through Deer Creek pass. The usual claim that it will be open year ‘round was made. Butte County proposed to finance the building of the road and the Forestry Department will be asked to appropriate funds as well.

E.J. Beebe, who was sent to state prison for life for a murder in Modoc County and was pardoned by Gov. Markham, was passing through Bieber on his way home. Beebe, 77, convinced the governor that his brother was the only one guilty of the crime.

News of the day includes a story of a dentist, M.E. Brenner, who preformed a difficult extraction of Jake Claw’s artificial teeth, which included sawing off an existing real tooth to do it. It seems Mr. Claw’s former dentist sized the teeth incorrectly and forced the issue with a hammer.

90 years ago

Main Street paving job’s now complete. The Warren Construction Company has completed all work on Main Street and the thoroughfare is now open to the public throughout its whole length. The last load of “hot stuff“ was laid on Tuesday morning.

Work on Richmond Road from Susan River to the Southern Pacific Depot is also well under way. All the grading has been done and now the work is ready for asphalt.

65 years ago

A community basketball league is underway for the winter sports season in Susanville with the opening games scheduled Monday night at the high school gym.

Seven teams are signed up in the community league. They are in the 20 to 30 club, Soule Motors, J.C. High School and Forestry. A nominal admission fee will be charged for the game, and all proceeds are to go to the public park fund.

45 years ago

The first of eight homes sold recently at auction by Lassen Union High School District and were moved to their new location in Standish to make way for the new Lassen High School. Plans for the new school called for construction to begin in the spring.

15 years ago

The old saying “music soothes the savage beast” is certainly ringing true at Diamond View School. Classic Mozart and Bach blast from the speakers in the school lunchroom as the kids dig into their macaroni, and cheese or a bologna sandwich.

As a way of rewarding students for good behavior, Diamond View Principal Dennis Roberts started the Music at Lunch Program.

So far the results have been remarkable; student behavior problems and demerits have drastically dropped since the program started.

10 years ago

Supervisor Everd McCain last week delivered a scathing attack on his fellow Lassen County Supervisors, calling them guilty of backroom shenanigans and good-old-boy-politics in regard to the hiring of the next county administrative officer.

McCain told the board that because the good-old-boy network is alive and well in Lassen County he had written a letter to John Shannon of the County Supervisor Association of California to inform him that it appears that all of your efforts and over $24,000 the county has spent on the county administrative officer recruitment is a farce.

5 years ago

Dyer Mountain Associates now owns more than 7,142 acres of property needed to develop a four-season resort near Westwood.

Sarah Duryea, one of three resort managers, said DMA closed escrow on Friday Nov. 18.

As new landowners, Duryea said DMS wants to solicit ideas from community members to meet the needs of the greatest number of fellow citizens.

She publicly thanked Assistant Community Development Director Joe Bertotti, Community Development Director Bob Sorvaag and all the county staff and officials for their support and hard work to make the resort a reality.

Last year

Bob Pyle, chairman of the Lassen County Board of Supervisors, asked Lassen Count Sheriff Steve Warren for his comments as the board considered approval of a new county ordinance banning large-scale cultivation and medical marijuana dispensaries in the county.

Warren said his opposition to the use of marijuana is well known to everyone, and he opposes medical marijuana facilities being operated as for-profit businesses.He said the board should remember the issue is medical marijuana and its use as a medicine.

“I think it would be a travesty, to tell you the truth, to go out and allow dispensaries or co-ops or whatever else we want to call it in Lassen County when that doesn’t really have anything to do with medical marijuana,” Warren said. “We’re not in the marijuana business, and we shouldn’t allow anyone else to be in the marijuana business except the medical people who are making the prescriptions and recommendations and the people who need to have it … Marijuana has its uses in the medical world. Growing marijuana doesn’t have a place in Lassen County.”