120 years ago   

Some of the biggest logs of the season came down Main Street last Saturday. Citizens of Susanville were caught out this winter without enough wood to see them through, so the teamsters are doing a good business.

70 years ago   

Forty men, some to them returning to their old labors and others transferred from other departments, started the box factory at the Lassen Lumber and Box Company this week.

45 years ago   

Lassen County businesses listed a 7.6 percent increase during the previous 10 years. Susanville enjoyed a 9.6 percent increase and Westwood showed a 44 percent gain in the number of listed businesses for the 10-year period.

30 years ago   

The Lassen High Grizzlies won the 31st annual Lassen Invitational Basketball Tournament by defeating Chico High 52-44.   

It marked the first time in 10 years the Grizzlies won the LTI championship. Mike Bertotti led the Grizzlies with 26 points.

25 years ago   

The National Labor Relations Board was scheduled to conduct more hearings on the disputed union election held in January at Lassen Community Hospital. In that election, hospital employees voted overwhelming in favor of unionization, but the voting eligibility of 35 workers had been challenged by the hospital’s operators.   

The challenged ballots were sufficient enough to affect the outcome of the election.

20 years ago   

Technically the spotted owl hooting season begins March 1, but the heavy snowfall in Plumas County means the people in charge of the Plumas National Forest’s annual owl count may have to wait to get into some areas until the snow melts.  

Last year hooters found 213 owls in the forest, which ranks third among all forests surveyed in California.   

To find the owls, surveyors go out after the sun sets, hike into the wilderness, and imitate the call, which has been described as “like a small dog barking,” and then wait for a response. The spotted owl’s call is normally one hoot, two short hoots and then one long one hoot.

15 years ago       

The Susanville City Council voted last week not to support a Caltrans proposal to restripe Main Street. Caltrans planned to eliminate parking on one side of Main Street east of Weatherlow Street in order to add a center left turn lane in those sections which do not have one.   

Caltrans also recommended eliminating four lanes in the Uptown District, making the section of Main Street only three lanes — one lane in each direction and center left turn lane, Susanville merchants overwhelmingly opposed the plan.

10 years ago   

Robert Burns, Lassen County’s district attorney, said his office is investigating the circumstances surrounding the injuries Harold Abbott, 81, allegedly suffered during an early afternoon raid on a Main Street residence on Jan. 14.   

Abbott, a former Lassen County district attorney, broke both hips when he allegedly was pushed down in a chair by a Lassen County deputy sheriff, according to a suit filed last week in Sacramento.

Five years ago   

The Susanville Police Department joined with the Lassen County Sheriff’s Department and created an interagency Special Weapons and Tactics team combining what the sheriff’s department already had into a bigger team.   

The new interagency team, staffed with eight members from the sheriff’s department and five members from the police department will be used for high-risk search warrants, barricaded subjects and other incidents that would call for the specialized training and equipment, said Police Chief Chris Gallagher.

One year ago   

On Saturday, Feb. 14, deputies from the Lassen County Sheriff’s Office arrested two juvenile boys who were booked in the Lassen County Juvenile Detention Facility and are being held without bail on charges of burglary, vandalism and a hate crime at the Honey Lake Valley Assembly of God Church.    

According to a press release from the sheriff’s office, upon investigation it was discovered the juveniles allegedly entered the church using a blunt object.
Once inside the building, the juveniles allegedly vandalized the church resulting in thousands of dollars in damage.   

In addition to the vandalism and theft, satanic symbols were carved into the building. Church officials estimate damage to be in the $15,000 range.    

At 3:45 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 14, deputies responded to the church building, located on Standish-Buntingville Road, for a report of a burglary in progress.