70 years ago   

The Susanville Airport was apportioned $370,802 by the Civil Aeronautics Board for the enlargement of its facility. Of the 183 airports in the state selected for improvement as part of the national defense program, Susanville ranked seventh behind San Francisco, Oakland, Pasadena, Los Angeles, Sacramento and Bakersfield.

45 years ago   

About 3,400 acres of Lassen National Forest timber and brush were reduced to blackened, barren land. The area involved is located about 10 miles east of Hat Creek near the Butte Creek Rim where 600 firefighters battled the blaze for 48 hours with little relief from strong winds and cold night air.

30 years ago   

High flying “Blackbirds,” SR-71 strategic reconnaissance jets capable of speeds in excess of 2,000 miles per hour, appeared to be the explanation behind the early morning booms and rumbles that echoed throughout the Almanor Basin.   

“Normally these jets cruise at an altitude of 80,000 feet,” said a Beale Air Force Base spokesman. “Yet when they drop down for refueling or landing at the base, they can create sonic booms as the nose of the aircraft tilts slightly toward the ground.”

25 years ago   

The Eskaton board of directors voted to investigate the possibility of affiliating with a larger health care system. According to a Lassen Community Hospital spokesman, “The most single advantageous benefit would be better access to capital and better lobbying positions in the health care market.”

20 years ago   

A prison murder trial could cost millions of dollars and bankrupt Lassen County. An inmate at the California Correctional Center was attacked and killed by a group of other inmates in July. Investigation of the gang-related incident has led to plans to try 27 inmates for murder.   

“Expenses for a non-death penalty murder prosecution recently tried in Lassen County ran between $80,000 and $100,000,” said Laura Roberts, reimbursement administrator for the Prison Trials Cost Reimbursement program. “If all 27 cases proceed to trial, we are looking at an expense ranging from $2.6 million to $2.75 million.”   

Although Lassen County would later be reimbursed for the expense, the county would have to fund the prosecution first.

10 years ago   

Calling a rift between the county and Superior Court Judge Stephen Bradbury concerning office space in the county courthouse “an embarrassment,” the Lassen County Board of Supervisors requested Bradbury’s appearance at the Sept. 26 meetings.   

The supervisors and the judge are at odds concerning a board order requiring Bradbury to give up office space on the second floor of the courthouse that previously had been allocated to the treasurer’s office.

Five years ago   

Fair Advisory Board Member Jim Jeskey is the interim fair manager after Claud Neely lost his job last week when the Lassen County Board of Supervisors voted to terminate his contract.   

“The board’s going in a different direction so we’re going to terminate his employment as fair manager,” said Board Chairman Jack Hanson after the Tuesday, Sept. 21 vote the board took in full view of the public.

Last year   

As it has done every year since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the Susanville Fire Department joined with agencies around the country to honor the men and women who gave their lives to protect others.   

Community members, city and county politicians, veterans, police officers, sheriff’s deputies, military representatives and more showed up at 7 a.m. to join in a moment of silence in honor of everyone who lost their lives in the Sept. 11 attacks, including the 403 firefighters, paramedics, police officers and port authority officers who died in the attack.