Remember When for the week of 12/26/17
95 years ago
President Woodrow Wilson announced the federal government was taking control of the nation’s railroad system. Every line engaged in general transportation, including steamship lines, would be used to assist the Army during World War I. Lassen County had only two railroads engaged in heavy traffic.
70 years ago
Dan Koelz, a cook at Jewett’s Restaurant in Doyle, stabbed and killed Roscoe E. Sutton early Christmas morning. Keolz and Sutton were involved in an argument over a female waitress when, at approximately 1 a.m., Koelz ran into the restaurant’s kitchen and grabbed a 10.5 inch knife and stabbed Sutton four times in the stomach and once in the groin.
45 years ago
Marvin Dirksen, of Shaffer, assumed duties of the county office manager of the Agriculture Stabilization and Conservation Service in Susanville. He succeeded Ray Vogel, who transferred to a similar position in Madera.
35 years ago
New drunk-driving laws went into effect at the beginning of this year. One change in the law is if a driver is suspected of drunk driving, the driver now requires a blood or urine test. A simple breath test does not accurately indicate the presence of alcohol in the body, police said.
30 years ago
County Supervisor Gary Lemke was installed as the president of Northern California County Supervisor’s Association, which represents Lassen, Modoc, Glenn, Plumas, Sierra, Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama and Trinity counties. Lemke said county funding was the most important issue facing the association.
25 years ago
The Lassen County Board of Supervisors voted last week to include Westwood, Janesville, Johnstonville and Shaffer sSchool districts into the County Service Area No. 3, with those areas of the county to receive continued library service.
Under the new proposal approved by the board at its Tuesday, Dec. 22 meeting, CSA No. 3 will be divided into three zones.
15 years ago
Chances are you won’t notice the difference at the Lassen County Fair, but more than $100,000 has been slashed from the budget.
The Lassen County Board of Supervisors approved a $101,000 budget decrease in the 2003 fair budget on Tuesday, Dec. 17.
Fair Manager Claude Neely reported expenditures would be drastically reduced including salary wages by $10,758 with employee benefits cut $5,000.
Contractual services were eliminated with a savings of $7,000 and Neely told the supervisors he slashed his budget for supplies and grounds maintenance by $20,000.
10 years ago
Susanville native and California Highway Patrol Officer Brian Elledge was honored with a gold Medal of Valor for saving a burning, trapped motorist in Contra Costa County.
Elledge, one of nine CHP officers and 22 others, received the highest heroic honors from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger during an awards ceremony.
Last year
A cold evening blaze lit up the sky and shut down traffic on Main Street in Susanville.
At about 7:20 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 17, local fire agencies were dispatched to the Susanville Bowling Alley located at 2772 Main St. for a commercial structure fire.
According to a statement from the Susanville Fire Department, when the first engine arrived, smoke and fire were observed coming from the roof.
An aggressive coordinated attack from the roof contained the flames at about 7:42 p.m. and extensive salvage and overhaul operations were performed.
A small portion of the interior was a complete loss, and the remainder of the building sustained extensive smoke damage, read the statement.