2000 The year in review

May 1-14: JetHawks usher falls from dugout roof

May 1

LANCASTER - Tim Navarro would have celebrated his 25th birthday Sunday if three men had not entered his apartment Jan. 2 and blasted him to death with a shotgun.

He would have spent his birthday with his family at the Quartz Hill home of his grandma and grandpa, Ray and Nadine Sullivan, and spent his evening in Hollywood nightclubs with his cousin, roommate and friend, Jamie Parkes.

May 2

LANCASTER - A 23-yearold usher at the Lancaster Municipal Stadium was critically injured Monday afternoon when she fell off the top of a dugout, dropping about 10 feet to the concrete.

May 3

PALMDALE - The release of a high-risk sex offender from Orange County into an east Palmdale neighborhood triggered outrage from one of the Antelope Valley's top lawmakers and a local councilman.

Assemblyman George Runner voiced his anger after learning of parolee Eldon West's placement in Palmdale early Tuesday evening.

LANCASTER - A threemonth investigation of Antelope Valley College women's basketball coach Jackie Lott cleared her of racial bias in a disruptive confrontation with a player, but the probe also found her hostile toward many of her athletes.

The investigation stated that, of 28 interviews with team members and peer staff members, "few of those interviewed had positive comments or perceptions of Ms. Lott, either with respect to her coaching behavior or interpersonal behavior."

May 4

PALMDALE - Two brothers were arrested and booked for attempted murder of a peace officer Tuesday night after one allegedly wrestled with a Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy and stabbed him.

Deputies John Christie and William McCormick responded to a house in the 37400 block of Calle Mazatlan about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday on a report of a family disturbance. When they arrived, they were immediately confronted by Leroy Erickson, 25, and Roy Erickson, 26, deputies said.

PALMDALE - Rapist Eldon West is out of here.

The convicted rapist and habitual offender was removed from Palmdale late Wednesday, less than 24 hours after the community was informed of his presence in an east Palmdale neighborhood.

May 5

PALMDALE - A crowd of women and children picketed in front of Eldon West's apartment building Thursday, even though the convicted rapist and high-risk sex offender was removed from the Valley on Wednesday night.

The women held signs with slogans such as, "We don't need Orange County's trash," and, "Eldon West, get out." Other signs were attached to the chain-link fence in front of the apartment complex with sayings such as "Rapist lives here."

LANCASTER - Antelope Valley College women's basketball coach Jackie Lott has been officially relieved of her coaching position, the Valley Press learned Thursday.

Lott continues as a full-time instructor in the athletic department and will be given additional classes to make up for the units she loses by no longer coaching.

May 6

LANCASTER - After a 17month probe and more than $900,000 in taxpayer dollars, Lancaster officials declared the dirt in its Public Works yard clean.

The declaration came Friday during a press conference at City Hall, where city officials, flanked by attorneys and hazardous materials experts toting graphs and charts, announced the FBI had closed its investigation into allegations that city employees illegally dumped hazardous materials in its Public Works yard at Avenue G-12 and Seventh Street West.

LANCASTER - Despite assertions by Lancaster officials that they acted within the law in the disposal of hazardous waste at their Public Works yard, federal prosecutors disagree.

Prosecutors say they found evidence of wrongdoing at the city's Public Works yard, but the U.S. Attorney's Office declined to pursue criminal charges.

May 7

PALMDALE - Has the skunk really been dumped?

You might think so, judging from the relative lack of skunk logos and Skunk Works references in the latest edition of Lockheed Martin's employee newsletter.

May 8

SEATTLE - Testing is under way at the Boeing Compact Radar Cross-Section Test Range in Seattle on its joint strike fighter concept to show its radar, antenna and stealth performance meet military standards.

Boeing built a full-scale aircraft model - called the Supportable Electromagnetics Test Aircraft - for the tests.

May 9

VENTURA - The union representing Ventura County workers is protesting the possible hiring of Jeff Long, the Lancaster Public Works director who is said to be a finalist for a job directing Ventura County Public Works.

The Service Employees International Union, whose roll of 6,500 public employees makes it the largest labor union in the county, fears that their Public Works department will plunge into scandal in the same way that the Lancaster Public Works Department has in recent years.

May 10

LAKE LOS ANGELES - A multi-agency narcotics task force raided a large methamphetamine lab Tuesday night and seized a quantity of the illegal drug estimated between $2.5 million and $4.5 million if sold on the street.

Investigators said they were originally clued in to the lab's location when some of the "cooks" bought a large quantity of ice at the Lake Los Angeles Dairy. Large quantities of ice are used in the cooling and extraction process that is the final stage of a meth cook.

QUARTZ HILL - Pat O'Keefe of Quartz Hill reminisced about the Mother's Day cards, drawings and a much-cherished photo collage that she received from her daughter, Michelle, on past Mother's Days. Those are Mother's Day memories she will hold on to for a long time.

She has to. There will be no more like them. Her 18-year-old daughter was shot and killed Feb. 22 while seated inside her car at the Avenue S park-and-ride lot in Palmdale.

May 11

PALMDALE - Build it and they will come - and so they did.

A steady flow of people poured in and out of Barnes & Noble bookstore on Wednesday. If the attraction was books or a shot of caffeine from the Starbucks cafe inside, folks found what they were looking for.

On the way out, some people toted bags of books and magazines; others just carried a cup of fresh coffee or an espresso drink. On the way in, a look of anticipation characterized their faces.

May 12

MOJAVE - Several railroad cars - some carrying hazardous chemicals - derailed Thursday at the Mojave rail yard where tracks intersect with the Antelope Valley Freeway.

Not knowing whether the Southern Pacific cars spilled their chemical loads, Kern County Sheriff's deputies and emergency personnel closed off about two miles of the 14 Freeway between 4:30 and 8:15 p.m. and told residents of a nearby mobile home park to stay indoors.

PALMDALE - Aerospace giant Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. has purged its Palmdale plant of many members of the onceproud local leadership of what was formerly known as the Skunk Works.

Sources at several levels of participation inside the Palmdale facility believe the shifts in leadership signify a severe downsizing of the branch, which was recently absorbed into the aeronautical wing of the company, losing its independent company status.

May 13

LOS ANGELES - A judge cut accused child molester Kevin Carney's bail in half to $500,000 Friday and dismissed a misdemeanor count of possessing child pornography. Superior Court Judge Jacqueline Connor denied defense motions to throw out the 17 felony charges against the former sheriff's sergeant and Palmdale City Council member.

LANCASTER - Jose Bautista is a wanted man.

More than that, the wanted man is a "wannabe." Trouble is, he was a wannabe cop who may have turned to crime to try and earn a badge.

Bautista has not always been on the wrong side of the law.

Until earlier this week, the 27year-old Quartz Hill resident was a security guard for Intelitech Protection Security Co. in Palmdale. And he "wanted more than anything else in the world" to be a sworn police officer.

May 14

PALMDALE - The city's main street - a state highway - will have a new look after an $11 million makeover planned to begin this summer under the auspices of the California Department of Transportation.

But ambitious plans announced this spring by Caltrans have been changed.

Uploaded December 22, 2000