2000 The year in review

October 1-31: October brings gas hikes and county strikes

Oct. 1

LANCASTER - The Michelin tire corporation is engaged in a campaign to persuade law enforcement officers to cite driver error as the reason for vehicle crashes that may have been caused by defective tires, according to a lawsuit filed by a pair of Lancaster attorneys.

The campaign is intended to decrease the chance Michelin will be sued for crashes in which defective tires may have played key roles, said Rob Parris, an attorney with the R. Rex Parris law firm of Lancaster.
Oct. 2

LANCASTER - Once again, the Valley baked under a hot, scorching sun. Once again, motorists were burned in their wallets because of skyrocketing gas prices. Some stations around the Valley are selling regular unleaded gas for $1.73 9/10 or $1.77 9/10 per gallon. At other stations, premium gasoline is one cent below the $2 mark.
Oct. 3

PALMDALE - Down five flights and counting, Lockheed Martin defended its joint strike fighter program amid allegations of a major management shake-up at its Palmdale plant.

A leading trade publication, Aviation Week & Space Technology, published an article Monday quoting unnamed Pentagon and U.S. Marine Corps officials as being disappointed about a management change only weeks before Lockheed's version of the joint strike fighter is set to make its first flight.
Oct. 4

The "rolling strike" by county workers gained momentum Tuesday as clerical employees walked out en masse across the Antelope Valley and the rest of Los Angeles County.

Tuesday's walkout culminated with at least 65 busloads of Service Employees International Union members converging on Tuesday morning's Board of Supervisors meeting in downtown Los Angeles. At least one of those buses was filled with Antelope Valley Local 660 union members.
Oct. 5

LANCASTER - A group of teen-age girls, honor students at Quartz Hill High School, allegedly vandalized the home of a Lancaster doctor thinking they were targeting a teacher's house, sheriff's deputies said.

The girls reportedly were angry with a French teacher at Quartz Hill High School named Jean Marie Andrews-Dest. Dr. Richard Andrews' name is listed in the phone book along with the name of his deceased wife, Jean.
Oct. 6

ROSAMOND - Seventeen employees of the post office on Rosamond Boulevard were taken to area hospitals Thursday after being exposed to an unidentified hazardous substance.

Four of the workers were treated for skin rashes, shortness of breath, chest pains and dizziness, hospital officials said. The others were taken to the hospitals for observation only and were not treated.
Oct. 7

LANCASTER - When a brief high-speed chase through the streets of Lancaster Friday morning ended with a two-car crash, deputies thought they'd nabbed a carjacking suspect. Steven James Rickman, 21, of Palmdale - already on parole for grand theft - was driving a 1995 Cadillac that was stolen in the Thursday-morning carjacking of prominent Antelope Valley businesswoman and community leader Aida O'Connor.
Oct. 8

MOJAVE - Irene "Mom" Rutan encouraged her children to chase after their dreams. Oh, how they followed her advice.Mrs. Rutan, who died last month at age 80, was the mother of Dick and Burt Rutan, two of the Antelope Valley's aviation pioneers. She was remembered at a public memorial service in Hangar 78 at Mojave Airport on Saturday.
Oct. 9

PALMDALE - The battle is intensifying over Measure T, a local referendum for voters to decide whether a Los Angeles development company should be allowed to build a new Wal-Mart super store in east Palmdale.

Representatives of a grocery union opposing the new Wal-Mart are going door to door to persuade voters to cast ballots against Measure T in the Nov. 7 general election, according to Palmdale resident Emily Dotter.
Oct. 10

PALMDALE - Political gunslingers in the Antelope Valley are strapping on their holsters and heading for another showdown at the voting booths on Nov. 7. This year's City Council election holds the promise of being a sequel to the political shootout that began in November 1999 - a battle that left both winners and losers bloody and wounded after the polls closed.
Oct. 11

LANCASTER - After more than a week of "rolling" strikes across Los Angeles County, union members were preparing Tuesday for a massive countywide walkout today.

The county's Board of Supervisors agreed to return to the bargaining table Tuesday in an attempt to avert the strike planned by 47,000 Service Employees International Union Local 660 workers.
Oct. 12

LANCASTER - Jeanne Powers, a longtime resident of the Antelope Valley, was named 2000 Senior of the Year at the 10th annual Antelope Valley Senior Expo on Wednesday at Challenger Memorial Center on the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds.
Oct. 13

SANTA CLARITA - If you were among the more than 3,000 people attending the massive rally at Canyon High School on Wednesday night, you would have heard the words Elsmere Canyon bandied around as often as the words Transit Mixed Concrete. That's because although the rally was organized against the proposed Transit Mixed Concrete mining project, Santa Clarita residents are drawing strength from a past battle in which they halted plans by BKK Corp. to put a large landfill in their community.
Oct. 14

LANCASTER - Thursday, Oct. 12, 2000, was a very long day for the members of the McNeal family of Lancaster. Twenty-sixyear-old Tyrone McNeal is a crew member aboard the USS Cole, the Navy destroyer that was attacked by suicide bombers during a refueling stop in Yemen, ripping a 30- by 40-foot hole in the ship, killing 17 American sailors and injuring at least 38 others.
Oct. 15

PALMDALE - Vendors hawked everything from unfiltered honey to charitable giving during the first day of the 15th annual Palmdale Fall Festival on Saturday. Luckily for the estimated 18,000-plus visitors, the weather cooperated much more than was predicted earlier in the week. while the day started out a little chilly, the afternoon saw many festival visitors in shorts, tank tops and sandals as temperatures warmed up considerably.
Oct. 16

SACRAMENTO - A lawsuit filed recently by Kern County will not stop implementation of California's new sludge order, say state officials; only a formal injunction can do that. Kern County has filed a suit in Sacramento County Superior Court against the State Water Resources Control Board. The suit alleges that a statewide sludge order approved by the water board in August is based on an "inadequate" environmental study.
Oct. 17

PALMDALE - Palmdale School District teachers are expected to vote Wednesday on whether they will accept a 7.2% pay raise being offered by district officials.

The teachers' current contract does not expire until 2002, but salaries are being negotiated as part of a contract "reopener," explained Dan Michaels, Palmdale Elementary Teachers Association head negotiator.
Oct. 18

LOS ANGELES - A monthlong transit strike ended Tuesday with both sides overwhelmingly agreeing to accept a new threeyear contract that would restore bus and commuter rail service to 450,000 riders dependent on public transportation.

The pact, which provides raises totaling more than 9% over the next three years to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's 4,300 bus drivers and subway operators, was approved unanimously by the MTA's board of directors. It was approved by 92% of the more than 1,350 union members casting ballots Tuesday night.
Oct. 19

EDWARDS AFB - They arrived with thunder beneath their wings.

Two Eagles - the lead plane was gray, inscribed "Glamourous Glennis," and the second was white. As the F-15s taxied down the runway at Edwards Air Force Base, a great wind swept the area.

Retired Brig. Gen. Charles "Chuck" Yeager and retired Maj. Gen. Joe H. Engle emerged from their cockpits, dressed in green flight suits. Yeager had a blue scarf, adorned with stars, around his neck.

Oct. 20

LANCASTER - A driver allegedly under the influence of alcohol overshot the parking lot at Paraclete High School on Thursday and plowed his sport-utility vehicle into a picnic table full of the school's athletes, injuring seven of them.

Oct. 21

LANCASTER - Community activists and government officials hope to mobilize public support in their effort to remove a convicted sex offender from a local neighborhood.

Andre Bradford, 41, was released Sept. 18 after he served 21 years in state prison, said Assemblyman George Runner, who is aiding the effort to convince Bradford to leave.
Oct. 22

EDWARDS AFB - Driving winds didn't keep top-notch pilots from thrilling a large crowd during Edwards Open House Air Show 2000 on Saturday.

Persistent westerly winds from 20 to 30 mph and even stronger gusts lashed out at the estimated 50,000 people who came to Edwards Air Force Base Flight Test Center to see the world's best and most famous flyers.
Oct. 23

LANCASTER - A recall warning has been issued by the Consumer Products Safety Commission on defective furnaces that were installed in California homes between 1980 and 1992. The furnaces were manufactured by the now-bankrupt firm Consolidated Industries.

One such furnace was replaced in a Leona Valley home last week by Palmdale-based JLC Heating & Air Conditioning.
Oct. 24

PALMDALE - A federal judge cleared a lawsuit filed against the Palmdale School District by a former employee to go forward Monday.

Diana Beard-Williams, former public relations representative for the district, filed a discrimination lawsuit against the district in June 1999.

She is charging that the district discriminated against her and unlawfully terminated her employment in April 1999.
Oct. 25

EDWARDS AFB - Tuesday was a historic day in the Valley with the touchdown of the 100th space shuttle mission and completion of the maiden flight of a Lockheed Martin's joint strike fighter, the X-35.

Space shuttle Discovery touched down at Edwards Air Force Base at 1:58 p.m. after 13 days in orbit on a mission to prepare the international space station for its first inhabitants.
Oct. 26

LANCASTER - It's only October, but Election Day has come and gone for more than 300 voters who have taken advantage of a new computer voting system stationed in Lancaster's county Regional Center.

The little wooden sticks are gone. So is the fine print. And according to voters who used the high-tech system Wednesday, so is the inconvenience and difficulty of getting to polling places the first Tuesday in November.
Oct. 27

LANCASTER - Squadrons of U.S. Marine Osprey hybrid helicopters could be heading for the shores of Rogers Dry Lake, bringing with them up to 5,000 new high desert residents and as many as 15,000 jobs within the next four years.

Edwards Air Force Base is one of five military installations in contention to be the home of a dozen MV-22 Osprey squadrons.
Oct. 28

PALMDALE - A woman tried to warn a motorist that it's unsafe to drive with a small child in his lap. For her trouble, authorities say, she got chased by the angry motorist who pursued her until he crashed his sport-utility vehicle into a fire hydrant.

Palmdale resident Dusaun Elam, 30, was arrested on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, and hit-and-run. The weapon? A black 1999 Ford Expedition, the big daddy of SUVs.
Oct. 29

PALMDALE - Dressed in full regalia and keeping time with rhythmic drumming, Native American performers shared their ceremonial dances with hundreds of onlookers at the area's first powwow.

The dancers come to worship the Creator, to show respect for veterans and the deceased and to carry on centuries of tradition. They performed in a large circle surrounded by about 50 vendors of Native American art, crafts, clothing and music.
Oct. 30

PALMDALE - A gray autumn sky hung low over the Valley on Sunday afternoon as a winter storm that originated in the Gulf of Alaska last week heralded wet weather and possible thunderstorms.

The wet weather began with scattered showers Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

Snow levels dropped to 6,000 feet Saturday night and were expected to get as low as 5,500 feet Sunday night.
Oct. 31

LANCASTER - Presidential candidate George W. Bush and a raft of Antelope Valley candidates are among the nearly 1,200 people and groups who have paid to be on a statewide slate mailer published by a convicted child molester. Most candidates named on the mailer targeted at Republican voters disavowed knowledge of the past of the political operative who makes a robust business of producing the voter guide, but one prominent Valley political media buyer - local attorney R. Rex Parris - said it didn't make a difference.

Uploaded December 28, 2000