2000 The year in review

September 1-30: Two clerks shot to death at Palmdale market

Sept. 1

LITTLEROCK - Evelyn and Jay Godfrey are proud parents and grandparents.

Their daughter, Joyce Dantzscher, worked tirelessly to help her daughter Jamie achieve her goal of becoming an Olympic gymnast.

Jamie, 18, was recently named one of the five regular members of the U.S. women's gymnastic team for the Olympic Games.
Sept. 2

EDWARDS AFB - At a base with a history of high-technological feats, it's some tiny bacteria that will make headlines in October.

These bacteria are special. They light up when they detect bombs or explosives, which will help the military eliminate some of the guesswork involved in identifying dangerous materials buried under the ground.

These microbes fluoresce when they feed on the vapors emitted from the leakage of explosives or bombs.
Sept. 5

PALMDALE - An off-duty Pasadena police officer was apparently murdered early Monday morning at a west Palmdale home in what appears to be a love affair gone bad.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputies and homicide detectives were called to the home, 40325 Castana Lane, about 6:20 a.m. in response to a call about shots fired and a man down.
Sept. 8

LOS ANGELES - An F-117 stealth fighter jet came within striking distance of a United Airlines passenger jet shortly after the Boeing 757 took off from Los Angeles International Airport on Thursday morning, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said.

The F-117, which left Plant 42 in Palmdale earlier in the morning, set off a proximity alert aboard Flight 174 bound for Boston.
Sept. 9

LANCASTER - The Antelope Valley's high school population continues to surge and could top 18,000 this year.

As of Thursday, enrollment in the Antelope Valley Union High School District's six comprehensive high schools totaled 15,982. When enrollment in alternative programs, including Desert Winds continuation high school, is factored in, enrollment could exceed 18,000 students.
Sept. 12

LANCASTER - Three possible incidents of hate crimes marred what was planned to be a weekend celebrating racial unity and diversity in the Antelope Valley.

The Antelope Valley Heritage Committee had its sixth annual Heritage Picnic on Saturday at Lancaster City Park, but even before festivities began, a black family in Palmdale awoke to find their home and property vandalized.
Sept. 13

LANCASTER - Former Antelope Valley College women's basketball coach Jackie Lott won't be stepping on the court to coach the Marauders any time soon.

The Antelope Valley College board of trustees voted 5-0 Monday night to deny a grievance by Lott asking for her reinstatement despite an appearance by faculty supporters.
Sept. 14

PALMDALE - Two convenience store clerks were shot and killed early Wednesday evening, apparently victims of a robbery gone bad at a downtown Palmdale mini-market.

At about 6:45 p.m. Wednesday, a customer, whose name was not released, walked into Vic's F & M market, 905 East Ave. R, and found the bodies of two store clerks lying on the floor, both suffering from gunshot wounds, according to Homicide Lt. Marilyn Baker.

AGUA DULCE - Paula Campbell could only watch and sob while a raging 350-plus-acre wildfire engulfed her home late Wednesday as it swept through the brush-covered, hilly, rural Agua Dulce neighborhood.

"There goes my dream house," she sobbed. "We searched for this place for years. I wanted someplace where I could have my horses and a safe place were the kids could walk down the street."
Sept. 17

LANCASTER - Whether it was touting the joys of community service and volunteerism or just enthusing about the passion for running your own shop, the leaders of a half-dozen top Valley firms accepted Business of the Year honors Friday night.

Suddenly, it was just a night to be happy at Challenger Memorial Center, which was decked out like New Year's Eve and a grand high school prom combined. It was a time to wear formal duds, collar studs and flowing, sequined gowns. A night to celebrate the hard work done, the performance achieved and often, the help given to the community by selfless volunteers from local enterprises.

There are a few of them still around, those longtime Valley residents who worked to make David Rehmann Day something unforgettable way back in 1973.

They showed up Saturday, greeting Rehmann with a hug or a handshake, sharing memories. "I was on the committee welcoming you home," said Lyle Talbot, extending a hand and greeting one of the Valley's genuine heroes.
Sept. 19

PALMDALE - An X-plane that could breed a new generation of warbirds under the nation's largest-ever defense contract took its first flight in relative secrecy from Air Force Plant 42 on Monday.

The craft, The Boeing Co.'s X32A, its version of the joint strike fighter, took off shortly before 8 a.m. for a 20-minute demonstration flight that ended 30 miles north at Edwards Air Force Base.

EDWARDS AFB - A CV-22 Osprey landed at Edwards Air Force Base on Monday, making the Air Force Flight Test Center its temporary home for the next two years.

A helicopter-airplane hybrid, the Osprey has been hailed by some as the next generation of transport technology.
Sept. 21

LANCASTER - Vice presidential nominee Dick Cheney strode onto a stage adorned with images of the hottest high-flying hardware in America's aerospace inventory, telling a cheering Antelope Valley throng that helped build much of the arsenal that the GOP offers the best chance to keep the nation safe.

Cheney, stumping Wednesday for himself and Texas Gov. George W. Bush, the former secretary of defense who helped win the Persian Gulf War promised to treat the armed forces with the respect their sacrifice deserves.
Sept. 22

LANCASTER - Like a spoiled child, summer didn't go away without throwing a fit in its last two days this year. Gale-force winds in the Antelope Valley on Thursday followed a record high temperature for Lancaster set on Wednesday.

The summer of 2000 ended furiously Thursday with wind readings in Palmdale as high as 42 mph. Winds are considered gale force when their speeds exceed 39 mph.
Sept. 24

LANCASTER - As the hot sun beat down Saturday on former astronaut Gordon Fullerton, he recalled a conversation between two vultures sitting on a zebra carcass.

"We're here on this zebra in the sun," Fullerton said, "and we've got good friends flying in from all over. Friend, it doesn't get any better than this."

Fullerton's recollection of a comic strip by cartoonist Gary Larson drew laughter from up to 1,000 people who'd come out to see him and four other test pilots honored on Saturday during Lancaster's Aerospace Walk of Honor ceremonies.
Sept. 25

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - The father of U.S. women's gymnast Jamie Dantzscher remained in intensive care Sunday after surgery to relieve pressure on his brain.

John Dantzscher underwent the neurosurgery Friday after he and his other daughter, 21-year-old Jennifer, were in a car accident Friday in Sydney, Australia.

SAN ANTONIO - The last of the mighty B-52 bombers at Kelly Air Force Base has been packed up and shipped to Oklahoma.

"It's kind of sad to look at because everything's being moved out," retired Army 1st Sgt. Henry Cortez said as he and his wife, Alice, saw the B-52 roll past the Jet Engine Test Cells Building at Kelly.

The wings of the behemoth bomber were loaded onto one 18wheeler, and its 159-foot, 4-inchlong fuselage was cradled on the trailer of another truck.
Sept. 26

EDWARDS AFB - As much of one-third of Edwards' military personnel may be replaced by contractors and test programs shipped out to other bases in order to maintain the base's vital role to the Air Force.

These changes are just part of sweeping plans already under way at the world's premier flight testing center.
Sept. 28

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority strike, 50 to 60 miles south of the Antelope Valley, has become one big headache for Antelope Valley commuters.

While residents can still travel to downtown Los Angeles via the Metrolink, getting from a Metrolink station to their offices is another matter.

LOS ANGELES - After three false starts over the course of a week, the trial of accused child molester and former Palmdale City Councilman Kevin Carney officially began Wednesday.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant took over the case Wednesday and will preside over the entire trial.
Sept. 29

LANCASTER - A call for additional snake antivenom helped save a Lancaster man's life Wednesday after he was bitten by a Mojave green rattlesnake - one of the most poisonous inhabitants of the Antelope Valley.

Juan Castillas, 61, is recuperating in Antelope Valley Hospital's intensive care unit after an adult Mojave green rattlesnake bit him when he moved some boxes and disturbed the snake's resting place, a hospital spokesman said.
Sept. 30

ROSAMOND - About 15 local members of a national flying club for women will travel to Cape Canaveral, Fla., next week to watch one of their own, Pamela Ann Melroy, pilot the space shuttle Discovery to a rendezvous with the international space station.

Melroy, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force, is a member of the Antelope Valley chapter of the Ninety-Nines, a national organization of female fliers that has been in existence since Amelia Earhart helped coordinate the first gathering in 1929.

Uploaded December 28, 2000