LANCASTER - A man who shot at Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies Wednesday, wounding one in the hand, remained in critical condition Thursday after taking several gunshot wounds to the upper body when deputies returned fire. The gunman was identified as Charles A. Friddle, a husband, father and former pastor.
LANCASTER - Larry Lake, former Lancaster Chamber of Commerce president and executive director, and longtime civic leader and sports booster, died Thursday at his eastside ranch home.
LANCASTER - Antelope Valley College music instructor Laura Hemenway was named Scholar in Residence for 1997-98 at the annual Faculty Recognition Day reception.
May 17
LANCASTER - A Littlerock man has been found guilty of murder and now faces 16 years to life in prison for bludgeoning his girlfriend to death with a wrench before stuffing her body in a septic tank in 1993. A Superior Court jury of six men and six women convicted Steven Gordon, 42, Swaim of second-degree murder.
QUARTZ HILL - Authorities are investigating allegations that a gathering of 13 high school students Tuesday turned into a wild party featuring illegal sex, drugs and alcohol.
May 18
LOS ANGELES - The stalled, multimillion-dollar Antelope Valley courthouse project is just one of eight problem-plagued county courthouse projects on which more than $80 million has been spent - with not one courtroom built. The county plowed at least $10.5 million into the planned AV court complex, a project that has been designed and redesigned at least three times. Current plans for the building are neither completed nor paid for.
LAKE LOS ANGELES - Digging at an archaeological site alongside his instructional aide resulted in a winning essay in a statewide contest for a sixth-grade Rosamond student. Johnny Anzalone of Tropico Middle School won first place in the contest sponsored by the Society for California Archaeology.
May 20
PALMDALE - A meeting of minds has shifted the location of a second Antelope Valley College campus from Hunt Canyon on 47th Street East to the corner of 37th Street East and Barrel Springs Road, said AVC President Linda Spink.
May 21
LOS ANGELES - More than 300 Los Angeles County firefighters rallied outside the Board of Supervisors' chambers Tuesday to call attention to Proposition E, a measure on the June 3 ballot. If Prop. E doesn't get a two-thirds majority vote, the Fire Department will be $51 million short on its 1997-98 budget, and 20 fire stations and 34 engine companies will be closed as of July 1, said P. Michael Freeman, the county's fire chief.
May 22
PALMDALE - Five areas of the city have been identified as possible sites for businesses catering to the sexual interests of adults. The sites, which include 182 parcels, were approved May 14 by the City Council, which updated two measures governing the location and operation of adult-oriented businesses.
EDWARDS AFB - The X-36, the first tailless jet fighter prototype, flew nearly flawless for the first time at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center last weekend, officials reported.
May 23
LANCASTER - Antelope Valley Fair and Alfalfa Festival directors announced that comedian Bill Cosby will be the headliner for this year's Wild Phil Concert Series at the fair.
SACRAMENTO - Assemblyman George Runner's measure to study the breakup of Los Angeles County passed out of the state Assembly on Thursday on a 60-8 vote.
LANCASTER - A barbecue resulted in an apartment fire that left up to 20 people homeless and caused an estimated $400,000 in damage.
May 24
ANTELOPE ACRES - BioGro Systems Inc. has resumed spreading sewage sludge at its Soaring Vista Ranch, prompting complaints by several residents. Soaring Vista is a 640-acre ranch between 140th and 150th streets west, and avenues A and B.
LANCASTER - Congressman Howard P. "Buck" McKeon, who has pushed for production of more Palmdale-assembled B-2s, is no longer sure that the uphill battle for more of the stealth bombers is winnable.
May 25
LOS ANGELES - The county's chief administrator said the long-stalled Antelope Valley courthouse project is likely to stay that way unless state legislation is changed and funding increases dramatically.
The Antelope Valley ZIP code 93534 has the new and dubious distinction of being on the California Department of Health Services' list of "hot spots" for teen pregnancy in Los Angeles County.
May 27
LANCASTER - A lawsuit intended to keep the Phillips-Van Heusen Corp. from closing five stores at the Lancaster Factory Stores outlet center has failed, leaving the 2 1/2-year-old mall with a row of empty stores near its main entrance on Valley Central Way.
ROSAMOND - A Rosamond man was shot in the neck after he allegedly attempted to use a bulldozer to run over a California Highway Patrol officer. The officer had been chasing the man after he fled during a routine traffic stop.
May 28
LANCASTER - The Antelope Valley Regional Partnership was told that Air Force brass will recommend that Edwards Air Force Base be downsized and become a test wing for Eglin AFB, Fla. State Sen. William J. "Pete" Knight, R-Palmdale, confirmed the report.
May 29
Sources at the Pentagon and Eglin Air Force Base have confirmed that Edwards Air Force Base may be downsized considerably and become part of Eglin, a weapons development and testing base in the Florida Panhandle.
LANCASTER - A Lancaster AIDS sufferer has been charged with carrying less than an ounce of marijuana in a case that could mark the Antelope Valley's first test of a voter-approved law allowing medical use of the drug.
May 30
LANCASTER - Presiding Antelope Municipal Court Judge Pamela R. Rogers has returned from a five-week leave of absence during which she sought help with acute migraine headaches she suffered since 1993.
May 31
For the second time in three years, the Quartz Hill High School floriculture team will represent California at the Future Farmers of America National Competition in Kansas City, Mo., in November.
EDWARDS AFB - A waste disposal site at Phillips Laboratory is closed as Air Force officials and the California Department of Toxic Substances work to resolve a permitting Problem.
