1999 The year in review

January 21-31

Jan. 21

PALMDALE - An attorney hired by the Palmdale School District to investigate Diana Beard Williams' accusation of racism, harassment and defamation told Palmdale School District board members Tuesday night he found no actual racism or wrongdoing.

Jan. 22

ROSAMOND - A heavy-duty dust devil that looked a lot like a twister tipped over a vacant mobile home, moved cars and rattled windows in Rosamond on Thursday, giving residents a taste of a desert twister.

Douglas Edman, owner of the Stoplight Wrecking Yard in Rosamond, felt the walls of his doublewide trailer a-shakin' around noon but had no idea that a major dust storm was kicking up more than dirt outside.

PALMDALE - A representative of the Justice Department's conciliation service is in town, apparently to listen to grievances some Palmdale School District employees have regarding complaints of alleged racism.

Jan. 23

PALMDALE - The 805 area code will be split into east and west sides with the eastern side, Antelope Valley and Kern County, changing to a new 661 area code effective Feb. 13.

The western, coastal grouping of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, will keep the 805 area code for about 10 more years.

PALMDALE - Enough people to pack City Council chambers and flood the parking lot outside turned out Thursday to oppose an eastside apartment development.

About 250 people came out to ask the Palmdale Planning Commission to rescind earlier approval for construction of a affordable apartment complex on the city's east side.

DEATH VALLEY - A Death Valley historian and author has serious doubts about the authenticity of a wooden trunk found in the Panamint Mountains by Pearblossom adventurer Jerry Freeman.

Author-historian Richard Lingenfelter pins his suspicion to use of the term "grub stake" in a manifest found in the trunk, which lists its contents.

Jan. 24

LANCASTER - The U.S. Attorney's Office probe into the suspected dumping of toxic wastes at the Public Works yard is focusing on criminal violations, which is extremely rare for cities and could mean indictments and steep fines.

CALIFORNIA CITY - After seven months of intense work, outside construction is nearly complete at a 2,300-bed private prison that will bring the first influx of living-wage jobs in California City's history.

Jan. 25

LANCASTER - More students and more buildings mean more teachers for Antelope Valley College - 13 new full-time instructors and a total of 33 new employees since July.

Fourteen of the new employees have been hired since the beginning of the year and the college plans to hire 16 more before next summer.

BAKERSFIELD - State officials predict Kern County will have more than 1 million people by 2017 and four other counties - Ventura, San Joaquin, Fresno and Contra Costa - will break the 1 million mark by 2040.

WASHINGTON - At a critical juncture in President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial, House prosecutors interviewed Monica Lewinsky for almost two hours on Sunday and asserted her testimony would help the Senate "determine the truth."

Jan. 26

PALMDALE - Showers combined with subfreezing temperatures on Monday, forcing closures on highways and roads, and giving financially suffering ski resorts a bright-white outlook for increased business.

Big rigs began invading the small town of Mojave on Sunday when Highway 58 westbound to Bakersfield was shut down at 9:30 p.m. after nearly a foot of snow had been reported in places.

LANCASTER - A judge Monday extended a temporary restraining order preventing Palmdale Education Foundation executive director Diana Beard-Williams from handling money for the foundation for at least another month.

The judge also ordered foundation treasurer Bill Hunt to turn over all financial records to Burkey, Cox, Evans & Manning accountancy corporation of Lancaster. The firm will conduct an audit of the foundation's finances.

LITTLEROCK - Ken Peery, owner of Littlerock Lake Resort learned Monday afternoon that public use of about 3,000 acres of Angeles National Forest in and around the Littlerock Dam Recreation Area has been severely impacted through 2003 in order to protect the habitat of the endangered arroyo toad.

Jan. 27

LANCASTER - Stacy Fentriss has run away before - a number of times - but she has never been gone this long.

Her parents are worried sick about the 17-year-old and hope that she is safe.

PALMDALE - A story about money that was reported missing by embattled school foundation director Diana Beard-Williams may eventually be handed over to fraud unit detectives, according to a sheriff's report.

DEATH VALLEY - A preliminary authentication report on a trunk of artifacts found in Death Valley National Park failed to materialize Tuesday, park officials said.

Park spokesman Terry Baldino said he and his superiors were told the report would be ready Tuesday, and had even planned to review it in a meeting that day, but it never arrived.

Jan. 28

LANCASTER - Cory Randolph was near death with acute liver failure when doctors began an experimental procedure that not only saved her life but did so without the need for a liver transplant.

The procedure, called the Bio Artificial Liver, is a relatively new one made of pig liver cells that filter the toxins out of the patient's blood. The pig cells also act as a functioning liver while the patient's own liver rejuvenates itself.

DEATH VALLEY - The Lost '49er trunk is bunk, according to the National Park Service.

Artifacts in the trunk found in the mountains of Death Valley National Park have been deemed inauthentic to the Gold Rush period. The trunk was carried out of the park by Pearblossom adventurer Jerry Freeman, who says he stands by the integrity of his find.

PALMDALE - Stacy Fentriss is not missing. Not according to Stacy, anyway.

In a Wednesday morning phone call to the Antelope Valley Press, the teenager said she's OK.

Jan. 29

PALMDALE - The City Council agreed unanimously Wednesday to demolish 18 more dilapidated and nuisance houses owned by Beverly Hills slumlord Dr. Milton Avol. The action means 57 of the 72 homes Avol owns in the vicinity of Division Street and Avenue P have been earmarked for destruction.

LANCASTER - The Department of Defense canceled the DarkStar program, the pilotless spy plane built by Lockheed Martin Skunk Works and tested at Edwards Air Force Base. The 40 workers on the Skunk Works program will be moved to other programs within the company.

ROSAMOND - Marines transferred from El Toro Marine Base to Edwards Air Force Base are creating a ripple in the Rosamond real estate market.

"We've been told to expect 100 Marines right away and up to 500 by the end of June," said Daniel Landsgaard, an agent with Century 21 AVICO-Hometown Realty in Rosamond.

Jan. 30

LANCASTER - Employment levels at Air Force Plant 42 - the site where major aerospace contractors build and maintain aircraft - have fallen for the first time in 2 1/2 years, according to statistics released Friday. The drop was 400 employees, from 9,900 in July 1998 to 9,500 in January of this year, according to numbers compiled by Plant 42 spokeswoman Lorraine Saddler. The last time employment at Plant 42 dropped was in July 1996 when employment fell from 9,000 employees to 8,500.

LOS ANGELES - Cori Randolph, the Antelope Valley College student who underwent a radical new procedure involving pig cells to prevent liver failure, will be returning home this weekend, hospital officials said.

PALMDALE - An attorney for Palmdale Education Foundation director Diana Beard-Williams said Friday she advised her client that invoking the Fifth Amendment in a civil deposition might be necessary to protect her rights.

Jan. 31

TULSA, Okla. - After more than a dozen delays, two of the three men accused of killing Lancaster business traveler Robert Mark D'Errico will go on trial Monday, but the prosecutor cautioned that conviction will be difficult.

"This is no slam dunk, by any means," said prosecutor David Robertson, of the Tulsa District Attorney's Office. "It was a tragic situation, but it's going to be a tough case."

D'Errico was 33 in September 1996 when he was killed during a bizarre struggle one night at Lady Godiva's, a Tulsa nightclub featuring exotic female dancers.

Uploaded December 17, 1999