1999 The year in review

September 16-30

Sept. 16

WASHINGTON - The House approved a bill Wednesday that will boost military spending and pump millions of dollars into Edwards Air Force Base and fighter projects key to the Valley's aerospace industry and economy. The $288.8 billion military spending bill passed 375-45.

LANCASTER - An ex-Mesa Middle School music teacher charged in the rape of one of his 13-year-old students allegedly told the girl: "You're having fun, aren't you?" a detective testified.

Los Angeles County sheriff's Detective John Selby recounted his interview with the girl during Wayne Martin's preliminary hearing on Wednesday in Antelope Municipal Court.

Sept 17

MOJAVE - Rotary Rocket Co.'s prototype spaceship flew in a controlled hover for five minutes Thursday, completing the most challenging aspect of its flight test program. More than 100 people lined up along an access road at the southeast edge of Mojave Airport to watch the test, the second flight of the Roton ATV.

EDWARDS AFB - Computer Science Corp. at Edwards Air Force Base has agreed to pay more than $734,000 to 72 women in a discrimination settlement, the U.S. Department of Labor announced. Computer Science will pay 55 women and 17 minority employees at Edwards $368,265 in back wages and $365,769 in salary adjustments as part of the settlement with the Labor Department's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.

Sept. 18

PALMDALE - Calling it a matter of necessity, state Sen. William J. "Pete" Knight of Palmdale and Assemblyman George Runner of Lancaster explained why a pair of bedrock conservatives favor the high school district's $91-million bond.

Sept. 19

LANCASTER - Beneath a giant American flag on Lancaster Boulevard, five more legendary test pilots were inducted into the Aerospace Walk of Honor on Saturday. The 10th annual ceremony brought the total number of pilots in the Lancaster Boulevard walk to 50. This year's honorees were retired Air Force Lt. Col. Bruce Hinds; Stanley P. "Stan" Butchart; retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Fred J. Ascani; Corwin H. "Corky" Meyer; and Louis W. "Lou" Schalk.

LANCASTER - Patients with slow-healing wounds could benefit from a treatment center being considered by administrators at Antelope Valley Hospital. If built, the center would feature two hyperbaric chambers, devices that force additional oxygen into the body to enhance the healing of injured tissues.

Sept. 20

LANCASTER - Somber faces filled The Trap Sunday afternoon as dozens of friends and acquaintances came together to say goodbye to and celebrate the life of an old friend. The Trap, an east Lancaster bar, was the gathering place Sunday for friends of John Fredrick Gailer. The unofficial farewell was dubbed a memorial jam in honor of the 65-year-old, who was found murdered in Palmdale in early September.

Sept 21

WASHINGTON - Under orders from Republican leaders, House-Senate bargainers are moving toward providing at least some of the $1.8 billion the Air Force wants for its first F-22 stealth fighters, congressional aides said Monday. The House cut the money, enough to build the first six F-22s, from a Pentagon spending bill in July despite support for the program by the Senate and the Clinton administration.

PALMDALE - Northrop Grumman Corp., builder of the long-range B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, has landed a 15-year, $2.7 billion contract from the Air Force to keep the stealthy birds battle-ready well into the next century.

The first phase of the maintenance and upgrade contract runs from Sept. 17, 1999, through Sept. 16, 2005. Three three-year extensions also are part of the deal, bringing the total contract time to 15 years.

Sept. 22

LOS ANGELES - Palmdale and Los Angeles are on the verge of agreeing to work together to develop Palmdale Regional Airport. Los Angeles' airport department, known as Los Angeles World Airports, agreed Tuesday to work with Palmdale to develop the airport, which sits on part of Air Force Plant 42.

PALMDALE - A Sheriff's Department SWAT team descended on a ramshackle Pearblossom Highway spread early Tuesday, climaxing a monthlong investigation with the arrest of a pair of suspected methamphetamine dealers. Deputies found tunnels, weapons and a 9-year-old girl asleep right by the drug lab's "cook site," said Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. Tony Hollins.

NELLIS AFB, Nev. - Justin C. Wotasik, a 19-year-old Palmdale man who died last year when two Air Force helicopters collided over Nellis Air Force Base near Las Vegas, has been honored along with 11 others who died in the crash. A memorial service and dedication ceremony were conducted at Nellis Sept. 3 for the members of the 66th Rescue Squadron who died Sept. 3, 1998.

Sept. 23

PALMDALE - Motorists screamed warnings, but they could only watch in horror as an elderly woman pushing a shopping cart ignored railroad crossing signals and was hit by a southbound freight train Wednesday morning.
LOS ANGELES - The Federal Aviation Administration has joined a growing list of groups pushing to establish a viable passenger airport in Palmdale and other outlying regions. A government association today will examine using passenger rail to link Palmdale Regional Airport with Los Angeles International and other regional airports in Southern California, thanks to a $2 million grant from the FAA.

SACRAMENTO - Gov. Gray Davis vetoed a bill that would ban new superstores such as Costco from being built in California. The way the Legislature handled the bill was "deplorable," Davis said Wednesday at a news conference. Lawmakers pushed the measure through by waiving rules designed to provide several public hearings.

Sept. 24

LANCASTER - Thirty-five-year-old Joey Hanson probably would be the first to admit he hasn't been a model citizen, but Hanson claims he's no killer. Yet, prosecutors are so sure the smalltime dope dealer murdered 25-year-old Javier Rodriquez in June 1998, they have charged the Palmdale man three times in Rodriquez' brutal slaying.

WASHINGTON - President Bill Clinton vetoed the Republicans' $792 billion tax cut bill Thursday as "too big, too bloated" - apparently dooming chances for any sweeping tax reduction this year. In the aftermath, Republicans fumed that Clinton "has stolen this tax cut from working American families."

Sept. 25

ACTON-AGUA DULCE - The federal Bureau of Land Management is planning to take another look at air quality issues surrounding Transit Mixed Concrete's proposed sand and gravel mine in Soledad Canyon. The BLM's initial Environmental Impact Statement will be supplemented by an air quality analysis that takes into account concerns raised during the public comment period.

Sept. 26

PALMDALE - Incumbent Mayor Jim Ledford and businessman Rick Norris - the bestknown candidates to lead the city - came out swinging Saturday over allegations of outside influence. The pair traded allegations of accepting contributions and support from outside parties who, according to both men, are trying to influence Palmdale's upcoming city elections.

BEVERLY HILLS - Mike Melvill of Scaled Composites and Peter T. Reynolds of Bombardier Aerospace were honored Saturday by the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. Melvill received the Kincheloe Award, and Reynolds received the Doolittle Trophy.

Sept. 27

PALMDALE - Whether sheriff's deputies should serve in public offices was among the questions raised Sunday during a Valley Press forum for candidates seeking election to two four-year seats on the City Council. In attendance were Allen Baumann, Al Beattie, Kevin Carney, Dawn Charlton, Sandy Corrales, Mike Dispenza, Bill Holmes, Dan Kumaus, Alan Lee, Bernie Longjohn and Michael Miller; Vincent Hicks was absent. John Craft appeared briefly, stating he would neither seek nor accept the endorsement of the Valley Press.

Sept. 28

EDWARDS AFB - With an earth-shuddering roar, one of the last operational SR-71 Blackbirds soared skyward from Runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base on Monday. It may have been the last research mission the famed plane will fly.

CALIFORNIA CITY - Plans to house inmates from Orange County at a new 2,300-bed private prison in California City are in negotiation, according to Kern County's assistant sheriff, Michael LaFave. If everything goes through, 500 inmates from Orange County will be transported to the prison to be guarded by Kern County sheriff's deputies.

BALTIMORE - Lockheed Martin Co. announced a major restructuring Monday, including changes in top management and a corporate realignment.

Those changes won't affect operations at Lockheed's Skunk Works plant in Palmdale or have any impact on its joint strike fighter prototype under construction at the Palmdale facility, according to Lockheed officials.

Sept. 29

VAN NUYS - Two reputed white supremacists pleaded guilty Monday to assaulting a black Wal-Mart employee in the parking lot of the Lancaster store as part of a plea bargain arrangement. Shaun Broderick, 19, and Christopher Crawford, 25, were charged with the attempted murder of Nathaniel Harris, who was attacked by the pair while he was collecting carts in the parking lot of the Lancaster Wal-Mart the evening of March 23.

LANCASTER - A fired Desert Christian Schools teacher was sentenced to a year in jail and five years probation Tuesday morning after he pleaded guilty to sex charges involving a 16-year-old former student. Judge Steve Ogden told Darin Lee Robertson, 32, that he would have to pay the victim's family restitution for the cost of counseling stemming from the crime and would have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

LANCASTER - Assemblyman George Runner on Tuesday proposed unification of the cities of Lancaster and Palmdale and the formation of a single municipality comparable in size to St. Louis, Pittsburgh and Tucson, Ariz. Runner, R-Lancaster, said the proposal would save money and give the Antelope Valley more clout.

Sept. 30

LANCASTER - City officials Wednesday released a letter they believe implicates Palmdale officials in alleged backdoor negotiations with the Costco warehouse to persuade the giant retailer to move south. Earlier this month, the Lancaster City Council voted unanimously to spend at least $3.9 million to help expand Costco and keep the warehouse in town.

SACRAMENTO - The California High-Speed Rail Authority voted Wednesday to make a priority of a proposed bullet-train route along Interstate 5, demoting a proposed route through the Antelope Valley.

LANCASTER - Quartz Hill High School history teacher Ira Simonds was in Burbank on Wednesday morning receiving a Los Angeles County Teacher of the Year award.

Uploaded December 23, 1999