Compiled by Nick Sestanovich

75 years ago

Ferry Traffic Reported Light For Holiday (Dec. 31, 1942)

Port Captain A.C. Woodress reports that the ferries carried approximately 250 automobiles and 1500 passengers Christmas Eve while the load on Christmas Day for the full operation period approximated 500 cars and 2000 passengers.
Free transportation of military personnel and Army and Navy vehicles by the Martinez-Benicia Ferry System during the first eleven months of 1942 amounted to $9,960.67, according to a statement prepared by Woodress and City Engineer O.K. Smith.
The traffic load included 30,889 persons and 13,217 vehicles.
Starting with 321 persons and 93 vehicles in January, the load of free transport progressively grew to 4944 persons and 3401 vehicles in September, and then fell off to approximately half that number for the last two months.
Mr. Woodress also reported that the passengers carried for the month of December will run close to the 100,000 mark, estimated on the basis of the November figure of 58,538 passengers.

50 years ago

7 Fire Calls For Benicia (Dec. 28, 1967)

A total of seven calls, three of them false alarms, were answered by the Fire Department this week. The calls began with a garage fire at 12:57 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 21 at the home of Carl Lucca, 130 East I St. The blaze was extinguished before major damage was done.
Two false alarms at the Industrial Park enlivened Friday, Dec. 22. From the same alarm, they occurred at 2:50 p.m. and 3:34 p.m.
Firemen extinguished an 11:30 a.m. flue fire on Christmas eve, Dec. 24, at the home of Mrs. William Dennis, 802 W. Eighth St.
On Christmas Day, a dryer in an apartment complex at 451 East L St., owned by Carl Thompson of Concord, caught fire. The appliance was burned and the walls of the laundry room scorched.
Another false alarm at the Industrial Park rang at 2:45 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 26, and a small grass fire outside the City Treatment Plant, south side, was put out on Wednesday, Dec. 27, shortly before noon.

25 years ago

Arteaga to ask for vote on annexing Sky Valley (Dec. 29, 1992)

By Sarah Rohrs

Keeping true to his campaign promise, Councilman Pepe Arteaga will ask the rest of the City Council a week from today to put the annexation of Sky Valley to a vote as early as March or April.
Arteaga’s request comes with little surprise. During his campaign, he argued that citizens should vote on Sky Valley, while his challengers argued voters would be unable to cast an informed vote because the city had not approved any development plans.
The new councilman has also been gathering as much data as he can on Sky Valley, including how many hours city staff members have spent working on the housing development during the past two years.
According to a recent estimation, city staff have spent about 9,617 hours (the equivalent of 400 days) on Sky Valley during the last two years.
Arteaga said he wanted the figures for informational purposes only.
But Arteaga said he wanted the council to decide on the ballot measure now so that the issue can be placed on the same ballot as the March or April election to fill the seat of state Sen. Barry Keene, D-Benicia, who resigned last month.

The full articles of these and other stories are available on microfilm at the Benicia Public Library.

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