Compiled by Nick Sestanovich

75 years ago

Former Benicia Boy Is Awarded Purple Heart Decoration (March 11, 1943)

Lloyd M. Morris, former Benicia boy and brother of Mrs. Joe Silveria, has been awarded the Purple Heart Army decoration, the first Coast Guardsman in history to receive that award.
Morris, who is 24 years of age, is a Chief Boatswains Mate, spent his childhood days in Benicia.
He was wounded in action last November 8 as a member of a landing party at Sedada, French Morocco, and was strafed by enemy planes, according to the citation accompanying the award.
Award of the Purple Heart, traditional Army decoration founded by George Washington during the Revolutionary War for men wounded in action, was authorized by President Roosevelt last December for other branches of the armed forces.
Morris received the first Purple Heart award for a Coast Guardsman yesterday in Washington, D.C., according to a United Press dispatch.
His wife, Mrs. Eleanor Morris, resides in Boston, where they were married last October.

50 years ago

City Council Plans To Act On Junk Cars (March 7, 1968)

The prolonged problem of derelict or abandoned cars and parts of others brought about a protracted discussion by the City Council Tuesday night after a report by City Attorney John A. Bohn on the subject. He said an existing ordinance permits police to tow away such old vehicles after 72 hours, but that violators are not subject to criminal prosecution.
“It could be made a misdemeanor,” Bohn told the council. “However, if you really want to control the problem, my attention has been called to a 1967 amendment to the California Vehicle Code which sets up ways of handling these old cars and having them sent directly to the junkyard.”
Bohn explained that the amendment actually is an enabling act empowering cities to adopt ordinances which could call for city police to notify the State Department of Motor Vehicles and the California Highway Patrol of abandoned vehicles and, after proper clearance by these agencies have the vehicles carted away at the owner’s expense.

25 years ago

Solano gets ‘worst-case’ cuts ready (March 7, 1993)

By David Hagerty

Solano County expects to be $16 million short in its budget for fiscal 1993-94, and department heads are preparing to cut up to 20 percent from their operating expenses.
Supervisors are preparing for staff layoffs and basic service cutbacks that would affect many citizens. Everything from pest control to criminal prosecution would have to be scaled back.
The cuts being prepared are for a worst-case scenario, which assumes massive funding cuts are on the way from state lawmakers. In some cases, department heads know that they cannot reduce their budgets by as much as requested, and therefore are looking at new ways to raise revenue.
“I’m quite confident it’s not possible” acting District Attorney Dave Paulson said Friday. Paulson has been asked to cut his budget by more than 19.4 percent.
To reach that level, Paulson said his department would have “to forego prosecuting people accused of less-serious crimes, such as shoplifting and vandalism. State law, however, would not permit them to overlook felonious crimes such as burglary, and the 20 percent lower budget would therefore be unworkable.

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

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