Compiled by Nick Sestanovich

75 years ago

War Chest Drive To Start November 9; 10,930 Needed (Oct. 29, 1942)

In order to eliminate continual campaigns for funds for worthy organizations in Benicia it has been decided to solicit $10,930 from our people to be distributed to the Salvation Army, Benicia Women’s Club, Benicia Recreation Center, Women’s Committee for Recreation for Service Men, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Benicia Emergency Hospital (water and janitor service), and a reserve for possible war emergencies during the coming year.
At the request of the War Chest budget committee representatives of various organizations submitted budgets of their requirements for 1943, which were approved in the sum of $10,930 by a committee composed of Crane Walden, E.W. Crozier, Michael Fitzgerald, E.C. Stoner, Theodore Culver and Mrs. L.H. Hamann, who met at Legion Hall last Monday evening.
Every budget has been held to a minimum and thoroughly discussed before approval.
Committees for solicitation will soon be named and calls will be made on every person in Benicia as well as employees of the Benicia Arsenal. This year over 70 per cent of the funds will be used to help those in war activities.

50 years ago

Solano Site For JFK ‘U’ (Oct. 26, 1967)

A gift of more than 180 acres of land near Benicia in Solano County has been accepted by the Board of Trustees of John K. Kennedy University, it was announced yesterday. Board Chairman and University President Harry L. Morrison indicated that the school would probably move its present Martinez site to the new location in about three years.
The property deeded to the University by Harold O. Parish and Mr. and Mrs. Richard I. Parish, is located about five miles north of the Benicia Bridge toll plaza on the west side of the Cordelia Freeway.
Morrison said the site will “receive very strong consideration by the board as the location for the university’s permanent location. He added that future money for construction of the new facility would probably be derived from Federal grants.
The school is currently located in an old two story building at 1124 Ferry St. Morrison said the building has nearly reached capacity.

25 years ago

Vigil marks 500 days of Rose probe (Oct. 25, 1992)

By Sarah Rohrs

Paying with double mortgages. Living with the fears of health problems. Wondering if the government is really looking out for their best interests. The feeling of being trapped into a house that has lost much of its value.
These are some of the daily realities for Benicia residents who bought homes on Rose Drive that were built on the old Braito dump, where an investigation into the nature and extent of landfill waste now more than a year old is bogged down by government bureaucracy.
Saturday morning, residents staged a silent protest in front of the home where Tom and Lynn Busfield used to live at 876 Rose Drive. The Busfields’ back yard sunk dramatically for several years before a foul-smelling dirt was discovered where a fence was put in.
A July 1991 report shows the yard is full of soil tainted with hazardous levels of chromium and lead. The yard abuts undeveloped Blake Court, where 15,000 cubic yards of landfill waste is still intact.

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

Sharing is caring!