Throwback Thursday: Week of April 20, 1942, 1967 and 1992

Compiled by Nick Sestanovich

75 years ago

Sugar rationing begins April 10 (April 23, 1942)

Benicia swings into line with the rest of the nation next Tuesday and Wednesday, April 28 and 29 when all business establishments must register for sugar rationing.
This was announced by Paul Wetmore, rationing administrator for Solano County.
All stores and other establishments using sugar must declare the amounts of sugar they have in stock, and answer these questions: Gross sales for the week ending April 25, 1942. Sugar delivered and accepted during the month of November, ’41. Present inventory of sugar.
The registration will be in the Benicia Grammar School.

50 years ago

College Site in Cordelia Area Chosen (April 20, 1967)

Benicia lost a chance to become a serious contender for the location of the Solano Junior College through a strange mixup in signals involving the Vallejo Chamber of Commerce which presented the wrong site map and data to the governing board. As a result, the JC trustees selected the Ralph Mason property on Green Valley Road about a quarter mile north of Interstate 80 as the official site for the proposed college.
The vote for the Mason site was 6 to 0 with only board member J. Clinton Peterson abstaining because of a possible conflict of interest. Voting for the site was Mrs. Gladys Wold of Benicia.
The decision to proceed with negotiations on the Mason property came after the board had split 4-2, with Peterson also abstaining, to proceed with the purchase of the Smith-Martin property site in the same vicinity, but nearer Cordelia.

25 years ago

Council expected to deny First Nationwide claim (April 21, 1992)

By Sarah Rohrs

First Nationwide, partners and financers for the Southampton Co., earlier this month consolidated 19 claims regarding the improperly excavated waste on Rose Drive into one claim against the city.
Similar to Southampton’s March 11 claim letter, First Nationwide’s claim charges the city with failure to properly oversee the excavation of the Braito dump and for dumping wastes into the landfill.
The 19 claims represent 71 individuals on Rose Drive who preserved their legal options by filing claims against Southampton, Britland and First Nationwide after leftover waste was discovered in July.

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