Compiled by Nick Sestanovich

75 years ago

Little Reno Carnival Benefit To Be Held September 2, 3, 4 (August 26, 1943)

There will be three days of fun and frolic at the “Little Reno Carnival” given under the auspices of the Benicia Auxiliary Police and the Kiwanis club next Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at the City Hall Auditorium.
The funds realized will be used for street improvement adjacent to the Benicia Elementary and High schools when streets are improved under the city wide improvement plan which is to be decided upon September 2.
The Benicia Unified school district cannot issue school bonds and their treasury will not permit expenditures of funds for the street work, therefor the carnival method was selected by the two organizations who will sponsor the carnival.
The committees in charge of the carnival will be: Kiwanis, M. Fitzgerald, chairman, H.M. Simon, Crane Walden, R. Buickerood, Barney Russell; Auxiliary Police: F. McElliott, Geo. Alves Jr., D. Allenwood, Geo. Mohr and Bud Roberts..

50 years ago

“Miss Torchy” visits in Benicia with Mayor Johansen (Aug. 29)

Donna Border of Fairfield has been chosen as “Miss Torchy 1968.” Announcement of the Napa-Solano United Crusade’s theme girl was made by R.J. Devincenzi, president. She lives at 1437 Kent Way. Donna is the twelfth girl to be chosen to serve with the area campaign. Theme girls are chosen on a rotating basis among communities in the Napa-Solano area. Selection is made by a special committee.
Donna was born in July of 1957, the year the first “Miss Torchy” was chosen, said Devincenzi. She is in the sixth grade at David A. Weir school, an active Camp Fire Girl and a school mascot for the cheerleaders. She recently was awarded second place honors in the summer school hula hoop contest of the elementary schools in Fairfield. She enjoys camping, swimming and fishing. Donna has many hobbies and interests including arts, crafts and music. Her father, James, is foreman of the Barr System Division of Kaiser Steel Company in Napa. Her mother, Lorraine, spends her time as a homemaker and mother of the family which consists of two brothers, Ken and Danny, in addition to Donna.

25 years ago

Cable rates, lineup repackaged again (Aug. 29, 1993)

By David Hagerty

Benicia’s cable television provider is changing its rates and channel packages effective Sept. 1 in response to rate regulations adopted earlier in the year by the Federal Communications Commission.
Century Cable announced Friday that it would offer essentially only one basic service channel, eliminating the two-tiered system previously available.
The company also changed its rates for basic service and for a variety of accessory services, such as cable converter boxes and multiple hookups.
“Some customers will see an increase and some will see a decrease” in charges, Trudy Ribeiro, general manager of Benicia’s Century franchise, said.
In a direct comparison of the cable rates, it may appear that prices are going up.
The new “basic” package offers 40 channels for $26.87 monthly, which is more money per channel than the old “family tier,” which offered 40 channels for $21.90.
The savings will come from accessories, such as installation fees and converter box rentals, which are now regulated by the FCC.
For instance, Century has charged up to $5 each for programmable converted boxes. Under the FCC guidelines, the rental cost has fallen to $1.35 monthly.
“The customers who receive the most services will see the most substantial decreases,” Ribeiro said.
Those who have more than one converter box, or who have more than one cable outlet, will particularly benefit.
Another savings comes from “a la carte” channels, which can be added at a minimal cost.
For instance, Century plans to offer three such channels— CNN, Discovery and AMC— as part of its new basic tier. But customers who don’t want any of the three can save themselves $2 a month.

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

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