10 Years Ago

  • A sentence was passed on Shitiarro Brown, a Hawthorne man who escaped from custody on May 2 in Hawthorne. Brown pleaded guilty to escape and conspiracy to escape, conspiracy to commit escape, and a felony parole violation.
  • Fire crews from Mina and Luning responded to a small fire in Luning on Monday at about noon.

20 Years Ago

  • A Needles, Calif. woman, Kathy D. Bennett, was fatally injured in a four vehicle accident on U.S. 95 about 5 miles north of Hawthorne Bennett’s rental truck collided with N 18- wheeler and burst into flames. Retired Nevada Assemblyman Roy Neighbors, of Tonopah was also involved and collided with the accident, his vehicle also caught on fire.
  • The Dillard Brothers Brain and Mike, were presented with letters of commendation and appreciation on June 9, 2003 from Sheriff Fred Trdla. The commendations were from an incident when Steven Lasnover escaped from the Mineral County Detention Facility. Letters were also presented to other deputies. Nevada Highway Patrolmen and Mineral County Search and Rescue.
  • Walker Lake sailor Beau Fitzgerald returned home after Operation Iraqi Freedom. He had been aboard air carrier USS Abraham Lincoln.

30 Years Ago

  • The Nevada State Assembly Taxation Committee, headed by Bob Price, flew to Hawthorne to hold a public hearing on a proposed legislative bill that, if approved, would mandate Mineral County to increase its sale tax by one quarter cent and issue bonds without voter approval, to conduct a $3.5 million school complex on Walker River Indian Reservation at Schurz. Proponents and opponents of the proposal, which was made public only one week prior to that time, were given an opportunity to voice their opinions to the Assembly members, who participated in the largest gathering in Hawthorne.
  • Tom and Theresa Mattews held the grand opening of their new McDonalds restaurant in Hawthorne.

40 Years Ago

  • Mineral County voted against both proposals at a special election held with only two items on the ballot and less than 22 percent of the 2453 registered voters went to the polls. Question No. 1 was to amend the state constitution to provide for the election of district judges on the basis of staggered items, and question No. 2 was a “people’s authorization “ for the state to collect sales tax from contractors performing work for the U. S. Government.
  • Establishment of a secret witness program in Mineral County was nearing reality and a target date of July 1 was set to place the program in operation.

50 Years Ago

  • The Hawthorne NAD Marines won the General WPT Hill Award for the best mess hall in the Marine Corps. A new “ultramodern” bachelor enlisted quarters built in Hawthorne was pictured in the paper.

60 Years Ago

  • Mineral County High School won the 1963 “A” Division Championship Track Meet At a competition held in Reno. It was a big day for Jim Griffin and Roger Williams set new state records in the 110-yards dash and 880-yard dash.
  • MCHS lost the State baseball championship of Western High School of Las Vegas 3-0 and 6-1.
  • “The Flame”, a local bar located on East Fifth Street, was burglarized and the owners reported that about $150 was taken from the cash register, $100 from the cigarette vending machine, and $200 from the jukebox.
  • Local Elks Lodge members, Chuck Milk and Dean Owen, presided at the state convention held in Boulder City.

70 Years Ago

  • An automotive engineer at the Hawthorne Naval Depot saw two streaks of lightning strike the Mount Grant area, but seconds later he knew he had been in the path of the lightning when a jolt hit his left arm and left him stunned but not unconscious.
  • Captain Walter S. Mayer, Jr. Was named to assume the duty of commander officer of the Hawthorne Naval Ammunition Depot, succeeding Captain Russell G. Struges who planned to retire.
  • The annual Anniversary Ball sponsored by BPO Elks No. 1704 was to be held and music had been arranged to be provided by Paul Jones and his Orchestra from Reno.

80 Years Ago

  • Two local men were killed in a freak accident when an electrical charge from a nearby power line reportedly set off a blast while the men were filling a dredge machine with gasoline.
  • Mineral County High School faculty selections were made and those teachers who would be teaching the coming school year were: Lela Hazzard, Gwen Meginess , Catherine Barlow, Nelia Fry, Clara May Tracy and Helen Rattama.
  • Bell Telephone Company issued a plea to consumers asking them to limit long distance calls to five minutes.
  • The June 9, 1943 issue of the Independent-News was printed without regular features as Old Boys, Jasper, hospital notes and births because of a Linotype machine breakdown which could not be repaired for several days.

90 Years Ago

  • Jasper disagreed with a modest conclusion of Al Cahlan, editor of the Las Vegas Review, that he (Cahlan) could win the office of governor in 1944, if Lt. Governor Morley Griswold would be the republican candidate. Southern Pacific Railroad paid a $52,000 tax bill for the second half of the 1932 taxable year under protection, and took similar action in other countries, contending that valuation assessments for the railroad company were higher than that for other property owners.
  • County commissioners granted Max Rips a permit to sell fireworks provided purchasers would be arrested if the fireworks were set off inside the towns of Hawthorne and Mina.
  • Al Russ, State Scout Executive, and J.E. Sweatt, member of the state executive committee, came from Reno to assist in the organization of a Boy Scout troop in Hawthorne sponsored by Veterans of Foreign Wars. Jake Butherus was named Scoutmaster and Leo Kjemyr assistant Scoutmaster.
  • L.B. Spencer, Mineral County Surveyor, was named to head a team of 13 members employed by the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey to conduct surveys and examine boundaries in Mineral County.