Looking Back — Feb. 13, 2024

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/02/2024 (639 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SIXTY YEARS AGO

A recent experiment of the city engineer’s department in the use of heated sand for slippery streets seems to have passed the effectiveness test. But the end result of spreading the sand does not justify the expense involved, engineer W.S. Lakevoid found.

FIFTY YEARS AGO

There was an exhibition of exotic cattle breeds last night at the Keystone Centre for the Brandon Chamber of Commerce’s 91st annual meeting. On display were Chianina, Limousin, Charolais and Simmental.

The father of Patricia Hearst says he is taking “most seriously” the demands of her abductors for $70 worth of free food for each of California’s poor and elderly people. He says he will do his best to co-operate.

FORTY YEARS AGO

Konstantin Chernenko, the son of Siberian peasants, was named general secretary of the Soviet Communist party today, succeeding the late Yuri Andropov in the Kremlin’s most powerful post. Chernenko, 72, is the oldest man ever selected to lead the 18-million-member party, which governs the country of 280 million.

Brandon became the newest battleground in the bilingualism debate today as about 250 people gathered at the Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium to show their opposition to entrenching French as an official language.

THIRTY YEARS AGO

Sue Rodriguez, whose debilitating terminal illness prompted her to fight three court battles for the right to end her life on her terms, died yesterday. She was 43.

Despite a few technical problems, both students and instructor have given interactive television teaching high marks. Meir Serfaty is teaching six Swan River students political science via television from Brandon University on Wednesday evening.

TWENTY YEARS AGO

A 23-year-old man has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of his ex-girlfriend, Erin Chorney. Sources say the suspect was arrested following an undercover sting operation involving Brandon police and the RCMP. Chorney has been the subject of extensive searches around Brandon and the centre of one of Manitoba’s highest profile missing persons cases for nearly two years. A year after she disappeared, Erin had been featured on Child Find posters across Canada while the case had been the subject of Crime Stoppers television and radio spots.

TEN YEARS AGO

Four Dakota men have been convicted and fined thousands of dollars for their roles in running a smoke shop that sold cut-rate cigarettes. Judge Shauna Hewitt-Michta convicted and sentenced the men in Brandon provincial court on Wednesday afternoon. Prior to receiving his sentence, Dakota Plains First Nation Chief Orville Smoke told Hewitt-Michta that the intent of the Dakota Chundee Smoke Shop was to provide revenue for his impoverished people. It was also intended to draw attention to the need for better living conditions on the Dakota reserves.

Keeping students’ education the No. 1 priority was a message trustees heard loud and clear during Brandon School Division’s public budget forum. More than 100 community members gathered at École Harrison on Wednesday night to hear from trustees and share their concerns regarding BSD’s 2014-15 preliminary budget. Among those in attendance were a number of local high school students who worry how putting a 15-student class size minimum on grades 9 to 12 classes could affect students’ education in the future.