Looking Back — April 16, 2024

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/04/2024 (786 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SIXTY YEARS AGO

Brandon Fire Chief James Munro levelled a hot blast at people setting stubble fires yesterday as he watched an old house used as a storage place by Eastend Auto Wrecking burn to the ground. The fire department spent part of the afternoon and evening pouring water over burning grass at 18th Street North before rushing to try to douse the burning building, four flaming cars and more burning prairie stubble at the auto wrecking lot near 17th Street East.

The provincial chief schools inspector, R.W. Lightly, snipped the green and gold ribbon to officially open the 14-month-old Green Acres Elementary School. The school opened for classes 14 months ago but hit many construction snags, including a sagging roof, which delayed an official opening.

FIFTY YEARS AGO

The FBI is hunting newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst on a material witness-warrant that identifies her as a member of a heavily armed gang that robbed a bank and shot and wounded two passersby. Authorities said she may have been forced into taking part in the holdup.

James G. Campbell, a former lecturer in economics at Brandon University, has been named as Manitoba’s assistant deputy minister of education.

Striking Brandon Safeway workers picketed at the homes of two non-union Safeway employees who have been working in the stores since the beginning of the strike Feb. 8.

FORTY YEARS AGO

After days of agonizing, Premier Bill Bennett declared that Expo 86 will go ahead — and the British Columbia government will use legislation to make sure it does.

Baseball fans who watched Pete Rose collect his 4,000th career hit, with a fourth-inning double yesterday, may have seen the last of a breed.

THIRTY YEARS AGO

Like his father and grandfather before him, Greg Dinsdale is now a candidate for the Progressive Conservative party. Dinsdale, 42, was acclaimed at the Brandon East Tory nomination meeting last night.

Craig Hendrickson of Brandon is getting a second chance. He confirmed yesterday he has signed a two-year contract with the NFL’s Buffalo Bills.

TWENTY YEARS AGO

The grease used to cook your french fries at the fast-food joint could also be powering your ride home this summer. Brandon Transit plans to experiment with biodiesel, a mixture of oil and diesel fuel, in one of its buses perhaps as early as the end of the month.

TEN YEARS AGO

A spike in garter snake calls has subsided after a one-week respite from one of the coldest winters on record. David Lane, manager of Poulin’s Pest Control in Brandon, said the company fielded an unusual number of calls from homeowners about the small snakes last week as temperatures climbed to near double-digits. A return to frigid temperatures has quelled the slithering serpents for now.

From pedestrian walkways to building facades, the city is moving toward new urban design standards. Currently, there are guidelines and suggestions when it comes to new developments, but the goal now is to make much of the newly created Urban and Landscape Design Standards manual mandatory. The planning department has been busy consolidating the current guidelines for urban design and landscaping — narrowing down roughly 130 pages to 14 pages.

It’s a promise Mayor Dave Burgess intends to keep. Burgess says after years of trying to get jets to land in Brandon, the city is finally about to land an air carrier providing regular jet service. While the details are scant, Burgess promised the Brandon Chamber of Commerce during his State of the City address that something would be public within two weeks.