Years ago in the week of Sept. 4
Fresno State’s Mark Barsotti dives into the end zone for the second of his two touchdowns during the 55-7 rout of Northern Illinois 25 years ago. Barsotti also passed for three touchdowns and 224 yards in the win. (Courtesy of The Madera County Historical Society
25 Years Ago Week of Sept. 4, 1991 COUNTY GETTING THE WORD OUT ABOUT AIDS — Aids is on the rise in Madera County prompting health officials here to renew their attacks on the deadly disease. On Aug. 15, the Madera County Department of Public Health reported 13 cases of AIDS since tracking began five years ago. Two of those cases were pediatric, and three have died since first being diagnosed. “If you have AIDS, you will die sooner or later, there’s no doubt about it,” said Madera County Director of Public Health Dale Freewald. “We certainly don’t advocate any type of lifestyle, which would be conducive to contracting the disease. But neither do we play judge,” Freewald said.
BARSOTTI LEADS FSU ROUT IN OPENER — It was just another typical opening night for Mark Barsotti. All the senior quarterback did was pass for 224 yards and three touchdowns while completing 75 percent of his passes, rush for another 42 yards and two touchdowns, and most importantly, he led the Bulldogs to a 55-7 thrashing of Northern Illinois. Barsotti how has a perfect 4-0 in season openers with Fresno State and improved his overall won-loss mark to 30-5-1 as the Bulldogs quarterback. “We had great execution by Barsotti. He really got into the groove,” said Bulldog coach Jim Sweeney. “He was zipping the ball up the middle; he looked so fluid.”
CITIZENS BLAST OVERPRICED WEED CONTROL — A besieged City Council fielded complaints this week from citizens upset over the high cost of weed abatement efforts by the city. A North C Street woman opened the discussion by saying she did not receive a violation notice before her bill for $298. Some argued the trash on their lots was thrown there by someone else; others protested the inflated price of the bills. Local attorney Lester Gendron said he received three bills, the lowest of which was $285. David Gill complained he was charged $350 for a small part of a lot he was in the process of disking. The council agreed to hold a special meeting for appeals on a case by case basis.
SCCCD SEEKS LAND DONOR FOR MADERA CAMPUS — A negotiator has been hired by the State Center Community College District to find someone who will donate land for a third campus to be located in Madera County. Michael Maas was selected on Tuesday and will begin work immediately to work with landowners for acquisition of the property. Maas will be paid $125 per hour, but his contract will not exceed $10,000. The state has made it clear that supplying funding for buildings is a high priority, but not for funding of land. Maas’ success in securing land for College of Sequoias in Visalia and Yosemite College District in Modesto played a major role in his selection.
PARAPLEGIC CLIMBER ATTEMPTS HALF DOME — A paraplegic climber whose climb up El Capitan thrilled the world will begin a planned assault on Half Dome in Yosemite Valley today. Mark Wellman scaled the 3,200-foot face of El Capitan with Mike Corbett, the park’s most experienced climber. Using only his arms to pull himself up, the 31-year-old Wellman scaled El Capitan peak in a week. “The last climb was an unknown. This time we’ve already done it,” Wellman said. “You have a dream, and you know the only way that dream is going to happen is if you just do it — even if it is just six inches at a time.” 50 Years Ago Week of Sept. 4, 1966 MADERA BOYS TAKE HONORS AT STATE FAIR — The Madera Future Farmers won one of the top awards in the final days of showing at the California State Fair. Robert Toschi, Robert Rubottom, and Richard Beban, showing registered beef animals, had their animals selected as the outstanding chapter group at the fair. In the agriculture and horticulture divisions, Ronald Kelley led the Madera winnings with 5 first, 4 seconds, 2 thirds, and 2 fourths. Other winners in this division were Allen Coysns, David Loquaci, Roger Leach, Larry Moore, and Victor Sahatdjian.
NORTH FORK PLANS FOR MONO INDIAN MUSEUM — The dream of an Indian museum in North fork, which will display and perpetuate the customs, arts, and way of life of those who lived in this area many years ago, is fast becoming a reality. The organization sponsoring this project is composed of Indians of the Mono Tribe. They have been working on removal of one of the classrooms used by the North Fork Elementary before it moved to its present site. The building will be moved to the site for the museum. In the display of arts and crafts will be many of the baskets woven by the women of the Mono Tribe for which they are famous.
TOASTMISTRESS SPEAKERS TALK ON RELIGION — “Religion” was the theme for the meeting Wednesday of the Madera Toastmistress club at Lucca’s with Mrs. Jack Chezick conducting the meeting. The first speaker was Mrs. Claude Martin whose topic was “What is the Oldest Thing on Earth?” Bina Boitano reviewed the life of Amiee Semple McPherson, one of the century’s greatest evangelists. Mrs Mae Vanghan talked about various religions of the world. Proverbs from the Bible were then distributed, and each member gave her interpretation of the meaning of her Proverb.
FOUR PERSONS KILLED IN MADERA COUNTY CRASHES — Four persons were killed in Madera County traffic accidents, raising this year’s total to 29 for the county. Thomas O. Lookadoo, 65, of Modesto and an unidentified female passenger were killed on Sunday night when their sports car slid under a trailer truck on U.S. 99 ten miles north of Madera. Domingo Martines, 39, died early Sunday after he was struck down on Hwy. 145 south of Avenue 8. Karen George, 15, of Ahwahnee was killed Saturday evening in an accident on Road 600 just east of Ahwahnee. The car was driven by Randy Eugene George, 18, of Ahwahnee.
RANCHERS CALL FOR TAX RELIEF — The Board of Supervisors this morning pledged cooperation to attempt to block increases in property taxes. Cattle and grain ranchers told the board that unless something is done they will go out of business. Threats to their future, they said, are continuing increases in assessed evaluations, the cost of special districts and schools, and declining returns from utilities assessed by the state. The ranchers contended that property should be assessed according to what it produces, not for what it might sell for. Board chairman Jack Schmitz pronounced the board “sympathetic” to the ranchers’ problems and offered to extend consideration of the subject to all agricultural areas of the county.
