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Thirty Years Ago I'm a Padre maniac! I think Ray Kroc (owner) has done a good job. I'm against the proposed ban on booze...if people are so inclined, they're going to get drunk anyway. They need better pitching, but the team's improvement has been phenomenal. I'd die if the Padres ever left San Diego. -- OFF THE CUFF: "AND WHAT ABOUT THE SAN DIEGO PADRES?" Suzy Doyle, Bank Employee, Central Avenue, San Diego, April 14, 1977

Twenty-Five Years Ago [F]rom the 1920s to the 1960s the resort called Warner Hot Springs was an immensely popular place. In 1975, the ailing resort changed hands for the first time in 60 years; in the 7 years since then it has virtually had more owners than patrons. The latest to buy it is A. Cal Rossi, a developer from San Francisco, and there are some who say Rossi is going to create the biggest, grandest, and most profitable resort ever in Warner Springs. -- "THE RISE & FALL & RISE & FALL OF WARNER HOT SPRINGS," Gordon Smith, April 15, 1982

Twenty Years Ago "Universities are in a world not dissimilar to the world of the early Germanic tribes," asserts Stan Chodorow, UCSD's dean of arts and humanities. "It's an honor world, in which everything we do -- particularly in retaining and recruiting our faculty -- is tied to our reputation. We lose one; it goes down. We win one; it goes up. It's a world in which reputation is all." -- "SCHOOL TIES," Jeannette De Wyze, April 16, 1987

Fifteen Years Ago [Michael Reagan:] Many of my friends have blown their brains out, coked themselves to death. The Crosby kids, two suicides. People blame the kids. Well, Bing Crosby was an ass. But see, we knew that. Hollywood knew that. But the public saw him as The Bells of St. Mary's, a wonderful human being. You look at Marlon Brando's kids. His parents backed him; but they just give you guilt money because they weren't with you when you were young. They had you at boarding schools. They always gave you a check for your birthday, here's 50 bucks, here's 100 bucks, here's 200 bucks. The kids get used to that. And then they never know how to go out and earn it on their own. -- "UP FOR ADOPTION," John Brizzolara, April 16, 1992

Ten Years Ago John Coleman says he can pinpoint the day Roger Hedgecock turned from being a supporter of the referendum drive to put stadium expansion on the ballot to a critic of those efforts. It was a few days before general manager Mike Glickenhaus of Jacor Communications -- which owns KSDO-AM, Hedgecock's radio talk show home -- issued his Valentine's Day memorandum to station employees. The memo said completion of the stadium project "is in the best interest of both San Diego County as well as our radio stations" and urged workers to attend a pro-expansion rally at the stadium the following Monday.

"They had Roger to lunch, and suddenly Roger is berating Richard Rider [the Libertarian accountant who mounted a legal challenge to expansion]." -- CITY LIGHTS: "WHY DID THEY FIRE JOHN COLEMAN?" Thomas K. Arnold, April 10, 1997

Five Years Ago At the words "computer game," Ben lifted his head and smiled. He clambered off the bed and started heading for the stairs. "Can I play a computer game, too?" Johnny opened his eyes and asked. "No, guys," I told them. "This is Good Friday. It's the day Jesus died. It's the most solemn day of the year. No computer games."

They let out a collective moan. "What can we do, then?" Rebecca whined.

"Read a book. Play with your toys. Color. The things you always do." -- KID STUFF: "THE LONG ROAD TO EASTER,"

Anne Albright, April 11, 2002