Dirigibles Were Banned

Thirty Years Ago Frank Curran is going to ride the issue of paving Horton Plaza until the opposition collapses under the sheer weight of his persistence. Early this year a downtown study group headed by the former mayor presented the city council with a proposal for covering the square-block park. -- CITY LIGHTS: "HOW CAN I EVER REPAVE YOU?"

Paul Krueger, December 1, 1977

Twenty-Five Years Ago I'm not saying how old I am, but the average age in my marriage is 28.5. We have 2.0 children, who are twins, average age 16 months and half a minute. As a group, we have literate friends, plenty of milk, and a Trinitron. Contentment is our lot, and yet, for my part, happiness reached a high and thrilling plateau that stretched from Bordeaux to New York about ten years ago, when, for tax purposes, I was technically still of my parents' household. And until recently, I thought that I -- we, with Jane and the kids -- could have that happiness again for the asking. -- "WHAT ON EARTH AM I SETTLING FOR?" Joe Applegate, December 2, 1982

Twenty Years Ago Figueredo says Mother Teresa appeared to be most interested in an offer made earlier this year by a Ramona woman who wanted to donate land for a postpartum facility for unwed mothers. But Sister Monica also seemed willing to tour Tijuana.... Figueredo finally picked up the two Indian nuns at Lindbergh Field. First they ventured to Ramona, where they swiftly decided that the offer wasn't suited to the work of the Missionaries of Charity, who have always worked among the urban poor. They then went to Tijuana. Once they crossed the border, Figueredo says, both nuns instantly breathed a sigh of relief and declared, "This is just like home." -- CITY LIGHTS: "THE GOOD WORK," Jeannette De Wyze, December 3, 1987

Fifteen Years Ago San Diego is scarcely recognizable as the same sleepy, down-at-the-heels Navy town that Mayor O'Connor took over a decade ago. As Maureen leaves office, let's pause and recall some of her achievements.First, in legislation: -Replacement of all WALK/ DONT WALK signs with friendly picture signals that can be understood by the illiterate.

-Repeal of the city's no-blimp statute, which banned dirigibles from entering San Diego airspace. Now, on an average day, 300--400 blimps can be seen in the skies above us. -- SAN DIEGO CONFIDENTIAL: "MAUREEN'S LASTING LEGACY," Margot Sheehan, December 3, 1992

Ten Years Ago Police fire into the crowd, killing several people even as authorities deny civilian casualties. For 72 hours the border town of 20,000 verges on chaos before a presidential decree from Lázaro Cárdenas metes punishment to the army private who confessed to the crime. The three San Diego newspapers compete all week to offer the most sensational account of events in Tijuana, knocking Hitler from the headlines as the drama plays out 20 miles to the south. Even the Los Angeles Times runs a cover story about "Bloody Tuesday," February 15, 1938, when the violence peaked. Fifty-nine years later, the fallout from those events has borne strange fruit: the man executed for the murder is now the folk saint of Tijuana, revered by thousands from the deserts of Sonora to the urban sprawl of Orange County. -- "AFTER THEY SHOT JUAN," Patrick Maka, December 4, 1997

Five Years Ago "I'd been renting an apartment over on Georgia Street, the sort of border area between North Park and Hillcrest. From one month to the next, they raised my rent by $200. I realized there wasn't going to be an end to the increases. I had to buy a house. I'm a teacher at City College. I teach business information technology. I could qualify for only a $145,000 loan." -- "NOWHERE ZONE," Abe Opincar, November 27, 2002