Monday, May. 12, 2008

May 12 in Merced history: Seaplane lands all right but not at airport

May 12, 1958: It was a wasp-shaped seaplane and it circled the airport for three hours and nobody knew if it would land, crash, or fly away.

Gene Fraizer, of Folsom, Calif., flew the plane, but he didn't know either. The plane was big with a canoe-shaped bottom and it looked like a seagull that had been stepped on when it tried to land.

That's the way it was Monday at the Merced Municipal Airport, with the plane trying to land time after time, only to touch the runway and soar crazily into the sky.

But, there really was no cause for alarm, because the gas tank wasn't quite empty and the pilot had four sea-rescue kits and, after all, all he needed was a drop of water.

He got the water. A foot-and-a-half of it in a field of El Nido pastureland. Here he landed his plane, scraping paint off the belly and getting bounced around a little. But he was all right and so was his plane, so what did he care.

Frazier buzzed the airport from 9:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., trying to land, but most of his training had been with water and as soon as he found some he had it made.

The airport has four runways, Frazier tried all of them Curt Partch, airport attendant, said. Partch had a busy Monday morning tearing up and down the runways like one of the planes he flies, pointing out wind directions to Frazier.

Nothing helped.

May 12, 1983

STATE GRANT WOULD FUND JOBS FOR SENIOR CITIZENS:

A number of senior citizens would get part-time jobs, primarily at information and referral centers throughout Merced County, through a state grant sought by the County Area Agency on Aging.

The Board of Supervisors authorized the AAA to apple for the Senior Community Employment Program grant of $46,900 from the state Department of Aging.

Agency Director Dennis K. Tatum said the state has allocated 10 senior employment slots for his agency in the program.

Tatum said the goal of the program is to employ low income senior citizens over 55 years old in public service jobs. The seniors would work up to 20 hours per week at minimum wages. The grant calls for the employees to work in programs benefitting other seniors.

The director said a 10 percent local fund match is required, but added this can be supplied by in-kind services in the AAA operating budget.

According to Tatum, the goal is to use senior citizens at information and referral offices housed in city facilities throughout the county.

May 12, 1998

SPILL CLOSES PARSONS, YUCKY CLEAN-UP AHEAD:

Parsons Avenue has a fat problem and the solution is weighing heavily on the ingenuity of Merced city and county environmental health and public works experts.

The dilemma revolves around nearly 3,800 gallons of a liquified blend of animal and vegetable fat.

How do they clean the slippery mess off the roadway where it was dumped by an overturned tank trailer early Monday afternoon?

"They may have to use detergent to dilute it," said Merced police Sgt. Greig Best of the department's Traffic Control Division.

Best confirmed late Monday night that Parsons Avenue will remain closed to through traffic at least until the roadway is cleared of the substance.

"It's just too slippery and dangerous to allow anyone to drive on it," Best said.

Initial cleanup involved the dumping of sand on the section of Parsons

Avenue, near Westfall Avenue, in an attempt to soak up some of the substance.

"In the morning, they intend to try to steam clean the street," Best said. "If that doesn't work, they'll probably try detergent."