60 years ago
Bethel Island women win right to vote: In November 1954, women secured the right to hold office in the Bethel Island Chamber of Commerce. Why they didn’t already have this right, 34 years after suffrage, is unclear.
It was declared at the chamber that evening that women earned the right by “doing most of the work,” but as of the date of the article, none of the 13 nominees for eight open spots in chamber offices were women. But the Brentwood News said the nominations would be open for weeks.
Up to that point, chamber bylaws permitted women to become members of the chamber but denied them the right to hold office. But director O.W. Flewell spearheaded efforts to change the bylaws and allow women to hold office, and after a year, he was successful.
25 years ago
Odors make Oakley residents sick: Leaks from a natural gas well site had residents from a Raye Avenue neighborhood in Oakley holding their noses in November 1989. A few complained of being sick.
“We’ve been experiencing that gas smell for quite some time,” Oakley resident Theresa Graves said, adding that she kept her kids home from school because of it.
“Now it’s getting to the point where you can’t go outside for a long period of time.”
The gas well site, which turned out to be leaking methyl mercaptan, was owned and operated by two companies: PG&E and Atlantic Oil.
Interestingly enough, spokesmen from both companies denied they were at fault, and each of them blamed the other company for the issue. “It’s not our problem,” said PG&E’s Harry Arnott, adding that he was told the well leaks were Atlantic’s responsibility.
Russell Sherman, Atlantic’s executive vice president, said the well equipment was PG&E’s, and that he didn’t think his company even had authority to touch it.
Bay Area Air Quality Management District specialists said it was clear that both companies were at fault, and cited both companies after verifying complaints from seven Oakley residents. Then, both companies continued to deny they were at fault.
— Brentwood News and Daily Ledger news files
