Looking back 40, 30 and 20 years ago, the following are excerpts from the Artesia Daily Press.

40 years ago June 16-22, 1984

New Mexico’s public school teachers will be paid a salary that averages $22,444 statewide when they return to the classrooms in the fall. The average increase for returning teachers is $1,441 or 6.9 percent over the statewide average teacher salary of $21,003 paid in 198384. Salary scales among the state’s 88 school districts range from a high average of $30,207 for returning teachers in the Jal district in Lea County to a low of $17,215 in the Elida district in Roosevelt County.

———-A person doesn’t have to be crazy to capture a swarm of bees, but it helps, according to local beekeeper L.H. “Sonny” Tennant. Tennant, assisted by longtime beekeeper Earl Quain, recently captured an unusually large swarm. The swarm, which was estimated to weigh between 10 and 12 pounds, had gathered on branches of an apple tree next door to the Quain residence. Tennant and Quain say the average swarm weighs about three pounds.

———-Charles Gleghorn, right, was honored Friday evening for being the first “40 year employee” during service award ceremonies for Navajo Refining Co. During his tenure with the refinery, Gleghorn has served as refinery manager and is currently assistant to the vice president of refining.

———-The General Services Department was asked Tuesday by the state Board of Finance to study the extent of use of asbestos materials in state-owned buildings. Building materials containing asbestos fibers were widely used until the early 1970s when it was discovered that asbestos causes cancer.

———-The national push for computer literacy is fatally flawed because most people will never need to know how computers work, some educators and sociologists say. They add that high schools that require computer literacy for graduation are needlessly intimidating students who have no aptitude for the machines. Computer literacy is irrelevant to most people because computer designers have become “magicians,” making computers easy to use without training, said Charles Oualline Jr., a professor of computer architecture at East Texas State University.

———-A survey of accident reports shows that the use of child restraint devices has more than quadrupled in recent years, says Judith Espinosa, New Mexico’s secretary of transportation. Monday was marked as the first anniversary of a state law requiring the use of safety seats or safety belts for child passengers in motor vehicles. The law, which became effective June 27, 1983, requires that children under five years old be properly secured in a safety seat or seat belt while traveling on city streets or New Mexico highways.

30 years ago June 16-22, 1994

Murder charges were filed today against O.J. Simpson in the slayings of his ex-wife and a male friend. An arraignment was set for 11:30 a.m. in Superior Court, according to a statement from the court. Mike Botula, district attorney’s office spokesman, said two counts of murder were filed against Simpson.

———-Information about outbreaks of new infectious diseases will no longer be withheld from the public, state Health Secretary Michael Burkhart said. Burkhart said Thursday that the Office of Epidemiology’s practice of withholding such information would be changed. His decision came after a reporter questioned him about the mysterious deaths of two children several months ago who attended the same Albuquerque day-care center. The office didn’t report the deaths until asked about them last week.

———-There’s an air of excitement – and sometimes wariness – in the Chisos Mountains these days. A former and future resident of the Big Bend region is making a strong comeback among those scenic West Texas peaks. And it has some campers looking around for flashes of dark fur and rounded ears in the brush beside mountain trails, or listening for the rustle of plodding feet. Those are the sights and sounds that had been missing from the area for decades, ever since black bears were virtually eradicated from their native Texas. But over the past few years the bears have been making their way back into the state from Mexico.

———-South defenders prepare to wrap up a North running back during the first quarter of the Class A/AA North-South All-Star Football Game played Saturday at the Bulldog Bowl. A 21-point fourth quarter lifted the south to a 37-14 victory, its fourth straight in the four-year history of the game.

———-Artesia firefighters crack open the wall of a portable building at Hermosa Elementary to check for hot spots after fire burned along the outside wall section around the door. The fire, which remains under investigation, began at 1:20 p.m. Tuesday and is believed to have started in a bucket of glue. Damage is estimated at more than $3,000.

20 years ago June 16-22, 2004

The exceptionally tall blooming Agave plant pictured above is located in the backyard of Barbara and Wayne Beddingfield, on the corner of MacArthur Street and Roselawn Avenue. Some flower stalks grow up to 30 feet high, but this stalk apparently disregarded the rules, with an estimated height of 35 feet. Agaves are mostly natives of Mexico, though some are found wild in the West Indies and a few in the United States.

———-The drought gripping the West could be the worst in 500 years, with effects in the Colorado River basin even worse than during the Dust Bowl years, scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey say. The drought has produced the lowest flow in the Colorado River on record, with an annual average flow of only 5.4 million acre-feet at Lees Ferry, Ariz., during the period 2001-2003, adjusted for the impact of Glen Canyon Dam. By comparison, during the Dust Bowl years, between 1930 and 1937, the annual flow averaged about 102 million acre-feet, the report said.

———-Two young girls who are fighting cancer received help from Artesia Motorcycle Enthusiasts. The second annual Poker Run brought in $10,840 in donations, including a $5,000 matching donation from Artesia Moose Lodge No. 2152. “This was our second Poker Run, and we hope next year’s will be bigger,” Robert Snyder said. He said last year’s run netted about $3,000, also for a cancer patient.

———-Approximately 400 members of the community packed the Artesia Center last night to find out what could be done about the drugs and crime in Artesia. In the end, 138 people stepped up to join the action groups on an immediate basis. Many took home the forms for review before deciding on an action group to join. At the meeting, law enforcement from the entire area attended in support of the action group. Support for the community task force started a few months ago in Artesia with the annual No Drugs, No Gangs, Drink More Milk program.

———-High winds overnight brought down tree limbs and signs in and around Artesia. A city work crew cleans up a large tree limb that fell onto Grand Avenue blocking eastbound traffic. Winds were reported at 50 mph by weather watcher Bennie Peel at 4:29 p.m. Monday.

———-State Economic Development Secretary Rick Homans says the flight of the world’s first privately financed manned spaceflight over the Mojave Desert is good news for New Mexico, site of a competition for reusable spacecraft. In a 90-minute flight Monday, pilot Mike Melvill took SpaceShipOne 62.2 miles above earth, a little more than 400 feet above the distance considered as the boundary of space. New Mexico was selected last month as the site for the X Prize Cup, a proposed annual competition for reusable spacecraft. Peter Diamandis, chairman of the St. Louis-based X Prize Foundation, has said that by 2006, competitors from around the world should be launching reusable launch vehicles from New Mexico.

———- (EDITOR’S NOTE: Looking Back was compiled By Daily Press Staff)