Berlin airlift, death of Michael Jackson: News Journal archives, week of June 23

"Pages of history" features excerpts from The News Journal archives including the Wilmington Morning News and the Evening Journal.

June 23, 2004, The News Journal

State gets no bids for Sussex road jobs

Industry consolidation and a thriving building industry are causing problems for paving projects in Sussex County.

Two recent Delaware Department of Transportation repaving and road repair contracts, worth between $1 million and $5 million, received no bidders, and a third received only a single bid that was far above what DelDOT expected.

Transportation Secretary Nathan Hayward III said the lack of bids is “unprecedented” in recent history and a concern….

“When you get one bid 40 percent over estimate, you are almost as unhappy as if you got no bids at all,” he said.

The three projects covered a variety of neighborhood and back roads. All three projects will be re-bid.

Industry officials said they think the recovering economy is the reason for the problem. There is more work than there are companies to do it.

And if a company has a choice, it will take a private job over a public job because there is less bureaucracy and a better profit margin, said Richard Piendak, president of Richards Paving Inc. in New Castle. He has turned down lucrative private offers in Sussex County because he simply cannot handle the additional work now.

Will Robinson, president of George & Lynch Inc. in New Castle, agreed. Robinson said his company, which has worked for DelDOT on Sussex County projects in the past, did not bid on this round of jobs for the same reason.

Hayward…thinks the main problem is the recent consolidation in the paving industry downstate. Several paving and hot mix asphalt companies have merged in recent years, reducing competition….

June 24, 1974, Evening Journal

Year of the tornado kills 371, shapes up as worst for nation

From the standpoint of severity, 1974 is shaping up as possibly the worst tornado year in American history.

Forecasters said there have been 371 deaths and possibly 5,000 injuries so far this year from 658 twisters that have struck in all but 14 states….

The death toll so far is the worst since the 450 recorded for the same span in 1953.

The 1974 total of tornadoes could exceed last year’s new record of 1,109, a total that led the National Weather Service to call 1973 “The Year of the Tornado.”

Meteorologist Allen Pearson, director of the Weather Service’s National Severe Storms Forecast Center, says that even if the numerical record is not exceeded, many of the tornadoes that have struck America this year have been “a lot more severe” that those of last year….

He said the unusual number of twisters throughout the spring were caused mainly by the very unusual antics of the “subtropical jet stream.” This is one of two undulating rivers of rapidly moving air hundreds of miles wide and 20,000 feet deep that whirl eastward around the Northern Hemisphere at an altitude of 5 to 9 miles….

June 26, 2009, The News Journal

King of Pop dead at 50

Michael Jackson, the “King of Pop” who reigned over the music world like no other, died June 25 as he prepared for a comeback bid to vanquish nightmare years of sexual scandal and financial calamity. He was 50.

Jackson died at UCLA Medical Center after being stricken at his rented home in Holmby Hills. Paramedics tried to resuscitate him at his home for nearly three-quarters of an hour, then rushed him to the hospital where doctors continued to work on him.

“It is believed he suffered cardiac arrest in his home. However, the cause of his death is unknown until results of the autopsy are known,” his brother Jermaine said….

Jackson’s death brought a tragic end to a long, bizarre, sometimes farcical decline from his peak in the 1980s when he was popular music’s premier all-around performer, a uniter of black and white music who shattered the race barrier on MTV, dominated the charts and dazzled even more on stage.

His 1982 album “Thriller” — which included the blockbuster hits “Billie Jean,” “Beat It” and “Thriller” — is the best-selling album of all time, with an estimated 50 million copies sold worldwide….

Catch up on history: WWII ends in Europe, four killed at Kent State: The News Journal archives, week of May 5

June 28, 1948, Wilmington Morning News

Transport planes rushed to buck Berlin blockade

The Air Force is sending a fleet of big transport planes to Germany to help supply the Berlin area which the Russians have cut off from normal surface contacts.

About 39 C-54 Skymasters, capable of carrying about seven tons per flight on the Berlin run, will be dispatched….

The planes will start within 24 hours, Air Force officers said, leaving their bases singly or in groups as they are readied….

Americans and Britons in Berlin were subjected to partial rationing today as the Russian land blockade of the city went into its second week….

However, the U.S. Air Force’s emergency cargo service into Templehof Airport will be expanded to 100 planes daily, bringing in as many essential items as possible for the German population in addition to supplies for Americans here….

Reach reporter Ben Mace at rmace@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: News Journal archives June 23-29: Berlin airlift, Michael Jackson dies