Air National Guard Personnel

A married Air National Guard technical sergeant leading a "double life" killed his girlfriend and their two children, then drove 73 miles to his air base, where he stuffed the boys' bodies inside his locker, police said. Peter Contos, 31, was arrested Sunday in the killings of his 35-year-old girlfriend, Catherine Rice, and their sons, 4-year-old Benjamin Rice and 2-month-old Ryan Contos.

A married Air National Guard technical sergeant leading a "double life" killed his girlfriend and their two children, then drove 73 miles to his air base, where he stuffed the boys' bodies inside his locker, police said. Peter Contos, 31, was arrested Sunday in the killings of his 35-year-old girlfriend, Catherine Rice, and their sons, 4-year-old Benjamin Rice and 2-month-old Ryan Contos.

The Air Force and Air National Guard grounded its fleet of 365 A-7D and K-model Corsair attack aircraft pending completion of an inspection for possible wing cracks, the Pentagon announced. Several small cracks were detected around the trailing edge of the wing by Air Force Air National Guard maintenance personnel, a statement said. The A-7 Corsair is a subsonic, single-engine attack aircraft, originally designed for the Navy. The A-7D model, which was developed for the Air Force, has been in service since December, 1968.

Community leaders said they will argue to keep March Air Force Base an active-duty installation rather than see it scaled back for a reserve base as recommended by the Department of Defense. "I think we should have some solid arguments to present to the commission," U.S. Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Corona) said after a meeting with civic leaders.

Two cargo planes carrying supplies for hurricane-stricken Central America left the Channel Islands Air National Guard Station on Saturday, the latest in several disaster-relief missions by the 146th Airlift Wing of the California Air National Guard. Bound for Soto Cano, Honduras, two C-130 aircraft left the Channel Islands station with relief supplies collected and sorted by California Army Guard and Air National Guard personnel, as well as other relief agencies.

A Cypriot seaman reportedly suffering from a dangerous blood clot was plucked from his ship in a dramatic helicopter rescue, but surgeons were forced later to amputate both legs. The seaman, Ioannis Koykiaris, 51, chief engineer of the container cargo vessel Titan, underwent the surgery Thursday and was reported in critical but stable condition afterward. He was stricken by a blood clot aboard ship 870 miles off the California coast.

The general in charge of transporting U.S. troops and materiel to the Persian Gulf will be the main speaker at the Sept. 8 dedication of the Channel Islands Air National Guard base at Point Mugu. Air Force Gen. Hansford Johnson, commander in chief of the U.S. Transport Command and Military Airlift Command, heads a long list of military and political leaders expected for the dedication. Lt. David L.

An Air National Guard major accused of fraud could face a court-martial, while a related case against a civilian employee will be handled by the Ventura County district attorney, military officials said Friday. Brig. Gen. John Iffland, commander of the Channel Islands Air National Guard base, said the charges against Maj. Glenn Yurgil will be heard by a military jury in July to determine if he will face a court-martial.

A Thousand Oaks woman who helped design a support program for military families and a Ventura woman who helps the elderly have won 1991 Woman of the Year awards from the California Legislature. At a ceremony Monday in Sacramento, the Women's Caucus of the Legislature recognized Jo Ann Bellen of Thousand Oaks, Sister Patricia Callahan of Ventura, and about 100 other women nominated for Woman of the Year awards by their state legislators.

These are trying times for Democratic Gov. Gray Davis. He seeks a second term amid a deficit-driven budget deadlock and the chaos of the state's electric power system. His job rating is in the pits, and the grim, colorless Davis is catching flak for obsessive fund-raising--$50 million for this campaign so far, with plenty more to come. Still, Davis is well off because his Republican challenger is Bill Simon Jr.

Failure by the pilot to deploy the wing flaps of his aircraft may have caused the crash of Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in which at least 154 people died, federal investigators indicated Wednesday night. John Lauber, head of the National Transportation Safety Board investigating team, said that the "black box" flight data recorder recovered from the aircraft indicated that the flaps and slats were in an "unusual" retracted position when the plane attempted to take off.