STORIES FROM THE PAST

40 years ago

The two Naval aviators aboard the attack squadron jet which crashed into the Chocolate Mountains Thursday were found dead about noon Thursday, according to Navy Parachute Test Range officials.

The men were identified as Lt. Cmdr. Billy W. Harmon, 37, of Meridian, Miss., and Lt. David L. Wilkins, 24, of Cherry Hill, N.J. Their bodies were found in an isolated area of the Chocolate Mountains Gunnery Range, said the officials. The cause of the accident is still unknown, but the Navy’s accident review board was on its way to the Valley this morning to study the “evidence.” Sections of the A6 Intruder aircraft, a Navy attack squadron jet, was found scattered throughout the area. “The biggest piece was about the size of a couch,” said one official.

30 years ago

The Calexico Little League All Stars earned the right to play of the District 22 All Star championship in their home park next week when they defeated the Brawley All Stars 8-2 Friday night.

The victory gives Calexico the championship of the winners bracket. Calexico will rest until Tuesday, when it will play the winners of the losers bracket for the championship. El Centro eliminated Holtville, 5-2, in Brawley Friday. El Centro thus earned a rematch with Sunbeam. It was Sunbeam that put El Centro in the lower bracket with a 9-2 defeat in Tuesday’s opening round of the tournament.

20 years ago

CALEXICO — In what may prove to be the most unique welfare-to-work program to date, San Diego State University is banking on Mexicali’s surging economy and the success of NAFTA to put more than 300 residents here to work.

SDSU, with the cooperation of the city of Calexico, the county Department of Social Service, the Calexico Chamber of Commerce and the Private Industry Council, is attempting to secure a more than $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration to get those on government assistance back into the workplace.