KILLER EULOGIZED: Alan Winterbourne, who killed four...

KILLER EULOGIZED: Alan Winterbourne, who killed four people last week before dying in a hail of police gunfire, was remembered Wednesday as a “tender and caring person” (B1). . . . Winterbourne is credited with the worst shooting rampage in Ventura County history, but he will not go down as the county’s most prolific mass murderer. That distinction belongs to Ralph J. Muller and Peter D. Kamenoff, who killed nine people--including themselves--in a 1958 bombing in Box Canyon. The pair belonged to a white-robed cult led by an ex-boilermaker named Krishna Venta. Motive for blast: They suspected that Venta was sleeping with their wives. . . . In less than 30 minutes, Winterbourne raised the county’s 1993 homicide toll by 14%. Current total: 40.

HAPPY HOSPITAL: Hospitals usually denounce as unfair those state studies that list, say, which ones had the highest mortality rates. But Community Memorial in Ventura is delighted with a new survey that gives top marks to its back surgery program (A3). . . . “We always felt the quality of our program was excellent,” spokesman Michael Lurie said. The hospital’s surgeons get plenty of practice: They do 600 back operations a year. . . . No Ventura County hospital got above-average marks for heart attack treatment. Simi Valley Hospital said the survey’s methodology was flawed.

STEP STUDY: You can learn Balinese dances in Ojai, Scottish Highland steps in Oxnard and everything from Hawaiian to Israeli dances in Thousand Oaks (Ventura County Life, Page 28). . . . It’s a strenuous hobby, Scottish dance instructor Susie Eskridge said. “It’s 10 times harder than aerobics.”

HAT TRICK: Newbury Park High School was the big winner in The Times’ All-Ventura County football awards (C13-14). George Hurley is coach of the year, quarterback Keith Smith is back of the year and offensive end Leodes Van Buren is lineman of the year. . . . The all-star team, which honors the top 23 high school football players in the county, includes eight players from undefeated Newbury Park.