European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 2, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday. August 2, 1987 the stars and stripes Page 7 Detroit Monorail carries first passengers Detroit not nearly iwo years late and tens of millions of dollars Over budget Detroit s Monorail system the people mover moved its first riders Fri Day above the City s corroded business District. The people mover once considered a possible Savior of the City s dying Center is now being greeted with both the excitement of a child trying out a new toy and the dread of a Parent wondering what will go wrong first. Packed people mover cars whizzed into packed stations Friday As office workers spent their lunch Breaks gliding past the City s rooftops on the 2.9-Milc Monorail for free. After aug. 7, rides will Cost 50 cents. This is belter than the new York subways said Virgil Knaf. At least you can see where you re  since its groundbreaking four years ago the Monorail has been a curiosity a butt of jokes a Magnet for controversy and a Symbol of the obstacles to reviving a crumbling City. Construction was rep Alcaly delayed by problems ranging from cracked sup port beams to work stoppages by construction Crews claiming they had not been paid on time. Now it is expected to whisk riders in one or two car drive less trains run by computer from a Central control room Between office buildings restaurants and special events downtown eventually spurring development along the route. But critics Call it a do Glass Tail and a Hori Ontal elevator to  they argue that until there arc More places to go downtown there will be no people to move. Two thirds of those surveyed in a de troit free press poll said the people mover was a bad idea. In an earlier poll by the Detroit news two thirds of the respondents said they would not ride it. The people mover is the second such system in the country. The 1,9-Milc met remover in downtown Miami opened in april 1986 and has averaged 11,000 rid ers a Day Well below projections of 15,000 a Day. The people mover was originally in tended to be part of a larger rail system linking the City and its suburbs. But wit about $65 million in Cost overruns from the people mover Federal Money expected to be used for a subway system went to the downtown Loop instead. Now the people mover is a solitary track dependent mainly on downtown office workers. Where officials once predicted As Many As 55,000 people would ride it each Day they now expect about 16,000 and some say even that is Overly optimistic. Rockwell awarded contract to build replacement shuttle Cape canaveral Fla. A Rockwell inter National has received a si.3 billion contract to Manu facture a replacement for the destroyed space shuttle challenger. The National aeronautics and space administration announced the award Friday. Additional con tracts being negotiated with other companies for engines and other components will raise the total Price tag to More than $2 billion. Nasa and Rockwell which built the challenger and the three other shuttles in the Fleet have been negotiating the contract for some time. Shuttle flights have been grounded since the Chal Lenger exploded 73 seconds after launch on Jan. 28,1986, killing its seven Crew members. Modifications Are being made to the existing three shuttles and Nasa has set june 2 As the target for resuming launch under terms of the contract Rockwell will fabricate assemble test Check out and deliver the new shuttle within 45 months. The vehicle will feature new technology in some areas such As the computer sys tems plus other upgrades and modifications. More than 100 subcontractors will do substantial component and support service work. A i photo communion wafers for the Pope members of the cloistered carmelite order of nuns United states in september. Holding a tray of wafers re Busy baking 300,000 communion wafers to be in the bakery at the carmelite monastery of the used in an outdoor mass to be said in san Antonio most holy Trinity at new Caney Texas is Mother Texas by Pope John Paul ii during his visit to the Angel Teresa Sweeney ill the far right. West Virginia mayor indicted on drug charges Charleston. . A mayor Mike Roark dogged by allegations of drug use since his Days As county prosecutor was indicted Friday on charges he distributed cocaine and interfered with investigators. The 30-count indictment alleges Roark 41, distributed the drug in Charleston and Fayetteville and possessed it in his Home and office a City car and at a local High school. Roark a Republican who was re Clcil cd by a landslide in april has maintained that the allegations arc false. The indictment includes 13 felony charges and 17 Misdemeanour charges . Attorney Michael Carey said. If convicted Roark would face a maximum prison term of 182 years and a $525,000 Fine he said. Roark is charged with obstructing Justice by causing a witness to provide false information to the Fri inducing the witness to commit perjury and conspiring to obstruct Justice and commit perjury Carey said. Drug rumours about Roark first hit the newspapers in 1983 during his successful Campaign to unseat mayor Joe Smith a Democrat. According to those rumours the Fri had investigated the disappearance of a Small vial of co Caine that was confiscated by police in a 1982 drug raid. At the time Roark was Kanawha county prosecutor and the rumours said he two police officers and a Deputy Sher Iff were the Only people to handle the vial after it was seized. Roark disputed those rumours and is sued the first of what would turn out to be a series of statements denying he Ever had been involved in drug use. The rumours continued to dog Roark during his first term As mayor culminating Jan. 12 when a. Convicted drug dealer testified in Federal court that he sold co Caine to the mayor four times and used it with him once. George Hodges testifying in the drug trial of a Charleston business Man testified that he and the mayor used cocaine during a rafting trip in october 1984. Roark immediately called a news con Ference to deny Hodges testimony say ing i have never used cocaine. I Don t use cocaine. And i Don t plan to use co  Roark went on to defeat former mayor John Hutchinson in april for a second four year term. During his current term the special Federal grand jury investigating drug use continued to meet in Bluefield. Each time the panel delivered indictments re mors circulated in Charleston that Roark would be named and news conference sin the mayor s office followed each new set of charges. Roark who served four years in the . Justice department in Pittsburgh before returning to West Virginia in 1978 to run for county prosecutor has frequently been mentioned As a possible gop candidate for governor or con Gress. Malfunctioning airliners manage to land safely grand Junction Colo. A a Continental airlines Jet with m6 passengers aboard landed safely Friday afternoon after one of its two engines failed Over the Utah desert officials said. In Boston an Eastern airlines flight to Washington d.c., returned to Logan International Airport shortly after Takeoff Friday night apparently due to a problem with a Flap said Phil Orlandella a spokesman for the Massachusetts port authority. The Landing at grand Junction s Walker Field went smoothly with no injuries said Chuck Coble Continental s general manager in grand Junction. Flight 438 originated in Stockton calif., in route to Houston with intermediate stops in Fresno calif., and Denver Coble said. The problem developed on the Fresno to Denver leg of the flight. The dc-9 Jet with a Crew of six. Landed without incident about 20 minutes after the engine failed Coble said. The plane was cruising at 31.000 feet when the engine failed and there was no loss of Altitude when the incident occurred. The cause of Friday s engine failure had not Bee determined. Coble said. Passengers were scheduled on later flights. Orlandella said Eastern flight 623, with 116 Passen Gers returned to Logan International shortly before 10 . He said it had not been airborne Long but he did not have an exact Takeoff time. Orlandella said he did t know what Type of plane was involved or whether the flight had resumed after repairs. Telephone Calls to Eastern s Llo Slon office went unanswered late Friday night. On thursday a Delta jetliner preparing for Takeoff at los Angeles was struck by a smaller commuter Jirl incr on the taxiway the Federal aviation administration said. The Boeing 767 sustained minor damage said Faa spokesman Rich Tornquist. The other aircraft a sky West airlines Swearingen Melr Oliner was damaged in its Tail Section. Jim Ewing a Delta spokesman in Atlanta declined to comment on the latest in a series of mishaps that have struck the airline but caused no injuries including a Crew s accidental shutoff of both engines a land ing at the wrong Airport during a storm and a near collision Over the Atlantic Ocean