European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 21, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday april 21, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 3seized goods being mismanage Gao says . Losing Cash to fight drug War Washington a the . Marshals service is mismanaging millions of dollars in commercial property seized from drug dealers and other criminals resulting in a significant income loss for the fight against illegal drugs the general accounting office says. A draft of the report by the Gao a congressional investigative Agency was obtained by the associated  a a ,. Quot a a the report said that the marshals service lost a $1.5 million profit on one property alone after Utility Bills went unpaid for a year. The Agency also caused a embarrassment to the government by seizing an innocent persons property and once paid for an audit that consisted solely of comparing checks written by an apartment manager with the amounts recorded on Check stubs by the same manager. A the government has lost or is at risk of losing Money on properties Worth millions of dollars a said the report which did not attempt to estimate a total income loss. The Gao said the marshals service a Justice department Agency had custodial responsibility for some $1.4 billion Worth of seized property As of dec. 31. The program generated $311 million in fiscal 1989 for prison construction and for hiring new prosecutors both part of the fight against illegal drugs. The report concentrated on the mishandling of commercial properties initially valued at More than $1 million. The. Gao said real property totalled $620.8 million of the $1.4 billion total but specified no breakdown Between commercial and non commercial seizures. Gao officials said the report will formally be issued in several weeks and there will be no significant changes in the draft copy. The Justice department released a response it sent to the Gao on april 1, which said the Agency agrees the program a has experienced problems caused by substantial growth and  but the department took Issue with some of the findings and conclusions. Harry Flickinger assistant attorney general for administration said in the response that the Gao report contained a abroad generalizations from specific cases and use of old cases to represent current program  rep. Ron Wyden Dore. And chairman of a House Small business subcommittee said the marshals service wants to Deal with the problem by creating a commercial real estate management unit. In a letter to attorney general Richard Thornburgh Wyden said the plan a May not be a Cost effective  the failure to conduct thorough title searches in at least one instance resulted in the seizure of property a from an innocent third  the report said the marshals service a a thought the property belonged to a., drug trafficker Money  turned out this individual Only had an option to buy the property from the Legal  the report said Many problems were caused by inadequate staffing training policy guidance and oversight in a program that saw the seized property inventory grow from 2,555 items at the Start of fiscal 1985 to 31,110 by dec. 31, 1990. Reagan later revised his reasons for 1985 visit to Pitburg cemetery Washington a former president Reagan said he visited a German military cemetery in 1985, despite a maelstrom of criticism because he believed some is troopers buried there had been killed by the nazis for trying to shield jews according to letters released Friday. Reagan a 1989 letters to the world jewish Congress marked the first time he was known to have used that explanation for his Wreath laying at Pitburg a bitterly divisive event at the time and since. He had been asked to avoid visiting Pitburg because among the Graves of German world War ii troops were 49 belonging to members of the is Adolf hitlers elite troops. At the time Reagan described his decision made after much agonizing As a gesture of reconciliation with Germany 40 years after the end of world War ii. In the newly disclosed letters Reagan was responding to world jewish Congress vice president Kalman sulta Nik who had expressed concern about How the former president intended to depict the Pitburg affair in his autobiography. Sultanik a member of Reagan a holocaust memorial Council wrote him in March 1989 that he was worried Reagan might inadvertently support revisionist historians who reject evidence that the nazis exterminated six million jews. On March 16, 1989, Reagan wrote Sultanik that he had done some research on his own and Learned that some is troops buried at Pitburg a were buried in prisoner uniforms. They had been executed for trying to shield inmates from torture and the in this 1985 photo president Reagan prepares to Lay a Wreath at the military cemetery in Pitburg Germany. Ovens. He added that several individuals had written him to describe How is men had saved their lives. The letter did not say whether these were the same is men Reagan believed were buried at Pitburg. Sultanik himself a death Camp survivor wrote Back that he had not found any reference to executions of is troopers in any holocaust literature or archives. A 1986 Vajc study of captured is and nazi police records did no to uncover any Case of an is member executed or sent to a concentration Camp for refusing an order to kill jews. Responding to Sultanik Reagan wrote that a German officials having to do with my visit were the source of this  judge rules for student in Cross burning Fairfax a. Apr a state judge ruling that Virginia a Law against Cross burning is unconstitutional has dismissed a felony charge against a 16-year-old High school student charged with burning a Cross on Campus. Chief family court judge Jane p. Del Bridge chief judge of the Fairfax county family court threw out the Case after the students attorney argued the Law is too Broad and Bridges Freedom of speech. The Kun flux klan uses the burning Cross As its Symbol. The students lawyer Brian m. Mccormack said a across burning like Flag burning is a form of symbolic speech. A the supreme court in the first amendment cases Calls it expressive conduct. Expressing opinion or ideas through the use of  according to county prosecutors the ruling which was made during a hearing closed to the Public will not be appealed. Said Commonwealth attorney Robert f. Horan or. A a that a one judges opinion a said commonwealths attorney Robert f. Horan or. A unless you be got some higher court of the same opinion we re bound to continue to support the statute until some higher court rules it  Mccormack a client was arrested dec. 6. A _  was charged with burning a Cross on the front Lawn of Fairfax High school. The arrest followed a week of incidents at the school that had incited racial tensions. At least 16 states have similar  americans want less wasteful packaging poll says new York apr most americans want less wasteful packaging in stores and about a third Are willing to pay a dime per Dollar extra for such items a poll has found. Reducing Landfill choking waste is one of the issues environmentalists Hope to publicize sunday on Earth Day. Industry spokesmen say they already have gotten the message and Are making packages with materials that Are reusable recyclable less wasteful or safer for the environment. About two thirds in the associated press poll said they have bought such items in the past year. Only one in 10 would t prefer such packaging if they had a Choice. Excluding those people 39 percent of the rest say they would choose the less wasteful package even if it Cost 10 percent More. The Telephone Survey of 1,001 adults was taken last week by ice Survey research group of Media a. Results have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage Points. The poll found a majority of people say they Recycle 58 percent say they Recycle cans regularly but that drops off to 42 percent for newspapers and 36 percent for  a aluminium cans have a High value because the material is Worth More a said John Ruston economic analyst for the environmental defense fund in new York City. 1 an additional one in seven said they Recycle each item occasionally. That leaves the population of hardcore non recyclers at 50 percent for bottles 43 percent for newspapers and 25 percent for cans