European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 3, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                F v Page 4 b the stars and stripes saturday August 3,1991 by the los Angeles times Palm Springs Calif. A a team of investigators thursday picked through the mangled wreckage of a school bus that plunged headlong Down a Rocky embankment outside Palm Springs carrying a group of vacationing girl scouts. Three adults and four teen age girls died in the wednesday Accident and scores More were injured. Three adults and eight girls who had travelled from All Over the country for an excursion in California remained in critical or serious condition thursday evening. Five were on life support systems. Investigators including several from the National transportation safety Board continued to focus on Brake failure As the Likely cause of the Accident. Several of the 60 girls and scout supervisors on the ill fated bus heard the Driver who was among the dead shout that he had lost his brakes shortly before the bus careened off a narrow Road in the Foothills of the san Jacinto mountains 100 Miles Southeast of los Angeles the bus was part of a three vehicle Convoy on an excursion organized by the Spanish trails girl scout Council of Pomona. Girls had been selected from scout troops throughout the United states to participate in a two week a California dreaming a a tour of Southern California. Four girls had come from Finland. A the fact that we done to see any locked wheel ski Marks indicates it was probably a Brake problem a said Jon West an assistant Leader of the California Highway patrols Accident investigation team. Other possibilities have not been ruled out however. These include tire failure a steering problem Driver error or some structural defect or weakness in the bus. West said one possible scenario is that the Driver braked excessively while descending the three Miles of Steep unforgiving Grade above the . A you can easily overheat the brakes to the Point where the drum expands and the shoe wont reach it anymore a West said. A at that Point the brakes done to do you any  police investigators search for evidence at the site of a bus crash that killed seven on a girl scout excursion in addition to the Nosb team eight California Highway patrol inspectors plus officials from the Palin Springs police department and the bus company joined to scour the crash site. The company that operated the bus is Mayflower contract services. State Highway patrol records show that buses run by Mayflower were cited 559 times in California Over the last year including 220 times for Brake problems. Officials did not say however if the number of citations was unusual. The Driver was identified As Richard a. Gonzales 23, of la Puente. Authorities said he had been employed by the bus company for about a year. His driving record showed no previous accidents. Charges filed in Detroit fire that killed 5 Detroit apr a woman accused of setting a fatal fire after an argument Over $2 to buy drugs was charged thursday with arson and five murder counts. Four adults and a toddler died in the Blaze wednesday and about 40 people living in the four Story downtown building were left without Homes. Llene Rousell 45, also was charged with violating her parole and was ordered jailed without bail. Neighbor Tony Johnson said she told him late tuesday that her Boyfriend would not give her $2 she needed to buy a $10 Rock of crack cocaine. A she said she had an argument with her Boyfriend and sprayed him with some Mace and that she was going to Burn the apartment up a Johnson said. In prison for drugs Tampa Fla. A an air Force pharmacist who says boredom and the Muslim ban on Beer led to widespread drug use during the Gulf War was sentenced Friday to three years in prison for abusing and sharing prescription drugs. Capt. Roger Mansfield 30, pleaded guilty thursday after striking a plea bargain with prosecutors just As his court martial was to begin at Macdill fab. He could have faced up to 41 years in prison. Under the sentence handed Down by the military judge col. James j. Blom mers Mansfield also received a dishonourable discharge and was fined $36,000, which is to be paid Over the next three years. A Mansfield who did not speak during the Brief hearing will begin serving his sentence immediately probably in the military prison at fort Leavenworth Kan. Prosecutors argued for a 10-year term. The defense said a six month sentence would fit the crime but after the three year sentence was announced defense attorney George Tragos called it fair. But a the Scapegoat Issue still remains valid a Tragos said. A the fact that Only one officer out of 50 1,000 was brought to trial  he said Mansfield a was the Only drug related court martial to result from the desert War. The plea agreement came moments after Blommers said prosecutors could use Mansfield a sworn confession to investigators in saudi Arabia last january. The judge rejected arguments by Mansfield a attorneys that the confession was coerced amid the wartime stress of daily scud missile alerts. Mansfield had called for a congressional investigation into drug use during the Gulf War saying boredom in the desert and the Muslim  Beer in saudi Arabia drove . Soldiers to use drugs. Military officials denied the allegations saying Only about 10 drug related investigations arose from the Gulf War. Mansfield choked Back tears thursday As he told Blommers he was to blame for his drug problems. A a Man of stronger will and character would not have done the things in be dote a he said. A i understand i exercised poor  Mansfield pleaded guilty to filling out false prescription logs for amphetamine pills illegally distributing amphetamines and sleeping pills to his roommates and committing conduct unbecoming an officer by sniffing the Inha Lable aesthetic Isof Lourane in front of enlisted men. Prosecutors agreed to drop a charge that he stole the drugs. Mansfield of Overland Park Kan., served in Riyadh saudia Arabia from mid August to late january As the chief pharmacist of the Macdill based 56th medical  City halted in bid to seek bankruptcy by the new York times Hartford Conn. A Connecticut succeeded thursday in blocking the City of Bridgeport from bankruptcy court when a Federal judge ruled that the City despite its financial troubles was Able to pay its Bills. Declaring that Bridgeport was not insolvent the judge Alan 11.w. Shiff of Federal bankruptcy court in Bridgeport said the states largest City a has no Choice but to continue with the budget and collective bargaining  gov. Lowell p. Weicker or. Said at a news conference that the ruling protected the state s commitment to help All of its distressed cities with its a full Faith and credit a which would have been jeopardized had Bridgeport won and become the nations first major City to enter bankruptcy court. Despite weickers comments state offices May have to shut Down next week because Connecticut does not have a state budget. Shifts ruling in any Case was strongly sympathetic to Bridgeport a financial problems and leaves the door open to bankruptcy if the City a finances Worsen. The City a Lead lawyer Richard d. Zeisler said the opinion carried a Strong message. A the unions the City und the state better get to the table in Good Faith and try to find a solution a said Zeisler a partner in the Bridgeport Law firm of Zeisler amp Zeisler Bridgeport filed for bankruptcy Protection june 6, the Day before a state financial review Board was to set a budget requiring an 18 percent property tax increase. The City a mayor Mary c. Moran said she hoped to avoid the tax increase by using the bankruptcy court to reorganize the City bureaucracy and break a onerous and economically burdensome Union contracts. She pledged to continue paying the City a Bills and Bond payments. The state Board which had ordered Bridgeport not to seek bankruptcy Protection responded by instructing state attorney general Richard Blumenthal to Block the bankruptcy bid. The Case attracted National attention As Bridgeport portrayed itself As a City abandoned by Industry left to Bear alone Fairfield county a poverty and social problems that its suburbs turned their backs on