Starline Sightseeing Tours

The driver of a tour bus that plunged into a rushing Sierra Nevada river last May 30 pleaded innocent in Bridgeport to manslaughter charges in the deaths of 21 elderly passengers. Ernst Klimeck, 48, probably will not face trial because a plea bargain is being negotiated, according to defense attorney Robert Courtney. The Starline Sightseeing Tours bus plunged off U.S.

The gig: President of Starline Tours and Tourcoach International. Starline Tours is one of the largest and oldest tour companies in Southern California, offering bus tours of celebrity homes and entertainment attractions. Combined, the two companies operate 150 buses and employ about 250 workers. Background: Sapir came to Los Angeles in 1963 as an Iranian exchange student, studying engineering at Western State College. While working as a parking lot attendant, he befriended Bud Delp, the former chauffeur of theater entrepreneur Sid Grauman.

Starline Sightseeing Tours on Monday drove away with its major competitor by buying the Los Angeles, Orange County and Santa Barbara operations of Gray Line Tours. The Hollywood-based bus charter and tour company said the purchase of the Gray Line operations will double the size of the company's bus fleet and allow it to reduce costs. Gray Line also has a strong presence in Orange County, where Starline had wanted to beef up its business.

Not satisfied with giving visitors a peek at where the stars work, Universal Studios Hollywood announced Tuesday it plans to give them a look at where the stars live. The studio, famed for its tour through working sound stages and movie and television show sets, has teamed with Starline Tours to give park visitors a chance to see stars' homes for one admission price ($85 for adults, $66 for children).

The gig: President of Starline Tours and Tourcoach International. Starline Tours is one of the largest and oldest tour companies in Southern California, offering bus tours of celebrity homes and entertainment attractions. Combined, the two companies operate 150 buses and employ about 250 workers. Background: Sapir came to Los Angeles in 1963 as an Iranian exchange student, studying engineering at Western State College. While working as a parking lot attendant, he befriended Bud Delp, the former chauffeur of theater entrepreneur Sid Grauman.

Not satisfied with giving visitors a peek at where the stars work, Universal Studios Hollywood announced Tuesday it plans to give them a look at where the stars live. The studio, famed for its tour through working sound stages and movie and television show sets, has teamed with Starline Tours to give park visitors a chance to see stars' homes for one admission price ($85 for adults, $66 for children).

A bus driver's failure to maintain proper speed probably caused the accident nearly a year ago in which a Starline Sightseeing Tours bus careened off a mountain highway into a river, killing 21 elderly passengers, most from Santa Monica, Calif., near the California-Nevada border, a federal investigation concluded today.

Starline Sightseeing Tours sued its insurance carrier, claiming that the company has been making "piecemeal settlement" to victims of the May 30 crash of a Starline tour bus in Walker Canyon that killed 21 elderly Santa Monica residents.

Two German tourists were killed and 43 others injured Friday when a tour bus heading from Las Vegas to Mammoth Lakes careened off a desert highway in the Owens Valley, the California Highway Patrol said. The bus was westbound on Highway 168, about four miles east of Big Pine, when the driver lost control on a downgrade and went off the road, CHP Sgt. Ray Dixon said. Rescuers arrived to find injured victims waiting dazed along the road, witnesses said.

The first two lawsuits stemming from the Mono County bus accident that killed 19 people were filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court. Mary J. Ainsworth, 67, of Santa Monica, one of 22 passengers injured in Friday's accident in the Walker River Canyon on U.S. 395 near Bridgeport, filed a $1-million lawsuit blaming the bus driver and the tour company for her extensive injuries.

Starline Sightseeing Tours on Monday drove away with its major competitor by buying the Los Angeles, Orange County and Santa Barbara operations of Gray Line Tours. The Hollywood-based bus charter and tour company said the purchase of the Gray Line operations will double the size of the company's bus fleet and allow it to reduce costs. Gray Line also has a strong presence in Orange County, where Starline had wanted to beef up its business.

The driver of a tour bus that plunged into a rushing Sierra Nevada river last May 30 pleaded innocent in Bridgeport to manslaughter charges in the deaths of 21 elderly passengers. Ernst Klimeck, 48, probably will not face trial because a plea bargain is being negotiated, according to defense attorney Robert Courtney. The Starline Sightseeing Tours bus plunged off U.S.

The driver of a Starline Sightseeing Tours Co. bus that plunged into the icy waters of the Walker River in Mono County last May 30 was charged Tuesday with manslaughter in connection with the deaths of 21 elderly passengers who perished in the crash. The Mono County district attorney's office filed a 45-count criminal complaint against Ernst August Klimeck. The complaint included a number of alleged Vehicle Code infractions, in addition to the manslaughter charges.