News stories from Friday February 20, 1970
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Judge Julius Hoffman gave the maximum sentences to five defendants who were found guilty of crossing state lines to incite riots at the '68 convention, and fined them $5,000 and court costs of approximately $60,000. Defendants David Dellinger, Rennie Davis, Tom Hayden, Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin were allowed to make a final statement before the verdict was read. The judge refused to grant bail, saying that the defendants are dangerous men.
An American Bar Association official stated that some of the judge's remarks were not judicious, and will be examined along with other aspects of the trial.
[CBS] - A presidential commission completed its study of the proposed all-volunteer Army. The report goes beyond anything the President indicated previously, calling for an end to the draft in July '71 and starting the all-volunteer Army regardless of the situation in Vietnam. [CBS]
- Defense Secretary Melvin Laird said that Russia may have a larger fleet of nuclear subs than the United States by 1975. [CBS]
- United States military strength in Europe prompted a Senate debate. Mike Mansfield said that the troops are "hostages" to assure that the U.S. will defend Europe. Charles Percy claims that it costs $14 billion a year to keep troops there. [CBS]
- The oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico has been burning for 11 days, and it will be another week before the fire will be put out and the flow of oil is stopped. Chevron officials have offered no explanation for the incident. [CBS]
- A cabinet-level task force recommended that the import quotas on foreign oil be replaced by a tariff system. President Nixon is deferring a decision pending more study. [CBS]
- Senator Fred Harris called for a federal board to set wage and price controls to cool off the economy. The Chrysler Corporation announced that it expects to lose between $10 and $40 million in the first quarter of this year. [CBS]
- Senator Margaret Chase Smith scolded NASA for paying its consultants high fees for doing little. NASA head Thomas Paine said that the abuses will be corrected. [CBS]
- The House Internal Security Committee announced an investigation of the Black Panthers. Hearings will begin March 4 on their activities, and to see if they have foreign Communist support. Conductor Leonard Bernstein had been raising money for the Panthers' defense, but now says he has become disenchanted with the organization. [CBS]
- South Vietnamese B-52 bombers hit the enemy hard near the Cambodian border. There was ground action in the Mekong Delta region.
The World Council of Churches issued a list of Vietnam appeals: the Council wants the U.S. to discontinue search and destroy missions and defoliants, and called on North Vietnam to publish a list of POWs.
[CBS] - Capt. Thomas Willingham, who has been accused of participating in a My Lai-type massacre in Vietnam, appeared before a special Army board of inquiry. He will plead innocent to all charges. [CBS]
- Mideast warfare underscores the importance of the upcoming Nixon-Pompidou talks. The United States is still considering Israel's request for more jets. France just sold jets to Libya but has frozen sales to Israel and to Arab nations who are fighting Israel. Pompidou says that the Big 4 nations can't impose peace in the Mideast, but should propose it and then let U.N. mediator Gunnar Jarring take steps to achieve peace. [CBS]
- In Warsaw, U.S. and Chinese envoys met in a new series of confidential talks. [CBS]
- Willi Stoph and Willy Brandt will meet in the first summit meeting ever held between East and West Germany. [CBS]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 757.46 (-0.46, -0.06%)
Arms Index is the ratio of volume per declining issue to volume per advancing issue; a figure below 1.0 is bullish. | |||||||||||||||
| Market Index Trends | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | DJIA | S&P | Volume* |
| February 19, 1970 | 757.92 | 87.76 | 12.89 |
| February 18, 1970 | 756.80 | 87.44 | 11.95 |
| February 17, 1970 | 747.43 | 86.37 | 10.14 |
| February 16, 1970 | 753.70 | 86.47 | 9.78 |
| February 13, 1970 | 753.30 | 86.54 | 11.06 |
| February 12, 1970 | 755.61 | 86.73 | 10.01 |
| February 11, 1970 | 757.33 | 86.94 | 12.26 |
| February 10, 1970 | 746.63 | 86.10 | 10.11 |
| February 9, 1970 | 755.68 | 87.01 | 10.83 |
| February 6, 1970 | 752.77 | 86.33 | 10.15 |