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News stories from Monday September 3, 1979
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Hurricane David hit Florida's beaches, knocking out power lines and causing heavy damage to buildings and cars from high winds and falling trees. Many residents of Atlantic coastal areas fled their homes in response to evacuation orders. The broad center of the hurricane first touched land near Palm Beach, and the storm was spanning 220 miles of coastline as it moved northward. Winds of 75 to 90 miles an hour destroyed a condominium and heavily damaged a trailer park, motels and shopping centers.
Relieved Miamians returned home after being spared the fury of Hurricane David. Tens of thousands had been ordered evacuated. Damage in south Florida was limited mainly to power failures, and 65 persons were reported injured by the storm. [New York Times]
- Roofs jutted from a flooded river in Santo Domingo as Dominicans began digging out hundreds of bodies and clearing up damage wrought by the hurricane. An official said that the death toll might rise to 1,000. About 150,000 people were homeless.
Disaster-aid teams and supplies from the United States government were sped to the hurricane-stricken island of Dominica and the Dominican Republic despite a nearly total absence of telephone links. American voluntary agencies were seeking word on how they could best provide assistance. [New York Times]
- President Carter hailed labor, thanked it for support for the arms treaty and general backing of his energy program and urged a compromise on proposed national health insurance. However, much of organized labor supports broader health insurance proposed by Senator Edward Kennedy. Mr. Carter spoke at a Labor Day picnic at the White House at which the absentee list was significant. [New York Times]
- Utilities could produce fish and vegetables in large quantities, according to a team of biologists and marine scientists who have worked five years on the nation's largest waste-heat aquaculture project. The specialists say they have proved the feasibility of using heated water from cooling systems of electric power companies to speed the growth of fish. [New York Times]
- The first reunion of Nixon loyalists since the end of the Nixon administration in 1974 was held at the former President's home in San Clemente, Calif. John Mitchell, the former Attorney General who spent 19 months in prison for obstruction of justice, was the guest of honor. Also on hand were scores of other people who served Richard Nixon and were caught up in the Watergate scandals. [New York Times]
- The broad discretion of judges to conduct closed court proceedings, granted by a recent decision of the Supreme Court, has resulted in differing public interpretations by the Justices. An appeal in a new case now gives them the chance to amend the scope of the controversial ruling. [New York Times]
- The Egyptian President left for Israel for new talks with Prime Minister Begin on Palestinian self-rule in Israeli-occupied territories and the future of Jerusalem. Both President Sadat and Mr. Begin have rejected an American proposal for a United Nations resolution that Israel fears might eventually be used to bring the Palestine Liberation Organization into Mideast talks. Mr. Sadat has seemed to suggest that he seeks Israeli concessions on the issue of self-rule. [New York Times]
- Fidel Castro accused Washington and Peking of responsibility for major global evils. The Cuban leader won warm applause for a fiery speech opening a conference of the so-called non-aligned movement in Havana attended by about 40 chiefs of government and of "liberation" groups. [New York Times]
- An effort to woo Quebecers is being made by Prime Minister Joe Clark of Canada. Quebec contributed only two of its 75 House of Commons seats to Mr. Clark and his Progressive Conservatives. Mr. Clark has made a number of gestures of good will toward the French-speaking province, accepting, for example, a plan to institute bilingual air traffic control there. [New York Times]
- Iranian troops gained over Kurds. Government forces, aided by jet fighters, helicopter gunships and tanks, advanced through defense lines outside the insurgent stronghold of Mehabad, and the main Kurdish force and most of the city's inhabitants withdrew to surrounding hills. A spokesman for the Kurds said they would continue their fight for autonomy in a town 40 miles to the south. [New York Times]
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