News stories from Friday July 17, 1981
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- At least 43 people were killed and about 150 injured in the 40-story Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City when two mezzanine "sky bridges" collapsed and fell into a ballroom full of dancers. [New York Times]
- Another concession in the 1981 tax bill by the Reagan administration was disclosed by the Treasury Department, which said the administration would reluctantly accept an inititative to create automatic adjustments of the income tax to offset inflation, starting in 1985. A spokesman for Treasury Secretary Donald Regan said the administration would prefer that Congress defer action on the adjustment provision, which the Senate has approved, to a later tax bill. "But we wouldn't oppose it," he said. [New York Times]
- Restoration of the minimum benefit -- $122 monthly -- that has been provided by the Social Security System was sought by House Democraticc leaders. It was eliminated in both the House and Senate versions of a $37 billion package of budget cuts. [New York Times]
- Wayne Williams was indicted for the murder of two young men who were among the 28 young Alanta residents slain in the last 2 years. Mr. Williams has been in custody as a suspect in the staying of 27-year-old Nathaniel Cater. He was indicted for the slaying of Mr. Cater and in the death of 21-year-old Jimmy Ray Payne. [New York Times]
- Five Southern states will reject a broad range of California produce if it has not been sprayed to protect it from the Mediterranean fruit fly. The ban by Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas will become effective Monday. Those states had previously quarantined produce shipments from three California counties. Monday's ban would apply to the entire state. [New York Times]
- William J. Casey's financial dealings before he became Director of Central Intelligence will be investigated by the staff of the Senate Intelligence Committee, whose chairman is Barry Goldwater. The inquiry, he said, will begin immediately and will focus on a federal district court decision charging that Mr. Casey and others in a 1968 investment offering on behalf of a farming company "had omitted and misrepresented facts." The company later became bankrupt. [New York Times]
- Pregnant women should not drink alcoholic beverages, the Surgeon General's office said in its first official warning on alcohol and pregnancy. Drinking even small amounts of alcohol in pregnancy signficantly raises the risk of spontaneous abortion, smaller-than-normal babies and birth defects, said the advisory, which appeared in a Food and Drug Administration bulletin sent to 1 million doctors and other health professionals. [New York Times]
- The parents of Siamese twins, born joined at the waist, were freed of attempted murder charges by a judge in Danville, Ill. Dr. Robert Mueller, his wife, Pamela Schopp, and their family physician had been charged with attempting to starve the twins. [New York Times]
- Beirut was bombed by Israeli jets, which also crippled three more bridges in southern Lebanon. The planes attacked a densely populated area of Beirut containing Palestinian guerrilla headquarters. Palestinian reports said 123 people had been killed and more than 550 wounded, mostly in Beirut. The United Nations Security Council met at Lebanon's request to deal with the increasing Israeli attacks. [New York Times]
- Lebanese civilians will not be spared in Israeli's widening attacks on Palestinian installations in Lebanon, Prime Minister Menachem Begin announced as Israeli planes bombed Beirut. His warning was intended to press Lebanese authorities to curb Palestinian military operations against Israel from Lebanon. [New York Times]
- The U.S. called for a cease-fire in the Israeli-Lebanese border area following Israel's attack on Beirut, and the Reagan administration postponed an announcement that delivery of F-16 fighter-bombers to Israel would be resumed. The State Department said that the United States deplored the "progressive escalation of violence." Despite the postponment of the announcement that the fighter jets would again be shipped, it was still believed possible by American officials that the six aircraft would depart as scheduled on Tuesday. [New York Times]
- Stanislaw Kania's centrist faction emerged triumphant in the balloting for a new Central Committee in Poland. Leaders of both extremes, liberal and conservative were defeated in the secret balloting, which was employed for the first time in choosing the new Central Committee. The result was a strong indication that Mr. Kania will be re-elected as First Secretary by the congress. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 959.90 (+4.42, +0.46%)
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* |
| July 16, 1981 | 955.48 | 130.34 | 39.01 |
| July 15, 1981 | 954.15 | 130.23 | 48.95 |
| July 14, 1981 | 948.25 | 129.65 | 45.23 |
| July 13, 1981 | 954.34 | 129.64 | 38.10 |
| July 10, 1981 | 955.67 | 129.37 | 39.95 |
| July 9, 1981 | 959.00 | 129.30 | 45.51 |
| July 8, 1981 | 953.48 | 128.32 | 46.00 |
| July 7, 1981 | 954.15 | 128.24 | 53.55 |
| July 6, 1981 | 949.30 | 127.37 | 44.59 |
| July 2, 1981 | 959.19 | 128.64 | 45.09 |