News stories from Friday December 27, 1974
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- President Ford held a meeting with 15 advisers in Vail, Colo., where he is vacationing, in an attempt to work out new policy proposals on energy that would both increase the supply and restrict consumption. Ron Nessen, the White House press secretary, described the meeting as "intense," and said the President had ordered that there be "no public discussion" of the options under consideration. [New York Times]
- The prosecution completed its final arguments at the Watergate cover-up trial by telling the jurors that it was now up to them to "balance the accounts" and close the ledgers on Watergate. "It's no fun casting stones," the chief prosecutor, James Neal, told the jury. "This government that's represented here does not cast stones with joy or happiness." The jurors are scheduled to begin their deliberations Monday after getting instructions in the law from Judge John Sirica. [New York Times]
- Federal Judge Arthur Garrity held three Boston school committeemen in civil contempt of court for refusing to approve a citywide busing plan for desegregation. He took under advisement until Monday what penalties he might impose on the committee members. Near the end of a court hearing, Judge Garrity appeared to be proposing a solution in which the committee would somehow "submit" the plan without approving it, although the committeemen had been firm in their opposition. [New York Times]
- Jack Benny, the comedian who had been a star of radio and then television for 40 years, died at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif. He was 80 years old, but Mr. Benny, in one of his best-loved and oldest jokes, had insisted for years that he was only 39. For millions in the 1930's and 1940's Sunday night at 7 meant Jack Benny and "The Gang." [New York Times]
- The Commerce Department reported that the United States balance of export and import trade slipped back into a modest deficit in November after a small surplus in October. The deficit, $113 million, was the sixth in the last seven months and brought the excess of imports over exports for the year to $2.4 billion. The deficit was more than accounted for by one product -- oil. [New York Times]
- A House committee that conducted a nine-month study of air hazards accused the Federal Aviation Administration of avoiding leadership and showing signs of "sluggishness which at times approaches an attitude of indifference to public safety." The Special Subcommittee on Investigations said that the F.A.A. had "needlessly and unjustifiably put at risk" thousands of lives by failing to deal properly with dangers of the DC-10 jumbo jet for almost two years. [New York Times]
- Judge Jay Rubinow of Connecticut's Superior Court ruled that the state's system of financing public schools was unconstitutional, in a decision that could add momentum to a developing national trend. The judge declared that Connecticut's existing system of distributing school funds evenly to towns according to the number of pupils in school does nothing to correct the inequities arising from the disparate wealth of those towns. His decision was based on the assumption that the state would appeal to Connecticut's Supreme Court.
The New Jersey state Senate agreed to hold a special session on Jan. 6 after another unsuccessful attempt to devise a tax program that would meet the state Supreme Court's Dec. 31 deadline for a new system of financing New Jersey's public schools. The present system of school financing, based on local taxes, was declared unconstitutional.
[New York Times] - Amy Vanderbilt, the widely-read authority on etiquette and social graces, fell or jumped to her death from a second-story window of her home at 438 East 87th Street in New York City, the police said. She was 66 years old. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 602.16 (-2.58, -0.43%)
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* |
| December 26, 1974 | 604.74 | 67.44 | 11.81 |
| December 24, 1974 | 598.40 | 66.88 | 9.54 |
| December 23, 1974 | 589.64 | 65.96 | 18.04 |
| December 20, 1974 | 598.48 | 66.91 | 15.84 |
| December 19, 1974 | 604.43 | 67.75 | 15.90 |
| December 18, 1974 | 603.49 | 67.90 | 18.05 |
| December 17, 1974 | 597.54 | 67.58 | 16.88 |
| December 16, 1974 | 586.83 | 66.46 | 15.37 |
| December 13, 1974 | 592.77 | 67.07 | 14.00 |
| December 12, 1974 | 596.37 | 67.45 | 15.39 |