News stories from Sunday December 6, 1970

Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:

Under-Sheriff Lloyd Bell led a search of Howard Hughes' vacant penthouse at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas and was quoted as saying that he had "reason to believe there was foul play involved" in Mr. Hughes's departure from Las Vegas Nov. 25. One of the factions in the Hughes empire immediately accused the other of suggesting a felony in order to permit the search. Employees of the resort facilities on Paradise Island, the Bahamas, said that Mr. Hughes was currently living in either the Britania Beach Hotel, where part of a floor is sealed off, or the Emerald Beach Hotel, where he once kept a suite. [New York Times] In his first pubic appearance since the day he was dismissed by President Nixon, former Interior Secretary Walter Hickel criticized the Republican campaign this year and implied that he would not campaign for Mr. Nixon in 1972 unless the Republican "attitude" changes. "I don't think you go out and divide," he said. [New York Times] The Taos Pueblo Indians of New Mexico quietly celebrated the return of Blue Lake, the sacred source of the now-icy little river that runs between the two ancient Indian pueblos in Taos, with a morning mass. A Senate vote last week assured the return of the lake and 48,000 acres around it. [New York Times] Chancellor Willy Brandt of West Germany arrived in Warsaw for Monday's signing of a West German-Polish treaty and stood in the cold Warsaw night air as a band played the West German national anthem, the first time that theme had been played at an official Communist reception in Poland. [New York Times] Mayor John Gregorio of Linden, N.J., saying that "we feel this was an act of sabotage," made public a warning that the Humble oil refinery would "burn, baby, burn" telephoned to the police less than two hours before a massive explosion ripped through the refinery complex. Four of the 20 crude oil processing units in the refinery were heavily damaged by the blast and the fire, which was finally brought under control in the early-morning hours. [New York Times] Nikita Khrushchev, in the latest excerpts from reminiscences attributed to him, said that Stalin believed "we were surrounded by enemies" and that Alexei Kosygin, now the Soviet Premier, was almost purged in 1949. The former Soviet leader conceded that he had signed execution orders passed around the Politburo by Stalin. [New York Times] A nationwide investigation found that most of the state boards established to clean up the nation's air and water contain a preponderance of representatives from organizations that are the principal sources of pollution. Federal officials say privately that the composition of such boards -- which often have policing powers -- is perhaps a major reason why pollution abatement has not progressed faster. [New York Times]