News stories from Tuesday May 22, 1979
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Price decontrols were opposed by House Democrats for domestic crude oil, which is the centerpiece of President Carter's latest energy program. The Democrats, in a caucus, voted 153 to 82 to retain such controls, but members are not bound to support the bill on the House floor. Administration officials said the legislation might get through the House, but had slim chances in the Senate. [New York Times]
- Gasoline by the half-gallon can be sold in New York state, effective tomorrow, under an emergency order generated by fears of widespread shutdowns of service stations over the Memorial Day weekend. The action will allow more stations to charge more than $1 a gallon because most pumps have only three windows in meters and can thus charge a maximum of 99.9 cents. Consumer groups said that the move would result in soaring prices. [New York Times]
- A pipeline plan remains cancelled. The chairman of the Standard Oil Company of Ohio said he saw no reason to change its decision not to build a California-to-Texas pipeline to carry surplus Alaskan oil. [New York Times]
- Violence in San Francisco led Mayor Dianne Feinstein to put police officers there and in nearby localities on alert to handle any further demonstrations by residents protesting the verdict in the murders of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk. More than 140 people, including 60 policemen, were injured, police cars burned and City Hall windows smashed in spontaneous demonstrations Monday night as homosexuals protested the lenience of the verdict. [New York Times]
- Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall granted a stay to lawyers for John Spenkelink, a convicted murderer who was scheduled to be executed in Florida's electric chair Wednesday morning. The stay postpones the execution for 36 hours to give the full court a chance to consider Mr. Spenkelink's plea. [New York Times]
- The biggest anti-pollution accord ever reached in the steel industry was announced as the United States Steel Corporation agreed to spend $400 million in the next three and a half years to clean up air and water pollutants. The accord will bring nine of the company's plants in western Pennsylvania and one in Utah into compliance with environmental control laws. [New York Times]
- Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan warned that, unless President Carter showed more leadership, he would soon "find that he's governing by the sufferance of" Senator Edward Kennedy. But the New York Democrat said that he still backed the renomination and re-election of Mr. Carter. [New York Times]
- Traces of an early British colony in America -- the complete outline of a 17th century plantation town -- has been unearthed near Williamsburg, Va. Also found was a complete Indian village and burial ground that predates the first white settlement. [New York Times]
- The Canadian people, divided along linguistic and regional lines, gave the Progressive Conservative Party a substantial lead in the House of Commons. But the Conservatives fell five seats short or a majority. Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau said he would ask the Governor General to ask Joe Clark, the conservative leader, to form a government. The Conservatives appeared to have won 135 seats to 114 for the Liberals. [New York Times]
- Frenzied Russians hailed Elton John in the British rock star's first concert in the Soviet Union. Nearly 4,000 fans danced their seats or in the aisles as the Leningrad police and other Soviet officials were helpless to control the screaming, clapping throng. [New York Times]
- Turkey will receive $58 million in a direct grant for arms under a vote by the Senate that backed President Carter and overrode the Foreign Relations Committee, which had substituted a loan for the same amount.
A key Senate panel is troubled by rivalries and a severe morale problem among aides because of the efforts of its new Chairman, Frank Church, to increase his authority over the Foreign Relations Committee.
[New York Times] - The slaying of students by forces of the Central African Empire, charged last week by Amnesty International, did occur, according to the country's ambassador in Paris, who announced he had resigned and formed an opposition group. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 845.37 (+2.94, +0.35%)
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* |
| May 21, 1979 | 842.43 | 100.14 | 25.55 |
| May 18, 1979 | 841.91 | 99.93 | 26.59 |
| May 17, 1979 | 842.95 | 99.94 | 30.55 |
| May 16, 1979 | 828.48 | 98.42 | 28.35 |
| May 15, 1979 | 825.88 | 98.14 | 26.19 |
| May 14, 1979 | 825.02 | 98.06 | 22.46 |
| May 11, 1979 | 830.56 | 98.52 | 24.01 |
| May 10, 1979 | 828.92 | 98.52 | 25.23 |
| May 9, 1979 | 838.62 | 99.46 | 27.67 |
| May 8, 1979 | 834.89 | 99.17 | 32.72 |