News stories from Sunday April 15, 1979

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

Flood waters were neck deep in Jackson, Miss., when the Pearl River overflowed and inundated parts of the city. Businesses were abandoned and an estimated 15,000 were homeless. Six to eight feet of water was reported in hundreds of homes along the 15-mile expanse of the Pearl basin on the edge of the city. Other areas were being evacuated as the river, swollen by heavy rains, steadily rose. [New York Times] The killing of two young leftists in Puerto Rico has become a political issue as another debate on statehood for the United States commonwealth approaches. The political atmosphere is being made volatile by rumors of "police death squads" and of conspiracy in high places against political activists who demand independence instead of statehood. [New York Times] Spiraling health care expenses have turned southeastern Michigan into a battleground over controlling the costs medical benefits and services. The region, a pioneer in developing these services and benefits, is now leading the way towards cutbacks. [New York Times] A clipper ship's crew was surprised that it had been the object of a wide search in the Atlantic when it was blown off course 250 miles out to sea. "We didn't know we were missing," one of them said. The ship, the Pride of Baltimore, a "good-will ambassador" for the city of Baltimore, ran into storms after leaving Wilmington, N.C. [New York Times] Violence on some college campuses, often originating in fraternities, is keeping law enforcement officials busy and infuriating neighbors. Rowdyism has been so rampant on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin that neighborhood residents have banded together and organized Save University Neighborhoods, demanding relief from "drunken, lawless, ugly and retaliatory behavior." Food fights that badly damaged a dining hall at Duke University might have been inspired by the movie "Animal House." [New York Times] An earthquake In Yugoslavia razed almost all the homes in 13 coastal villages on the southern Adriatic coast, killing and injuring hundreds of people. It was the strongest ever recorded in Yugoslavia, more severe than the one in 1963 that killed more than 1,000 people in Skopje. [New York Times] The revolt against Afghanistan's pro-Soviet government apparently is being led by self-exiled Afghans in Pakistan's remote Baluchistan Province who have established an effective communications network. [New York Times] About 100 bodies were removed from the ransacked headquarters of Idi Amin's secret police in Kampala, and other bodies scattered around in the city were collected by the Superintendent of Mortuaries. He said that he had collected more than 200 bodies of civilians and soldiers. He estimated that the count would go to 500 when his men search for those killed in private homes. [New York Times] Dissident wall posters in Shanghai demand human rights and assail the police, "the real criminal in Shanghai, the real cause of trouble in the city." Several activists had recently been arrested there. The posters appear to be a direct challenge to Shanghai authorities and the government in Peking, which last month banned all demonstrations and posters critical of the Chinese Party. [New York Times] Rhodesian farmers have joined the government's efforts to boost the turnout of black voters in the elections beginning Tuesday that will install a black-majority government. The farmers, along with teachers, businessmen, civil servants and soldiers, are touring the country to explain what the vote means and why every eligible black over 18 should participate. [New York Times]