News stories from Wednesday February 28, 1973
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- The White House expects North Vietnam to release 120 American POWs sometime this week. The deadlock began Monday when North Vietnam said there would be no more American prisoner releases until shooting stops in Vietnam and until the safety of Communist members of the Joint Military Commission is assured. The U.S. responded by pressuring North Vietnam by stopping troop withdrawal from Vietnam and suspending minesweeping operations in Haiphong Harbor.
Press secretary Ron Ziegler stated today that, during a meeting between Secretary of State Rogers and the North Vietnamese Foreign Minister, North Vietnam agreed to release the American POWs. If American POWs are released, the international conference on Vietnam which is meeting in Paris can proceed with regular business. State Department spokesman Robert McCloskey said that prisoner releases are unrelated to other Vietnam matters.
[CBS] - At Wounded Knee, South Dakota, the site of an 1890 Indian massacre, 200 Indians seized control of the Pine Ridge Sioux Reservation and have taken 10 hostages. Members of the American Indian Movement seized the reservation's trading post and demanded an investigation into mismanagement and corruption in the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. AIM leader Russell Means wants negotiating teams from Senator Edward Kennedy's office to help settle the matter.
FBI agents surrounded the reservation. AIM members shot at low flying police planes during the morning, but stopped this afternoon. Senator Kennedy stated that nothing can be done until the hostages are released.
[CBS] - Rep. William Ford urged cities to sue Howard Phillips, head of the Office of Economic Opportunity, if they are hurt by cutbacks in anti-poverty programs. [CBS]
- Senator William Proxmire accused President Nixon of economic "blunders" for which American families will have to pay. [CBS]
- The Senate began confirmation hearings on the nomination of L. Patrick Gray to head the FBI. Many feel that Gray is too political for the job. Democrats believe that Gray is a partisan Republican, and under Gray the FBI has been lax in investigating the Watergate bugging. Gray offered to make the FBI files on Watergate available to Senator Eastland or any other senator, and he denied Senator Bayh's accusation that he intended to help the Nixon campaign with his speeches. Senator Robert Byrd feels that Gray is too "politically active" for a non-partisan office. [CBS]
- In Miami, reputed underworld figure Meyer Lansky was convicted of criminal contempt. A government attorney charged that Lansky used bad health as an excuse to keep from appearing before a grand jury in 1970. Lansky's attorney denied that charge, but Lansky was convicted. [CBS]
- In 1970, Congress passed a bill authorizing the spending of $220 million to train family doctors. When Congress shut down for the Christmas holidays, President Nixon killed the measure with a pocket veto. Senator Kennedy now urges that the pocket veto be ruled illegal.
In court, Kennedy argued as his own attorney that the pocket veto is illegal except when Congress is adjourned. In the case in question, Congress was only recessed. A Justice Department attorney argued that the pocket veto is supported by law and custom. Kennedy replied that the founding fathers didn't intend the pocket veto to be an absolute veto.
[CBS] - A Senate investigation of Internal Revenue Service methods found that the IRS uses special procedures in disputes involving important people. [CBS]
- Farm prices were up 3% in February and grocery prices were up 2.7% in January. Federal Reserve chairman Arthur Burns last week suggested that Americans have one meatless day a week. Today Labor Secretary Brennan suggested "victory gardens." [CBS]
- A school bus and car crash killed one person and injured two in Canton, Ohio. Pressure is growing for federal safety standards for school buses. The Wayne Corporation is producing what it says is a safer bus body construction. Still, federal safety standards are needed. Wayne Corporation spokesman Ted Bosshard stated that that safety in bus construction is limited by economic practicality. [CBS]
- Israeli Premier Golda Meir will meet tomorrow with President Nixon in Washington. Speculation is increasing that she may have met with Jordan's King Hussein yesterday in Washington. [CBS]
- James Hilton's book "Lost Horizon" focuses on the mythical land of Shangri La. Now in Ecuador, a village has been found where people live a very long time. The village of Vilcabamba has a population of 819; nine are over 100 years old. Miguel Carpio is 132 years old; Micajaila Quesada is 104; Gabriel Sanchez is 120; Retrona Pineda is 110. For unknown reasons, Vilcabamba is free of diseases like cancer. It is almost completely isolated from the rest of the world. Carpio says he smokes and drinks and has never seen a doctor. Pineda said that she has never seen a doctor either, and has had 14 children. Experts say that the low calorie diet of the villagers is the major factor in their good health. With the discovery of Vilcabamba, however, it is feared that tourism and publicity will ruin the health of the villagers. [CBS]
- It was announced that men who fled the U.S. before getting their draft induction notices are free to return if the notices were never sent. [CBS]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 955.07 (+7.15, +0.75%)
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* |
| February 27, 1973 | 947.92 | 110.90 | 16.13 |
| February 26, 1973 | 953.79 | 112.19 | 15.86 |
| February 23, 1973 | 959.89 | 113.16 | 15.45 |
| February 22, 1973 | 971.78 | 114.44 | 14.57 |
| February 21, 1973 | 974.34 | 114.69 | 14.88 |
| February 20, 1973 | 983.59 | 115.40 | 14.02 |
| February 16, 1973 | 979.23 | 114.98 | 13.32 |
| February 15, 1973 | 973.13 | 114.45 | 13.94 |
| February 14, 1973 | 979.91 | 115.10 | 16.52 |
| February 13, 1973 | 996.76 | 116.78 | 25.32 |