News stories from Saturday March 17, 1973

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

The White House was authoritatively reported to be leaning towards a new approach to the regulation of imports of crude oil and refinery products, principally heating oil and gasoline. A two-step tariff would be substituted for the 14-year-old practice of limiting the physical volume of imports by means of a quota. A drastic revision of the tangled system of regulating imports of heating oil, jet fuel and gasoline is also under study. The White House's immediate objective is to avoid or minimize shortages of gasoline this summer and of heating oil next winter. [New York Times] Senate Democrats, fighting to gain the initiative in the spending dispute between President Nixon and Congress are preparing their own budget for the 1974 fiscal year. The attempt by Democratic leaders to find a coherent alternative -- "a counter budget", as they call it -- to the President's $268.7 billion spending proposal is unparalleled in Congress. [New York Times] Eastern Airlines, whose guaranteed-seat "Air Shuttle" triggered a fundamental change in the way people travel and do business in the Northeast Corridor 12 years ago, plans to extend the shuttle service from New York to Montreal on May 1. Eastern is also studying the possibility of introducing the unusual no-reservations-needed operation on flights between New York and Atlanta and possibly other cities, but for now plans to limit the extension to Montreal. [New York Times] United States intelligence officials in Saigon said today that the Communists had more war supplies in South Vietnam than before their offensive last year, but that their combat units were far below fighting strength. They believe it unlikely that the Communists would attempt a major drive in the immediate future, but are concerned that the large build-up in military equipment could produce a significant increase in the level of fighting. "The South Vietnamese are damn nervous about all this stuff sitting right there in front of them," one official said. [New York Times] A Cambodian air force captain stole a plane and bombed the presidential palace in Phnom Penh in what was reported to be an attempt to kill President Lon Nol. The flier, said to be an air attache at the palace who had failed flight-school training, missed the palace by 20 yards, but his bomb killed at least 20 people and wounded 35. President Lon Nol, unhurt, declared a state of national emergency, suspended all civil liberties and declared a 9 P.M. curfew. [New York Times] Pieces of dirty clothes, a pile of well-read books, some graffiti and memories were all that was left of American war prisoners at the Hanoi Hilton, their euphemism for the fortress-like old French prison compound in downtown Hanoi. When 33 Americans were taken out of the prison Friday morning to be released, all the cells were empty for the first time since the North Vietnam air war began more than 8 years ago. [New York Times] One of every five taxpayers who have their federal returns made out by commercial tax preparers this year may be asking for trouble with the Internal Revenue Service. This prospect arises from an official tally of 4,600 returns prepared for Internal Revenue investigators posing as ordinary taxpayers since Jan. 1. About 61% of the returns were determined to be "correct." Of the remainder, 16% were classified as "incorrect, non-fraudulent" and 22% -- more than 1 of every five -- as "potentially fraudulent." The figures were disclosed by Johnnie M. Walters, Internal Revenue Commissioner. [New York Times]