News stories from Sunday April 8, 1979

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

Thousands of people were evacuated in the Florida panhandle area after the derailment of a Louisville & Nashville freight train carrying toxic chemicals. About 5,000 rural residents were removed from an 80 square mile area near Crestview, and Crestview city residents were placed on alert. A railroad spokesman said acetone in a tank car exploded and that sulfur in other cars burned. [New York Times] Presidential hopefuls are flocking to New Hampshire, in imitation of President Carter's early and successful primary campaign there in 1975. Last week, 10 Democrats and Republicans, announced and unannounced candidates, arrived to give speeches, shake hands and be photographed. [New York Times] A bond issue for a nuclear plant was approved by voters in Austin, Tex. It was widely regarded as a bellwether vote for the nuclear industry after the accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania. The $216 million bond issue for cost overruns at the South Texas Nuclear Project was approved by 53 percent margin. A proposition authorizing the city to sell its 16 percent share in the project was rejected by a margin of 50.9 percent. [New York Times] Billy Carter went to Libya last September and from that visit grew plans for a corporate association with the government of Col. Muammar Qaddafi, according to some of the people who went on the all-expense-paid trip. Several participants said they expected that the plans would proceed. [New York Times] The inadequate "vigilance" of an air traffic controller was the main cause of the near-collision last Feb. 11 of an American Airlines jet and a 19-passenger commuter near La Guardia Airport, federal officials said. The actions of the commuter plane's pilot were said to be a "contributing cause." [New York Times] Fears of resegregation are being voiced in suburbs across the country that have attempted to follow open housing practices. In Park Forest South and other Chicago suburbs, for example, efforts are being made to attract more white families to offset a black population that is now more than 30 percent and growing. Suburban officials assert that their commitment to integration remains, and accuse real estate agents of "steering" blacks to integrated suburbs and away from mostly white ones. [New York Times] Congress set back New York City's major legislative priority -- $68 million in federal aid to help close the budget deficit -- even before the city has started lobbying for it. The funds would come from a proposed nationwide city-aid fund in which a $250 million cut was recommended by the House Budget Committee last week. [New York Times] Pakistan reacted angrily to the cutoff of American aid, and denied that it was developing nuclear weapons, the reason given by the Carter administration for withdrawal of the assistance. It said that "Zionist circles" who fear that an atomic bomb would be used by "the Moslem world" to menace Israel had influenced the United States. [New York Times] The executions in Iran of three more former officials of the Shah's regime and a former policeman after secret trials were announced by the Voice of the Islamic Republic Radio. Iran's revolutionary authorities continued to disregard criticism by Western nations of the execution of former Prime Minister Amir Abbas Hoveyda. [New York Times] The P.L.O. will intensify guerrilla and political action against Egypt and Israel, especially against Israeli-occupied territories, where it hopes to undermine Israeli self-rule efforts. Retaliatory measures for the Israeli-Egyptian treaty were endorsed by the P.L.O.'s central council. [New York Times] Rhodesian blacks show more confusion than joy as the election approaches in which a black prime minister and other black leaders will be chosen. From April 17 to 21, 2.8 million blacks, franchised by the whites for the first time, and 140,000 people of other races, mainly white, will be eligible to vote. The government has undertaken a vigorous education program to encourage voting. [New York Times] Italian authorities arrested at least 16 leftist extremists on orders from magistrates who are investigating terrorism. The roundup was also believed to be connected with the inquiry into the murder of former Prime Minister Aldo Moro last year. [New York Times]