News stories from Friday July 4, 1975
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Soaring electric bills and a depressed building industry have combined with other economic forces to cut the production and use of air conditioning equipment. Manufacturers and distributors find themselves in a slump after two decades of booming growth. Business is down by as much as 50 percent, and some workers are being laid off. Home owners and businessmen have reduced or cut out altogether the use of air conditioning units, while fan sales have increased. [New York Times]
- William Coleman, a lawyer from Philadelphia who became Secretary of Transportation four months ago, believes that hard-pressed urban transit systems should examine the possibility of installing a two-tier fare system, charging higher fares to all but low-income passengers. "Relief recipients, job-seekers and others perhaps should be treated like senior citizens," Mr. Coleman said in an interview. [New York Times]
- Blacks and other minorities are moving in increasing numbers into the new club-like apartment complexes, in which young single persons and married couples predominate, that have sprung up in suburbs around the country. Some observers believe that new apartment complexes are easing the way to more racial integration in housing. Two factors are the poor state of the economy -- in which the ability to pay is the main qualification -- and a growing awareness of the many laws and court rulings against discrimination in housing. [New York Times]
- A bomb concealed in an old refrigerator left on the street set off a violent explosion in the heart of Jerusalem this morning, killing 13 Israelis and wounding 72 persons. It was the bloodiest terrorist incident in Jerusalem since the founding of Israel. The police rounded up 300 Arabs for questioning as well as to protect them from vengeful Israelis. [New York Times]
- Continuing its drive against its opposition, the Indian government declared a ban on the activities of several major dissident organizations. The anti-government groups, which have tens of thousands of members, were accused of "indulging in activities prejudicial to the internal security, public safety and maintenance of public order." Meanwhile, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi told a group of visitors at her well-guarded home in New Delhi that she hoped the crackdown would be only "a temporary phase." [New York Times]
- After hours of conflict that was said to have reached the highest levels of the ruling armed forces, thousands of extreme leftists marched through Lisbon protesting what they charged were fascist and capitalist maneuvers against the revolution. This led President Francisco da Costa Gomes to urgently appeal in a broadcast for calm and discipline. He chided the Portuguese for "talking too much and working excessively little," and he denied that there were deep differences within the military. [New York Times]