News stories from Sunday January 18, 1976

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

The second session of the 94th Congress begins tomorrow where the first session left off last month -- with Congress at odds with President Ford over economic and foreign policy. Their relations are probably going to he even more contentious in this election year. At 9 P.M., the Senate and House will meet jointly to hear Mr. Ford present his State of the Union message. [New York Times] Former Gov. Jimmy Carter of Georgia and Senator Birch Bayh of Indiana appeared to hold the lead on the eve of Iowa's Democratic precinct caucuses. Tomorrow's 2,530 caucuses will lead to the selection of only 47 delegates to the national convention, but they will provide an early indication of the candidates' standing, with dividends in money, volunteers, morale and media attention for those who do well. [New York Times] General Motors recalled 2,200 workers who were laid off at its plant in Lakewood, Ga., in March 1974, when car sales plunged because of the energy crisis. Their recall indicates sales of cars are picking up. [New York Times] Over the last five years, rents in New York City have increased three times as fast as tenant incomes despite rent control and rent-stabilization programs covering most apartments here. In 1970, according to the Census Bureau, the median rent here was $109 a month -- meaning that half of all rental households in the city were paying more than that amount and half were paying less. By 1975, a new study made by the bureau for the city found, the median had risen to nearly $171 a month, a 57 percent increase. During the same period, the median income reported by families in the city's two million rental apartments rose only 17 percent, from $7,165 a year to $8,395. [New York Times] The most dangerous time to ride the New York City subways, according to transit police statistics, is between 2 and 4 A.M., when the ratio of felonies to passengers is at its peak. A fifth of all subway felonies --1,306 out of 6,896 in the first 11 months of 1975 -- occurred between 4 and 6 P.M., but it is also when almost a fourth of the 3.5 million daily fare-paying riders are using the system. Compared with the 4 to 6 P.M. period, the crime ratio is twice as high from 8 P.M. to midnight, two and half times higher in the noon-to-2-P.M. period, and 10 times higher from 2 to 4 A.M. [New York Times] The National Cancer Institute has published in a volume titled "Persons at High Risk of Cancer" a summary of what is known and suspected about cancer risk factors. Persons with a high risk may be heavy drinkers or smokers, or may be vulnerable because of their occupation or where they live, or because of their inherited genes. "There is increasing recognition that the identification of high-risk groups provides a key to the ultimate reduction of cancer incidence and mortality," the book's preface states. [New York Times] The police in Madrid made further arrests of leftists over the weekend. They broke up a private gathering in a suburb and arrested 22 lawyers and 33 other professional people and their wives. The gathering was described by the police as an "unauthorized political meeting." Friends of those arrested said the gathering was a housewarming. When 159 lawyers went to police headquarters to protest the arrests, the police attacked them and beat several of them badly. The Madrid police arrested 145 leftist labor leaders last Friday and accused them of planning a general strike. Later, 76 of those arrested were reported to have been released. [New York Times] Canadians are worried about the country's economic problems and they question the future of the free enterprise system and ask whether the central government should have more power over the economy. Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau recently said on television that the free enterprise system "isn't working well," and suggested a larger government role in running the nation's institutions. [New York Times]