News stories from Tuesday August 4, 1981
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Striking flight controllers held ranks in the face of a vow by President Reagan to dismiss any controller who has not returned to work by 11 A.M. tomorrow. The government said that 72.5 percent of the 14,200 daily scheduled airline flights were operating under the guidance of 2,500 supervisors and 4,000 other non-strikers. Nevertheless, the illegal walkout continued to disrupt the travel plans of thousands of people and was causing big losses to the nation's economy. [New York Times]
- A penalty of $100,000 an hour must be paid to the airlines by the flight controllers union for the duration of the walkout under an order issued by a federal judge. In addition to that fine, which totals $2.4 million a day, the judge ruled that the union must pay the airlines for the millions of dollars of daily losses suffered by the carriers because of the strike, and he set a hearing next month to determine the precise extent of the losses. [New York Times]
- Total flights were reduced from the normal daily schedule of 14,200 to about 8,000 on the second day of the controllers' strike, but delays for individual flights were cut and crowding and confusion at airports eased. Spokesmen for several airlines said that many people were defering travel plans. [New York Times]
- Mail delivery delays of only hours thus far in the flight controllers' strike were reported by Postal Service officials. They made the assessment in response to the concern expressed by many business leaders that mail might be held up for days. [New York Times]
- Broad changes in law enforcement designed to help the criminal justice system combat violent crime are to be proposed Thursday by an advisory panel appointed by the Reagan administration. The proposals are expected to include the elimination of bail in some cases, prohibition of the insanity plea in criminal cases and a significant expansion of the rules of evidence in court proceedings. [New York Times]
- A major anti-drug operation in South Florida was brought to light by the F.B.I. For the last 30 months, it said, agents have laundered millions of dollars in cash from illegal transactions to determine the identities and profits of the dealers. The bureau began arresting the first of 61 suspects, most of them Colombians. [New York Times]
- Melvyn Douglas died in a Manhattan hospital at the age of 80. The debonair performer in scores of movie comedies of the 1930's and 40's later became a forceful character actor in both plays and films and won two Academy Awards, for his roles in "Hud" in 1963 and "Being There" in 1979. [New York Times]
- A protest continued in Warsaw untroubled by the police. A column of buses and trucks blocked a key downtown intersection for a second day, and the independent labor union staged two brief strikes and a march in southern Poland, all in protest against food shortages. [New York Times]
- A Soviet Baltic fleet exercise was confirmed by the Defense Department. It said there seemed to be no link to the situation in Poland and that the amphibious fleet was apparently preparing for landing maneuvers. Pentagon officials said the fleet was capable of carrying more than 4,000 Soviet troops. [New York Times]
- A new coalition government in Israel was announced after Prime Minister Menachem Begin made major concessions to three minority religious parties. He is starting a second term of office with a fragile 61-member majority in the 120-member Parliament. A major new appointment was the elevation of former Gen. Ariel Sharon, a hawk, in what is expected to be a conservative administration. [New York Times]
- The visit of President Anwar Sadat to Washington comes at a time of considerable concern in the Reagan administration about the Middle East but few ideas on how to promote peace in the region. In advance of the Egyptian President's arrival tonight, administration officials cautioned against expectations of major developments arising from the visit. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 945.97 (-0.28, -0.03%)
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* |
| August 3, 1981 | 946.25 | 130.48 | 39.65 |
| July 31, 1981 | 952.34 | 130.92 | 43.47 |
| July 30, 1981 | 945.11 | 130.01 | 41.55 |
| July 29, 1981 | 937.40 | 129.16 | 37.61 |
| July 28, 1981 | 939.40 | 129.14 | 38.15 |
| July 27, 1981 | 945.87 | 129.90 | 39.61 |
| July 24, 1981 | 936.74 | 128.46 | 38.88 |
| July 23, 1981 | 928.56 | 127.40 | 41.88 |
| July 22, 1981 | 924.66 | 127.13 | 47.49 |
| July 21, 1981 | 934.46 | 128.34 | 47.26 |