News stories from Thursday July 14, 1977

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

A power blackout virtually paralyzed New York City and widespread looting added to the sweltering city's troubles. By 10 P.M., a little more than 24 hours after the power failure, service had been restored to all but 200,000 of the utility's customers. Power was back for all users in Westchester, the Bronx and Staten Island and virtually for all in Brooklyn and Queens. Only sections of the Upper East Side and Lower Manhattan were without electricity and that was expected to be restored by early morning. [New York Times] Separate investigations into the cause of the power failure were ordered by President Carter, Governor Carey and Mayor Beame. The Federal Power Commission will conduct the President's inquiry; the State Public Service Commission, the Governor's, while Mayor Beame appointed a special committee. Charles Luce, the Consolidated Edison chairman, said the company would hire "the best consultant" to determine the cause of the blackout and to find ways to prevent a recurrence. [New York Times] The blackout gave hundreds of thousands of office workers in the city an unexpected holiday, but many large corporations were able to keep their worldwide operations running smoothly by using emergency procedures. The impact of New York's business shutdown was also felt in other parts of the country. Several stock and commodity exchanges in the Middle West and on the West Coast reported sluggish business because of late openings or the absence of market leadership from New York. [New York Times] More than 2,700 people were arrested for plundering and vandalism during and after the blackout. Widespread looting continued into the daylight hours and took place in all the boroughs except Staten Island. Hundreds of stores were stripped of merchandise and streets were littered with broken window glass and debris. [New York Times] A cutback in welfare allotments to families that also receive federal housing subsidies is being considered by the Carter administration. President Carter, however, was said to be highly unlikely to accept a much broader proposal that would eliminate almost the entire $5-billion-a-year federal housing subsidy program to transfer the money to welfare reform. [New York Times] All states would be required to enact no-fault auto insurance laws under legislation that the Carter administration is planning to endorse. The state laws would conform to federally set minimum standards under the legislation, now pending in Congress. [New York Times] The power failure halted trading on New York's two stock exchanges as well as in Philadelphia and Boston and hurt trading on the Pacific and Midwest exchanges. On Chicago's Midwest Stock Exchange trading volume totaled 410,000 shares, compared with a turnover of 1.4 million shares the day before. The stock of Consolidated Edison fell ¾ to 24¼ on a modest volume of 7,400 shares. [New York Times] Patrick Kearney, one of the two men suspected of at least 28 murders, was indicted by a grand jury in Riverside, Calif., on three counts of murder. David Hill, Mr. Kearney's roommate, was set free. The jury decided there was insufficient evidence linking him to the murders. [New York Times] A challenge by some of its members who favor decontrol of natural gas prices was turned down by the House Commerce Committee. Its defeat was aided by carefully planned parliamentary maneuvering. The issue of whether to continue federal controls over gas prices will now go before a special House energy committee, which is to begin meeting tomorrow. Regardless of the committee's decision, the issue is certain to he raised again on the House floor and later in the Senate. [New York Times] President Carter said that the United States Army helicopter that was shot down, apparently by North Koreans, had strayed into North Korean airspace by mistake, and that the United States was seeking to prevent the incident from developing into a confrontation. Three crewmen were killed and a fourth was captured. [New York Times] A former Soviet navy captain, Nicholas Schadrin, who defected to the United States in 1959, disappeared 18 months ago while on a spy mission in Vienna, according to reports in Washington. He is believed to be in a Soviet military prison and official and private efforts are reported to have been made to arrange his release through a spy trade. "We want him back," a State Department spokesman said. "He's an American citizen whose welfare concerns us." [New York Times] A new Western initiative to break the stalemate in the East-West talks on troop reductions in Central Europe will he considered by President Carter and Chancellor Helmut Schmidt of West Germany. [New York Times]