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News stories from Sunday July 17, 1977
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Another member of Congress said he received a campaign contribution from a South Korean source, and federal investigators in the inquiry into alleged South Korean influence-buying in Washington reported new indications of Korean support for Congressmen. A spokesman for Representative Kika de la Garza, Texas Democrat, said that Mr. de la Garza had reported to the House ethics committee a contribution of $500. Meanwhile, Common Cause, the public affairs lobbying group, demanded the resignation of Representative John Flynt, the ethics committee chairman. [New York Times]
- A new compromise on the levels of wheat subsidies is expected to result from the next-to-last round in the House debate on a new farm bill this week. The Senate has passed its version of the new legislation, calling for 1977 wheat subsidies much higher than President Carter has said he would accept. The House bill's subsidies are much lower and are said to be satisfactory to the President, but farm area Congressmen are displeased. [New York Times]
- Consolidated Edison technicians, according to company reports, had about 15 minutes to make crucial decisions at the start of the last Wednesday's power blackout, that might have averted the city-wide loss of electricity. There was time for the utility's energy control center to intentionally blackout smaller areas to prevent the city-wide loss. The company is studying why the alternative steps were not taken. [New York Times]
- Commodity experts are skeptical about the Agriculture Department's prediction of the biggest corn crop in history this year -- 6.3 billion bushels, 2 percent higher than last year's record harvest. They say crop "stress" -- resulting from higher temperatures and lower moisture -- might reduce Agriculture's estimate. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that the grain bins will overflow when the harvests are over. [New York Times]
- Retirement is a hollow dream for millions of Americans who are unwilling just to "go fishing," Most of them cannot afford it, congressional investigations and surveys by retirement organizations have found, and there is very little federal aid for older Americans who are mentally and physically capable of working. "It's a pretty sorry track record," said Representative Claude Pepper, the 76-year-old Florida Democrat who heads the House Select Committee on Aging, which has sponsored bills seeking to end mandatory retirement in public and private sectors. [New York Times]
- Was Kennecott Copper's quick contract settlement when 45.000 workers in the copper industry went on strike June 30 part of a strategy to prevent a takeover? Other copper companies, which have not reached a contract agreement, have raised questions about the Kennecott settlement. They say it was too generous in view of the industry's economic condition. Magma Copper, a subsidiary of the Newmont Mining Company which headed the group that recently bought Kennecott's Peabody Coal subsidiary for $1.2 billion, was the only other producer to make a settlement. [New York Times]
- Anti-inflation steps taken by the Israeli government, effective tomorrow, are expected to increase prices of most basic commodities by 25 percent. Finance Minister Simcha Ehrlich said the increases would be accompanied by major cuts in government spending, including the military budget, which until now has not been subject to economy moves. He said he hoped to keep the country's inflation rate at about 28 percent.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Menachem Begin, who was in New York on his way to Washington, was reported to have said that he planned to disclose the substance of his Middle East peace plan at a news conference immediately after presenting it privately to President Carter this week, if the President consented. [New York Times]
- Some political opponents were released from government prisons by President Park Chung Hee of South Korea, apparently in a gesture toward President Carter. Fourteen persons were freed on the 29th anniversary of the country's first republican Constitution. Among them were a Protestant clergyman and three Roman Catholic priests. The rest were university students convicted on charges of breaking a 1975 emergency decree. [New York Times]
- Romans live In fear of attacks by burglars, kidnappers, bandits and terrorists as the strains of social change have imperiled the traditional easygoing way of life. Inadequate political leadership, a sluggish bureaucracy, a breakdown in the school system, and police inefficiency are blamed along with economic difficulties and social injustice that turn many unemployed young people toward new radical groups. [New York Times]
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