News stories from Sunday August 24, 1980

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

A major shake-up in Poland involved the dismissal of Prime Minister Edward Babiuch, three other members of the ruling Poliburo and two deputy members. The reorganization was the largest in a decade and one of the most sweeping in the Communist Party's 36-year rule. It was intended to stem the national crisis caused by the strike of 200,000 workers on the Baltic coast, and was seen as a last-ditch attempt by the party's First Secretary to ride out the crisis and remain in office. [New York Times] Some Iranian students who were arrested at demonstrations in Washington last month were released from a federal prison in Otisville, N.Y., before their names and legal status in the United States could be verified, immigration officials now acknowledge. The acknowledgment lends support to immigration officers' complaints that some of the Iranians were released prematurely. [New York Times] Congress is blamed for the chaos in domestic aid programs that are described as unmanageable, wasteful and unaccountable in a study of federal-state relations. The Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, which was commissioned by Congress in 1976 to conduct the study, has concluded that the federal system is out of control. The language and conclusions in the panel's first published report are mild compared with some its documents still to be published. The study was undertaken in response to increasing public complaints about all levels of government. [New York Times] A different approach to recessions has been urged by the congressional Joint Economic Committee in perhaps the strongest bipartisan statement in decades. It said the nation must stop treating recessions as temporary emergencies requiring hasty remedies. It proposes instead long-term solutions, among which it emphasizes increased productivity rather than increased consumption. [New York Times] A Teamsters' pension fund inquiry has been so poorly conducted by the Labor Department that potential criminal cases have not been developed, according to the General Accounting Office. Despite the reforms ordered by the Government three years ago intended to place the Teamsters Central States Pension Fund under professional and independent management, the union's trustees continue to control a substantial part of the fund, the G.A.O. report said. [New York Times] The Field Foundation is reconsidering its grant-making policies as one of the country's principal liberal philanthropies, starting with the replacement of its longtime director. The director, Leslie Dunbar, has been succeeded by Richard Boone, who was acting director while Mr. Dunbar was away on a two-year leave of absence. The foundation, established 40 years ago by the late Marshall Field, was a pioneer in supporting civil rights causes and anti-poverty programs. [New York Times] France's ports were reopened as striking fishermen who had blocked them for several weeks withdrew as a gesture of good will on the eve of the "national conciliation meeting" of the fishermen, shipowners and government officials. The strike was caused by a reduction in crew size from 22 to 18 men, and the government's refusal to increase fishing subsidies. [New York Times] Governor Carey was criticized by all four candidates seeking the Democratic Senate nomination in New York for characterizing the Senate post held by Jacob Javits as a "Jewish seat." The Anti-Defamation League also objected, calling Mr. Carey's remark "a throwback." A spokesman for the Governor said the observation, in a weekend interview, was "purely an historical one," adding: "Jews have historically done well." [New York Times] Zimbabwe's leader went to Harlem on the third day of his visit to New York, and several thousand people responded with cheers as he spoke to them outside the State Office Building at Seventh Avenue and 125th Street. Today the leader, Prime Minister Robert Mugabe, will address the opening of a special session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. [New York Times] Yankee Stadium is beginning to repay New York City's $100 million renovation investment in it more than four years ago, but still not nearly enough. The Department of Parks estimates that rent from the Yankees will reach $550,000 this year, augmented by $70,000 if the team qualifies for the World Series. [New York Times]