News stories from Saturday July 24, 1976
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- The Federal Bureau of Investigation joined California authorities in a nationwide hunt for two of three suspects in last week's kidnapping of 26 school children and their bus driver near Chowchilla in central California. One of the three men, Richard Schoenfeld, 22 years old, surrendered Friday. The search was under way for Fred Woods, 24, and James Schoenfeld, also 24, and brother of Richard Schoenfeld. The judge who signed the arrest warrants for the three men also sealed for 10 days "certain confidential information" provided by law enforcement officials that reportedly establishes that the three were involved in the kidnapping. [New York Times]
- An examination of Senator Walter Mondale's personal financial statement and his tax returns finds that he relatively poor when compared with his Democratic running mate Jimmy Carter and his Senate colleagues. In a financial statement published last April, Senator Mondale estimated his total net worth at $77,361, the lowest net worth claimed by any major party candidate for the presidency or the vice presidency, and about 10 percent of Mr. Carter's net worth, estimated at $700,000. Mr. Mondale is one of the least wealthy members of the Senate, which has 22 millionaires, and his financial history is noteworthy because it shows no investments for profit. His records show that he owns no stocks, corporate bonds or real estate, except his home. [New York Times]
- The Labor Department and the Department of Justice have agreed to begin a major investigation of the internal management and financial affairs of the Hotel and Restaurant Employees' and Bartenders' International Union. The union, the nation's 14th largest, has close ties to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. A major concern of the joint investigation, which is to begin Sept. 1, is whether federal laws were violated in the union's doubling of expenditures and an increase of more than 400 percent in top-level salaries since a change of leadership in 1973. Close ties between top union officials and Sidney Korshak, a prominent Los Angeles labor lawyer, who is believed to be linked with organized crime, will also be examined. [New York Times]
- The bombing of a theater near Union Square in New York City by anti-Castro Cubans early this morning was foiled by police on a stakeout. Three Cuban men were seized as they allegedly attempted to ignite a powerful pipe bomb outside the Academy of Music at 126 East 14th Street, near Irving Place, shortly after 3:15 A.M. They were said to be followers of an anti-Castro group that has taken responsibility for two bombings in New York. The 3,000-seat theater had been sold out for an evening performance of "In Concert With Cuba," a musical and dance program sponsored by the "Committee for July 26", a pro-Castro organization. A spokesman for the Committee said that the police had been notified of a bomb threat received Friday night. [New York Times]
- The Viking 1 lander on Mars started tests to determine whether life ever existed there. The lander sniffed the atmosphere to detect the presence of methane or hydrogen sulfide, which would suggest the existence of life. [New York Times]
- A new cease-fire agreement in Lebanon -- the 52nd in 16 months -- this time between the Palestinian guerrilla organization and the Lebanese right-wing Christian Phalangist Party -- was jeopardized by a report that hundreds of people had been buried alive in the besieged Palestinian camp of Tell Zaatar. It was said that as many as 500 people were trapped in an underground shelter that had collapsed under shelling by rightist artillery. The cease-fire agreement was signed Friday in the presence of Dr. Hasan Sabry Kholy, the Arab League's envoy in Beirut. Dr. Kholy was discussing the agreement with newsmen when he was called to the telephone to speak with Yasser Arafat, the leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, who told him of the report from Tell Zaatar. The cease-fire was to go in effect at 8 A.M. tomorrow, but even as it was announced there was skepticism that the Phalangists could persuade militants among its allies to go along with it. [New York Times]