News stories from Saturday July 1, 1978

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

Ending construction at Seabrook, N.H., of a nuclear power plant brought praise from the plant's opponents and complaints from the Public Services Companies of New Hampshire, the plant's prime builder. The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission voted 2 to 1 Friday to suspend construction July 21. The utility and New Hampshire's Governor, Meldrim Thomson, said the delay would add greatly to construction costs. [New York Times] Cuts in California's library service are planned in anticipation of declining funds under Proposition 13. Librarians from that state shared their concerns with colleagues at a national convention in Chicago. Some libraries are planning reductions in staff and shorter hours, and some are considering renting books and charging fees for library cards. [New York Times] Garner Ted Armstrong, the television evangelist, was excommunicated from the worldwide fundamentalist Church of God by his father, Herbert Armstrong, the church's founder and leader. The son had been expected to succeed his father. It appears that Stanley Rader, general counsel for the church, based in Pasadena, Calif., who had been feuding with Garner Ted Armstrong, is in line to be Herbert Armstrong's successor. [New York Times] The church-state issue has been raised in Dallas, where in a search for a superintendent for the nation's eighth largest school system the candidates' religious views and church connections are as important as their professional qualifications. Some of the candidates resented the questions relating to religion and told the board it was none of its business. [New York Times] Fighting broke out in Beirut between Christian militia groups and the Syrian-dominated Arab peacekeeping forces. At least 22 people were killed in the Christian suburb of Ain al-Rummaneh. After a brief lull, the fighting resumed and spread to Ashrafiyeh in east Beirut. President Elias Sarkis of Lebanon telephoned the Syrian President, Hafez al-Asad, in an effort to end the fighting, the Beirut radio said. [New York Times] Western Europeans scorn philanthropy. Leftists say it delays expansion of government-controlled social benefits and softens popular attitudes toward private wealth. Moderates also disapprove of the elitism of philanthropists and their foundations that dispense large amounts of money without the controls of electoral mandates or the accountability of government bureaucrats. [New York Times] Andrei Sakharov, usually a critic of Soviet policy, has come out in support of the Soviet position favoring the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Dr. Sakharov said that nuclear energy was necessary to retain "the freedom of the West." His appeal appears in the current Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. [New York Times]