News stories from Saturday December 25, 1982

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

Nullification of a marine sanctuary off Santa Barbara, Calif., is sought by major oil companies so that oil and gas leasing, development and extraction can be conducted in the area. They have asked federal courts to remove the protected designation from the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, one of six such preserves established under a 1972 act of Congress. The action by the Western Oil and Gas Association questions the validity of the entire marine sanctuaries program. [New York Times] Boston's elaborate political machine established by Mayor Kevin White in the late 1970's after he nearly lost an election is believed to be at least partly responsible for his mounting troubles with the major federal investigation into municipal corruption, his friends and adversaries say. The organization, deliberately modeled on Mayor Richard Daley's counterpart in Chicago, helped insure Mr. White's re-election in 1979. [New York Times] Toxic chemicals have contaminated drinking water in two suburbs of Minneapolis, New Brighton and St. Louis Park. Minnesota health officials say the two communities have the most serious ground water contamination from hazardous wastes of any municipality in the state. [New York Times] A 9-year girl was rescued after being stranded 18 hours in a snowbound car in Colorado during a blizzard that left four feet of snow. Dozens of volunteers searched for the snow-covered car. The storm stranded thousands of travelers and virtually every road east of the Continental Divide remained closed. [New York Times] The Soviet gross national product has grown at an annual rate of 4.8 percent over the last three decades, according to an analysis prepared by the Central Intelligence Agency for the Joint Economic Committee of Congress. However, the study found that in recent years the rise has dropped to less than 3 percent a year because of poor harvests. The committee's chairman, Representative Henry Reuss, said the study indicated that the Soviet Union was "far from being on the verge of collapse." [New York Times] After a summer of carnage, West Beirut is assuming a normalcy that is as chimerical as it is cherished. As Christmas was celebrated, Beirut International Airport, once a battleground, was back to normal, and Hamra Street, once deserted, was crowded with shoppers again. [New York Times] South Africa's black colleges established in 1959 to further strengthen apartheid have not achieved their objective, nor have they been relinquished by the whites who set policy. The government is committed to the goal of "equal education" for all racial groups, but it is also extending the segregated university system envisioned by the 1950 law, and recently established two colleges for blacks, who derisively call them "bush colleges." [New York Times]