News stories from Thursday August 10, 1978
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- As mourners filed past the body of Pope Paul VI at the rate of 200 per minute, the College of Cardinals announced the conclave to elect his successor would begin in the Sistine Chapel Aug. 25. There were prayers and stifled sobs as pilgrims passed before the Pope's body on the first of two days he is to lie in state in St. Peter's Basilica. Vatican officials announced the Pope's funeral Saturday would be held outdoors in St. Peter's Square to allow an estimated 250,000 pilgrims and faithful to attend. [Chicago Tribune]
- The Shah of Iran told reporters that the December meeting of OPEC petroleum ministers should raise the world price of oil for 1979. Mohammed Reza Pahlavi did not predict the size of the price increase, saying Iran will wait for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to adopt a unified policy. He said that because of the dollar's declining value, the purchasing power of a barrel of crude oil sold for $12.77 is actually $7.70 outside the United States. [Chicago Tribune]
- The House passed a $16.3 billion tax cut bill after rejecting a version backed by President Carter and one on which the Republicans have made a campaign issue. The bill was sent by a 362 to 49 vote to the Senate, where prospects are that the tax reduction will be enlarged. As approved by the House, it would reduce the federal income taxes of an average single taxpayer with $10,000 income next year by $15, one earning $15,000 by $71, and one earning $20,000 by $105. [Chicago Tribune]
- Grocery shoppers got some good news for a change. Government statistics showed wholesale food prices decreased in July for the first time in 10 months. A change in wholesale prices usually is reflected in store prices within a few months. But while wholesale food prices declined 0.3 percent, other prices continued to rise, and the overall increase in wholesale prices was 0.5 percent. Still, that was the smallest such increase in five months. [Chicago Tribune]
- Half of the American people do not want President Carter to run for re-election in 1980, compared with 4 out of 10 who want him in the race, an Associated Press-NBC News poll shows. This substantial opposition to the White House incumbent has been built as Americans' rating of Carter remained at the lowest levels of his administration, the poll found. [Chicago Tribune]
- A new Census Bureau report on fertility shows the annual number of births outside marriage went from 90,000 in 1940 to 448,000 in 1975. The report also showed that wives are having fewer children than they used to, but that not many expect to remain childless. [Chicago Tribune]
- The Environmental Protection Agency, citing President Carter's struggle with inflation, proposed relaxing federal water clean-up rules to save $200 million for 36 industries and keep some small firms in business. EPA chief Douglas Costle acknowledged his proposal would let plants discharge more non-toxic pollution after 1984 than existing rules allow. But he said the existing rules impose regulatory overkill and can be eased without hurting U.S. water quality. [Chicago Tribune]
- The U.S. surgeon general told cigarette smokers not to be misled by a government study indicating there are "tolerable levels" of certain low-tar brands. "There is no known safe level of smoking of any cigarette of any type," said Dr. Julius Richmond, the nation's top health officer, whose warning about the dangers of smoking appears on every pack of American cigarettes. [Chicago Tribune]
- House Speaker Tip O'Neill has "forgiven" President Carter's chief congressional liaison for past differences, but still isn't on good terms with other key White House aides, according to a top assistant to O'Neill. The speaker was so angry for a while that he barred Carter's Capitol Hill lobbyist, Frank Moore, from his office after the recent firing of O'Neill's friend, Robert Griffin, as the No. 2 man in the General Services Administration. Moore "is welcome back" now that Griffin has been hired as a $50,000-a-year White House staff employee. [Chicago Tribune]
- Two top aides of Rhodesian black leader Rev. Ndabaningi Sithole have been shot dead, apparently by black nationalist guerrillas, while they were on a peace mission in a remote northeast border area, according to reports in Salisbury. This brings to 49 the three-month murder toll of party officials or supporters of moderate black leaders in the biracial transition government. [Chicago Tribune]
- Bishops of the Anglican Communion voted overwhelmingly Thursday to accept the ordination of women priests by the Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S. and three member churches in Canada, New Zealand, and Hong Kong. The vote was 316 to 37, with 17 abstentions. "This means we could see a woman bishop within 10 years, perhaps first in Washington, D.C., or in New York," said Martha Blacklock, 38, Episcopal archdeacon of Newark, N.J. [Chicago Tribune]
- Robert McFall, who received nationwide publicity when he went to court in an unsuccessful attempt to force a cousin to give him bone marrow to save his life, died today. McFall, 39, died at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh of a rare and fatal disease called aplastic anemia. Last month he sued to force his cousin, David Shimp, to donate marrow that might have saved him. [Chicago Tribune]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 885.48 (-6.15, -0.69%)
Arms Index is the ratio of volume per declining issue to volume per advancing issue; a figure below 1.0 is bullish. | |||||||||||||||
| Market Index Trends | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | DJIA | S&P | Volume* |
| August 9, 1978 | 891.63 | 104.50 | 48.79 |
| August 8, 1978 | 889.21 | 104.01 | 34.30 |
| August 7, 1978 | 885.05 | 103.55 | 33.35 |
| August 4, 1978 | 888.43 | 103.92 | 37.92 |
| August 3, 1978 | 886.87 | 103.51 | 66.37 |
| August 2, 1978 | 883.49 | 102.92 | 47.50 |
| August 1, 1978 | 860.71 | 100.66 | 34.81 |
| July 31, 1978 | 862.27 | 100.68 | 33.99 |
| July 28, 1978 | 856.29 | 100.00 | 33.31 |
| July 27, 1978 | 850.57 | 99.54 | 33.97 |