News stories from Monday October 2, 1978
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- A doomed pilot's calm advisory that his jet was going down was the only interruption in routine pilot-controller conversations before the nation's worst air crash, according to tape recordings released today in San Diego. The transcripts show no evidence of joking or inattention by the PSA crew, as had been claimed in some reports. [Chicago Tribune]
- President Carter signed legislation that will make most of the foreign embassy employees in the United States liable for some of the laws and obligations they now can ignore with impunity. For the first time, foreign embassy personnel will be liable for such things as parking tickets, leases, and bad checks, in addition to damage suits. [Chicago Tribune]
- The average American taxpayer spent about 14 percent of his earnings on federal income taxes in 1977, the Internal Revenue Service said. That was about the same cut the government took out of paychecks, dividend checks, and interest payments the year before, the I.R.S. said. For the second consecutive year, Americans reported taxable income of more than $1 trillion, the I.R.S. said. They paid about $154.6 billion in income taxes. [Chicago Tribune]
- The Supreme Court agreed to hear controversial cases raising questions about police searches without warrants and about police break-ins to install listening devices under a judge's warrant. One of the cases involves the police practice of randomly stopping drivers to check their licenses and another Detroit law allowing police to arrest any person failing to produce identification. The Supreme Court has been criticized recently for being too lenient about police search practices. [Chicago Tribune]
- The Vicks health care division of Richardson-Merrell, Inc., recalled all stocks of its Sinex regular and long-acting nasal sprays after finding unacceptable levels of bacteria in some production lots. The sprays could cause infection in users, the company said. The spokesman blamed the problem on a loss of the preservative system in the affected lots. [Chicago Tribune]
- A mysterious landslide in the fashionable resort community of Laguna Beach, Cal., left at least one home shorn in half. Damage estimates ran to $10 million, and at least 60 residents of the town 35 miles from Los Angeles were evacuated. At least 25 homes were demolished, 40 to 50 others were damaged, and three streets caved in. [Chicago Tribune]
- After dismissing evidence that Russia is developing particle beam weapons, the Defense Department is exploring the possibility of working on such "killer rays" itself, Aviation Week & Space Technology said. The weapons, which would propel electrons, protons and neutrons at velocities approaching the speed of light, would be for defense against Soviet anti-ship missiles, anti-satellite spacecraft, and intercontinental and submarine-launched ballistic missiles. The beams, fired from satellites parked in space, could destroy enemy ICBMs just after launch, the magazine said. [Chicago Tribune]
- Pope John Paul's physician told the Tribune that he had counseled the pontiff to slow his working pace just five days before he died. Dr. Antonio Da Ros had examined the Pope on Sept. 23 and found him in good health but cautioned him: "Holiness, you cannot continue at this pace." But the Pope replied: "What can I do? I cannot do anything else." The doctor said the Pope's death must have been instantaneous. "The Pope would not even have known what happened," he said.
The cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church will jointly celebrate Pope John Paul I's outdoor funeral mass with the same solemn simplicity that marked the funeral of Pope Paul VI less than two months ago, the Vatican announced. Meanwhile, tens of thousands streamed into the basilica to view the Pope's body, lying in state.
[Chicago Tribune] - Egyptian President Anwar Sadat said that President Carter has accepted an invitation to come to Egypt for the signing of an Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty resulting from the historic Camp David accords. Addressing his parliament on the summit accords, Sadat said they could not have been successful without Carter's "perseverance." The White House said Carter wants to attend the signing, but press Secretary Jody Powell said he did not know if it will be held in Egypt. [Chicago Tribune]
- The stock market edged higher in quiet trading held down by observance of the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah. The Dow Jones industrial average closed 5.54 points higher at 871.36.
Americans who think they are among the world's most-taxed people are wrong. A Conference Board survey showed that the United States ranks 10th out of 12 industrial nations in income tax burden and ninth in social security payments. Income taxes, for instance, take 11 percent of the average U.S. household income, compared to 28 percent in Denmark and 16 percent in Britain.
The U.S. Supreme Court let stand rulings that the government cannot bar employers from retaliating against employees who refused to do dangerous work. The move is a defeat for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which had intervened in behalf of a Georgia ironworker fired for refusing to work on a high building during strong winds.
[Chicago Tribune] - Marathon swimmer Stella Taylor moved steadily toward the Florida coast in her attempt to become the first person to complete the swim from the Bahamas. After 36 agonizing hours of shark scares and man-of-war stings she was at an undetermined point southeast of Miami and crew members said she hoped to reach land before midday Tuesday. [Chicago Tribune]
- A Bulgarian defector was found dead in his home in London, three weeks after the spy-style murder of fellow defector Georgi Markov, who said he was stabbed with what may have been a poison-tipped umbrella on a London street. Scotland Yard termed the death of Vladimir Simeonov "suspicious." The 30-year-old bachelor was working for the British Broadcasting Corporation's External Services, which broadcasts to foreign countries. [Chicago Tribune]
- Preliminary figures show that American military sales abroad in the fiscal year just ended hit an all-time high of $13.7 billion despite President Carter's pledge to restrain arms trade. [Chicago Tribune]
- Syrian troops and Christian militiamen battled across a 17 mile front in the most savage rocket, mortar, and artillery bombardments in three years of civil strife. Israeli jets crossed into Lebanon. Prime Minister Selim al Hoss deplored the "scenario of insane violence" and President Elias Sarkis called for a new coalition government to reconcile Lebanon's warring factions. [Chicago Tribune]
|
Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 871.36 (+5.54, +0.64%)
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* |
| September 29, 1978 | 865.82 | 102.54 | 23.62 |
| September 28, 1978 | 861.31 | 101.96 | 24.33 |
| September 27, 1978 | 860.19 | 101.66 | 28.37 |
| September 26, 1978 | 868.16 | 102.62 | 26.33 |
| September 25, 1978 | 862.35 | 101.86 | 20.97 |
| September 22, 1978 | 862.44 | 101.84 | 27.96 |
| September 21, 1978 | 861.14 | 101.90 | 33.65 |
| September 20, 1978 | 857.16 | 101.73 | 35.08 |
| September 19, 1978 | 861.57 | 102.53 | 31.66 |
| September 18, 1978 | 870.15 | 103.21 | 35.83 |