News stories from Saturday February 28, 1970
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Only a few hours after a federal Court of Appeals ordered the seven defendants in the Chicago conspiracy trial freed on bail, the seven men walked out of the Federal Building to the cheers of their supporters. The five convicted on riot incitement charges were released on $25,000 bail each and the two held on contempt charges were freed in lieu of $15,000 each. [New York Times]
- One of President Nixon's chief domestic aides has reported to the President that Negroes have made "extraordinary progress" and said that the time may have come for a period of "benign neglect". The aide, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, said that the Nixon administration should attempt to avoid building up extremists of both races and advised it to ignore "provocations" from the Black Panthers. [New York Times]
- A second education appropriations bill, to replace the one vetoed by President Nixon, was unanimously passed by the Senate after civil-rights advocates rejected three Southern-sponsored amendments aimed to prevent busing or pupil assignment to achieve school desegregation. The bill was trimmed to $19 billion, a figure thought to be acceptable to the President. [New York Times]
- Elderly persons, many of whom are bearing the brunt of increasing inflation because of fixed incomes, are becoming a source of political power and a source of new interest to politicians. Although militancy in the form of demonstrations remains relatively scarce, many leaders are concerned over the power a united front of 20 million senior voters could wield. [New York Times]
- The Soviet press agency Tass issued the first official statement on the growing crisis in Laos. The statement denounced the United States for carrying out bombing raids in support of Laotian troops and said that their continuation would lead to an increase in tensions in Southeast Asia. [New York Times]
- Some Communist diplomats, citing fresh military build-ups by the Soviet Union and China along their border, are predicting new clashes unless progress in the now-deadlocked talks in Peking is made soon. Reliable sources in Moscow have said that the Soviet Union has made new proposals, but that the Chinese have refused to negotiate until the Russians agree to a disengagement along the border. [New York Times]