News stories from Thursday February 1, 1979
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Patricia Hearst was released from a federal prison near San Francisco under a clemency order by President Carter. She has served 22 months of a seven-year sentence for her conviction of armed bank robbery. She was happy, laughing and waving, as she walked to her new freedom five years after her kidnapping. [New York Times]
- Plans for the 1980 census are snarled, according to government officials. They said that the administration was seeking to replace the director of the Census Bureau, Manuel Plotkin, who was appointed two years ago by President Carter. Growing concern followed the unexpected retirements of three officials, including David Kaplan, the longtime official who was to have supervised the census. [New York Times]
- Reforms in public jobs and job training programs were announced by the Carter administration. It acknowledged severe problems of mismanagement and inefficiency in the federal programs and said it was taking broad corrective measures designed to end abuses and to provide jobs for those who need them most. [New York Times]
- Former Senator Edward Brooke was called before the Senate Ethics Committee amid reports that the panel's staff had concluded he acted improperly about finances during divorce proceedings last year. Although the Massachusetts Republican was defeated in the last election, he insisted the inquiry continue. [New York Times]
- The breaking of Nazi codes gave Allied units an enormous advantage in defeating Germany, according to Allied battlefield accounts written just alter Germany's surrender. The top-secret documents, which were declassified and sent to the National Archives, were designed to judge the effect of "Ultra," the highly successful deciphering effort, and to record for future use the lessons learned. [New York Times]
- A "new language" to deal with race relations was urged by Mayor Koch of New York City, who called for "an end to the rhetoric, the posturing, the harmful language of confrontation" involving racial tension. In a State of the City address, he said his comments on racial problems had been made "not because I enjoy confrontation, but because I believe that the best way to resolve differences is for all sides to speak frankly and openly."
Recall of Mayor Koch was urged by the chairman of New York state's Black and Puerto Rican Legislative Caucus. The chairman, state Senator Vander Beatty of Brooklyn, called for the petition drive to unseat the Mayor because of his plan to reorganize New York City's anti-poverty program. Mr. Beatty spoke at a hearing on the plan one day after federal authorities had approved it, praising it as a "milestone." Speakers at the hearing called the program "genocide" and termed it an attempt to wrest community control from the poor and minorities.
[New York Times] - Adela Holzer was the toast of Broadway four years ago when she had three plays in production after making $2 million from a $50,000 investment in "Hair." Today, she went on trial on 248 counts of grand larceny and related charges for allegedly defrauding investors of more than $2.3 million. [New York Times]
- Ayatollah Khomeini, back in Iran for the first time in nearly 15 years, warned that his Moslem nationalist movement would "arrest" Prime Minister Bakhtiar if he refused to resign. Speaking at a Teheran cemetery where hundreds of victims of political turmoil have been buried in the last three months, the Islamic leader expressed hostility to the Prime Minister, the exiled Shah and the United States. At least three million people lined the streets to welcome the Ayatollah.
Iranians exploded in joy in welcoming the Ayatollah. Some wept, and at the airport the arrival lounge was stilled by the voice of someone singing verses of the Koran in praise of those who have died in holy wars. A red-lettered banner in English proclaimed, "No drop of oil to our enemies."
On the flight home, the Ayatollah knelt in prayer as he approached the showdown in his long struggle to overthrow the Iranian government. The aged leader left behind him in Paris a crowd of backers chanting political slogans and religious anthems.
[New York Times] - Testing of long-range cruise missiles from bombers has been started by the Soviet Union, according to Carter administration officials, who reported at least eight test firings. Moscow's action could affect the Senate's vote on the projected American-Soviet treaty to limit strategic arms. [New York Times]
- China's quest for American technology and a common front against Moscow was carried to the South by Deputy Prime Minister Teng Hsiao-ping, who received an enthusiastic welcome in Atlanta that drowned out a few scattered protests.
Americans view China far more favorably than they do the Soviet Union, even though they strongly support a new strategic arms accord with Moscow and are critical of the recognition of Peking by Washington at the expense of Taiwan, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll. But the poll suggested a drop in the impact of objections to ending the defense treaty with Taiwan.
[New York Times] - The Vietnamese army is being pressed by Cambodian troops bypassed in the swift advance through Cambodia that routed its government, according to Western analysts. Several 1,000-member Cambodian units were said to be counter-attacking strongly. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 840.87 (+1.65, +0.20%)
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* |
| January 31, 1979 | 839.22 | 99.93 | 30.33 |
| January 30, 1979 | 851.78 | 101.05 | 26.91 |
| January 29, 1979 | 855.77 | 101.55 | 24.18 |
| January 26, 1979 | 859.75 | 101.86 | 34.24 |
| January 25, 1979 | 854.64 | 101.19 | 31.45 |
| January 24, 1979 | 846.41 | 100.16 | 31.71 |
| January 23, 1979 | 846.85 | 100.60 | 30.18 |
| January 22, 1979 | 838.53 | 99.90 | 24.39 |
| January 19, 1979 | 837.49 | 99.75 | 26.80 |
| January 18, 1979 | 839.14 | 99.72 | 27.26 |