News stories from Saturday September 1, 1979

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

The Dominican Republic was battered by Hurricane David, which killed at least 18 persons there and left the capital of Santo Domingo a disaster area before roaring out to sea and stalling over the eastern end of Cuba. The hurricane, one of the worst of the century, has killed at least 46 persons since it swept out of the Atlantic on Aug. 25, striking Puerto Rico, Dominica and the island of Hispaniola, leaving tens of thousands of people homeless. The storm lost half its force as it passed through the Dominican Republic, but it was reported gaining strength as it swirled off Cuba. [New York Times] Pioneer 11 reached Saturn for the first rendezvous with the solar system's second largest planet. After six-and-a-half years and two billion miles, the American spacecraft, coming within 13,000 miles from Saturn, took photographs and made scientific measurements, skirting the planet's outer, hazardous visible ring of icy fragments, which can be as large as boulders. Saturn is the fifth planet other than Earth to be scrutinized by spacecraft. [New York Times] The Postal Service's first surplus since 1945 will be announced this month, Postmaster General William Bolger said. He said that the revenue surplus could exceed $400 million for the 12 months ending Sept. 30. It was running above $500 million at the end of the first nine months of this year. It results from increases in postage rates last year for most classes of mail, and the soaring volume of mail sent through the Postal Service. [New York Times] Profound insight into the universe is expected by scientists to follow the discovery announced last week that a hypothetically vital component of all matter apparently exists. For the first time in the history of international team research projects on nuclear particles, a major contribution came from China, whose 27 scientists worked on a key experiment. About 300 physicists from many countries pooled their research in four related experiments. They believe their work has provided a big step toward establishing the actual existence of a theoretical packet of energy called a gluon. [New York Times] Hospitals in inner cities are closing or sharply reducing services because of soaring costs. More than 200 hospitals closed from 1975 to 1977, according to the Journal of the American Hospital Association, which said "the trend is not slackening." [New York Times] Church attendance drastically declined in the central city area of Atlantic City since it became a casino gambling town. All denominations are affected. Clergymen of once-flourishing churches on Pacific Avenue, a block from the boardwalk and parallel to it, said many of the regular churchgoers left the neighborhood because they could not afford the rising rents and taxes brought on the by the real estate speculation that preceded the 1976 referendum that legalized casino gambling in Atlantic City. The clergymen said that churchgoers also have been discouraged by the prostitutes and purse snatchers among the casino crowds, and by parking fees that have increased to a minimum of $5. [New York Times] Iran again attacked Kurdish rebels in the northwest part of the country, according to the Iranian Prime Minister directing military operations in Kurdistan. The new offensive is the second in less than three weeks against the rebels fighting for autonomy. Deputy Prime Minister Mostafa Chamran said in a communique that Iran's air force and army would "crush the counter-revolutionaries' positions." [New York Times]