News stories from Sunday October 1, 1978

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

Supermarket prices edged back up again during September, with increases ranging from the meat counter to the dairy case, an Associated Press survey shows. Last month's increase practically wiped out an August decline in grocery bills. On an overall basis, the market-basket bill -- for 15 commonly purchased food and non-food items at supermarkets in 13 cities -- was 1.1 percent higher at the start of October than it was a month earlier. [Chicago Tribune] Huddling under umbrellas, a line of mourners that reached up to a quarter of a mile trooped through the rain in somber procession to view the remains of Pope John Paul I before his funeral on Wednesday. More than 100,000 persons made their way slowly past the Pope's red-draped bier.The funerals and elections of two popes will cost the Vatican up to $20 million, according to estimates in Italian newspapers. Part of that outlay will be offset by proceeds from the sale of commemorative stamps and coins, and the rest is not expected to be a great burden to the mini-state whose assets are estimated in the billions of dollars. [Chicago Tribune] The New York Post and striking pressmen reached tentative agreement tonight on a new contract, subject to union ratification, that could end New York's newspaper strike. A spokesman for the Post said the afternoon tabloid could he back on the newsstands by Wednesday. The Post agreement is expected to put pressure on the New York Times and the Daily News to settle with the pressmen and other unions that have struck the papers or have been respecting picket lines. [Chicago Tribune] President Carter appeared to be laying the groundwork for American public acceptance of a new U.S.-Soviet agreement on limiting their strategic weapons. He made the point in a speech on the 20th anniversary of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration that the United States has spy satellites that could catch the Russians If they tried to cheat on such a pact.The United States and the Soviet Union failed to reach agreement today on the remaining points in dispute blocking a new arms limitation treaty and decided to suspend negotiations for three weeks. [Chicago Tribune] An administrator of the General Services Administration reportedly ordered the government agency to rent an 18-story building in Philadelphia for $52 million from a friend and former law partner of former Pennsylvania Sen. Hugh Scott, even though there were lower bidders. [Chicago Tribune] The Iranian government, in an effort to quiet anti-government activities, declared broad amnesty for all Iranians involved in actions against the state. This apparently will enable thousands of students, including many in the United States, to return home without fear of arrest. [Chicago Tribune] An Israeli gunboat in the Gulf of Aqaba intercepted and sank a Palestinian guerrilla boat as it was speeding north to blast the Israeli port of Eilat with a barrage of rockets, the military said. The Al Fatah wing of the Palestine Liberation Organization confirmed the Saturday afternoon attack but said the boat fired some rockets before it was sunk. The town was crowded with people on holiday for the Jewish New Year weekend. [Chicago Tribune] Egypt end Israel apparently have agreed that Washington will be the site for their peace treaty talks, starting Oct. 12. The semiofficial Egyptian newspaper Al-Abram reported that Egypt, Israel, and the United States have agreed that the talks would take place in Washington Oct. 12, following the Jewish holidays. [Chicago Tribune] Shattering a 24-hour-old cease-fire, Syrian troops pounded Christian districts of Beirut with heavy artillery and rocket fire, and rightist officials said Lebanese militias were fighting back with every weapon they had. Lebanese President Elias Sarkis and Syrian President Hafez Assad had agreed to a cease-fire on Saturday. [Chicago Tribune] The home computer industry has shifted its focus from hobbyists and the public to small business firms, where a sales boom appears to be taking place. Consumers, meanwhile, are being wooed to buy sophisticated video games that also perform some computer functions. Home computer models planned for next year could revitalize the market.Consumer confidence dipped to its lowest level since the 1974-75 recession, the University of Michigan reported in its latest quarterly survey. Wage and price controls have not worked in the European nations in which they have been tried and probably wouldn't work in the U.S. either, according to a report by Drexel Burnham Lambert, Inc., stockbrokers. "By ignoring the structural causes of inflation while restricting profits and dividends, [controls advocates] may have inhibited savings and investment and thereby exacerbated long-term problems," the firm says. [Chicago Tribune] The folks at Anheuser-Busch, the beer people in St. Louis, are not talking to the people at Miller Brewing Co. these days, except maybe through their lawyers. Miller is applying for a trademark to call its new beer "Gussie," which happens to be the nickname of August A. Busch Jr., chairman of Anheuser-Busch. [Chicago Tribune] Cliff Robertson, the actor, says his involvement in unearthing the so-called "Hollywoodgate" scandal over illegal use of funds put a large crimp in his career, temporarily. "I've always been a fortunate actor and had plenty of work," he told the Saturday Evening Post. "But for several weeks the phone stopped ringing, and I went through a dry spell. I knew this would happen. Hollywood traditionally waits to see which way the wind is blowing. When people realized that all the corruption could not be swept under the rug and that blackballing me would have little effect, the offers started coming in again." He's back in full swing, with a television film completed and a full-length movie starting. Robertson initiated the Hollywood investigation after he discovered that a $10,000 check had been forged with his name, apparently by David Begelman, then president of Columbia Pictures. [Chicago Tribune]