News stories from Saturday March 22, 1980
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- The successor to Ayatollah Khomeini as the religious leader of Iran is a role that appears to be going to Ayatollah Hussein-Ali Montazeri, who was imprisoned by the deposed Shah for participating in the movement against the Shah's Westernization plans. [New York Times]
- Opposition to President Carter's effort to restore to the budget $500 million in federal aid to cities will come from the Senate majority leader, Robert Byrd. "Everyone's going to have to bear the brunt" of the current drive for a tighter budget, he said. [New York Times]
- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is to retain, at least for the time being, its authority to review exports of nuclear reactors and fuel, President Carter has decided -- rejecting the advice of two senior administration officials and leaders of the nuclear industry. Mr. Carter's decision followed months of lobbying at the highest levels of the White House and was disclosed in a reorganization plan for the commission, which has been criticized for its role in dealing with the accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant. [New York Times]
- A population shift from cities to the countryside is continuing in the United States, first indicated in census estimates in the early 1970's. The movement is apparent in every region of the country and it has become so large that authorities regard it as a national phenomenon with broad economic, social
and political implications. One of its consequences is greater dependence on the automobile.
Americans seem ready to comply with the 1980 census, despite considerable resentment of what they believe to be intrusive questions. A survey by The New York Times found a high degree of cooperation, despite the findings of other studies that few Americans believe that the information gathered by the census really remains confidential. Most households will receive census forms in the mail by Friday. They are supposed to be returned April 1.
[New York Times] - The wife of Harrison Williams, Democratic Senator from New Jersey, is being investigated by the Senate's Select Committee on Ethics. At issue is the relationship between Jeannette Williams, a 15-year employee of the Senate, and the Hardwicke Companies, a New York-based entertainment conglomerate that had employed her as a paid director and consultant. [New York Times]
- A protest against draft registration drew thousands of demonstrators to Washington who gathered at the ellipse behind the White House for a march and rally on Capitol Hill. The police estimated the number of participants at more than 29,000. [New York Times]
- Hamilton Jordan was making progress in Panama toward resolving the dispute between American and Panamanian doctors over how to treat the Shah's latest illness, administration officials said. The dispute has raised the possibility that the Shah might have to leave his refuge in Panama for the United States or another country. A White House spokesman said he had no information on such plans, but in Panama speculation increased that the Shah might leave the country. [New York Times]