News stories from Saturday June 14, 1980

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

President Carter's promise to provide more economic cushions, if needed, for people who have lost their jobs will be difficult to carry out, economists say. The specialists agree that a loss of a job no longer invariably means hardship because of the expansion of benefits in the last decade. They also believe that new benefit programs would be offered without any confidence that they would relieve the burden on people hardest hit by the recession because no mechanism has been set up to find out who needs additional assistance. [New York Times] Ronald Reagan won pledges of support from six of the men he beat in the Republican presidential primaries as the first of a series of "unity dinners" was held in Los Angeles. The dinners will be held to help pay off the losers' campaign debts. [New York Times] The Pacific Northwest's image has suffered after three volcanic eruptions at Mount St. Helens in less than a month, leading to economic losses. Longview, Wash., withdrew a $3.5 million bond issue that was to be offered May 28, 10 days after the mountain's first eruption, because national investors would not participate. The blow to tourism has been severe. [New York Times] Speculation by public officials in casinos in Atlantic City is so pervasive, government officials say, that it hinders the independence of city efforts to regulate the gambling industry and to provide for the orderly growth of the casinos that are the basis of Atlantic City's economic redevelopment. More than 50 local officials and government employees have bought or sold property for use by casinos, have invested in casino stock or have formed other financial links with the gambling industry. The financial ties are not illegal so long as the officials do not participate in actions affecting companies in which they hold an interest. [New York Times] Reversal of the largest penalty believed to have been awarded in an antitrust case will be sought by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, which has been ordered to pay $1.8 billion to the MCI Communications Corporation. MCI is a Washington-based company that provides private telephone service to long-distance customers in 60 cities. [New York Times] Millions of European visitors are expected this year in the United States -- three million is the estimate -- and most of them will have the advantage of currencies that will give them greater purchasing power over the dollar. The advantage over the comparatively weak dollar is possibly the major tourist attraction, but Europeans are also responding to American tourism campaigns undertaken by European tour operators and airlines and what seems to be an interest in American culture. [New York Times] The P.L.O. was dissatisified with the call Friday by the leaders of the European Common Market countries that it be "associated" with the Middle East peace talks. A Palestinian spokesman in Beirut said the declaration did not go far enough. "The European communique has some positive points, but basic points are still missing," he said in a statement. "They did not recognize officially and openly the P.L.O. and they also missed the recognitition of a Palestinian state." [New York Times]