News stories from Sunday July 19, 1981
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Dancers on a walkway suspended over the lobby of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City might have weakened the cables on one of them, experts said, causing it to collapse, taking another below with it in its fall to the lobby, killing 111 people at a dance there Friday night. Two others who were struck by the debris died in a hospital. Witnesses said the walkways swayed under the dancers' movements and that one "got to swaying and bouncing up and down." [New York Times]
- A new U.S. immigration policy is ex-pected to be announced in Washington this week. The announcement has been delayed by disputes among President Reagan's advisers over a proposed mandatory national identity card and other controversial aspects of the new policy. The final proposal is expected to include most of the recommendations of an 11-member cabinet-level advisory committee, but probably will not include the identity card. The identity card issue should be dealt with by Congress, administration officials said. [New York Times]
- The postal union negotiators said that "no significant progress" had been made. Both side were working under a strike deadline at 12:01 A.M. tomorrow night. An official statement from the two major union leaders said "we are no closer to an agreement than when we started three weeks ago." [New York Times]
- Expansion of storefront counseling for Vietnam veterans was announced by the Veterans Administration. The agency's new chief, Robert Nimmo, said the counseling service would expand by adding 42 new "Vet Centers" within three to four months to a total of 133. Veterans' lobbying ended plans to cut back the program in the Reagan budget. [New York Times]
- High U.S. interest rates and their effect abroad is one of the key issues President Reagan will have to deal with at the economic conference of the seven industrial democracies that began in Ottawa. Shortly after his arrival, the President held separate meetings with Chancellor Helmut Schmidt of West Germany and President Francois Mitterrand of France. Earlier, Mr. Schmidt, in a broadcast, said that "many countries in the world are suffering from the high interest rates in the United States." [New York Times]
- Salvadoran conservatives stepped up efforts to change the makeup of the civilian-military government headed by President Jose Napoleon Duarte. Encouraged by what they say are clear signs of support from the Reagan administration, the conservatives, led by buinessmen, want the right to name at least one additional member to the ruling junta and several cabinet ministers. The junta led by Mr. Duarte now consists of four members. [New York Times]
- Israel could not join a cease-fire in Lebanon as long as Palestinian groups continue their attacks on Israel, Prime Minister Menachem Begin reportedly told Philip Habib, the American special envoy in the Middle East. Israeli officials said Mr. Begin told Mr. Habib during the course of two meetings that a halt in the fighting was not a solution to the more basic problem of a Palestine Liberation Organization arms buildup within striking distance of Israel's northern settlements. He reportedly stressed that Israel could agree to a cease-fire only the context of a broader peace arrangement. [New York Times]
- Shipment of more U.S. jets to Israel would be affected by Israel's cooperation in reducing the level of violence in Lebanon, Secretary of State Alexander Haig said in a television interview. [New York Times]
- Poles face a 110 percent rise in prices of basic necessities and a wage freeze. Prime Minister Wojciech Jaruzelski said both were needed to deal with the country's economic problems in a speech at the special congress of the Polish Communist Party. He starkly outlined the nation's problems and said that overcoming them would require "superhuman force" and "profound economic reforms." The price rise would affect food, coal, natural gas and housing. Wage increases, which have averaged 23 percent during the past year, while industrial productivity declined 10 percent, will have to be stopped, the Prime Minister said. [New York Times]
- Bill Rogers won the British Open golf championship in Sandwich, England, by four strokes with a 72-hole score of 276, four under par. It was the first major title for the 29-year-old Texan. Bernard Langer of West Germany finished second at 280. [New York Times]