News stories from Tuesday February 23, 1982
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- An alternative federal budget will be developed by congressional Republicans and Democrats, Republican legislative leaders informed President Reagan. They said that, in the recent 10-day recess, members of Congress had found constituents alarmed by the high deficits projected in the President's plan, which they termed dead. The Republican leaders also predicted that Congress would reduce the President's proposed increases in military spending. [New York Times]
- American governors were unanimous in agreeing to negotiate with the Reagan administration over transfers in federal and state responsibilities, but on a smaller scale than the President first proposed. However, they reaffirmed that all income maintenance programs, including food stamps, must be federally financed. [New York Times]
- Smoking triggered a fatal mine blast in Tennessee in December, according to an investigator for the federal mine safety agency. The official, William Holgate, told a House subcommittee that interviews with 43 survivors had disclosed that some of the coal miners were smoking illegally at the time of the methane explosion which killed 13 miners. [New York Times]
- Contradictions in the testimony of Wayne Williams were cited by the prosecution at his nine-week-old trial in the murders of two of Atlanta's 28 missing and murdered young blacks. "Did any of those victims scratch you as you were choking the life out of them?" the prosecutor asked. "Absolutely not," he replied. [New York Times]
- Help for mass transit was endorsed by Treasury Secretary Donald Regan in testimony before the Senate Finance Committee. He said he favored exempting bus and subway improvement programs from a proposed repeal of a federal tax-leasing law. [New York Times]
- Injections of insulin were blamed for the two comas suffered by Martha von Bulow, according to a leading expert on blood sugar who had reviewed more than two years of her medical records. Dr. George Cahill, a Harvard Medical School professor, contradicted several key defense witnesses in testifying at the Newport, R.I., trial of Claus von Bulow for the attempted murder of his wife. [New York Times]
- An Amish belief was rejected by the Supreme Court. In a unanimous decision, the Justices ruled that members of the Old Order Amish church who operate businesses must pay Social Security and unemployment taxes, despite their religious view that paying the taxes is sinful. The decision reversed a ruling by a federal district court, which held that forcing such payments violated freedom of religion. [New York Times]
- Civil liberties were celebrated along with patriotism in a show featuring leading entertainers at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. Norman Lear, the television producer, was the prime mover in staging a blend of show business and political action to counteract the Moral Majority Inc. and other organizations of the political right. A two-hour edited version of the performance is to be televised. [New York Times]
- A major attack on Mayor Edward Koch suggested he might not gain the endorsement of the Liberal Party in his campaign for New York Governor. The Rev. Dr. Donald Harrington, the Liberal Party's state chairman, said, "I don't like what he stands for -- the death penalty, his essentially anti-minority attitude, his anti-U.N. buffoonery, the way he played up to Reagan and the conservatives."
Mayor Koch terms the suburbs "sterile" and calls living in them "nothing" and "wasting your life," in an interview prepared for the April issue of Playboy magazine. In the interview, conducted before he decided to seek the Democratic nomination for Governor, he also derided rural life, terming it "a joke."
[New York Times] - Major new aid for the Caribbean will be sought by President Reagan, according to administration officials. They said he planned to announce tomorrow that he would ask Congress to increase economic and military assistance to the region by over 70 percent this fiscal year for a total of more than $1 billion, and to seek $770 million for the next fiscal year. [New York Times]
- Harsh criticism of Lech Walesa was expressed by Poland's official press agency. It accused the detained leader of the independent union Solidarity of having ties with NATO and "Zionist groups" and said he had plotted an "anti-Communist crusade." [New York Times]
- Greenland's possible withdrawal from the European Economic Community was at issue in a national referendum. The balloting was prompted by widespread resentment among the predominantly Eskimo nation over what is regarded as the Common Market's interference in Greenlandic affairs, especially in fishing. [New York Times]
- The Times of London went to press on schedule, and prospects for keeping Britain's most prestigious newspaper alive seemed slightly improved. Rupert Murdoch, the owner, gave two weeks' notice to 210 clerical employees, but the unions responded equivocally. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 812.98 (+1.72, +0.21%)
Arms Index is the ratio of volume per declining issue to volume per advancing issue; a figure below 1.0 is bullish. | |||||||||||||||
| Market Index Trends | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | DJIA | S&P | Volume* |
| February 22, 1982 | 811.26 | 111.59 | 58.31 |
| February 19, 1982 | 824.30 | 113.22 | 51.34 |
| February 18, 1982 | 828.96 | 113.82 | 60.80 |
| February 17, 1982 | 827.63 | 113.69 | 47.65 |
| February 16, 1982 | 831.34 | 114.06 | 48.88 |
| February 12, 1982 | 833.81 | 114.38 | 37.08 |
| February 11, 1982 | 834.67 | 114.43 | 46.62 |
| February 10, 1982 | 836.66 | 114.66 | 46.60 |
| February 9, 1982 | 830.57 | 113.68 | 54.42 |
| February 8, 1982 | 833.43 | 114.63 | 48.50 |