News stories from Saturday January 15, 1977

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

Phoenix policemen arrested two more suspects in the murder of Don Bolles, an investigative reporter for the Arizona Republic, only hours before John Adamson, who had been charged with the slaying, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in a plea-bargaining agreement. [New York Times] Theodore Sorensen's confirmation as the Carter administration's Director of Central Intelligence is doubtful. Robert Byrd, the Senate majority leader, said that there could be considerable difficulty in getting the Senate's approval. He would not say why. The reason may be that Mr. Sorensen, according to his own admission, took classified documents from the White House for use in writing a book on the Kennedy administration. [New York Times] Freezing cold in the Midwest has virtually closed a 180-mile stretch of the Mississippi River to shipping. The area extends from St. Louis to Cairo, Ill. Two ice dams have formed in the river just north of Cairo. Hundreds of barges have been stranded. Many of them are carrying grain, chemicals, heating fuels, and salt for cities with snow-covered streets. [New York Times] Amnesty and "relief" for Vietnam War draft evaders, deserters and servicemen who were punished for minor antiwar offenses have been proposed by two former officials of President Ford's clemency board. Their proposals would go far beyond the general amnesty for draft evaders that President-elect Carter plans to issue in his first week in office. [New York Times] Nearly $900,000 in campaign contributions was given by special interest groups to the 14 major committee chairmen who will largely control the Senate for the next two years. In some cases the donations, which averaged $1 of every $5 the Senators spent to win re-election, were a negligible factor in victorious campaigns, but in others the special interest money made up a significant part of the campaign funds. [New York Times] Zbigniew Brzezinski, the Carter administration adviser on national security, has moved quickly to reorganize the National Security Council. He will eliminate most of Henry Kissinger's influence and has gone out of his way to promise that he will cooperate and not clash with the Secretaries of State and Defense. [New York Times] The dispatch of a separate Palestinian delegation to the Middle East peace talks in Geneva was proposed by King Hussein of Jordan and President Anwar Sadat of Egypt, who completed two days of talks in Aswan. They also reaffirmed their support for a separate Palestinian state. The meeting reunited the two leaders, who had been at odds in recent years, and both indicated they wanted stronger relations between their countries. It was also taken as a demonstration of Arab unity at the approach of the Geneva conference. [New York Times] Vienna is full of foreign intelligence agents. Hundreds of secret agents, shadow diplomats, military officers, international civil servants, businessmen or other agents. Why are they in Vienna? "There is really nothing to spy on as far as our country is concerned," said an Austrian who is in daily contact with government ministers, "but there is plenty of international information available in Vienna." [New York Times]