News stories from Sunday March 5, 1972
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- James Eastland, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, will resume hearings into the ITT case tomorrow instead of Tuesday. ITT lobbyist Dita Beard was served a subpoena in a Denver hospital where she is in intensive care for a heart condition.
The issue is: was the Justice Department's settlement in ITT's antitrust case influenced by the offer of an ITT subsidiary to contribute $400,000 for the Republican national convention? Richard McLaren, head of the Justice Department's antitrust division at the time, says no. But Dr. Willard Mueller, a former economic advisor to the antitrust division, called the handling of the ITT case a "sham" and a "whitewash".
[NBC] - White House aide Peter Flanigan worked with financial analyst Richard Ramsden in advising the government regarding ITT's antitrust suit. Asst. Attorney General Bruce Wilson says that the settlement with ITT was just and fair. Although he doesn't know what Flanigan's role was in the proceedings, Wilson declared that no deal took place. Former Attorney General John Mitchell is expected to testify before the committee. [NBC]
- Three barges loaded with hundreds of tons of ammunition struck a Viet Cong mine in a river east of Saigon. Six men were wounded and three are missing from the ships which blew up and then sank. [NBC]
- Hanoi radio reported that U.S. planes raided North Vietnam. [NBC]
- Sheik Mujibur Rahman, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, ended his visit to the Soviet Union having received promises of financial and technical aid. In Dacca, unemployment is rising as refugees return from India. Homes are being rebuilt with few materials, communications are either out or scrambled, and public transportation is haphazard and risky. Mukti Bahini guerrillas are being trained to serve in the army and police force, but Mukti Bahini recently fought with the army in a dispute over pay. [NBC]
- Eighteen state legislatures are scheduled to be elected in India. The elections will be a test of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's popularity following the war with Pakistan. [NBC]
- The Census Bureau reported that the number of children attending private schools has dropped 23% since the mid-1960's. The drop is the result of the movement of white families away from the cities to the suburbs. Busing in these communities is a major issue.
The Dayton, Ohio, school superintendent urged his school board to adopt a massive busing plan to desegregate the city's schools. Board meetings became shouting matches and board members were pelted with marshmallows. The November, 1971 elections changed the composition of the school board. A voluntary busing plan has been initiated, but the Dayton NAACP still intends to file a lawsuit to force desegregation. Petitions, both for and against busing, have been presented to the school board.
[NBC] - Workers at the General Motors plant in Lordstown, Ohio went on strike; an early settlement is predicted. [NBC]
- Two young men stole a single-engine airplane from an airport at College Park, Maryland. Both were killed when the plane crashed. [NBC]
- Pope Paul stated that economic, political and social developments are stirring people throughout the world, leaving them divided and dissatisfied. [NBC]
- Prime Minister Dom Mintoff of Malta and British Defense Secretary Lord Carrington met for six hours in London, and reported progress in having the British vacate their military bases on the island. [NBC]
- In Belfast, police are blaming the IRA for yesterday's bombing of a crowded restaurant in which two people were killed and 136 injured. Britain is expected to make a new effort to ease tensions in Northern Ireland. [NBC]
- Northern Ireland and other places will make news next week: the British are expected to give Catholics a bigger role in the government of Northern Ireland; an announcement regarding a hike in coal prices will be made in Parliament as a result of the settlement of the miners' strike. In Brussels, the European Common Market will meet to consider an economic and monetary union.
Assistant Secretary of State Marshall Green continues his tour of southeast Asia, briefing American allies on President Nixon's China trip and assuring them of ongoing U.S. support. Japanese Premier Eisaku Sato will face hostile questioning from his country's legislature about Japan's policy toward China.
The New Hampshire presidential primary is on Tuesday. The Senate Judiciary Committee will resume hearings in the ITT case. The 30-day freeze on utility rates ends, and the Price Commission is expected to issue new guidelines. The defense will begin cross-examining key prosecution witnesses in the "Harrisburg 7" trial.
The first National Black Political Convention opens on Friday in Gary, Indiana. Tuesday is the deadline for filing for the Wisconsin presidential primary, and Friday is the filing deadline in California. In Los Angeles, Daniel Ellsberg goes on trial for releasing the Pentagon Papers.
[NBC] - A dispute between the Vatican and the leaders of the Catholic church in Spain has broken out. Spain's Catholic leaders are calling for social, economic and political reforms in Spain, which has angered the government of Generalissimo Franco. The Vatican asked the Spanish church to withdraw its demands for reform. [NBC]
- The "Children of God" is a group of young people living on a commune in Burlington, Washington. The young people, many of them former drug users, live together and try to live the life of Jesus and convert the world to His teachings. They live at an old church camp and subsist on donations. But the families of some members claim that kids are kept at the commune against their will, are hypnotized and drugged, and parents aren't allowed to visit. The families have discussed using force to get their children back. One parent said that the group is a "subversive" organization. [NBC]
- U.S. soldiers have become bored in Vietnam as the South Vietnamese are taking over the war. Some Americans are still fighting and dying in Vietnam, but most are now garrison troops. In Long Binh, go-cart racing was initiated to pass the time. Parts are taken from scrapped vehicles and tracks have been carved out of wasteland. The Army encourages these kinds of activities as being safer than drugs. [NBC]