News stories from Friday July 4, 1980

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

Iranians demonstrated nationwide to show support for the Islamic Republic and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The state-run Teheran radio said that millions took part. In Teheran, more than half a million people marched, roaring approval for a hard-line manifesto demanding the abolition of Iran's left-wing movements and the purge of all "counter-revolutionaries." [New York Times] The hostage issue was raised by President Carter in angry terms at a "town meeting" in Merced, Calif. Returning to the tough stand adopted before the unsuccessful rescue attempt last April, the President told some 2,000 residents of the San Joaquin Valley community that "fanatics" and "terrorists" hampered efforts to gain the hostages' release. He also said that he had been at-tempting to establish contact with the Iranian government, but aides said later that he was referring to "routine contacts" and that no new diplomatic initiative was underway. [New York Times] Concern for the hostages in Iran and their families was a recurring theme in Fourth of July observances around the country. The hostages were not far from the minds of the crowds around the Washington Monument in Washington, where there was an unabashed display of patriotism and pride in the nation's flag, not seen since the Bicentennial celebration four years ago. [New York Times] Only people of Hawaiian ancestry will be eligible to vote in a special election in Hawaii next November for trustees, who also must be of Hawaiian ancestry, to run a new agency, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. The agency will attempt to improve conditions for the 8,500 pure Hawaiians and about 170,000 part-Hawaiians, all descendants of the islands' aboriginals, who believe they were shoved aside as the islands were developed for tourism. [New York Times] Ronald Reagan has endorsed a Western states' rights movement that seeks to force the government to surrender ownership of up to 549 million acres of public land. The movement, known as the "Sagebrush Rebellion," has become an influental political force in the West. "I happen to be one who cheers on and supports the 'Sagebrush Rebellion, " Mr. Reagan recently told an audience on a campaign trip to Utah, one of the six states that have passed controversial laws unilaterally canceling federal ownership of land within their borders. [New York Times] Start of a Hudson River cleanup of suspected carcinogenic chemicals will be delayed at least two more years, say New York state officials, who closed the river to fishing five years ago. The state and the General Electric Company have spent nearly $7 million for studies and the state has produced a $40 million plan to remove from the river bed contaminated sediment left by polychlorinated biphenyls. The plan depends on getting $30 million in federal funds. [New York Times] Work stoppages in Poland subsided as factory workers bargained for wage increases to offset the increase in the price of certain meats. The unannounced higher meat prices set off walkouts at major factories. [New York Times] Plant layoffs are spreading in Ottawa. Most of the layoffs are taking place in American-owned plants in Canada's most important industrial province, leading Ed Broadbent, head of the New Democratic Party, which is socialist in outlook, to urge what he said was "the only feasible long-term solution: Canadian industry owned and controlled by Canadians." [New York Times] Gunmen in Jamaica attacked the home of Richard Kinsman, a member of the United States Embassy staff. No one was injured. The attack followed a news conference held in Kingston Wednesday by Louis Wolf, co-editor of the Covert Action Information Bulletin, who said that Mr. Kinsman and 14 other members of the United States Embassy staff were members of the Central Intelligence Agency. He said the agency was attempting to undermine the government of Prime Minister Michael Manley, who is a Socialist. [New York Times] Moscow's offer to start talks with the United States on limiting intermediate-range nuclear missiles, made through Chancellor Helmut Schmidt of West Germany, might only have been a feeler that will not be pursued unless a positive response comes from Washington, diplomats in Moscow believe. Secretary of State Edmund Muskie said the offer would be studied "in a constructive spirit." [New York Times]