News stories from Sunday October 31, 1982

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

The loss of 5 or more Governors in Tuesday's elections is expected by Republican leaders. Four of the defeats are expected in the depressed industrial Middle West, but the party hopes to strike back with an uphill victory in California and a long-shot upset in Alabama. Democratic strategists believe they will ultimately stave off the Republican drive in California, hold on to New York, Connecticut and Alabama and pick up at least six and perhaps as many nine governorships from the Republicans. [New York Times] The final two pre-election polls produced dramatically different analyses of the prospective vote for the House. The Harris Poll found Democrats leading by 51 percent to 42 percent among likely voters. The ABC News/Washington Post Poll found a wider Democratic lead, 59 percent to 41 percent. Representative Guy Vander Jagt, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said his party would make a net gain in the House. If it does, it would be the first time since 1934 that a President's party has gained seats in an off-year election. [New York Times] Bathhouses where miners clean up are being visited by the competitors for the presidency of the United Mine Workers of America -- Sam Church, the incumbent, and Rich Trumka, a miner and a lawyer from Nemacolin, Pa., who wants Mr. Church's job. As they campaign for the Nov. 9 election, it is estimated that up to 160,000 active miners, in addition to perhaps 60,000 to 80,000 retirees, will cast ballots at the mines. [New York Times] The World's Fair in Knoxville, Tenn., closed after a six-month stand and officials declared it a financial success. They said that $30 million in bank loans to the fair, officially named the Knoxville International Energy Exposition, had been paid and said it was likely that revenues would cover the $115 million budgeted for building and operating the fair. [New York Times] The school lunch program is feeding many fewer children. The number of pupils participating in the national progam declined 3.2 million in the last year, and more than 2,700 schools have dropped out of it, according to the Department of Agriculture. The statistics indicate that one-third of the children no longer participating are from low-income families. In 1981, Congress reduced federal subsidies for school meals. Schools then raised their prices and fewer children bought lunch at school. [New York Times] Pope John Paul II arrived in Spain on the first papal visit ever made to the predominantly Roman Catholic country. He began his 10-day visit at a time of high political excitement in Spain, which last week elected its first post-Franco Socialist government. In an address to the Spanish bishops he urged them to defend the church positions against abortion and divorce. The Socialists are expected to seek legalization of abortion. [New York Times] A P.L.O. withdrawal from Lebanon must be preceded by an evacuation of Israeli forces and the signing of a new agreement between the guerrilla group and the Lebanese government guaranteeing the safety of Palestinian civilians, the P.L.O.'s senior military commander said. Khalil al-Wazir, widely known by his guerrilla name, Abu Jihad, said that the P.L.O. wanted to retain some kind of symbolic military presence in Lebanon under the authority of the Lebanese government. He said this would assure the 500,000 Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon that they would not be exposed to another massacre such as occurred in the Palestinian camps outside Beirut last month. [New York Times] At another session of Israel's inquiry into the Christian Phalangist assault on two Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut in September, a senior Israeli commander testified at the public hearing that he ordered the militiamen to halt their attack because of an "uneasy feeling" that they "overdid it." Gen. Amir Drori confirmed earlier government statements last month that he gave his order on the morning of Sept. 17. The camps, which had been sealed off by the Israeli army, were entered by the militiamen on the night of Sept. 16. [New York Times] A U.S. Army housing area in West Germany was damaged by a bomb explosion. In addition to damaged buildings, 20 cars were destroyed in the town of Giessen. It was the latest in a series of attacks that the police say are apparently part of a coordinated effort to intimidate American soldiers. [New York Times]