This Day In 1970's History: Wednesday February 11, 1981
- A busboy was charged with homicide and arson in the eight deaths that resulted from a fire that swept through the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas, Nev. Nearly 200 people were injured in the blaze. The authorities said that separate fires had been set on four floors and that the nozzle of a fire hose mounted on a wall had been slashed and stuffed with a combustible material. [New York Times]
- Frank Sinatra won permission to re-enter Nevada's gambling industry more than 17 years after he was barred from it because of alleged ties to organized crime. By a unanimous vote, the three-member Nevada Gaming Control Board voted to recommend that Mr. Sinatra be granted a license to act in a principal role in the management of a casino. The panel heard five hours of testimony in behalf of the entertainer, including two hours by him. [New York Times]
- Ten accused terrorists were convicted of all counts by a federal jury that deliberated for two hours in Chicago. The defendants, who were said to be members of the Puerto Rican independence group F.A.L.N., were found guilty of seditious conspiracy, auto theft and the illegal possession and use of weapons. [New York Times]
- Offshore fuel exploration was pressed by the new Secretary of the Interior, James Watt. He proposed reversing a decision of the Carter administration by restoring four disputed areas off northern California to an oil-and-gas-lease sale. Environmentalists said that the plan would endanger local economies and the coastal environment and they charged that Mr. Watt was acting for special interests. [New York Times]
- State control of many social services is sought by the Reagan administration in proposals to relieve Washington of the bulk of welfare, housing, health care and food programs. In an effort to cut federal outlays for the poor, Washington would grant a fixed amount of money to each state, and each would decide precisely how much would be spent for each program. [New York Times]
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