January 1, 1971

Atty Gen Lefkowitz sworn in for new term in informal ceremony in Gov Rockefeller office, NYC; illus; oath-taking precedes formal inaugural by day to ensure continuity of NYS govt

American Airlines pres Spater says line will provide additional Caribbean services on Mar 2

House and Sen conferees agree to include in foreign mil sales authorization bill Sen provision repealing '64 Tonkin Gulf Resolution, which authorizes Pres to take 'all necessary measures' to prevent further Communist aggression in SE Asia

Nassau Trust Co (Locust Valley, NY): 3 gunmen hold up Nassau Trust Co's Locust Valley, NY, branch, steal $18,752 and take 3 women tellers as hostages; captured in Bklyn after 70-min chase by 2 police cars and 2 helicopters; bandits planned to hijack airplane to Eur or Africa at Kennedy Internatl Airport, NYC; hostages released unharmed; incident described; suspects identified as P Durant, M Fautner and L I Johnson; illus; map

Doctoral degree holders are discovering degree no longer assures them of preferred employment

USSR Sup Ct commutes death sentences of 11 persons, mostly Jews, convicted of attempting to hijack Soviet airliner from Smolny Airport, Leningrad, in June; ct notes planned hijacking was never carried out; pressure from foreign Govts and Western Communist parties, Spain's commuting of death sentences of 6 Basque nationalists as well as Soviet Govt concern over growing fear among Jews held key elements in ct ruling; M Y Dymshits and E S Kuznetsov, reptd leaders of plot, sentenced to 15 yrs in prison camp; Tass contends trial was not against Jews but was in full accord with UN resolutions aimed at combating hijackings; defendants and respective sentences listed

New Polish Govt allocates $300-million to help families with low and fixed incomes absorb food price increases, which triggered recent riots; Communist party leader E Gierek decrees 2-yr price freeze on nonseasonal foodstuffs

Aurelio illus

NYC community planning bds on Manhattan's East Side claim major victory as City Planning Comm announces that it is shelving its proposal to permit new high-rise housing on north-south avs in area to exceed existing height limits; Planning Comm Chmn Elliott, in lr to Community Planning Bd 8 Chmn W J Diamond, says that comm has decided to either drop item or continue matter to future hearing in order to reformulate it; copies of lr are also sent to Community Planning Bds 6 and 7, which also are vitally interested in change that would have applied along whole East Side from 14th to 96th St as well as to smaller area on West Side abutting Central Pk; proposal would have authorized developers along avs in these areas to buy up air rights over bldgs in side block behind their property and add it to height of apt bldgs they were erecting; civic interests had contended that change would have permitted apt bldgs along avs, now limited to 30 stories, to go as high as 42 stories; Community Planning Bd 8, which led fight against zoning change, had contended that it was 'backdoor device' to break down city's zoning laws; Diamond lauds comm's decision

Sen defeats Pres Nixon's $1.5-billion bill to aid in desegregating schools; HEW Dept Sec Richardson says defeat is enormous loss for nation's schools; Nixon is expected to resubmit proposal in coming yr; his plan to give funds, with few requirements, to Southern schools under ct order to desegregate and Northern schools that have taken some steps toward integration noted; some Sens oppose his plan, claiming funds will be misappropriated and will not lead to meaningful integration

US Mines Bur Dir Osborn acknowledges that Wooton, Ky, coal mine in which 38 miners were killed in explosion on Dec 30, '70, had been allowed to continue operations despite explosion hazards discovered by bur inspectors on Nov 19; says inspectors ordered removal of violations by Dec 22 but no follow-up inspections were made because of shortage of inspectors and higher-priority problems; other sources indicate as many as 5 inspectors for area were on annual leave at time follow-up inspection was to have been made; mine had at least 34 safety infraction citations since it was opened in Mar '70; White House repts Pres Nixon had planned to visit scene but was deterred by bad weather; Nixon phones Gov Nunn; infractions at mine discussed; disaster raises '70 coal mine death toll to 250, highest since '68 when 311 were killed

Pres Nixon signs clean air bill that sets 6-yr deadline for auto indus to develop pollution-free engine and establishes strict natl air quality standards for 10 major pollutants in US; pledges vigorous enforcement, singling out bill for ceremonial signing as he completes action on number of important bills; hails pollution law as important beginning, saying that '71 will be yr of action; bill permits suits by US citizens against polluters, gives Environmental Protection Agency authority to set limits as low as zero on emission of hazardous substances and to seek jail terms and fines in ct cases against violators; illus; atmosphere at ceremony reptdly clouded with pol in view of fact that bill's chief author and potential rival in '72 Pres election Sen Muskie was not among those invited; Environmental Quality Council Chmn Train and Environmental Protection Agency Admr Ruckelshaus applaud bill; Ruckelshaus pledges strict enforcement of provisions; Muskie comments later