August 22, 1975

San Francisco Mayor Alioto on Aug 21 invokes his emergency powers to impose compromise wage settlement for city's striking police and firemen after Supervisors Bd rejected settlement by vote of 9-0; settlement grants police and firemen full 13% raise they were demanding, but it will not take effect until Oct 15; agreement means that police and firemen will start at $18,816 and that pact will cost city $9.6-million per yr; Supervisors Bd's original offer would have cost city $6.6-million; both Internatl Assn of Firefighters Local 798 and Police Officers Assn approve settlement and members begin returning to work; Supervisors Bd, denouncing strikers as Outlaws, scores Alioto's negotiation efforts and 1 member calls him a 'dictator'; illus (M)

Aug 22-23: Sec Kissinger arrives in Jerusalem on Aug 21 to begin attempt to conclude new Egyptian-Israeli agreement on Sinai; takes note of widespread protest demonstrations in Israel against projected accord and makes emotional speech urging Israelis to continue taking risks for peace; pledges that US is determined to support Israel and to insure its security; alludes to sizable pkg of US assurances to Israel in pol, mil and econ fields; protests continue around country; security is tight in Jerusalem; Kissinger is trapped with Premier Yitzhak Rabin and most of Israeli Cabinet for more than 1 hr in Parliament bldg because demonstrators blocked all exits; there is also counterdemonstrations by Israelis who support new accord and Kissinger's mediation efforts; Israeli Foreign Min Yigal Allon, in welcoming remarks, underscores confidence that Kissinger will be able to wrap up details of accord in coming days; reporters are told that 'crucial specifics' still to be worked out include exact lines of Israeli withdrawal to east of Mitla and Gidi Passes and Egyptian advance eastward, arrangements for Egyptians to have rd to Abu Rudeis oilfields and exact role and degree of US participation in operating early-warning systems in Sinai; formal talks begin on Aug 22 (M)

Arkansas River, formerly a dirty and wild river, has been turned into a major navigable waterway by the Corps of Engineers, 29 yrs and $1.2-billion after Cong authorized McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation system; taming of river constitutes Corp's largest civil project, harnessing spring floods, storing water for dry seasons and deepening channel to predictable depth; result has been increased indus interest in building new plants in Arkansas Valley, providing many jobs; commercial navigation has not met expectations due to freakish weather and natl econ recession; state's younger pol leaders are stressing need for balancing indus development with environmental considerations; map of river (L)

Gasoline prices rise by 1c a gal and more, increasing cost of gasoline in NYC to about 70c a gal, including 8c sales tax, for regular and 74c a gal for premium; increase was not expected and is linked by oil cos to second dollar on oil import fee; higher gasoline prices are blamed for 1.2% increase in consumer price index for July, and current round of increases is expected to increase index again in Aug; Gulf Oil pres James Lee says decontrol of oil prices on Sept 1 may result in rise of 7-8c a gal in price of gasoline and heating oil, but only over next several mos; says his co, which has just raised prices 1c a gal, will not make further increase on Sept 1 and will try to insure that price policies will protect customers; spokesman for Mobil Oil, which raised prices 0.5c a gal, says newspapers were not advised and generally are not except when price change is substantial; Shell, which raised prices 1c a gal, makes similar comment; API pres Frank N Ikard scores 'wildly exaggerated' forecasts of gasoline prices that will prevail if decontrol takes place; says Sen Lowell Weicker, who predicted $1-a-gal gasoline price, and Repr John D Dingell, who predicted 90c-a-gal price, gave no supporting data for assertions (M)

US Consumer Price Index, dominated by higher prices for food, fuel and used cars, rose 1.2% in July (S)