The Michigan Daily-Soturday, August 14, 1982-Page 5
Economic indicators optimistic
WASHINGTON (AP)- Wholesale prices rose at a
reduced rate last month, gas prices dropped, in-
dustrial production slowed its decline, and interest
rates may drop in the near future, government sour-
ces reported yesterday.
Wholesale prices rose at an annual rate of 7.1 per-
cent in July while the months-long skid in industrial
output andfactory use slowed to almost nothing, the
government reported.
Government spokesmen and private economists
said the combination reflected continued progress
against inflation and an impending end to the
recession.
THE INCREASE in wholesale prices was driven by
the biggest jump in gasoline costs in eight years, the
Labor Department said. The jump, however, was
partially offset by the sharpest decline in food prices
since 1976.
"This seems to confirm that we are making
progress against inflation," deputy White House
press secretary Larry Speakes said of the new
wholesale price figures.
Wholesale gas prices dropped slightly for the
second two-week period in a row, major oil com-
panies reported yesterday, signaling modest relief
from earlier increases that had fueled inflation.
MAJOR OIL refiners reported scattered cuts of 0.2
cent to 2 cents a gallon charged in early August to
gasoline dealers and distributors.
"Gasoline prices have peaked for the summer,"
said William Randol, an analyst who follows the oil
industry for the investment firm of First Boston
Corp.
Randol predicted further declines in the months
ahead, but added: "Don't go out and buy a Cadillac
on that. We're talking-pennies, not 10 cents or 20 cen-
ts."
THE FEDERAL Reserve Board, meanwhile,
reported that the nation's industrial output declined
in July for the 11th time in 12 months, and manufac-
turers' use of their factories dipped to the lowest level
in seven years.
The decline in overall production was just 0.1 per-
cent, the smallest of the 11 such drops in the past 12
months. Factory use decreased just 0.2 percentage
points, also well below recent declines.
President Reagan, however, cited the several
economic indicators to reporters as "evidences that
we have bottomed out of the recession, and I think
we're entitled to take some credit for that."
The Federal Reserve Board voted yesterday to cut
its interest rate on loans to member financial in-
stitutions to the lowest level in nearly two years, the
third easing in the rate in less than a month.
A NUMBER OF interest rates charged in private
financial markets quickly dropped also.
Riots in Poland mark
birth of Solidarity
GDANSK, Poland (UPI)- Riot with tear gas, flares and water cannons
police fired tear gas and flares to when some 10,000 people chanting
disperse 10,000 chanting, rock-throwing "Long Live Solidarity," "Free Lech
Solidarity supporters yesterday on the Walesa" and "Get a Divorce from
eve of the second anniversary of the Moscow" marched toward the city's
shipyard strike that gave birth to the Communist Party headquarters.
outlawed union. In December 1970, rioters burned
In Warsaw, security forces armed down the building during clashes that
with water cannons were dispatched in killed dozens of workers.
force to prevent demonstrations on the IN THE afternoon - Gdansk's first
day which also marked the eighth- eruption of violence since May 3 -
month anniversary of martial law. demonstrators ran through the cobbled
POLICE looked on as hundreds of streets of Old Town when police bom-
people gathered around the 40-foot barded them with tear gas, flares and
floral cross laid out in the capital's cen- streams of water about 150 yards from
tral Victory Square, flashing the vic- the building.
tory sign and singing songs, including Youths wearing ski masks quickly
the national anthem with Solidarity erected barricades of benches and
words. paving stones, crouching behind them
But in the Baltic port of Gdansk, to hurl rocks at police.
Solidarity's birthplace, "ZOMO" riot "Gestapo: Gestapo:" they shouted.
police in helmets and shields attacked
Leo Kelly sentenced to life
J I' \ILYU
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imprsonment
(Continued from Page 1)
I am truly innocent of all the charges
against me," he said.
Quoting a 19th century black attorney
who said the U.S. Supreme Court
e "descended to the lowest depths of
human depravity" in its infamous Dred
Scott decision, Kelly said, "Is it the
opinion of this court that I have no
rights? That my parents have no
rights? In finding this decision, this
court has descended from its high
position to the lowest depths of human
depravity."
Commenting on his client's denial of
mental illness and claim of innocence,
Waterman said "He (Kelly) is crying
out for help-medical help."
WATERMAN told Campbell he would
motion for a new trial, citing in par-
ticular the jury selection method as an
inequity in the proceedings.
"It is almost impossible for a
minority to get a fair trial in a county
like this where we use an antiquated
jury selection method," Waterman
said.
Washtenaw County selects prospec-
tive jurors from voter registration lists,
a method Waterman contends "does
not allow a cross-representation of the
community."
A GROUP LED by Kelly's family and
local activists was also present to laun-
amid protests
ch their campaign to reverse the ver-
dict, which they called "racist."
Kelly's mother, Virginia Kelly, gave
a short press conference after the sen-
tencing with "The Committee to Defend
Leo Kelly," a group consisting of the
Kelly family, Waterman and two other
attorneys, and other groups and in-
dividuals from southeastern Michigan.
Their aim, according to committee
organizer Richard Garland, is "to
reverse the racist guilty verdict," and
get a new trial.
"The trial caused a lot of pain,"
Kelly's mother said. "I think my son
deserves better than what he got. He
deserves a fair trial."
Prosecuting Attorney Lynwood Noah
said the chances of an appeal being
granted are "quite slim." When asked
what he thought about the motion for a
new trial and the allegations of racism,
he said "not much."
Noah said Kelly will be taken to
Jackson State Prison, and that a
hearing will be scheduled for the new
trial motion. He said the average life
sentence in Michigan lasts 17 years.
"The sentence is non-parolable, but it
is commutable," Noah said, explaining
that the governor would have to per-
sonally commute Kelly's sentence.
"It's a rare case where that (com-
mutation). doesn'thappen."