News of the day for June 22, 1976 - Swine flu vaccinations hit a snag for children, Massachusetts State employees strike, Air Canada shuts down, Canada votes to end Capital Punishment, cost of living up, fallout from Liz Ray-Wayne Hays scandal, West Point Cheating scandal wide spread. And sewage comes back to haunt New York.
June 22, 2011

Ford---SwineFlu1976.jpg
Gerry takes a shot.


And 35 years ago today June 22, 1976 sounded something like this:

The legendary Swine Flu vaccine hit a snag. It seems it may not have been as good for kids as previously believed. All 50,000 state employees of Massachusetts went on strike, leaving the Governor and the Legislature pretty much to fend for themselves. Air Canada decided to pack it in for good. The Canadian Parliament did vote to end Capital Punishment. Italy was smack in the middle of yet another political crisis. President Ford nominated Talcott Seelye to take over the Ambassadorship to Lebanon, following the assassination of Francis Meloy.

The Wayne Hays-Liz Ray Scandal was the gift that kept on giving as House Democrats voted to take away fringe benefits to all members of Congress and to make them cough up more details about just who is jumping on the payroll. Republicans said it didn't go far enough. One imagines branding, tar, feathers and dunce caps were their idea of appropriate reprimands. And speaking of scandals, Capitol Hill got another dose of rolled eyes as testimony over the West Point cheating fracas indicated the wave of miscreants was more widespread than previously believed.

Ol' Blue Eyes and longtime galpal Barbara Marx decided to make it official. The cost of living went into nosebleed territory, not over Frank but because the economy just insisted on being screwed up.

And the sewage came back to Long Island. Some 70 miles of beaches closed as the tides and prevailing winds changed, bringing that remembrance of last weeks bad night out back to haunt everyone within gagging distance.

And that's how it went, June 22, 1976 - from ABC Information Network News and CBS Radio.

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