September 8, 1998 – CBS World News Roundup – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
September 8, 1998 – A busy news day. Beginning with a post-Labor Day Holiday feeding frenzy on Wall Street. Triggered by rumors of a reduction in interest rates, the dow rose an astonishing 289 points at opening bell, and there was no end in sight. Many cited the disclosure earlier in the day that Alan Greenspan and the Federal Reserve were planning on reducing short-term interest rates. Interest rates were already low – but if they went any lower, it would make stocks an especially attractive investment option. And the frenzy was on.
From Halifax, Nova Scotia, scene of the crash of Swissair Flight 111, weather was hampering search efforts for locating the doomed plane and its flight recorder. Divers suspended searching the ocean for remains as seas were too rough, citing safety concerns for the divers. It was also the scene, earlier in the day, of another Swissair Flight, this time experiencing smoke in the cabin, forcing the plane to make a forced landing. The cause was located and fixed, but most of the 241 passengers refused to get back on board.
And in Aurora Colorado, a shooting spree that left six people dead with apparently no motive led police to arrest one of the alleged gunman; a 17 year-old suspect taken into custody earlier. The shootings began with the killing of an 18 year old, whose body was found in a grassy field near an office park was one of two suspects who burst into two homes and killed five people. Why they did it, was unknown.
And opening statements were slated to begin this day in the trial of Jeremy Strohmeyer, the Long Beach California student accused of sexually assaulting and strangling a 7 year-old girl in a Las Vegas Casino restroom. Prosecution contended he collected pornography and admitted fantasizing about sexually assaulting young girls.
And that’s a small slice of what happened, this September 8, 1998 as reported by The CBS World News Roundup.
