– CBS Radio News On The Hour – July 29, 2000 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
Well, it was a Saturday after all, that July 29th in 2000.
Convention season was off and running, as Republicans headed to Philadelphia in the first of two political conventions to pick a candidate, a running mate and a platform. President Clinton, in his weekly radio address, urged Republicans gathering at the Convention to adopt a minimum wage increase – the sooner, the better. Meanwhile, the House and Senate had passed measures to do just that; raising the Minimum Wage $1.00 per hour. The Senate bill indicated the wage raise would be over a three year period, while the President was pushing for a two year window. The way things were going, a dollar spread out even over two years wouldn’t amount to much. The House version of the bill agreed to a two-year window, but attached $100 million in business tax breaks, which Clinton considered excessive.
The Convention season also brought out protests. First to hit the streets were thousands who gathered at the site of the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia to call for stricter gun control. The protest came with thousands of shoes piled up at the Liberty Bell. The shoes represented the number of children killed each year in gun violence. And in true protest tradition, once the Gun Control advocates left, a Pro-Gun group gathered to protest the protesters.
Meanwhile in California, a huge wildfire was still burning out of control in the Sequoia National Forest, scorching some 37,000 so far and was approaching homes and summer cabins.
Inductions to the Football Hall of Fame were in the news this day – former San Francisco quarterback Joe Montana was among them along with Howie Long, Dave Wilcox and Pittsburgh owner Dan Rooney.
And Hollywood got into Wedding mode this day – Brad Pitt and Friends star Jennifer Aniston tied the knot in an estimated $1 million ceremony with 200 guests attending and a sky full of paparazzi. Popular Culture now had a new word to add to its lexicon; Breniffer. For a while, anyway.
And that’s a small slice of what went on this July 29th, fifteen years ago – as reported by CBS Radio’s News On The Hour.
