June 9, 2000 – CBS World News Roundup: Late Edition – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
June 9, 2000 – The big news this day were findings of a Justice Department investigation into Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination and concluding that it was not the object of a conspiracy, going against a Civil trial verdict held the previous year that concluded it was. The trial verdict prompted the King family to ask the Justice Department to investigate those findings and to issues its conclusion. And on this day, they did.
Reaching the conclusion, but not putting the theories to rest, critics of the Justice Department findings were critical, saying that their conclusions proved nothing and that the claims James Earl Ray acted alone in the shooting of the Civil Rights leader were impossible. And true to form, as with all conspiracies; a million complicated reasons everyone who didn’t agree that Ray didn’t act alone were wrong; plain and simple. And the questions continued.
In other news – gas prices were skyrocketing and motorists were fuming, especially in the Midwest, where prices were going as high as $2.00 a gallon for Regular. It triggered Government inquiries and big oil responded that it was because of reformulating the gas to meet EPA requirements. The EPA responded that it wasn’t true and the high gas prices were unacceptable. And we all know how the oil companies responded.
On Capitol Hill; by a vote of 279 to 136, the House voted for a ten year phase-out of the Federal Estate Tax, which could take a huge bite out of an inheritance. The Estate Tax was steep, but only for those inheriting more than $675,000. Rather than increase that limit, Democrats suggested $4 million, the house voted to repeal the Tax. But with the potential loss of some $50 billion, President Clinton vowed to veto the bill.
And that’s just a little of what happened on this June 9, 2000 (also a Friday) as reported by The CBS World News Roundup: Late Edition.
