April 23, 1989 – CBS Radio Hourly News – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
April 23, 1989 – A day loaded with mixed emotions. The arrival at port of the Battleship USS Iowa, where an explosion in one of the ship’s gun turrets claimed the lives of some 47 sailors. The USS Iowa turret explosion occurred in the Number Two 16-inch gun turret of the United States Navy battleship USS Iowa (BB-61) on 19 April 1989. The explosion in the center gun room killed 47 of the turret’s crewmen and severely damaged the gun turret itself. Two major investigations were undertaken into the cause of the explosion, one by the U.S. Navy and then one by the General Accounting Office (GAO) and Sandia National Laboratories. Investigations were underway to determine the cause.
Meanwhile, the skies above New York were witness to not one, but two near-misses. One was a TWA Jumbo jet, which narrowly missed colliding with another plane, passing just 100 feet above it. No evasive action was taken, and the TWA pilot was filing a near mid-air collision report. 45 minutes later, there was a similar near-miss – this time just north of New York City, close to the Westchester County airport. A PanAm Shuttle flight and a small plane both took evasive action. The FAA said they passed within 200 feet vertically, 400 yards horizontally. No one was hurt in either incident.
The Bush Administration handed out drug-abuse grants to all 50 states, including the District of Columbia, worth some $119 million. It was designed to put some muscle in the agencies doing their part in the war against drugs. Another $30 million was to be awarded later in the fiscal year.
And gasoline prices jumped on average of 5 cents a gallon in the previous two weeks, with the price of Regular gas now going for $1.06 a gallon. Spokespeople said the increase was due to implementing new Clean-Air legislation.
And that’s just a little of what happened, this April 23rd 1989 as reported by CBS Radio News, Hourly Edition.