These are the top stories for July 10, 1968.
Dr. Benjamin Spock, pediatrician and best-selling author, was sentenced to a two-year prison term for aiding, abetting and counseling draftees to avoid selective service. Along with a prison term, he has been ordered to pay $5,000. His co-defendants, including Yale Chaplain William Sloane Coffin, Jr., also received two-year sentences and fines. The defendants are currently out on bond, pending appeal.
Republican presidential candidate Richard Nixon has agreed to debate Vice President Hubert Humphrey on national television after the conventions. Nixon, who believes Humphrey will be declared the Democratic nominee, says that he hopes the experience will not mirror his 1960 debate with John Kennedy.
Two young men attempted to firebomb California Governor Ronald Reagan's home Tuesday night. Secret Service agents and state police witnessed the youths walking briskly up the driveway carrying objects. A Secret Service agent fired one shot, scaring the intruders. The young men threw the objects, which were determined to be Molotov cocktails. They failed to catch fire. Governor Reagan, who was home with his wife and children at the time, declined to comment. The suspects are still at-large.
North Vietnamese Ambassador Xuan Thuy claims the U.S. is operating in its own self-interest by claiming progress during the Paris Peace Talks. He stated that the peace talks would fail unless the U.S. military stopped all bombing in North Vietnam at once. Reports of progress during the peace talks has been mixed. This session marks the 12th time the sides have met since May 13.
Finally, the Big Top fell at the circus. In Auburn, New York a violent thunderstorm caused a circus tent to collapse during a performance of the Clyde Beatty-Cole Brothers Circus. Authorities estimate that the crowd trapped under the tent numbered in the thousands. Forty-seven people were injured, but there were no fatalities.
