Week of December 1, 1987

The Soviet Union has given the United States missile information required to

close an arms control treaty, so says a high-ranking U.S official.

More than 200,000 American Jews and supporters gather on the Mall in

Washington and demanded that the Soviet Union end suppression of religious

freedom and allow the emigration of an estimated 400,000 Jewish refuseniks.

Next day - Soviet leader Mikhail

Gorbachev arrives in Washington for a

third summit with President Reagan as

the American side talked cautiously of

the outcome and the Soviets raised

“great expectations.”

One engine fell off a twin-engine USAir

Boeing 737 five minutes after take-off

on a flight to Boston, forcing the plane

to return to Philadelphia International

Airport. No one was injured and the

plane landed fine.

Converse Inc files suit to prevent Magic Johnson of the Lakers from jumping to a

competitor. The company says Johnson’s contract has several more years.

A new book, “Behind the Scenes,” by former White

House aide Michael K. Deaver, portrays Nancy Reagan

as a powerful force in the White House who prods

President Reagan into moderating his right-wing views. In

one instance Deaver writes - “She lobbied the President

to soften his line on the Soviet Union to reduce military

spending and not push “Star Wars” at the expense of the

poor and dispossessed.”

Chicago - Eugene Sawyer, a black alderman with ties to

the old guard Chicago Democratic machine, is elected by

the City Council to succeed the late Mayor Harold

Washington.

The Ohio Department of Liquor Control orders Anheuser-

Busch to halt shipments of Bud Light because it depicts

Spuds MacKenzie wearing a Santa Clause suit. Spuds,

Week of December 1, 1987

an English terrier, appears wearing a Santa-like jacket and cap with a bag full of

beer. Advertising rules for liquor in Ohio prohibit anything Santa Clause.

Due to violence - The State Department says it is withdrawing all U.S. employees

regarded as non-essential from the American Embassy in Haiti as well as all

dependents of U.S. personnel.

The dollar plunges to record lows against the Japanese yen and West German

mark.

The nation’s unemployment rate returned to a decade-low 5.9% in November.

Passing - Novelist James Baldwin (63).

Entertainment news -

Joan Rivers says an article about her and her late

husband is a pack of evil, vicious sick lies and she

plans to sue Gentlemen’s Quarterly for it.

Music news -

Eddie Van Halen is fined $644 and ordered to fun

a $3,5000 Mothers Against Drunk Driving

scholarship after he plead no contest to drunken

driving in Los Angeles.

the newly syndicated video magazine hosted by Olympian

Mitch Gaylord. She left MTV back in January.

Frank Sinatra cancels a sold-out concert in Rutherford, NJ

with Liza Minnelli just before it was to begin because the sheet

music he planned to use was lost in transit.

Teen artists are back on the pop charts with the likes of Tiffany, Debbie Gibson,

Shanice Wilson, Glen Madeiros and Charlie Sexton.

Television news -

On “Saturday Night Live” - Danny DeVito hosts with musical guest Bryan Ferry.

Week of December 1, 1987

Tuesday night television -

CBS - Houston Knights, Jake and the Fatman, The Law and Harry McGraw

NBC - Matlock, America’s Future: A Presidential Debate, Tonight, David

Letterman

ABC - Who’s The Boss?, Moonlighting, ThirtySomething, Nightline

Fox - The Late Show

PBS - Nova

HBO - Comic Relief ’87 Highlights

Presidential debate - Tom Brokaw moderates the first debate of the 1988

political season. 12 Republican and Democratic candidates will debate.

At the movies -

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Baby Boom

The Trouble With Spies

Fatal Attraction

Flowers in the Attic