Week of January 1, 1988

Exchange messages - President Reagan and soviet leader Mikhail s.

Gorbachev, exchange New Year’s greetings to the Soviet and American people.

President Reagan, appearing on Soviet TV - gently prodded the Kremlin on such

still-sensitive issues as human rights and regional conflicts. He also expressed

U.S. determination to reach agreement on long-range nuclear weapons reduction

- hopefully by spring summit in Moscow. Gorbachev, appearing on American

television, declared his readiness to resolve regional conflicts and ‘to continue

fruit fully the negotiations in reducing strategic arms…”

President Reagan and Canadian Prime Minister

Brian Mulroney, in Ottawa, sign a trade agreement

that will remove all tariffs from commerce between

the United States and Canada within 10 years.

Vice President George Bush tells GOP presidential

rival Bob dole to ‘get off my back” today and sharply

warns that the Senate Republican leader has “just

begun to see silkworms coming across the bow.” He

was responding to Dole’s attack that “we need

leadership, not a resume.”

Wake of unrest - The Israeli government orders the

expulsion of nine Palestinians from the occupied

West Bank and Gaza Strip, accusing them of incitement and subversive activity

on behalf of the terrorist organizations, despite repeated U.S. protests.

Decrying recent mandated budget reductions, Postmaster General Preston Larry

Tisch announces he will resign to return to the private sector.

The dollar recovers from historic lows as the national banks of several countries

bought hundreds of millions of dollars, convincing traders that the leading

industrial nations were determined to support the sagging U.S. currency.

The late Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev’s name is

removed from a city, a district in Moscow and squares

in Leningrad and Moscow, symbolizing his public

disgrace. Since Mikhail Gorbachov assumed power in

the spring of 1985, Brezhnev’s star has been waning.

He was accused of fostering social and economic

stagnation during the late 1970s and early 1980’s.

After he died of a heart attack in November 1982, the

Week of January 1, 1988

city of Navezhnye Cheiny was renamed Brezhnev in his honor. Brezhnev led the

country for 18 years.

Trends - With the deregulation of the phone

industry in 1984 - more and more private citizens

own their own pay phones. Many go into an existing

businesses and convince the owner to either add

their pay phone or pull the one out owned by the

phone company for a percentage of the coin. There’s

even a trade journal for the business called

“Payphone Magazine.” Most of these privately-

owned payphones charge more - 25 cents a call

instead of 20 cents. And, many are finding it rough,

as phones can malfunction and just plain not work.

Country clerks across Illinois report a year-end rush

to get marriage licenses - the result of a law that

took effect Jan. 1 requiring AIDS tests for couples applying for the licenses.

Near Palm Springs - Former First Lady Betty Ford undergoes surgery to repair a

slow-healing incision from her bypass surgery in late November. She’s doing

well.

Sports - “ Pistol Pete” Maravich (40) who played with

the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks, the New Orleans and Utah

Jazz and Boston Celtics, dies after being stricken by a

heart attack. He had been retired since 1980.

Bowl games -

Rose Bowl - Michigan State - 20 USC-17

Cotton Bowl - Texas A&M - 35 Notre Dame - 10

Fiesta - Florida State - 31 Nebraska - 28

Sugar Bowl - 16 Syracuse - 16

Citrus - Clemson - 35 Penn State - 10

Entertainment news -

Jennifer Jones - the first black Radio City Music Hall Rockett begins rehearsals

and then will perform during the Super Bowl half time.

Week of January 1, 1988

Television news -

NBC Entertainment President Brandon Tartikoff says the

network is not shooting itself in the foot with its plans to

enter into program development deals with cable TV. Such

a deal is in the works with NBC and Disney.

“It’s Garry Shandling’s Show - the popular cable TV show is

being picked-up by Fox. The network also announces it is

canceling “The Wilton North Report.”

Friday night television -

CBS - Beauty and the Beast, Movie

ABC - OrangeBowl, Tonight

ABC - Full House, I Married Dora, Mr. Belvedere, The Pursuit of Happiness,

20/20, Nightline

PBS - Washington Week in Review, Wall Street Week, From Vienna: The New

Year’s Celebration