Week of July 8, 1990

Summit - President Bush welcomes fellow world leaders to Texas. Japan’s Prime

Minister Toshiki Kaifu was the first to arrive.

Summit in Houston - President Bush wins a pledge from leaders of the major

industrial democracies to end a longstanding deadlock on trade negotiations.

Also - the U.S. and six allies agree to send an international team of experts to

study Russia’s failing economy and find ways to help President Mikhail

Gorbachev more toward a free market system.

President Mikhail S. Gorbachev wins reelection as the general secretary of the

Soviet Commi8nust party.

Russia - resigns. He said he could not remain a

member, obliged to uphold the policies and also

serve as the head of the Russian Federation.

A federal jury orders Ford Motor Co. to pay

nearly $5.2 million to an inventor for infringing on

his patents for intermittent windshield wipers.

Ford said it was pleased with the amount it must

pay inventor Robert Kearns of Gaithersburg, Md.

- who had sought $141 million.

Retail sales up .5% in the first five months of this

year.

Navy Cmdr. Robert L. Gibson and Navy Capt.

David M. Walker - two veteran shuttle commanders in training - are removed

from their crews and grounded for violating flight safety rule. One was involved in

a fatal collision at a weekend air show and another had been accused of flying to

close to an airliner.

The FCC rules that a 24-hour-a-day ban on “indecent” radio and television

broadcast is constitutional and does not violate free speech provisions of the

First Amendment.

The jingle “Rice-a-Roni, The San Francisco Treat” returns to the airwaves this

week. Some say it never left. It did, but only three years ago, but was on the air

for 30 years - so some didn’t miss it.

Wine consumption in the U.S. drops again - 5% for the second straight year.

Week of July 8, 1990

Sports -

West Germany wins the World Cup - defeating Argentina in the soccer finale in

Rome.

Martina Navratilova beats Zina Garrison in the Wimbledon finals - and breaks a

tie with Helen Wills Moody, who had shared the previous record of eight

Wimbledon singles titles.

Technology -

Songwriter Sammy Cahn files a class-action lawsuit seeking to black Sony from

marketing and selling its digital audiotape recorders in the U.S. He doesn’t like

the fact that Sony is saying that DAT recorders make perfect copies of compact

discs - thereby - infringing on his and other copyrights.

Music news -

Prince fashion - Singer Prince will open his own fashion line and a shop in

Minneapolis.

New album - The five original members of country-rock band “Poco” reunite.

They are Rusty Young, Marx, George Grantham, Randy Meisner, Jim Messina

and Richard Furay.

After weeks of protests against her by Roman Catholic organizations -

Madonna’s “Blond Ambition” tour goes bust in Italy. There will be no second

show.

Jon Bon Jovi has a brief

scene in the movie “Young

Guns II”. He’s a bad guy who

gets killed during a prison

break. Short scene.

Television news -

“Wheel of Fortune” will no

longer award prizes

containing fur products. It’s

the last of the game shows to

do so. People for ethical

Treatment of Animals has

been waging a “Wheel of

Torture” campaign against

the show and its producer -

Merv Griffin Enterprises.

Week of July 8, 1990

LucasFilm is set to produce its first Live action TV series. Look for “Manic

Mansion” about a silly family of scientists and inventors.

syndicated animal programs. He was 65.

ESPN says its baseball ratings fell short of

expectations - and it lost money. It

promised advertisers a 5 rating but instead

they get about a 3 rating or about 1.7

million households.

Passing - Bill Cullen - gameshow MC. He

was 70.

Sunday night television -

CBS - 60 Minutes, Murder, She Wrote,

Movie

NBC - Movie, Movie

ABC - Life Goes On, America’s Funniest

Home Videos, Mr. Belvedere, The Bourne Identity

Fox - The Outsiders, America’s Most Wanted, Cops, Married with Children, In

Living Color, Booker

MTV - Top 20 video countdown, Buzz, Earth to MTV, Rockumentary

PBS - Masterpiece Theater

At the movies -

Die Hard 2

Days of Thunder

Dick Tracy

The Jetsons

Total Recall

Another 48 Hours

Ghost Dad

Robocop

Week of July 8, 1990