The Associated Press (AP) selected the top stories in Michigan for 1988 as follows:[1]
Michigan voters in November 1988 approved Proposal A prohibiting Medicaid-paid abortions. It passed by a margin of 1.94 million to 1.48 million. With the vote, Michigan joined 36 other states in banning Medicaid abortions. In 1987, Michigan had spent $6 million to fund 18,000 abortions. The Michigan Legislature had voted 17 times to ban Medicaid-funded abortions between 1977 and 1987 but it was vetoed each time by Governors James Blanchard or William Milliken.[2]
A drought that shriveled crops and led Gov. James Blanchard to impose a statewide ban on outdoor burning, fireworks and cigarette smoking.
(tie) The creation of the Michigan Education Trust guaranteeing college tuition for youngsters who enrolled. Some 40,344 children were enrolled in 1988.
(tie) Debate over changes in school financing.
Medical waste, including hypodermic needles with traces of blood, washed up on Lake Michigan shoreline, forcing temporary beach closures.
The trial and conviction of Alberta Easter and her three sons (William, George and Roy Lemons) for the July 1987 Inkster police slayings in which three Inkster police officers (Sgt. Ira Parker and officers Daniel Dubiel and Clay Hoover) were killed in a hail of gunfire inside a room at the Bungalow Motel. The officers were trying to serve a warrant on Easter for writing a bad check. After a 13-week trial, the jury in August 1988 found all four guilty of first-degree murder
The 10-day hunt for Vincent Loonsfoot through Upper Peninsula woods. Loonsfoort was wanted for fatally shooting four members of his ex-wife's family at the Hannahville Indian Reservation near Escanaba. Loonsfoot eventually surrendered. He was convicted on four counts of first-degree murder in December 1988.
The AP voting was conducted prior to the December 23 crash of Pan Am Flight 103 en route from Frankfurt and London to Detroit.
The AP also conducted a poll of Michigan sports editors who selected the state's top sports stories as follows:[3]
In the 1980 United States census, Michigan was recorded as having a population of 9,259,000 persons, ranking as the eighth most populous state in the country. By 1990, the state's population had grown only marginally by 0.4% to 9,259,000 persons.
Cities
The following is a list of cities in Michigan with a population of at least 50,000 based on 1980 U.S. Census data. Historic census data from 1970 and 1990 is included to reflect trends in population increases or decreases. Cities that are part of the Detroit metropolitan area are shaded in tan.
The following is a list of counties in Michigan with populations of at least 100,000 based on 1980 U.S. Census data. Historic census data from 1970 and 1990 are included to reflect trends in population increases or decreases. Counties that are part of the Detroit metropolitan area are shaded in tan.
1987–88 Detroit Pistons season - Led by head coach Chuck Daly, the Pistons compiled a 54–28 record, advancing the NBA Finals where they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games. Statistical leaders included Isiah Thomas (1,577 points, 678 assists) and Bill Laimbeer (832 rebounds).[11]
March 4 - Smokey Robinson's single "Just to See Her" was released. It awarded the 1988 Grammy Award for Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance.
March 31 - University of Michigan professor William Bolcom won the Pulitzer Prize in music for his composition "12 New Etudes for Piano"
January 2 - Protests over the USA-Canada free trade agreement clogged the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit[16]
January 4 - Former state Senator Basil W. Brown sentenced to six months in prison for delivering cocaine and marijuana to a prostitute.[17]
January 8 - Former Michigan National Bank chairman Stanford "Bud" Stoddard sentenced to three years in federal prison following his conviction for fraud.[18]
January 10 - Auto dealer Michael Rinke and two others died after crash of small airplane following takeoff from Oakland Pontiac Airport.[19]
January 13 - Two were injured after shootout between two mothers at Stellwagen Elemntary School in Detroit.[20]
February 12 - Detroit Mayor Coleman Young appointed a commission to study casino gambling in the city.[23]
February 18 - Ford reported a $4.6 billion profit for 1987, the largest profit ever reported by an automobile company.[24] Workers received average profit-sharing payout of $3,700.[25]
February 24 - Lee Iacocca said he would probably accept if nominated as the Democratic Party candidate for President.[26]
March
March 1 - General Motors discontinued the Pontiac Fiero and closed the plant in Pontiac, Michigan, making the Fiero the last Pontiac to be built in Pontiac.[27]
March 26 - Jesse Jackson won the Michigan Democratic presidential caucus with 54% to 28% to Michael Dukakis and 13% for Richard Gephardt. The victory gave Jackson the overall lead in the delegate count.[30]
May
May 29 - Detroit archbishop Edmund Szoka elevated to cardinal.[31] The formal elevation ceremony took place in Rome on June 28.[32]
June
June 8 - Detroit's Casino Gambling Study Commission voted in favor of casinos in Detroit.
June 10 - James Duderstadt appointed president of the University of Michigan.[33]
June 15 - A suspended police officer, Henry Jones, age 24, went on shooting rampage in Detroit, killing three and then killing self.
June 21 - Pistons lost Game 7 of NBA Finals to the Lakers.[34]
June 25 - Record high of 104 for the date in Detroit. One degree short of the city's all-timee high temperature.
June 28 - Motown Records sold for $61 million to MCA inc. and an investment banking firm, Boston Ventures. Berry Gordy retained the company's sheet music business, Jobete Music Corp, and its film business, Gordy Co.[35]
July
August
August 2 - Voters rejected proposal for casino gambling in Detroit.[36]
August 5 - As heat wave continued, leaving five dead in Detroit.[37]
August 8 - After a 13-week trial, Alberta Easter and her three sons were all found guilty of first-degree murder in the Inkster police slayings.[38]
August 13 - The Palace of Auburn Hills, built at a cost of $70 million opened with Sting playing the inaugural show before a capacity crowd of 16,587.[39]
September
September 5 - Michael Dukakis speech at Detroit's traditional Labor Day celebration in Detroit. Dan Quayle speech in Hamtramck.
September - Medical waste washed up on Lake Michigan shoreline, forcing closure of beaches in Oceana County.
September 14 - Judge in Inkster police slayings sentences Alberta Easter and her three sons to life in prison and ordered them to be separated for life.
September 28 - Detroit archbishop Edmund Szoka announces plan to close 43 urban parishes in order to cope with flight of Catholics from the core city.
September 28 - Jim Abbott was the winning pitcher in Team USA's gold medal game with Japan at the Summer Olympics in Seoul.
October 17 - Mentally ill gunmen Charles Knowles kills two Detroit police officers (Lt. James Schmit, 41, and Officer Frank Wills, 39) and is then killed in shootout on Detroit's east side.[43]
October 18 - Denny McLain pleaded guilty to federal racketeering and drug charges.[44]
October 19 - Judge Carol Irons shot and killed by ex-husband in her Grand Rapids chambers.[45]
October 21 - Detroit Lions defensive lineman Reggie Rogers charged with three counts of manslaughter in death of three teenagers in traffic accident in Pontiac.[46]
November 1 - "Father Irish", a man who accepted money while posing as a priest at the scene of Northwest Airlines Flight 255, was detained in Canada.[47][48]
December 14 - Linebacker Mike Cofer and punter Jim Arnold named to the Pro Bowl.
December 21 - Pan Am Flight 103, en route from Frankfurt to Detroit, was destroyed by a bomb over Lockerbie after a stopover in London. All 243 passengers and 16 crew were killed. Michigan victims included:
Jim Fuller, 50, vice president in charge of Volkswagen United States;
Lou Marengo, 33, executive with Volkswagen United States;
LaWanna Thomas, 21, an Air Force sergeant and her two-month-old son, Jonathan, traveling to spend the holidays with her family in Southfield;
Arva Anthony Thomas, 17, returning to Detroit from a fall semester studying in West Germany;
Charles T. Fisher IV, 34, a London banker and son of National Bank of Detroit president Charles "Chick" Fisher;
Gregory Kosmowski, 40, an executive with Lucas Industries in Troy;
Pamela Herbert, 19, a Cranbrook graduate who grew up in northwest Detroit, returning from a fall semester studying in London;
Mary Smith, 34, an Army sergeant from Kalamazoo flying home for Christmas;
Kenneth Gibson, 20, an Army corporal stationed in Germany returning to spend holidays with family in Romulus;
Lawrence Bennett, 41, a Parke-Davis manager of clinical research from Lima Township;[53]
Diane Boatmon-Fuller, 35, a playwright who moved to London in January and was returning for a surprise visit with family;[54] and
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
