1988 in Michigan


Events from the year 1988 in Michigan included: the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, while en route to Detroit; Jesse Jackson's victory over Michael Dukakis in the Michigan Democratic caucus; the crack cocaine epidemic in Detroit; the state's voters passing a ballot proposal prohibiting Medicaid-funded abortions; the induction of The Supremes into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; Grammy Awards won by multiple Michigan artists ; Steve Yzerman's emergence as the state's most popular athlete; and the Detroit Pistons defeating the Boston Celtics in the NBA semifinals before losing to the [1987–88 1987–88 Los Angeles Lakers season|Los Angeles Lakers season|Los Angeles Lakers] in seven games of the 1988 NBA Finals..

Top Michigan news stories

The Associated Press 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.
  3. Presidential politics, including Pat Robertson's popularity, Jesse Jackson's victory in the Michigan caucus, and Michael Dukakis losing the state.
  4. The creation of the Michigan Education Trust guaranteeing college tuition for youngsters who enrolled. Some 40,344 children were enrolled in 1988.
  5. Debate over changes in school financing.
  6. Medical waste, including hypodermic needles with traces of blood, washed up on Lake Michigan shoreline, forcing temporary beach closures.
  7. The approval and subsequent litigation over the joint operating agreement between The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press. The papers, rivals for 115 years, combined business operations. The JOA was approved by Attorney General Edwin Meese in August 1988.
  8. The trial and conviction of Alberta Easter and her three sons for the July 1987 Inkster police slayings in which three Inkster police officers 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
  9. The war against crack cocaine in Detroit, including raids on hundreds of crackhouses and trials and convictions of Richard Wershe Jr. and the Chambers Brothers gang.
  10. 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:
  1. The 1987–88 Detroit Pistons defeating the Boston Celtics in the NBA semifinals before losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games of the 1988 NBA Finals.
  2. The 1987 Michigan State Spartans football team's 20–17 victory over [1987 1997 USC Trojans football team|USC Trojans football team|USC] in the 1988 Rose Bowl.
  3. The 1987–88 Detroit Red Wings advancing the Stanley Cup semifinals where they lost to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Edmonton Oilers in five games.
  4. Kirk Gibson's signing as a free agent with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
  5. The [1988 1988 Detroit Tigers season|Detroit Tigers season|Detroit Tigers] finishing in second place by one game in the American League East.
  6. The Detroit Lions' firing of Darryl Rogers and replacing him with Wayne Fontes.
  7. Flint native Jim Abbott leading the US baseball team in the baseball competition at the 1988 Summer Olympics.
  8. The 1988 Michigan Wolverines football team winning the Big Ten championship and earning a berth in the 1989 Rose Bowl.
  9. Steve Yzerman emerging as a star with a 50-goal season.
  10. The Red Wings' suspension of Bob Probert and Petr Klíma and their rejoining the team in November.
In a separate poll by the Detroit Free Press, readers selected the top sports figures of 1988. The top 10 were Steve Yzerman, Jim Abbott, kayaker and 2x gold medalist Greg Barton, Traverse City football coach Jim Ooley, Central Michigan basketball player Dan Majerle, Isiah Thomas, Farmington Hills quarterback Mill Coleman, Kirk Gibson, Bo Schembechler, and Steve Avery .

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Chronology of events

January

February

  • February 4 - "White Boy Rick" Wershe sentenced to life in prison.
  • February 12 - Detroit Mayor Coleman Young appointed a commission to study casino gambling in the city.
  • February 18 - Ford reported a $4.6 billion profit for 1987, the largest profit ever reported by an automobile company. Workers received average profit-sharing payout of $3,700.
  • February 24 - Lee Iacocca said he would probably accept if nominated as the Democratic Party candidate for President.

March

May

  • May 29 - Detroit archbishop Edmund Szoka elevated to cardinal. The formal elevation ceremony took place in Rome on June 28.

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.
  • 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.
  • 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.

August

  • August 2 - Voters rejected proposal for casino gambling in Detroit.
  • August 5 - As heat wave continued, leaving five dead in Detroit.
  • 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.
  • 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.

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.
  • September 30 - Greg Barton of Homer, Michigan, became the first American to win a gold medal in kayaking.

October

  • October 8 - Michigan defeated Michigan State, 17-3, in annual rivalry game.
  • October 11 - Six killed and ten injured in crash of a tanker plane at Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda, Michigan.
  • October 15 - Kirk Gibson's 1988 World Series home run
  • October 17 - Mentally ill gunmen Charles Knowles kills two Detroit police officers and is then killed in shootout on Detroit's east side.
  • October 18 - Denny McLain pleaded guilty to federal racketeering and drug charges.
  • October 19 - Judge Carol Irons shot and killed by ex-husband in her Grand Rapids chambers.
  • October 21 - Detroit Lions defensive lineman Reggie Rogers charged with three counts of manslaughter in death of three teenagers in traffic accident in Pontiac.

November

  • 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.
  • November 8 - Election day in Michigan:
  • November 14 - Wayne Fontes hired as head coach of Detroit Lions following firing of Darryl Rogers.
  • November 19 - Fox Theatre in Detroit reopened after renovation.
  • November 24 - Crowd at 62nd Detroit Thanksgiving Day parade estimated at 900,000.

December

  • 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:

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