LEAD: Acting on an unsubstantiated threat received by its embassy in Finland, the United States Government notified airlines, airports and embassies in Europe two weeks ago of a possible bomb attack against a Pan Am flight from Frankfurt, the Federal Aviation Administration said today.

The Crash of Flight 103; PAN AM WAS TOLD OF TERROR THREAT

LEAD: Bess Myerson and her two co-defendants were acquitted of all the charges against them last night, ending their dramatic trial with a triumph for the defense.

Myerson Wins Jury Acquittal On All Counts

LEAD: The six felony counts that Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. will admit involve circumstances in which the firm cheated a client, manipulated the marketplace and tricked a corporation into being taken over.

Drexel's Plea Bargain Will Limit Exposure to Suits, Employees Say

LEAD: British and American authorities said today that the Pan Am jumbo jet that crashed in Scotland had exploded 31,000 feet in the air, scattering debris in a wide arc up to 80 miles from the area of the main impact.

The Crash of Flight 103; JETLINER IN CRASH BLEW APART IN AIR, OFFICIALS REPORT

LEAD: Two months ago, Alexis Vega, a 34-year-old self-described crack addict from the South Bronx, decided he wanted to get off drugs.

Judge Hears Addict's Plea To Help Him

LEAD: President-elect Bush, acting after days of fierce controversy over the abortion issue, today announced his selection of Dr. Louis W. Sullivan, the president of the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, to be Secretary of Health and Human Services.

BUSH PICKS DOCTOR WHO WAS CHIDED ON ABORTION VIEWS

LEAD: When John Blair was growing up near Hartford 25 years ago, a line of executives walked into his high school, preaching insurance as a way of life - a life of security and stability. ''You never heard about someone getting laid off back then,'' he said.

Hartford Insurers Feeling Strain of Layoffs

LEAD: In another costly rescue of insolvent Texas savings institutions, the Federal Home Loan Bank Board today pledged an estimated $1.85 billion over the next 10 years as part of a recapitalization that merged 15 savings units in the state.

15 Savings Units to Be Merged

WEEKENDER GUIDE

LEAD: The Federal Trade Commission issued complaints today against six of the nation's largest book publishers, accusing them of discriminating illegally against independent bookstores by selling books at discounted prices to major bookstore chains.

6 Publishers Cited for Unfair Tactics

LEAD: Just one day after Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. agreed to pay $650 million for wrongdoing on Wall Street, the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission said management ethics were matters of corporate governance that were best left to state law.

Ruder Sees No Crisis in Buyouts

LEAD:  Security Check Passed  John W. Hall 3d passed a security check a year after the authorities suspect he began spying for the Eastern bloc, the Army said. Page A20.  U.S. Rejects Logan Fees  New landing fees imposed at Logan International Airport in Boston are discriminatory and must be rolled back, the Government said.

INSIDE

LEAD: The legal holiday for Christmas is Monday. Following are holiday schedules.  NEW YORK  Government offices: Closed.  Post offices: Express Mail and special delivery only. Main office open at 33d Street and Eighth Avenue.  Parking: Sunday rules, no street cleanings.  Banks: Closed.

Holiday on Monday

LEAD: IF films had vintages the way wines do, 1988 would be remembered as a year that produced a lot of Kool-Aid. Luckily, much of the best has been saved for last, making Christmas a busy season for solidly interesting films if not for great ones. As usual, it's a time of mass moviegoing confusion, since the only thing Christmas films have in common is their strong claim on the ticket-buying budget of the potential patron.

Checking (and Checking Off) The List of Holiday Movies

LEAD: Two of the world's largest semiconductor manufacturers, Texas Instruments and Hitachi Ltd., said today that they would jointly develop a next-generation computer memory chip.

Texas Instruments, Hitachi in Chip Venture

BUSINESS DIGEST

LEAD: SOME people go to restaurants for a particular cuisine, some for a special ambiance, and others just because it is in the neighborhood and is fast and cheap. Occasionally, though, all of us get a craving for a particular dish: a blood-warming steak, lovingly roasted chicken with mashed potatoes, grilled vegetables or a great salad.

Dish by Dish, The Top Tastes Of the Town

LEAD: When Tom Werner and Marcy Carsey set up their television production company seven years ago, they did it the hard way.

'Cosby' Producers Strike It Rich

LEAD: New York State's top child-welfare official said yesterday that the Koch Administration made numerous mistakes in its dealings with a Brooklyn mother who had a history of child neglect and is now accused in the beating death of her 5-year-old daughter.

Official Faults New York City in Fatal Child Abuse

LEAD: NBC and the Cablevision Systems Corporation said yesterday that they would merge Cablevision's cable programming services and NBC's planned cable service in a joint venture.

NBC and Cablevision Plan Joint Programming Venture

LEAD: A Federal district judge ruled today that key parts of the 1952 immigration law are unconstitutional because they deprive immigrants of rights to free speech by making them subject to deportation for advocating communism or totalitarianism.

Federal Judge Bars Expulsion of Aliens For Political Views

LEAD: Mayor Koch yesterday named a five-member commission with subpoena power and an initial budget of $1 million to investigate allegations of corruption and improprieties in the New York City public schools and to recommend ways to improve the system of decentralization.

Koch Panel With Broad Powers To Investigate 32 School Boards

LEAD: Two New York City schoolteachers were arrested yesterday, one for illegally possessing a handgun that the police said had been found by a student and that the teacher had offered to buy, and the other on drug charges.

Teachers Held In Manhattan And Brooklyn

LEAD: For 40 years, Bert Perlman had been making a respectable living in dolls. His little import company worked out of a small, unheated warehouse not far from his home. The warehouse staff was lean. ''Just Kenny,'' said Mr. Perlman, pointing to Kenny Brower. ''Don't know what I would have done without Kenny.

Bert Scores Big With Asian Dolls Made in Italy

LEAD: The research agreement announced today by Texas Instruments Inc. and Hitachi Ltd. is an attempt to regain ground lost after two other major chip companies, Motorola Inc. and Toshiba, forged a similar alliance two years ago, analysts said today.

Advanced TV's May Result From New Memory Chips

Mallory Hytes Hagan Stramara is an American former news anchor and beauty queen. She won Miss America 2013 as Miss New York 2012 and campaigned unsuccessfully for the Alabama House of Representatives in 2022.

December 23, 1988

Headlines from December 23, 1988

The Crash of Flight 103; PAN AM WAS TOLD OF TERROR THREAT

Myerson Wins Jury Acquittal On All Counts

Drexel's Plea Bargain Will Limit Exposure to Suits, Employees Say

The Crash of Flight 103; JETLINER IN CRASH BLEW APART IN AIR, OFFICIALS REPORT

Judge Hears Addict's Plea To Help Him

Billboard 200

Giving You The Best That I Got

Rattle And Hum (Soundtrack)

Cocktail

Appetite For Destruction

New Jersey

Notable Births

Historical Context for December 23, 1988