LEAD: THE American preoccupation with diet and health is fueling a dramatic increase in sales of frozen desserts that have fewer calories and less fat than regular ice cream. For each of the last three years, sales of frozen yogurt have increased 30 percent, and 90 percent of all frozen yogurt sales has been in soft-serve products.

Soft-Serve Desserts: How Low in Calories?

Business Digest

LEAD: The dog days of summer drag on, the mayoral campaign now seems about a millenium old and everybody is on vacation but us. Fellow New Yorkers will surely understand why we placed a call to our travel agent.

About New York; Travel Agent So Exclusive He's Unlisted

LEAD: WHEN Charley Loops arrives home after a long day at work, he collapses into his La-Z-Boy recliner, hits the remote control and - zap! - live from New York, it's Channel 7 Eyewitness News. Or - zap! - live from Chicago, it's the Cubs game. Or - zap! - live from Los Angeles, it's Dr. Gene Scott, a televangelist who sports a

Scanning the Video Universe In Rural America's Backyards

LEAD: The Dow Jones industrial average traded above the 2,700 level yesterday for the first time since August 1987 before ending the day less than a point shy of that level.

Dow Trades Above 2,700, Then Drops Back to 2,699.17

LEAD: Democrats in Congress warned today that a compromise with the Bush Administration on aid to the Nicaraguan rebels could collapse this year unless the Administration supports an agreement by five Central American Presidents to disband the guerrilla army.

DEMOCRATS WARN U.S. MUST SUPPORT CONTRAS' EVICTION

LEAD:  Shuttle Blasts Off  The space shuttle Columbia soared into space on a secret military mission that is expected to deploy an advanced photo reconnaissance satellite. Page A14.  Secrecy Debate Renewed  Wide circulation of a paper on computer secrecy has renewed a dispute over academic freedom and national security.

INSIDE

LEAD: It was dismissed as a forgiveably immature boast when, in 1960, a 29-year-old politician named Toshiki Kaifu became the youngest member elected to Parliament and enthusiastically told his supporters that if they supported him for 29 more years, he would become Prime Minister of Japan.

Japan's Troubled Successor

LEAD: E. Robert Wallach, a longtime friend of former Attorney General Edwin Meese 3d, was convicted yesterday of accepting payoffs for efforts to influence Government officials on behalf of the Wedtech Corporation.

Meese Friend Guilty Of Receiving Payoffs In the Wedtech Case

LEAD: Frederick A. Wang, president of beleaguered Wang Laboratories Inc., resigned yesterday, returning the reins of the company to his ailing father, Dr. An Wang. The move renewed speculation on Wall Street that the family that effectively controls the company is searching for a way to sell it.

President Resigns At Wang

LEAD: Jay Stone was a private Republican consultant in the mid-1980's when someone - he says he does not remember who -casually mentioned that there was some good money to be made from ''those Mod Rehab things'' handed out by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Ex-Consultant's Dealings Provide Insider's View of Housing Awards

LEAD: Four members of a Chinese acrobatic troupe that has performed with a New York circus since last fall disappeared in Vermont Sunday night after the circus's last show of the season and days before the acrobats were to return to China, officials of the circus said yesterday.

4 Chinese Acrobats Vanish as Interpreter Seeks Asylum

LEAD: The shares of the UAL Corporation, parent company of United Airlines, jumped again yesterday - rising $8.50, to close at $219.25 - in advance of a meeting today at which UAL directors will consider a takeover offer from Marvin Davis.

UAL Stock Up Again; Board Meets Today

LEAD: Teheran press reports said today that Iran would help the Bush Administration obtain the freedom of American hostages if Iranian assets frozen in the United States since 1979 are released.

IRAN IS REPORTED READY FOR A DEAL TO RECOVER ASSETS

LEAD: Engineers taking their first close look at the charred underside of Interstate 78 today found the highway severely damaged by a raging trash fire, but with a few lanes that may be strong enough to open to traffic in a few weeks.

I-78 Damage Extensive, but a Few Lanes Appear Strong

LEAD: More than a decade after the first woman was admitted to the United States Military Academy, the 20-year-old daughter of an Army colonel has become the first woman selected to be first captain of the Corps of Cadets, the academy's highest cadet honor.

West Point Picks Woman to Lead Cadet Corps

LEAD: While there is little disagreement among the six major candidates for mayor that New York City's schools are in woeful condition, no candidate has offered a broad plan to remake the system nor has any promised a dramatic increase in spending.

6 in Mayor's Race Split on Picking Chancellor

LEAD: In introducing a racy car called the Corrado last week, Volkswagen A.G. provided a reminder that it faces a long, difficult road back from the fringes of the American car market.

For VW, the Future Is Its Past

LEAD: Ruling in a major test case, the Canadian Supreme Court yesterday unanimously rejected a man's attempt to prevent his former lover from having an abortion. Hours before the decision was announced, the woman's lawyer said she had had the abortion anyway.

Canada's Supreme Court Rejects Ex-Lover's Effort to Halt Abortion

LEAD: A 34-year-old mother of three was killed early yesterday when at least five shots were fired through a bedroom window of her first-floor apartment in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn.

Woman, 34, Shot to Death In Her Home

LEAD: Individual retirement accounts at banks could be disrupted by a recent opinion from the Labor Department that interest on I.R.A. deposits may lose its tax-deferred status if the deposits are used to qualify customers for free checking accounts, banking officials said yesterday.

U.S. Opinion May Disturb Bank I.R.A.'s

LEAD: Responding to growing pressure from the Environmental Protection Agency and environmental groups, a wide range of businesses, military installations and cultural institutions are struggling to curb their use of halons, a highly effective family of firefighting chemicals believed by scientists to be even more destructive to the world's ozone layer than their better-known chemical cousins, the chlorofluorocarbons.

The Danger of a Firefighting Wonder

LEAD: STANDING in the middle of his garden one sunny morning, Angelo Pellegrini leaned on his ever-present walking stick and cast a grave eye over a dozen transplants of Swiss chard that he had set out from a seedbed earlier in the day. As transplants often do, the chard looked weary, flopped over on its side in the dusty garden soil, and the old man shook his head as if reprimanding naughty students.

A Man of the Earth Reaps the Good Life

LEAD: A moderately strong earthquake jolted the San Francisco Bay area early this morning, breaking windows and shaking people in their beds. But when Ed Bortugno's wife telephoned him at 1:15 A.M. to tell him about it, his first reaction was that someone was playing a joke on him.

California Earthquake Drill Is Jolted by the Real Thing

LEAD: THE squat ex-garage at 150 Wooster Street sits at the edge of a dingy, apricot-colored haze cast by nearby street lights. Like gauze curtains hung for privacy, shadows sweep across the yellow brick facade. Yet swarms of people find the unmarked restaurant. ''Here?'' asked a young woman in a spandex dress and ponytail, pausing on the sidewalk.

Dining: Lowering the Volume to a Murmur

Jason Alias Heyward, nicknamed "J-Hey", is an American professional baseball outfielder for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Houston Astros.

Jason Heyward, American baseball player

Jason_Heyward

Stefano Chuka Okaka is an Italian former footballer who plays as a forward.

Stefano Okaka, Italian footballer

Stefano_Okaka

Kento Ono  is a Japanese actor and model who is affiliated with Stardust Promotion, then later JJ Promotion. He played the role of Hyde in the 2010 Super Sentai TV series Tensou Sentai Goseiger.

August 9, 1989

Headlines from August 9, 1989

Soft-Serve Desserts: How Low in Calories?

Business Digest

About New York; Travel Agent So Exclusive He's Unlisted

Scanning the Video Universe In Rural America's Backyards

Dow Trades Above 2,700, Then Drops Back to 2,699.17

Billboard 200

Batman (Soundtrack)

Hangin' Tough

Repeat Offender

The Raw & The Cooked

Full Moon Fever

Notable Births

Historical Context for August 9, 1989