Milestones

DIED. BETTY FURNESS, 78, actress and pioneering TV consumer reporter; of stomach cancer; in New York City. Though she had been the popular pitchwoman for Westinghouse refrigerators in the '50s, Furness won praise from the likes of Ralph Nader for her work as Lyndon Johnson's special assistant for consumer affairs. From 1976 to 1992 she was the regular consumer advocate on NBC's Today show.