Jan. 18, 1983: Gay men are “known to be at increased risk of acquiring a mysterious and often fatal new disease that suppresses the body’s immune system” so the National Hemophilia Foundation is seeking to bar them from donating blood, Times medical writer Paul Jacobs says.

Several other organizations, including the Red Cross, oppose the ban, saying that it’s ineffective in stopping the spread of AIDS.

A ban on all gay men as blood donors would be “a shocking invasion of privacy,” according Bruce Voeller of the National Gay Task Force.

Times religion writer Russell Chandler reports that televangelist Oral Roberts says God has chosen him to find a cure for cancer and is asking each of his followers to send $240 to complete a research center. Two years earlier, Roberts raised millions of dollars for a medical center after saying that he had a vision of a 900-foot-tall Jesus.

City Atty. Ira K. Reiner says a rogue band of officers within the LAPD’s Public Disorder Intelligence Division has operated independently and compiled dossiers on public agencies and individuals, then hidden the material, including 90 boxes of files found in the garage and home of Detective Jay S. Paul.   The files found at Paul’s home include material from military intelligence agencies, the IRS and attorney general’s office, according to Times staff writer Joel Sappell.

On TV: “Hill Street Blues.”