Leasing News - information, news, education and entertainment for the commercial bank, finance and leasing industry

Position Wanted---Risk Management
Seeking New Opportunities

Each Week Leasing News is pleased, as a service to its readership, to offer completely free ads placed by candidates for jobs in the industry. These ads also can be accessed directly on the website at:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Classified/Jwanted/Jwanted.htm

Each ad is limited to (100) words and ads repeat for up to 6 months unless the candidate tells us to stop. Your submissions should be received here by the end of each week.

Please encourage friends and colleagues to take advantage of this service, including recent graduates and others interested in leasing and related careers.

Risk Management
Chicago Based
Highly knowledgeable and analytical Equipment Leasing Executive; leveraging 25 years in Portfolio Management, Operations, Credit, and Collections within Banking environment and Commercial Equipment Leasing Industry; proven track record, developing/implementing strategies, sound operational excellence and process improvement, while maximizing revenues and positioning organizations for greater success. wgriffith61@yahoo.com
Resume:
http://leasingnews.org/items/BGriffithResume2015.pdf

(Leasing News provides this ad as a trade for appraisals
and equipment valuations provided by Ed Castagna)

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Top Stories - March 28 - March 31
(Opened Most by Readers)

(1) Balboa Capital Tagged for Bait and Switch
on Lease Payoff Quote
By Tom McCurnin, Leasing News Legal Editor
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Mar2016/03_28.htm#balboa

(2) Alert: Dallin Hawkins Making Rounds Again
Bulletin Board Complaints
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Mar2016/03_31.htm#alert_hawkins

(3) Long Time Fixture in Southern California Leasing
Broker Claude Lanselle Passes Away
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Mar2016/03_31.htm#long

(4) “Evergreen Clause”—The Danger of Automatic Renewal
Companies with Complaints of Abuse
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Mar2016/03_28.htm#evergreen

(5) New Hires---Promotions in the Leasing Business
and Related Industries
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Mar2016/03_31.htm#hires

(6) Top Stories - March 21 - March 25
(Opened Most by Readers)
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Mar2016/03_28.htm#top_321

(7) Lease/Finance Calculators On Line
Recommendations
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Mar2016/03_31.htm#calc

(8) Sales Make it Happen by Steve Chriest
Predicting a Salesperson's Success
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Mar2016/03_31.htm#predicting

( 9) New Survey of Alternate Finance Companies
by Federal Reserve
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Mar2016/03_28.htm#survey

(10) CIT Group Unveils Strategic Plan to Reduce Costs by $125M
Integration of OneWest Bank expected completion end of 2016
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/cit-group-unveils-strategic-plan-172005757.html

(Leasing News provides this ad as a trade for appraisals
and equipment valuations provided by Ed Castagna)

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FinTech #102 by Christopher Menkin
Menkin has an Epiphany

I was really surprised, living in Silicon Valley since 1972, working with many of the companies who grew here, and to say the least, writing about Financial Technology. Arriving at our room at the Grand Wailea, Wailea, Hawaii, with a great view, beautiful weather, I looked around the room for the hotel booklet, often loose-leaf, about telephone numbers, amenities, menus, in-room dinning, and couldn't find it. I went through drawers, even looked in the bathroom. I finally called the main desk. They told me to turn on the TV.

Wow, it was all there, including videos, details, prices, events; easy to navigate. Here I arrived, used to "old" technology, but here was Wi-Fi everywhere, fast speeds, too, free. I remember coming to Hawaii and no internet connection at the Mauna Kea, traveling to a nearby hotel to do Leasing News where they had a business office with 56k speed!

I should have realized this after buying Christmas presents for the kids, Nest, wireless vacuum cleaner, iPads, even the seven-year-old has one. Here I am in a modern, beautiful hotel, and I expect a loose-leaf booklet with information when it is on the large TV screen, can be updated, and you can interface, too. I don't need to telephone. I can book restaurants via open table, make other reservations, and do all of this very easily.

That is what FinTech is all about. Streamlining, making things easier, combining money like a bank does to lend out, streamlining procedures, developing your own parameters, maybe guessing right a lot more than guessing wrong, doing it more economically, more efficiently, even resulting here at the Grand Wailea with a more relaxing and enjoyable vacation.

Previous Financial Technology Articles
http://www.leasingnews.org/Conscious-Top%20Stories/fintech.html

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Leasing Industry Help Wanted

Please see our Job Wanted section for possible new employees.

“Do I Need a Four Year Degree to be Successful?”
Career Crossroad---By Emily Fitzpatrick/RII

Question: I am interested in pursuing a sales career. I only have a two-year degree do I need four-year degree to be successful?

Answer: NO – a college degree cannot prepare you for a sales career nor is there a degree in sales offered at any college or university. You may ask, how does one get into sales then? Some make a decision right out of high school or college to pursue sales as a career and some grow into it after succeeding in a customer service or telemarketing position. Most, however, change to sales from another field entirely, e.g., education, sports. They combine their specialized expertise with their interest in sales and start a new career. Many continue growing to management levels.

Your two-year degree will benefit you and when coupled with one or two internships or employment during this time, your chances of landing a good sales opportunity are high.

I do believe a four-year degree, and as important, an MBA, are very valuable to your intellectual abilities and perhaps circle of friends you circulate with. In sales liking people, having a thick skin to get off the floor when turned down, product knowledge, and desire to make a sale are more important than a four year degree or MBA.

Make sure you engage in training as part of your professional growth - continuing education can only broaden your future opportunities.

Emily Fitzpatrick
Sr. Recruiter
Recruiters International, Inc.
Phone: 954-885-9241
Cell: 954-612-0567
emily@riirecruit.com
Invite me to Connect on LinkedIn
www.linkedin.com/pub/emily-fitzpatrick/4/671/76
Also follow us on Twitter #RIIINFO
https://www.pinterest.com/recruitersinter/rii-career-services/

Career Crossroads Previous Columns
http://www.leasingnews.org/Conscious-Top%20Stories/crossroad.html

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Eight New Certified Leasing and Finance Professionals
Next Testing in May, 2016, San Francisco Bay Area

Skylar Crane, CLFP
Celtic Commercial Finance, National Accounts Manager

Brent Dunbar, CLFP
Celtic Commercial Finance, National Accounts Manager

Don Ferguson, CLFP
– Celtic Commercial Finance, Vice President/Team Director

Andy Horne, CLF
Provident Leasing, Regional Vice President

Mark McKissick, CLFP
Banc of California, Director of Small Commercial Lending

Korie Nicholson, CLF
Provident Leasing, Territory Manager

Mike Seyal, CLFP
Diagnostic Institute of Imaging, President

Evan Zoller, CLFP
Provident Leasing, Territory Manager

Mark McKissick, CLFP, Director of Small Commercial Lending at Banc of California stated, “Just like an MBA, Ph.D., or CPA, the CLFP designation reflects knowledge and professionalism in a very prominent industry. It allows me to gain the credibility, integrity and trust among colleagues and customers alike - setting myself apart from others. It truly does set the standard of excellence, and I made it my personal goal to achieve that standard.”

The CLFP designation identifies an individual as a knowledgeable professional to employers, clients, customers, and peers in the equipment lease and finance industry. For more information, call Executive Director Reid Raykovich, CLFP at (206) 535-6281 or visit www.CLFPfoundation.org.

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Academy for Lease & Finance Professionals
San Francisco Area Class Almost Sold Out!

Reid Raykovich, CLFP, Executive Director of the Certified Leasing and Finance Professional Foundation, states the San Francisco Academy for Lease & Finance Professionals has almost sold out!

There are just a few seats left - register today for the best prep class that the industry offers for the CLFP exam.

San Francisco Area
Academy for Lease & Finance Professionals -
Thu, May 12, 2016 8:00 AM (PDT) End. Sat.• Walnut Creek, CA

The cost to attend the class is $600 and the cost of the exam is $695. When purchased together, the total is discounted to $1250. Current CLFPs are offered a discounted price of $395 and class attendance satisfies the Recertification requirement.

For information on the San Francisco Area Academy, click here:
http://www.leasingnews.org/PDF/walnut_creek2016.pdf

The ALFP is a three-day event designed to fully prepare an individual to sit for the CLFP exam assuming the attendee has already self-studied. During the first two days, all of the required sections of the CLFP exam are covered in-depth and on the third day, the exam is offered, but not mandatory.

Students are strongly advised to have read and studied The Certified Lease & Finance Professionals' Handbook prior to attending the class in order to ensure success.

Up-Coming Classes

Philadelphia Area
Academy for Lease & Finance Professionals -
Thu, September 22, 2016 8:00 AM (PDT) End. Sat. • TBD

Denver Area
Academy for Lease & Finance Professionals -
Thu, November 03, 2016 8:00 AM (PDT) End. Sat.• Littleton, CO

CLFP also has a mentor program. For questions or to register, please contact: reid@CLFPfoundation.org or (206) 535-6281

Lease Documents for the Future

There is a real difference among documents for different markets.

What is important, regardless of which market or ticket size you deal with, are the changes in how we conduct the business of commercial equipment leasing. The suggested accounting changes and the terms being required by our customer base is going to put pressure on us to create new documents to cover new terms.

It appears that we can look at equipment rental documents for new language to cover how we expect the lessee to use our equipment and adjustments in the rent based on that use. In addition, we need language to cover location change or defaults for failure to maintain maintenance records. Terms are going to be shorter requiring better equipment knowledge and well-reasoned residuals. Return language will be longer and more complex to cover the higher residual risk.

The changes will come slowly as we begin to create leasing programs to satisfy lessee needs in light of the new accounting requirements. The leasing business has been very adaptable over the years and I am not afraid of the changes because we will survive and prosper if we carefully create new documents to cover the changes of our product mix.

On many occasions we have discussed the content of leasing documents ---but not the quantity of documents required for each deal. Most lessors prefer short forms on “mini deals” and as the size increases, so do the number of documents they require. The lessors have to make arrangements to assume the risk for short form documents and this usually is a larger lease loss reserve. This is one of the reasons for higher rates on smaller deals. In addition, smaller deals usually are accepted with a shorter credit review which again increases the lease loss reserve and the lease rate.

The short form lease when used for a specific type of equipment usually contains the equipment description, the lease requirements and the acceptance in one form. The brevity of the document means a lot of protections, such as a complete description, equipment maintenance requirements and equipment return conditions, found in larger leases, are not part of the document. The lessee accepts the equipment at the time it is delivered on the short form and the lessor pays the vendor within a few days.

A “middle market” document usually contains lots of additional documents like a separate acceptance certificate that contains the date it was delivered, the date it was accepted after it was inspected, or tested, and the actual date of the signing the document. More protective language is placed in the lease like more defaults language, tax and legal statements, return provisions, “fair market value” definitions, and more explicit insurance requirements.

Although perhaps started by a template, “Major market” documents are generally created for each type of equipment and usually prepared and closed by legal counsel. They cross all the “t’s” and dot all the “i’s.”

As I have suggested in many columns this year, review your lease documents with your company attorney, as well as consult your CFO or company accountant, in light of the changes coming ahead.

Previous #102 Columns:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Conscious-Top%20Stories/Leasing_102/Index.htm

(Leasing News provides this ad “gratis” as a means
to help support the growth of Lease Police)

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##### Press Release ############################

BofI Holding Announces Acquisition of Equipment Leases
and Operations of Pacific Western Equipment Finance

SAN DIEGO---BofI Holding, Inc. (NASDAQ: BOFI) (the “Company”), parent company of BofI Federal Bank (the “Bank”), announced that the Bank has closed an asset purchase agreement in which the Bank acquired certain assets and assumed certain operations of Pacific Western Equipment Finance (“EQF”), which are headquartered in Salt Lake City, from Pacific Western Bank. The transaction closed on March 31, 2016.

The Bank acquired certain assets and will operate on an ongoing basis the equipment lending operations of EQF as follows:

The Bank acquired approximately $140 million of equipment leases diversified across 36 states and Canada and over 50 industries
The Bank will retain approximately 25 existing employees, including EQF’s entire senior management team
The EQF team will become a part of the Bank’s C&I lending group and continue to conduct equipment lending operations at existing loan production and servicing office in Utah

The transaction is expected to be accretive to earnings per share within the first year post-closing, including the lease purchase price premium of approximately 2.5% and certain one-time expenses.

Greg Garrabrants
President/CEO
BofI Federal Bank

“We are very excited to welcome the Salt Lake City based EQF Group to the Bank,” stated P, President and Chief Executive Officer of BofI Federal Bank. “The addition of EQF immediately makes us an established lender in the equipment leasing space. EQF’s relationships and strong credit history provide a platform from which we can scale the business in an efficient and profitable way. It adds a new vertical to our C&I lending group, further diversifying our commercial lending capabilities.”

With roots dating back to the 1970s, EQF is an established leader in financing for business equipment to middle market companies. EQF provides direct and indirect financing on essential-use equipment ranging from $250,000 to $5 million. The current EQF management team operated independently as Marquette Equipment Finance from 2006 to 2012 before being acquired by Pacific Western Bank in January 2012.

About BofI Holding, Inc. and BofI Federal Bank

BofI Holding, Inc. (“BOFI”) is the holding company for BofI Federal Bank, a nationwide bank that provides financing for single and multifamily residential properties, small-to-medium size businesses in target sectors, and selected specialty finance receivables. With approximately $6.7 billion in assets, BofI Federal Bank provides consumer and business banking products through its low-cost distribution channels and affinity partners. BofI Holding, Inc.’s common stock is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “BOFI” and is a component of the Russell 2000® Index and the S&P SmallCap 600® Index. For more information on BofI Federal Bank, please visit www.bofifederalbank.com.

(Leasing News provides this ad as a trade for investigative
reporting provided by John Kenny)

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#####Press Release #############################

Webinar April 12 will Explore Equipment Leasing
Challenges, Opportunities for Community Banks

Independent Banker Webinar to Feature The Alta Group

GLENBROOK, NEV, – Increasing competition and regulatory pressures are encouraging more community banks to offer equipment leasing products to their customers. Independent Banker, a publication of the Independent Community Bankers of America, is sponsoring a webinar at 12 Noon (Eastern) Tuesday, April 12 featuring experts from The Alta Group who will discuss today’s leasing marketplace for community banks.

The one-hour webinar – “Improving Growth, Profits and Leverage through Equipment Leasing” – is free and open to all but advance registration is required. For more information, please visit: https://icbaibmagazine.webex.com/icbaibmagazine/
onstage/g.php?MTID=ebb947e29fd2886a2ed583f2ef
8b2cd5e&SourceId=alta.

During the webinar, Alta CEO John C. Deane and Director Andrew Mesches will cover: challenges and other considerations when implementing a leasing capability; key opportunities and strategic benefits for community banks that offer leasing products; and real-life case studies. A question-and-answer session will conclude the event.

Deane heads Alta, a leading consultancy focused exclusively on equipment leasing and asset finance, and lends his expertise to client engagements. Prior to co-founding the company, he served as a principal in the firm of Amembal, Deane & Associates, a global equipment leasing education and training consultancy. He has been CEO of both Great Western Leasing and BancOne Leasing and has served as the CFO and president of several major financial corporations.

Mesches helps banks and other Alta clients increase the growth and profitability of leasing and finance operations by improving their credit risk management strategies. He has decades of experience in the banking industry. Mesches began his career at the State Bank of Albany in N.Y, and later held positions at United States Leasing Corp. and Bank of the West, BancOne Leasing Corporation, and Key Equipment Finance before joining Alta.

About The Alta Group
The Alta Group is the leading global consultancy dedicated exclusively to the business of equipment leasing and asset finance. Since 1992, Alta has represented equipment leasing and finance companies, financial institutions, manufacturers and service providers, offering management consulting and expertise in global market entry, vendor and captive finance, professional development, legal services, asset management, mergers and acquisitions, and systems integration advisory services. For information on the group’s services in the United States and Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia Pacific, visit http://www.thealtagroup.com

#### Press Release #############################

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     1614 - Powhatan Indian princess Pocahontas (d. 1617) married English Jamestown colonist John Rolfe in Virginia. Their marriage brought a temporary peace between the English settlers and the Algonquians. In 1616, the couple sailed to England. The "Indian Princess" was popular with the English gentry.
    1621 - The Mayflower sailed from Plymouth, Mass., on a return trip to England.
    1649 – Elihu Yale (d. 1721) was born in Boston. He was Governor of the East India Company settlement in Fort St. George, at Madras, India, and a benefactor of the Collegiate School in the Connecticut Colony, which in 1718, was renamed Yale College in his honor.
    1761 - Sybil Ludington (d. 1839), daughter of Colonel Henry Ludington, was born in Kent, NY. She was a heroine of the Revolutionary War who became famous for her night ride on April 26, 1777 to alert rebel forces to the approach of the British regular forces. She rode forty miles through the night to warn militiamen under the control of her father that British troops were planning to invade Danbury, Connecticut. On her way to gather her Father’s troops, she warned the people of Danbury. Due to her father’s position, Sybil had to move from town to town following her father, and unknowingly playing an important role in the success of the colonies. The afternoon after Sybil’s ride through Danbury, the British troops burned down three buildings and destroyed multiple houses, but thankfully did not kill that many people. She rode into the damp hours of darkness, through Carmel to Mahopac, then to Kent Cliffs, from there to Farmers Mills and back home. She used a stick to prod her horse and knock on doors. She managed to defend herself against a highwayman with a long stick. When, soaked with rain and exhausted, she returned home, most of the 400 soldiers were ready to march.
   1768 - The first English-speaking Chamber of Commerce in the world was established by 20 merchants at a meeting at Fraunces Tavern, New York City, "…for promoting and encouraging commerce, supporting industry, adjusting disputes relative to trade and navigation, and procuring such laws and regulations as may be found necessary for the benefit of trade in general…" John Cruger was the first president.
    1792 - President George Washington exercised his authority to veto a bill, the first time this power is used in the United States. The bill outlined a new apportionment formula submitted by then Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson. Apportionment described how Congress divides seats in the House of Representatives among the states based on the US census figures. President Washington thought the bill gave an unfair advantage to the northern states.
    1850 – The California Legislature passed an act for the incorporation of San Francisco. San Francisco was founded on June 29, 1776, when colonists from Spain established Presidio of San Francisco at the Golden Gate. In 1835, Englishman William Richardson erected the first independent homestead, near a boat anchorage around what is today Portsmouth Square. Together with Alcalde (Mayor) Francisco de Haro, he laid out a street plan for the expanded settlement, and the town, named Yerba Buena, began to attract American settlers. It was renamed San Francisco on January 30, 1847. The Gold Rush of 1849 brought rapid growth, making it the largest city on the west coast at the time.
    1854 - Thousands of people gathered at the Plaza for dedication of the new San Francisco City Hall bell. Fire Chief Engineer Duane broke a bottle of champagne over the bell that was also to be used for alarms of fire. The tower was to be used by fire spotters.
    1856 - The birthday of Booker Taliaferro Washington (d. 1915), black educator and leader born at Hale’s Ford, Franklin County, VA. He wrote in "Up from Slavery:” "No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem." Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American community. Washington was from the last generation of black American leaders born into slavery and became the leading voice of the former slaves and their descendants. They were newly oppressed in the South and the Jim Crow discriminatory laws enacted in the post-Reconstruction Southern states in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His base was the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. As lynchings in the South reached a peak in 1895, Washington gave a speech, known as the "Atlanta Compromise," which brought him national fame. He called for black progress through education and entrepreneurship, rather than trying to challenge directly the Jim Crow segregation and the disenfranchisement of black voters in the South. Washington mobilized a nationwide coalition of middle-class blacks, church leaders, and white philanthropists and politicians, with a long-term goal of building the community's economic strength and pride by a focus on self-help and schooling. But, secretly, he also supported court challenges to segregation and passed on funds raised for this purpose. Decades after Washington's death in 1915, the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s took a more active and militant approach, which was also based on new grassroots organizations based in the South, such as CORE, SNCC and SCLC.
http://www.historycooperative.org/btw/
    1858 - Washington Atlee Burpee (d. 1915) was born in Sheffield, New Brunswick, Canada. He was the founder of the W. Atlee Burpee & Company.
    1862 – The Battle of Yorktown began, fought from April 5 to May 4, 1862, as part of the Peninsula campaign. Union Gen. George McClellan's Army of the Potomac encountered Gen. John Magruder’s small Confederate force. McClellan suspended his march up the Peninsula toward Richmond and settled in for siege operations. He planned a massive bombardment for dawn on May 5, but the Confederate army slipped away during the night of May 3.
    1865 – The Battle at Amelia Springs near Jetersville, Virginia was an engagement between the Union Army and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia that occurred during the Appomattox Campaign. It was followed by a second rear guard action near the same location on the night of April 5, 1865 and morning of April 6, 1865 during the Union Army pursuit of the Confederate forces (Army of Northern Virginia and Richmond local defense forces) which were fleeing westward after the fall of Petersburg and Richmond at the Third Battle of Petersburg on April 2, 1865. The actions took place just prior to the Battle of Sailor’s Creek on April 6, 1865. That battle would be the last major engagement between the Union Army under the overall direction of Union General-in-Chief, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Gen Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia before that Confederate army's surrender at Appomattox, Virginia on April 9, 1865.
    1871 - Glenn Scobey "Pop" Warner (d. 1954), football player and coach, born at Springville, NY. After playing several sports at Cornell, Warner began coaching football, most notably at the Carlisle Indian School where he coached Jim Thorpe. He coached three undefeated teams at the University of Pittsburgh and went to the Rose Bowl three times with Stanford. He ended a 44-year career at Temple.
    1900 - Actor Spencer Tracy (d. 1967) was born in Milwaukee. One of the major stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age, Tracy was nominated for nine Academy Awards for Best Actor and won two, sharing the record for nominations in that category with Laurence Olivier. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Tracy as the 9th greatest male star of Classic Hollywood Cinema.
    1906 - Hipster, flipster, musician Lord Richard Buckley was born Richard Myrle Buckley (d. 1960), Tuolumne, California.
http://www.lordbuckley.com/LBC/The_Printheads/TheLordWhoBecame.html
http://www.lordbuckley.com/LBC/LBC_Misc_Pages/LBC.html
http://singersong.homestead.com/LordBuckley.html
http://dir.salon.com/story/people/feature/2002/06/26/buckley/print.html
    1908 – Actress Bette Davis (d. 1989), she of ‘the eyes,’ was born Ruth Elizabeth Davis in Lowell, MA. In 1999, Davis was placed second on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest female stars of Classic Hollywood Cinema. She was noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic, sardonic characters and was reputed for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional comedies, although her greatest successes were her roles in romantic dramas. Davis was the co-founder of the Hollywood Canteen and was the first female president of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice, was the first person to accrue ten Academy Award nominations for acting, and was the first woman to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the AFI.
    1909 – Albert R. Broccoli (d. 1996) was born in Queens, NYC. He was an American film producer who made more than 40 motion pictures throughout his career. Most of the films were made in the UK and often filmed at Pinewood Studios. Broccoli is most notable as the producer of many of the James Bond films. He and Harry Saltzman, who owned the film rights to Ian Fleming’s character, saw the films develop from relatively low-budget origins to large-budget, high-grossing extravaganzas, and Broccoli's heirs continue to produce new Bond films.
    1911 - 80,000 march in 5th Avenue funeral for Triangle Shirtwaist victims, NY.
http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/
    1913 - In an exhibition game, 25,000 fans watched the Brooklyn Superbas play their first game in Ebbets Field. Brooklyn beat the Yankees, 3 - 2, as Superbas outfielder Casey Stengel hit the park's first homer, an inside-the-parker.
    1915 - Towering Jess Willard beat Jack Johnson in the 26th round to win the heavyweight championship of the world in Havana, Cuba. Johnson, a black American who had held the title since defeating Tommy Burns in 1908, had been widely criticized for his flamboyant lifestyle. Willard, from Kansas, was touted as the "Great White Hope," whose goal it was to recapture the title for the "Caucasian race." The decision was controversial as Willard was on the floor several times with many "slow counts." It was also said that Johnson thought he could escape Mann Act charges against him if he lost to a "white man." A movie was made about his life starring James Earl Jones.
http://www.famoustexans.com/jackjohnson.htm
    1916 – Actor Gregory Peck (d. 2003) was born in La Jolla, CA. His performance as Atticus Finch in the 1962 film “To Kill a Mockingbird” earned him the Best Actor Academy award, in addition to four other nominations in the same category. In 1999, the AFI named Peck #12 among the Greatest Male stars of Classic Hollywood Cinema.
    1917 - Birthday of writer Robert Bloch (d. 1994), born Chicago, perhaps best known as "Collier Young.” American crime and suspense writer, who is famous for stories about psychopaths. Best known is “Psycho,” a stunning film by Alfred Hitchcock (1960). Also wrote humorous fantasy, science fiction, short stories, screenplays and radio plays.
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/rbloch.htm
http://web.tiscali.it/andrebalza/
    1918 - George "Joe" Sobek, inventor of racquetball, was born at Greenwich, CT, in 1950. Sobek decided he needed more exercise. He was such a good squash player that he was unable to find opponents and he was not interested in either handball or paddle ball. Sobek is credited with inventing the sport in the New Britain, CT YMCA, though not with naming it. For the racquet, he added strings to a platform-tennis paddle. For the ball, he used the core of a tennis ball. By his death, his sport was being played by 8.5 million people in 91 nations.
    1922 – The American Birth Control League, forerunner of Planned Parenthood, was founded by Margaret Sanger at the First American Birth Control Conference in New York City. Birth Control Leagues had already been formed in a number of larger American cities between 1916 and 1919 due to Sanger's lecture tours and the publication of the Birth Control Review. By 1924, the American Birth Control League had 27,500 members.
    1923 - Firestone Tire and Rubber Company of Akron, OH began the first regular production of balloon tires.
    1925 - At spring training, the New York Yankees whipped the Brooklyn Robins, 16-9. Babe Ruth collapsed in the Asheville, NC railroad station after the game and was taken to a New York City hospital. Ruth underwent an operation for an ulcer on April 17th and stayed in bed until May 26th. After a sportswriter wrote that Ruth's illness was due to binging on hot dogs and soda pop before a game, it became known as "the bellyache heard 'round the world". However, the exact cause of his ailment has never been confirmed and remains a mystery. Glenn Stout, in his history of the Yankees, suggests that alcohol was at the root of Ruth's illness, pointing to the fact that Ruth remained six weeks at St. Vincent’s Hospital but was allowed to leave, under supervision, for workouts with the team for part of that time. He concludes that the hospitalization was behavior-related. Playing just 98 games, Ruth had his worst season as a Yankee; he finished with a .290 average and 25 home runs. The Yankees finished next to last in the AL with a 69–85 record, their last season with a losing record until 1965.
    1926 - Birthday of guitarist Lou Miller, Baton Rouge, LA
http://rcs.law.emory.edu/rcs/artists/m/mill6700.htm
    1926 - H.L. Mencken arrested in front of hundreds of cheering spectators in Boston, for selling a banned issue of the “American Mercury” magazine that he founded in 1924 with George Nathan. The magazine featured writing by some of the most important writers in the US through the 1920s and 1930s. After a change in ownership in the 1940s, the magazine attracted conservative writers. A second change in ownership a decade later turned the magazine into a virulently anti-Semitic publication. The magazine went out of business in 1981, having spent the last 25 years of its existence in decline and controversy. Mencken rarely flinched from controversy. He was in the thick of it after the Mercury's April, 1926 issue published "Hatrack," a chapter from Herbert Asbury’s “Up from Methodism.” The chapter described purportedly true events: a prostitute in Asbury's childhood in, nicknamed Hatrack because of her angular physique, was a regular churchgoer who sought forgiveness. Shunned by the town's "good people," she returned to her sinful life. The Rev. J. Frank Chase of the Watch and Ward Society, which monitored material sold in Boston for obscenity, concluded that "Hatrack" was immoral and had a Harvard Square magazine peddler arrested for selling a copy of that American Mercury issue. That provoked Mencken to visit Boston and personally sell Chase a copy of the magazine, the better to be arrested for the cameras. Tried and acquitted, Mencken was praised for his courageous stance for Freedom of the press; it cost him more than $20,000 in legal fees, lost revenue, and lost advertising. Mencken sued Chase and won, a federal judge ruling the minister's organization committed an illegal restraint of trade. He held that prosecutors, not private activists, should censor literature, if anyone should. But following the trial, the Solicitor of the US Post Office, Donnelly, ruled the April, 1926 American Mercury was obscene under the federal Comstock Law, and barred that issue from delivery through the U.S. Post Office. Mencken challenged Donnelly, aroused by the prospect of a landmark free speech case before the US Court of Appeals and legendary Judge Learned Hand. But, because the April, 1926 Mercury had already been mailed, an injunction was no longer an appropriate remedy and the case was moot.
http://www.io.com/~gibbonsb/mencken.html
    1926 - First issue of Hugo Gernsback's magazine "Amazing Stories" is published.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazing_Stories
http://paizo.com/amazing
    1927 - Drummer Stan Levey (d. 2000) birthday, Philadelphia.
http://www.rhythmweb.com/people/stan.htm
    1928 - Birthday of singer Tony Williams (d. 1992), Elizabeth, NJ. He was the lead singer of The Platters from 1953 to 1960, the period of their great success and string of hits. In a dispute over money, Williams left the Platters to pursue a solo career. Williams was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with The Platters in 1990. Tony performed with his own version of the Platters, known as the International Platters.
http://www.hotshotdigital.com/OldRock/PlattersBio.html
    1934 - Birthday of tenor sax player Stanley Turrentine (d. 2000), Pittsburgh, PA
http://www.sonicnet.com/allmusic/ai_bio.jhtml?ai_id=507685
    1936 - The fourth deadliest tornado in US history rips through Tupelo, MS, killing 235 but sparing Elvis Presley, still an infant, who is held in his Great Uncle Noah's house by his mother Gladys until the storm passes.
    1937 – Colin Powell was born in Harlem, NYC. A retired four-star general in the US Army, he was the 65th Secretary of State, serving under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005, the first African American to serve in that position. During his military career, Powell also served as National Security Advisor (1987–1989), as Commander of the US Armed Forces Command (1989) and as Chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff (1989–1993), holding the latter position during the Persian Gulf War.
    1942 - The Ski Union of America was formed in New York City to become the governing body for amateur skiing in the Western hemisphere.
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/thisday/index.jsp
    1945 - The temperature at Eagles Nest, NM, plunged to 45 degrees below zero to establish an April record for the United States.
    1949 - "Fireside Theater" premiered on TV. Gene Raymond and later Jane Wyman hosted this NBC anthology program consisting of 15- and 30-minute dramas. One of its most acclaimed presentations was "The Reign of Amelika Jo" on Oct 12, 1954. It was set in the South Pacific during World War II and had a mostly black and Asian cast.
    1951 - General MacArthur's letter of March 20 to House minority leader Joseph W. Martin criticizing President Truman's strategy and the concept of limited war was made public. In the letter, MacArthur advocated using Chinese Nationalist troops to open a second front against Communist China.
    1951 – Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were sentenced to death for spying and passing information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union. In 1995, the United States government released a series of decoded Soviet cables, codenamed VENONA, which confirmed that Julius acted as a courier and recruiter for the Soviets, but did not provide definitive evidence for Ethel's involvement. Ethel's brother David Greenglass, whose testimony had condemned her, later stated that he had lied to protect his own wife Ruth, who had been the actual typist of the classified documents he stole, and that he was encouraged by the prosecution to do so. Both were executed on June 19. 1953 at New York’s Sing-Sing Prison by electrocution.
    1951 - Top Hits
“If” - Perry Como
“Mockingbird Hill” - Patti Page
“Aba Daba Honeymoon” - Debbie Reynolds and Carleton Carpenter
“The Rhumba Boogie” - Hank Snow
    1953 - In Washington, D.C., President Dwight Eisenhower inaugurated the Presidential Prayer Breakfast. Its name was later changed to the Annual National Prayer Breakfast.
    1953 - Buddy Rich joins Harry James band Easter Sunday, Hollywood Palladium.
    1955 - Richard J. Daley was elected mayor of Chicago, IL, starting one of the most colorful political careers in the twentieth century. A man who lived in the house in which he was born until he died, he was never a "rich" man in money, but perhaps the most single politically powerful man in American history.
    1958 - Johnny Mathis' album, "Johnny's Greatest Hits", on Columbia Records, made it to the pop music charts for the first time. The LP remained on the charts for a record 490 weeks (nearly 9-1/2 years!) The record began its stay at number one (three weeks) on June 9, 1958. Mathis studied opera from age 13 and earned a track and field scholarship at San Francisco State College. He was invited to Olympic try-outs and chose a singing career instead. He was originally a jazz-style singer when Mitch Miller of Columbia switched Mathis to singing pop ballads. He would chart over 60 albums in 30 years. When he declared himself "gay," his popularity waned.
    1958 - Irvin Feld's “Greatest Show of Stars” opens its 80-day North American tour in Norfolk, Virginia. Headlining are Sam Cooke, the Silhouettes, Royal Teens, Everly Brothers, Jimmy Reed and Clyde McPhatter. The bill is expanded with the addition of Paul Anka, Roy Hamilton, LaVern Baker, Frankie Avalon and others.
    1959 - Top Hits
“Venus” - Frankie Avalon
“Come Softly to Me” - The Fleetwoods
“It's Just a Matter of Time” - Brook Benton
“When It's Springtime in Alaska (It's Forty Below)” - Johnny Horton
    1961 - "Secret Agent" premiered on TV. Before Patrick McGoohan became "The Prisoner," he played the role of intelligence agent John Drake on this CBS adventure series. Produced in England by ATV, it also aired there as "Danger Man."
    1961 - Barbra Streisand appears on "The Jack Paar Show."
    1962 - Billie Sol Estes indicted for selling millions of dollars' worth of chattel mortgages on nonexistent fertilizer tanks. In the late 1950s, Estes was heavily involved in the Texas anhydrous ammonia business. He produced mortgages on the nonexistent tanks by convincing local farmers to purchase them on credit, sight unseen, and lease them from the farmers for the same amount as the mortgage payment, paying them a convenience fee as well. He used the fraudulent mortgage holdings to obtain loans from banks outside Texas who were unable to easily check on the tanks. The scandal that sent him to jail for fraud multiple times was complicated by his ties to friend and future President Lyndon Johnson. This event was a major driver in the establishment of the asset verification and inspection industry.
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKestes.htm
http://www.tigertales.com/local97/estes120897.html
http://home.earthlink.net/~sixthfloor/
    1963 - Martha and the Vandellas make their chart debut with "Come and Get These Memories." It reached #29 on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart and #6 on the Billboard R&B Singles Chart. The song is also notable as the first hit recording written and produced by the songwriting/production team of Holland-Dozier-Holland who would become the top creative team at Motown by the end of 1965.
    1965 - Bob Hope hosted the 37th Annual Academy Awards at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Los Angeles. "My Fair Lady" and "Mary Poppins" vied for Best Picture as did "Alexis Zorbas"; "Becket"; and "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb". And the winner was ... "My Fair Lady" (Jack L. Warner, producer). "My Fair Lady" was the name in the winner's envelope seven more times: Best Director (George Cukor); Best Actor (Rex Harrison); Best Cinematography/Color (Harry Stradling); Best Art Direction-Set Decoration/Color (Gene Allen, Cecil Beaton, George James Hopkins); Best Costume Design/Color (Cecil Beaton); Best Sound (George Groves-Warner Bros. Studio Sound Dept.); and Best Music/Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment (André Previn). "Mary Poppins" was not about to let Eliza Doolittle steal all her thunder. Julie Andrews was awarded an Oscar for Best Actress for her title role; Cotton Warburton won for Best Film Editing; Peter Ellenshaw, Hamilton Luske, Eustace Lycett for Best Effects, Special Visual Effects and Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman won for Best Music/Song ("Chim Chim Cher-ee" from "Mary Poppins") and for Best Music/Score-Substantially Original. The two remaining crowd-pleaser awards went to Peter Ustinov in "Topkapi" for Best Supporting Actor and to Lila Kedrova in "Alexis Zorbas" for Best Supporting Actress.
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0148977.html
    1966 - San Francisco Grayline Tours starts hippie tours of Haight/Ashbury.
    1966 – Don Larsen, the pitcher of the only perfect game in World Series history while with the New York Yankees, was released by the Baltimore Orioles. He was the last player to have played for the St. Louis Browns, who moved to Baltimore in 1953 to become the current Orioles.
    1967 - Top Hits
“Happy Together” - The Turtles
“Dedicated to the One I Love” - The Mamas & The Papas
“Somethin' Stupid” - Nancy Sinatra & Frank Sinatra
“Walk Through This World with Me” - George Jones
    1968 - San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto issues a proclamation condemning the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Thousands of people gathered at Civic Center in memory of the civil rights leader. City flags lowered to half-staff.
    1969 - A weekend of antiwar demonstrations begins in all major; anti-war marches in 50 cities attract an estimated 150,000 Vietnam War protesters.
    1970 - BUKER, BRIAN L., Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Detachment B-55, 5th Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces. Place and date: Chau Doc Province, Republic of Vietnam, 5 April 1970. Entered service at: Bangor, Maine. Born: 3 November 1949, Benton, Maine. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty. Sgt. Buker, Detachment B-55, distinguished himself while serving as a platoon adviser of a Vietnamese mobile strike force company during an offensive mission. Sgt. Buker personally led the platoon, cleared a strategically located well-guarded pass, and established the first foothold at the top of what had been an impenetrable mountain fortress. When the platoon came under the intense fire from a determined enemy located in 2 heavily fortified bunkers, and realizing that withdrawal would result in heavy casualties, Sgt. Buker unhesitatingly, and with complete disregard for his personal safety, charged through the hail of enemy fire and destroyed the first bunker with hand grenades. While reorganizing his men for the attack on the second bunker, Sgt. Buker was seriously wounded. Despite his wounds and the deadly enemy fire, he crawled forward and destroyed the second bunker. Sgt. Buker refused medical attention and was reorganizing his men to continue the attack when he was mortally wounded. As a direct result of his heroic actions, many casualties were averted, and the assault of the enemy position was successful. Sgt. Buker's extraordinary heroism at the cost of his life are in the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the U.S. Army.
    1971 - The second incarnation of the Washington Senators opened their last season in the nation's capital, defeating the Oakland Athletics, 8-0. After the season, they moved to Arlington, TX, and became the Texas Rangers. The original Washington Senators became the Minnesota Twins in 1962. In 2005, Major League Baseball returned to the nation’s capital when the Montreal Expos were sold and relocated to DC and became the Nationals.
    1972 - A tornado, 500 yards wide at times, touched down at a marina on the Oregon side of the Columbia River, and then tore through Vancouver, WA, killing six persons, injuring 300 others, and causing more than five million dollars damage. It was the deadliest tornado of the year, and the worst of record for Washington.
    1972 - For the first time in Major League history, the regular season failed to open due to the player strike which started on April1. 86 games were lost before the labor dispute was settled.
    1975 - Top Hits
“Lovin' You” - Minnie Riperton
“Philadelphia Freedom” - The Elton John Band
“No No Song/Snookeroo “- Ringo Starr
“I Just Can't Get Her Out of My Mind” - Johnny Rodriguez
    1979 – The Orioles’ manager Earl Weaver won the 1000th game of his career. He was 1480-1060 (.583) as a Major League manager, all with the O’s.
    1982 - An unprecedented April blizzard began in the northeastern U.S. One to two feet of snow fell across Massachusetts and Connecticut, and up to 26 inches was reported in Maine. New York City received a foot of snow. Winds reached 70 to 80 mph during the storm, and the storm also produced numerous thunderstorms, which contributed to the heavy snow.
    1983 - Top Hits
“Billy Jean” - Michael Jackson
“Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” - Culture Club
“Hungry like the Wolf” - Duran Duran
“When I'm Away from You” - The Bellamy Brothers
    1984 - The second annual MTV Video Music Awards are broadcast. Winners include Michael Jackson for "Beat It," the Police for "Every Breath You Take" and Cyndi Lauper for "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun."
    1984 – Kareem Abdul Jabbar became the highest-scoring player in NBA history with 31,421 career points. He still holds the career record with 38,387 points.
    1985 - Broadcasters banded together to play the single, “We Are the World,” at 10:50 a.m. E.S.T. Stations in the United States were joined by hundreds of others around the world in a sign of unification for the African relief cause. Even Muzak made the song only the second vocal selection it has ever played in elevators and offices since its inception.
    1987 - Calling it the first launching of a television network in almost 40 years, the FOX Broadcasting Company, under the direction of media and publishing baron, Rupert Murdoch, started with two Sunday night offerings. "Married......With Children" and "The Tracey Ullman Show" were the beginnings of the FOX lineup.
    1987 - "Married...With Children" premiered on TV. This raunchy Fox TV show premiered as the antidote to Cosby-style family shows. Ed O'Neill starred as boorish, luckless shoe salesman Al Bundy; Katey Sagal portrayed Al's big-haired, spandex-clad, sex-starved wife Peggy; Christina Applegate played air headed bombshell daughter Kelly and David Faustino played hormone-driven son Bud. The Bundys' neighbors were portrayed by Amanda Bearse as Marcy Rhoades, David Garrison as husband #1, Steve Rhoades and Ted McGinley as husband #2. The last episode aired Apr 20, 1997.
    1987 - "The Tracey Ullman Show" premiered on TV. This Emmy award-winning comedy-variety show was one of the Fox network's early critical hits. Tracey Ullman starred with Julie Kavner, Dan Castellaneta, Joe Malone and Sam McMurray. The show, produced by James L. Brooks, contained sketches, songs and satire. Animated snippets in between segments introduced us to the Simpsons, executed by Matt Groening, creator of the "Life in Hell" comic strip. "The Simpsons" spun off from the show in 1990 with Castellaneta and Kavner speaking the voices of Homer and Marge Simpson.
    1987 - A storm produced unprecedented April snows in the central Appalachians. Mount Mitchell, NC received 35 inches of snow, and up to 60 inches (six feet) of snow was reported in the mountains along the border of North Carolina and Tennessee. The total of 25 inches at Charleston, WV easily surpassed their previous record for the entire month of April of 5.9 inches. The 20.6 inch total at Akron, OH established an all-time record for that location.
    1988 - Thirty-nine cities across the eastern half of the country reported record high temperatures for the date, including Saint Louis, MO with a reading of 91 degrees. Laredo, TX was the hot spot in the nation with an afternoon high of 100 degrees
    1989 - Unseasonably hot weather prevailed in the southwestern U.S. Afternoon highs of 100 degrees at Santa Maria, CA and 105 degrees in Downtown Los Angeles established records for the month of April.
    1989 - David Letterman becomes the first network TV series to use Dolby stereo.
    1991 - Top Hits
“Coming Out of the Dark” - Gloria Estafan
“This House” - Tracie Spencer
“Hold You Tight” - Tara Kemp
“Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House” - Garth Brooks
    1993 – The expansion Colorado Rockies and Florida Marlins played their first games ever.
  1993 – Construction began in Cleveland for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation was created on April 20, 1983, by Atlantic Records founder and Chairman Ahmet Ertegum. The first group of inductees, inducted on January 23, 1986, included Elvis, James Brown, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Ray Charles, Chuck Berry, Sam Cooke, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, and Jerry Lee Lewis. Robert Johnson, Jimmie Rodgers, and Jimmy Yancey were inducted as Early Influences, John Hammond received the Lifetime Achievement Award and Alan freed and Sam Phillips were inducted as Non-Performers…but the Hall of Fame still had no home. The search committee considered several cities, including Memphis (home of Sun Studios and Stax Records), Detroit (home of Motown Records), Cincinnati (home of King Records), New York City, and Cleveland. Cleveland lobbied for the museum, citing that WJW disc jockey Alan Freed both coined the term "rock and roll" and heavily promoted the new genre—and that Cleveland was the location of Freed's Moondog Coronation Ball, the first major rock and roll concert. On May 5, 1986, the Hall of Fame Foundation chose Cleveland as the permanent home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. The museum dedicated on September 1, 1995, with the ribbon being cut by an ensemble that included Yoko Ono and Little Richard, among others, before a crowd of more than 10,000 people. The following night an all-star concert was held at the stadium. It featured Berry, Bob Dylan, Al Green, Lewis, Aretha Franklin, Bruce Springsteen, Iggy Pop, John Fogerty, John Mellencamp and many others.
    1998 - Ray Piecuch, a cowboy poet from New Hampshire, completed his yearlong 3,500 mile ride across country on his horse, Bo, with a champagne celebration at Baker Beach..
    2003 - Earth's first contact by extra-terrestrials as the Borg's go back to prevent the testing of time warp.
http://www.movie-gazette.com/cinereviews/164
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117731/quotes
    2010 - Twenty-nine coal miners were killed in an explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia.

NCAA Basketball Champions:
1983 - North Carolina

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