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Leasing News is a web site that posts information, news, and
entertainment for the commercial bank, finance and leasing industry

kitmenkin@leasingnews.org
   


Experienced Sales Manager
Central Region


Develop/maintain relationships with NEC Dealers and Resellers. Meet with potential large customers to
structure new lease and financial service opportunities.
Full job description and application here

www.necam.com

A leading provider of innovative IT, biometrics, network, and
communications products and solutions for service carriers and
Fortune 1000 and SMB businesses across multiple vertical industries,
including healthcare, government, education, and hospitality.


Wednesday, August 19, 2015



Today's Equipment Leasing Headlines

OnDeck Capital Hit with Several Law Suits
Regarding Alleged Misstatements of Profitability
President of EAR Sentenced
Gets Five Years Plus
Apple Moves to Direct Financing
  Leasing News Exclusive
California SB 197 Status
Ordered to Third Reading
Leasing Industry Ads---Help Wanted
Several Top Positions Available
Letters???---We get Email!
(Mostly chronological order)
The Biggest Growth Drives in the Tech Industry
   Expected Revenue Growth over next 24 Months
Severe Bank Enforcement Down in 2015
  38 Issues First Six Months Compared to 53 in 2014
Labrador Retriever
Libertyville, Illinois  Adopt-a-Dog
Finance/Human Resources
Leasing News Classified Ads
News Briefs---
GM plans to sell Buicks made in China to Americans
   in 2016
Napa vintner pleads guilty to wildlife trafficking
   in parts of endangered whales and sea turtles
Lobster population moves north
  due to warming ocean

Broker/Funder/Industry Lists | Features (writer's columns)
Top Ten Stories Chosen by Readers | Top Stories last six months

www.leasingcomplaints.com (Be Careful of Doing Business)
www.evergreenleasingnews.org
Leasing News Icon for Android Mobile Device

You May have Missed---
   SparkPeople--Live Healthier and Longer
   Poem
    Sports Briefs---
      California Nuts Brief---
       "Gimme that Wine"    
          This Day in American History
         SuDoku
           Daily Puzzle
             GasBuddy
               Weather, USA or specific area
                 Traffic Live----

######## surrounding the article denotes it is a “press release” and was not written by Leasing News nor information verified, but from the source noted. When an article is signed by the writer, it is considered a “by line.” It reflects the opinion and research of the writer.





Please send a copy of Leasing News to a colleague and ask them
to subscribe. It’s easy. All they have to do is put “subscribe” in
the subject line and email: kitmenkin@leasingnews.org


[headlines]

--------------------------------------------------------------


OnDeck Capital Hit with Several Law Suits
Regarding Alleged Misstatements of Profitability

In the OnDeck Capital, Inc. 10Q, it is mentioned on page 46, "Two separate putative class actions were filed in August 2015 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against us, certain of our executive officers, our directors and certain or all of the underwriters of our initial public offering, or IPO. The suits allege that the registration statement for our IPO contained materially false and misleading statements regarding, or failed to disclose, specified information in violation of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The suits seek a determination that the case is a proper class action and/or certification of the plaintiff as a class representative, rescission or a rescissory measure of damages and/or unspecified damages, interest, attorneys’ fees and other fees and costs. The Company intends to defend itself vigorously in these matters, although at this time we cannot predict the outcome." (1)

The class action cases have not been certified to date, as the law firms are collecting class members.

The Rosen Law Firm, P.A., New York City, filed this press release
on Tuesday:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/trading-alertthe-rosen-law-firm-reminds-on-deck-capital-inc-investors-of-important-deadline-in-class-action-ondk-2015-08-18

There are several others, including Shareholders Foundation, San Diego; Tripp Levy PLLC, New York; Pomerantz, LLP, New York, Robbins Geller Rudman
& Dowd, LPP

  1. On Deck 10Q filing
    http://www.leasingnews.org/images/ONDECK10q_82015.pdf

Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd Filing
http://www.leasingnews.org/PDF/OnDeckRobbins82015.pdf

Pomerantz News Release
http://globenewswire.com/news-release/2015/08/05/757814/0/en/Pomerantz-Law-Firm-Announces-the-Filing-of-a-Class-Action-Against-On-Deck-Capital-Inc-and-Certain-Officers-ONDK.html

[headlines]
--------------------------------------------------------------


President of EAR Sentenced
Gets Five Years Plus

Mark Anstett, 59, Lake Forest, Illinois, President of Equipment Acquisition Resources, was sentenced for his role in obtaining $190 million from banks and financing companies and, eventually, causing those lenders to lose at least $100 million.   

A third individual, Sheldon Player, who hid his involvement and role at EAR and whose wife was a co-owner, was named as an unindicted co-conspirator.  Player, who lived in Chicago before moving to Wyoming, died November 13, 2013 from prostate cancer.

Not named was Player’s wife who also was president at a time, and went by the name “Dorothy Malone.” She also filed bankruptcy. They also signed as personal guarantors on leases and loans for EAR. 

The Honorable Harry D. Leinenweber issued the judgement and Commitment regarding Mark Anstett:

"The defendant is hereby committed to the custody of the United States Bureau of Prisons to be imprisoned for a total term of: SIXTY(60) months on count five(5) of the indictment. The defendant shall surrender for service of sentence at the institution designated by the Bureau of Prisons: before 2:00 p.m. on September 14, 2015. Upon release from imprisonment, the defendant shall be on supervised release for a term of: THREE(3) years on count five (5) of the indictment. Discretionary conditions of supervised release pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 3563(b) and 18 U.S.C. 3583(d). Special conditions of supervised release pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 3563(b)(22) and 3583(d). Defendant shall pay an assessment in the amount of $100.00. Defendant shall pay restitution in the amount of $97,000,000.00 joint and several with co-defendant. Attachment. Schedule of payments. Preliminary Order of forfeiture."

A plea had been going on for over a year, including what assets were alleged hidden in Anstett's bankruptcy, the reasons for a reduced sentencing, including the declaration of Donna and Sheldon Player's net worth, as well as his admitting to his establishment of broker relationships with Sam Fallenbaum, the late Tim Neider, and Cindy Gamboa (who reportedly also brokered deals with other brokers in behalf of EAR; producing emails).

2008 EAR Distribution Paid:
Donna and Sheldon Player 90%  $23,322,539
Mark Anstett 10%  $664,859

The vendor involved with invoices, George Ferguson, 70, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, has submitted a change of plea hearing to be held August 25, 2015. He reportedly has gone through bankruptcy, lost his business, and is living on social security.

Reasons for Reduced Sentence
http://www.leasingnews.org/images/ReasonsReducedSentence82015.pdf

Agrees to $196,000,000 in forfeiture
http://www.leasingnews.org/images/196,000,000forfeiture_82015.pdf

2007 and 2008 audited EAR Financial Statements
http://www.leasingnews.org/images/2007_08AuditedEARStatements_82015.pdf

2007 Net Worth Donna and Sheldon Player
http://www.leasingnews.org/PDF/2007NetWorthDonnaSheldonPlayer82015.pdf

2008 Distribution Paid
http://www.leasingnews.org/images/2008DistributionPaid_82015.pdf

 

Equipment Acquisition Resources Stories
http://www.leasingnews.org/Conscious-Top%20Stories/Sheldon_Player.htm



[headlines]
--------------------------------------------------------------


Apple Moves to Direct Financing
Leasing News Exclusive

One of the largest captive lessors, Apple, Cupertino, California, is moving from third party financing to going direct on all its equipment under Apple Financial Services, including lease and direct finance.

 According to a very reliable source, the first major customer is IBM, who once was in the small computer marketplace. The division will also lease and finance to municipalities and schools as well as plans for federal government leasing.

There is a major re-alignment, perhaps part of the venture into Apple Pay, but certainly the financing that for years was with third parties, is now moving to where Apple will access it cash, estimated to be $203 billion; up 5% from last quarter, and up 23% from last year.

Apple's total cash is the equivalent of:

  • Nearly 184.5 million ounces of gold (with gold approximately at $1,100 an ounce)—more than all the gold in Fort Knox.
  • Five times the combined value of all 30 MLB teams.
  • The total net-worth of Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jack Ma combined.

http://www.apple.com/financing/

 

 

[headlines]
--------------------------------------------------------------

Leasing Industry Ads---Help Wanted
Ascentium Capital/NEC Equipment Finance/Umpqua Bank


Senior Credit Analyst

Choose Location
Anaheim, CA, Tigard, OR, Federal Way, WA


Middle Market Credits $500,000 to $5MM
including Equipment Leases and Financings
and Recourse and Non-recourse Lines of Credit
-Five or More Years Credit Underwriting Exp.
Some Relocation Provided
click here for more information

Financial Pacific Leasing - Commercial
A subsidiary of Umpqua Bank

  


Experienced Sales Manager
Central Region


Develop/maintain relationships with NEC Dealers and Resellers. Meet with potential large customers to
structure new lease and financial service opportunities.
Full job description and application here

www.necam.com

A leading provider of innovative IT, biometrics, network, and
communications products and solutions for service carriers and
Fortune 1000 and SMB businesses across multiple vertical industries,
including healthcare, government, education, and hospitality.

 

For information on placing a help wanted ad, please click here:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Classified/Hwanted/Hwanted-post.htm

Please see our Job Wanted section for possible new employees.

 

[headlines]
--------------------------------------------------------------


California SB 197 Status
Ordered to Third Reading

Leasing News readers inquired about the status of California SB 197 will allow an unlicensed lender (including capital leases) to do more than five transactions a year. The present law, provided the condition of a referral agreement is met (1), conflicts, meaning all such transactions must meet the requirements of SB 197 (Now amended and sent back to committee).

Monday, the bill was ordered to third reading. The Third Reading is the last stage that a bill goes through in the house of origin before it passes to the second house to go through the committee process all over again. On Third Reading, the author presents the bill for passage by the entire house. Most bills require a majority vote (it must pass by 21 votes in the Senate and 41 votes in the Assembly), while urgent measures and appropriation bills require a two-thirds vote (27 in the Senate, 54 in the Assembly).

It will require all borrowers to be notified that the unlicensed referrer to the funder be notified that the referrer is receiving a commission, and it requires the funder to submit records on each transaction referred by an unlicensed referrer. There are penalties for not following this procedures and for misrepresentation.

One group of readers sees this as allowing all those who are unlicensed to remain unlicensed, and those who are licensed may be able to operate without being licensed.

Another sees this as no "private label" agreements by unlicensed lenders, all transactions must issue a letter about receiving a commission, and the funder needs to have a letter from the borrower that they have received the receipt of the statement from the referral that the referrer is receiving a commission.

SB-197 Finance Lenders: commercial loan: referral
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billVersionsCompareClient
.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB197

 

 


[headlines]
--------------------------------------------------------------


Letters?  ---We get Email!
(Mostly chronological order)


Sales Make it Happen by Christopher Menkin
  Now is the Time for Brokers
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Aug2015/8_12.htm#now

“I loved your article about "Now Is The Time For Brokers". That was well done my friend.

“I don't think we brokers will become extinct anytime soon.

“I have so many deals on my desk right now that I wish there was a clone of me.”

Rosanne Wilson, CLFP, BPB
1st Independent Leasing, Inc.

-----

"Thanks for highlighting some of the best reasons to hug your favorite lease broker, Kit!

"I read with interest (and sometimes amusement) the various news items and press releases touting the newest leasing portal or automation process to streamline credit approvals.  Pity the poor end-user of those systems. They learn too late just what the trade-off was. After they've already gotten into a bad contract, they realize how the lack of a competent, knowledgeable, well-connected, professional and ethical advisor ended up costing them in surprises, delays and 'gotcha' clauses.

"I've been a lease broker for almost 29 years and every day I get to hold my head high and work a business that turns me on!  I get to constantly feed my curiosity about entrepreneurs and learn about how hundreds of creative problem-solvers have developed their businesses and are solving problems I never knew existed!  We are well-compensated financially for the work we do, but to also hear expressions of appreciation from our clients is even more rewarding!

"Your article says 'The experienced leasing broker works for free and gets paid only when a sale is complete.'  Our industry's professionals are generous with free advice for lessees and vendors, providing perspective and information even when we know we're not going to be making money on the call or with this particular relationship. Even other brokers - who some would consider 'competitors' - are eager to help me get a transaction funded - or save me some grief, and do so without expectation of compensation. I've met within the NAELB so many of the brokerage industry pros who are some of the finest human beings to ever wear the badge of 'Capitalist.'

"Brokers are not always understood or appreciate for the role they play in the success of small businesses. I don't think anyone's preparing to erect a statue in honor of the professional lease broker (not yet, anyway!), but they do provide an immensely valuable service that no algorithm or portal is yet able to replace. Thanks for shining a light on brokers as the important part of free enterprise and business growth that they are.

"I LOVE being a lease broker!"

Sincerely,
Gary Greene, CLFP BPB
Lease $mart - Equipment Leasing & Finance

-----

Archives: August 10, 1999
Commerce Security, Sacramento, Ca.
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Aug2015/8_10.htm#archives

"Thank you for the kind words. Can't believe it has been over 15 years! I have always admired your work with Leasing News. I remember your original issues. Your work has been an important service to the industry.

Linda and I are enjoying retirement. "Commuting" between San Diego and Indian Wells, playing golf and traveling. But I still enjoy staying in touch with the industry which I do via Leasing News. Thanks Kit!"

Ron

-----

Dale Kluga Sees Alternate Finance Bubble Ahead
Concerned History is Repeating Itself
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Aug2015/8_14.htm#kluga

"Kluga nailed it!  They never learn and never think that their funders, particularly in this era of Dodd-Frank and better early warning systems, would pull their lines....like they did in '08-'09.

While it may be premature, consider that there is a presidential election next year after which who knows what could happen.

"If I were still an executive in the business, I'd call for the Finance side to start stress tests wherein a third of the currently prompt payers started slowing to 60 days; the current slow payers each slipped by 60 days.  Then consider how much of the portfolio then falls outside the collateral eligibility requirements of the revolver.  Evaluate the losses that would result and the required loss reserve increases.

Look at the hit on income.

"Then start tightening risk appetite and evaluate by how much the originations would suffer, revising guidance internally accordingly.
If not already in place, accelerate past due contact at 5 days instead of 30 just to listen to the reaction.  The answers are there...the questions must be asked."

Ralph P. Mango

-----


Last Call: August 28-September 4 Jazz Cruise
Sailing Alaska with Jeff Rudin and Crew
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Aug2015/8_10.htm#cruise
 
"Thank you so much for the mention again about our Jazz Cruise in Leasing News. We just sold out for this year’s sailing. However, we are very happy to announce we will be sailing again with a great new lineup (tba) on 6 star Crystal Cruises May 6 to 11, 2016. The 5 day cruise will be a taste of heaven. Crystal is my personal favorite for unimaginable service and food. We will depart San Francisco with stops along the Pacific Northwest ending in Vancouver. There may also be a few golf events mixed in next year. Why not get all our passions covered? We should be ready to accept reservations in a few weeks.

“Thanks again!”

Jeff Rudin

-----


Secured Creditor Not Allowed to Repossess
 Patient Files of Medical Provider
By Tom McCurnin
Leasing News Legal Editor
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Jul2015/7_29.htm#secured

“I like Tom's articles. They are short, to the point, and relevant. That would be as opposed to the many lawyers with lengthy legal non relevant or meaningful commentaries. Keep up the good work. I rarely find a writer that holds my attention. Forty one years with the company I started gives me the right to have so many opinions.”

Allan Levine
President and COO
alevine@madisoncapital.com

-----

 

Paul Knowlton – CLFP for 17 Years
  Celebrating Long Time Members
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Jul2015/7_06.htm#clfo

"Thanks for running my story Kit.  I'm getting lots of positive feedback. Hope all is well with you."

Paul

 

Receivables Management LLC
John Kenny

• End of Lease Negotiations & Enforcement 
• Third-Party Commercial Collections

john@jkrmdirect.com | ph 315-866-1167
www.jkrmdirect.com

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

[headlines]
--------------------------------------------------------------


 

Mobile remains the number one opportunity for growth over the next 24 months, according to KPMG consulting firm who interviewed 111 tech executives.
    www.businessinsider.com

 


[headlines]
--------------------------------------------------------------


Severe Bank Enforcement Down in 2015
38 Issues First Six Months Compared to 53 in 2014

SNL Finance Special Report

The number of new severe enforcement actions handed out by federal banking regulators year-to-date in 2015 remains well behind 2014's total. As of Aug. 11, 38 severe enforcement actions have been filed against banks and thrifts so far this year, with just 14 issued in the second quarter, five in July and one in August. In contrast, 53 enforcement actions were issued in the second half of 2014, including 30 in the fourth quarter alone.

As of Aug. 11, 367 banks and thrifts were operating under a severe enforcement action, down from 468 at the end of 2014 and 662 at the end of 2013. This decrease comes as the industry continues to see improvements in credit quality and overall capital levels, as well as an uptick in M&A activity.

Federal regulators have handed out 20 severe enforcement actions to banks and thrifts since SNL's previous analysis, including three prompt corrective action directives, or PCADs.

Severe Enforcement actions issues by US Banks and Thrifts, Edgebrook Bank received a PCAD on April 6 before failing May 8, and Elkhart State Bank received its PCAD on June 1, a few weeks before its sale to Nacogdoches, Texas-based Commercial Bank of Texas NA closed on June 25

Elkton, Md.-based Cecil Bank received a PCAD on Aug. 7, and according to the directive, the undercapitalized company has 90 days to become adequately capitalized by either increasing its equity or by being acquired by another depository institution or other methods.

According to proxy materials from June 5, the board of the bank's parent company, Cecil Bancorp Inc., is seeking shareholder approval to increase the number of authorized common shares to 1 billion and to authorize the issuance of 500 million nonvoting common shares. Cecil Bank has not posted a quarterly profit since the second quarter of 2011 and as of June 30, the bank had a Tier 1 capital ratio of 5.02% and an adjusted Texas ratio of 335.40%.

On June 22, the Federal Reserve terminated Saint Elmo, Ill.-based Fayette County Bank's October 2014 PCAD and entered into a written agreement with the bank on the same day. The new written agreement requires Fayette County Bank to submit plans to maintain sufficient capital, enhance interest rate risk management policies, establish a program for loan grading and put in place a revised Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering compliance program.

Another Illinois company, Chicago-based mutual Illinois-Service Federal Savings and Loan Association, received a cease and desist order from the OCC on April 16 that requires the thrift to maintain Tier 1 capital equal to at least 8% of adjusted total assets and a Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio of at least 11%.

The country's largest banks have not been immune to severe enforcement actions this year either. So far in 2015, five severe enforcement actions have been issued to banks with more than $50 billion in assets.

Most recently, in July, the OCC issued a cease and desist order, as well as a $35 million penalty against Citigroup Inc.'s Citibank NA and Department Stores National Bank related to deceptive marketing practices of credit card add-on products in violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act. Separately, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau also assessed a $35 million penalty.

Wells Fargo Bank NA received a cease and desist order on June 3 related to billing and marketing practices of identity protection and debt cancellation products, bringing its active enforcement action count to three. The bank also agreed to pay a civil money penalty of $4 million and complete full reimbursement to all eligible customers.

As of early August, the country's four largest banks were all operating under multiple severe enforcement actions, led by JPMorgan Chase Bank NA with seven and Bank of America NA with five.

Georgia was home to 40 banks and thrifts under a severe enforcement action as of Aug. 11 — the most of any state — followed by Illinois and Florida at 32 and 28, respectively. Rhode Island continues to be the most affected proportionally, with three of its nine banks under severe enforcement actions.

As of Aug. 11, seven states plus Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., were free of severe enforcement actions.

 


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

--------------------------------------------------------------

Labrador Retriever
Libertyville, Illinois  Adopt-a-Dog


Stanley
Male

"Stanley was found as a stray and went to animal control. We rescued him from there.

"Stanley seems to get attached very quickly to whomever he meets. He leans against people for reassurance and we are confident he will be very loyal to his people.

"Stanley loves kids but over age seven please. He would do best as an only dog. We`d love for him to have a fenced yard too.

"Want to meet Stanley? The first step is to fill out an Adoption Application. Learn more about our Adoption Process. The adoption donation for Stanley is $325. For details about our adoption donation, read The Cost of Adoption."

Application:
https://www.aear.org/adoption/app/dog/2120/stanley

Adoption Process
https://www.aear.org/adoption/process

What Cost Covers:
https://www.aear.org/adoption/process#cost

Animal Education and Rescue
P.O. Box 7343
Libertyville, IL 60048
(847) 816-0831

Email:
info@aear.org
Website:
http://www.aear.org

 

Adopt a Pet
http://www.adoptapet.com/

 


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

 

[headlines]
--------------------------------------------------------------


    
Finance: Chicago, IL
Experienced in big ticket origination, syndication, valuation and workout.
Twenty five years, MBA, CPA,
JD, LLM (Tax), structuring specialist. Inbound and outbound transactions. Email:pal108381@comcast.net
Transaction Summary The Lechner Group 
Website: www.tlgattorneycpa.com   
    
Finance: Naperville, IL
Your guide to the right questions and answers in finance. Expert in capital raising, GAAP, acquisitions, lease economics. CPA. MBA. 
E-mail: m.willow@ameritech.net
Information System: North Detroit, MI 
INFOLEASE EXPERT - 18 years experience.  Since being downsized in 2002, working as a consultant for several leasing companies. 
Seeking consulting projects nationwide. 
email: darwint@prodigy.net
Finance: New York, NY

Barrett Capital Corporation is a specialty finance company providing equipment leasing, energy efficiency, real estate, corporate finance and advisory services with an emphasis on transactional asset based funding, including funding energy efficiency projects for its own account.  In real estate finance Barrett focuses on co-ops, condos and other multifamily properties.

Email: bkorn@barrettcapital.com
Web: www.barrettcapital.com 

 

[headlines]
--------------------------------------------------------------


News Briefs----

GM plans to sell Buicks made in China to Americans
http://nypost.com/2015/08/18/gm-plans-to-sell-buicks-made-in-china-to-americans/

Napa vintner pleads guilty to wildlife trafficking
http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Napa-vintner-pleads-guilty-to-wildlife-trafficking-6438959.php

Lobster population moves north
http://nypost.com/2015/08/18/lobster-population-moves-north-due-to-warming-ocean/

Senior Credit Analyst

Choose Location
Anaheim, CA, Tigard, OR, Federal Way, WA


Middle Market Credits $500,000 to $5MM
including Equipment Leases and Financings
and Recourse and Non-recourse Lines of Credit
-Five or More Years Credit Underwriting Exp.
Some Relocation Provided
click here for more information

Financial Pacific Leasing - Commercial
A subsidiary of Umpqua Bank

 


[headlines]

--------------------------------------------------------------



--You May Have Missed It

Be honest: Does offering financing to customers intimidate you?

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/honest-does-offering-financing-customers-intimidate-you-rj-grimshaw



[headlines]
--------------------------------------------------------------

SparkPeople--Live Healthier and Longer



5 Exercises for Stronger, More Flexible Feet
http://www.sparkpeople.com/blog/blog.asp?
post=5_exercises_for_stronger_more_flexible_feet


[headlines]
--------------------------------------------------------------

Baseball Poem

 

THE GREATEST HITTER THAT EVER LIVED 

    by Ken Wasnock

( He is “The Kid,” “The Splendid Splinter,” “Thumper,” “Teddy Ballgame,” he is Theodore Samuel Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived, the last of the .400 hitters.)

He made his name with a stick of ash,
He carved his memory with each mighty crash
What he did fulfilled his greatest dreams
Clouting that little orb with the hand stitched seams
He parried with pitchers with the keenest of eye
With all of their wizardry they couldn't get by
He beat them with patience, his perfected skill
Few were up to overcoming his enduring will
With practice and determination he earned his wage
Towering over home plate was his center stage
Quick and smooth, the sweetest swing
In a game of hitters he was truly King
From start to finish he awed fan and foe
From April to October he was a one man show
On a gray cloudy day he shined like the Sun
His final at bat he bid us farewell with number 521
Heroes come and go but for me it'll never be the same
None can compare to the Splendid Splinter, the Legend
Mr. Teddy Ballgame.



[headlines]

--------------------------------------------------------------


Sports Briefs----

Tom Brady changes mind after settlement talks yield no progress, rejoins team
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/patriots/2015/08/18/tom-brady-deflategate-hearing-roger-goodell-/31905671/

Who reaches Super Bowl 50? 2015 NFL record projections
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2015/08/04/record-projections-super-bowl-50-packers-colts/30985171/

RGIII: I won’t apologize for "best quarterback" comment
http://www.theredzone.org/BlogDescription/tabid/61/EntryId/51273/RGIII--I-won-t-apologize-for--best-quarterback--comment/Default.aspx



[headlines]
--------------------------------------------------------------


California Nuts Briefs---

California plans taking 300 farms for water tunnels
http://www.capitalpress.com/California/20150817/california-plans-taking-300-farms-for-water-tunnels

California drought impact pegged at $2.7 billion
http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article31396805.html

Unicorns Hunt for Talent Among Silicon Valley’s Giants
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/19/technology/unicorns-hunt-for-talent-among-silicon-valleys-giants.html


[headlines]
--------------------------------------------------------------


“Gimme that Wine”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJnQoi8DSE8

Oregon Wine Industry Continues Record-setting Pace
http://www.winebusiness.com/news/?go=getArticle&dataid=156233

Auction of Washington Wines brings in record $2.5 million
http://www.greatnorthwestwine.com/2015/08/17/auction-of-washington-wines-brings-in-record-2-5-million/

Exclusive: Coppola’s American Pioneer Wine Growers Launches
  Latest Entry Ahead Of Winery Unveiling
http://www.shankennewsdaily.com/index.php/2015/08/18/13149/exclusive-coppolas-american-pioneer-wine-growers-launches-latest-entry-ahead-of-winery-unveiling/


Free Mobile Wine Program
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Feb2010/2_26.htm#mobile

Wine Prices by vintage
http://www.winezap.com
http://www.wine-searcher.com/

US/International Wine Events
http://www.localwineevents.com/

Leasing News Wine & Spirits Page
http://two.leasingnews.org/Recommendations/wnensprts.htm

[headlines]
----------------------------------------------------------------

This Day in American History

     1692 - In Salem in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, five people, one woman and four men, including a clergyman, were executed after being convicted of witchcraft.
    1779 - Americans under Major Henry Lee took the British garrison at Paulus Hook, New Jersey.
    1782 - The last major engagement of the Revolutionary War, the Battle of Blue Licks, occurred almost ten months after the surrender of the British Cmdr. Cornwallis following the Siege of Yorktown. On a hill next to the Licking River in what is now Kentucky (but was then in Kentucky County, VA), a force of about 50 American and Canadian Loyalists along with 300 Indians ambushed and routed 182 Rebel Kentucky militiamen. It was the last victory for the Loyalists and Natives during the frontier war.
    1792 - Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806) published his first Almanac.  In February 1791, Major Andrew Ellicott hired Banneker to assist in the initial survey of the boundaries of the new federal district, which the 1790 federal Residence Act and later legislation authorized. Formed from land along the Potomac River that the states of Maryland and Virginia ceded in accordance with the Residence Act, the territory that became the original District of Columbia was a square measuring 10 miles on each side, totaling 100 square miles. Ellicott's team placed boundary stones at every mile point along the borders of the new capital territory. During this effort, Banneker also kept a series of journals that contained his notebooks for astronomical observations, his diary and accounts of his dreams.  The title page of an edition of Banneker's 1792 “Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia Almanack and Ephemeris” stated that the publication contained:  “the Motions of the Sun and Moon, the True Places and Aspects of the Planets, the Rising and Setting of the Sun, Place and Age of the Moon, &c.—The Lunations, Conjunctions, Eclipses, Judgment of the Weather, Festivals, and other remarkable Days; Days for holding the Supreme and Circuit Courts of the United States, as also the useful Courts in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia.  In addition to the information that its title page described, the almanac contained a tides table for the Chesapeake Bay region listing times for high water or high tide at Cape Charles and Point Lookout, Virginia and Annapolis and Baltimore, Maryland.  These locations remain today as those for which National Weather Service tidal information is regularly quoted.
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Banneker.html
    1812 - Lucy Brewer, alias George Baker and Louisa Baker, concealed her gender and served on board the USS Constitution as a US Marine in its battle with HMS Guerriere. Brewer is the pen name of a writer who purported to be the first woman in the US Marine, serving aboard the Constitution. Brewer's adventures were probably written by Nathaniel Hill Wright (1787–1824) or Wright's publisher, Nathaniel Coverly. ‘She’ thus became the first woman to serve as a US Marine. This also was considered by historians to be the most important naval action of the war that took place in the Atlantic Ocean about 750 miles east of Boston. The American loss was 14 killed or wounded; the British, 79 killed or wounded and Congress awarded $50,000 to Captain Isaac Hull and his crew for the victory over Guerriere.  According to the book, “The Female Marine”, original title: “The Adventures of Lucy Brewer”, Brewer supposedly grew up on a farm near Plymouth, MA and, at age 16, fell in love with a boy named Henry. When she became pregnant, Henry refused to marry her, and she set out for Boston. In Boston, Lucy was tricked into prostitution after her baby died in childbirth. This series of seduction and betrayal precisely follows the strict line of the romance genre—until, that is, motivated by a patriotic desire to fight in the War of 1812, Lucy tricked her way onto the Constitution, pretending to be a man named George Baker.  She served valiantly for three years and in many naval battles against the British before being honorably discharged, all the while keeping her true gender a secret.
    1814 - The British land in Maryland to invade Washington, DC.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/aug19.html
    1814 - Mary Ellen "Mammy" Pleasant (1814-1904) birthday, whereabouts uncertain.  She was an early African-American activist who used her fortune to further the abolitionist movement. She worked on the Underground Railroad across many states and then helped bring it to California during the Gold Rush Era. She was a friend and financial supporter of John Brown, and was well known in abolitionist circles. After the Civil War, she took her battles to the courts in the 1860s and won several civil rights victories, one of which was cited and upheld in the 1980s and resulted in her being called “The Mother of Human Rights in California”. She is often called the mother of black civil rights in California. Much of her life is clouded in legend which says that she freed slaves who were being held illegally in free California. She worked to win the rights at African-Americans to have their testimony accepted in court (1863) and helped to end discrimination on California streetcars in Pleasant v. North Beach and Mission Railroad Company (January 1868).
http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist10/mammy.html
http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/ImageFinder/Bancroft/z024.html
http://www.shapingsf.org/ezine/afamerican/mpleasant.html
http://www.mepleasant.com/story2.html
http://www.press.uillinois.edu/f02/hudson.html
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0912238046/fast-bkasin-20/
103-5362656-4423850

    1818 – Capt. James Biddle takes possession of Oregon Territory for U.S.
    1846 – Gen. Stephen W Kearney's US forces captures Santa Fe, NM
http://bchs.kearney.net/BTales_197901.htm
    1848 - "New York Herald" printed an item about the discovery of gold in California.
    1854 - The First Sioux War began when seven US Army soldiers killed Lakota chief Conquering Bear and, in return, were massacred near Fort Laramie, WY.
    1870 – Bernard Baruch (1870-1965) was born in Camden, SC.  He was an American financier, investor, statesman, and political consultant. After his success in business, he devoted his time toward advising Presidents Wilson and Roosevelt on economic matters and became a philanthropist
    1871 - Birthday of Orville Wright (1871-1948), aviation pioneer, at Dayton, OH. There has been controversy as to who launched the first air plane flight in the United States, but he certainly is the one he made flying famous, with his brother Wilbur.
    1873 – Mt. Whitney, the second highest peak in the US, was con­quered for the first time by a trio of American climbers, Charles D. Begole, A.H. Johnson and John Lucas.
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/DD/fduqk.html
    1883 - Birthday of Coco Gabrielle Chanel (1883-1971) in Samur, France.   French dress designer. The Museum of Modern Art in New York has a full showing of her “work” which is fascinating to view, including jewelry and perfume bottles. Coco Chanel was the preeminent Parisian haute couture and premier arbitrator of western women's fashions for almost six decades. Coco Chanel almost single-handed changed women's wardrobes from works of architectural wonders to clothes that allow a woman to move. Her clothes were first designed for working girls, but soon wealthy women flocked to her small shop to find the clothes that freed them from the abusive corsets. Chanel, for the first time in history, presented women with clothing that fit a woman's body and did not force a woman to fit her designs. She was also one of the first women to make it big in the women's fashion industry. She presented bobbed hair, trench coats, jersey dresses, sweaters, bell-bottom slacks/trousers as well as the classic straight-line skirt as knee length with a boxy jacket that allowed freedom of motion. She retired in 1939 but came back in 1954 when Dior and others started a "romantic" fashion that threatened to return women's clothing to the turn of the century. She raised hems, introduced the chemise dress, the classic Chanel suit look we know today as a simple boxed jacket with a straight skirt with enough room to walk and climb, and, of course, the staple in every wardrobe, "the little black dress." In 1922 she developed a fragrance that is still one of the most highly sold fragrances in the world: Chanel #5. She was orphaned at age six. Her early years are obscure but there were no wealthy men behind her when she opened a small millinery shop in Paris in 1913 and within a very short time, her comfortable clothing had made her the rage of post-World War I Paris. At her height, she employed 3,500! She was described by Vogue as "a revolutionist, a non-conformist, a lone rebel who let women out of the prison of tight corsets. She led women to cut their hair in the 1920's, raise hemlines, stripped away trimmings and feathers, and produced a simplicity that freed women.  Coco Chanel said in a 1954 interview, "There are too many men in this business and they don't know how to make clothes for women. All this fantastic pinching and puffing. How can a woman wear a dress that's cut so she can't lift up her arm to pick up a telephone?" One of the most influential of women's clothing in America.
    1886 - The Christian Union was founded by Baptist clergyman Richard G. Spurling (1858-1935) at the Barney Creek Meeting House in Monroe County, Tennessee. In 1923, this Pentecostal denomination changed its name to the Church of God. Headquartered today in Cleveland, Tennessee, its current membership is nearly 500,000 in 14 congregations.
    1893 - Frank J. Wisner, owner of Cripple Creek Brewing, served the first “Black Cow” root beer float in Cripple Creek, CO. Inspired by the moon-lit view of the snow-capped Cow Mountain which reminded him of vanilla ice cream floating on top of the pitch-black mountain, he added a scoop of ice cream to his Myers Avenue Red root beer and began serving it as the “Black Cow Mountain Ice Cream Root Beer Float.” Kids loved it and short­ened the name to “Black Cow.” Cripple Creek Brewing, now located in Warrenville, IL, celebrating its 107th anniversary, sells beverages based on the original formulas, including Myers Avenue Red root beer.  lbartl64lS@aol.com.
Web: www.cripplecreekbrewing.com
    1895 – Outlaw John Wesley Hardin was killed by an off-duty policeman in a saloon in El Paso, TX.
        1900 – Rube Waddell threw two complete games as Milwaukee swept a doubleheader from the Chicago White Stockings, 2-1 and 1-0. After throwing 17 innings in the first game, the colorful southpaw was coaxed by skipper Connie Mack, who promised him a few days off to go fishing to pitch the nightcap.  He hurled a five-inning one-hitter.    
   1902 - Birthday of Ogden Nash (1902-71), American writer, best remembered for his humorous verse, at Rye, NY.  “Undeniably brash/Was young Ogden Nash/ Whose notable verse/Was admirably terse/ And written with panache.”
http://www.aenet.org/poems/ognash1.htm
    1905 - Birthday of drummer Tommy Benford (1905-94), Charleston, WV.
    1906 - Birthday of trombone player/guitarist/arranger Eddie Durham (1906-67), San Marcos, TX. 
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/DD/fduqk.html
http://www.umkc.edu/orgs/kcjazz/jazzfolk/durhe_00.htm
http://www.craftone.co.jp/solo_flight/guitarist/durham,e/discography.html
    1906 – Philo Farnsworth (1906-71) was born near Beaver, UT.  He was an inventor whose early work involved the first fully functional all-electronic image pickup device (video camera tube), the "image dissector", as well as the first fully functional and complete all-electronic television system. He was also the first person to demonstrate such a system to the public. Farnsworth developed a television system complete with receiver and camera, which he produced commercially in the firm of the Farnsworth Television and Radio Corporation, from 1938 to 1951, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He asked his high school science teacher, Justin Tolman, for advice about an electronic television system he was contemplating. He provided the teacher with sketches and diagrams covering several blackboards to show how it might be accomplished electronically. He asked his teacher if he should go ahead with his ideas, and he was encouraged to do so.  Later in 1924, Farnsworth applied to the US Naval Academy, where he was recruited after he earned the nation's second highest score on academy tests. However, he was already thinking ahead to his television projects and, upon learning the government would own his patents if he stayed in the military, he sought and received an honorable discharge within months, under a provision in which the eldest child in a fatherless family could be excused from military service in order to provide for his family.
On September 7, 1927, Farnsworth's image dissector camera tube transmitted its first image, a simple straight line, to a receiver in another room of his laboratory at 202 Green Street in San Francisco.  Pem Farnsworth recalled in 1985 that her husband broke the stunned silence of his lab assistants by saying, "There you are — electronic television!"
    1907 - Birthday of sax player Joe Rushton (1907-64), Evanston, IL.
http://www.artistdirect.com/music/artist/bio/0,,487951,00.html?
artist=Joe+Rushton

    1909 - First edition of “The Little Red Songbook” published in Spokane, WA.  Also known as “I.W.W. Songs” or “Songs of the Industrial Workers of the World”, it is a compilation of tunes, hymns, and songs used by the Workers (I.W.W.) to help build morale, promote solidarity and lift the bleak spirits of the working-class during the Labor Movement.
http://www.bloomington.in.us/~mitch/iww/lrs.html
    1909 - The first car race to be run on brick occurred at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
    1912 - Jimmie Shields, one of the most popular Irish tenors in Canada during the 1930's, was born in St. Catharine’s, Ontario. Shields rose to further fame in the US from 1937 to 1941 when he appeared with the orchestras of Eddie Duchin and Morton Gould. He also appeared on several leading radio shows, and, in 1939, had his own weekly program on NBC, "Enna-Jettick Melodies." Shields was a regular performer on the CBC from 1948 until his retirement in 1964.
    1913 - Birthday of Harry Mills (1913-82), leader singer of the famed Mills Brothers, Piqua, OH
    1915 - The Boston Braves opened their new ballpark, Braves Field, with a 3-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. The Braves called this park home through the 1952 season.
    1915 - Birthday of famed writer Ring Lardner, Jr., (1915-2000), son of fabled baseball writer and humorist Ring Lardner. Lardner, Jr., was an Academy Award winning screenwriter (Oscar for “Woman of the Year” and “M*A*S*H”) and he also wrote for television. He was a member of the Hollywood Ten, a group of film industry executives sent to federal prison in 1950 for their refusal to tell the House Un-American Activities Committee if they were members of the Communist Party. He served nine months, and was blacklisted for many years.
    1917 - Team managers John McGraw and Christy Mathewson were arrested for breaking New York City's blue laws. The crime was their teams were playing baseball on Sunday.
    1918 - Pianist Jimmy Rowles (1918-96) birthday in Spokane, WA.
    1918 – Walter Johnson beat St. Louis, 4-3, in 14 innings. The Big Train worked in 15 extra-inning games, including two of 18 innings, one of 16 innings, and another of 15 innings.
    1921 - Birthday of Gene Roddenberry (1921-91), the creator of the popular TV series “Star Trek”, at El Paso, TX. Turning from his first career as an airline pilot to writing, he created one of the most successful TV science fiction series ever. The original series, which ended its run in 1969, lives on in reruns, and the “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, “Star Trek Deep Space Nine” and “Star Trek: Voyager” series have continuing popularity. Eight films also have been spawned from the original concept.
    1921 - At the age of 34, Ty Cobb becomes the youngest player to reach 3000 hits when he singles of off Red Sox hurler Elmer Myers.
    1927 - Henry and Edsel Ford drove the fifteen millionth Model T off the assembly line at the Highland Park plant in Michigan, officially ending Model T production. Production in England ended on August 19; in Ireland on December 31. After revolutionizing the automobile market, sales of the Model T had started to falter due to its failure to keep up with the competition. Total world Model T production: 15,458,781.
    1928 - Canadian pop singer Norman Brooks (1928-2006) was born in Montreal. He is best known for singing in the style of Al Jolson. Brooks played Jolson in the 1956 film "The Best Things in Life Are Free," and also starred in "The Magic of Jolson" on Broadway in 1975. His 1953 recording of "Hello Sunshine" was a substantial hit.
    1929 - "Amos and Andy," the radio comedy program, made its debut on NBC starring Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll.  This popular TV show ran on CBS (1951–53) and continued in syndicated reruns (1954–66). CBS finally gave in to pressure from the NAACP and the growing civil rights movement and withdrew the program. It would not be shown to a nationwide audience again until 2012.
    1931 – Jockey Bill Shoemaker (1931-2003) was born in Fabens, TX.  For 29 years he held the world record for total professional jockey victories with 8833.  In retirement, and after being paralyzed in a Ford Bronco rollover, Shoemaker authored three murder mysteries: “Stalking Horse (1994), “Fire Horse” (1995), and “Dark Horse” (1996)
    1934 - Roberto Walker Clemente (1934-72), Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder, was born at Carolina, Puerto Rico. Clemente, one of the game's best and most exciting outfielders, played his entire career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, lead­ing them to a World Series in 1971 and collected 3,000 hits. While on a mission of mercy to deliver supplies to victims of a Nicaraguan earthquake on New Year’s Eve, 1972, he perished in a plane crash off the Nicaraguan coast. He was immediately inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1973 after the mandatory 5-year waiting period was waived.
    1934 – The first soap box derby was held in Dayton, OH.
    1939 – NJ record was set when 14.8” of rain fell at Tuckerton.
    1940 - The new Civil Aeronautics Administration awarded honorary license #1 to Orville Wright.
    1940 – The B-25 Mitchell bomber, the workhorse of the Doolittle Raid two years later, was launched.  Nearly 10,000 Mitchells rolled from the lines of North American Aviation and served in every theater of World War II.  My father, Army Air Force S/Sgt Vincent Mango, was a tail gunner on one that flew over 65 missions including cover for the raids on Monte Cassino and the diversion at Calais on D-Day.  The B-25 was also the star of the film version of Joseph Heller’s “Catch-22”
    1942 - First offensive action in the Guadalcanal where J.F. Junkin, Army air pilot, shoots down a German flown aircraft (allies of the Japanese) in the Solomon Islands, after Carlson's Raiders, a special guerrilla unit led by Lt. Col. Evans Fordyce Carlson, landed on Makin Island, at the northern end of the Gilbert Islands, with orders to destroy the radio station on the island. In 40 hours, every Japanese member of a force of 350 was killed, 1000 gallons of gasoline were set aflame, and the island was rendered militarily useless.
    1943 - Singer Billy J. Kramer was born William Ashton, in Bootle, England. It was Beatles' manager Brian Epstein who brought Kramer together with a Manchester band, the Dakotas, and introduced them to the songs of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas had their first hit in 1963 with Lennon and McCartney's "Do You Want to Know a Secret." Kramer's other chart records included "Little Children" and "Trains and Boats and Planes." Kramer and the Dakotas parted company in 1966, with Kramer turning to performing in small English clubs.
    1944 - NAKAE, MASATO, Medal of Honor.
Private Masato Nakae distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action on 19 August 1944, near Pisa, Italy. When his submachine gun was damaged by a shell fragment during a fierce attack by a superior enemy force, Private Nakae quickly picked up his wounded comrade's M-1 rifle and fired rifle grenades at the steadily advancing enemy. As the hostile force continued to close in on his position, Private Nakae threw six grenades and forced them to withdraw. During a concentrated enemy mortar barrage that preceded the next assault by the enemy force, a mortar shell fragment seriously wounded Private Nakae. Despite his injury, he refused to surrender his position and continued firing at the advancing enemy. By inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy force, he finally succeeded in breaking up the attack and caused the enemy to withdraw. Private Nakae's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the United States Army.
    1946 - William Jefferson Clinton, 42nd US President (1993—2001), was born at Hope, AR. Left in disgrace due to lying and having an affair with one of his young interns; however, remained popular with those who forgave him. His autobiography was read by over a million people. Accordingly, he appointed more women to important government posts than all the presidents in history combined. There is no controversy that he liked women.
    1946 - Woody Herman Band, directed by Igor Stravinsky, records his ”Ebony Concerto” in Los Angeles.
    1946 - Nat King Cole records “For Sentimental Reasons”, Capital 304.
    1950 - Gillette paid $800,000 for TV rights to the World Series. Radio rights will add another $175,000 more.
    1950 - ABC-TV airs the first children's shows.
(bottom of: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/aug19.html )
    1953 – Maybe this is the  reason…The CIA and MI6 helped overthrow the government of Mohammad Mosaddegh in Iran and reinstated the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. 
    1954 - Top Hits
“Sh-Boom” - The Crewcuts
“The Little Shoemaker” - The Gaylords
“Hey There” - Rosemary Clooney
“I Don't Hurt Anymore” - Hank Snow
    1954 - Ralph J. Bunche (1903-71), diplomat and first Black winner of Nobel Peace Prize, was named undersecretary of the United Nations.
    1955 – WINS 1010 radio in NYC announced it will no longer play "copy" white cover versions of R&B songs by black artists.  DJs must play Fats Domino's "Ain't It A Shame," not Pat Boone's.  Early rock ‘n’ roll was littered with this practice of black artists releasing hits and white singers immediately ‘covering’ and having, in many cases, bigger hits.
    1955 – Hurricane Diane was the first hurricane to cause at least $1 billion in damage.
    1957 - New York Giants vote to move their franchise to San Francisco in 1958.  The move was coordinated with the move of hated rivals, the Brooklyn Dodgers, to LA that same year.  The vitriol of the New York rivalry has intensified since as the Dodgers have won five World Series and 9 NL pennants while the Giants have won 3 and 6, respectively.
    1958 - The production of the elegant Packard line came to a halt on this day. Studebaker-Packard attributed the decision to lagging luxury car sales, but many Packard fans were disgruntled by the decision, which came shortly after Packard's acquisition of Studebaker. Many wondered why Packard, with its reputation for high-quality cars and knowledgeable management, would buy the debt-ridden Studebaker Company. Studebaker management assumed the company reins after the merger, not Packard. It was common to call the new car a “stupid-baker.”
    1960 – US U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers was convicted of espionage in Moscow.
     1962 - Top Hits
“Breaking Up is Hard to Do” - Neil Sedaka
“The Loco-Motion” - Little Eva
“You Don't Know Me” - Ray Charles
“Wolverton Mountain” - Claude King
    1962 - Homer Blancos plays the finest round in US competitive golf history, shooting a 55 at the Premier Invitational Golf Tournament held in Longview, TX.
    1962 - Peter, Paul and Mary released their first US Top 10 hit, "If I Had a Hammer".
    1963 - National Association of the Advancement of Colored People Youth Council begins sit-ins at lunch counters in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
    1964 - The Beatles opened their first US tour at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. Others to cross the stage include Jackie DeShannon and the Righteous Brothers.
    1967 - The Beatles' "All You Need Is Love" hits #1 the pop charts. On the same day, Ringo Starr and his wife Maureen have a baby boy named Jason.
    1967 - PLESS, STEPHEN W., Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Major (then Capt.), U.S. Marine Corps, VMD-6, Mag-36, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing. Place and date: Near Quang Nai, Republic of Vietnam, 19 August 1967. Entered service at: Atlanta, Ga. Born: 6 September 1939, Newman, Ga. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a helicopter gunship pilot attached to Marine Observation Squadron 6 in action against enemy forces. During an escort mission Maj. Pless monitored an emergency call that 4 American soldiers stranded on a nearby beach were being overwhelmed by a large Viet Cong force. Maj. Pless flew to the scene and found 30 to 50 enemy soldiers in the open. Some of the enemy were bayoneting and beating the downed Americans. Maj. Pless displayed exceptional airmanship as he launched a devastating attack against the enemy force, killing or wounding many of the enemy and driving the remainder back into a treeline. His rocket and machinegun attacks were made at such low levels that the aircraft flew through debris created by explosions from its rockets. Seeing one of the wounded soldiers gesture for assistance, he maneuvered his helicopter into a position between the wounded men and the enemy, providing a shield which permitted his crew to retrieve the wounded. During the rescue the enemy directed intense fire at the helicopter and rushed the aircraft again and again, closing to within a few feet before being beaten back. When the wounded men were aboard, Maj. Pless maneuvered the helicopter out to sea. Before it became safely airborne, the overloaded aircraft settled 4 times into the water. Displaying superb airmanship, he finally got the helicopter aloft. Major Pless' extraordinary heroism coupled with his outstanding flying skill prevented the annihilation of the tiny force. His courageous actions reflect great credit upon himself and uphold the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the U.S. Naval Service.
    1968 - After 58 episodes, the final “Monkees” TV show airs on NBC. Since the its initial run, almost every major cable network has aired re-runs of the show, including a popular stint on CBS from 1969-1972
    1969 - Trumpeter Miles Davis began recording sessions in New York for what would eventually become the ground-breaking jazz-rock fusion album "Br*tches Brew." Among the musicians taking part were Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter and Joe Zawinul. There were no rehearsals and Davis gave the musicians only minimal directions.
    1969 - 'Never say die' Hurricane Camille let loose a cloudburst in Virginia resulting in flash floods and landslides which killed 151 persons and caused $140 million in damage. Massies Hill, VA received 27 inches of rain.
    1970 - Top Hits
“(They Long to Be) Close to You” - Carpenters
“Make It with You” - Bread
“Spill the Wine” - Eric Burdon & War
“Don't Keep Me Hangin' On” - Sonny James
    1972 - NBC-TV presented "The Midnight Special" for the first time. John Denver was the host for the first show. Wolfman Jack was the show's announcer. "The Midnight Special" proved to be a ratings success.
    1974 - During an anti-American protest in Nicosia, Cyprus, U.S. Ambassador Rodger P. Davies was fatally wounded by a bullet while in the American embassy.
    1976 - The Republican National Convention nominates President Gerald Ford for reelection in a narrow victory over former governor Ronald Reagan of California. Senator Robert J. Dole of Kansas was nominated for the vice-presidency.  [???the rest of this is unrelated to Ford’s nomination???]On November 2, Democrat James Earl “Jimmy” Carter, Jr. was elected President and Walter F. Mondale as Vice-President. Electoral vote was 297 to Ford's 240. The popular vote was Carter: 40,828,929, Ford: 39,149,940. The Democrats kept a 61-38 Senate Majority and House majority of 292-143. The first thing he did after being sworn in office was to issue a presidential pardon to the nation's Vietnam draft resisters. He found problems with his own party-controlled congress with a major setback regarding financial dealings of Bert Lance, director of the Office Management and budget, plus one of Carter's closest supports. Vernon Jordan of the National Urban League charged the administration with not doing enough to reduce unemployment among blacks, inflation plague the economy and the most serious problem he had was the continuing hostage crisis. November 4, 1980 Ronald Reagan received 489 electoral votes to Carter's 49, and the popular vote was Reagan 42,797,153; Carter 34,434,100; John Anderson, independent candidate, 5,533,927. The Republicans picked up 12 senate seats for a 53-46 majority, with one independent seat. In the House, the Democrats lost 33 seats but kept a majority of 242-192, with one seat going to an independent.
    1977 - Fleetwood Mac's reunion album "The Dance" is released. The disc was taken from two shows that were recorded live at a Warner Brothers soundstage a few months earlier.
    1978 - Top Hits
“Three Times a Lady” - Commodores
“Grease” - Frankie Valli
“Miss You” - The Rolling Stones
“Talking in Your Sleep” - Crystal Gayle
    1978 - Alicia Bridges enters the soul chart with "I Love the Nightlife." Though the single will only reach as high as #31 in its seventeen weeks on the chart, the song's title will become a disco-era catch-phrase.
    1980 - Christopher Cross comes from nowhere and has one of the biggest hits of the year off his debut album which goes platinum on this date. He has three top fifteen hits, including the Number One, "Sailing." He will take home five Grammies in February
    1984 - Lee Trevino wins the PGA
    1986 - Top Hits
“Papa Don't Preach” - Madonna
“Higher Love” - Steve Winwood
“Venus” - Bananarama
“You’re the Last Thing I Needed Tonight” - John Schneider
    1986 - The temperature at San Antonio, TX, soared to an all-time record high of 108 degrees
    1987 - It was on this day that consumer reporter David Horowitz was held at gunpoint on camera. During a KNBC-TV newscast in Burbank, CA, Horowitz was forced to read the assailant's rambling note. The news director took the program off the air until police could get the gunman off the set. Horowitz was unharmed.
    1988 - Raleigh, NC, reported a record hot temperature reading of 103 degrees. Afternoon thunderstorms in Oklahoma produced wind gusts to 75 mph in southern Pittsburg County. Thunderstorms in Indiana produced 4.50 inches of rain at Morgantown
    1990 - White Sox Bobby Thigpen records his 40th save as the Chicago White Sox beat the Rangers, 4-2. He becomes the only eighth reliever to reach this milestone in major league history.
    1991 - Hurricane Bob was located 30-35 miles east of Cape Hatteras NC, and was at its peak intensity of 115 mph. Damage from Bob was estimated at $1.5 billion, making it the 15th costliest hurricane in U.S. History. A total of 18 people died in the storm.
    1991 – In the Crown Heights Riot in Queens, NYC, Black groups targeted Hasidic Jews for three days, after two black children were hit by a car driven by a Hasidic man.
    1992 - When Mariner second baseman Bret Boone, the grandson of Ray Boone (1948-60) and son of Bob Boone (1972-90) makes a start against the Orioles, he becomes part of the first three-generation family to play in the Major Leagues.  Brett’s brother, Aaron, also played 12 seasons with a number of clubs.
    1992 - IBM and Sears, Roebuck & Co. announce they are working together to create a voice-and-data network service called "Advantis." The two companies had already been working together since the mid-1980s to create the online service Prodigy. With their entry into Internet provider services, the companies expected to generate at least $1 billion a year in revenue.
    1999 – “Saturday Night Live” creator Lorne Michaels received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
    2004 - Google Inc. stock began selling on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The initial price was set at $85 and ended the day at $100.34 with more than 22 million shares traded.
    2009 - U.S. Army officer William Calley publicly apologized for the My Lai massacre during the Viet Nam War.
    2014 - Community Health Systems Inc., a private hospital company, revealed that Social Security numbers and other personal data were stolen for 4.5 million patients in April and June; the company believes the attack is the work of Chinese hackers.
    2014 - Google will be launching a paid subscription-based music service featuring YouTube music video content; the service will be separate from the company's existing subscription music service on Google Play.

 

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SuDoku

The object is to insert the numbers in the boxes to satisfy only one condition: each row, column and 3x3 box must contain the digits 1 through 9 exactly once. What could be simpler?

http://leasingnews.org/Soduku/soduko-main.htm

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Daily Puzzle

How to play:
http://www.setgame.com/set/puzzle_frame.htm

Refresh for current date:
http://www.setgame.com/set/puzzle_frame.htm

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http://www.gasbuddy.com/
http://www.gasbuddy.com/GB_Map_Gas_Prices.aspx
http://www.gasbuddy.com/GB_Mobile_Instructions.aspx

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Weather

See USA map, click to specific area, no commercials

http://www.weather.gov/

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Traffic Live---

Real Time Traffic Information

You can save up to 20 different routes and check them out with one click,
or type in a new route to learn the traffic live

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