Salvation Army Kettle Reaches
$2,785

Would like to Thank all Donors:

Anonymous
Jeff Allard
Mohammed Ahsan
Larry Armstrong
Brian Carey
Edward Castagna
Richard Cohen
Bruce and Barbara Kropschot
Shawn Halladay
Randy Haug
Theresa Kabot
Edward Kay
Jule Kreyling
Allan Levine
Tom McCurnin
Gerald Oestreich
Klaus Pache
Reid Raykovich
Susan Robert
Dean Rubin
Jeff Rudin
Hugh Swandel
Barbara Walker
Rosanne Wilson
Bob Underwood

Note: Mohammed Ahsan sent a check;
Hugh Swandel contributed in Canada.

 
  (Please click on kettle to join our team)

2015 Kettle Drive Reached $3,532
2014 Kettle Drive Reach $5,535
In past years it has been $4,000, often a little higher.

 

         Kit Menkin

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Job Wanted – Collections
Work Remotely or Relocate for Right Opportunity

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.

Collections

Chicago, Illinois 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

Work Remotely from Portland, Oregon Experienced commercial banker and former commercial equipment leasing industry professional seeking full-time or part-time work out of my home in Portland, Oregon. Over twenty years’ experience in credit analysis, underwriting, sales and collections. Known for creative problem solving and strong quantitative & qualitative analytical skills.  Demonstrated ability to gather information, evaluate and make informed strategic business decisions to maximize profit and mitigate risk. Well known for ability to develop strong business relationships with Clients and large list of national equipment leasing Brokers. Please see attached resume and contact me below if interested.  Resume JFrank@BL-Solutions.com

 

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

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Top Stories: December 19-21
(Opened Most by Readers)

(1) California DBO Cracking Down on Unlicensed Companies
         December Bulletin States the Charge
by Tom McCurnin, Leasing News Legal Editor
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Dec2016/12_21.htm#dbo

(2) New Hires/Promotions in the Leasing Business
         and Related Industries
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Dec2016/12_21.htm#hires

(3) Best Financial Technology Advance I Have Seen
           By Christopher Menkin
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Dec2016/12_19.htm#best

(4) CAN Capital Woes Continue – Layoffs Commence
    135 Employees laid off Kennesaw, GA Office
http://debanked.com/2016/12/can-capital-woes-continue-layoffs-commence/

(5) The IRS Will Remove a Tax Lien
   from borrowers credit reports for free
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Dec2016/12_19.htm#irs

(6) New Airline Identification Law in Effect January 22, 2018
         by Shari L. Lipski, CLFP
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Dec2016/12_21.htm#airline

(7) Maui Says Aloha to Island’s Last Sugar Cane Producer
   145 Years of Harvesting and Processing Sugar Ends
http://courthousenews.com/maui-says-aloha-to-islands-last-sugar-cane-producer/

(8) Sales Makes It Happen by Christopher Menkin
   Use UCC's to Call on Lessees Whose Lessor is Gone
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Dec2016/12_21.htm#use

(9) ELFA Reports New Business Down 22% from October
Despite ELFF Confidence 67.5 December from 54.5 November
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Dec2016/12_21.htm#elfa

(10) Leasing/Finance Conferences in 2107
CFA 1/31, LendIt 3/7, NEFA 3/15, ELFA 3/22, ELFA 4/4, NVLA 4/5 +
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Dec2016/12_21.htm#conferences

 

 

The List ---November, 2016
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Centra Leasing, Inc./4Hour Funding, Plano, Texas (11/16) Now a wholly owned subsidiary of CV Holdings. John Boettigheimer remains President/General Manager.
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Nov2016/11_30.htm#cv

CapFundNow, Hauppauge, NY (11/16) Joins Aggregate Funders List
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Nov2016/11_30.htm#capfund

Integrity Funding Group, Utah (11/16/) Dallin Hawkins Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Update Is About to Walk Away From Debts and Judgements http://leasingnews.org/archives/Nov2016/11_28.htm#hawkins
Hawkins Files Chapter 7. 27 Creditors named.
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Nov2016/11_14.htm#alert
Hawkins served with $53,000 Default Judgement
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Nov2016/11_02.htm#dallin

Dealstruck, Carlsbad, California (11/16) Appears to have closed down, literally has abandoned ship.
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Nov2016/11_18.htm#dealstruck

Ascentium Capital, Kingwood, Texas (11/16) Closes $271 Million Securitization.
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Nov2016/11_02.htm#asc_cap   (Later, Rich Baccaro, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, reported: "Ascentium Capital new originations were up 29% in November over November 2015 and up 9% from October...We continue to add vendor partners at a record pace as well as talented sales professionals in our direct and vendor segments."

 

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New Hires/Promotions in the Leasing Business
and Related Industries

Kristie Crews was promoted to VP, Compliance, MIS and Reporting at CIT, New York. She is based in Jacksonville, Florida. She joined the firm January, 2006, as Funding Manager; promoted December, 2015, AVP, Compliance, Financial Crimes, Analytics and Reporting Analyst.  Prior, she was Acquisitions, EverBank (January, 2002 – January, 2006).
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristie-crews-5702545

Debra Jones was promoted to Senior Vice President, to lead the RLC Funding Division, of Navitas Credit Corp., Ponte Verde, Florida. Dwight Galloway, the previous manager of the group will be taking on a senior corporate advisory role. This new position will enable him to apply his extensive experience towards helping the organization achieve its long term strategic goals. Gary Shivers, President and CEO of Navitas states, 'Over the last several years, Debra has been a key contributor to the success of Navitas. Her dedication has helped shape Navitas as a leader in service and portfolio performance. Looking forward to 2017, Debra will be leading the RLC Division through a rebranding initiative; the launch of a dedicated website to enhance support to our third party funding partners; and a technology upgrade to our delivery systems, a further enhancement to our servicing capabilities. I am confident that her skills and experience will help us continue to grow this valued segment of our business '."  Ms. Jones joined Navitas June, 2011 as Director of Broker Operations; promoted July, 2012, SVP Account Services and Operations. Prior she was Chief Operating Officer of Dwight Galloway's First Trillion Funding, LLC (September, 2010-December, 2010); Vice President/ Director of Servicing Leaf Specialty Finance a Division of Leaf Financial Corporation (November, 2007 – July, 2010); Vice President/ Director of Servicing, NetBank Business Finance a division of NetBank FSB (November, 1989 – November, 2007). Education: Columbia College (SC), BA, Accounting (1996 – 1999). Activities and Societies: Summa Cum Laude.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/debra-jones-3b312212

Mark Maltese was hired as Relationship Manager, Technology Vendor Services at US Bank Equipment Finance, Greater Chicago Area.  Previously, he was Director of Leasing Services, Delaware Place Bank (November, 2015 – November, 2016); Channel Development Manager for Lenovo Financial Services Program, CIT (November, 2006 – November, 2015); National Account Manager, CIT (2006 – 2010); Account Manager for Cisco Capital Program, De Lage Landen (2005 – 2006); Leasing Program Manager,  Apple Financial Services, Apple (2000 – 2005); Global Lease Product Manager and Inside Sales Manager, Sun Microsystems (1996 – 2000). Education: Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University, Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.), Marketing/Marketing Management, General, Graduated With Honors. Michigan State University, Bachelor's Degree, Finance.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-maltese-64a5977

Kevin Stronach was announced as Account Executive, Transportation and Construction at LBC Capital, Inc., Toronto, Canada.  He was hired in October, 2016.  Previously, he was Regional Sales Manager, Catalyst Finance Partners Inc. (August, 2011 – September, 2016); Account Manager/ Business Development Officer, RCAP Leasing (April, 2008 – August, 2011); Marketing/Sales Coordinator, CIT (February, 2002 – March, 2008). Courses: Independent Coursework IMS: Best Negotiating Practices. Education: Fanshawe College, Business, Marketing (1999 – 2001).
https://ca.linkedin.com/in/kevin-stronach-04696638

Damian Tacito was hired as Senior Business Development Manager, Marlin Business Services, Mount Laurel, New Jersey. He is based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Previously, he was Vice President, Tactical Material Technology, LLC (May, 2015 – December, 2016); Program Manager, Direct Capital, a Division of CIT Bank, N.A., CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT) (September, 2010 – May, 2015); Sales Manager, EquipmentEngine Financial Services Company, LLC (May, 2011 – November, 2011); Collections Account Manager, Bank of America (February, 2008 – August, 2010); Project Manager, Plastics Forming Enterprises LLC (January, 2002 – February, 2008). Education: University of Maine, Associate of Arts and Sciences (A.A.S.), Business Administration and Management, General (2008 – 2010). Activities and Societies: Phi Gamma Delta. Eastern Maine Community College, Associate of Arts and Sciences (A.A.S.), Finance, General (2008 – 2010).
https://www.linkedin.com/in/damian-tacito-86225252

Dave Walton was promoted to Vice President of Financial Products Division, Caterpillar Financial, Peoria, Illinois.  He joined the firm September, 1999, as Corporate Portfolio Manager; promoted June, 2001, US Southern Regional Manager; promoted August, 2003, Managing Director, Northern Europe; promoted March, 2005, Vice President - Asia-Pacific and Cat Mining Finance; promoted, January, 2012,Vice President - North American Sales and Cat Mining Finance.  He began his career as Loan Review Officer, First National Bank of Ottawa (1985-1989). Education: Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University, MBA (1989 – 1993); Indiana University Bloomington, B.S., Accounting (1980 – 1984). Activities and Societies: Track & Field team, Cross Country team, Athletes in Action
https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-walton-4b3b6010

 

NATIONWIDE SALES POSITIONS AVAILABLE Healthcare, Commercial and Industrial We are a premier small ticket and middle market full service equipment finance company. Our compensation programs are aggressive and include full insurance benefits, matching 401k, etc. Positions are available for well experienced industry professionals with an established book of business originating equipment finance transactions. Please email your resume to sschachtel@bankozarks.com or call directly at 973-768-7501 Bank of the Ozarks was recognized as the top performing bank in the United States, based on financial performance, five years in a row, 2011-2015. • Rated as “well capitalized” – the highest available regulatory rating • Publicly traded company on the NASDAQ Global Select Market, symbol OZRK • Headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas • Chartered in March 1903, a 111-year heritage 256 Offices, $18.5 billion in assets, second quarter 2016 net income of over $54 million www.bankozarks.com/equipment Bank of the Ozarks We are an equal opportunity employer and give consideration for employment to qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, and local law. Member FDIC.

 

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.

 

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Telling My Employer I am Leaving
Career Crossroad---By Emily Fitzpatrick/RII

Question: I am taking a new position. How do I give notice to my current employer?

Answer: First, NEVER burn bridges (many of us have learned this from past experience!) Give notice in the PROPER manner.

I would suggest developing a formal resignation letter at least two weeks prior to terminating your present employment. Many resignation letters state your last day of employment and a willingness to assist in the transition process (sometimes including training a new hire to take over your duties). You may want to include a personal note thanking the employer and explaining your reasoning for your departure.

Whatever the circumstances, make sure you phrase your resignation letter in a positive way. This does not give you free reign to lay out your grievances … not appropriate! Don’t do it!

Your past employer may be called upon to provide a reference for you in the future. AND you never know if you might work with your manager (s) in the future!

Don’t burn any bridges.

Happy New Year.

Emily Fitzpatrick
Sr. Recruiter
Recruiters International, Inc.
Phone:  954-885-9241
Cell:  954-612-0567
emily@riirecruit.com
www.riicareer.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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Sales Makes it Happen
by Christopher Menkin

Now is the Time for Brokers

The truth is leasing has always been an alternate means of financing. This not only applies to small ticket leasing where convenience is a factor for vendors, captive lessors, and leasing companies, but to the middle market. The differences are many, not only in performance speed from application to funding, but “corporate only” is common, even among relatively young companies, as well as  "application only" in the $150,000 to $250,000 range, As Financial Technology tricks become more popular, brokers are having a field day in so many sources available.

In addition to what is now available via “artificial intelligence,” there
is the advent of business loans via alternate financing as well as merchant advance, there are many sources who not only give generous commissions, but when the customer re-does their short term transaction, many guarantee the broker their full commission.  This is much better than the insurance transaction where the renewal only bring a small stipend.  Here is the same as the original transaction.

In reality, there would be not be a need for brokers or even leasing companies or finance companies if the banks wanted all the business. Today they are more interested in building their profits by reducing their charge offs or taking the chance on a new or young business.

Recently banks and financial groups are getting involved in bundles from these companies, just like what happened in the mortgage industry a few years ago, and then the savings and loan industry
before that. I see financial history repeating itself.

The real skill of the leasing broker is not just finding a customer who needs "money," but knowing where to take the customer for a fast approval along with an acceptable rate and conditions, and helping to make the transaction as "painless" and "convenient" as possible, including holding the customers hand throughout the entire process. The more often the company has experienced the leasing process, the more they need to be assured there will be no rate change, no term from 36 months to 48 months at the same monthly payment, no “Evergreen clause,” a $1.00 buy-out or specific dollar amount, and the salesman will be there after the sale not leaving the company to deal as “lease number 83456,” bought and sold through various portfolio transfers.

With the advent of financial technology, decisions today are quite quick, including documents and signatures on line, many paying the vendor the same day of the application, particularly if a business loan or equipment finance agreement.

While the vendor or captive lessor wants their customer to get the best rate, their first concern is making the sale, not losing it. They don't want to sell the lease or loan. They want to sell the product itself.  The name of the game has always been to get the deal done. The ballpark is now that of the independent experienced broker as well as a company that can offer many financial products with the use of financial technology. As long as money is available, both independent and direct sales will be good, but in tough times, the
experienced broker will excel.

This is not to disparage the company sales person. The analogy may somewhat be made by comparing the insurance agent who represents one company and works solely for it, versus an independent agent who has many sources for not only quoting, but sources who will take "B-" to "C-" leases, and perhaps even "D's" at a "decent rate." And often it is not the rate, or who will “win” the bid, but who will get the "deal" done quickly and conveniently and is looking for repeat business, not just making the highest commission they can obtain.

The experienced leasing broker works for free and gets paid only when a sale is complete; a sort of "pay as you go," meaning a percentage of the sale without any other financial overhead, except for processing. Competition today is fierce and small business has never had so many suitors.

 

Determining Your Marketing Return on Investment
FinTech #102 by Brittney Holcomb

To calculate Return on Investment (ROI), the benefit (or return) of an investment is divided by the cost of the investment, and the result is expressed as a percentage or a ratio. This can be measured by increase in sales per each marketing expense.

These figures are available in "Business to Business" (B2B) marketing campaigns.

No longer do we live in a world where businesses are content with throwing their money at marketing efforts and not ever tracking the results. With the shift towards digital being bigger than ever, more businesses owners are getting involved in how their campaign is performing and evaluating the efforts to make sure they understand what is working and what is not, so they no longer waste money on underperforming strategies.

Determining the ROI of each marketing channel you use will also help you determine the effectiveness of each strategy so you know what you can cut out and which you need to tune better. Furthermore, knowing your ROI can help you plan ahead and predict results for future campaigns.

Luckily for us with all the new technology and analytics available, tracking ROI on any marketing campaign has increasingly become easier. We are able to see the first time a user visited the site, how they arrived, how many times they visited since that first visit, what type of browser they use, etc. Knowing these intricate details allows us to gear our message on a more personal level with our users based on their preferences, in turn encouraging more conversions.

One misconception about determining ROI is traffic = conversions. Not every visitor on your website is going to convert. You shouldn’t necessarily be tracking the number of visits you have to your website, but the quality of those visits – engagement time and actions taken during the visit.  Improve your ROI by improving your customer’s engagement with your marketing pieces like content, social posts, ads. Within those marketing pieces include calls to action followed by an action to capture the conversion like a contact form or downloadable content. eBook or whitepaper downloads, online contact form fill outs, phone calls, email open rates are all great ways of helping measure effectiveness of your marketing campaign and helping determine your ROI.

Once you label a dollar amount for each conversion you can measure your ROI for that campaign by taking your revenue and subtracting your marketing costs, then dividing your marketing costs. It should look something like this: (Revenue – Marketing Cost) / Marketing Cost = ROI

Once you have determined your ROI a few things to look at are: What is the cost per acquisition? How much money was pumped into the campaign before we closed the first sale? Is this making the business more profitable? Each of these above will guide you into figuring out which marketing channels are helping you generate a profit, which are breaking even, and which are costing you money.

As more and more businesses are run 100% online, determining ROI will rule all marketing campaign strategies and efforts. Knowing how your customers are finding you, how they spend their time on your website, and what makes them convert or bounce off your website is vital for providing the best user experience and successfully running your business online.

There are many such programs and services available. One of the easiest and most popular is Google.  For more information, please contact me directly: brittney@financemarketing.com

Brittney Holcomb is the Director of Paid Search at The Finance Marketing Group. She works exclusively with finance companies and banks to help better develop their business online through digital marketing strategies. Brittney has been trained by some of the top leaders in the industry giving her a vast knowledge she is able to pass along to her client base.

Email: brittney@financemarketing.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brittney-holcomb-02101834

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

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Fernando's View
Special Year’s Best Edition
By Fernando Croce

As 2016 comes to an end and we look forward to a new year, it’s time to look back at its best cinematic offerings. Here’s a list, in alphabetical order—so hurry and catch them in theaters, or, if they’ve already been released on DVD, give your Netflix queue a workout.

Cameraperson: Kirsten Johnson reinvents the first-person documentary with this bracing, deeply personal account of her life as a cinematographer. Going over the vast amount of exceptional footage she’s saved over the years, the film proceeds as a globe-trotting collection of memories, ranging from a trip to Bosnia to conversations with tragedy survivors to a visit to Johnson’s ailing mother. Touching off a vast variety of subjects and moods, this is a challenging, heartening collage that proudly celebrates the camera’s need for humanity in all its forms.

Cemetery of Splendor: Thai auteur Apichatpong Weerasethakul serves up another one-of-a-kind trip in this leisurely, magical blend of political history and lyrical surrealism. Set in a rural hospital built on the ruins of a palace, the story centers on a bored housewife who works as a volunteer in the midst of an outbreak of a strange sleeping disease. A tentative romance blossoms with a young soldier, but who draw the line between reality and fantasy, past and present? With a sure, serene touch, Weerasethakul creates a patient, visually gorgeous and humorous modern fable.

Elle: Dutch provocateur Paul Verhoeven is in top form in this thorny and surprisingly subtle drama, which features a magnificently complex performance by Isabelle Huppert. The great French actress stars as a high-powered CEO for a video-game company whose life takes a sudden turn after she’s raped by a masked assailant. What follows is an unpredictable web of malicious intrigue that plays as a jet-black comedy of manners, propelled by Verhoeven’s sardonic edge and by Huppert’s extraordinary mix of frigid control and burning desire.

Love & Friendship: It was only a matter of time before writer-director Whit Stillman adapted one of Jane Austen's gentle yet sharp character studies. The result is this warm and delectable comedy of manners, set in the late 18th-century and following the romantic ups and downs of Lady Susan Vernon (Kate Beckinsale) as she navigates British high-society in search of a husband. With a wondrously deft touch and a supporting cast that includes Chloë Sevigny and Stephen Fry, Stillman gives Austen the impeccable style she deserves.

Moonlight: This profoundly moving drama tells a man’s story from childhood into adulthood as a three-part journey of struggle and discovery. Following a bullied Miami boy’s trajectory into teenage years and a life-changing revelation, it builds to a meeting between old friends that’s staged as a dance of hope and secrets. Can the two men revive their past? Directed by Barry Jenkins with an eye attuned to delicate shifts of emotion, this is a gorgeous vision of genuine power and grace that resonates long after the film’s closing credits.

Paterson: The great indie director Jim Jarmusch locates the sublime poetry of everyday life in this absorbing, deceptively simple slice-of-life. Adam Driver stars as the eponymous protagonist, a humble small-town bus driver with a quirky girlfriend, a shifty bulldog, and an array of eccentric passengers. On the side, he keeps a notebook of personal poems that seem to transform the quotidian surroundings. Creating a cozily ordinary background only to fill it with extraordinary lyrical details, Jarmusch’s film brims with mystery and poignancy.

Sully: The hardships of heroism are a constant theme in Clint Eastwood’s films as a director, a theme crystallized in this poignant dramatization of the true-life 2009 ordeal that made Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger (played by Tom Hanks with splendid gravity and humbleness) a national figure. Using his spare and eloquent cinematic technique, Eastwood crafts a delicate portrait of professionalism that, with the help of Hanks’ performance, cuts right through the complacent pitfalls of biopics to get to the protagonist’s human fragility.

Sunset Song: Aching emotions and plangent visuals are the hallmarks of British filmmaker Terence Davies, both amply evident in this sprawling story set in early 1900s Scotland. It charts the thorny spiritual journey of a young woman living and toiling in an isolated farm presided over by a tyrannical father. Romance blooms amid strife, followed by the Great War. A symphonic epic about despair and joy, brutality and forgiveness, Davies' film is a scintillating, heartfelt portrait of beauty enduring in the face of harshness.

Toni Erdmann: Awkward laughter and heartfelt emotion mingle miraculously in this wonderful German comedy from writer-director Maren Ade. Moving unpredictably from one memorable moment to another, the story chronicles the eccentric push-pull between a serious, hardworking businesswoman and her father, an aging prankster determined to get her to loosen up and appreciate the absurdity of life. Featuring some of the year’s most hilarious scenes as well as some of its most melancholy, Aden’s film is a life-affirming gift to movie lovers.

 

Labrador Retriever Mix
Dallas, Texas  Adopt-a-Dog

Aster

ID: 150798
Gender: Female
Age: 7 years
Size: Large
Location: Jan Rees-Jones Animal Care Center, Dallas
Adoption Fee: $50

SPCA of Texas
West Dallas
Jan Rees-Jones Animal Care Center
2400 Lone Star Drive
Dallas, TX 75212

Main Phone Number: 214-742-SPCA (7722)
Adoption hours: Daily, Noon to 6 p.m.

Frequently Asked Questions:
http://www.spca.org/adoptionfaq

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

 

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Classified Ads—Free—Leasing News

Collector / Collections / Consultant / Communications

Collector: Atlanta, GA Asset Recovery Specialist. We get your money or we get your > equipment back for you. Physical Asset Recovery Experts! E-mail: mcrouse911@joimail.com	Collector: Cleveland, OH  Huntley Capital & Associates is your solution to late payments, no payments, and asset recovery. Call 216-337-7075.  Email: ghpatey@msn.com
Collections: Dallas, Texas Contingency Fee basis. Receivables Outsourcing. We are a fully bonded nationwide licensed agency. We collect for nationally known banks and leasing companies.  800-886-8088.	Collector: Los Angeles, CA Expert skiptracers covering Southern California. We locate skips, judgment debtors and collateral. When you can't get the job done in house, give us a call at 1-800-778-0794. E-mail: ceo@interagencyLA.com
Collector: Louisville, KY We are a full service collection agency with attorney network. 21 years experience. Please call Jon Floyd, VP at 1-800-264-6850  email: jfloyd@collectcsg.com	Collector: Louisville, KY  Euler Hermes/UMA 92 year old Global Receivables Outsourcing. Presence in 143 Countries. Work w/ 4 out of 5 Fortune 500 firms. Contingency Fee Structure. 20% off first time clients.! Andrew.Newton@eulerhermes.com 1-800-237-9386 x 205.
	Collector: Milwaukee, WI  We specialize in ATM machine reposession and remarketing. We can get you top dollar for your inventory. E-mail: bdperry1@yahoo.com
Collector: Nationwide End of lease negotiations & enforcement. Third-party collections. Skip-tracing. Background checks. Credit & asset investigations. 15+ years in leasing industry. Providing services to clients nationwide. 800-824-0234 johnkenny2@verizon.net	Collector: Saint Louis, MO Complete commercial collection agency. Licensed bonded in all states and will out performed any other agency! Call 1-800-659-7199 ext.315 E-mail:  jfloyd@lindquistandtrudeau.com
Consultant: Nationwide 25 yrs. experience: Creating/Refining Business Plans to raise capital· Credit Underwriting support/policy/procedure development · Operations Support/policy/procedure development. Call: 610-246-2178, McCarthy Financial, LLC, David.mccarthy@mccarthy-financial.com	Consultant: Burlington, CT We provide our clients with a full range of consulting services such as portfolio conversions, reconciliation, custom programming and leasing operations utilizing InfoLease.  Email: info@new-millennium-assoc.com
Consultant: Europe 15 years doing deals/running own technology leasing company – looking to advise/ lead new entrants to take advantage the European market opportunity. www.clearcape.co.uk or  kevin.kennedy@clearcape.co.uk	Consultant: Henderson, NV Focus on new business development and process efficiencies to create incremental revenue and profitability. Executive level vendor experience, and satisfied outsourcing clients. Incredible track record. E-mail: rbutzek@cox.net
Consultant: Sausalito, CA Lease trainer and consultant. 50 years in equipment leasing. Expert in transaction analysis, financial statement analysis, credit, packaging, structuring. Presents highly popular classes and workshops. E-mail:BoTei@aol.com	Consultant: North of Detroit, MI  INFOLEASE EXPERT - 18 years experience. Since being downsized in 2002, working as a consultant for several leasing companies. Seeking consulting projects nationwide.  E-mail: darwint@prodigy.net
Consultant: Ridgefield CT. Lisa Lersner w/20 years exp. specializing in leasing technology now providinglessor selection andmanagement services, includingthe securing of debt and equity and acquisition guidance services. Email  www.leasefinanceconsulting.com	Communications: Chassell, MI Cartoons on business, finance & computers. Use for your presentations, website, newletter, direct mail projects etc. Fees are negotiable.  Email: dan@danscartoons.com  www.danscartoons.com

 

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

News Briefs----

Northern Leasing Complaints Continue
 Warning re: Credit Card Processing Nightmare
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/2203713-small-businesses-warn-of-credit-card-processing-nightmare/

Donald Trump may deal death blow to
    ‘corporate welfare’ Ex-Im Bank
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/dec/26/donald-trump-may-deal-death-blow-to-ex-im-bank/

Troubled Italian bank says capital hole bigger than expected
"capital shortfall at $9.2 billion"
http://www.kansas.com/news/business/article123067524.html

New accounting standards change the rules of IT leasing
   In Two Years, Beginning after December 15, 2018
http://www.cio.com/article/3152580/outsourcing/new-accounting-standards-change-the-rules-of-it-leasing.html

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--You May Have Missed It

U.S. consumer confidence jumps to highest level since 2001
http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20161227/NEWS01/161229903/u-s-consumer-confidence-jumps-to-highest-level-since-2001

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American Football Poem

Lines
by Martha Collins

Draw a line. Write a line. There.
Stay in line, hold the line, a glance
between the lines is fine but don't
turn corners, cross, cut in, go over
or out, between two points of no
return's a line of flight, between
two points of view's a line of vision.
But a line of thought is rarely
straight, an open line's no party
line, however fine your point.
A line of fire communicates, but drop
your weapons and drop your line,
consider the shortest distance from x
to y, let x be me, let y be you.

from Some Things Words Can Do, 1998
The Sheep Meadows Press, Riverdale-on-Hudson, N.Y.

 

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Sports Briefs----

Buffalo Bills Fire Head Coach Rex Ryan After Two Seasons
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/27/sports/buffalo-bills-rex-ryan.html

Russians No Longer Dispute Olympic Doping Operation
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/27/sports/olympics/russia-doping.html?emc=edit_na_20161227&nlid=31282772&ref=headline&_r=0 

Derek Carr’s mom says son is out of surgery
http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2016/12/27/derek-carrs-mom-says-son-is-out-of-surgery/

 

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

[headlines]
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California Nuts Briefs---

Sonoma, Napa visitor spending hits all-time high in 2016
http://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/northbay/sonomacounty/6426394-181/north-bay-travel-tourism-hospitality-spending?artslide=0

California to drivers: Starting Sunday, don’t hold that cell phone
http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/transportation/article123126354.html

4 San Francisco Bay Area Celebrities And Their Real Estate Deals in 2016
http://realestate.blogs.pressdemocrat.com/16758/4-celebrities-and-real-estate-deals-in-2016/

 

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“Gimme that Wine”

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

Napa Valley’s Trinchero Family Estates buys
     Fetzer Vineyards’ Five Rivers Winery
http://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/northbay/napacounty/6479020-181/trinchero-family-estates-fetzer-vineyards?artslide=0

New California Alcohol Laws on January 1, 2017
http://www.abc.ca.gov/press/PR2016/PR16-35.pdf

Group honors Peter Mondavi Sr. with Award of Merit
http://napavalleyregister.com/star/news/local/group-honors-peter-mondavi-sr-with-award-of-merit/article_249c75ab-2e95-52c4-ae13-c0e53d2a46d8.html

Champagne tastes better with bigger bubbles, study finds
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/dec/23/champagne-tastes-better-bigger-bubbles-prosecco-cava

Constellation sells wine business to a Canadian pension plan
http://wine.drinks-business-review.com/news/constellation-brands-completes-sale-of-canadian-wine-business-for-786m-201216-5701071

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

     1722 - Birthday of Eliza Lucas Pinckney (d. 1793), Antigua, British West Indies.   She was left to manage her father's three plantations in the Carolinas when he was called back to Antigua as military lieutenant general. Not only did she experiment with various crops trying to produce one that would increase the plantations' income - plantations being agricultural businesses, not family farms - she developed a method whereby the touchy indigo plant could be raised in the harsher Carolina climate. The English government was enthusiastic and subsidized its growing as the U.S. government would later subsidize tobacco. Export reached in excess of one million pounds and was a major income source for the entire region. After her marriage, she developed a method for growing silkworms in the Charleston area and manufacturing silk. As a widow, she would return to her family's plantations and manage them - successfully, as usual. Two of her sons were prominent in the new United States politics. Her first shipment of 17 pounds of indigo dye caused a furor in London as merchants found it equal to the dye from the French colonies. The English Parliament gave the South Carolina growers a subsidy. France made it a major crime to export indigo seeds but it was too late. Then she did the most unusual thing ... and perhaps the most feminist thing: she distributed the seeds from her crop to any colonist planter who wanted them instead of keeping the magic seeds to herself for her other gain. Within five years, the 17 pounds of dye had increased to 40,000 pounds. This output increased in time and became a major source of income for the fledgling United States that desperately needed cash. President George Washington served as one of the pallbearers at her funeral.
    1732 - The Pennsylvania Gazette carried the first known advertisement for the first issue of Poor Richard's Almanack by Richard Saunders (Benjamin Franklin) for the year 1733. The advertisement promised "many pleasant and witty verses, jests and sayings . . . new fashions, games for kisses . . . men and melons . . . breakfast in bed, &c."  America's most famous almanac, Poor Richard's was published through the year 1758 and has been imitated many times since. From The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin: "In 1732 I first publish'd my Almanack, under the name of Richard Saunders; it was continu'd by me about twenty-five years, commonly call'd Poor Richard's Almanack. I endeavor'd to make it both entertaining and useful, and it accordingly came to be in such demand, that I reap'd considerable profit from it, vending annually near ten thousand. And observing that it was generally read, scarce any neighborhood in the province being without it, I consider'd it as a proper vehicle for conveying instruction among the common people, who bought scarcely any other books; I therefore filled all the little spaces that occurr'd between the remarkable days in the calendar with proverbial sentences, chiefly such as inculcated industry and frugality, as the means of procuring wealth, and thereby securing virtue; it being more difficult for a man in want, to act always honestly, as, to use here one of those proverbs, it is hard for an empty sack to stand upright."
    1793 - Thomas Paine is arrested in France for treason. Though the charges against him were never detailed, he had been tried in absentia on December 26 and convicted. Before moving to France, Paine was an instrumental figure in the American Revolution as the author of “Common Sense”, writings used by George Washington to inspire the American troops. Paine moved to Paris to become involved with the French Revolution, but the chaotic political climate turned against him, and he was arrested and jailed for crimes against the country. While in prison, he continued to work on “The Age of Reason” and began an affair with actress Muriel Alette, who had been sentenced to death for being the mistress of a nobleman. Paine's imprisonment in France caused a general uproar in America and future President James Monroe used all of his diplomatic connections to get Paine released in November, 1794. Ironically, it wasn't long before Paine came to be despised in the United States, as well. After “The Age of Reason” was published, he was called an anti-Christ, and his reputation was ruined. Thomas Paine died a poor man in 1809 in New York.
    1832 - The first Vice-President of the United States to resign was the famous John C. Calhoun, who had served under two Presidents (John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson), Mar 4, 1825-December 28, 1832). Finding himself in growing disagreement with President Jackson, he resigned the office to fill the vacancy in the Senate caused by the resignation of Robert Young Hayne, senator from South Carolina. He spent most of his subsequent political life as a US Senator from South Carolina, a strong states right and pro-slavery advocate, where he felt he was more effective than being a vice-president under a man he “despised”.
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000044
http://www.studyworld.com/john_c_calhoun.htm
    1832 - In Missouri, St. Louis Academy (founded in 1818) was chartered as St. Louis University. It was the first Catholic university established in the U.S. west of the Allegheny Mountains.
    1837 - John A. Pitts and Hiram Abial Pitts of Winthrop, ME, received a patent for a “machine for threshing or cleaning grain” employing steam.   The machine separated grain from the straw and chaff.
    1839 - The third storm in two weeks hit the northeastern U.S. It brought two more feet of snow to Hartford, CT and Worcester, MA. Whole gales swept the coast causing many wrecks
    1846 - Iowa becomes 29th state. The 29th state's name is derived from an American Indian word meaning ‘the beautiful land'. It is widely thought that Iowa's nickname, the Hawkeye State, is in honor of Black Hawk, the famous Indian chief who led the Sauk and Fox tribes against the Iowa area settlers in the Black Hawk War of 1832. Iowa City was the first capital of Iowa. 11 years later, Des Moines, the state's largest city, became the permanent capital. The Iowa state bird is the eastern goldfinch, the state flower, the wild rose, and the state motto: “Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain.”
    1848 - Gaslight was turned on in the White House. James Knox Polk was the President.
    1851 - The Young Men's Christian Association was organized in the United States in Boston.  It was patented after a similar organization started in London on June 6, 1844. The first gymnasium was opened in New York City in 1869, and in the same year, the first separate boys' department was opened in Salem, MA.   The first YMCA branch for African-American members was organized in Washington, DC in 1853 by Anthony Bowen and Jerome Johnson, who served respectively as president and secretary.
    1856 - Thomas Woodrow Wilson (d. 1924), 28th President of the US was born at Staunton, Virginia. Twice elected (1912 and 1916), it was Wilson who said, “The world must be made safe for democracy”, as he asked the Congress to declare war on Germany, April 2, 1917. His first wife, Ellen, died August 6, 1914, and he married Edith Bolling Galt, December 18, 1915. He suffered a paralytic stroke, September 16, 1919, never regaining his health. There were many speculations about who (possibly Mrs. Wilson?) was running the government during his illness. His second term of office ended March 3, 1921. Wilson was the last president to be born in Virginia, the state where the most presidents of the US were from: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor and Woodrow Wilson.
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?amtoday:2:./temp/~ammem_kGm0
    1867 - David Groesbeck and Company, a member of the New York Stock Exchange, became the first stock brokerage to use a telegraph ticker. It was installed by the Gold and Stock Telegraph Company, New York City on a lease of $6 a week from Daniel Drew, who also provided maintenance. It is considered the first “maintenance lease” in America. (no option to purchase and it is not known if there was an evergreen clause).
    1869 - Labor Day was inaugurated by the Knights of Labor, a workers' organization formed in Philadelphia.   The first states to declare Labor Day a state holiday were Oregon (February 1887); Colorado (March 1887); and New York (May 1887). The annual nationwide observance of Labor Day was sponsored by the American Federation of Labor, which resolved in convention at Chicago, IL, On October 7, 1884, “ that the first Monday in September be set aside as a laborer's national holiday.” On June 28, 1894, Congress designed the first Monday in September a legal holiday for federal employees and for the District of Columbia. The first Labor Day parade was held in New York City on September 5, 1882, under the auspices of the Central Labor Union. It featured musical bans and 10,000 marchers who carried placards reading “Less Work and More Pay”,  “Less Hours, More Pay”,  “Labor Pays All Taxes”, “Labor creates All Wealth”,  “To the Workers Should Belong the Wealth” and “The Laborer Must Receive and Enjoy the Full Fruit of his Labor”.
    1869 - William Finley Semple of Mount Vernon, Ohio, patents chewing gum
    1881 - Jess Willard, Boxer (d. 1968) was born at Pottawatomie County, KS.  The towering Willard, 6' 6 ¼” tall, took the heavyweight title from Jack Johnson in a fight at Havana, Cuba on April 5, 1915. He defended his title only once in four years and then lost it to Jack Dempsey on July 4, 1919.  
    1891 - Thomas Alva Edison of Menlo Park, New Jersey received a patent for a “means of transmitting signals electrically.” In the patent, he stated that “signaling between distant points can be carried on by induction without the use of wires connecting such distant points”.  Marconi in 1894 experimented with hertzian waves to communicate wireless telegraph and Nathan Stubblefield, claimed he invented it earlier. 
http://www.nathanstubblefield.com/
    1897 - The temperature at Dayville, OR hit 81 degrees to establish a state record for December.  
    1902 – The first indoor pro football game, Syracuse beat Philadelphia, 6-0, Madison Square Garden, NYC.
    1903 - Birthday of Fanny "Bobbie" Rosenfeld (d. 1969) in Ukraine.   A celebrated Canadian track and field athlete, she was named Canada's woman athlete of the half-century. In the 1928 Olympics, she won a silver and gold. She excelled in almost every sport from hockey to softball and did it on her own since there were no coaches for women at the time. She became a sports columnist.
    1903 - Legendary jazz pianist Earl (Fatha) Hines (d. 1983) was born in Duquesne, PA. Hines, whose complex rhythms influenced musicians for five decades, began his career in the 1920's. Jazz took a revolutionary turn in that decade because of the recordings he made, both as a solo artist and with Louis Armstrong's Hot Five combo. In the 1930's and '40s, Hines led his own big band, and among those he helped to stardom were Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughan, Charlie Parker and Billy Eckstine. A forgotten figure in the 1950's, he reappeared in the following decade for concerts and recordings, even turning up on rock guitarist Roy Cooder's album "Paradise and Lunch”.
http://www.redhotjazz.com/hines.html
http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/whatisjazz/bt_hines.html
    1908 - Otto Zachow and William Besserdick of Clintonville, WI obtained a patent for a four wheel brake for cars, calling it a “power applying mechanism”, quickly adopted by the car industry who were employing a hand brake against one wheel.
    1912 - Guitarist Billy Markel born Baltimore.
    1921 - Singer/Band Leader/Disc Jockey/Musician/Politician Johnny Otis (d. 2012) was born Ioannis Alexandres Veliotes in Vallejo, CA. I listened to him with "Willie and the Hand Jive" as a disc jockey as I grew up in West Los Angeles  and saw many of his small and large bank performances, the last at the San Jose Fairmont Hotel. He had begun recording in the late 1940's. Otis was also responsible for discovering such artists as Little Esther Phillips, Jackie Wilson, Little Willie John and Hank Ballard. He had a hit radio show in Los Angeles in the late 1950's and 1960's.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Otis
http://www.last.fm/music/Johnny+Otis
http://www.history-of-rock.com/johnny_otis.htm
http://www.johnnyotisworld.com/books.html 
http://www.johnnyotisworld.com/biography/index.html
http://home.bluemarble.net/~jjperry/features/otis.html
http://www.rockhall.com/hof/inductee.asp?id=162
http://lyrics.blueaudio.com/song/07260
    1924 - Iowa experienced it coldest December morning of record. Morning lows averaged 25 degrees below zero for the 104 weather stations across the state
    1932 - Birthday of actress Nichelle Nichols, born Grace Dell Nichols in Robbins, IL, first black woman regularly featured on a weekly TV show, activist of great force in NASA's first recruitment drive of minorities and women.  Better known to Trekkies as Uhura of the “Star Trek” series.  Whoopi Goldberg in the eulogy of Star Trek originator Gene Roddenberry's funeral, with whom Nichols had been lovers, said that 25 years earlier she was a kid from the projects who saw Uhura as "The only vision of black people in the future".  Autobiography “Beyond Uhura: Star Trek and Other Memories” (1995).
    1934 – Actress Maggie Smith was born in England.  Smith has won two Academy Awards, winning Best Actress for “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” (1969) and Best Supporting Actress for “California Suite” (1978). She is one of only six actresses to win the in both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress categories. 
    1938 - Ziggy Elman cuts “Fralich in Swing.”
    1938 - Birthday of Charles Neville (d. 2015) of The Neville Brothers, New Orleans.
    1940 - Herb Jefferies cuts “Flamingo” with Duke Ellington Band, Chicago
    1944 - Leonard Bernstein scores his first big hit when his musical On the Town, featuring the song "New York, New York," opens on Broadway. 
    1945 - The US Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance and urged its frequent recitation in America's schools. The pledge was composed in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister. At the time, Bellamy was chairman of a committee of state school superintendents of education, and several public schools adopted his pledge that year as part of the Columbus Day quadricentennial celebration that year.   In 1955, the Knights of Columbus persuaded Congress to add the words “under God” to the pledge.
    1949 - Top Hits
“I Can Dream, Can't I?” - The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra (vocal: Jack Leonard)
“A Dreamer's Holiday” - Perry Como
“Dear Hearts and Gentle People” - Bing Crosby
“Mule Train” - Tennessee Ernie Ford
    1952 - The Sonotone Corporation, Elmsford , NY , offered for sale a hearing aid using transistors. It weighed 3.5 ounces and was three inches long.
    1954 - Denzel Washington actor ("St. Elsewhere," Glory, Malcolm X), born Mount Vernon, NY.
    1955 - Anchorage, AK was buried under 17.7 inches of snow in 24 hours, a record for that location.      
    1957--Top Hits
“Jailhouse Rock” - Elvis Presley
“At the Hop” - Danny & the Juniors
“Great Balls of Fire” - Jerry Lee Lewis
“My Special Angel” - Bobby Helms
    1957 - "At the Hop" by Danny and the Juniors reached the top of the U-S charts. The song by the Philadelphia street-corner group was originally called "Do the Bop," but the title and lyrics were changed at the suggestion of Dick Clark. 
    1958 - Chipmunks (Alvin, Simon & Theodore with David Seville) hit #1
    1958 - Albuquerque, NM, received 14.2 inches of snow to establish a 24 hour record.
    1959 - Frankie Avalon's "Why" hits #1 
    1961 - The first airline to carry 100 million passengers was American Airlines, New York City, which selected pioneering aviator Lieutenant General James Harold Doolittle, chairman of the board of Space Technology Laboratories, Los Angeles, as the national symbol of the 100,000,000th passenger and presented him with a crystal bowl.
    1963 - The single "Dominique" and its companion LP "The Singing Nun" top the Billboard singles chart and album chart respectively. So far, the 45 has sold over 700,000 copies and the LP, 670,000.
    1963 - A quartet from Minneapolis, Minnesota who called themselves The Trashmen saw their first release, "Surfin' Bird", enter the Billboard Hot 100 where it would reach #4 during the first week of February, next year. The song is a combination of two R&B hits by The Rivingtons: "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" and "The Bird's the Word".
    1963 – “The New Yorker” publishes an interview with Beatles manager Brian Epstein in their "Talk of the Town" column about the band's upcoming Ed Sullivan gig -- the first major press the group has received in the US.
    1964 - Trumpeter Hugh Masekela is a featured guest on CBS-TV's game show “To Tell the Truth”. 
    1965 - Top Hits
“Over and Over” - The Dave Clark Five
“I Got You (I Feel Good)” - James Brown
“The Sounds of Silence” - Simon & Garfunkel
“Buckaroo” - Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
    1967 - Muriel Siebert pays $445,000 plus $7515 initiation fee to become the first woman to own a seat on the New York Stock Exchange.
    1968 - The (double) album named "The Beatles" (called by most, "The White Album") was #1 in the U.S. It was the Beatles' first album on their own Apple label and was #1 for nine weeks. The tracks: "Back in the U.S.S.R.", "Dear Prudence", "Glass Onion", "Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da", "Wild Honey Pie", "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill", "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", "Happiness is a Warm Gun", "Martha My Dear", "I'm So Tired", "Blackbird", "Piggies", "Rocky Raccoon", "Don't Pass Me By", "Why Don't We Do It in the Road", "I Will", "Julia", "Birthday", "Yer Blues", "Mother Nature's Son", "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey", "Sexy Sadie", "Helter Skelter", "Long, Long, Long", "Revolution I", "Honey Pie", "Savoy Truffle", "Cry Baby Cry", "Revolution 9", and "Good Night".
    1968 - The Doors' "Touch Me" is released. With a guitar intro strongly influenced by The Four Seasons' "C'mon Marianne", the song would reach #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, #1 in Canada, #10 in Australia.
    1968 -  The first major rock concert on the East Coast, the Miami Pop Festival, takes place, a three-day affair featuring Chuck Berry, Marvin Gaye, The Turtles, Joni Mitchell, Procol Harum, Steppenwolf, Canned Heat, Iron Butterfly, The McCoys, Fleetwood Mac, The Box Tops, Three Dog Night, Pacific Gas and Electric, and The Grateful Dead.
    1973 - Top Hits
“The Most Beautiful Girl” - Charlie Rich
“Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” - Elton John
“Time in a Bottle” - Jim Croce
“If We Make It Through December” - Merle Haggard
    1974 - Helen Reddy's "Angie Baby" hits #1 
    1978 - Ohio State University football coach Woody Hayes punched a player from Clemson University during Clemson's 19-15 victory in the Gator Bowl. Hayes was upset that the Buckeyes were losing, but OSU official were upset, too. They fired Hayes for the incident.
    1978 - 30th hat trick in Islander history (Mike Bossy)
    1981 - The first child born in the United States through in vitro fertilization was Elizabeth Jordan Carr, born at Norfolk Hospital, Norfolk, VA.
    1981 - Top Hits
“Physical” - Olivia Newton-John
“Waiting for a Girl like You” - Foreigner
“Let's Groove” - Earth, Wind & Fire
“Love in the First Degree” – Alabama
    1981 - Warner Brothers Records, which includes Elektra and Asylum, follows the lead of RCA and raises its price for 45 rpm singles to $1.99.
    1984 - Singer Michael Jackson won a record eight Grammy Awards at the presentation ceremony in Los Angeles. But he lost the best song award to "Every Breath You Take," written by Sting for the Police. Jackson's Pepsi commercial - the one in which he was injured when his hair caught fire - premiered that day on MTV. 
    1987 - A winter storm produced heavy snow in the Upper Mississippi Valley and the Upper Great Lakes Region. Up to twenty inches of snow buried southern Minnesota and 20 to 40 mph northwesterly winds produced snow drifts six feet high, and reduced visibilities to near zero at times in blowing snow. There were a thousand traffic accidents in Michigan during the storm, resulting in thirty-five injuries.
    1989 - Top Hits
“Another Day in Paradise” - Phil Collins
“Don't Know Much” - Linda Ronstadt (featuring Aaron Neville)
“Rhythm Nation” - Janet Jackson
“A Woman in Love” - Ronnie Milsap
    1996 - Canadian singer Alanis Morissette won four major Grammy Awards, including album of the year and rock album of the year for "Jagged Little Pill." She also picked up trophies for best rock song and best female rock vocal performance, both for her single "You Oughta Know." Canadians picked up a total of 11 Grammys, including two by Joni Mitchell for her album "Turbulent Indigo." Faith Hill won the best country album Grammy for "The Woman in Me."
    2000 – US retail pioneer Montgomery Ward & Company announced it was closing after 128 years.
    2003 - A severe snow storm hit northern California and southern Oregon. As much as 2 feet of snow fell along Interstate 5 closing a 150-mile stretch of the interstate, stranding hundreds of travelers. Winds from the storm caused power outages to more than 200,000 customers in California and Oregon. One man died of a heart attack after helping other drivers.
    2004 - Los Angeles (downtown) broke a daily rainfall record for the month of December (5.55 inches). This was the third wettest calendar day in Los Angeles since records began in 1877. 
    2014 - The United States and allied forces end the combat mission in Afghanistan, which began in 2001 after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the U.S.; about 13,000 troops will stay to train Afghan police and military forces in their fight against the Taliban