Section 179 Increases to $1 Million Retroactive to 9/27/2017
Bonus Depreciation Extended through 2027

 With the passage and signing into law of H.R.1, aka, The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the deduction limit for Section 179 increases from $500,000 to $1,000,000 for 2018 and beyond. The limit on equipment purchases likewise has increased, from $2 million to $2.5 million. In addition, the deduction now includes any of the following improvements to existing nonresidential property (i.e., the improvement must be placed in service after the date the property itself was first placed in service): roofs; heating, air-conditioning, and ventilation systems; fire protection, alarm, and security systems.

Further, the bonus depreciation increases from 50% to 100%. This part is retroactive to 9/27/2017, and is good through 2022. The bonus depreciation also now includes used equipment.

Nolo.com states: Bonus depreciation allows a business owner to deduct a substantial amount of a new long-term asset’s cost in the first year, instead of depreciating the cost over many years. The bonus depreciation amount was set at 50% for 2015 through 2017 under the PATH Act. With 50% bonus depreciation, you could deduct 50% of the cost of an asset in the first year and the remainder over later years using regular depreciation. Bonus depreciation was scheduled to expire in 2020 after being phased down to 40% in 2018 and 30% in 2019.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has increased first-year bonus depreciation to 100%. This goes into effect for long-term assets placed in service after September 27, 2017. In another significant change under the new tax law, you can use bonus depreciation for purchases of new or used property. Under prior law, you could only use bonus depreciation for new property.

The 100% bonus depreciation amount remains in effect until January 1, 2023. In later years, the first-year bonus depreciation deduction amount goes down, as follows:

• 80% for property placed in service after December 31, 2022 and before January 1, 2024.
• 60% for property placed in service after December 31, 2023 and before January 1, 2025.
• 40% for property placed in service after December 31, 2024 and before January1, 2026.
• 20% for property placed in service after December 31, 2025 and before January 1, 2027.

To qualify for bonus depreciation, property classified as “listed property” under the tax code must be used over 50% of the time for business. Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Acts, computers will no longer be classified as listed property. Thus, bonus depreciation may be used to deduct computers used less than 50% of the time for business starting in 2018.

Leasing News advises for further clarification; contact your Tax Accountant or Certified Public Accountant.

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Corporations Potential Tax Cuts Under New Tax Laws
Partial Listing

Apple	$47,970,000,000
Chevron	$9,048,000,000
Citigroup	$9,165,000,000
Eli Lilly	$5,460,000,000
Exxon Mobil	$10,530,000,000
General Electric	$15,990,000,000
Goldman Sachs	$6,091,800,000
Google	$11,836,500,000
IBM	$13,923,000,000
Johnson&Johnson	$12,909,000,000
Merck	$12,304,500,000
Microsoft	$27,690,000,000
Prizer	$28,794,000,000
Proctor&GambLe	$9,555,000,000
Walmart	$5,187,000,000

 

 

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Chairman and CEO LEAF Commercial Capital
House up for Sale in Pennsylvania

Crit DeMent house reportedly up for sale: $900,000, West Chester, Pennsylvania. 5 Beds, 5 Baths, 5,699 Sq. ft.

"Turn the corner and view this fabulous two acre property with a circular driveway and well-groomed landscaping. The custom built stone and wood farmhouse with cedar shake roof is located in prestigious Birmingham Township's Historic District convenient to 202 and Route 1. The floorplan is very open with spacious rooms? perfect for entertaining and large family gatherings."
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1010-Lambourne-Rd-West-Chester-PA-19382/52185541_zpid/

An insider tells Leasing News. "He is probably downsizing is my guess. It’s just him and his wife; the Kids are all gone now!" They reportedly also are no longer living in the house.

Perhaps there is more downsizing to follow at LEAF. Two key people have already left, CFO Robert Moskowitz and Senior Vice President & Treasurer Mathew Goldenberg, CTP. Whether DeMent has decided to take early retirement or leave with the changes going on orchestrated by United Bank, N.A., Bridgeport, Connecticut, is not known. 

 

Leasing Industry Help Wanted

Asset Manager Los Angeles, California Class 8 through Class 6 Trucks Manage repossession, valuation, refurbishing, remarketing trucks and equipment Exp. owner-operator trucking business a must To learn more, please click here www.maximcc.com "Helping Owner-Operators Break through Credit Challenges"

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Position Wanted – Operations
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.

Operations

5 time Presidents Club Franchise Player with 20+ years in Logistics, Collections, Technology Pricing/Appraisal ( NAPA) Certified, Portfolio Appraisal Inventory receivable proficient, Management Control System Developer & Specialist. Proactive communications & Equipment Dealer Specialist for Healthcare/Printing/Office Equipment & Industrial portfolios. Specialist in ALL Inventory receivable channels. Daniel.Delpriora@gmail.com

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Top Stories -- December 18 - December 20
(Opened Most by Readers)

(1) Responses on Financing Cannabis
  (In Order Received)
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Dec2017/12_20.htm#responses

(2) Seeking Information on Cannabis Financing
     Receiving Many Inquiries
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Dec2017/12_18.htm#seeking

(3) New Hires/Promotions in the Leasing Business
           and Related Industries
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Dec2017/12_20.htm#hires

(4) Bank Failure in Chicago
No Reason Stated re: Why it was Closed? Numbers good.
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Dec2017/12_18.htm#failure

(5) The U.S. States with the Most People in Debt
          By Niall McCarthy, Statista
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Dec2017/12_18.htm#chart

(6) Tennessee Supreme Court Reverses Court of Appeal on
  Standard of Commercially Reasonable Sale
By Tom McCurnin. Leasing News Legal Editor
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Dec2017/12_18.htm#tennessee

(7) Key Leasing Executives Educate University of Colorado Boulder
      MBA Students on Equipment Finance Industry
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Dec2017/12_18.htm#key

(8) Mom, Pop -- you're the losers in this tax plan
  By Anne Zimmerman, CPA
http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/14/opinions/gop-tax-plan-territorial-small-business-zimmerman-opinion/index.html

(9) Eight Days, Eight Tips
Recruiter Hal T. Horowitz Speaks Out
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Dec2017/12_20.htm#eight

(10) The Five Largest U.S. Banks
  Hold More Than 40% of All Deposits
https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2017/12/14/the-five-largest-u-s-banks-hold-more-than-40-of-all-deposits/#41d8bd5d16aa

 

Receivables Management LLC John Kenny • End of Lease Negotiations & Enforcement  • Third-Party Commercial Collections johnkenny2@verizon.net | ph 315-866-1167 www.jkrmdirect.com

New Hires/Promotions in the Leasing Business
and Related Industries

Dan Barca was hired as Business Development Manager, LEAF Commercial Capital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Previously, he was Sales, Marlin Equipment Finance (March, 2002 - December, 2017); Account Manager, Citi Capital (March, 2001 - February, 2002); Account Executive, Advanta Leasing (March, 1995 - February, 2001). Volunteer: Soccer/Baseball/Software, Washington Township Park & Recreation.  Education: Rowan University, Bachelor's degree, Business Administration and Marketing.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-barca-23019410/

Dana Di Bruno was hired as Vice President, Business Technologies and Analytics, Neumann Finance, a subsidiary of Beneficial Bank, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She began her career at Marlin Business Services Corp, June, 2008 as Credit Analyst; promoted September, 2010, Credit Analyst II; promoted June, 2011, Senior Credit Analyst 1; promoted June, 2012, Business Analyst; promoted January, 2015, Manager of Loan Underwriting; promoted June, 2017, Assistant Vice President, Business Systems Analyst.  Education: The College of New Jersey, Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Business Administration and Management, General (2004 - 2008). Activities and Societies: Women's Varsity Soccer. Named to the NCAA Division III Women's Soccer 25th Anniversary Team. Three-time All-American.  Cherry Hill High School East (2000 - 2004). https://www.linkedin.com/in/danadibruno/

Matthew Goldenberg, CTP, was hired as Vice President, Capital Markets & Treasury, DLL, Wayne, Pennsylvania. Previously, he was Senior Vice President and Treasurer, LEAF Commercial Capital, Inc. (October, 2003 - September, 2017); Vice President, Structured Finance, DVI Financial Services (1998 - 2003); Assistant Vice President, Corestates Bank (1991 - 1997). Education: Drexel University, LeBow College of Business. MS, Finance (1993 - 1997).  Drexel University, BS, Mathematics (1988 - 1991). https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-goldenberg-ctp-15a32718/

Robert D. Maciorowski was promoted to Vice President, Security Platforms, CIT, Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He joined Direct Capital, a Division of CIT Bank, N.A., as CISO & Director, Infrastructure; promoted, December, 2015, Vice President, Security Intelligence and Incident Response; promoted, October, 2016, Vice President, Security Operations. Prior, he was Senior Support Analyst, Fidelity Investments (2000 - 2002); IT Manager, Digital Broadband Communications (1998 - 2000); Fire Fighter, Town of Peterborough, New Hampshire (October, 1989 - October, 1993). He presently serves as Fire Fighter/NR-EMR, Town of Lyndeborough, New Hampshire, where he provides Fire Fighting, Rescue, and Emergency Medical Services to a town with a population of 1,800 residents. He is a Certified National Registry Emergency Medical Responder. Volunteer: USAF Security Forces, Security Police, Fire Department Summer Internships, Hansom Air Force Base (1986 - 1998). Volunteer,
SHARE Outreach, Inc. (1996 - 2003).  Education: Mount Washington College.  Associate of Science (A.S.), Criminal Justice & Psychology, Magna cum Laude (2009 - 2012). Activities and Societies: Phi Theta Kapa Honor Society.  A.S. in Criminal Justice with a focus of Forensics and Psychology.  New Horizons, CLC, CEH, MCDST< MCA, MCTA, CISSP, A+, Security+, CTT+, IT, and Security Related Courses (2003 -2016).  ConVal High School, Diploma, Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Graphic Design (1989 - 1991). Activities and Societies: Debate team, Graphic Arts, Solar Car Team, Year Book Committee. New Hampshire Police Cadet Training Academy, Basic and Advance Diploma, Law Enforcement (1986 - 1988).
https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertmaciorowski/

 

 

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Employers, Are You Counting Candles
on Employees Birthday Cakes?

Recruiter Hal T. Horowitz Speaks Out

In 2018 everyone (hopefully) will be seeing another candle on their birthday cake. Yes, at any point in 2018 you will be a year older than you were at the same date in 2017. For many, that won’t mean much, but for those who turned 70 or 60 or even 50 in 2017 it will. If you end this year between the ages of 53 and 71, you are a “Baby Boomer;” between 41 and 52, you are a “Gen-Xer;” and if you are part of the Silent Generation, born before 1945, you’re just plain old.  At least that is how employers, most of whose hiring managers are younger than you, will look at you

The rest of this column is for employers, but not only.

Also turning 50 in 2017 was The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967.

Just last week, on December 20, ProPUBLICA and The New York Times co-published an article titled “Dozens of Companies Are Using Facebook to Exclude Older Workers From Job Ads.”  So as it turns out, not only is ageism, though illegal since 1967, still a mindset in many firms’ hiring process, but now, by using logarithms, it’s been extended to completely avoid allowing its victims to even enter that process. 

This is wrong on so many levels. But before we get to that, let’s examine the core issue. Why has ageism become a factor in hiring? Well, as an employer, when you are trying to fill a position, an older candidate does bring up some additional questions.

• Is he the best person for the job? Sure, he has over 30 years of experience and can probably do the job, but can he do it better than a younger person?
• Is her mind capable of quickly absorbing the technological advances we’re seeing almost daily?
• Will he fit into a newer and, more importantly, different culture than the old-school environment in which he’s spent so many years? 
• How will she respond to having younger supervisors? Can take direction from them?
• And not least of considerations, how much more will we have to pay for his experience?

All valid questions to which there can be several answers.  Here are mine.

• If you’re waiting to find the “best person” for the job, you probably won’t fill the position.  There are many highly qualified best persons out there and that 30 years of experience is a contributor.
• While there are a few dinosaurs left, most seniors have been working in the high-tech age nearly since its inception and many have been part of introducing the changes you’re afraid they won’t be able to accept.
• Very few employees with 30 or more years of experience have not undergone multiple cultural changes, even if they worked for just one company for most of that time.  If most of them haven’t learned but one thing since prior to 1987, it’s been how to not just survive, but advance, in a world of constant change.
• If treated with the respect he or she deserves, just like anyone else, seniors will accept direction from competent leaders.  If the people you promoted into positions of leadership fit that description, there shouldn’t be a problem.
• Surprisingly, many seniors are flexible on compensation – if its fair. 

Here’s a few more things you should know about hiring seniors. Most know their next job is likely to be their swan song, so they are committed to doing it right.  They are driven to stay active, both for the sake of their physical and their mental health, which will translate to added value for their employers. They bring an understanding of the change process which will continue to be a constant in the workplace.

Here is another question. Are you open-minded enough to consider filling a position without any bias?  Any answer other than yes is wrong. It is illegal. It’s not only an injustice to the candidate, but to yourself as well. For the reasons stated in my responses above, it can deprive you of having the “best person” for the job in that position. And finally, at the risk of sounding cliché, what goes around, comes around. Changes in attitude need to start somewhere. How about right where you sit? In 2018.

Hal T. Horowitz
Financial Pro Solutions
Executive recruitment serving financial professionals
Career coaching & professional résumé writing services & interview preparation
Phone: 818-347-FINA (347-3462)
Cell: 818-730-0645
Email: halh@finapros.com
Website: www.finapros.com
Twitter:  @finapros

Recruiter Hal T. Horwitz Speaks Out
http://www.leasingnews.org/Conscious-Top%20Stories/recuiter_hh.htm

 

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$50 Million Ponzi Scheme in San Jose, California
Pleads Guilty to One Mail Fraud Count

Mark Feathers

$50 million Ponzi-like scheme pled guilty in San Jose, California federal court to one mail fraud count as part of a plea deal reached months after he sent a threatening email to those involved with the case." His $250,000 bail was revoked after the email incident." 

Prosecutors testified that Mark Feathers, the founder and CEO of Small Business Capital Corp., raised more than $50 million from over 250 investors by promising healthy profits from membership interests in mortgage loan portfolio-backed investment funds. He reportedly  raised more than $60 million from more than 250 investors and improperly transferred more than $7 million from the funds to SBCC for operating expenses in the form of management fees and unsecured loans to that company.

Small Business Capital was a SBA 7(a) lending company. The nonbank lender holds a national small business lending company license — one of 14 issued by the SBA that allows the holder to be able to make SBA 7(a) loans anywhere in the country. A receiver is appointed by the Feds.

The indictment alleged that from 2009 to 2012, Feathers improperly transferred more than $6 million of investment funds to SBCC to pay its operating expenses. Additionally, he allegedly transferred eight mortgage loans from one fund to another, sold at an inflated price, and then took some of that money to pay approximately $570,000 in management fees to SBCC. Feathers used about $2 million dollars of investors’ money for his personal benefit.

A receiver was appointed who eventually sold Small Business Capital’s non-bank license to BYL Small Business Finance for $1.2 million. BYL buys the $5 million loan portfolio — 90 cents on the dollar for 7(a) loans, $1.10 on the dollar for 504 loans and 60 cents on the dollar for non-SBA loans. The liquidation of Small Business Capital, with investors recovered  85.9% of their investments.

Leasing News: Best of 2017 Edition
By Fernando Croce

As the year windows down and we look forward to 2018, it’s time to take stock of its most indelible cinematic achievements. So we offer a list, in alphabetical order, to help viewers catch up with the gems they may have missed and the discoveries that do the medium justice.

Brawl in Cell Block 99: Following up on the premise of “Bone Tomahawk,” writer-director S. Craig Zahler delivers an indelible descent into hell with this harrowing action-drama. Trading his trademark comic motor-mouth for a deadpan glower, Vince Vaughn is superb as a musclehead whose involvement with the drug trade leads him to a maelstrom of subterranean criminals and sadistic wardens. Not for the faint of heart, but a splendid mix of ghastly violence and dark humor.

Faces Places: Though nearly 90, Belgian filmmaker Agnes Varda remains a most youthful visionary. Teaming up with a fellow free-spirit, French street artist JR, she takes to the open road to meet a wide variety of people in this impish documentary. Ranging from eccentrics to old acquaintances, their subjects are ready to tell a story or pose for a photograph. Infused with a melancholy streak and a buoyant spirit, this is a truly heartening journey.

The Florida Project: A luminously raucous look at people on the margins of society, courtesy of director Sean Baker. Set in a small-time, seamy motel in the shadows of Disney World, it follows the escapades of six-year-old and her volatile mother over the course of a muggy summer. the carefree pair Though surrounded by poverty and strife, the film finds mischief and humor all around in the illusions of childhood? Vibrant and poignant, the film is a humanistic marvel.

Get Out: Jordan Peele takes a most impressive directorial debut with this original, unnerving mixture of horror and humor. Unfolding in deceptively placid suburbia, it charts the increasingly bizarre events in the weekend in which black photographer goes with his white girlfriend to meet her parents. What begins as a merely nervous getaway quickly escalates into a race of life and death, blending quick and entertaining genre tropes with genuinely provocative insights about race in America.

Good Time: In this rollicking indie drama from the acclaimed fraternal-directorial team of Ben and Josh Safdie, Robert Pattinson trades his pretty-boy image for the seedy side of charisma. As a troubled young New Yorker who faces a most eventful night in a desperate race to get his brother out of jail, he’s constantly on the run from the law and fellow underworld dwellers. Full of intensity and grim humor, this is a speedy and vivid walk on the wild side.

Nocturama: French director Bertrand Bonello serves up a bold and provocative mix of thriller and drama with his incendiary new film. Focusing on a group of young, unaffected Parisians who plan explosions and then hide in a vast department store, the story chronicles a long night of music, clothes, fear, and guilt. Examining the characters’ nihilism with a hypnotically detached camera, this tour de force is an experience at once unsettling and unforgettable.

Personal Shopper: Always a restless, unpredictable talent, Olivier Assayas tries his hand at the supernatural thriller genre, with distinctly fresh, seductive results. In her finest performance yet, Kristen Stewart plays a young American making her way through the fashion world of Paris. Her glossy domain soon turns chilling, as her cellphone starts receiving messages from a ghostly realm. As fluid and sly as its main character, Assayas’ film mixes genres with flair, confidence, and suspense.

Phantom Thread: A new direction and a distillation of many of his themes, Paul Thomas Anderson’s highly-anticipated drama is a strange and entrancing love story. In another splendid performance, Daniel Day-Lewis plays a renowned dressmaker in 1950s London, whose growing relationship with a strong-willed young woman proceeds to unsettle his worldview. Wrapping the obsession at its center with layers of gorgeous textures, Anderson’s masterful and deeply unconventional glimpse into the fashion world rewards multiples viewings.

A Quiet Passion: The great Terence Davies brings his clear-eyed nostalgia and cinematic rigor to the life of 19th-century poet Emily Dickinson in this stunning biopic. Beautifully embodied by Cynthia Nixon, she is portrayed as a strong-willed soul in a restrictive era, using her poetry to confront the ruthless passage of time. Sidestepping the sanctimoniousness of the usual prestige biopic, Davies’ portrait pushes further as a tragicomic ode from one uncompromising artist to another.

Song to Song: The once-reclusive Terence Malick continues his late-career renaissance of demanding, absorbing cinematic effort. Set in the music scene of Austin, Texas, his latest is a characteristically vertiginous study of longing and betrayal, chronicling the romantic ups and downs of a couple of young songwriters played by Rooney Mara and Ryan Gosling. A ravishing glimpse of Edenic romance that often borders on the experimental, Malick’s kaleidoscopic, heartfelt vision is as challenging and full-bodied as ever.

Pointer, German Shorthaired, Mix
West Des Moines Shelter   Adopt-a-Dog

Prince
Male
Color: Black/White
Neutered
Declawed: no
House Trained: unknown
Size: Medium
Age: 4 years, 9 months
Location: WDM Location
Adoption Price: $100

"Prince is an energetic happy guy who loves to be outside. If you like to walk, run, or adventure he'd love to come along. Prince would benefit from a household who will work on obedience training - he's an enthusiastic learner, he just needs a willing teacher. You can meet him at our West Des Moines location today."

Furry Friends Refuge
1211 Grand Ave.,
West Des Moines, IA 50265
(515) 222-0009
www.furryfriendsrefuge.org

Hours:
Monday through Friday, 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Saturday/Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Parking: In the lot behind the building
Dog Care:
https://furryfriendsrefuge.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/dog-care-updated-10-13-2017.pdf

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

 

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 (Please click on Kettle)

Thank You…several joined the team and adding it all together, we reached $2495

Anonymous
Larry Armstrong
Ben Carlile
Edward Castagna
Richard Cohen
CoreTech Leasing, Inc. McFadden
Gretchen Gabriel
Barbara Griffith
Shawn Halladay
Theresa Kabot
Bruce Kropschot
Jule Kreyling
Bruce Lurie
Dean Morrison
Matt Mosely
Gerry Oestreich
Cam Pittman
Reid Raykovich, CLFP
Sara Robert
Katie Robert
Dean Rubin
David Schaefer
Bob Teichman, CKFO
Rosanne Wilson

News Briefs----

U.S. Consumer Confidence Falls From 17-Year High
"business conditions and job availability declined"
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-27/u-s-consumer-confidence-index-fell-to-122-1-in-december

Financing Options for New & Existing Cannabis Businesses
  Cannabisnow.com
https://cannabisnow.com/financing-options-new-existing-cannabis-businesses/ 

California Marijuana Start-Ups, Shut Out From Banks,
     Turn to Private Backing
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/27/business/smallbusiness/california-marijuana-start-ups.htm

Goodbye, George Bailey:
 Decline of Rural Lending Crimps Small-Town Business
https://www.wsj.com/articles/goodbye-george-bailey-decline-of-rural-lending-crimps-small-town-business-1514219515

 

 

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You May Have Missed---

Navigation Apps Are Turning Quiet Neighborhoods
    Into Traffic Nightmares
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/24/nyregion/traffic-apps-gps-neighborhoods.html

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Silver Lining to the Clouds of Doubt
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit, 
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up though the pace seems slow-
You might succeed with one last blow.

Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to be to a faltering man.
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor's cup.
And he learned too late, when night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out.
The silver lining to the clouds of doubt-
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may appear when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit-
It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit!

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Sports Briefs---

Numbers show how Jimmy Garoppolo has transformed 49ers
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/sports/7800018-181/numbers-show-how-jimmy-garoppolo?artslide=0

Rams may rest starters for finale vs. 49ers
http://www.theredzone.org/Blog-Description/EntryId/67439/Rams-may-rest-starters-for-finale-vs--49ers

St. Louis NFL lawsuit likely headed to trial
   after judge denies motions by Rams, NFL
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/st-louis-nfl-lawsuit-likely-headed-to-trial-after-judge/article_9637e3ee-b03d-5ddf-bf40-b26253c7ac0a.html#tracking-source=home-featured

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California Nuts Briefs---

Traditional lightbulbs set to vanish Jan. 1 from
   California store shelves
http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/environment/article191151149.html#emlnl=Breaking_Newsletter

 

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“Gimme that Wine”

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

State Liquor Authority Issues $3.5 Million Dollar Civil
  Penalty Against Wholesale Giant
https://www.sla.ny.gov/system/files/SGWS_SLA_announcement_release_December_20_2017.pdf

Tax Bill to Benefit Vineyard Owners
https://www.winesandvines.com/news/article/193703/Tax-Bill-to-Benefit-Vineyard-Owners

Champagne Seeks to Discover Itself in Single-Vineyard Wines
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/21/dining/drinks/single-vineyard-champagnes.html

UC Davis Creates Wine Price Database With
    Crowdsourcing, Famed Catalogs
https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/uc-davis-creates-wine-price-database-crowdsourcing-famed-catalogs/

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

This Day in History

     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