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

Gov. Cuomo signs bill to protect small businesses
getting loans to survive COVID-19 and other emergencies

(“The new law mandates that FinTech lenders and other nonbanks disclose annual percentage rates and other costs to the borrower upfront. The law is intended to make it easier for small-business borrowers to compare multiple offers, amid complaints that the fine print is often hard to understand or misleading.” American Banker).

ALBANY -- Governor Andrew Cuomo has signed legislation that protects the interests of New York’s small businesses who are taking out loans to survive the coronavirus pandemic and other emergencies.

The New York State Small Business Truth in Lending Act, Chapter 369 of the Laws of 2020, helps borrowers by requiring clear and comprehensive disclosures from all lenders.

The NYS Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Coalition has been working with members across the state to build support for this common sense measure since it passed the Assembly and Senate in July.

“As we wait for the coronavirus vaccine to roll out, New York’s small businesses are struggling to hang on,” said Linda MacFarlane, chair of the NYS CDFI Coalition and executive director of Community Loan Fund of Capital Region.

“Unfortunately, some lenders have made it hard for small businesses to compare the true cost of their offers. CDFI Coalition members around the state are pleased to see that this measure will require lenders to disclose annual percentage rate (APR) and repayment terms.”

############ Press Release
 
Leasing News Story about Passage of Bill by NY Legislature:

New York Follows California’s Lead
by Passing Small Business Truth-in-Lending Act

Written by Attorneys
Robert Hornby, Frank Peretore, Adrianne Price
Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi, PC
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Jul2020/07_29.htm#ny

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Top Ten Leasing News
December 21 to December 23

(Stories most opened by readers)

(1)  Marlin Business Service Christmas Chutzpah
    Bonuses to Key Executives
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Dec2020/12_21.htm#marlin

(2) Pictures from the Past
    Featured in Leasing News
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Dec2020/12_23.htm#pictures

(3) Chase Business Relationship Manager Steals $1.25 Million
    from 82-Year-Old Customer
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Dec2020/12_21.htm#chase

(4) New Hires/Promotions in the Leasing Business
    and Related Industries
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Dec2020/12_21.htm#hires

(5) Mortgage Rates Continue to Drop,
    Causing ‘Buying Frenzy’
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Dec2020/12_23.htm#mortgage

(6) Who Puts the Lights on the Tree?
    Top 5 Exporters of Christmas Decorations and
        Christmas Tree Lights in 2019, Millions of Dollar Export
 http://leasingnews.org/archives/Dec2020/12_23.htm#who

(7) Five Takeaways: e-Signatures and e-Leasing
   in the COVID-19 World
     Highlights from the Webinar
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Dec2020/12_21.htm#five

(8) Despite the Pandemic, New Study Finds
    Americans Are Starting New Businesses at Record Pace
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Dec2020/12_23.htm#despite

(9) Brean Capital Secures $10 Million in Corporate Notes
    for Target Lease Capital
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Dec2020/12_23.htm#brean

(10) Banks Have Begun to Merge Again.
    Next Year Could See Even More Deals
https://www.barrons.com/articles/banks-have-begun-to-merge-next-year-could-see-even-more-deals-51608340757

 

[headlines]
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Leasing Industry Help Wanted

 

 

[headlines]
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Editing Your Recommendations on LinkedIn

Career Crossroads---By Emily Fitzpatrick/RII

With LinkedIn becoming increasingly influential in the networking process, having Recommendations on your profile is important. They work in conjunction with references and letters of recommendation. Since many companies are restricting reference checks to verification of title and dates of employment, a LinkedIn Recommendation from a supervisor and/or coworkers and/or client is invaluable.

Someone looking at your Recommendations wants to know two things
1.      What are you like?
2.      Are you good at what you do?

A good Recommendation should look something like this:
“Mark had a consistent record of delivering year-over-year sales revenue increases while also ensuring top-notch customer service, working effectively with the entire sales team to make sure the client’s needs were met.”  

How many Recommendations you have on your profile depends on how many contacts you have. Ideally, these will be a variety of individuals; not just supervisors, but colleagues, people you supervise, and clients/customers. Choose quality over quantity.

Furthermore, note that they need to be built over time (dates are attached), so do not try to solicit all of your Recommendations at once. It is best if they are added gradually. 

[Note: while it is commendable to quid pro quo re LinkedIn recommendations, try to space reciprocal recommendations so it does not appear that way. Let a month or more lapse between the two when you exchange recommendations.]

For more tips on how to receive AND give recommendations, please contact emily@riirecruit.com

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

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

 

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Is White Labeling the Way to Go
for Small Cannabis Growers?

The nascent cannabis industry is undoubtedly profitable, with the global marijuana market projected to be worth $73.6 billion by 2027. However, it is also high risk. Firms looking to cash in on cannabis’s immense popularity often have to spend large amounts of money and time building cultivation and manufacturing facilities, securing the required licenses, and building a brand with no guaranteed return. While plenty of cannabis companies can weather the risk and build a successful brand all on their own, some have opted for a less risky and costly route: white labeling.

A common practice among mainstream businesses, white labeling refers to when a product is produced by one company but packaged, branded and sold by another company. For instance, plenty of products sold under the 365 brand at Whole Foods Market aren’t produced by Whole Foods but rather other companies. Although these firms manufacture the products, Whole Foods is in charge of branding, marketing and selling them.

According to Daniel Yi, managing partner and chief strategy officer at Inanna Manufacturing, white labeling represents a significant opportunity for the nascent cannabis industry. Plenty of entrepreneurs with innovative ideas are unable to enter the sector because they can’t get a license or because they can’t secure enough capital. Partnering with an established brand, as did Yi, can help them get their products to the shelves.

Four years ago, Yi white labeled his products under the then-successful MedMen Enterprises brand. Inanna Manufacturing, which is based in Bellflower, California, holds a Type 6 cannabis-manufacturing license and produces cannabis-infused products such as topicals and gummies. However, the company does not handle cultivation or extraction. Yi notes that there are plenty of individuals who have knowledge and experience cultivating cannabis, adding that there’s no need to spend capital on cultivating when you have a “great retail concept.”

Another California-based firm that chose to go the white-label route is Old Pal. The company provides packaging and marketing services for about 100 cultivators who are licensed to grow or manufacture cannabis. The growers provide cannabis flower and vape cartridges while Old Pal packages, brands and promotes these products through its network of marijuana retailers. Presently, Old Pal has products in about 350 cannabis stores — all without a cannabis license and with a small team of 29 employees in one office.

Source: Cannabisnewswire.com

What is White Label
https://www.thatcompany.com/white-label-marketing/what-is-white-label

Financial and Sales Training
Updated

Adrian Miller	Institute For Personal Developement
Open Advance	Wheeler Business Consulting, LLC
Commercial Capital Training Group

Full list
http://leasingnews.org/Training/Financial_sales_trainer.htm

[headlines]
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##### Press Release ############################

North Mill Equipment Finance Closes
Two Capital Market Transaction in Fourth Quarter

 

 NORWALK, CT – North Mill Equipment Finance LLC (“North Mill”), a leading independent commercial equipment lessor located in Norwalk, Connecticut, announced today that the company closed on two fourth quarter capital market transactions.

The company increased the size of its senior loan facility with Deutsche Bank AG, New York Branch (“Deutsche Bank) to $125 million to support its 2020 originations. 

North Mill has had a banner year, reporting record-breaking new loan and lease originations throughout 2020.  Additionally, North Mill closed a new $50 million senior loan facility with Truist Bank (“Truist”) this month.  The new loan facility increases North Mill’s total credit availability to $205 million.

Mark Bonanno, COO of North Mill, views these loan facility transactions as a testament to the organization’s continued efforts to improve the credit quality of its originations and diversification of asset types.

“We are pleased that the Deutsche Bank team expressed its confidence in North Mill by increasing the size of its commitment,” Bonanno explained. “The team at North Mill is excited to add a lender with the depth of experience and banking capabilities that Truist brings to the company’s debt stack. These transactions enable North Mill to expand its equipment lending activities and to continue providing third-party referral sources and end-users with superior service.”

Pier Snider, North Mill’s CFO, added, “Our ability to service our bank portfolios through the pandemic and through market cycles provides our lending partners with the confidence to initiate and grow their commitment levels with us.  Both our senior secured notes as well as our receivable back securitized term notes issued in 2019 had their credit ratings reaffirmed in Q4.”

About North Mill Equipment Finance
Headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, North Mill Equipment Finance originates and services small-ticket equipment leases and loans, ranging from $15,000 to $300,000 in value.   A broker-centric private lender, the company handles A – C credit qualities and finances transactions for numerous asset categories including construction, transportation, vocational, medical, manufacturing, printing, and material handling equipment. North Mill is majority owned by an affiliate of Wafra Capital Partners, Inc. (WCP).  For more information, visit www.nmef.com.

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

Pointer
Fargo, North Dakota  Adopt-a-Dog

Sophie

(in foster home)
Female
Medium Size
Adult
Altered: Yes
Not OK with cats
Okay with dogs
Okay with kids
Housetrained
Up-to--date Vaccinations

All animals current on vaccinations and microchipped prior to adoption.
Dog adoption fees vary between $200 - $250.

We are located in the Yunkers Farm Park in North Fargo.

Homeward Animal Shelter
1201 28th Avenue North
Fargo, ND 58102
Phone 701.239.0077

Hours:
Monday - Friday 11:00-7:00
Saturday 10:00-6:00
Sunday 12:00-4:00

[headlines]
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Tesla was by far the largest addition ever to the S&P 500, causing a trading avalanche in the run-up to its entry. On Friday alone, more than 220 million Tesla shares changed hands as index funds tracking the S&P 500 built up their positions in the stock.

As the following chart shows, Tesla joined the market cap weighted index as an instant heavyweight. Its current market cap of $616 billion places the company among the top 10 companies included in the S&P 500. With the first five spots all taken by major tech companies, Tesla currently slots in behind Facebook in sixth position.

By Felix Richter, Statista

 

News Briefs---

Trump signs COVID-19 'red lined' economic relief package
    Asks Congress to Remove Wasteful Spending
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-signs-covid-19-economic-relief-package/

Expect 2021 to be a big year for bank deals
    action to revolve around smaller, privately held banks
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/finance-banking/expect-2021-be-big-year-bank-deals

The CDC’s failed race against covid-19:
    A threat underestimated and a test overcomplicated
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/cdc-covid/2020/12/25/c2b418ae-4206-11eb-8db8-395dedaaa036_story.html

This chart shows how restaurant revenue has fallen,
    even as delivery and takeout sales soar
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/27/covid-pandemic-restaurant-revenue-has-fallen-despite-delivery-boom.html

Air Canada 737 MAX Has Engine Issues & Diverts:
    Nonstory?
https://onemileatatime.com/air-canada-737-max-engine-issues/

If you want to travel next year,
   you may need a vaccine passport
https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/27/tech/coronavirus-vaccine-passport-apps/index.html

[headlines]
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You May Have Missed---

Three predictions
    for FinTech Infrastructure in 2021
https://medium.com/lightspeed-venture-partners/three-predictions-for-fintech-infrastructure-in-2021-f0420dced779

[headlines]
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Sports Briefs---

NFL Fans Are Calling For Jon Gruden To Be Fired
https://thespun.com/nfl/afc-west/las-vegas-raiders/jon-gruden-raiders-job-fired-calls

NFL playoff picture after Week 16: Chiefs clinch AFC's No. 1          
    seed, Ravens replace Colts
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2020/12/27/nfl-playoff-picture-week-16-2020-nfc-afc-seeds-bye-home-field-chiefs-colts/4046616001/

Bieniemy, Saleh among minorities in running for top jobs
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/sports/bieniemy-saleh-among-minorities-in-running-for-top-jobs/

Third-string QB Beathard throws 3 TDs, 49ers stun Cardinals
https://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Third-string-QB-Beathard-throws-3-TDs-49ers-stun-15829661.php

NFL plans to expand regular season to 17 games in '21
http://www.theredzone.org/Blog-Description/EntryId/85332/NFL-plans-to-expand-regular-season-to-17-games-in--21

Activist, champion: Naomi Osaka is Associated Press
     Female Athlete of Year
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/sports/activist-champion-naomi-osaka-is-associated-press-female-athlete-of-year/

[headlines]
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California Nuts Briefs---

California now has the worst COVID-19 spread in US
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/California-COVID-19-cases-data-CDC-worst-states-US-15829422.php?IPID=SFGate-HP-CP-Spotlight

Up to 750,000 Californians poised to lose weekly boost
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/12/26/desperate-bay-area-residents-brace-for-federal-unemployment-dollars-to-expire/#:~:text=Across%20the%20Bay%20Area%20and,Congress%2Dapproved%20coronavirus%20relief%20package.

Dallas chooses retired San Jose chief
    to lead its police department
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/12/23/dallas-chooses-retired-san-jose-chief-to-lead-its-police-department/

[headlines]
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“Gimme that Wine”

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

GREAT WINES FOR $25 OR LESS
https://top100.winespectator.com/values/

Sonoma Valley winemaker makes Wine Spectator’s
     top 5 list for 2020
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/lifestyle/sonoma-valley-winemaker-makes-wine-spectator-top-5-list-for-2020/

Free Wine App
https://www.nataliemaclean.com/mobileapp/

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

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 from where the most presidents of the US were: 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 Mackel (d. 1986) 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 Ilford, 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 snowstorm 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.