Bank of West Leasing Indirect Leaves NAELB
by Christopher Menkin

Longtime member of the National Association of Equipment Leasing Brokers, Steve Crane, CLP, Vice President & Marketing Manager, Indirect Equipment Lease Origination, Bank of the West, has not renewed his bank's membership. Crane was not available at press time, but Leasing News was told that he personally delivered the bad news to NAELB. It is not known at this time if they have not renewed their membership in the National Equipment Finance Association or the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association.

Bank of the West Indirect Leasing has cut back many brokers, who were not producing the numbers they wanted to see, as told to Leasing News by several brokers who were cut. Bank of the West Leasing Indirect reportedly kept only a handful of large volume brokers. Internally the group also divided at the end of the year into further divisions and changes in credit management.

The Equipment Financing Division of Bank of the West late last year announced they had “hired a new Credit Manager that will oversee all of Credit and Risk within the Division. As a result, the Credit Department has been centralized, and split into two groups. There is a large ticket ($500K+) group consisting of 7 people and small ticket group (<$500K) consisting of 10 people, and each will have its own Credit Manager. Generally the same Credit Officers will be decisioning Indirect Credits.”

The bank also announced Katherine Nordendahl, CLP, broker representative was “… promoted, leaving the department, to join the Healthcare Department of our Vendor Group beginning January 1, 2013.”

The retirement of Jerry Newell, CLP, Executive Vice President, Equipment Finance Division, will be in three weeks, with John Evans, be taking over Newell's operation. In the recent press release announcing his new position, it said “Since joining the bank in 2005, Evans has been instrumental in driving the growth of Bank of the West's vendor finance business.”

It is obvious his appoint has led to a new direction.

When Newell took over Bank of West Leasing in July, 1994, (formerly CenVal Leasing, part of the acquisition of Central Bank) from Credit Manager Doug Hatch and business development head Russ Rickards, there were six employees who produced $20 million in annual sales. All business was indirect. Newell had a plan in mind. March 1st he is leaving, having grown the business to 210 employees, $1.5 billion in sales and $3.6 billion in assets, and created a multi-channel business that includes indirect, direct, and vendor equipment finance units, a "back office" operation in Oregon, and an inventory flooring business, now spread across the United States.

Leasing News hopes to have more information for readers by its next edition.

The House that Jerry Built
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Feb2013/2_01.htm#house

Classified Ads---Legal

(These ads are “free” to those seeking employment
or looking to improve their position)

Free Posting for those seeking employment in Leasing:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Classified/Jwanted/Jwanted-post.htm

All “free” categories “job wanted” ads:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Classified/Jwanted/Jwanted.htm

(Leasing News provides this ad as a trade for investigations
and background information provided by John Kenny)

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Companies who utilize Evergreen Clauses
for Extra Lease Payments
(Copier Leases)

by Christopher Menkin

These companies use language in their purchase options to confuse, perhaps to deceive, with the result an automatic continuation for an additional twelve months of payments. Often they win transactions with lower monthly payments as the lessee is not aware of the practice at the end of the initial term of the lease.

Several have continuation of payments and the requirement of replacing the equipment for a new lease. Leasing News has had complaints involving companies who invoke the twelve months on a $1.00 purchase option, as well as on an Equipment Finance Agreements.

Two of the companies on this list do a lot of copier leasing, where it is reported manufacturers are now getting a piece of auto-renewals and as well as insisting that they be in the lease as a condition of the business. Leasing News has heard from a very reliable source that some copier manufacturers also give dealers 4-5 months’ notice of a discontinued model and agree to sell it to the dealer at 40% of list price, on the condition that the captive finance division not receive the business. Also buried in the contract on one is a one month rental return fee including an inspection fee at the location specified by lessor and at lessee’s return expense (often not the local dealer who supplied the copier). (1)

ACC Capital, Midvale, Utah
Balboa Capital, Irvine, California
IFC Credit, Morton Grove, Illinois
Jules and Associates
LEAF Financial Group, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Marlin Business Leasing, Mount Laurel, New Jersey
Marquette Equipment Finance, Midvale, Utah 
Mazuma Capital Corporation, Draper, Utah
Onset Financial, South Jordan, Utah
Pacific Western Equipment Finance, Cottonwood Heights, Utah 
Republic Bank, Bountiful, Utah
Tetra Financial Group, Salt Lake City, Utah

(Click on name to learn more about the company on this list)

1. Copier Wars---It's more than the lease payment
   by Christopher Menkin
   http://leasingnews.org/archives/Nov2011/11_23.htm#copier

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

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Colleague and I Applying for same Position
Career Crossroad---By Emily Fitzpatrick/RII

Question: I am applying for an internal position that my colleague is also applying for. Any suggestions on how I can come out as the Top Candidate?

Answer: Remember you will also be competing with external candidates and keep these tips to yourself:

· Know exactly what the role entails and be able to explain (in your interview) how your background relates to EACH requirement
· Research the background of the hiring managers, see if their career path has been similar to yours and be able to draw from the similarity
· Make sure your resume is stellar
· Make sure your formal application is thorough and accurate
· Have colleagues and supervisors prepare reference letters
· If you have had formal reviews prepare to submit those as well
· Though you may be tempted, do not speak negatively about the colleague who is competing with you for this role –it won’t give you a leg up, and in actuality will cast a negative light on your character. If asked, recommend the person as very capable for the job and leave it at that. No derogatory or negative comments.
· Make sure to follow up with thank-you letters where you can reiterate your interest and qualifications

Good Luck!

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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Leasing Industry Help Wanted  

Los Angeles, CA Credit Analyst  Review and Approve Applications/Vendors Documentation/Funding Staff  Leasing/Banking experience a plus Sales Experience preferred. Salary, Commission Bonuses and Benefits. For more description of duties, please click on position www.pacificcapco.com At Pacific Capital Companies our mission is to provide the American business sector with fast, innovative, financing solutions to grow their companies and exceed their goals.

Seeking career minded business development officer- leasing experience helpful Grow with us as we expand our business lending & leasing Call Exec. VP Salvatore Venuto 515-576-9000 x1704 or email: SVenuto@macrolease.com Since 1969, Macrolease has been operating as a full service national equipment leasing company, a subsidiary of Bank Rhode Island

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.

New Leasing News 'Help Wanted' Program

The last four to five years have seen many exit the leasing industry,
including those retiring, resulting in finding it more difficult to find qualified employees for the finance and leasing industry.

The trend also has been away from a “headquarter” operation to more working out of their homes on the internet and tied in with state of the art software communication and record keeping. Those companies who require a specific location are finding it more difficult to hire qualify, career minded employees.

To address this, Leasing New will begin in addition to rotating the ads above the masthead in a chronological basis, to also rotate the ads in a chronological basis in the news edition among the news' stories, as display ads now are placed.

The Help Wanted ad will continue to appear in the news edition "classified ad" feature as well as on the web site under "Classified ads" whether it also appears above the masthead on in the news edition.

This new program is to hopefully give more attention to advertisers open positions.

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Leasing 102
by Mr. Terry Winders, CLP

Lessor/Funder Remarketing Agreements
with Community Banks and other funders

There are a lot of reasons for using a remarketing agreement. One of the best is when a transaction is sold to a funding source and the funding source has no remarketing capabilities and needs to pass title directly to the new purchaser after lease termination or lease default. This is not uncommon with community banks who do not have the experience regarding equipment off lease or in negotiating a “fair market value” residual.

The lessor, in addition, would like to participate in the extra value from the sale price that is over and above the residual without having title pass to him and then to the new purchaser to avoid sales tax or capital gains tax. This can be accomplished with a remarketing agreement that makes the lessor responsible to sell or release the equipment for a percentage of the net sale.

Usually if the funding source does not have remarketing capabilities they like the lessor to stay involved. If the lessor has an interest in the overage then he has as strong interest in having the equipment lease pay as agreed and returned in the condition required by the lease. This puts pressure on the lessor to develop good lease documentation with condition and maintenance requirements. Also the lessor needs to inspect the equipment, over the term, and get involved in collection activities regardless of the non-recourse assignment.

There are times when a lessor needs to develop a remarketing agreement with a vendor that is providing recourse on a less that acceptable credit. The difficulty with most remarketing agreements is that they do not address all the expenses that could occur during the repossession exercise. What expenses are covered by who needs to be clearly covered? This includes; legal expenses, transportation, storage, insurance, advertising, sales tax, sales commissions, and delivery to new purchaser plus . The only cost that is hard to address is the time value of money if it takes months to remarket.

Occasionally, you hear of a “best efforts” remarketing agreement. This occurs when there is some fear that a vendor will sell his other assets first and will not put much effort into the remarketing effort. The language is different and puts some pressure on the vendor to make a strong effort to get the best price for the equipment in a judicious manner.

Generally speaking the remarketing agreement needs to contain a term limit with the percentage of the fee being reduced if the time exceeds a proper time span. If not the equipment may languish in the storage lot forever.

The language for a remarketing agreement is difficult to create because it needs to cover the facts of the effort and also cover nonperformance. I recommend not using a “remarketing template” or one from a document used with another bank or funding source. I strongly suggest legal counsel who has leasing and finance experience as they are aware of the full list of requirements, in addition to a specific relationship.

Poorly constructed remarketing agreements result in major disagreements and usually result in business interruption and often the end of the relationship of lessor and funder. In addition, your reputation with other funders may also be diminished.

Mr. Terry Winders, CLP, has been a teacher, consultant, expert witness for the leasing industry for thirty-five years and can be reached at leaseconsulting@msn.com or 502-649-0448

He invites your questions and queries.

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

(This ad is a “trade” for the writing of this column. Opinions
contained in the column are those of Mr. Terry Winders, CLP)

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Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform Act
And Its Effect of Leasing

By Tom McCurnin
Barton, Klugman & Oetting

Despite Suspicions, the Act Does Not Affect Commercial Leases.

15 CFR § 6500 Part 213 et seq.

On January 1, 2013 the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 went into effect. I’ve had a ton of questions whether the Act and its Regulations affected commercial equipment leases. Fortunately, the answer is “No.”

Thankfully, Congress maintained the Truth in Lending Definition of a consumer lease, “Consumer lease” means a contract in the form of a bailment or lease for the use of personal property by a natural person primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, for a period exceeding four months and for a total contractual obligation not exceeding the applicable threshold amount, whether or not the lessee has the option to purchase or otherwise become the owner of the property at the expiration of the lease. Unless the context indicates otherwise, in this part "lease" means “consumer lease.” §213.1

There are two new exemptions:

First, the Act exempts all leases made to an organization, even though, the equipment is used by employees primarily for personal, family or household purposes, or is guaranteed by natural person. By way of example, a commercial lease would include the lease of a cell phone to a business whereby the employee would use the phone for personal, family, or household purposes would not be a consumer lease.

Second, the Act exempts the lease of equipment which is incidental to a service. By way of example, the lease of equipment (safe deposit box, alarm equipment or electronics) incidental to a service (safekeeping, alarm monitoring, or cable television service) is not a consumer lease.

Given the scope of Leasing News is generally for commercial leasing, I won’t detail the Acts new provisions relating to consumer leasing.

Tom McCurnin is a partner at Barton, Klugman & Oetting
in Los Angeles, California.

Tom McCurnin
Barton, Klugman & Oetting
350 South Grand Ave.
Suite 2200
Los Angeles, CA 90071
Direct Phone: (213) 617-6129
Cell (213) 268-8291
Email: tmccurnin@bkolaw.com
Visit our web site at www.bkolaw.com
Previous Tom McCurnin Articles:
http://www.leasingnews.org

Previous Tom McCurnin Articles:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Conscious-Top%20Stories/leasing_cases.html

Los Angeles, CA Credit Analyst  Review and Approve Applications/Vendors Documentation/Funding Staff  Leasing/Banking experience a plus Sales Experience preferred. Salary, Commission Bonuses and Benefits. For more description of duties, please click on position www.pacificcapco.com At Pacific Capital Companies our mission is to provide the American business sector with fast, innovative, financing solutions to grow their companies and exceed their goals.

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Top Stories February 4--February 8
(You May Have Missed)

1. 49ers legends embroiled in lawsuit that
   could shake up Silicon Valley http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_22503642/venture-funds-launched-by-49ers-legends-embroiled-lawsuit

(2) Sentencing On! "Operation Lease Fleece"
---No Postponement for Mark McQuitty
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Feb2013/2_04.htm#fleece

(3) McQuitty Gets 24 Months Prison
---then 3 Years’ Probation
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Feb2013/2_06.htm#mcquitty

(4) New Dollar Thresholds Exempts
Consumer Lease Transactions
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Feb2013/2_08.htm#dollar

(Tie) (5) Archives---February 6, 200
Colonial Pacific Closes Tilden Operation
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Feb2013/2_06.htm#archives

(Tie) (5) Tony Golobic Receives Leasing News Person of Year Award
---- Presented by Bruce Kropschot
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Feb2013/2_04.htm#golobic

(6) Broker’s Responsibility to Obtain
California Lender’s License By Tom McCurnin
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Feb2013/2_04.htm#broker

(7) Leasing 102 by Mr. Terry Winders, CLP
Leasing Used Equipment
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Feb2013/2_04.htm#used

(8) 1st Enterprise Hits Streets with Leasing in L.A. area
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Feb2013/2_08.htm#enterprise

(9) New Hires---Promotions
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Feb2013/2_08.htm#hires

(10) January, 2013---"The List"
--- Mergers, Acquisitions & Changes
"The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"--
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Feb2013/2_06.htm#list_jan2013

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More Bank Companies Payback TARP
By Andrew Wolcott and Tahir Ali, SNL Financial

More than 60% of companies have exited the TARP program since its inception. The number of banks and thrifts that have exited the U.S. Treasury's TARP investment has increased to 443 from 367. This includes 351 companies that redeemed and 92 that were either fully or partially auctioned. The tally of companies on which the Treasury has recovered some or all of its investment, including partial redeemers and those auctioned, rose to 458 according to the Treasury's Jan. 23 transaction report. Only 220 of the initial 707 remain after adjusting for institutions that have either failed or had their TARP securities assumed by another company. Since Oct. 1, 2012, nearly $1.1 billion has been recovered from banks and thrifts, increasing the total to over $233.9 billion.

The period between Oct. 1, 2012, and Jan. 9, 2013, saw a windfall of TARP redemptions, the largest from Chicago-based PrivateBancorp Inc., which redeemed $243.8 million in preferred stock and $1.2 million in warrants on Oct. 24, 2012, and Nov. 14, 2012, respectively. According to the Treasury, PrivateBancorp's redemption was pursuant to a qualified equity offering, which priced Oct. 10, 2012. The second-largest cumulative redemption came from Laredo, TX-based International Bancshares Corp., which redeemed $216 million in preferred stock through three separate payments of $40 million, $45 million and $131 million starting in the summer of 2011 and ending Nov. 28, 2012.

In late November 2012, the Treasury witnessed a TARP first when St. Paul, Minn.-based University Financial Corp. Inc. redeemed $22.1 million in subordinated debt. University Financial was the first bank or thrift to redeem its TARP investment through the Community Development Capital Initiative program. The CDCI is a TARP program that was implemented in February 2010 and targeted institutions that lend to small businesses in particularly hard-hit areas of the country. Banks and thrifts participating in the program received capital with a 2% dividend or interest rate for the first eight years, increasing to 9% in year nine. Many of the banks and thrifts that participate in the CDCI program transferred in from the Capital Purchase Program because the CDCI offered more favorable terms to those that were eligible.

For those banks and thrifts that are still participating in the CPP, dividend payments on preferred stock are set at 5%. However, after the fifth anniversary of TARP participation, the dividend rate is set to increase to 9%. The added pressure of an increased cost of capital is forcing many banks to look to exit. For example, Synovus Financial Corp., one of the largest remaining TARP participants, recently stated that it expects to redeem its TARP securities sometime between the second quarter and fourth quarter of 2013. The stress of increased dividends makes the repayment of TARP a huge relief to those who choose to redeem. Peter Converse, CEO of Virginia Commerce Bancorp Inc., recently stated in the bank's 2012 fourth-quarter earnings call that "the real highlight for the quarter and the year was our full repayment of $71 million in TARP without an additional capital raise on December 11, almost four years to the day from December 12, 2008, when it was originally funded. We're very proud and relieved to have the retirement of TARP behind us."

The above analysis does not include the results of the Treasury's Jan. 29 TARP securities auction. Eleven financial institutions participated, and results were posted Jan. 30.

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Treasury accepts steep discounts in recent TARP auction
By Andy Pierce, SNL Financial

The U.S. Treasury is starting to realize heavier losses as it continues to auction its CPP investments in banks, many of which are behind on their dividend payments. Last week, the Treasury sold $295.8 million in CPP securities, taking a loss of $104.5 million before fees, a hit amounting to over a third of the principal amount auctioned.

The 35% aggregate discount is the steepest seen thus far in the multibank auction process by a long shot. Seven out of the 11 auctioned banks are well behind on their dividend payments, further crippling the Treasury's overall return.

The losses were mainly due in part to the 44.7% haircut the Treasury took on the $146 million in Series A preferred stock issued by Dickinson Financial Corp. II. The Dickinson investment was the largest to be included in a multibank auction to date, and accounted for over half of the total amount sold the prior week. Dickinson has struggled to keep up with its preferred dividends, missing 14 payments for a combined $27.9 million as of Dec. 31, 2012.

Not surprisingly, other banks that were behind on their dividend payments also priced at relatively higher discounts. The Treasury took the highest discount on Citizens Bancshares Co., whose Series A and B preferred stock sold for a little more than half its original value at discounts of 49% and 48%, respectively. The bank has missed 12 dividend payments which total over $4 million in unpaid dividends.

There were a few bright spots, as the Treasury should net a return on their investments in all four banks that were current on their dividend payments. Biscayne Bancshares Inc. was one such bank, and had their 7.7% subordinated notes sell at a 2.6% discount, while their 13.8% notes fetched a modest premium.

Dachshund/Chihuahua Mix
San Ramon, California Adopt-a-Dog

Carmel
Male
Age: 10 months
Size: 12 pounds

"I am already neutered, up to date with shots, good with kids, and good with dogs."

Carmel's Story...

"Hi, they call me Carmel because of my color, but you can call me anything you want if you want to give me a wonderful, forever home! I am a 10 month old chiweenie, that's one of those fancy designer doHgs, half doxie and half Chihuahua. I weigh about 12 pounds and am a real sweet boy. Some nice 10-13 year olds played with me at the last Adoption Fair and I had a lot of fun with them! I am learning to go on a leash and like to cuddle, too. I am also learning to be housebroken.

"I get along very well with all sizes of dogs and haven't been exposed to many cats, just the ones at the Adoption Fair and I didn't seem to mind them. I am an intelligent little dog and want to please you and be your best friend. I am neutered, current on shots and will be micro chipped before going home with you. My adoption donation is $250.

"Please call or text (925) 209-6480 or email diane@tarescue.com to find out more about me and to meet me in person."

Contact This Rescue Group...
Rescue Group: Tuffie's Animal Rescue CA
Phone: (925) 209-6480
Let 'em know you saw "Carmel" on Adopt-a-Pet.com!
E-mail: diane@tarescue.com
Fax: (623) 587-9119
Website: http://www.TARescue.org
Address: San Ramon, CA 94583

Adopt-a-Pet by Leasing Co. State/City
http://www.leasingnews.org/Conscious-Top%20Stories/Adopt_Pet.htm

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

News Briefs----

Latest News on New England Blizzard
http://live.boston.com/Event/Live_blog_New_England

Massive reward offer for Christopher Dorner
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57568596/massive-reward-offer-for-christopher-dorner/

Carnival cruise ship on emergency power after fire
http://www.usatoday.com/story/cruiselog/2013/02/10/carnival-triumph-cruise-fire/1907187/

IronPlanet Wins Multi-Million Dollar Jury Verdict Against Ritchie Bros.
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ironplanet-wins-multi-million-dollar-jury-verdict-against-ritchie-bros-190264701.html

Restaurant Industry Job Growth Hits 17-Year High in 2012
http://www.qsrmagazine.com/news/restaurant-industry-job-growth-hits

UPS was target of $1.2 million fraud scheme
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/feds-ups-target-of-12-million-fraud-scheme/nWKH4/

25% of Americans, in dire straits, raided their 401(k)s
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/nest_eggs

Long-term jobless crisis stumps experts
http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Long-term-jobless-crisis-stumps-experts-4264699.php

Dell’s deal in a ditch: big shareholders balk
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/dell_deal

Dallas-area canines to compete at Westminster Kennel Club show
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/dallas/headlines/20130209-dallas-area-canines-prepare-to-compete-at-westminster-kennel-club-show.ece

Tallest building in the West to be built in downtown L.A.
http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-downtown-skyscraper-20130207,0,295662.story

Lanai, Hawaii says aloha to good times again
http://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/Lanai-says-aloha-to-good-times-again-4264102.php

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---You May Have Missed

Families make tough decisions on pets post-Sandy
http://www.nj.com/monmouth/index.ssf/2013/02/families

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SparkPeople--Live Healthier and Longer

SparkPeople--Live Healthier and Longer

How Many Calories Are in Your Favorite Valentine's Treats?
http://www.dailyspark.com/blog.asp?post=how_many_calories

[headlines]
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Comprehensive personal property tax outsourcing services We accept file exports and integrate personal property tax information with all lease management or accounting software. No other firm offers the combination of individual attention, software capabilities expertise, "full disclosure" and web port accessibility to information more than we do.  Click here to learn what our clients say about our service Gary DiLillo, President 440.871.0555 or gary@avptc.com

Sports Briefs----

Film great Clint Eastwood, left, gestures toward Brandt Snedeker, right, after presenting him with his trophy on the 18th green of the Pebble Beach Golf Links following the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf tournament, Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013, in Pebble Beach, Calif. Snedeker won the tournament after shooting a 7-under 65.

Snedeker finally get a win
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/02/09/5178104/snedeker-hahn-tied-for-the-lead.html

(San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh wearing a
Watsonville Fire Department hat while golfing.)

Carl Steward, sportswriter for Bay Area News Group, tweeted "Harbaugh wearing cap from Watsonville Fire Dept. Said guy gave it to him on the way to course. 'It fit nice,' Harbaugh said, so he wore it. (Watsonville Patch reports, “Watsonville native and retired firefighter Scott Hervey who gave him the hat.")

Harbaugh easygoing in Pro-Am AT&T Pebble Beach spotlight
http://www.sfgate.com/sports/ostler/article/Harbaugh-easygoing-in-Pro-Am-spotlight-4266091.php

49ers seek a 2nd option at wide receiver
http://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/49ers-seek-a-2nd-option-at-wide-receiver-4261857.php

Saints hire Rob Ryan to be defensive coordinator
http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-rob-ryan-saints-defensive-coordinator-20130209,0,4142303.story

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California Nuts Briefs---

Cash Money: Silicon Valley Home Buyers Paying Up Front
http://losgatos.patch.com/articles/cash-money-silicon-valley-home-buyers-paying-up-front-5bed8291?ncid=newsltuspatc00000001

Does California Have Money With Your Name On It?
http://watsonville.patch.com/articles/does-california-have-money-with-your-name-on-it-cf4bb24f

Aging baby boomers will create 'silver tsunami' for Sonoma County
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20130210/ARTICLES

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“Gimme that Wine”

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

California Crush Report: Wine Grape Tonnage Up 20 Percent
-- 4 Million Tons Crushed:
http://www.winebusiness.com/news/?go=getArticle&dataid=111572

More News--Varietals
http://www.winebusiness.com/news/?go=getArticle&dataid=111618

Napa Valley Vintners Announce Auction Napa Valley 2013: Tickets on Sale Now
http://www.napavintners.com/trade/tm_3_release_detail.asp

South America Imports Down
http://www.decanter.com/news/wine-news/530841/us-imports-argentina-drops-for-first-time-in-11-years

Henry Tang collection up for auction in Hong Kong
http://www.decanter.com/news/wine-news/530839/henry-tang-collection-up-for-auction-in-hong-kong

Italy's 10 Leasing Fine Wines
http://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2013/02/italys-10-leading-white-wines/

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/

Winery Atlas
http://www.carterhouse.com/atlas/\

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

      1751- the first hospital to open in the United States was the Pennsylvania Hospital, opened in Philadelphia, PA, through the efforts of Benjamin Franklin and Dr. Thomas Bond. A temporary hospital was erected in 1751 in a private house on High ( now Market ) Street before the permanent building opened on February 11,1752.  This was the first hospital to give free treatment to the poor and to offer humane treatment to the insane.
    1790 -- Pennsylvania Society of Friends petition Congress to emancipate slaves.
    1801- President elected by the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives started debating who would be president.. After the election of 1800, the electoral vote stood as follows: Thomas Jefferson 72, Aaron Burr 73, John Adams 65, Charles Cotesworht Pinckney 64, and John Jay 1. It was quite a debate, with Alexander Hamilton working behind the scenes to elected Thomas Jefferson. Hamilton detested Burr and his principals, who's dislike for each other led Aaron Burr to challenge him to a pistol duel on July 11, 1804. There were 35 ballots, all deadlocked as each state had one vote. On the 36th ballot, February 17, barely two weeks before a new president was to be inaugurated, Jefferson was elected President. Delaware and South Carolina cast blank ballots, with the result that the vote was 10 states for Jefferson and 4 for Burr. Aaron Burr was elected vice-president.
    1805 --Sacajawea gives birth to Jean-Baptist Charbonneau while leading Lewis & Clark Expedition . Mother and son both were invaluable to the expedition. As hoped, Sacagawea's services as a translator played a pivotal role in securing horses from the Shoshone. Jean Baptiste's presence also proved unexpectedly useful by helping to convince the Indians the party encountered that their intentions were peaceful-no war party, the Indians reasoned, would bring along a mother and infant. When the Corps of Discovery returned east in 1805, Charbonneau, Sacagawea, and Jean Baptiste resumed the fur-trading life. Little is known of Sacagawea's subsequent fate, though a fur trader claimed she died of a "putrid fever" in 1812 at a Missouri River trading post. True to a promise he had made to Sacagawea during the expedition, Clark paid for Jean Baptiste's education at a St. Louis Catholic academy and became something of an adoptive father to the boy. A bright and charismatic young man, Jean Baptiste learned French, German, and Spanish, hunted with noblemen in the Black Forest of Germany, traveled in Africa, and returned to further explore the American West. He died in 1866 en route to the newly discovered gold fields of Montana.
   1808 - Judge Jesse Fell experimentally burned anthracite coal to keep his Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania home warm on this winter day. He showed how cleanly and cheaply the coal burned as heating fuel. As a result, that area of northeast Pennsylvania would become an important coal mining area for generations. Those who came to the area to work the coal mines were called ‘coal crackers'.
    1811- President Madison prohibits trade with Britain for 3rd time in 4 years. On June 1, 1812, he asked Congress to declare war. The young Nation was not prepared to fight; its forces took a severe trouncing. The British entered Washington and set fire to the White House and the Capitol. But a few notable naval and military victories, climaxed by Gen. Andrew Jackson's triumph at New Orleans, convinced Americans that the War of 1812 had been gloriously successful. An upsurge of nationalism resulted. The New England Federalists who had opposed the war--and who had even talked secession--were so thoroughly repudiated that Federalism disappeared as a national party.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/jm4.html
http://courses.smsu.edu/ftm922f/Documents/madBritdoctrine.htm
    1812 - Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry signed a law changing the state's electoral boundaries to ensure a Republican majority. One grotesquely shaped new district, described as looking like a salamander, results in the coining of the word gerrymander. The move gave rise to the term "gerrymandering."
     1836--- Mount Holyoke Seminary, the first woman's college in the U.S. is chartered at South Hadley, Massachusetts.
    1847-Birthday of Thomas Edison, American inventive genius and holder of more than 1,200 patents ( including the incandescent electric lamp, phonograph, electric dynamo and key parts of many now-familiar devices such as the movie camera, telephone transmitter, etc. ) Edison said, “ Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.” His birthday is now widely observed as Inventor's Day. Born at Milan, Oh, and died at Menlo Park, NJ. Oct. 18, 1931.
    1854-San Francisco Gas Company turned on first coal gas lamps tonight. The occasion was celebrated at a grand banquet at the Oriental Hotel. The gas illuminated 86 lamps and also the Metropolitan Theatre.
    1856 - President Franklin Pierce warns "border ruffians' and the Free State men in Kansas to stop fighting. In May 1854 the Missouri Compromise, which ad stated that slavery would not extend above the 36'30" line was repealed in favor of Stephen Douglas' Kansas-Nebraska. Compromise which held that popular sovereignty in each territory would decide the slavery issue. Pro-slavery Missourians flooded into Kansas nd eventually there were two governments in Kansas Territory, each outlawing the other.
    1861 - The US House unanimously passed a resolution guaranteeing noninterference with slavery in any state. 
    1882-Birthday of Joe Jordan, piano player, songwriter, Cincinnati, OH
http://www.jass.com/jordan.html 
http://www.trachtman.net/ragtime/classicpianorags.htm
    1889-First Woman Episcopal Bishop. The presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, Bishop Edmond L. Browning, consecrated the reverend Barbara Clementine Harris a bishop of the Episcopal Church.
    1899 - Perhaps the greatest of all arctic outbreaks commenced on this date. The temperature plunged to 61 degrees below zero in Montana. At the same time a "Great Eastern Blizzard" left a blanket of snow from Georgia to New Hampshire. The state of Virginia took the brunt of the storm, with snowfall totals averaging 30 to 40 inches.
    1890 - President Benjamin Harrison orders 11 million acres of Sioux Reservation territory open for settlement. This will eventually lead to a revitalization movement known as the "Ghost Dance" that sprang up among the Sioux Indians of the western plains. These rituals held that an Indian Spirit soon would destroy the whites and return stolen lands. Federal troops will confront a band of Sioux-a non-violent group who had left the reservation fearful of being caught up in the Indian awakening-at Wounded Knee in the Dakota badlands. In this last battle waged on December 29, 1890, the U.S. Army massacred 150 Sioux men, women, and children; only 25 soldiers were killed. With the battle of Wounded Knee and the final distribution of Indian lands, the frontier era of American history had finally passed. 
    1899 -15ºF (-26ºC), Washington DC (district record) 
    1899 -61ºF (-52ºC), Montana (record low temperature in this century, lowest to date, January 20,     1954: -70 degrees, Rogers Pass) Perhaps the greatest of all arctic outbreaks commenced on this date. The temperature plunged to 61 degrees below zero in Montana. At the same time a "Great Eastern Blizzard" left a blanket of snow from Georgia to New Hampshire. The state of Virginia took the brunt of the storm, with snowfall totals averaging 30 to 40 inches.
1908-Birthday of Philip Dunne, American screenwriter and director Phillip Dunne, born at New York, NY. In 1947, he joined directors John Huston and William Wyler to found the Committee for the First Amendment which campaigned against the committee for the First Amendment, which campaigned against the “blacklisting” in Hollywood of anyone suspected of being a communist by the House Un-American Activities Committee. He was also a founder of the Screen Writers Guild. Dunne died June 2, 1992 at Malibu, CA.
    1910-Birthday of singer, guitarist, arranger John Mills, Jr. (Mills Brothers ) Piqua, OH
http://www.themillsbrothers.com/
http://www.themillsbrothers.com/phototour.htm
http://www.nextag.com/serv/main/buyer/productm.jsp?
product=3184022&template=dec6
    1911—Emma Goldman is arrested in New York for distributing information on family planning (birth control.)
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/feb11.html
    1913 -- IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) leads rubber strike in Akron, Ohio. The Akron Rubber Workers will do it again in 1936-37, at the General Tire Company of Akron, scene of the first sit-down strike in rubber. The first major strike, in 1913, represented an end of innocence. The action, which included workers from all of Akron's rubber shops, began after the introduction of machinery that made tires easier to build and resulted in lower piece rates for the workers. The strike was loosely directed by the Industrial Workers of the World, a radical group nicknamed the "Wobblies." It lasted more than five weeks. The workers made no gains -- they didn't even manage to shut down the rubber shops. The strike served chiefly to disillusion company executives.
    1914-Birthday of guitarist Josh White, Greenville, SC
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAwhiteJ.htm
http://www.folkways.si.edu/40081.htm
http://www.umass.edu/umpress/fall_00/wald.html
(he was one of my late father's favorite folksingers along with “Leadbelly” that I can remember his playing when I was very small, maybe five years old.)
    1914-Birthday of song writer Matt Dennis. Wrote “Angel Eyes,” “Everything Happens to Me,” “Will You Still Be Mine?”
http://www.melbay.com/authors/denn.html
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000056314/
ref=pd_sxp_f/102-2783041-0221764
    1916 -- Black feminist & civil-rights activist Flo Kennedy is born in Kansas City, Missouri. As a lawyer, Kennedy represented Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker and H. Rap Brown. In 1966, she founded the Media Workshop to confront racism in media & advertising. In 1972 she forms the Feminist Party and files an Internal Revenue Service complaint alleging that the Catholic Church violates tax-exempt requirements by spending money to influence political decisions. Kennedy describes herself (quote)"I'm just a loud-mouthed middle-aged colored lady . . .and a lot of people think I'm crazy. Maybe you do too, but I never stop to wonder why I'm not like other people. The mystery to me is why more people aren't like me." Died December 22,2000
http://rwor.org/a/v22/1090-99/1095/flo_kennedy.htm
http://www.writetools.com/women/stories/kennedy_flo.html
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0131523716/avse
    1916- Emma Goldman, noted anarchist, is arrested for publically speaking about birth control. A New York state code forbade discussions of health matters in public... and doctors refused to do it in private.
    1918-Birthday of country music publisher Wesley Rose. Wesley and his father Fred are credited with demolishing the barriers between pop and country music by successfully selling the songs of Hank Williams in the pop market. When Williams wrote "Cold, Cold Heart," Wesley Rose traveled from Nashville to New York to try to sell the song. The only person who would listen to him was Mitch Miller, director of pop music at Columbia Records. Miller gave the song to an aspiring young singer named Tony Bennett. Bennett's 1951 recording of "Cold, Cold Heart" sold a million copies. Wesley Rose died on April 26th, 1990.
    1919 -- Seattle General Strike ends. Harvey O'Connor's sympathetic Revolution in Seattle remains the best book on this event.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0939306018/inktomi-bkasin-20/002-5861649-1425657
Another perspective: Howard Zinn's People's History of the U.S. Seattle General Strike
http://free.freespeech.org/americanstateterrorism/books/PeoplesHistory.html
http://faculty.washington.edu/gregoryj/strike/ 
http://www.washington.edu/uwired/outreach/cspn/curcan/main.html
http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/hist_texts/seattle1919.html
    1935-Birthday of singer Gene Vincent, whose full name was Vincent Eugene Craddock, born in Norfolk, Virginia. He was signed by Capitol Records as an answer to Elvis Presley, and his career was launched in 1957 with "Be Bop a Lula." Vincent is supposed to have written the song after reading a Little Lulu comic book. He had only two major hits, then began drinking heavily. A comeback attempt in the late '60s failed, and Gene Vincent died of a bleeding ulcer in October 1971. He was only 36.
http://www.rockabillyhall.com/index2.html
http://www.rockabillyhall.com/gvbebop.html
http://www.cybernemo.com/les-claviers/partoches/Gene%20Vincent.doc
http://www.webspawner.com/users/GeneVincent/
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/rockin.paul/gene.htm
    1937 --United Auto Workers sit-down victory in Flint, Michigan, forcing General Motors to recognize them. The 40-day action at Fisher Body Plant Number One is the longest sit-down strike in history. Employees inside are protected by 5,000 armed workers circling the plant. After police tear-gas attacks, workers fight back with fire hoses. Gunfire wounds 13 workers, but the police are driven back. By the time the National Guard arrives, the strike spreads to GM plants across the nation.
http://community-2.webtv.net/uhhuhdotcom/diaryofasitdowner/page5.html
http://bss.sfsu.edu/tygiel/Hist427/1930sphotos/flintsitdownstrike.htm
http://www.uaw2166.org/flint.html
    1938-Larry Clinton Band with Bea Wain records “Martha.”
    1939-Birthday of pop songwriter Gerry Goffin was born in New York City. Goffin has been the lyricist for dozens of pop, rock and soul hits, many of them written with Carole King, his former wife. Among the hits the duo wrote were "The Locomotion" for Little Eva, "Up on the Roof" for the Drifters and "One Fine Day" for the Chiffons. A note for trivia buffs - Little Eva was Goffin and King's babysitter at the time of her hit, 1963.  
    1940-Birthday of singer Bobby (Boris) Pickett, whose novelty "Monster Mash" was a number-one hit in 1962. 
http://www.classicbands.com/boris.html
http://www.themonstermash.com/mmdex.html
http://www.themonstermash.com/cgi-bin/store/agora.cgi?cart_id=K90m3W.a4873*Ho5ewWHj7
sHz.a4873*3C1zVI&product=Music
    1941-Birthday of Brazilian musician and singer Sergio Mendes.
http://www.spaceagepop.com/mendes.htm
    1943 - General Eisenhower was selected to command the allied armies in Europe.
    1944-Birthday of drummer Martin Drew, Northampton, England
http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/martin%20drew.html
http://homepages.tesco.net/~martindrew/
http://www.p2c2e.freeserve.co.uk/mdbiog.html
http://www.317x.com/albums/m/sergiomendes/card.html
    1945-Yalta Agreement singed: President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin signed an agreement at Yalta, a Soviet city of the Black Sea in the Crimea. The agreement contained plans for new blows at the heart of Germany and for occupying Germany at the end of the war. It also called for a meeting in San Francisco to draft a charter for the United Nations.
    1945--DAHLGREN, EDWARD C. Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant (then Sergeant), U.S. Army, Company E, 142d Infantry, 36th Infantry Division. Place and date: Oberhoffen, France, 11 February 1945. Entered service at: Portland, Maine. Birth: Perham, Maine. G.O. No.: 77, 10 September 1945. Citation: He led the 3d Platoon to the rescue of a similar unit which had been surrounded in an enemy counterattack at Oberhoffen, France. As he advanced along a street, he observed several Germans crossing a field about 100 yards away. Running into a barn, he took up a position in a window and swept the hostile troops with submachine gun fire, killing 6, wounding others, and completely disorganizing the group. His platoon then moved forward through intermittent sniper fire and made contact with the besieged Americans. When the 2 platoons had been reorganized, Sgt. Dahlgren continued to advance along the street until he drew fire from an enemy-held house. In the face of machine pistol and rifle fire, he ran toward the building, hurled a grenade through the door, and blasted his way inside with his gun. This aggressive attack so rattled the Germans that all 8 men who held the strongpoint immediately surrendered. As Sgt. Dahlgren started toward the next house, hostile machinegun fire drove him to cover. He secured rifle grenades, stepped to an exposed position, and calmly launched his missiles from a difficult angle until he had destroyed the machinegun and killed its 2 operators. He moved to the rear of the house and suddenly came under the fire of a machinegun emplaced in a barn. Throwing a grenade into the structure, he rushed the position, firing his weapon as he ran; within, he overwhelmed 5 Germans. After reorganizing his unit he advanced to clear hostile riflemen from the building where he had destroyed the machinegun. He entered the house by a window and trapped the Germans in the cellar, where he tossed grenades into their midst, wounding several and forcing 10 more to surrender. While reconnoitering another street with a comrade, he heard German voices in a house. An attack with rifle grenades drove the hostile troops to the cellar. Sgt. Dahlgren entered the building, kicked open the cellar door, and, firing several bursts down the stairway, called for the trapped enemy to surrender. Sixteen soldiers filed out with their hands in the air. The bold leadership and magnificent courage displayed by Sgt. Dahlgren in his heroic attacks were in a large measure responsible for repulsing an enemy counterattack and saving an American platoon from great danger. 
    1946—Top Hits
Symphony - The Freddy Martin Orchestra (vocal: Clyde Rogers)
I Can't Begin to Tell You - Bing Crosby with the Carmen Cavallaro Orchestra
Let It Snow - Vaughn Monroe
Guitar Polka - Al Dexter
    1948- U.S. Senate Chaplain Peter Marshall prayed: 'We ask Thee not for tasks more suited to our strength, but for strength more suited to our tasks.'
    1950-- "Rag Mop" by The Ames Brothers hit #1
http://www.leoslyrics.com/listlyrics.php?sid=PK©'DK7f
http://www.dirtywater.com/a2z/a/amesbros/
http://www.singers.com/jazz/vintage/ames.html
    1953-Chris Connor, with the Stan Kenton Band, cuts “And the Bull Walked Around, Ole.”
    1954—Top Hits
Oh! My Pa-Pa - Eddie Fisher
Make Love to Me - Jo Stafford
Young-at-Heart - Frank Sinatra
Bimbo - Jim Reeves
1956-- For his third appearance on CBS' Dorsey Brothers Stage Show, Elvis Presley is finally permitted to perform "Heartbreak Hotel." 
    1956-Birthday of jazz violinist Didier Lockwood, Calais, France
http://www.ejn.it/mus/lockwood.htm
http://www.jazzvalley.com/musician/didier.lockwood
    1958-The first African-American Woman hired as a flight attendant was Ruth Carol Taylor, a graduate nurse from Ithaca, NY, who made her first flight from Ithaca, New York City on Mohawk Airlines.
    1960-Water Closet Incident: Jack Paar, then host of “The Tonight Show,” walked out of his late-night TV show on this date. The incident was prompted by NBC's censoring of a slightly off-color “water closet” joke the previous night. After a meeting with the network officials, Paar agreed to return to the show on March 7.
    1961- Robert C Weaver sworn in as Administrator of the Housing and Home Finance Agency with then highest federal post by a black
    1962-Birthday of singer Sheryl Crow.
http://www.sherylcrow.com/
    1962—Top Hits
Peppermint Twist - Joey Dee & The Starliters
Duke of Earl - Gene Chandler
Norman - Sue Thompson
Walk on By - Leroy Van Dyke
    1963-The Beatles record "I Saw Her Standing There," "Boys," "Do You Want to Know a Secret," "There's a Place," "Twist and Shout" and other songs for their first British album, "Please Please Me" at EMI's Abbey Road studios in London. The session lasts 14 hours despite John Lennon's cold.
    1964-- Fresh from their first appearance on CBS' Ed Sullivan Show, the Beatles leave for Washington, DC in a snow storm in order to give their first US live performance at the Washington Coliseum, with opening acts Tommy Roe, the Caravelles, and the Chiffons. Yet another press conference is given before the show. The performance -- "Roll Over Beethoven," "From Me to You," "I Saw Her Standing There," "This Boy," "All My Loving," "I Wanna Be Your Man," "Please Please Me," "Till There Was You," "She Loves You," "I Want to Hold Your Hand," "Twist and Shout," and "Long Tall Sally" -- is also filmed by CBS for closed-circuit broadcast; because of the stage setup, the band is forced to move its equipment three separate times in order to give everyone in the audience a chance to see them. Afterwards, the group head to a masked ball at the city's British Embassy and then back to their rooms at the Shoreham Hotel. During the party, an unidentified woman cuts off a lock of Ringo's hair without asking him. (Meanwhile, British PM Sir Alec Douglas-Home decides to cancel his trip to the ball for fear of being upstaged by the group.) 
   1966 - Willie Mays became the highest-paid baseball player in both leagues when he signed a two-year contract with the San Francisco Giants for an estimated salary of $130,000 a year.
    1967--The Monkees saw their second album, "More of The Monkees" leap from position 122 to number 1. The Fabricated Four only provided the vocals and were backed by some of the finest studio musicians around, like Glen Campbell and Neil Sedaka. The L.P. contained the hits, "I'm a Believer" and "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" and was produced by Carole King, Carole Bayer Sager, Tommy Boyce and others. After being pressured by the press, The Monkees announced they'll play their own instruments on all future recordings.
    1967--The Turtles release their biggest hit, "Happy Together", which will reach #1 in the US in March. 
    1968-The Bubble Gum music craze gets its start when "Simon Says" by The 1910 Fruitgum Company enters the US record charts, where it will reach number 4. Over the next year and a half, the group will have four more Top 40 hits. 
    1968 -Peggy Fleming wins Olympics figure skating gold medal, Grenoble, France.
http://espn.go.com/abcsports/wwos/peggyfleming.html
http://www.peggyfleming.net/
   1968 - In New York, the new 20,000 seat Madison Square Garden officially opened, making it the fourth arena to be named Madison Square Garden. The arena for sports and entertainment opened with a gala hosted by Bob Hope and Bing Crosby.
    1969---BENNETT, THOMAS W. Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Corporal, U.S. Army, 2d Platoon, Company B, 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry. Place and date: Chu Pa Region, Pleiku Province, Republic of Vietnam, 9-11 February 1969. Entered service at: Fairmont, W. Va. Born: 7 April 1947, Morgantown, W. Va. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Cpl. Bennett distinguished himself while serving as a platoon medical aidman with the 2d Platoon, Company B, during a reconnaissance-in-force mission. On 9 February the platoon was moving to assist the 1st Platoon of Company D which had run into a North Vietnamese ambush when it became heavily engaged by the intense small arms, automatic weapons, mortar and rocket fire from a well fortified and numerically superior enemy unit. In the initial barrage of fire, 3 of the point members of the platoon fell wounded. Cpl. Bennett, with complete disregard for his safety, ran through the heavy fire to his fallen comrades, administered life-saving first aid under fire and then made repeated trips carrying the wounded men to positions of relative safety from which they would be medically evacuated from the battle position. Cpl. Bennett repeatedly braved the intense enemy fire moving across open areas to give aid and comfort to his wounded comrades. He valiantly exposed himself to the heavy fire in order to retrieve the bodies of several fallen personnel. Throughout the night and following day, Cpl. Bennett moved from position to position treating and comforting the several personnel who had suffered shrapnel and gunshot wounds. On 11 February, Company B again moved in an assault on the well fortified enemy positions and became heavily engaged with the numerically superior enemy force. Five members of the company fell wounded in the initial assault. Cpl. Bennett ran to their aid without regard to the heavy fire. He treated 1 wounded comrade and began running toward another seriously wounded man. Although the wounded man was located forward of the company position covered by heavy enemy grazing fire and Cpl. Bennett was warned that it was impossible to reach the position, he leaped forward with complete disregard for his safety to save his comrade's life. In attempting to save his fellow soldier, he was mortally wounded. Cpl. Bennett's undaunted concern for his comrades at the cost of his life above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army. 
    1970- 26.37 cm (10.38") of rainfall, Mt Washington, NH (state 24-hour record)
http://americasroof.com/nh.html
    1970—Top Hits
Venus - The Shocking Blue
Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again)/Everybody is a Star - Sly & The Family Stone
I'll Never Fall in Love Again - Dionne Warwick
A Week in a Country Jail - Tom T. Hall
    1970 - "Variety" reported this day that Walt Disney had secretly taken its movie, "Song of the South", out of circulation back in 1958. Originally released in 1946, the live-action/animated flick featuring Brer Fox, Brer Rabbit, Brer Bear, Uncle Remus and kids, Johnny and Ginny, won an Academy Award in 1947 for the song, "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah". James Baskett won an Oscar for his Uncle Remus role. "Variety" said "Song of the South" was pulled because of ...racist attitudes reflected in the Negro roles in the film.
    1975 - The movie, "Shampoo", opened. Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Goldie Hawn, Jack Warden, Lee Grant (who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress), Tony Bill, William Castle and Howard Hesseman starred. And, making her film debut a year before "Star Wars" made her famous: Carrie Fisher.
    1977--Clifford Alexander Jr. becomes the first Black Secretary of the Army.
http://www.army.mil/CMH-PG/books/Sw-SA/Alexander.htm
http://www.africanpubs.com/Apps/bios/1004AlexanderClifford.asp?pic=none
http://www.pfdf.org/leaderbooks/alexanderc/
    1977- 20.2-kg lobster caught off Nova Scotia (heaviest known crustacean in this century. Settlers in the United States report catching 25lb lobsters off the coast of Maine and Massachusetts as “common.”) The first thanksgiving with the Indians was mainly fish and shellfish. Lobster was so common it was considered poor man's food and served indentures servants until they rebelled that they did not want it more than three times a week.
http://octopus.gma.org/lobsters/allaboutlobsters/lobsterhistory.html
http://www.parl.ns.ca/projects/lobster/history.htm
http://octopus.gma.org/lobsters/allaboutlobsters/lobsterhistory.html
http://octopus.gma.org/lobsters/allaboutlobsters/society.html 1978—Top Hits
Stayin' Alive - Bee Gees
(Love Is) Thicker Than Water - Andy Gibb
Just the Way You Are - Billy Joel
I Just Wish You Were Someone I Love - Larry Gatlin with Brothers & Friends
   1978 -- "Longest Walk" begins, 300 Native Americans start march from Alcatraz, in San Francisco, California, to Washington D.C. Organized by American Indian Movement (Aim).
http://www.lovehaight.org/alcatraz.html
http://www.prisontourism.net/aboutalcatraz.html
    1978-Native Americans began The Longest Walk, a march from Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay to Washington, D.C. The Walk was intended to be a reminder of the forced removal of American Indians from their homelands across the continent, and drew attention to the continuing problems plaguing the Indian community, particularly joblessness, lack of health care, education and adequate housing.
   1979- "Elvis," a biography of the late singer, was shown on ABC television. The program won the largest share of the audience in competition with the blockbuster films "Gone with the Wind" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" shown on the other networks.
    1979 -Birthday of Brandy Norwood (Grammy Award-winning singer: The Boy Is Mine [w/Monica: 1999]; I Wanna Be Down, Baby, Best Friend, Brokenhearted, Sittin' Up in My Room, Never S-A-Y Never, Top of the World, Have You Ever?, Almost Doesn't Count, U Don't Know Me (Like U Used To), What About Us?)
    1982 - ABC-TV's presentation of "The Winds of War", the miniseries, came to an end. The 18-hour miniseries totaled $40 million in production costs, and, to that time, was the most-watched television program in history; topping another ABC presentation, Alex Haley's "Roots". An estimated 140 million people watched one or more nights of the program.
    1983- the Rolling Stones documentary, "Let's Spend the Night Together," directed by Hal Ashby, opens in New York during the city's heaviest snow storm this century. The Middle Atlantic Coast States and southern New England were in the midst of a major snowstorm. In Pennsylvania, the storm produced 21 inches at Philadelphia, 24 inches at Harrisburg, and 25 inches at Allentown, establishing record 24 hour totals and single storm totals for those locations. New York City received 22 inches of snow, and 35 inches was reported at Glen Gary, located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of West Virginia. Windsor Locks CT received a record 19 inches of snow in 12 hours. The storm resulted in forty-six deaths, thirty-three of which occurred when a freighter capsized and sank off the Maryland/Virginia coast. Heavy snow was reported from northeastern Georgia to eastern Maine.
    1983--The Recording Industry Association of America awards Bob Seger his seventh consecutive US platinum award for the album, "The Distance"
    1983 - The Middle Atlantic Coast States and southern New England were in the midst of a major snowstorm. In Pennsylvania, the storm produced 21 inches at Philadelphia, 24 inches at Harrisburg, and 25 inches at Allentown, establishing record 24 hour totals and single storm totals for those locations. New York City received 22 inches of snow, and 35 inches was reported at Glen Gary, located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of West Virginia. Windsor Locks CT received a record 19 inches of snow in 12 hours. The storm resulted in forty-six deaths, thirty-three of which occurred when a freighter capsized and sank off the Maryland/Virginia coast. Heavy snow was reported from northeastern Georgia to eastern Maine.
    1985 - Kent Hrbek became the first Minnesota Twins player ever to sign a $1 million contract. As the Twins celebrated their 24th year as a franchise of the American League, the first baseman signed a five-year, $6-million pact.
    1986-The Chicago Bears' "Super Bowl Shuffle" is certified gold.
    1986—Top Hits
That's What Friends are For - Dionne & Friends
Burning Heart - Survivor
I'm Your Man - Wham!
Hurt - Juice Newton
    1987 - Denver, CO, reported only their third occurrence of record of a thunderstorm in February. Ten cities in the north central U.S. reported record high temperatures for the date. Huron SD reported February temperatures averaging 19 degrees above normal. Williston ND reported readings averaging 24 degrees above normal for the month
    1988 - Bitter cold air gripped the north central U.S. Morning lows of 35 degrees below zero at Aberdeen SD, Bismarck ND and International Falls MN were records for the date. Bemidji MN was, officially, the cold spot in the nation with a low of 39 degrees below zero, however, a reading of 42 degrees below zero was reported at Gettysburg SD. In the Northern High Plains Region, Baker MT warmed from 27 degrees below zero to 40 above.
    1988 - Bitter cold air gripped the north central U.S. Morning lows of 35 degrees below zero at Aberdeen SD, Bismarck ND and International Falls MN were records for the date. Bemidji MN was, officially, the cold spot in the nation with a low of 39 degrees below zero; however, a reading of 42 degrees below zero was reported at Gettysburg SD. In the Northern High Plains Region, Baker MT warmed from 27 degrees below zero to 40 above. 
    1989-Future American Idol judge Paula Abdul enjoys the first of her six US number one hits with "Straight Up." 
   1989- The Rev. Barbara C. Harris, 55, of Boston, was confirmed as the first female bishop in the 450-year history of the Anglican Church. Harris has long advocated social change in the church and society. She's also a long-time member of the Union of Black Episcopalians, a group formed to promote the participation of blacks in the church and eradicate racism in society.http://www.diomass.org/EpisTimes/Harris_10th_Sched.htm
    1989 - While much of the continental U.S. enjoyed sunshine and seasonable temperatures, a strong weather system over the Hawaiian Islands deluged Honolulu with 2.5 inches of rain. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
    1990 - A winter storm produced up to ten inches of snow in Vermont, and up to nine inches of snow in Aroostook County of northeastern Maine. A three day snowstorm began to overspread Oregon, and the winter storm produced 29 inches of snow at Bennett Pass. Mild weather continued in the central U.S. La Crosse WI reported a record forty-seven consecutive days with temperatures above normal.
   1990-Nelson Mandela, leader of movement for democracy in South Africa, released from prison after 27 years, a major sign of the changing times in the world toward segregation.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/mandela/etc/cron.html
1990-- US male Figure Skating championship won by Todd Eldredge
http://www.toddeldredgenews.com/
http://www.leigh-i-am.com/todd.shtml
   1995-- US male Figure Skating championship won by Todd Eldredge
http://www.toddeldredgenews.com/
http://www.leigh-i-am.com/todd.shtml
   2000-Space Milestone: Endeavor Mapping Mission. This manned flight spent 11 days in space creating a 3_d map of more than 70 percent of the Earth's surface. It will be the most accurate and complete topographic map of the Earth ever produced.
    2004 - North Dakota Governor John Hoeven declares a snow emergency as winds gusting over 70 mph along with heavy snow produces low visibilities and drifts up to 20 feet in northwestern North Dakota. Amtrak train service is interrupted in the region.
    2006 - Snowfall records fell in Philadelphia and Allentown, Pennsylvania, Bridgeport and Hartford, Connecticut, Newark, New Jersey, and Worchester and Boston, Massachusetts. The highest total reported was 30.2 inches at Fairfield, CT. New York City set a record one-day snowfall record of 26.9 inches in Central Park.
    2007-Artists who won awards at the 49th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles included Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Peter Frampton, Tony Bennett, Stevie Wonder, George Benson and Ike Turner.