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Leasing News is a website that posts information, news, and
entertainment for the commercial alternate financing,
bank, finance and leasing industries

kitmenkin@leasingnews.org
   


Monday, February 10, 2020



Today's Leasing News Headlines

Leasing Icon Bernard D. Boettigheimer Passes Away
   Son John Sends Announcement of Visitation/Service
Looking to Improve Your Career
   Post a Free Position Wanted Here
Top Ten Stories
  February 3  -  February 7
Legislation Requiring Truth-in Lending-Type Disclosures
  by Small Business Lenders and Brokers
    Re-Introduced in New Jersey
     By Robert L. Hornby, CSG Attorneys at Law
Several Positions Available Channel Partners
  Divisional VP, Sales & Marketing, Health Group
   at Great America Financial Services
      Leasing/Finance Industry Help Wanted
Leasing News Advisor
    Allan Levine
Wintrust Specialty Finance Originates
    $148 million in its first year
Money Anxiety Index Increase 1.1 Index Points
   January 42.1 Growing Concern from the Coronavirus
Labrador Retriever/Mix
   Plano, Texas   Adopt a Dog
32nd Annual National Funding Conferences
     April 21 - April 23, The Palmer House, Chicago, Il.
News Briefs---
Commercial Finance Licensing Legislation in New York State
   Merits Watching reports Attorney Brett P. Garver
Stores closings slash mall property values 15% in a year
   mall values off 29%-to-41% in three years
Coronavirus may drive mortgage rates to new lows
 15 fixed drops below 3%/30-year mortgage rates fall: 42-month low
Walmart has opened its second primary care center
   Consumer prices will be 30-50% lower than currently paying
To solve grape glut, California growers
  told to reduce 5 percent of vineyard acres
Antarctica Registered Its Highest Temperature
   on Record This Past Week
Ransomware Attacks Grow, Crippling Cities and Businesses
    How common and damaging the attacks have become

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

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


May Have Missed
 Poem
  Sports Brief----
   California Nuts Brief---
    "Gimme that Wine"
     This Day in History
      SuDoku
       Daily Puzzle
        GasBuddy
         Weather, USA or specific area
          Traffic Live----

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


Please send a colleague and ask them to subscribe. We are free
Email kitmenkin@leasingnews.org and in subject line: subscribe


[headlines]

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

Leasing Icon Bernard D. Boettigheimer Passes Away
Son John Sends Announcement of Visitation/Service

It is with very great sadness Leasing News announces the passing of Bernie Boettigheimer on February 6, 2020, former CLFP, head of Pioneer Leasing, active with Centra Leasing/4Hour Funding, serving on the board of Western Association of Equipment Lessors (UAEL), active for many years in several leasing associations, founder of Lease Police, contributing writer to Leasing News. He was Leasing News Person of the Year 2013.
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Jan2014/1_07.htm#poy

I have visited Bernie in Texas with his son John. He would telephone me almost every Friday. I also regularly talked with him several times during the week when working on stories, since 2007. I first met him at a UAEL Conference.

His son John emailed, “We will be releasing an official obituary for hopefully the Sunday paper.  Still sorting out everything here, Kit.   

“He got a staph infection two weeks ago and eventually it put too much stress on his other ailments – heart, kidney, etc.… Even in his last moments, he was talking business.  It truly was his love.  

“Funeral arrangements are in the attachment at the bottom of this announcement:”

Announcement of the Death of Bernard Boettigheimer

It is with extreme grief that I must announce the death of my father, Bernard (Bernie) Boettigheimer at the age of 87 years old on Thursday, February 6th 2020. Bernie worked his entire life in finance and spent the last 36 years as an icon in the equipment finance industry. He leaves behind a rich legacy to family, friends, associates, and his wife of 63 years. 

He began his business career at Dun & Bradstreet, Borg Warner Finance, Fednor, Borg Warner Acceptance and ALD Manufacturing. In 1983, he started Pioneer Capital Corporation where I joined him shortly after it started. Little did I realize it would be the start of 35 years of working together.  At Pioneer, we developed the first true internet application and documentation system, endured six recessions, sold our company and developed life-long friendships with so many wonderful people.  After selling Pioneer, my father did not stop. He then developed and ran LeasePolice.com and became Leasing News’ Person of the Year in 2013. When I started my own finance company (Centra Funding) in 2008, he later joined us as a special project manager. His accomplishments were many, but they really fail to capture the man he really was.

My father was a very proud man who believed in the concepts of respect, honor, integrity and hard work. He retired three times in his life, and each time he “unretired” weeks later. He loved business so much he could never leave it. Fittingly, at the time of his death (at age 87) he was still working.  I, however, was given the greatest gift as his son – I was able to work with him daily for 35 years.  Anyone in our office was aware that we could have our differences. We had numerous arguments during our 35 years in business, but at lunchtime I would poke my head in his office and say, “you ready to go to lunch?” Off we would go, and it was like the argument never happened. Never once did any disagreement interfere with our relationship as father and son.

His unselfish ways were also legendary. Whether it is was driving through a snowstorm to deliver a stranded relative to Christmas dinner or visiting someone in need in the hospital, Bernie was always there. He gave his entire heart and love to his family and is survived by his wife of 63 years Barbara, sons Larry and John, daughter Doris and grandsons Bret, Trey, and Brandon. 

John Boettigheimer
Centra Funding, LLC

Visitation: Wednesday, February 12th, 6pm-8pm at Sparkman Hillcrest Funeral Home - 7405 W Northwest Hwy, Dallas, TX 75225

Church Service: Thursday, February 13th, 11am-12pm at Christ the King Catholic Church - 8017 Preston Rd, Dallas, TX 75225

Reception: Immediately following the church service at the Christ the King Catholic Church Community Center - 8017 Preston Rd, Dallas, TX 75225

Obituary published in Dallas Morning News Feb. 9
https://obits.dallasnews.com/obituaries/dallasmorningnews/obituary.aspx

 

[headlines]
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Looking to Improve Your Career
   Post a Free Position Wanted Here



Free Career Positon Wanted goes into our Classified Ad section here
http://leasingnews.org/Classified/Jwanted/Jwanted.htm

It also runs once a week in the News Edition.

Use your personal email address only. We encourage you to add a resume, although not necessary. If you do so, please make sure your name, address and telephone number are not included. If so, we will delete them. The reason is once the resume is placed on line: it remains in Google, as well in Leasing News Editions’ archives. A search of your name will bring up your posting, which will have your address and telephone number for years to come.

It is also a good idea to create an email for the ad specifically that you can delete after use.
This is “free” to those looking for a new position. Each ad is limited to (100) words.

To post your free position wanted, please email: kitmenkin@leasingnews.org



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

Top Ten Stories
February 3  -  February 7

(Stories most opened by readers)

(1) Ascentium Capital Cleared of Charges in Disclosure
       to Balboa Capital MHT Regarding Claim
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Feb2020/02_05.htm#asc

(2) Balboa Capital to File Tuesday Against Dismissal
     of Ascentium Capital in MHT Case, Reliable Source Reports
              By Christopher Menkin
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Feb2020/02_07.htm#balboa

(3) No Longer taking Broker/Discounting Business
          plus Leasing Companies Out of Business
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Feb2020/02_03.htm#nolonger

(4) Most Influential Women in Leasing and Finance
          One New Nomination
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Feb2020/02_05.htm#women

(5) Gary Batchelor passed away unexpectedly
          on January 29, 2020
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Feb2020/02_03.htm#gary

(6)  Most Influential Women in Leasing and Finance
             One New Nomination
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Feb2020/02_07.htm#women

(7) Most Influential Women in Leasing and Finance
           Nominations to Examine/Update 2009 List
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Feb2020/02_03.htm#women

(8) New Hires/Promotions in the Leasing Business
          and Related Industries
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Feb2020/02_07.htm#hires

(9) Letters? We get email
   No Longer Taking Broker Business/Fast Turnaround Time
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Feb2020/02_05.htm#letter

(10) Too Many Press Releases Funding Re:
       Troubled Trucking Industry
           By Dale R. Kluga
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Feb2020/02_07.htm#too

 

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

Leasing Industry Ads---Help Wanted
Opportunities for 2020





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

Legislation Requiring Truth-in Lending-Type Disclosures
 by Small Business Lenders and Brokers
Re-Introduced in New Jersey

By Robert L. Hornby
CSG Attorneys at Law

The New Jersey State Legislature continues to aggressively pursue legislation that would mandate truth-in-lending-type disclosures for small business financing similar to the law recently enacted in California. In 2019, New Jersey came precariously close to passing a bill (S2262) that would have required such disclosures for transactions of $500,000 or less. Although S2262 received significant support – passing in the state Senate 35-0 – it was not enacted prior to the expiration of the legislative term. The sponsor of the 2019 bill, Troy Singleton (D), has now pre-filed a new bill for the 2020 legislative session, S233, that slightly modifies last year’s bill but retains all of the key provisions/requirements. Fortunately, S233 still includes an express exemption for commercial equipment leasing and loan agreements.

As noted, S233 is nearly identical to its predecessor in its scope and application.  More specifically, S233 is aimed at covering “providers” of “small business financing.”  “Small business financing” is defined to include any “loan, line of credit, or a factoring or asset-based transaction made for a business purpose with a principal amount of or maximum credit limit of $500,000 or less.”   A “provider” is anyone who provides small business financing to a “Small business concern,” the latter term being defined by the existing act as any entity ─ including individuals, partnerships, corporations, joint ventures, associations and cooperatives ─ whose gross income from operations during its most recently fiscal year does not exceed $1,000,000.00.  A “provider” also includes “a non-depository institution, which enters into a written agreement with a depository institution to arrange for the extension of small business financing by the depository institution to a small business concern via an online lending platform administered by the non-depository institution.” Significantly, the legislation excludes: (1) federally insured banks, (2) credit unions, and (3) commercial equipment leasing and loan financing agreements entered into pursuant to Chapter 9 or 2A of Title 12A of the New Jersey Uniform Commercial Code.

The bill also sets forth the required disclosures for different specified transactions, including: (1) open-ended loans, (2) closed-ended loans, (3) factoring transactions, (4) asset-based transactions, and (5) cash advances. Of note, S233 added the “cash advance” category to the transaction types, which is defined as “a financing option that allows a small business concern to sell all or a portion of its future sales collections or other future revenues in exchange or an immediate payment.” The required disclosures for the above enumerated transactions include, among other things: setting forth the total dollar costs to be charged to a borrower, all required fees and charges that cannot be avoided by the borrower, annual percentage rate (as defined for each category), amount financed/borrowing limits, payment schedule and/or payment calculation, description of broker fees (if borrower is paying), a description of prepayment policies and fees and expenses related thereon, notice that the provider has or will require a security interest, and any other fees that can be avoided by the borrower such as late or returned payment fees.

S233 also retains the requirement that a provider obtain a “written statement of intended purposes” signed by the small business concern for the purpose of determining whether the financing was made for business purposes within the meaning of the Act.   However, a provider “shall not be required to determine whether the proceeds of the small business financing are used in accordance with the statement of intended purposes.”  Further, S233 also requires an independent disclosure requirement from the brokers involved in small business financing.  Specifically, brokers must provide a written disclosure to the small business concern as well as to the Provider stating the total dollar amount of the fees charged to the small business concern by the broker.  This document must be separate from the provider’s contract and must be provided prior to the consummation of the transaction. 

As with last year’s bill, S233 gives the Commissioner of Banking and Insurance express authority to promulgate regulations regarding the disclosures and notification requirements  ─ meaning that, as with California, the regulations could expand the disclosure requirements foisted upon provider.  The Commissioner is also empowered to seek civil penalties of up to $10,000 against providers or brokers who violate the Act.  Additionally, if a court finds a broker knowingly violated the Act, both the small business concern and the provider may bring a civil action against the broker seeking up to $10,000.

There appears to be ample support in New Jersey to pass legislation in 2020 that will require truth-in-lending disclosures for small business financing.  Currently, S233 excludes commercial equipment lease and finance transactions, thereby minimizing the requirements on the industry.  However, S233 has not even been assigned to committee and, given the ongoing lobbying efforts by the groups that will be impacted by such legislation, the bill will more than likely see some changes before it is enacted into law.  Accordingly, it is imperative to keep a watchful eye on New Jersey over the course of the next few months.

New Jersey Bill 233  (9 pages)
http://leasingnews.org/logos/nj_seal2020.jpg


Robert L. Hornby
Chair, Equipment Leasing & Finance
CSG Attorneys at Law
Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi PC
One Boland Drive |
West Orange, NJ 07052
11 Times Square, 31st Floor |
New York, NY 10036
973.530.2032
973.530.2232 fax
rhornby@csglaw.com

“An experienced litigator, Robert Hornby represents national and regional banks and finance companies in all aspects of equipment leasing, asset based lending and civil litigation in New York and New Jersey states and federal courts. He regularly counsels clients on a wide range of matters unique to the equipment finance and leasing industry, from drafting master documentation to the enforcement of lessors’ and secured creditors’ rights.”


 

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

Leasing News Advisor
Allan Levine

Mr. Levine joined the advisory board June 6, 2007. He has been very active, including writing articles for Leasing New and other publications.


Allan Levine, Partner
MADI$ON CAPITAL
11433 Cronridge Drive
Owings Mills, Md. 21117
alevine@madisoncapital.com
Direct Line: 443.796.7337
Office: 443.796.7333
fax: 443.796.7200
Equipment and Vehicle Leasing Solutions
www.madisoncapital.com

Allan Levine is the past-president of Madison Capital, LLC; stepping down at the end of 2017. He has been in the vehicle and equipment leasing business since 1971. He began working with a firm focused on vehicle and small-ticket equipment leasing. In 1974 he partnered with the largest auto dealership group in Maryland, starting Fox Auto & Truck Discount Leasing Company. It evolved, in the early 1980’s into Fox Discount Leasing, Inc. The name was changed in 1987 to form Fox Valley Leasing, merging with Harbor Leasing and becoming Madison Capital, August, 1997. Since stepping down, Allan continues as a partner selling, reading credit, mentoring, and supporting all aspects of the business as it continues to grow; and, is always looking for the next transaction.

He reports coming to work at 7am, doing 30 minutes of strength training, working on a few transactions, handling a few PR missions, then working on the computer and telephone.


He has served on many boards and committees throughout leasing industry organizations, as well as well as active in community organizations. His involvement has included the local chapter of National Vehicle Leasing Association (NVLA). He has served on The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association’s Committee for Independent Leasing Companies (ILC) and its Future Council group.

He also served on the Board of The Eastern Association of Equipment Lessors (EAEL), plus the editor of EAEL’s newsletter, the Independent.

He has been acting in his community, serving as vice president of his local Jewish Community Center as well as the board of directors. He is chairman of The Gordon Center (a 550-seat boutique venue for the performing arts). He has served as a big brother in that local organization. He is proud to have served as chairman of the Board of The Chimes, an international not-for-profit serving over 20,000 individuals with development disabilities and employs more than 2300 employees. 

During his lifetime, he has also served on the board and committee levels of additional local philanthropic and community organizations as well as the Maryland Zoo, which is the fourth largest in the U.S.

He is a graduate of the University of Maryland where he played lacrosse.  He and his wife Eileen have 7 grandchildren, unevenly divided among six boys and one princess, he reports.

He notes he plays golf and works out regularly to keep an energy level needed to support the rigors of the lease/finance industry. He still loves selling and when asked about retiring, he responds, “I do not understand that question.”

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

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

Wintrust Specialty Finance Originates
$148 million in its first year

IRVINE, Calif. –  – Wintrust Specialty Finance (WSF), a division of Beverly Bank & Trust Company, N.A. and part of the Wintrust family, completed its first year of originations in 2019 with more than $148 million in commercial equipment financing and leasing contracts.


David Normandin, CLFP, President and CEO of Wintrust Specialty Finance, said, “I’m proud of the experienced team we’ve built and the investments we’ve made in technology at the center of our systems and processes.

“2019 was a fantastic year of building, and we’re optimistic about scaling the platform in 2020 with significant growth targets. WSF is well on its way to becoming a market leader in small and mid-ticket vendor financing and leasing.”

About Wintrust
Wintrust is a financial holding company with assets of more than $36 billion whose common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market. Built on the "HAVE IT ALL" model, Wintrust offers sophisticated technology and resources of a large bank while focusing on providing service-based community banking to each and every customer. Wintrust operates fifteen community bank subsidiaries, with more than 175 banking locations located in the greater Chicago and southern Wisconsin market areas. Additionally, Wintrust operates various non-bank business units including business units which provide commercial and life insurance premium financing in the United States, a premium finance company operating in Canada, a company providing short-term accounts receivable financing and value-added out-sourced administrative services to the temporary staffing services industry, a business unit engaging primarily in the origination and purchase of residential mortgages for sale into the secondary market throughout the United States, and companies providing wealth management services and qualified intermediary services for tax-deferred exchanges.

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



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

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

Money Anxiety Index Increase 1.1 Index Points
January 42.1 Growing Concern from the Coronavirus

SAN FRANCISCO- The Money Anxiety Index, which measures the financial behavior of consumers, increased 1.1 index points in January reflecting a growing fear from the economic impact of the Coronavirus on the U.S. and global economy.  In November of 2019, the Money Anxiety Index stood at 40.9, rising mildly to 41.0 in December, and rising noticeably to 42.1 in January.

The biggest threat to the U.S. economy from a prolonged exposure to the Coronavirus is an increase in money anxiety, which leads to a reduction in consumer spending.  Since personal consumption makes up 70% of GDP in the U.S., a collective drop of only 3% in personal consumption can push the U.S. into a recession because 70% of 3% would erase the current U.S. GDP of 2.1% 

If the Coronavirus will continue to spread and impact the U.S. economy in the next 45 days, the Fed will be forced to cut the funds rate to stimulate the economy and restore consumer confidence. In its January 28-29 meeting, the Fed decided to hold the funds rate at t its current range of 1.50%-1.75%.  However, since then, the impact on the U.S. economy has grown especially in the manufacturing sectors that rely heavily on supply chain management from China.


Dr. Dan Geller founder of Analyticom, noted, "Although the January jobs report released today shows a healthy increase of 225,000 non-farm jobs.

"The real test will come this in February, when the economic impact of the Coronavirus will be reflected in the employment situation.  If disruption in the travel sector and the delay in supply chain management will continue through February, employers will be forced to reduce expenses."  

Banks and credit unions are already lowering their deposit rates in anticipation for a Fed rate cut in March or April. In January, financial institutions lowered their deposit rates by an average of 1 bps nationally, and are projected to do the same in February and March according to a special forecast just released by Analyticom LLC - a behavioral economics and the producer of the Money Anxiety Index.

The Money Anxiety Index Is highly predictive.  It predicted the arrival of the Great Recession over a year prior to the official declaration of the recession in December of 2007.  Historically, the Money Anxiety Index fluctuated from a high of 135.3 during the recession of the early 1980s, to a low of 38.7 in the mid-1960s.

About Analyticom LLC
Analyticom LLC is a scientific research firm specializing in the application of behavioral economics in financial decisions.  Dr. Dan Geller, the founder of Analyticom LLC, is a pioneer in the field of behavioral economics in financial decisions, and is the co-author of the study Dynamics of Yield Gravity and the Money Anxiety Index published in the Journal of Applied Business and Economics.  Dr. Geller is a frequent speaker and media guest. He appeared on national TV and radio, such as CNBC and Fox, and delivered the keynote address at the American Banker's Symposium.  He is the author of the groundbreaking book on the impact of  Money Anxiety on the economy.

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


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

Labrador Retriever/Mix
Plano, Texas   Adopt a Dog

Mary
Female
Spayed
3 years/4 months
Location: Large Dog Room

Second Chance SPCA
11700 J Avenue
Plano, Texas 85074
(972) 424-0077
info@secondchancespca.org

Hours of Operation
Tue - Fri: 2 pm to 7 pm
Sat + Sun: Noon to 5 pm
CLOSED MONDAYS

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

32nd Annual National Funding Conferences
April 21 - April 23, The Palmer House, Chicago, Ill.

 

Funding Source Exhibitors  as of 02/07/2020
36th Street Capital
Ascentium Capital LLC
Atlantic Union Equipment Finance
Bank of the West
BB&T Commercial Equipment Capital Corp.
BMO Harris Equipment Finance Company
Bridge Funding Group, Inc.
Channel Partners Capital
CIT
Citizens Asset Finance, Inc.
Crestmark Vendor Finance, A division of MetaBank
Customers Commercial Finance, LLC
ECS Financial Services, Inc.
Equipment Leasing Group of America, LLC
Fifth Third Bank
First American Equipment Finance, an RBC / City National Company
First Eagle Bank
Fleet Advantage, LLC
Flushing Bank
Fuyo General Lease (USA) Inc.
GE Healthcare Financial Services (HFS)
Hitachi Capital America Corp.
Huntington Equipment Finance
IBERIABANK
Innovation Finance USA LLC
J.P. Morgan Equipment Finance
Key Equipment Finance
LEAF Commercial Capital Inc.
Liventus, Inc.
Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance (U.S.A.) Inc.
Nations Equipment Finance, LLC
Pacific Western Bank
Peapack Capital Corporation
People's Capital and Leasing Corp.
Presidential Bank, FSB
Prime Alliance Bank
SCG Capital Corporation
Signature Financial
Societe Generale Equipment Finance
Sterling National Bank Equipment Finance Division
Sumitomo Mitsui Finance & Leasing Co., Ltd.
SunTrust Equipment Finance & Leasing Corp.
TCF Capital Solutions, a division of TCF National Bank
U.S. Bank Equipment Finance
United Leasing & Finance
Verdant Commercial Capital LLC
VFI Corporate Finance
Wells Fargo Equipment Finance
Wintrust Commercial Finance
Wintrust Specialty Finance
 

Companies like yours have been profiting from the relationships established at the ELFA National Funding Conference. You've met, talked and done business with some of the finest organizations in the equipment leasing and finance industry, and you've enjoyed excellent returns on your investments. This year's Conference continues to make it easier, more flexible and extremely affordable for Funding Sources to participate and meet with the companies that fit your funding profile.

Brochure:
https://cvdata.elfaonline.org/cvweb/cgi-bin/documentdll.dll/view?DOCUMENTNUM=2640

Lite Participant List to Date:
https://cvdata.elfaonline.org/cvweb/cgi-bin/Registrationdll.dll/List?RANGE=1/25&SORT=

Please Note: Only registered attendees can see the Full Participant Listing.

If you are registered for this conference, you must log in to see the Full Listing.

[headlines]
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News Briefs----

Commercial Finance Licensing Legislation in New York State
   Merits Watching reports Attorney Brett P. Garver
https://www.abladvisor.com/blogs/17967/commercial-finance-licensing-legislation-in-new-york-state-merits-watching

Stores closings slash mall property values 15% in a year
   mall values off 29%-to-41% in three years
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/02/06/mall-property-values-plummet-15-will-big-shopping-centers-be-takeover-targets/

 Coronavirus may drive mortgage rates to new lows
 15 fixed drops below 3%/30-year mortgage rates fall: 42-month low
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/02/07/coronavirus-may-drive-mortgage-rates-to-new-lows/

Walmart has opened its second primary care center
   Consumer prices will be 30-50% lower than currently paying
https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-opens-second-primary-care-center-2020-2

To solve grape glut, California growers
  told to reduce 5 percent of vineyard acres
https://napavalleyregister.com/news/local/to-solve-grape-glut-california-growers-told-to-reduce-percent/article_d568150b-ae4f-5aa2-aa7e-b1c072e8b460.html

Antarctica Registered Its Highest Temperature
   on Record This Past Week
https://www.cnn.com/2020antarctica-registers-hottest-temperature-on-record/index.html

Ransomware Attacks Grow, Crippling Cities and Businesses
    How common and damaging the attacks have become
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/09/technology/ransomware-attacks.html

 



[headlines]

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


You May Have Missed---

50 Stores You Once Loved that Don't Exist Anymore
  In 2018, More than 9,300 Stores Closed
https://www.businessinsider.com/stores-that-dont-exist-anymore-2018-8


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

Steph Curry
is a basketball star
but he shines brightest
off the court when he does
all the things that let everyone
see that his game is more than the
time he spends when he is on the court.

Jon Nakapalau

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


Opinion: NFL's quarterback landscape could be
    headed for seismic shift this offseason
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/columnist/mike-jones/2020/02/07/nfl-quarterback-moves-tom-brady-philip-rivers/4679949002/

49ers owner pours $317,125 into campaign
   against Santa Clara ballot measure
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/02/07/49ers-drop-317125-for-campaign-against-santa-clara-ballot-measure/

Super Bowl LIV film breakdown
https://49ers.pressdemocrat.com/super-bowl-liv-film-breakdown/


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


California Nuts Briefs---

Expect more blackouts in California, PG&E says.
  But utility predicts smaller, shorter shutoffs
https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article240084858.html?

Potential record gust of 209 mph
   recorded at California peak
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Potential-record-gust-of-209-mph-recorded-at-15042630.php

Power outages grow to nearly 62,000 customers
   during high winds around SF Bay Area
https://www.sfgate.com/news/bayarea/article/Power-Outages-Reported-During-High-Winds-Around-15042389.php

Woz says he’s still an Apple employee,
   paid ‘about $50 a week’
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/02/06/steve-wozniak-says-big-money-changed-steve-jobs-personality-in-apples-early-days/

Deciphering the mystery walls of SF East Bay hills
https://www.sfchronicle.com/outdoors/stienstra/article/Deciphering-the-mystery-walls-of-East-Bay-hills-15041307.php


[headlines]

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“Gimme that Wine”

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

Innovation + Quality Honors the Wine Industry's
    Most Innovative Products
https://www.winebusiness.com/news/?go=getArticle&dataId=225687

French Wine Imports to US Plunge
  in Wake of Trump tariffs
http://www.rfi.fr/en/wires/20200207-french-wine-exports-us-plunge-wake-trump-tariffs

Wine, seafood pile up as China virus ripples reach Chile
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/business/2020/02/06/wine-seafood-pile-up-as-china-virus-ripples-reach-chile/

Jeff Runquist Wines of Amador County, CA Awarded
   Four "Winery of the Year" Distinctions in 2019
https://www.winebusiness.com/news/?go=getArticle&dataId=225785

Here is Sonoma County's top vineyard employee of 2019
https://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/northbay/sonomacounty/10671635-181/sonoma-county-wine-vineyard-agriculture


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

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This Day in History

         1676 - In King Philip’s War, the Narragansett and Nipmuck Indians, searching for food, raided Lancaster, Mass. Over 35 villagers were killed and 24 were taken captive including Mary Rowlandson and her 3 children. Rowlandson was freed after 11 weeks and an account of her captivity was published posthumously in 1682.
    1677 - Virginia Governor William Berkley revokes the royal pardon which Colonel Herbert Jeffreys has brought for rebels of Bacon’s Rebellion. In defiance of the Crown, Berkley proceeds to execute 23 of the rebels.
    1763 - Treaty of Paris ends French and Indian War. Canada was ceded to Britain, France received various West Indies possessions and Spain won Louisiana and Cuba. Known in Europe as the Seven Years' War, this conflict ranged from North America to India, with many European nations involved. In North America, French expansion into the Ohio River Valley in the 1750s led to conflict with Great Britain. Some Indians fought alongside the French; a young George Washington fought for the British. As a result of the signing of the Treaty of Paris, France lost all claims to Canada and had to cede Louisiana to Spain. Fifteen years later, French bitterness over the loss of its North American colonies to Britain contributed to its supporting the colonists in the American Revolution.
    1841 - The Act of Union, uniting Upper and Lower Canada, came into effect.
    1846 - Their leader assassinated and their homes under attack, the Mormons of Nauvoo, Illinois, begin a long westward migration that eventually brings them to the valley of the Great Salt Lake in Utah. The members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had been persecuted for their beliefs ever since Joseph Smith founded the church in New York in 1830. Smith's claim to be a modern-day prophet of God and his acceptance of polygamy proved controversial wherever the Mormons attempted to settle. In 1839, Smith hoped his new spiritual colony of Nauvoo in Missouri would provide a permanent safe haven for the Saints, but anti-Mormon prejudice there proved virulent. Angry mobs murdered Smith and his brother in June, 1844 and began burning homes and threatening the citizens of Nauvoo. Convinced that the Mormons would never find peace in the United States, Smith's successor, Brigham Young, made a bold decision: the Mormons would move to the still wild territories of the Mexican-controlled Southwest. Young had little knowledge of the geography and environment of the West and no particular destination in mind, but trusting in God, he began to prepare the people of Nauvoo for a mass exodus. On this day in 1846, Young abandoned Nauvoo and began leading 1,600 Mormons west across the frozen Mississippi in subzero temperatures to a temporary refuge at Sugar Grove, Iowa. Young planned to make the westward trek in stages, and he determined the first major stopping point would be along the Missouri River opposite Council Bluffs. He sent out a reconnaissance team to plan the route across Iowa, dig wells at camping spots, and in some cases, plant corn to provide food for the hungry emigrants. The mass of Mormons made the journey to the Missouri River, and by the fall of 1846, the Winter Quarters were home to 12,000 Mormons. After a hard journey across the western landscape, Young and his followers emerged out onto a broad valley where a giant lake shimmered in the distance. With his first glimpse of this Valley of the Great Salt Lake, Young reportedly said, "This is the place." That year, some 1,600 Mormons arrived to begin building a new civilization in the valley. The next year, 2,500 more made the passage. By the time Young died in 1877, more than 100,000 people were living in the surrounding Great Basin, the majority of them Mormons. Young, however, had not escaped the troubles that plagued the Church in the East. By early 1848, the Mormons' haven became a U.S. territory after the American victory in the Mexican War. The Mormons had finally found a permanent home along the Great Salt Lake, but its isolation and freedom from persecution was short-lived.
    1855 - US citizenship laws were amended to include all children born abroad of US parents.
    1855 - The Women's Hospital of New York City is founded. Although it provides much needed care for poor women, the hospital was also the arena for J. Marion Sims. Much of his work was done on Black slaves where he saved countless lives and developed new procedures in gynecology. He founded the hospital for Black women to receive free care.
http://www.healthcarehof.org/honorees98/sims.html
http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/m_r/moss/sims.htm
    1861 - Jefferson Davis receives word that he has been selected president of the new Confederate States of America. Davis was at his plantation, Brierfield, winter pruning rose bushes with his wife, Varina, when a messenger arrived from nearby Vicksburg. It was not a job he wanted, but he accepted it out of a sense of duty to his new country. Varina later wrote that she saw her husband's face grow pale and she recalled, "Reading that telegram he looked so grieved that I feared some evil had befallen our family. After a few minutes he told me like a man might speak of a sentence of death." Davis said of the job: "I have no confidence in my ability to meet its requirement. I think I could perform the function of a general." He could see the difficulties involved in launching the new nation. "Upon my weary heart was showered smiles, plaudits, and flowers, but beyond them I saw troubles innumerable. We are without machinery, without means, and threatened by powerful opposition but I do not despond and will not shrink from the task before me." Davis was prescient in his concerns. He drew sharp criticism during the war: Alexander Stephens, the vice president, said Davis was "weak and vacillating, timid, petulant, peevish, obstinate," and Stephens declared that he held "no more feeling of resentment toward him" than he did toward his "poor old blind and deaf dog." His appointment of his friends as generals was one of his main undoings, plus his inability to keep to a course. It is said he changed his mind about military strategy often, actually following the suggestions of the last military person with whom he spoke. There were legendary conflicts between him and Gen. Joe Johnston over tactics.  He had been elected to a six year term, never finishing it, and many believe he would not have been re-elected.
    1863 - Two of the world's most famous midgets, General Tom Thumb, who stood three feet, four inches high, and his bride, Lavinia Warren, who was two feet, eight inches tall, were married in New York City, in front of 2,000 of their closest friends.
    1863 - Alanson Crane patented the fire extinguisher.
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blfiresprinkler.htm
    1868 - Birthday of William Allen White (d. 1944), at Emporia, KS.   American newspaperman, owner and editor of the Emporia Gazette. Coined the phrase “tinhorn politician” and in one obituary, wrote of the deceased that he had “The talent of a meat-packer, the morals of a money changer and the manners of an undertaker.”
    1868 - The temperature of 32 degrees below zero recorded at Muscatine, Iowa on the Mississippi River was the lowest for the period 1839 to 1965.
    1870 - The first YWCA in the US was formed in NYC.
    1893 - Birthday of “The Schnozz,” Jimmy Durante (d. 1980), on the Lower East Side, New York City. His first break into show biz came when he was 17 when he got a regular job playing ragtime at a saloon at Coney Island. Later his friend, Eddie Cantor, urged him to try comedy. In the 1920's, he had a very popular nightclub in New York called “Durant.” The painter had left “e” off and wanted a $100 bucks to re-do the sign and lights. Durante developed a unique comedic style as a short-tempered but lovable personage. His shtick included slamming down his hat and flapping his arms. His clothing, enormous nose, craggy face, gravely singing voice and mispronunciations were all part of the persona. Durante, whose career spanned six decades, appeared on TV, stage and screen. His television signoff, “Good night, Mrs. Calabash, wherever you” are became a trademark.
    1893 - Birthday of William Tatem “Bill” Tilden, Jr., (d. 1953), at Philadelphia.  Generally considered one of the greatest players of all time, Tilden won more tournaments than the record books can count. A nearly flawless player, he was also an egotistical showman on the court with an interest in show business. He turned pro in 1930 and continued to win regularly.
    1894 – Pitcher Herb Pennock was born in Kennett Square, PA.  Pennock won 241 games and posted a 5-0 record in five World Series for the New York Yankees over a 22-year Major League career. He was elected to the Hall of Fame shortly after his death in 1948.
    1897 – The familiar slogan “All the News That’s Fit to Print” appeared on page one of The New York Times. It had first appeared on the editorial page on Oct 25, 1896. Although in 1896, a $100 prize was offered for a slogan, owner Adolph S. Ochs concluded that his own slogan was better.
    1899 – The record low temperature for the state of Ohio was set at Milligan when the mercury dipped to 39 degrees below zero. The record low temperature for Virginia was also set at Monterey with 29 degrees below zero.
    1902 – Birthday of Walter Brattain (d. 1987), Xiamen, China.  Together with William Shockley and John Bardeen, he invented the transistor. The three shared the Nobel Prize for physics in 1956 for the transistor and for their work on semiconductors. The transistor replaced the bulky vacuum tubes previously used in electronics and paved the way for all later microelectronics.
    1902 – Drummer William Henry “Chick” Webb (d. 1934) birthday, Baltimore.
http://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/artist_id_webb_chick.htm
http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/Chick%20Webb.html
http://art.staviator.com/C/Chick_Webb.html
http://www.cd-music.org/music/22384Chick-Webb.html
    1906 – Lon Chaney, Jr. (d. 1973) was born Creighton Tull Chaney in Oklahoma City.  Chaney was well-known for playing The Wolf Man, The Mummy, Frankenstein’s Monster and Count Dracula in numerous Universal Studios horror films. 
    1907 - Birthday of alto sax player Walter” Foots” Thomas (d. 1981), Muskogee, OK. He also was an arranger in Cab Calloway’s orchestra. He moved to New York City in 1927, and played for a time with Jelly Roll Morton. He then joined The Missourians in 1929, just before Calloway took it over. In 1943, he left to work with Don Redman.  http://www.okjazz.org/index.cfm?id=99981.
http://www.redhotjazz.com/levee.html
http://www.lindycafe.com/_music/musicians/ccalloway.html
    1908 - Birthday of Jean Coulthard (d. 2000), Vancouver, BC.  She was the first composer from the Canadian west coast to gain wide recognition. Her orchestral compositions "Canadian Fantasy," "Excursion," "Ballade (A Winter's Tale)" and "Song to the Sea" established her reputation in Canada in the early 1940's. In 1953, the CBC commissioned her to write” A Prayer for Elizabeth" to mark the Queen's coronation.
http://music.acu.edu/www/iawm/articles/winter98/colton.html
http://www.yorku.ca/caml/coulthard.htm
    1914 - Birthday of Larry Adler (d. 2001), harmonica virtuoso, Baltimore.
    1916 - Birthday of accordion player Aldus Roger (d. 1999), Carencro, LA.
http://www.cajunfrenchmusic.org/biographies/roger-a.htm
http://www.cajunculture.com/People/rogeraldus.htm
http://www.lsue.edu/acadgate/music/alleman.htm
    1920 - Representatives for Major League Baseball outlawed pitches that involve tampering with the ball, including using the spitter or sandpaper or emery paper. It may be a baseball law but, it is often broken like others. Many umpires have the nail files to prove it.  Separately, Lee Magee admitted to NL President John Heydler and Cubs President William Veeck that he tried to throw a game with the Boston Braves when he was with the Cincinnati Reds in 1918, but that the Reds won the game in the 13th inning. Heydler later testified on June 8 that Magee told him he became suspicious that Hal Chase had double-crossed him and so he stopped payment on the check…and this was well before the 1919 World Series that the Black Sox threw to the same Reds!
    1921 - Birthday of pianist Big Joe Duskin (d. 2007), Birmingham, AL
http://cincinnati.citysearch.com/feature/20472
http://www.arhoolie.com/titles/422.shtml
http://artists.spun.com/big_joe_duskin
    1923 - For the first time, ink paste was manufactured by the Standard Ink Company. It was available in one color: black.
    1925 - In Michigan City, Indiana, the first waterless gas storage tank was put into service.
    1925 - At an American League meeting, a plan was adopted to alternate the site of future World Series openers by league rather than deciding it by a coin toss:  Games One, Two, Six, and Seven in one park and Three, Four, Five in the other, unless a ban on Sunday baseball interfered in one city. The clubs finishing fourth in the AL will share in the World Series pool. World Series umpires received a raise to $2,500, while umps in city series will earn $700.
    1927 - Birthday of opera singer Mary Violet Leontyne Price, Laurel, MS.  She rose to international acclaim in the 1950s and 1960s, and was one of the first African-Americans to become a leading artist at the Metropolitan opera.  One critic characterized Price's voice as "vibrant", "soaring" and "a Price beyond pearls", as well as "genuinely buttery, carefully produced but firmly under control", with phrases that "took on a seductive sinuousness.”  Time magazine called her voice "Rich, supple and shining, it was in its prime capable of effortlessly soaring from a smoky mezzo to the pure soprano gold of a perfectly spun high C."
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/feb10.html
    1927 - Gisele Mackenzie (d. 2003), Canadian singer, star of “Your Hit Parade” TV show during the 1950s, was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Her mother was a concert singer and pianist.
    1930 - Actor Robert Wagner (It Takes a Thief”, “Hart to Hart”) was born in Detroit.
    1932 - Birthday of accordion/zydeco player Rockin' Dopsie, Sr., (d. 1993) was born Alton Rubin, Carencro, LA.
http://www.rockindopsie.com/
http://www.neworleansproducts.com/rockindopsie/dopsieband.htm
http://www.epluri.com/NOTfolder/Acts/Rockin'%20Dopsie/rockindopise.html
His son, Rockin' Dopsie, Jr.
http://www.neworleansproducts.com/music/zydecogumbo/index.html
    1933 – Oregon state record low temperature of -54ºF (-48ºC), Seneca, OR.
    1933 - The Postal Telegraph Company of New York City introduced the singing telegram.
    1933 - In round 13 at a boxing match held at Madison Square Garden in New York, Primo Carnera knocked out Ernie Schaaf. While the crowd and the press at the match shouted, "Fake!" at the knockout, Schaaf later died as a result of that punch. It was no fake.
    1934 - The United States Postal Service issued the first stamps without perforations or glue in New York City. One had to cut apart the stamps, then apply glue to the back to get them to stick to an envelope. After numerous complaints, the Postal Service changed this idea.
    1935 - The Pennsylvania Railroad started passenger service with its new "streamlined" electric locomotive. The engine was 79 1/2 feet long and weighed 230 tons.
    1939 - Birthday of singer Roberta Flack, Asheville, North Carolina. She had a half-dozen ballad hits in the 1970's, including three number-ones:  "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," "Killing Me Softly With His Song" and "Feel Like Makin' Love." Flack returned to the top-10 in 1991 with "Set the Night to Music," a duet with Maxi Priest.  Flack is the only solo artist to win the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in consecutive years: "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" won at the 1973 Grammys and "Killing Me Softly with His Song" won the following year.
    1942 - A Japanese submarine launches a brutal attack on Midway, a coral atoll used as a U.S. Navy base. It was the fourth bombing of the atoll by Japanese ships since December 7. The capture of Midway was an important part of the broader Japanese strategy of trying to create a defensive line that would stretch from the western Aleutian Islands in the north to the Midway, Wake, Marshall, and Gilbert Islands in the south, then west to the Dutch West Indies. Occupying Midway would also mean depriving the United States of a submarine base and would provide the perfect launching pad for an all-out assault on Hawaii. Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto, mastermind of the Pearl Harbor attack and commander in chief of the Japanese combined fleet, knew that only the utter destruction of U.S. naval capacity would ensure Japanese free reign in the Pacific. Japanese bombing of the atoll by ship and submarine failed to break through the extraordinary defense put up by Adm. Chester Nimitz, commander of the U.S. Navy in the Pacific, who used every resource available to protect Midway and, by extension, Hawaii. Yamamoto persevered with an elaborate warship operation, called Mi, launched in June, but the Battle of Midway was a disaster for Japan, and was the turning point for ultimate American victory in the Pacific. The television series “Victory at Sea” has an excellent episode regarding this early part of the war, especially the Japanese underestimation of the American fighting stamina.
    1942 - Second Lieutenant Alexander Ramsey “Sandy” Ninger, Jr. was posthumously awarded World War II's first Medal of Honor for heroism at the Battle of Bataan. He had graduated from West Point in 1941 and was on his first assignment after being commissioned.
http://www.homeofheroes.com/moh/citations_1940_wwii/nininger.html
    1942 - For Decca Records in Los Angeles, California, Ted Fio Rito's orchestra recorded "Rio Rita". Bob Carroll provided the vocals for the song that became the group's theme song.
    1942 - The first gold disc ever awarded to an artist was presented to the Glenn Miller Orchestra by RCA Victor during a radio broadcast. The presentation was for Miller's recording of "Chattanooga Choo-Choo," which sold more than 1.2 million copies on the Bluebird label. The award was not solid gold - it was merely gold lacquered.
    1945 - "Rum and Coca Cola" by Andrews Sisters hits #1
http://www.mareesalbumlyrics.com/Rum_And_Coca_Cola.html
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000002P8A/002-1958450-0644835
http://www.singers.com/jazz/vintage/andrews.html
    1945 - Top Hits
“Rum and Coca Cola” - Andrew Sisters
“Accentuate the Positive” - Johnny Mercer
“I Dream of You” - The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra (vocal: Freddy Stewart)
“I'm Losing My Mind Over You” - Al Dexter
    1949 - Lee J. Cobb, Arthur Kennedy and Mildred Dunnock starred in Arthur Miller’s "Death of a Salesman," which opened at New York City's Morocco Theatre. The play would later become a major motion picture.  The play won six Tony awards and the 1949 Pulitzer for Drama.
    1949 - Joe Fulks of the Philadelphia Warriors set an NBA record by scoring 63 points in a game against the Indianapolis Jets. Fulks' total was the largest recorded by an NBA player before the introduction of the 24-second clock in 1954. His record stood until November 8, 1959, when Elgin Baylor of the Minneapolis Lakers scored 64 points.
    1950 – Olympic gold-medal swimmer Mark Spitz was born in Modesto, CA.  A nine-time Olympic champion and former world record-holder in seven events, he won seven gold medals at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, an achievement surpassed only by Michael Phelps, who won eight golds at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Spitz set new world records in all seven events in which he competed in 1972, an achievement that lasted for 36 years until it was surpassed by fellow American Michael Phelps, who won eight golds at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.   
    1952 - DAVIS, GEORGE ANDREW, JR., Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Major, U.S. Air Force, CO, 334th Fighter Squadron, 4th Fighter Group, 5th Air Force. Place and date: Near Sinuiju-Yalu River area, Korea, 10 February 1952. Entered service at: Lubbock, Tex. Born: 1 December 1920, Dublin, Tex. Citation: Maj. Davis distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. While leading a flight of 4 F-86 Saberjets on a combat aerial patrol mission near the Manchurian border, Maj. Davis' element leader ran out of oxygen and was forced to retire from the flight with his wingman accompanying him. Maj. Davis and the remaining F-86's continued the mission and sighted a formation of approximately 12 enemy MIG-15 aircraft speeding southward toward an area where friendly fighter-bombers were conducting low level operations against the Communist lines of communications. With selfless disregard for the numerical superiority of the enemy, Maj. Davis positioned his 2 aircraft, and then dove at the MIG formation. While speeding through the formation from the rear he singled out a MIG-15 and destroyed it with a concentrated burst of fire. Although he was now under continuous fire from the enemy fighters to his rear, Maj. Davis sustained his attack. He fired at another MIG-15 which, bursting into smoke and flames, went into a vertical dive. Rather than maintain his superior speed and evade the enemy fire being concentrated on him, he elected to reduce his speed and sought out still a third MIG-15. During this latest attack his aircraft sustained a direct hit, went out of control, and then crashed into a mountain 30 miles south of the Yalu River. Maj. Davis' bold attack completely disrupted the enemy formation, permitting the friendly fighter-bombers to successfully complete their interdiction mission. Maj. Davis, by his indomitable fighting spirit, heroic aggressiveness, and superb courage in engaging the enemy against formidable odds exemplified valor at its highest.
    1953 - Top Hits
“Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes” - Perry Como
“Why Don't You Believe Me” - Joni James
“Keep It a Secret” - Jo Stafford
“I Let the Stars Get in My Eyes” - Goldie Hill
    1954 - “The Glenn Miller Story,” starring James Stewart and June Allyson, has its American premiere in New York City, some ten years after Miller’s disappearance over the English Channel during World War II.  The movie was massively successful at the box office. In 1954, the film was nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Screenplay and Best Score. The film won the Oscar for Best Sound Recording, by Leslie I. Carey.  Its soundtrack was equally successful, reaching number one on the Billboard album charts in 1954, featuring a number of the band’s most popular recordings.
    1954 - President Eisenhower warned against US involvement in Vietnam.
    1956 - Elvis Presley recorded "Heartbreak Hotel" for RCA Records in Nashville, Tennessee. The record was awarded two gold records, one for each side. The hit song gracing the other side was "I Was the One"
    1956 - Little Richard records "Long Tall Sally"
    1956 - "My Friend Flicka" TV Premiere. CBS series about a boy and his horse based on the children's book by Mary O’Hara. The series was set in the early 1960's on the Goose Bar Ranch in Montana. Johnny Washbrook starred as Ken McLaughlin, Gene Evans as Ken's father, Bob, Anita Louise as Ken's mother, Nell, Frank Ferguson as Gus, the ranch hand, and Wahanna, the beautiful Arabian horse, as Flicka.
    1957 - Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and other Southern black clergy founded the Atlanta-based Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to help coordinate civil rights activities in the South. King remained the SCLC's president until his assassination in 1968. King's son, Martin Luther King III, became the SCLC's president on January 15, 1998.
    1958 - Elvis Presley attains his ninth US number one single with the double-sided hit "Don't" / "I Beg of You."
    1958 - Frank Sinatra's "Come Fly with Me" rose to the top of the US album chart, where it would stay for the next five weeks.
    1959 - Link Wray performs his controversial instrumental hit "Rumble" on American Bandstand. Because of its title, many radio stations refused to play the record, but it still managed to sell over a million copies and reach #16 on the Billboard Pop chart.
    1959 - St. Louis, Missouri was hit by an F4 tornado. Nearly 2000 buildings were damaged or destroyed and over $10 million in damage was done. 21 people lost their lives and 345 sustained injuries
    1960 - Adolph Coors III, the beer brewer and grandson of the founder, while on his way to work, he was murdered at the age of 44 in a foiled kidnapping attempt by escaped murderer Joseph Corbett in Golden, CO. In September, the remains of Coors were found by hunters in a remote area around Pikes Peak. The subject of an international manhunt, Corbett was captured in Vancouver, BC in October of that year.
    1961 - The Los Angeles Chargers in the American Football League, moved to San Diego, California. The club began play in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League.  In 1960, QB Jack Kemp was captain of the team and he led the Chargers to a Western Division Championship with a 10–4 record. The high-scoring Chargers won divisional crowns in five of the league’s first six seasons and the AFL title in 1963 with a 51–10 victory over the Boston Patriots.  The Chargers began the 2017 season in Los Angeles and will move into a new SoFi Stadium in Inglewood for the 2020 season as joint tenants with the Rams.
http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nfl/sdla/lachargers.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Kemp
    1961 - Top Hits
“Will You Love Me Tomorrow” - The Shirelles
“Calcutta” - Lawrence Welk
“Shop Around” - The Miracles
“North to Alaska” - Johnny Horton
    1961 - Henry Mancini had the #1 album in the US with the soundtrack to the film “Breakfast at Tiffany's”.
    1962 - Francis Gary Powers, the U.S. pilot of a U-2 plane shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960, was exchanged for KGB agent Rudolf Abel in Berlin.
    1964 - The press reported "millions of teenage boys are spending extra time in front of the mirror trying to make their hair look like Paul McCartney's...," after The Beatles appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" the night before.
    1965 - Viet Cong guerrillas blow up the U.S. barracks at Qui Nhon, 75 miles east of Pleiku on the central coast, with a 100-pound explosive charge under the building. A total of 23 U.S. personnel were killed, as well as two Viet Cong. In response to the attack, President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered a retaliatory air strike operation on North Vietnam called Flaming Dart II. This was the second in a series of retaliations launched because of communist attacks on U.S. installations in South Vietnam. Just 48 hours before, the Viet Cong struck Camp Holloway and the adjacent Pleiku airfield in the Central Highlands. This attack killed eight U.S. servicemen, wounded 109, and destroyed or damaged 20 aircraft. With his advisors advocating a strong response, President Johnson gave the order to launch Operation Flaming Dart, retaliatory air raids on a barracks and staging areas at Dong Hoi, a guerrilla training camp 40 miles north of the 17th parallel in North Vietnam. Johnson hoped that quick and effective retaliation would persuade the North Vietnamese to cease their attacks in South Vietnam. Unfortunately, Operation Flaming Dart did not have the desired effect. The attack on Qui Nhon was only the latest in a series of communist attacks on U.S. installations, and Flaming Dart II had very little effect.
    1965 - An often used quote was first spoken by Hubert H. Humphrey who said, "The impersonal hand of government can never replace the helping hand of a neighbor." Humphrey was a beloved United States Senator from Minnesota and a Vice-President during the Lyndon Johnson administration. He eventually ran for the Presidency but lost to Richard M. Nixon, primarily because Nixon promised to end the war in Viet Nam (which he eventually did) and Humphrey was Johnson's former vice-president, who at best “waffled” on the Viet Nam war. Perhaps what lost him the very close race was the Chicago Democratic National Convention. The convention, which began August 12, 1968, was the most violent in U.S. history. Antiwar protestors clashed with police and national guardsmen. Hundreds of people, including bystanders and members of the press, were beaten by police, some in full view of television cameras. Nixon beat Humphrey 31,785,480 to 31,275,166, and independent George C. Wallace, a third-party candidate, 9,906,473. The electoral vote was 302 to 191 and Wallace received 45. The republicans gained four seats in the House and five in the Senate (the Democrats still held majorities of 58-42 in the Senate and 243 in the House). The Republicans gained five governorships in the election.
    1966 - Andrew Brimmer is appointed the first Black person to serve on the Federal Reserve Board.
http://www.umass.edu/economics/Staff/brimmer.html
    1967 - Procedures for presidential succession were further clarified by the 25th Amendment, along with provisions for continuity of power in the event of a disability or illness of the president.
    1967 - The Beatles record "A Day in the Life." The Beatles and George Martin added the orchestral crescendos to "A Day in the Life," using a 40-piece orchestra. Martin would later recall that when he told some of Britain's finest musicians that they were to play twenty-four bars of cacophonous, improvised crescendo, "they all looked at me as though I were completely mad."
    1968 - Sly and the Family Stone's "Dance to the Music" enters the pop charts
    1969 - Top Hits
“Crimson and Clover” - Tommy James & The Shondells
“Everyday People” - Sly & The Family Stone
“Touch Me” - The Doors
“Daddy Sang Bass” - Johnny Cash
    1970 - BACA, JOHN P., Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Specialist Fourth Class, U.S. Army, Company D, 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division. Place and date: Phuoc Long Province, Republic of Vietnam, 10 February 1970. Entered service at: Fort Ord, Calif. Born: 10 January 1949, Providence, R.I. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sp4c. Baca, Company D, distinguished himself while serving on a recoilless rifle team during a night ambush mission A platoon from his company was sent to investigate the detonation of an automatic ambush device forward of his unit's main position and soon came under intense enemy fire from concealed positions along the trail. Hearing the heavy firing from the platoon position and realizing that his recoilless rifle team could assist the members of the besieged patrol, Sp4c. Baca led his team through the hail of enemy fire to a firing position within the patrol's defensive perimeter. As they prepared to engage the enemy, a fragmentation grenade was thrown into the midst of the patrol. Fully aware of the danger to his comrades, Sp4c. Baca unhesitatingly, and with complete disregard for his own safety, covered the grenade with his steel helmet and fell on it as the grenade exploded, thereby absorbing the lethal fragments and concussion with his body. His gallant action and total disregard for his personal well-being directly saved 8 men from certain serious injury or death. The extraordinary courage and selflessness displayed by Spc4. Baca, at the risk of his life, are in the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the U.S. Army.
    1971 - Four journalists, including photographer Larry Burrows of Life magazine, Kent Potter of United Press International, Nenri Huett of the Associated Press, and Keisaburo Shimamoto of Newsweek, die in a South Vietnamese helicopter operating in Laos. The journalists had been covering Operation Lam Son 719, a limited attack into Laos by South Vietnamese forces, when their helicopter crashed. Vietnam was one of the most reported conflicts in the history of warfare. In 1964, when the massive American buildup began, there were roughly 40 U.S. and foreign journalists in Saigon. By August 1966, there were over 400 news media representatives in South Vietnam from 22 nations. The Vietnam War correspondents in the field shared the same dangers that confronted the front-line troops, risking their lives to witness and report the realities of the battlefield. Sixteen Americans lost their lives while covering the war. American journalists are among the 42 U.S. civilians still missing in action and unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, including NBC News correspondent Welles Hangen and Time photographer Sean Flynn, both of whom disappeared while covering the war in Cambodia.
    1971 – Former Cardinals and Giants 1B Bill White became the first African-American play-by-play broadcaster in Major League history. WPIX-TV hired White to team with Phil Rizzuto and Frank Messer on New York Yankees telecasts.
    1975 – Former Negro Leagues star Judy Johnson won election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. A third baseman in the 1920s and 30s, Johnson batted .309 over a 17-year professional career.
    1977 - Top Hits
“Torn Between Two Lovers” - Mary MacGregor
“New Kid in Town” - Eagles
“Blinded by the Light” - Manfred Mann's Earth Band
“Near You” - George Jones & Tammy Wynette
    1978 - Van Halen's debut album is released. The LP hit the top-20 and has sold over 6 million copies. It contained the singles "You Really Got Me and "Runnin' with the Devil."
    1978 - Southern California received up to 8 inches of rain, resulting in widespread floods and mudslides. The rainfall produced a wall of water, which ripped through the mountain resort community of Hidden Springs drowning at least 13 persons. The storm caused 50 million dollars in damage, making it one of the most destructive in history.
    1979 - Rod Stewart's "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" was the #1 US single. It was a track from the album "Blondes Have More Fun", which was the #1 U.S. album this day. The album stayed at the top for three weeks. "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" was number one for four weeks: “If you want my body and you think I'm sexy; come on sugar let me know. If you really need me just reach out and touch me; come on honey tell me so...”
http://users.cis.net/sammy/sexy.htm
    1982 - Bismarck, North Dakota experienced its 45th consecutive day of sub-zero temperature readings which tied the previous record long string of sub-zero daily lows ending on the same date in 1937
    1985 - One of the Houston Rockets' "Twin Towers", seven foot four inch tall Ralph Sampson, the Rockets star center, scored 24 points, leading the West to beat the East, 140-129, in the NBA All-Star Game held in Indianapolis, Indiana. Sampson was chosen as the game’s Most Valuable Player.
    1985 - "Tears Are Not Enough," the contribution of Canadian recording artists to African famine relief, was recorded at Manta Sound in Toronto under the name "Northern Lights." The song was written by Bryan Adams and his regular songwriting partner, Jim Vallance. Adams's performance of the song at the Live Aid concert in July 1985 was marred by satellite blackout.
    1985 - Top Hits
“I Want to Know What Love Is” - Foreigner
“Easy Lover” - Philip Bailey with Phil Collins
“Careless Whisper” - Wham! featuring George Michael
“Ain't She Somethin' Else” - Conway Twitty
    1987 - A gala benefit concert was held at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto to honor the 100th anniversary of the Royal Conservatory of Music. Among the alumni who participated were tenor Jon Vickers, violinist Steven Staryk, soprano Lois Marshall and conductor Victor Feldbrill.
    1987 - One of the Soviet Union's top rock bands, Autograph, played in Quebec City as part of its first North American tour. The concert was organized to coincide with the Rendezvous 87 hockey series between the NHL all-stars and the Soviet Union.
    1989 - Ronald H. Brown, who was elected chairman of the Democratic Party National Committee, becoming the first African-American chairman of a major political party. Brown later served as Secretary of Commerce in the cabinet of President Bill Clinton. He was killed with 34 others on April 3, 1996 in an airplane crash near Bosnia during a ceasefire.
    1989 – “Miami Vice's” 100th episode seen on TV
http://timstvshowcase.com/miamivic.html
    1990 - Paula Abdul's "Forever Your Girl" became the first album to generate six number-one singles when "Opposites Attract" hit the top of the Billboard chart.
    1991 - Kevin Costner, Donny Osmond, Meryl Streep and Mike Tyson were among dozens of celebrities who gathered in Burbank, California to record a tribute to US troops in the Persian Gulf. The song, "Voices That Care," was composed and produced by Canadian David Foster.
    1992 - The New Kids on the Block filed suit on this date against former producer Gregory McPherson, accusing him of slander. McPherson had publicly accused the group of lip-syncing and said that the young entertainers did on 20 percent of the singing in concerts and on their 1988 hit album, “Hangin' Tough.” McPherson claimed that New Kids manager Maurice Starr and Starr's brother were the real voices. The group's attorney denied his claim. Two months later, McPherson dropped his $21 million suit against Starr.
    1992 - In Indianapolis, former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson was found guilty of rape of an 18-year-old beauty contestant, Desiree Washington. The jury found him guilty on all three counts after deliberating for 9 hours.
    1992 - Noted black author Alex Haley died at age 70 in Seattle of a heart attack. Haley would be best-remembered for his gripping account of African family history spanning two centuries, “Roots,” which was later turned into a wildly successful television miniseries. The eight-part series was aired on consecutive nights and became the most watched show in TV history. Some 130 million people-nearly half the country's population at the time--watched the last episode of the show. Haley's books led to an increased interest in the study of black history and heritage. Haley later spent two decades with the U.S. Coast Guard as a journalist, writing adventure stories to take the edge off his boredom. When he retired, he moved back to New York to pursue a writing career. He interviewed trumpeter Miles Davis and political activist Malcolm X for Playboy in the 1960s and later collaborated with the Black Muslim spokesman to write “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” (1965), an acclaimed work that fueled the black-power movement in America and was cited extensively in institutions of higher learning. Haley then started his best-known work, “Roots: The Saga of an American Family,” published in 1976. The blend of fact and fiction, drawn largely from stories recited by Haley's grandmother, chronicles seven generations of Haley's family history, from the enslavement of his ancestors to his own quest to trace his family tree. To write the mostly nonfiction work, Haley pored over records in the National Archives and went by safari to the African village of Juffure to meet with an oral historian (Haley later donated money to that village for a new mosque). There are those who claim that Haley copied the work from other writers. It was never proven and all lawsuits brought against him were not successful. In the early 1970s, he and his brothers founded the Kinte Foundation, named for Haley's ancestor Kunta Kinte, to collect and preserve African American genealogy records. Haley received special citations from the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award committees in 1977 for “Roots”, which sold more than a million copies in one year. It was translated into 26 languages. Later in his life, Haley wrote a biography of Frank Wills, the security guard who discovered the break-in at the Watergate Hotel that brought down Richard Nixon's presidency.
    1993 - Michael Jackson, in a live TV interview with Oprah Winfrey, said he had an inherited disorder that causes skin pigmentation to fade. He denied altering most of his face but did admit to minor cosmetic surgery. Jackson also said he finds the comfort in children and animals that he missed in a friendless, workaholic childhood. In the wake of Jackson's first solo interview in nearly a decade, sales of his "Dangerous" album, released 14 months earlier, skyrocketed.
    1993 - Mick Jagger marked the release of his "Wandering Spirit" album with an invitation-only gig at a dance club in New York. Most of the material was from his solo effort, but Jagger also performed a couple of Rolling Stones' tunes - "Live With Me" and "Rip This Joint." The concert was beamed to clubs in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and Toronto.
    1994 - A severe ice storm occurred over portions of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Heavy rainfall of over 5 inches in some sections resulted in one of the worst icing in many years for this region. Ice accumulation reached 6 inches in Mississippi, resulting in damage to 3.7 million acres of commercial forestland valued at an estimated $1.3 billion. Over 80,000 utility poles were pulled down by the weight of the ice. Some residents of Mississippi were without power for up to a month. Damage and cleanup costs exceeded $50 million in Arkansas.
    1996 - Canadian country singer Shania Twain drew an estimated crowd of 10,000 to 20,000 fans for an autograph session at the Mall of America in Minneapolis.
    1996 - An IBM computer called Deep Blue made chess history by comfortably beating world champion Garry Kasparov, a machine's first victory under classic tournament rules.
    1997 - Heavyweight Riddick Bowe announced that he had retired from boxing in order to join the US Marines. He had enlisted on January 27 and reported to Parris Island on this date. On February 21, Bowe announced that he had changed his mind and that the Marines had agreed to release him. “He could not,” said the Corps, “handle the regulated lifestyle.” Bowe, 29, married and the father of five, had won the heavyweight championship in 1992 from Evander Holyfield only to surrender it to Holyfield in 1993. In his Marines stint, he endured 36 hours of actual training.
    1998 - AOL raised its monthly flat access rate from $19.95 to $21.95, explaining it needed to upgrade its network to handle the onslaught of people taking advantage of its flat price. The increase was set to go into effect in April, 1998. Eventually seven users could use the dial-up program. DSL and cable brought the internet faster speeds than the AOL dial-up and by the first quarter of 2003, for the first time in its history, AOL began losing more members than it was putting on.
    2008 - The Eagles won a Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "How Long." It was the band's fifth Grammy Award.
    2015 – A disgraced Alex Rodriguez met with owner Hank Steinbrenner, GM Brian Cashman and other members of the Yankees top brass to apologize for his past actions. Before his one-year suspension, which is now over, A-Rod was barely on speaking terms with his employer, and his representatives were routinely threatening to sue. But the meeting seems to have cleared the air: "There was an honest and frank discussion on all of the issues. As far as the Yankees are concerned, the next step is to play baseball in spring training."

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