Archives---January 29, 2001
Inside Advanta Leasing

I was an employee of Advanta about 2.5 years ago, but I still know plenty (one of my best friends) of people that worked there. From what I have heard Advanta thought the sale of their mortgage division was going to net them approximately $300 million, instead Chase Manhattan bought it for $1.5 billion. Upon this news they felt they could shut down their "non-profitable" leasing division as a tax write-off and have plenty of money to give out generous severance packages. On Tuesday (1/23/01) they shut their doors and the employees had no idea. My pal, who worked there for 8 years, was in a state of shock. Advanta called all employees into the cafeteria and told them of the shut down and asked them to leave by 1pm. They are not funding any more transactions, approvals or not. I have heard that when you call there that people are told the employees are still there. That is inaccurate. Only customer service (a skeleton crew) and collections remain. Advanta will be paying their employees through April 17th (very generous), then the severance packages start based on your time of employment. I know people that are essentially paid their base salary through November. In all fairness, Advanta employees did not know of the pending closing, so please take a grain of salt when hearing those rumors. The company may have shut down but many of those people were the best and deserve jobs again in this industry.

Best regards,
Name With Held

----

I just spoke with Michele in the 'funding dept.' at Advanta regarding 1 deal we have approved with them. She indicated that they will accept documents for approved deals thru 2-26-01 for funding for all Brokers. I reached her by calling Bill Beard's old number 800-357-3676, X3718. There are 3 'funding girls' there finalizing the funding of approved Broker deals thru 2-26-01. Please call her to confirm and help resolve your concern.

Good luck. Joel Addiosn 
jaddison@vendorleasing.com
- Vendor Leasing Financial Svcs., Inc.

           +             +             + 

They also confirmed that when they left everyone go on Tuesday they did not have right people retained to process the funding checks. The transactions were ready to fund buy no one was available to sign off on checks. That has been corrected and they expect to have all checks out next week and will fund per the letter.

Also confirmed that everyone was given very generous severance packages.
Sincerely,
Dick 
dclark@dcalease.com

           +           +            + 

FYI...just spoke to a former longtime Advanta ex-employee. Told me that employees were treated very well and given very generous severance packages. It's a departure from what most companies exiting our industry have done.

Rick Wilbur
rick@mediacap.com
Managing Partner
Media Capital Associates, LLC
http://www.mediacap.com
(800) 836-7753 ext. 104

           +           +           + 

I would like to concur with the remarks made by Ted Pritchard of Smokey Mountain Funding, Inc regarding the demise of Advanta. I can't say that I am fully aware of the circumstances that caused their swift exit from the leasing business but will always carry a favorable impression of every employee that I had the pleasure of dealing with. They were competent and congenial (a rare quality) and followed through as promised every time. Hard to believe that there's not a market for a company with those traits.

Frank Latourell 
Director
Rave Financial Services, Inc.
fml@ravefinancial.com

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Funders Looking for New Broker Business
Qualified by Leasing News

To qualify for this list, the company must be a funder (as qualified by Leasing News) and on the “Funder List,”* an acceptable Better Business Bureau Rating and no history of complaints at Leasing News. Also, it is their practice to notify lessees in advance when the lease will end and what the residual will be, specifically not automating extra lease payments, or insisting their discounter follow the same policy. We reserve the right to not list a company who does not meet these qualifications.

There is no advertising fee or charge for a listing. They are “free.” Leasing News makes no endorsement of any of the companies listed, except they have qualified to be on this specific list.

We encourage companies who are listed to contact us for any change or addition they would like to make. We encourage adding further information as an "attachment" or clarification of what they have to offer would be helpful to readers.

Companies who have become licensed in California and require third party originators to be licensed, please notify: kitmenkin@leasingnews.org

Alphabetical list - click on company name to view more details

1st Enterprise Bank Leasing Advantage Funding Agility Solutions Allegheny Valley Bank Leasing  Allstate Leasing American Leasefund, Inc. Bankers Capital  Barrett Capital Corporation Black Rock Capital Boston Financial & Equity Corp. BSB Leasing, Inc. Calfund, LLC Chesapeake Industrial Leasing Co., Inc. Citizens Business Bank

Cobra Capital LLC Dakota Financial  Enverto Investment Group LLC Exchange Bank Leasing (formerly Dumac Leasing) FirstLease, Inc. First Federal Leasing First Midwest Equipment Finance Financial Pacific Leasing Forum Financial Services, Inc. Gonor Funding Lease Corporation of America Madison Capital Manufacturer's Lease Plans, Inc

Maxim Commercial Capital, LLC Mesa Leasing National Equipment Finance NexTier Leasing NFS Leasing, Inc Northwest Leasing Company, Inc P&L Capital Corporation Padco Financial Services Pawnee Leasing Corporation RLC Funding Standard Professional Services, LLC Summit Leasing, Inc. TEAM Funding Solutions TimePayment  Vision Financial Group, Inc.

Alphabetical list - click on company name to view more details

A -Accepts Broker Business | B -Requires Broker be Licensed | C -Sub-Broker Program | D -"Private label Program" | E - Also "in house" salesmen

* Funder List:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Funders_Only/Funders.htm

 

 

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New Hires---Promotions in the Leasing Business
and Related Industries

 

Stephen Diamond was hired as Managing Director at US Capital Partners Inc., San Francisco, California. He remains Chairman of the Board, SelfEcho (November, 2015 – Present); and Senior Advisor Clustered Systems Company (2014 – Present) and Chairman, Advisory Board, BTI Systems, Inc. (2008 – Present). Previously, he was Investor and Chairman of the Board, Rev Software (2013 – 2015); Senior Advisor, QuickFire Networks (2013 – 2015); “"Mr. Diamond has been an investor, board member and strategic advisor to start-ups, growing companies, and venture capital and private equity firms."
(Senior Advisor and Board Member of many other companies, many acquired by other companies; impressive, see his LinkedIn profile. Editor).  Education: Stanford University Graduate School of Business, AEA/Stanford Executive Institute (1992 – 1992). Northeastern University, M.P.A., Public Administration (1981 – 1982). Tufts University, M.S., Environmental Engineering (1980 – 1980). Boston College, A.B., Political Science and Environmental Science (1975 – 1979). Needham High School (1971 – 1975).
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-diamond-7232043

Danny Diss was hired as Experienced Customer Service Representative, Demco Europe Ltd, United Kingdom. Previously, he was Sales & Marketing Executive, Cashflow Bridge Ltd. (June, 2015 – December, 2015); Customer Service, Wren Kitchens (December, 2014 – June, 2015); Technical Service Engineer, Xpert Digital Document Solutions (February, 2014 – November, 2014); Counter Intelligence Agent, Geek Squad UK (February, 2012 – February, 2014); People Development Trainer, Carphone Warehouse (August, 2013 – December, 2013). Education: Kingsmead School (1998 – 2003).
Mathematics, English, Music, Drama, Science, Media. Activities and Societies: Drama Club, Choir.
https://uk.linkedin.com/in/dannydiss

Jason Huff joins King & Spalding Law Office, Charlotte, North Carolina, as Partner. “Huff represents lenders and lessors in all aspects of equipment finance with an emphasis on business aircraft and rail equipment." Previously he was a partner at Moore & Van Allen PLLC (August, 1999 – January, 2016). Education: Wake Forest University School of Law, JD (1997 – 1999); William & Mary BA, English, Government (1989 – 1991); EHS (1984 – 1987).
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-huff-3a522b

Chris Lehnes was hired as Senior Vice President, Business Development Officer, North Mill Capital LLC.  Previously, he was Senior Vice President, Loan Originations Officer, Gibraltar Business Capital (November, 2013 – January, 2016); Business Development Officer, Versant Funding, LLC (September, 2008 – November, 2013); SVP, Director of Strategic Alliances, Ciena Capital (October, 2007 – September, 2008); Vice President of Business Development, CIT Small Business Lending (June, 2000 – September, 2007); AVP Cross Selling, CIT Small Business Lending (December, 1977– June, 2000); Education: Lafayette College, BA, Economics and Business (1988 – 1992). Activities and Societies: Theta Chi Fraternity
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrislehnes

Jon Muller was hires as Director of Platform Participation, Infobrij LLC Group, Irvine, California. He joined Capital Alliance, October, 2009 as Senior Financial Consultant; promoted December, 2014. Previously, he was an Account Executive, Nationwide Business Credit, June, 2005; promoted to Senior Account Executive, May, 2006. Education: California State University-Long Beach, Bachelor's degree, Interpersonal and Organizational Communication (2001 – 2005).Saint Francis High School (1997 – 2001)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonmuller

Todd Nelson was promoted to Regional Manager, US Enterprise South, Cisco Capital; he is based in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. He joined the firm July, 2012 as Financial Solutions Manager. Prior, he was National Account Manager, Macquarie Bank (June, 2009 – June, 2012); Vice President, General Electric (2005 – 2009); Vice President, Comdisco (1995 – 2001). Education: Saint Louis University (1986 – 1990).
https://www.linkedin.com/in/todd-nelson-16706719

Brian Raum was hired a Sr. Vice President, Regional Director at Insight Investments, LLC, Greater Nashville Area. Previously, he was Global Accounts Executive, Hewlett-Packard Financial Services (August, 2009 – December, 2015); Managing Director, Fidelity National Capital (2007 – 2009); Vice President, Technology Finance, GE Capital (2005 – 2007); Vice President, Business Development, US Bank Oliver Allen (2004 – 2005); Regional Sales Director, Compaq Capital/Hewlett Packard Financial Services (September, 1998 – August, 2004); Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Brentwood Credit Corp. (1992 – 1998); Volunteer: Board of Directors, Ladera Ranch Little League, Orange County, CA. Education: Arizona State University. University of California, Santa Barbara (1985 – 1989. Activities and Societies: Scholarship Athlete -Baseball, Sigma Chi Fraternity. Villa Park High School (1983 – 1985).
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-raum-2767543

Dane Smith was hired as Finance Officer for the Fleet Financing Resources, LLC, Riverside, California, Sales Team. "Smith will be responsible for developing new and cultivating existing relationships in the commercial transportation equipment finance arena focusing on both operators and dealers/manufacturers.  Smith joins with more than 20 years of experience in the motor coach and transit services industry.  Most recently, Smith served as Operations Manager for Lin Lines.  Previously, he held key positions with MTA and Sunline Transit."

Patrick "Pat" Steele was hired as Vice President at US Capital Partners Inc., San Francisco, California. He remains Director/Shareholder Relations, Quantified Fund (April, 2014 – Present); Senior Vice President, Bernzott Capital Advisors (2012 – April, 2014); Managing Director, First Republic Bank ("Mr. Steele was Managing Director of First Republic Investment Management, formerly Starbuck, Tisdale & Associates, where he worked for over twenty years.") (1985 – 2008). Education: University of Southern California, Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), English Language and Literature/Letters (1970 – 1974). Activities and Societies: Sigma Chi.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/patsteele1

 

 

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Leasing Industry Ads---Help Wanted
Ascentium/Financial Pacific Commercial

 

Credit Analyst Your Choice, Locate in Either Office: Anaheim,CA; Federal Way, WA; Tigard, OR  $150K -$500k equipment leases, financing (recourse/non-recourse lines of credit)  Requires five or more years of credit underwriting. Work with third party originators, brokers, as well as clients & vendors of Umpqua Bank  Please click here for more information. www.finpac.com A subsidiary of Umpqua Bank

Leasing News puts a "help wanted" on top of the "masthead" so it is the first thing that a reader sees when they open the news edition or go to the website. The ad is changed in each news edition. It is designed to be a "display ad," not a "classified ad." In addition to the masthead position, the "help wanted" ad also appears in the "news briefs" section, the second most-read section, and it is rotated in each news edition. It is not hidden. It is clearly visible. The full section of "help wanted ads” also appears in each news edition, in each edition, as well as appears on the web site. It also is not “hidden.” The idea of the ad is to draw attention, and have the reader interested in what the company offers from the advertisement rather than a "job description." Most ads then direct the reader to their website for a full job description, if interested, or to a separate flyer. The main idea is to get the reader to make an inquiry. Cost Logo on top is free, as well as the web address and information about the address at the bottom. Lines are $595 for the first four and $40 for each additional line or space. The ad will appear for 21 days. For returning advertisers during the year, Leasing News offers 30 days and a reduced rate. Note: most ads point to a full job description as well as click to an email address. kitmenkin@leasingnews.org Leasing News reserves the right to refuse advertising, particularly to a company that has appeared in the complaint bulletin board or evergreen abuse list.

Leasing News Advisor 
Phil Dushey

Philip Dushey
Global Financial Services
1 State Street
New York NY 10004
Email:phil@gbtsinc.com
Phone 212-480-4900
www.globalfinancialtrainingprogram.com
www.globaleasing.com
www.globalchurchfinancing.com

Phil is one of the original founding members of the Leasing News Advisory Board. Phil Dushey has been active in the finance and leasing industry for the over 36 years. His first company was Global Financial Services, which is still active and successful today. Global specializes in all types of financing such as equipment leasing, accounts receivable financing, debt restructuring, and establishing lines of credit. Mr. Dushey feels that to be competitive in today's expanding financial climate a company must be able to service all of his clients needs not just equipment leasing. 

In 1989, Mr. Dushey saw a need for a company that would serve the needs of churches, synagogues, mosques, and other places of worship throughout the country for equipment Leasing. At the time, most financing sources were reticent regarding religious institutions. He then formed Global Church Financing. It continues to be the leading company in providing financing to churches and other religious institutions today.

In 2001, Mr. Dushey fulfilled one of his lifelong dreams and formed Global Financial Training Program. He believes it is the most comprehensive and successful training school in the country to train people who want to enter the finance and leasing business. The program includes everything they need to enter the business. He says he very much enjoys teaching how to make money in the finance industry based on 36 years of experience.

Mr. Dushey is a founding member of the National Association of Equipment Leasing Brokers. He has been a member and speaker at many leasing organizations for several years.

He and his wife Laurie have been married for 46 years, with six grandchildren, three boys and three girls age 8, 10, 12, 16, 18 and 20.

 

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ELFA MLFI-25 Reports U.S. Business Leasing & Finance
Falls Year to Date (Plus 4th Quarter) but no “doom and gloom”

(Leasing News Chart)

Note the 4th Quarter average was $8.7 billion compared to $9.3 billion last year.  This was before the heavy snow weather on the East Coast, not only its costs but business disruption.

Despite the “doom and gloom” by many, it should be noted that ELFA report is quite positive compared to previous years:

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

 The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association's (ELFA) Monthly Leasing and Finance Index (MLFI-25), which reports economic activity from 25 companies representing a cross section of the $1 trillion equipment finance sector, showed their overall new business volume for December was $12.5 billion, down 5 percent from new business volume in December 2014. Volume was up 105 percent from $6.1 billion in November. Cumulative new business volume for 2015 was relatively flat with 2014, rising 0.4 percent.

Receivables over 30 days were 1.1 percent, unchanged from the previous month and up from 0.96 percent in the same period in 2014. Charge-offs were 0.41 percent, up from 0.30 the previous month.

Credit approvals totaled 80.2 percent in December, up from 79.0 percent in November. Total headcount for equipment finance companies was up 3.5 percent year over year.

Separately, the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation's Monthly Confidence Index (MCI-EFI) for January is 54.0, easing from last month's index of 60.2.

MLFI-25 Charts
(Of note: Charge Offs up, Employee numbers down)

 

MLFI-25 New Business Volume (Year Over Year Comparison)
click to make larger

Aging of Receivables:

click to make larger

Average Losses (Charge-offs) as a % of net receivables
(Year Over Year Comparison)

click image to make larger

Credit Approval Ratios As % of all Decisions Submitted
(Year Over Year Comparison)

click image to make larger

Total Number of Employees
(Year Over Year Comparison)

click image to make larger

 

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

 

Devine Jazz Cruise May 6-May 11, 2016
San Francisco to Vancouver on Crystal Serenity

Jeff Rudin invites you to join his leasing friends for the jazz cruise as well as the four golf stops along the way.  Sail with jazz musicians Michael Paulo, Gregg Karukas, Ray Parker Jr., Ira Nepus, David Inamine, Garin Poliahu, and Kiki Ebsen

Golf and Jazz.  If you're a golfer, come join Jeff and play some of the finest courses on the West Coast.

TCP Harding Park - San Francisco, California - May 6th
Washington National Golf Club - Seattle, Washington - May 9
Bear Mountain Resort - Victoria, British Columbia - May 10
Northlands Golf Course - Vancouver, British Columbia - May 11

Golf Opportunity Information:
http://www.leasingnews.org/PDF/GolfOpportunitiesJan2016.pdf

Cruise Information
https://www.divinejazzcruise.com/

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Fernando's View
By Fernando F. Croce

Melancholy animation ("Anomalisa") and a sensitive slice-of-life ("Mustang") make for a gentle box-office in theaters, while DVD releases offer a sci-fi smash ("The Martian"), an unsettling documentary ("The Look of Silence"), and a sultry classic ("Gilda").

In Theaters:

Anomalisa (Paramount Pictures): The Oscar-winning writer behind "Being John Malkovich" and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," Charlie Kaufman chases his obsessive melancholia into another medium with this poignant, visually inventive spot-motion drama. Told entirely using puppets and models, the story charts the emotional ups and downs of a depressed author named Michael (voiced by David Thewlis), who finds himself spending the night at Cincinnati hotel and trying to reconnect with a former girlfriend. When that goes awry, Michael becomes smitten with a shy young woman named Lisa (Jennifer Jason Leigh), and love seems to bloom between the two bruised creatures. But what will the harsh morning bring? Co-directed with Duke Johnson, Kaufman's one-of-a-kind film is a daring, intimate and dreamlike exploration of human loneliness and yearning.

Mustang (Cohen Media Group): One of this year’s Oscar nominees for Best Foreign Language Film, this acclaimed drama directed by Deniz Gamze Erguven takes a sensitive look at life at a remote Turkish village. Following an episodic plotline that’s reminded critics of Sofia Coppola’s “The Virgin Suicides,” the film is a portrait of young Lale (Gunes Sensoy) and her four sisters as they struggle with day-to-day oppression. As they encounter the discoveries of adolescences, the girls also must confront the strictures of society, including arranged marriages and burdensome regulations. Even in the harshest situations, however, the characters’ hope and resilience refuse to dim. Benefiting from bold cultural insight, gentle humor, and strong ensemble performances, Erguven’s film blossoms as an ode to sisterhood and independence that’s universally affecting. With subtitles.

Netflix Tip: : Best known for his role as Snape in the Harry Potter movies, Alan Rickman (1946-2016) brought a rich mix of humor and menace to his often villainous roles. So check out some of his greatest roles, including "Die Hard" (1988), "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" (1991), "Sense and Sensibility" (1995), and "Galaxy Quest" (1999).

On DVD:

The Martian (Fox): No stranger to outer space adventures, director Ridley Scott ("Alien," "Prometheus") rockets once more into the stars with this splendidly crafted science-fiction yarn. Matt Damon stars as Mark Watney, an astronaut who finds himself left behind on the surface of Mars after his mission goes disastrously awry. The spaceship's captain (Jessica Chastain) assumes the worst, though Mark quickly proves his resilience with survival methods that make use of his resourcefulness and sense of humor. But can he stay alive long enough for NASA to rescue him? Making ingenious use of its zero-gravity settings for 3D effects, Scott's film walks a fine line between serious exploration and crowd-pleasing blockbuster, making it a worthy addition to the recent slew of solid sci-fi efforts that includes "Gravity" and "Interstellar."

The Look of Silence (Cinedigm): One of the most unique, controversial documentaries in years, 2012's "The Act of Killing" shone an unsettling light on former death-squad members in current-day Indonesia. In this even more remarkable follow-up, director director Joshua Oppenheimer delves deeper into a country's horrors by switching the focus to its victims. While the previous picture gave the stage to assassins who chillingly bragged about their crimes as if they were heroes, the new one heads in the opposite director and focuses on the families of the people killed by them. Accompanying the relatives as they confront the aged culprits, Oppenheimer's camera becomes a sort of instrument of exorcism, helping them face the monstrous ghosts of brutality and oppression. As compelling as it is often difficult to watch, the film lacerates as an extraordinary political and moral document.

Gilda (Criterion): Rita Hayworth became one of the screen's most indelible bombshells in this sultry 1946 drama, receiving now the gilded Criterion treatment. Set in Argentina, the story starts with an American gambler named Johnny Farrell (Glenn Ford) getting caught for cheating but managing to turn trouble into opportunity by being hired as part of a casino staff. Mundson (George Macready), the casino owner, soon reveals shady dealings with German agents, but Johnny is more interested in his boss' breathtaking wife Gilda (Hayworth), who was once his sweetheart. As the intrigue escalates, their relationship grows more passionate and dangerous. Directed by Charles Vidor, the film combines noir action with scorching romance, with Hayworth's "Put the Blame on Mame" number an unforgettable, star-making highlight.

Basenji/Mix
Voorhees, New Jersey  Adopt-a-Dog

Blue
Breed: Basenji/Mix
Age: 3 years 3 months 14 days
Sex:  Female
Size:  Medium
Color:  Tan/Black
Spayed
Declawed:  No
Site: Voorhees Animal Orphanage
Location:  Dog Kennels
ARN: 31270

“Blue is a beauty inside and out. She is a petite Basenji mixed breed who is about 3 years old. She is a calm, loving dog who enjoys the company of people. She listens well and walks nice on a leash too. Blue would love a calmer home environment with adults or older children. She likes to bask in the sun and just hang out with her family. If you are looking for a calm, medium sized dog to give your love to, please stop in and meet Blue. She is waiting for you and is very deserving of a second chance! Blue was surrendered to a local overcrowded shelter and we were able to transfer her, hoping she'll find her forever family. Thank you."

Voorhees Animal Orphanage
419 Cooper Road
Voorhees, NJ 08043
856-627-9111
Contact Form:
http://www.vaonj.org/contact/
•info@vaonj.org

Open to the Public
Monday – Friday: 12PM – 7 PM
Saturday & Sunday: 12 PM – 5 PM

The shelter is closed to the public on the
second Wednesday of every month.

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

 

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Women in Leasing LinkedIn Group Luncheon
to Meet in New Orleans, March 2nd

The Women in Leasing LinkedIn Group would like to cordially invite you to our March luncheon at Tableau in New Orleans, on Wednesday March 2nd from 1:00pm – 3:00pm. The lunch is being co-hosted by ECS Financial Services and Financial Pacific Leasing, an Umpqua Bank company.

If you would like to attend please RSVP by February 10th to Shari Lipski at 847.897.1711 or via email SLipski@ECSFinancial.com.

If you plan on attending the 2016 NEFA Finance Summit, the restaurant is less than a mile from the hotel. ….And thinking dessert will be at world famous Café Du Monde ….so you will be able to walk off the calories!

Thank you in advance and we hope you can make it

Sincerely,
Shari L. Lipski, CLFP
ECS Financial Services, Inc. 

 

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

 

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Leasing Conferences
Save the Date 

 

---

March 3 - March 4
National Equipment Finance Summit
Hotel Monteleone
214 Rue Royale
New Orleans, Louisiana  70130

Agenda

Exhibitors

Speakers

Signed Up to Attend

Registration and Pricing

The Women in Leasing LinkedIn Group would like to cordially invite you to our March luncheon at Tableau in New Orleans, on Wednesday March 2nd from 1:00pm – 3:00pm. The lunch is being co-hosted by ECS Financial Services and Financial Pacific Leasing, an Umpqua Bank company.

If you would like to attend please RSVP by February 10th to Shari Lipski at 847.897.1711 or via email SLipski@ECSFinancial.com.

The restaurant is less than a mile from the hotel. ….And thinking dessert will be at world famous Café Du Monde ….so you will be able to walk off the calories!

Sincerely,
Shari L. Lipski, CLFP
ECS Financial Services, Inc

---

 

March 22
14th Annual IMN/ELFA
Investors Conference
Union League Club
New York, New York

Agenda

Registration

Description

---

 

 

April 19 - 21
28th Annual National Funding Conference
Siwssotel Chicago
Chicago, Illinois

Brochure

Schedule

Pricing

---

 

April 28 – April 30, 2016
2016 Annual Conference
25th Anniversary
Tropicana Las Vegas
Las Vegas, NV

Program, Registration, Conference  Fee, Hotel

---

 

May 4 - May 6
36h Annual AGLF Conference
Omni Charlotte Hotel
Charlotte, North Carolina

 

---

 

September 16-17, 2016
2016 Eastern Regional Meeting
Cincinnati Airport Marriott
Hebron, KY
Conference Chair:
Rodny Blecha, Precision Leasing

 

October 23 -25th
2016  55th Annual Conference
Palm Desert Springs
Palm Desert, California

November 11-12, 2016
2016 Western Regional Meeting
Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Anaheim-Orange County
Orange, CA

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

News Briefs---

OnDeck Crashes As Online Lending Sector Struggles
Seeking Alpha Report
http://seekingalpha.com/article/3779546-ondeck-crashes-as-online-lending-sector-struggles

Ready to refi? Mortgage rates sink to their lowest since October
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/mortgages/mortgage-analysis-012816.aspx?ic_id=TopImg_Financial%20News%20Center_link_1

Bank of America is going big on blockchain
  What is it and Why?
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/01/28/bank-of-america-is-going-big-on-blockchain-plans-to-file-20-patents.html

Apple Pay Is Coming To ATMs from Bank of America and Wells Fargo
http://techcrunch.com/2016/01/28/apple-pay-atm/#.ljjbw2m:0i2n

Volkswagen Says a Diesel Fix May Not Be Possible for Some Cars
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/29/business/international/volkswagen-says-a-diesel-fix-may-not-be-possible-for-some-cars.html?_r=0

Amid denials in Flint, Michigan
 State workers in Flint got clean water
http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/flint-water-crisis/2016/01/28/amid-denials-state-workers-flint-got-clean-water/79470650/

After 2015 Surge, Housing Market Faces Bumpy Road Ahead
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-01-27/housing-market-surges-in-2015-but-faces-bumpy-road-ahead

George Clooney adopts another rescue dog
  For his mother
http://blog.sfgate.com/dailydish/2016/01/28/george-clooney-adopts-another-rescue-dog/

Altera announced the results of the 5G Algorithm Innovation Competition
http://en.ctimes.com.tw/DispNews.asp?O=HK01R71Z2ZASAA00ND

 

Credit Analyst Your Choice, Locate in Either Office: Anaheim,CA; Federal Way, WA; Tigard, OR  $150K -$500k equipment leases, financing (recourse/non-recourse lines of credit)  Requires five or more years of credit underwriting. Work with third party originators, brokers, as well as clients & vendors of Umpqua Bank  Please click here for more information. www.finpac.com A subsidiary of Umpqua Bank

[headlines]
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--You May Have Missed It

Orders for U.S. Business Equipment Drop
by Most in 10 Months
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-28/orders-for-u-s-business-equipment-decreased-4-3-in-december

[headlines]
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SparkPeople--Live Healthier and Longer

The Frequent Traveler's Guide to Staying Healthy
Maintain Your Diet and Fitness Routine away from Home
http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/wellness_articles.asp?id=1691

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Football Poem

A first grade teacher explains to her class that she is a Carolina Panthers fan. She asks her students to raise their hands if they are Saints fans, too. Not really knowing what a Carolina Panther’s fan was, but wanting to be liked by their teacher, their hands flew into the air.

There is, however, one exception. Susie has not gone along with the crowd. The teacher asks her why she has decided to be different. "Because I'm not a Panther’s fan" she reports.

"Then," asks the teacher, "What are you?"

"I'm a Denver Bronco’s fan," boasts the little girl. The teacher asks Susie why she is a Colts fan. "Well, my Dad and Mom are Bronco fans, so I'm a Bronco fan, too" she responds.

"That's no reason," the teacher says. "What if your mom was a moron, and your dad was an idiot. What would you be then?"

Susie smiles and says, "Then I'd be a Carolina Panther’s fan."

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Sports Briefs----

Super Bowl Winners
http://www.topendsports.com/events/super-bowl/winners-list.htm

Raiders owner Mark Davis to meet with Las Vegas magnate
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/14669152/oakland-raiders-owner-mark-davis-meet-las-vegas-officials-regarding-potential-stadium-sites

 

[headlines]
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California Nuts Briefs---

Water fill means big Folsom Dam spillway project hits milestone
http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article56678118.html#emlnl=Morning_Newsletter

Thomas Keller finally issues response to Per Se’s
   2-star drop by New York Times
http://insidescoopsf.sfgate.com/blog/2016/01/28/thomas-keller-finally-issues-response-to-per-ses-2-star-drop-by-new-york-times/

 

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

 

[headlines]
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“Gimme that Wine”

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

Sagemoor purchases Gamache Vineyards
http://www.greatnorthwestwine.com/2016/01/27/sagemoor-purchases-gamache-vineyards/

Premier Cru: Bankruptcy proceedings begin
  in Berkeley wine scandal
http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_29440136/premier-cru-bankruptcy-proceedings-begin-berkeley-wine-scandal

Fred Franzia takes on banks, grape growers and academia
  in lively talk at Unified Wine & Grape Symposium
http://www.winesandvines.com/template.cfm?
section=news&content=163823

Free Mobile Wine Program
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Feb2010/2_26.htm#mobile

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

US/International Wine Events
http://www.localwineevents.com/

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

     1737 - Thomas Paine (d. 1809), was born in Thetford, England.  American Revolutionary leader, a corset-maker by trade, author of “Common Sense”, “The Age of Reason”, “Rights of Man”, and many other influential works. "These are the times that try men's souls" are the well-known opening words of his inspirational tract, “The Crisis”, which holds the records for the most widely-read publication in American History and was a major influence on the American Revolution. Paine also is known for proposing the government subsidy of steamboat building in America that opened commerce and the great expansion of the country. In 1819, 10 years after his death, his remains were moved to England by William Cobbett for reburial there. Reburial was refused, however, and the location of Paine's bones, said to have been distributed, is unknown.
    1780 - On the coldest morning of one of the most severe winters of record in the northeast, the mercury dipped to 16 degrees below zero at New York City, and reached 20 degrees below zero at Hartford, CT. New York harbor was frozen for 5 weeks, allowing the British to transport a heavy cannon across the ice to help fortify Staten Island.
    1802 - John Beckley became the first Librarian of Congress with the starting salary of $2 a day. He served until his death on April 8, 1807. The first library catalog, dated April, 1802, listed 964 volumes and nine maps. Until 1815, when George Watterston was appointed, the librarians were also the clerks of the House of Representatives.
    1834 - Federal Troops Quell the First Labor Dispute.  The banks of the Potomac River erupted in violence as workers on the then-unfinished Chesapeake and Ohio Canal rioted after a planned strike was brutally extinguished. Never exactly a fast friend of indecision or conciliatory action, President Andrew Jackson swiftly called on Secretary of War Lewis Cass to send Federal troops in to quell the workers. While this was an eventful moment for the nation—it marked the first, though hardly the last time Federal troops were deployed to settle a labor "dispute"—it was just another roadblock in the troubled history of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. Originally conceived as a transit and trade friendly route between the Midwest and Atlantic seaports, the canal was periodically delayed by fiscal woes, stiff competition from the Erie Canal and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. When construction began in 1828, the canal was designed to reach Pittsburgh. By the time the project was abandoned in 1850, the waterway reached Cumberland, MD. Flooding forced the closing of the canal in 1924; it was bought by the U.S. government in 1938 and transformed into a national historic park in 1971.
    1843 - Birthday of William McKinley, 25th president of the US (1897-1901), at Niles, OH. For the third time in the nation's history, a president was assassinated. On September 6, President McKinley was visiting the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. While greeting visitors he was shot twice in the abdomen by a young anarchist, Leon Czolgosz, who was carrying a concealed piston in a handkerchief. Vice-President Theodore Roosevelt, not quite 43 years old, became the youngest person to hold the presidential office. Ironically, according to historians, Conservative Republicans had elected McKinley, but to keep what they considered "too liberal" New York Theodore Roosevelt "in line," plus gather votes, they choose him to fill what they considered a "harmless post." This was a period of muckraking journalists such as Frank Norris and Lincoln Steffens exposing the corruption in government and government controlled industries such as wheat, railroad tariffs and land acquisition. "The Octopus", published this year by Norris, dealt with the struggles of farmers in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Forty years later John Steinbeck was to continue the saga, “Grapes of Wrath.”
    1845 - "The Raven" is published. Edgar Allan Poe's famous poem beginning "Once upon a midnight dreary," is published in the New York Evening Mirror. Poe's dark and macabre work reflected his own tumultuous and difficult life. Born in Boston in 1809, Poe was orphaned at age three and went to live with the family of a Richmond, Virginia businessman. Poe enrolled in a military academy but was expelled for gambling. He later studied briefly at the University of Virginia. In 1827, Poe self-published a collection of poems. Six years later, his short story "MS Found in a Bottle" won $50 in a story contest. He edited a series of literary journals, including the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond starting in 1835, and Burton's Gentleman's Magazine in Philadelphia, starting in 1839. Poe's excessive drinking got him fired from several positions. His macabre work, often portraying motiveless crimes and intolerable guilt that induced growing mania in his characters, was a significant influence on such European writers as Charles Baudelaire, Stephane Mallarme, and even Dostoyevsky.
    1847 - The 500 men of the US Mormon Battalion, along with 50 women and children, arrived at San Diego, CA. Having marched 2,000 miles since leaving Council Bluffs, Iowa on July 16, 1846, to fight in the war against Mexico, it was the longest march in modern military history. In the course of their trek, they established the first wagon route from Sante Fe to Southern California. Their arrival is commemorated each year with a military parade in San Diego’s Old Town.  
    1850 – Henry Clay introduced the Compromise of 1850 to Congress.  A package of five separate bills passed in September 1850, which defused a four-year political confrontation between slave and free states regarding the status of territories acquired during the Mexican-American War.  Texas surrendered its claim to New Mexico and its claims north of the Missouri Compromise line. It retained the Texas Panhandle and the federal government took over the state's public debt.  California was admitted as a free state with its current boundaries.  The South prevented adoption of the Wilmot Proviso that would have outlawed slavery in the new territories, and the new Utah and New Mexico territories were allowed, under the principle of popular sovereignty, to decide whether to allow slavery within their borders. In practice, these lands were generally unsuited to plantation agriculture and their settlers were uninterested in slavery.  The slave trade (but not slavery altogether) was banned in the District of Columbia.
    1861 - Kansas became the 34th state. Known as the Sunflower State, the capital is Topeka. Kansas, the Jayhawk State, is named so because before and during the War Between the States, guerillas in the antislavery camp ... known as jayhawkers ... were extremely active in the Kansas territory. The pro- and anti-slavery groups fought such vicious battles that the state was referred to as ‘Bleeding Kansas’.  Trouble in territorial Kansas began with the signing of the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act by President Franklin Pierce. The act stipulated that settlers in the newly created territories of Nebraska and Kansas would decide by popular vote whether their territory would be free or slave. In early 1855, Kansas’ first election proved a violent affair as over 5,000 Border Ruffians invaded the territory from western Missouri and forced the election of a pro-slavery legislature. The territory’s admittance into the Union in January of 1861 only increased tension, but, just three-and-a-half-months later, the irrepressible differences in Kansas were swallowed up by the full-scale outbreak of the American Civil War. During the Civil War, Kansas suffered the highest rate of fatal casualties of any Union state, largely due to its great internal divisions over the issue of slavery.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jan29.html
    1861 - Linus Yale, Jr. gets a patent for his invention of a pin-tumbler cylinder. The pin-tumbler cylinder lock with a thin, flat key, still the basis for many combination locks today, was the most successful of Yale’s many lock inventions, which included the first dial combination bank lock and a double bank lock that required two keys to open.
    1863 - Bear Hunter, leader of a Shoshone band, and 224 others were massacred in village on Bear River near Great Salt Lake, Utah.
http://www.utahhistorytogo.org/brmassacre.html
    1856 - Light earthquake felt at the Mission Dolores in San Francisco.
    1872 - African-American Francis L Cardoza was elected State Treasurer of South Carolina. He served until 1876 when his enemies accused him of taking money, but he was found not guilty. He later served as a teacher at Howard University, received a law degree and served on several boards. In his later life, he was principal of a high school.
http://vi.uh.edu/pages/mintz/43.htm
http://stills.nap.edu/btw/Vol.3/html/118.html
    1877 – A highly partisan Electoral Commission, made up of eight Republicans and seven Democrats, was established by Congress to settle the election of Democrat Samuel Tilden for President against Republican Rutherford B. Hayes. Under the terms of the Tilden-Hayes Election Compromise, Hayes became President and the Republicans agreed to remove the last Federal troops from Southern territory, ending Reconstruction. On election night, 1876, it was clear that Tilden had won the popular vote, but it was also clear that votes in Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina and Oregon were fraudulent because of voter intimidation. Republicans knew that if the electoral votes from these four states were thrown out, Hayes would win. The country hovered near civil war as both Democrats and Republicans claimed victory. Illustrator Thomas Nast drew his cartoon, ”Tilden or Blood,” showing the Democrats threatening violence.
    1879 - Custer Battlefield National Monument, Montana established
http://www.nps.gov/libi/
http://visitmt.com/categories/moreinfo.asp?IDRRecordID=3124&SiteID=1
    1880 - Birthday of W.C. Fields (d .1946), born Claude William Dukenfeld at Philadelphia, PA.  Stage and motion picture actor (“My Little Chickadee”), screen writer and expert juggler. He wrote his own epitaph: “On the whole, I’d rather be in Philadelphia.”
    1896 - United States physician Emile Grubbe became the first to use radiation treatment for breast cancer on his patient, Rose Lee of Chicago.
    1889 - 6,000 railway workers strike for union and end of 18-hour day.
http://historytogo.utah.gov/rrstrike.html
    1891 - Following the death of her brother, King Kalakaua, Liliuokalani is proclaimed the last monarch of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaii, first settled by Polynesian voyagers sometime in the eighth century, saw a massive influx of American settlers during the nineteenth century, most coming to exploit Hawaii’s burgeoning sugar industry. In 1887, under pressure from US investors and American sugar planters, King Kalakaua agreed to a new constitution that stripped him of much of his power. However, in 1891, Liliuokalani ascended to the throne and refused to recognize the constitution of 1887, replacing it instead with a constitution that restored the monarchy’s traditional authority. Two years later, a revolutionary "Committee of Safety," organized by Sanford B. Dole, a Hawaiian-born American, staged a coup against Queen Liliuokalani with the support of US Minister John Stevens and a division of US marines. On February 1, 1893, Stevens recognized Dole’s new government on his own authority and proclaimed Hawaii a US protectorate.
    1900 - In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the American Baseball League was organized. The Philadelphia Athletics, owned by Connie Mack, were original members of the league. Mack would manage the team for fifty years.  There were eight charter teams in 1901, the league's first year as a Major League. These franchises constituted the league for 52 seasons, until the St. Louis Browns moved to Baltimore and took up the name Orioles. All eight original franchises remain in the American League, although only four remain in the original cities (Detroit, Chicago, Boston, and Cleveland). The eight original teams and their counterparts in the "Classic Eight" were:

• Baltimore Orioles (went bankrupt and became defunct after 1902 season), were sold and moved to New York in 1903 and became the Highlanders.  In 1913, they were sold again and renamed the New York Yankees.
• Boston Americans (became the Red Sox in 1908)
• Chicago White Stockings (became the White Sox in 1903)
• Cleveland Blues (became the Indians in 1915)
• Detroit Tigers (name and locale unchanged from 1894 forward)
• Milwaukee Brewers (became the St. Louis Browns in 1902, moved to Baltimore in 1954 and took the Orioles name.)
• Philadelphia Athletics (were sold and moved to Kansas City in 1955 and moved to Oakland in 1968, still the Athletics)
• Washington Senators (moved to Minnesota and became the Twins in 1960)

    1901 - Birthday of Allen DuMont (d. 1965). In 1946, DuMont founded the first television network to be licensed, the DuMont Television Network, initially by linking station WABD (named for DuMont) in NYC to station W3XWT, which later became WTTG, in Washington, DC (WTTG was named for Dr. Thomas T. Goldsmith, DuMont's Vice President of Research, and his best friend.) In 1915, DuMont became the youngest American to obtain a first class commercial radio operator's license at age 14. My father worked for Dr. Dumont in the late 1940’s as a TV writer-producer for “Harlem Detective,” “Captain Video,” “Hands of Mystery.” I used to put “exploding” practical joke in his cigars, and one day at a board meeting, he gave one to Dr. Dumont, who lit it up. My father used to tell me this story often, as Dr. DuMont thought it was very funny and that my father had done it on purpose. Allen DuMont perfected the cathode-ray tube and manufactured the first commercially available television sets. Brooklyn-born DuMont worked as chief engineer at De Forest Radio Company until 1931, when his interest in television led him to start his own company, DuMont Laboratories. In 1937, he offered his television receivers for sale and set up experimental broadcasting stations. DuMont continued to shape the television industry. He helped formulate broadcast standards for black and white--and later, color--television, and he worked with the FCC to allocate frequencies for television channels.  DuMont's successes in television picture tubes, TV sets and components and his involvement in commercial TV broadcasting made him the first millionaire in the business.  http://xoteria.com/DUMONT.html      
    1904 – Letters for athletic competition were awarded for the first time, by the University of Chicago.
    1912 - In Lawrence, Massachusetts, textile companies were angered when, in 1911, state law reduced the workweek for women and children from 56 to 54 hours. They retaliated by increasing the workload, but not the wages. The workers responded with a massive strike. Workers had been averaging $8.76 for a 56-hour work week when a state law made 54 hours the maximum for women and for minors under 18. The companies reduced all hours to 54 but refused to raise wage rates to make up for the average loss of 31 cents per week suffered by each worker because of the reduction in hours. This caused the walkout which rocked the great New England textile industry. Under the aggressive leadership of the Industrial Workers of the World, the strike became front-page news throughout the country. Over twenty thousand men, women and children won concessions by staying out of work for ten weeks. A song “Bread and Roses” became popular with the strikers, actually becoming a “marching song” and the rallying cry of the strike. The strikers--largely Russian Jewish, Eastern European and southern Italian immigrants, although 54 languages were spoken in the mills--learned the art of mass protest. Forming a human chain, they took over the main streets of Lawrence on Jan. 29. After failed attempts to disperse strikers by dousing them with water in the freezing January cold, officers fired into the crowd. A young Italian woman, Anna LoPizzo, was killed. News reports from the time focused on predictions about the "ascendancy of white-skinned races" in Lawrence. They promised that illiterate immigrants couldn't possibly organize themselves on their own. The strikers, running out of food and money, decided to adopt a European tactic, of sending their children to stay with families outside the city. Four hundred letters were received from New York City who wanted the children, and on February 10, over 100 aged 4 to 14 were sent. They were greeted at Grand Central Station by 5,000 Italian socialists singing the "Marseillaise" and the "Internationale". The following week another 100 came to NY and 35 to Barre, Vt. It was becoming clear: if the children were taken care of, the strikers would stay out, for their spirit was high. The city officials in Lawrence, citing a statute on child neglect, said no more children would be permitted to leave.
Despite the city edict, a group of 40 children assembled on February 24 to go to Philadelphia. The railroad station was filled with police and the scene that followed was described to Congressmen by a member of the Women's Committee of Philadelphia: "When the time approached to depart, the children arranged in a long line, two by two, in orderly procession, with their parents near at hand, were about to make their way to the train when police closed in on us with their clubs, beating right and left, with no thought of the children, who were in the most desperate danger of being trampled to death. The mothers and children were thus hurled in a mass and bodily dragged to a military truck, and even then clubbed, irrespective of the cries of the panic-stricken women & children..." After ten weeks, the strikers won important concessions from the woolen companies, not only for themselves but also for 250,000 textile workers throughout New England. During one of the many parades conducted by the strikers, some young girls carried a banner with the slogan: "We want bread and roses too." This inspired James Oppenheim to write his poem, "Bread and Roses," which was set to music by Caroline Kohlsaat, There is also an Italian song with the same title, "Pan e Rose," written by the Italian-American poet Arturo Giovannitti which is used by the Italian Dressmakers' Local 89 of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.
http://www.metroactive.com/papers/cruz/03.10.99/women3-9910.html
http://www.laborheritage.org/iall-ma.html
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAettor.htm
http://1912.history.ohio-state.edu/labor/FirstDays.htm
http://www.fortunecity.com/tinpan/parton/2/breadrose.html
    1919 - 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. The amendment prohibited the manufacture, sale and transportation of alcoholic beverages. Its enforcement was authorized by the National Prohibition Enforcement Act, otherwise known as the Volstead Act on 28 October 1919. The Coast Guard had been tasked with the prevention of the maritime importation of illegal alcohol. This led to the largest increase in the size and responsibilities of the service to date.
    1920 – Walt Disney started his first job.  He was an artist for $40 a week with Kansas City Slide Co.
    1921 - The great "Olympic Blowdown" commenced in the Pacific Northwest as a small but intense windstorm funneled along the mountains and downed vast expanses of Douglas fir trees. 8 billion board feet of timber was destroyed. Winds at North Head, WA gusted as high as 113 mph.
    1923 – Birthday of film and TV writer Paddy Chayevsky (d. 1981), in The Bronx, New York. He eventually made a name for himself writing radio and teleplays, one of which became 1955's “Marty”, a touching tale of a homely butcher and lonely schoolteacher that won Chayefsky his first Oscar. His first credit was 1951's “As Young As You Feel”, which was adapted from his story. Dividing his work between Hollywood and Broadway over the next two decades, Chayefsky penned a series of acerbic works that were often heavy on social commentary, like “The Bachelor Party” (1957), the Marilyn Monroe-inspired “The Goddess” (1958), “The Hospital” (1971), which won him his second Oscar, and “Network” (1976), which brought in a third. He also adapted such films as “The Americanization of Emily” (1964) and “Paint Your Wagon” (1969). Chayefsky's last film was the Ken Russell extravaganza “Altered States” (1980). The director's decision to have the actors deliver Chayefsky's dialogue in breathless, rapid-fire manner so infuriated the author that he had his name withdrawn from the credits. He did a teleplay called "The Man Who Loved Dickens," based on a section of Evelyn Waugh's “A Handful of Dust”, about an illiterate man in a South American jungle who holds a lost explorer captive so the latter can read Dickens to him.
http://us.imdb.com/Name?Chayefsky,+Paddy
http://www.turnerclassicmovies.com/ThisMonth/Article/
0,,1180|1181|1185,00.htm
    1924 - Carl Rutherford Taylor of Cleveland, OH, obtained a patent for his invention of an ice cream cone rolling machine. It was a “machine for spinning or turning a waffle”, enabling ice cream cones
to become very popular.
    1926 - The first African-American female lawyer admitted to practice before the Supreme Court was Violette Anderson of Chicago, Illinois.
    1928 - Birthday of vocalist Joan Shaw, born Salena Jones, Newport News, VA.
http://www.officepark.co.uk/salena-jones/biog2.htm
    1929 - Seeing Eye guide dog organization forms.  The first guide dog training schools were established in Germany during World War I to enhance the mobility of returning veterans who were blinded in combat.  Interest in guide dogs outside of Germany did not become widespread until Dorothy Harrison Eustis, an American dog breeder living in Switzerland, wrote a first-hand account about a guide dog training school in Potsdam, Germany, that was published in “The Saturday Evening Post” in 1927. Earlier that same year, U.S. Sen. Thomas Schall of Minnesota was paired with a guide dog imported from Germany but the guide dog movement did not take hold in America until Nashville resident Morris frank returned from Switzerland after being trained with one of Eustis's dogs, a female German shepherd named Buddy. Frank and Buddy embarked on a publicity tour to convince Americans of the abilities of guide dogs and the need to allow people with guide dogs access to public transportation, hotels, and other areas open to the public. In 1929, Eustis and Frank co-founded The Seeing Eye” in Nashville (relocated in 1931 to Morristown, NJ).
http://www.seeingeye.org/AboutUs.asp
    1929 - Glen “Fireball” Roberts (d. 1964), auto racer, born at Daytona Beach, FL. Roberts was one of the most popular stock car racers in NASCAR history. He won 35 races in 206 starts from 1950 to 1964 when he was fatally injured in a fiery crash at the World 600 in Charlotte.
    1929 - Drummer Ed Shaughnessy (d. 2013) birthday, Jersey City.  Swing and bebop drummer best known for his long association with Doc Severinsen and The Tonight Show Band on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.”
http://www.angelfire.com/mac/keepitlive/drummers/ed.htm
http://www.promark-stix.com/ss/artists/EdS.html
    1934 - As a result of a compliment from Walter Winchell's newspaper column, a local disc jockey began getting offers from talent scouts and producers. The DJ became known as Redhead, to those in Washington, DC and later, by millions across the United States on CBS radio and television. His trademark, strumming a ukulele and delivering down-home talk, endeared him to fans. His name was Arthur Godfrey. He became more famous on TV in the 1950's, often broadcasting from Hawaii.
    1936 – The first inductees to the National Baseball Hall of fame were announced:  Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, and Honus Wagner.
    1937 - Tommy Dorsey records “Marie, Song of India”, NYC. (Victor 2555523)
    1939 - Birthday of singer Jeanne Lee, New York City, died October 24, 2000
http://www.nprjazz.org/programs/jeannelee.html
http://users.erols.com/eye/jeannelee.html
http://www.edmicheljazzproducer.com/jeanne_lee.htm
    1943 - Ruth Cheney Streeter became the first woman to reach the rank of major with the U.S. Marines. She became a lieutenant colonel in 1943 and a full colonel in 1944.
    1944 - No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: “My Heart Tells Me,'' Glen Gray Orchestra.
    1945 - Birthday of Tom Selleck, TV actor in "Blue Bloods," "Magnum, P.I.", Detroit.
    1946 - FUNK, LEONARD A., JR. Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: First Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company C, 508th Parachute Infantry, 82d Airborne Division. Place and date: Holzheim, Belgium, 29 January 1945. Entered service at: Wilkinsburg, Pa. Birth: Braddock Township, Pa. G.O. No.: 75, 5 September 1945. Citation: He distinguished himself by gallant, intrepid actions against the enemy. After advancing 15 miles in a driving snowstorm, the American force prepared to attack through waist-deep drifts. The company executive officer became a casualty, and 1st Sgt. Funk immediately assumed his duties, forming headquarters soldiers into a combat unit for an assault in the face of direct artillery shelling and harassing fire from the right flank. Under his skillful and courageous leadership, this miscellaneous group and the 3d Platoon attacked 15 houses, cleared them, and took 30 prisoners without suffering a casualty. The fierce drive of Company C quickly overran Holzheim, netting some 80 prisoners, who were placed under a 4-man guard, all that could be spared, while the rest of the under strength unit went about mopping up isolated points of resistance. An enemy patrol, by means of a ruse, succeeded in capturing the guards and freeing the prisoners, and had begun preparations to attack Company C from the rear when 1st Sgt. Funk walked around the building and into their midst. He was ordered to surrender by a German officer who pushed a machine pistol into his stomach. Although overwhelmingly outnumbered and facing almost certain death, 1st Sgt. Funk, pretending to comply with the order, began slowly to unsling his submachine gun from his shoulder and then, with lightning motion, brought the muzzle into line and riddled the German officer. He turned upon the other Germans, firing and shouting to the other Americans to seize the enemy's weapons. In the ensuing fight 21 Germans were killed, many wounded, and the remainder captured. 1st Sgt. Funk's bold action and heroic disregard for his own safety were directly responsible for the recapture of a vastly superior enemy force, which, if allowed to remain free, could have taken the widespread units of Company C by surprise and endangered the entire attack plan.
    1947 - Herbie Fields records “Dardanella” (Victor 20-2274)
    1947 - Arthur Miller's "All My Sons" premieres in New York City.
http://www.shunsley.eril.net/armoore/gcse/allmysons.htm
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0783226721/inktomi-videoasin-20/002-1241397-9042458
    1949 - Top Hits
“A Little Bird Told Me” - Evelyn Knight
“Far Away Places” - Margaret Whiting
“Buttons and Bows” - Dinah Shore
I Love You So Much It Hurts - Jimmy Wakely
    1950 - Heavyweight Jack Dempsey was voted the greatest boxer of the first half of the 20th century in a poll of sportswriters and broadcasters conducted by the Associated Press. Dempsey polled 251 votes to runner-up Joe Louis’s 104.
    1954 - Birthday of Oprah Winfrey, Kosciusko, MS.  America's most popular TV talk show host who garnered an Academy Award nomination for her startlingly marvelous depiction in the movie “The Color Purple” (1985).   “The Oprah Winfrey Show” was the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011.  The series finale aired on May 25, 2011, after which she started The Oprah Winfrey Network. Dubbed the "Queen of All Media", she has been ranked the richest African-American of the 20th century, the greatest black philanthropist in American history, and is currently (2015) North America's only black billionaire. Several assessments regard her as the most influential woman in the world and others credit her support of Obama’s candidacy with delivering over 1 million votes.  In 2013, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of freedom by President Obama and honorary doctorate degrees from Duke and Harvard.
    1955 – John Williams Cox bought Yankee Stadium and sold the land to the Knights of Columbus.  In 1962, he left the structure to his alma mater, Rice University.   In 1971, in preparation for a wholesale remodeling of the ballpark, New York City, under Mayor John Lindsay, threatened eminent domain, forcing Rice to sell the ballpark to the city for $2.5 million.
    1957 - Top Hits
“Singing the Blues” - Guy Mitchell
“Don’t Forbid Me” - _Pat Boone
“Jamaica Farewell” - Harry Belafonte
“Singing the Blues” - Marty Robbins
    1958 - Paul Newman marries Joanne Woodward, creating one of the most enduring of Hollywood marriages. The couple became politically active, lobbying for liberal causes and supporting Democratic candidates. Newman was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to serve on a United Nations Conference on Nuclear Disarmament. In the 1980s, Newman launched a line of food products as “Newman’s Own”, including salad dressing and pasta sauce, donating the profits to charity. (The salad dressing is my favorite). Both Newman and Woodward have won Academy Awards: Woodward in 1957 for “The Three Faces of Eve”, and Newman in 1986 for “The Color of Money”.  Newman died in 2008.
    1958 - Challenge Records releases "Tequila" backed with "Train to Nowhere" by the Champs. The A side will make it to Number One in mid-March. One other note...the Champs included Jim Seals and Dash Croft, later to become Seals and Crofts. Glen Campbell later joined the Champs
but it was after the record was made.
    1958 – Dodgers’ 3-time MVP catcher, Roy Campanella, suffered a broken neck in an early morning auto accident on Long Island.  Campanella lived in Glen Cove while operating a liquor store in Harlem. After closing the store for the night, he began his drive to his home. En route, his car hit a patch of ice at an S-curve, skidded into a telephone pole, and overturned. Campanella was paralyzed for the remainder of his life.
    1959 - Walt Disney's classic animated film, “Sleeping Beauty”, was released in theaters on this date. Reviews and reactions were mixed, as Disney had deviated from the style of animation the public had grown accustomed to.
    1960 – Olympic gold medal swimmer Greg Louganis was born in El Cajon, CA.  He won gold medals at the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games on both the springboard and platform. He is the only male and the second diver in Olympic history to sweep the diving events in consecutive Olympic Games. In 1984, he received the Sullivan Award from the AAU as the most outstanding amateur athlete in the United States.
    1961 - After performing in New York, Bob Dylan visits the home of a friend in East Orange, NJ, and meets his idol, Woody Guthrie.
    1962 - Warner Bros. Records signs the folk trio Peter, Paul & Mary. They will go on to have big hits with harmonized versions of such Bob Dylan songs as "Blowin' in the Wind" as well as "If I Had a Hammer," "Puff the Magic Dragon" and "Leaving on a Jet Plane."
    1963 – The first inductees to the Pro Football Hall of Fame were announced.  There were 17 charter inductees:  Sammy Baugh, Bert Bell, Joseph Carr, Dutch Clark, Red Grange, George Halas, Mel Hein, Pete Henry, Cal Hubbard, Don Hutson, Curly Lambeau, Tim Mara, George Preston Marshall, Blood McNally, Bronko Nagurski, Ernie Nevers, and Jim Thorpe.  
    1964 - For the 1965 to 1969 seasons, NBC-TV agreed to pay $36 million for the broadcast rights to the American Football League games. CBS already secured the National Football League.
    1964 - “Dr. Strangelove” premiered.  Stanley Kubrick's black comic masterpiece, “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb,” opened in theaters to both critical and popular acclaim. The movie's popularity was evidence of changing attitudes toward atomic weapons and the concept of nuclear deterrence. The movie focused on the actions of a rogue U.S. officer who believes that communists are threatening the "precious bodily fluids" of Americans. Without authorization, he issues orders to U.S. bombers to launch atomic attacks against the Soviet Union. When it becomes evident that some of the bombers may actually drop their atomic payloads, American President Merkin Muffley frantically calls his Soviet counterpart. The Russian leader informs Muffley that an atomic attack on the Soviet Union will automatically unleash the terrible "doomsday machine," which will snuff out all life on the planet. Muffley's chief foreign policy advisor, Dr. Strangelove, reassures the president and chief officials that all is not lost: they can, he posits, survive even the doomsday machine by retreating to deep mineshafts. Close scrutiny of the Dr. Strangelove character indicated that he was probably a composite of three people: Henry Kissinger, a political scientist who had written about nuclear deterrence strategy; Edward Teller, a key scientist in the development of the hydrogen bomb; and Wernher von Braun, the German scientist who was a leading figure in missile technology. Who can forget the character riding on the bomb falling out of the bomb bay to Russia?
The film is near its conclusion with the unforgettable scene of the "Leper Colony" bomber plane approaching closer and closer to its target. As the airship approaches its new objective with the bombing plane's theme song “When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again” playing on the soundtrack, Major Kong and bombardier Lieut. Lothar Zogg (James Earl Jones) make final bomb run technical checks: bomb fusing circuits, the bomb arming test lights, the primary trigger switch override, the track indicators for maximum deflection, the detonator set at zero altitude, and safety releases. Then Kong finds that one of the bomb bay doors won't open - "the Teleflex drive cable must be sheared away." He leaves his cockpit seat to fix to faulty bomb-release mechanism manually, telling his co-pilot Capt. G. A. "Ace" Owens (Shane Rimmer): "Stay on the bomb run, Ace. I'm goin' down below and see what I can do." He proceeds through the hatch to the bomb bay, telling the D.S.O. and crew, “Stay on the bomb run, boys. I'm gonna get them doors open if it hare lips everybody on Bear Creek”. There are two huge nuclear warhead bombs in the foreground, each labeled with sexual salutations: "Hi There!" (a homosexual advance), the other labeled "Dear John!" (the typical opening of a letter that ends a relationship). Kong sees a sparking tangle of wires, and climbs astride the "Hi There!" bomb like a bucking bronco, fanning the flaring sparks with his cowboy's Stetson hat. Sweating profusely, he busily works to fuse two wires together to rewire the door circuitry. Ace asks anxiously: "Roger, 3 miles. Target in sight! Where in hell is Major Kong?" as Kong attaches an alligator clip to a patch panel above his head, causing the bomb doors to open wide.
The film has given us a memorable cultural image. When the bomb doors open, he first grabs onto his Stetson to avoid losing it in the sudden draft of air. The Hi There! bomb is dislodged, with Kong riding on it - the huge bomb [a potent swollen phallic symbol] between his legs. The bombardier asks: "Hey, what about Major Kong?" Kong is flailing the bomb with his hat like a rodeo cowboy atop a bucking bronco, howling wildly toward oblivion: "YAHOO!! YAHOO!!" as it malevolently descends toward its target and detonates in a white, climactic flash on the ground.
http://wso.williams.edu/~mhacker/strangelove2.html
http://www.filmsite.org/drst.html
    1964 - No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit:  “I Want to Hold Your Hand,'' The Beatles. This first American release by the Beatles is one of the biggest selling British singles of all time with worldwide sales of 15 million copies.
    1965 - Top Hits
“Downtown” - Petula Clark
“You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feelin’” - The Righteous Brothers
“The Name Game” - Shirley Ellis
“You’re the Only World I Know” - Sonny James
    1966 - "Sweet Charity", starring Gwen Verdon, opened at the Palace Theatre in New York. The Neil Simon musical was an adaptation of the Federico Fellini film, "Notti di Cabiria". The play lasted for 608 performances. In 1969, Hollywood produced a big-budget version starring Shirley MacLaine.
    1966 - The Bobby Fuller Four's "I Fought The Law" is released
    1966 - Folk singer Joan Baez wins three gold records this day, for the albums "Joan Baez," "Joan Baez, Vol. 2" and "Joan Baez in Concert."
    1968 - Gore Vidal's controversial sex novel, “Myra Breckenridge”, was published by Little, Brown & Company on this date. It was later made into a film starring Raquel Welch and Mae West.
    1968 - Coach Adolph Rupp, of the University of Kentucky Wildcats, got win #772, becoming the winningest coach in college basketball history.  He is currently fourth behind Mike Krzyzewski, Bob Knight and Dean Smith.
    1968 - President Johnson requests additional funds. In his annual budget message, President Lyndon B. Johnson asks for $26.3 billion to continue the war in Vietnam, and announces an increase in taxes. The war was becoming very expensive, both in terms of lives and national treasury. Johnson had been given a glowing report on progress in the war from Gen. William Westmoreland, senior U.S. commander in South Vietnam. Westmoreland stated in a speech before the National Press Club that, "We have reached an important point when the end begins to come into view. I am absolutely certain that, whereas in 1965 the enemy was winning, today he is certainly losing. The enemy's hopes are bankrupt." The day after Johnson's budget speech, the communists launched a massive attack across the length and breadth of South Vietnam. This action, the Tet Offensive, proved to be a critical turning point for the United States in Vietnam. In the end, the offensive resulted in a crushing military defeat for the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese, but the size and scope of the communist attacks caught the American and South Vietnamese allies by surprise. The heavy U.S. and South Vietnamese casualties incurred during the offensive, coupled with the disillusionment over the administration's earlier overly optimistic reports of progress in the war, accelerated the growing disenchantment with the president's conduct of the war. Johnson, frustrated with his inability to reach a solution in Vietnam, announced on March 31, 1968, that he would neither seek nor accept the nomination of his party for re-election.
He died shortly after he retired, a broken man.
    1971 - New York music business financier Allen Klein was found guilty of ten counts of evading US income taxes. His conviction was upheld on appeal. Klein once controlled the finances of both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. The Beatles, apparently over Paul McCartney's objections, hired Klein in 1969 to try to rescue their ailing Apple Corps Limited, which was losing thousands of pounds a week. The tangled business affairs of Apple, and Klein's failure to solve them, are cited as one reason for the Beatles' breakup
    1973 - Johnny Rivers was awarded a gold record for "Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu".
    1973 - Top Hits
“Superstition” - Stevie Wonder
“Crocodile Rock” - Elton John
“Your Mama Don’t Dance” - Kenny Loggins & Jim Messina
“(Old Dogs-Children And) Watermelon Wine” - Tom T. Hall
    1973 - The first female pilot on a regularly scheduled major airline was Emily H. Warner. She was hired by Frontier Airlines as the second officer (co-pilot) on a Boeing 737.
    1973 - CBS-TV presented the first episode of "Barnaby Jones". Lee Meriwether, Miss America 1955, played the detective’s daughter-in-law assistant. Buddy Ebsen, playing the detective, started in movies back in the 1920s, and was chosen to play a part in "The Wizard of Oz", but bowed out. He also shot the first film used in Walt Disney's the animation tests for a character named Mortimer Mouse, who would be known as Mickey Mouse. He is best known for portraying Jed Clampett the CBS-TV series, "The Beverly Hillbillies".
    1974 - Fighting continues in South Vietnam, despite the cease-fire that was initiated on January 28, 1973, under the provisions of the Paris Peace Accords. This latest fighting was part of the ongoing battles that followed the brief lull of the cease-fire. The Peace Accords had left an estimated 145,000 North Vietnamese troops in South Vietnam when the cease-fire went into effect. Renewed fighting broke out after the cease-fire as both sides jockeyed for control of territory throughout South Vietnam. Each side held that military operations were justified by the other side's violations of the cease-fire, resulting in an almost endless chain of retaliations. During the period between the initiation of the cease-fire and the end of 1973, there were an average of 2,980 combat incidents per month in South Vietnam. Most of these were low-intensity harassing attacks designed to wear down the South Vietnamese forces, but the North Vietnamese intensified their efforts in the Central Highlands in September when they attacked government positions with tanks west of Pleiku. As a result of these post-cease-fire actions, approximately 25,000 South Vietnamese were killed in battle in 1973, while communist losses in South Vietnam were estimated at 45,000.
    1975 - After girlfriend Linda Thompson wakes up and finds him struggling to catch his breath, Elvis Presley is admitted to Memphis' Baptist Hospital for "a liver problem," which in reality is an attempt by Presley's personal physician "Dr. Nick" to curtail his growing addiction to prescription medication.
    1977 – Normally we do not write about deaths, but on this day gifted comedian and television actor Freddie Prinze, age 22, committed suicide by shooting himself in the head with a revolver in front of Martin "Dusty" Snyder, his business manager. He died in a Los Angeles hospital 36 hours later. Prinze catapulted to fame in the television sitcom, “Chico and the Man”, and experienced many emotional problems as a result, as well as a divorce. His suicide note read, "I cannot go on any longer." It was later determined that the suicide was actually intended as a practical joke by Prinze, who was under the influence of Quaaludes. He had faked suicide attempts in front of network secretaries earlier that day. Whether Prinze thought the gun was empty, thought that the safety was on, or just wasn't thinking due to the drugs, the joke he thought he was pulling on Snyder resulted in his untimely death. Modern history is full of such incidents including Russian Roulette or thinking the gun was not loaded and proving it by pointing to the head and pulling the trigger as one famous rock ’n ’roll musician did back stage after a performance.
    1977 - Rose Royce took the #1 spot on the music charts with "Car Wash", from the movie of the same title. The song lasted a week at the peak before dropping away.
    1979 - President Jimmy Carter commutes the sentence of Patty Hearst.
    1981 - Dolly Parton barreled to the top of the charts with "9 to 5," her immortal paean to the woes of the daily grind. "9 to 5" was also the title and theme song of the hit movie starring Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin as disgruntled secretaries who exact revenge on their lecherous boss, played by Dabney Coleman.
    1981 - Top Hits
“(Just Like) Starting Over” - John Lennon
“Love on the Rocks” - Neil Diamond
“The Tide is High” - Blondie
“9 to 5” - Dolly Parton
    1983 - A series of Pacific coast storms finally came to an end. The storms, attributed in part to the ocean current, "El Nino", produced ocean swells 15 to 20 feet high which ravaged the beaches of southern California. Much of the damage was to homes of movies stars in the exclusive Malibu Colony.
    1988 - The Canadian rock band Prism, which faded in 1983 after earlier hit records and a Juno award, staged a reunion at the 86 Street Club in Vancouver. The reunion group featured three of the original members - Lindsay Mitchell, Rocket Norton and Al Harlow. Prism was formed in 1977 and produced such hit records as "Armageddon," "Spaceship Superstar" and "Night to Remember." It won the Juno for Group of the Year in 1980 and served as a springboard for writers such as Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance. 83 record.
    1988 - No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: “Need You Tonight,'' INXS. The group is only the third from Australia - and the first in five years - to top the pop chart.
    1989 - Top Hits
“Two Hearts” - Phil Collins
“When I’m with You” - Sheriff
“When the Children Cry” - White Lion
“Deeper Than the Holler” - Randy Travis
    1989 - Billy Joel performs the US National Anthem at the Super Bowl; five years later to the day, Natalie Cole would get the honor at Super Bowl XXVIII.
    1989 - The first of 20 episodes of the children's television program, “Shining Time Station”, the half-hour American version of Britain's "Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends," was aired in the United States on PBS. Former Beatle drummer Ringo Starr was originally cast as the 18-inch-tall Mr. Conductor. A few years later, he was replaced by comedian George Carlin.
    1990 - Severe thunderstorms in the southeastern U.S. spawned a tornado which destroyed three mobile homes near Blythe, GA injuring six persons. A fast moving cold front produced high winds in the western U.S. Winds along the coast of Oregon gusted to 65 mph at Portland, and high winds generated 22 to 26 foot seas which battered the coast. Winds near Reno, NV gusted to 78 mph. High winds also buffeted the Central High Plains, with gusts to 94 mph reported at La Mesa, CO.
    1993 - An interim policy on ending the ban on homosexuals in the US military was announced by President William Clinton. The policy ended the questioning of military recruits regarding their sexual orientation but allowed removal of openly homosexual members from active service. President Clinton's announced policy of "don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue" allowed homosexuals to serve in the armed forces as long as they were discreet.
    1995 - San Francisco 49ers defeated San Diego Chargers, 49-26 in Super Bowl XXIX. San Francisco scored on the third play of the game and led, 28-10, at half time. Steve Young passed for a record six touchdowns as the 49ers become the first team to win five Super Bowls. Young was also named MVP.
    1996 - The London production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Cats" became the world's longest-running musical with 6,138 performances. It had opened at the New London Theatre on May 11th, 1981. The previous record was held by the Broadway production of "A Chorus Line."
    1996 - Sun exhibited a prototype of a simple, inexpensive computer that allowed users to surf the Web or corporate networks. A number of similar network computers, or "thin clients," hit the market in 1996-97. The network model — where small, inexpensive machines communicated with a more sophisticated, central info hub — proved economically attractive to large companies.
    1996 - Country superstar Garth Brooks refused to accept his American Music Award for Favorite Overall Artist. Brooks said that Hootie and the Blowfish had done more for music that year than he did.
    1998 - A bomb exploded outside the New Woman, All Women Health Care Clinic in Birmingham, Alabama. The explosion killed Robert Sanderson, an off-duty police officer working as a security guard. Emily Lyons, a nurse, was critically injured. Police have been searching for suspect Eric Rudolph in the North Carolina area.
http://www.fbi.gov/most
http://www.covenantnews.com/eric/rudolph/eric01.htm want/topten/fugitives/rudolph.htm
    2002 - In his State of the Union address, President George W. Bush described "regimes that sponsor terror" as an ‘Axis of evil’, in which he includes Iraq, Iran, and North Korea.
    2009 – Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was removed from office following his conviction of several corruption charges, including the alleged solicitation of personal benefit in exchange for an appointment to the Senate as a replacement for then President-elect Obama.  In March 2012, Blagojevich began serving a 14-year sentence in federal prison.
    2014 - Georgia, Louisiana and South Carolina experienced a mix of snow and ice, declaring emergencies as over 3,400 flights were cancelled; temperatures dipped 10 to 20 degrees below normal.

Super Bowl Champions:
    1995 – San Francisco 49ers