|
Motivated Sales Person
Burbank, California
Long established lessor, "app. only" to
$100K, commercial & structured
transactions up to $10 million.
Call Jim McFeeters
818-843-8686 X25
|
|
Friday, January 13, 2006
Headlines---
Pictures from the Past---1993
Classified Ads---Collector/Controller/Contract Admin.
Financial and Sales Trainer List
Fraud and Business/ Legal Committee Meeting
Classified Ads-Help Wanted
Cartoon----
Story Credit list
Leasing Meetings Open to Non-Members
Memorial Fund for Bob Henney's two daughters
MicroFinancial Transfer to ASEx.
Mortgage Rates Slip Slight This Week
News Briefs---
You May Have Missed---
"Gimme that Wine"
Calendar Events
Today's Top Event in History
This Day in American History
American Football Poem
######## surrounding the article denotes it is a "press release"
There will be no Leasing News issue on Monday, January 16th to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
[headlines]
---------------------------------------------------------------
Pictures from the Past---1993
Silicon Valley Regional Meeting
"Face To Face With Lenders" hosted by Kit Menkin,
Western Association of Equipment Leasing (now United Association of Equipment Leasing)
Standing, left to right: Mary Ann Gianni, FS&I; Bob Teichman, New England Capital Corp; Ron Mitchell, ITT Capital Finance; Dick Andrus, California Thrift & Loan.
[headlines]
---------------------------------------------------------------
Classified Ads---Collector/Controller/Contract Administrator
Collector
Boston, MA.
Challenging position where my skills, professional experience, organization, leadership, strategic thinking, creativity, energy, passion, competitive nature will enable me to define opportunities and personal development.
Email: bernd.janet@verizon.net
Jacksonville, East Brunswick, FL.
13 years experience with collection, recovery,re-marketing and legal on commercial loans and leases. Expertise with distressed portfolios, Six Sigma trained. Willing to relocate.
Email: RichardB12364@aol.com
Wellington, FL
4+ years experience in credit/collections, 7 of which were with a large equipment leasing company as a manager. Also 3rd party collection experience.
Email: michaelgalan@adelphia.net
Controller
Seattle , WA
CPA w/ Sarbanes Oxley/ 15 years management exp. as CFO/ Controller/5 yrs w/ PWC Extensive exp providing accounting/ tax guidance for the equipment lease industry. Willing to relocate.
Email: bltushin@hotmail.com
RESUME
http://216.66.242.252/AL/LeasingNews/Resumes/
CFO-Controller-CPA-Leasing-Sarbanes%20Oxley.pdf
Southeastern, MI.
Controller & Management experience w/ equip lessors &broker. MBA, CPA w/ extensive accounting, management, securitization experience with public and private companies. Willing to relocate.
Email: Leasebusiness@aol.com
Uniondale, NY
I have a strong multifaceted background in all areas of lease accounting combining my years as a Controller of leasing companies and as Vice-President of Leasing for a NY Bank.
Email: awinitt@hotmail.com
Contract Administrator
New York, NY.
10+ years in equipment leasing/secured lending. Skilled in management & training, documentation, policy and procedure development & implementation, portfolio reporting. Strong work ethic.
Email: dln1031@nyc.rr.com
Portland, OR.
6+ years small ticket leasing/financing. Documentation/funding
Policy development &implementation, management &training, process mapping, customer service, broker, vendor, portfolio experience.
Email: susanc777@hotmail.com
For a full listing of all "job wanted" ads, please go to:
http://216.66.242.252/AL/LeasingNews/JobPostings.htm
To place a free "job wanted" ad, please go to:
http://216.66.242.252/AL/LeasingNews/PostingForm.asp
[headlines]
---------------------------------------------------------------
Financial and Sales Training
(For our "Lease School/Franchisors" list, please click here)
These individuals act as a consultant in 75% or more of their main business, actually training staff or individuals of a leasing company. These are not schools or franchisors, which can be viewed
by clicking here.
Several hold classes, and most will travel to their client's premise.
To qualify for this page, they must be an active member in an equipment leasing association.
Please fax our request form back to 408.343.3843 or you
may e-mail to: kitmenkin@leasingnews.org.
Second Column: YCS - Year Company Started | YELB - Years in equipment Leasing Business
Rank |
Name
City, State
Contact
Website
Leasing Association |
YCS
YELB
(see above for meaning) |
Geographic Area |
Speciality |
1 |
Teichman Financial Training
Sausalito, California
Bob Teichman, CLP
BoTei@aol.com
415.331.6445
NAELB, UAEL |
1998
43 |
International |
"We specialize in the technical side of leasing, offering comprehensive training in packaging, credit, pricing, structuring, financial analysis and operations. Our clients include lessors, lessees, lenders, associations, and government agencies."
|
[headlines]
--------------------------------------------------------------
Fraud and Business Practices Dominate Legal Committee Meeting
ELTnews
The Equipment Leasing Association Legal Committee met at ELA headquarters for two days January 9 and 10. Though the committee had a three page agenda, most of the discussion revolved around fraud against lessors and industry fair business practices with customers and channel partners.
The tone set in the meeting is one of greater pro-activeness by lessors to prevent fraud and a new attention to leasing practices. The concern about fraud is driven in part by the emergence of what could very well be the latest major fraud against lessors by Allserve Systems, a company set up to provide IT and telemarketing services. The matter has all of the elements to raise suspicion - non-existent equipment, old equipment, fire, bogus addresses, doctored invoices and financials, bankruptcy and disappearing principals.
These are just some of the chapter headings of the Allserve saga as new facts emerge every week. However, with over 20 leasing companies on the hook and a possible exposure of $180 million, the industry has renewed concern that leasing is again associated with an unfavorable event in which leasing companies come out as losers. This discussion transitioned to a discussion on leasing industry business practices. This occurred as members of the committee discussed legislation emerging in various quarters to address certain leasing practices, particularly end of lease practices.
The committee members gave a wide range of perspectives on the work of the ELA Principles of Fair Business Practices Task Force. In one manner or another, all were supportive of the need to provide strong principles to guide interactions with customers and channel partners.
One prominent member of the committee asked if a result of the ELA laying out principles for fair business practices could be pressure on companies to evaluate and likely to reform many of their practices. The resounding answer was yes.
ELA President Michael Fleming explained that ELA has no intention of telling member companies what their practices should be, but it has every intention of laying out principles of fairness that practices should reflect.
[headlines]
--------------------------------------------------------------
[headlines]
--------------------------------------------------------------
Classified Ads---Help Wanted
Equipment Finance & Leasing Representative
|
Job opening in New England
In this position, you will develop and maintain relationships with lease brokers, leasing companies, equipment vendors and direct lessees throughout New England. Must be knowledgeable in indirect/third party transactions ranging from $15K and up and have in-market experience. Please apply on-line at www.mandtbank.com and view posting 5245.
At M&T Bank, we provide an exciting and challenging work environment where performance and innovative thinking are encouraged and rewarded at every level.
With over 700 branches, your career can travel as far as you want to take it!
|
|
|
Job opening in
Baltimore/Virginia Region
In this position, you will develop and maintain relationships with lease brokers, leasing companies, equipment vendors and direct lessees throughout Baltimore/Virginia Region. Must be knowledgeable in indirect/third party transactions ranging from $15K and up and have in-market experience. Please apply on-line at www.mandtbank.com and view posting 5245
At M&T Bank, we provide an exciting and challenging work environment where performance and innovative thinking are encouraged and rewarded at every level.
With over 700 branches, your career can travel as far as you want to take it!
|
|
Sales Person
|
Motivated Sales Person
Burbank, California
Long established lessor, "app. only" to
$100K, commercial & structured
transactions up to $10 million.
Call Jim McFeeters
818-843-8686 X25
|
|
|
Sales Professionals :
Outstanding opportunities for Equipment Finance Leasing professionals with middle market leasing sales backgrounds, an existing or established book of business, and at least 2 plus years experience. Fast paced environment. NYC, Long Island, Westchester and National areas available. Lease teams welcome.
Sales Manager :
Seeking a top NYC based sales manager to become part of an excellent executive team. The job would include recruiting salespeople and supervising up to 20.
Credit Analysts :
Seeking Credit Analysts with at least 2-4 years experience. NYC location
EOE
E-Mail : sdibella@icbny.com
|
|
|
[headlines]
--------------------------------------------------------------
Story Credit Lessors
( for other "Funder", who do not specialize in "Story Credits," click here
for "Super Broker/Lessor," who primarily place leases, click here
for "Broker/Lessor," click here )
These companies specialize in "C" and "D" credits, often news businesses, or businesses where the principal(s) have Beacon score around 600 or previous difficulties; meaning to become comfortable with the credit and financial situation you need to learn the "story" to make a positive decision, often requiring further security, shorter term, or additional guarantors. Many of these companies may also be a "B," but appear otherwise without the "story" to understand the full financial picture.
(To qualify for this list, the company must be a funder and not a "Broker/Lessor" or "Super Broker/Lessor", along with an acceptable Better Business Bureau Rating and no history of complaints at Leasing News. We reserve the right to not list a company who does not meet these qualifications.)
We encourage companies who are listed to contact us for any change or addition they would like to make. Adding further information as an "attachment" or clarification of what they have to offer would be helpful to readers is very much encouraged.
( To apply to be listed, please fill in this form and fax to 408.374.3843 or you
may e-mail to: kitmenkin@leasingnews.org )
Story Credit Form
Rank |
Name
In Business Since
Contact
Website
Leasing Association |
Employees |
Geo
Area |
Dollar
Amount |
Broker Qualify |
1 |
Financial Pacific Leasing
1975
Terey Jennings CLP,
800-447-7107, tjennings@finpac.com
www.finpac.com
EAEL, ELA, NAELB, UAEL (P) |
115 |
Nationwide |
$5,000-$50,000 |
Please Call or see "Prospective Broker" section on website |
1 |
|
106 |
Nationwide |
$250,000 - $15,000,000+ |
Please Call |
3 |
|
45 |
Nationwide |
$1,000 - $30,000 |
One year time in business |
4 |
|
32 |
Nationwide |
$250,000 - $3,000,000 |
Contact Peter Eaton |
5 |
Sunrise International Leasing Corporation
1975
Carrie Halvorson or Jim Teal,
800-950-3211
www.sunriseleasing.com
ELA (I) |
20 |
U.S., Canada, Latin America |
$1,000
minimum no hard cap in place for maximums |
One year time in business |
6 |
|
12 |
National |
$100,000 to $1,500,00 |
A deal in hand and a full package |
7 |
Creative Capital Leasing Group, LLC
1980
Alister McNeil
1-800-lease'em
(949-650-9880)
www.Creativeclg.com
NAELB, UAEL (M) |
12 |
USA |
$40,000 - $1,000,00 |
Please call Broker Manager, Todd or Jason |
8 |
Summit Leasing, Inc.
1986
James, Klemens, Kevin, Mike, Mark
(800) 736-1530
www.summitleasing.com
UAEL (S) |
12 |
CA, ID, MT, OR, WA |
$20,000 - $400,000 |
Contact us |
9 |
|
10 |
11 Western State |
$10,000.00 - $250,000.00 |
|
10 |
Allegiant Partners Incorporated
1998
415.257.4200
Doug Houlahan ext. 205
Paul Foster ext. 206
www.allegiant-partners.com
ELA, NAELB & UAEL (B) |
9 |
Nationwide, including Alaska & Hawaii |
$70,000 to $250,000 |
|
11 |
|
8 |
Nationwide
(except LA, AR and AK) |
$50,000 to $2,000,000 |
Please Call |
12 |
|
7 |
US Canada (F) |
$50,000 to $3MM
$250,000 average transaction |
Please Call |
13 |
|
7
|
Nationwide |
$50,000 to $1.0 million. Our average size transaction is $250,000.
Preferred Range
$100,000 to $500,000
|
|
14 |
American Leasefund, Inc.
1999
Tom Davis
tom@alclease.com
800.644.1182 - PH
503.244.0845 - FX
www.alclease.com
UAEL (Q) |
6 |
Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington |
$3,500 - $50,000 |
Please Call |
15 |
|
6 |
Nartionwide - 50 States |
$25,000.00 + |
Please contact Larry LaChance |
16 |
|
6 |
Nationwide |
$50,000 to $1MM
$250,000 average transaction |
Please call |
18 |
|
5 |
U.S. |
$50,000 - $1,000,000
(Master Lease) |
Please Call |
19 |
|
5 |
Western U.S. |
$25,000 - $350,000 |
|
20 |
Barrett Capital Corporation
1975
Barry Korn
914-632-4200
Cell: 914.954.1900
Barrett@BarrettCapital.com
www.BarrettCapital.com
NVLA |
4 |
United States |
Vehicles Only
$10,000 minimum |
Please Call |
21 |
Dakota Financial
2001
Michael Green
Managing Partner
310.696.3030 x 24
mgreen@dakotafin.com
EAEL, NAELB, UAEL (K) |
4 |
Nationwide |
$10,000 - $200,000 |
|
22 |
|
4 |
Northwestern
(see comments) |
$5,000 - $50,000 |
Please Call |
23 |
|
4 |
Nationwide |
$20,000, average transaction size is $200,000 |
Please Call |
(A) Pawnee Leasing Corporation; Some times we go higher than $30,000, but our marketplace is from $1,000 to $30,000.
(B) Allegiant.pdf
(D) ABCO Leasing, Inc. in Seattle area has been operating since 1974 serving the broker community. We required full financial disclosure on every transaction. We do story transaction, but do not like to refer to them as "C" of "D" credits. We think of therm as "A" type credits that have not been discovered yet. In actuallity, we do not really like to look at what most describes as "D" credits.
(E) Black Rock Capital comment: We book anywhere between $15 to 20 million per year. We do no "app only" business and require a full financial package for each transaction. Our average size transaction is approximately $250k and, although, we concentrate in printing, packaging (steel rule die industry) and road construction equipment we do not rule out anything that makes sense. More information can be found at www.blackrockcapital.com.
(F) Black Rock Capital (Ireland) Limited and Black Rock Capital (UK) Limited provide the same services for small to middle market corporations in the European Economic Community and the United Kingdom.
(G) Cobra Capital, LLC. Comments: Our registered trademark "Making impossible possible" is our central marketing tagline for both strong and weak credits. I have developed a 10 year history, (from Cobra and my prior company GALCO), with specialty, non-conforming transactions (story credits) and have a solid reputation for candidly responding to our originators and lessees and working diligently to mitigate deal risk rather than making excuses to turn deals down. Our originators prefer our underwriting approach to non-conforming transactions since unlike most non-conforming funders, we prefer to mitigate risk versus jacking our return. Both Originators and Lessee's prefer our candid approach as we are also frequently asked to advise lessee's and lessors on the best way to structure their bank loans and raise capital due to our 25+ year banking and accounting backgrounds as my partner and I are both former bankers and CPA's.
| Partners Bio | LaSalle Bank Reference | Cole Taylor Bank Reference |
(H) Pentech is the lessor partner with Manifest Funding Services for their Navigator, Navigator Plus & Navigator Direct. This is through our sister company Pentech Funding Services, located in San Diego and headed up by Ron Wagner.
(I) Sunrise International Leasing Corporation Comment: The broker program is "...an informal program as our primary business is still vendor leasing."
(J) Boston Financial & Equity Corporation, most of our leases are venture capital backed startups and turnarounds. We require full financial disclosures, CPA and internal statements, no tax returns. We do not required additional collateral, no PG's or RE needed. Do not send deals with large tax liens, especially if they are payroll taxes.
(K) Dakota Financial is a collateral-based direct funding source that specializes in C & D level transaction for customers who are unable to receive funding from traditional sources. Our nationwide program provides funding for start-ups as well as credit profiles that have prior bankruptcies, judgements, tax liens, repossessions or slow pays. I would say that the average credit score of our transactions is in the mid 500s. We have done many deals in the sub 500 range. Although we do all kinds of equipment, we specialize in trucks (including over the road owner operators), trailers, yellow iron and logging equipment. I encourage you to go to our website, www.dakotafinancial.com to find out more information including examples of recent funded transactions.
(L) IFC Credit Corporation also services on a regular basis "A" and "B" credits, but it also considers "story credits." "As you say, we need to become comfortable with the credit and financial situation and learn the "story" to make a positive decision, often requiring further security, shorter term, or additional guarantors. I would describe the B and C type credits we fund as companies having 'checkered earnings'."
(M) Creative Capital Leasing Group: "We are able to fund tough deals, bad credits, BK's, past tax liens, start ups, used equipment, etc., because we look outside the transaction for real estate, and marketable securities to take as additional collateral."
(N) Blackstone Capital Partners, L.P. lends up to 50% of verified auction value for working capital and/or equipment financing requests (we of course include equipment to be acquired in our valuation). Using this formula, allows Blackstone to approve deals on the assets rather than the credit or cash flow that other lenders desire. Also being an asset lender, we are looking for hard assets i.e. yellow iron, machine tool, manufacturing lines, textile etc... We do not care for soft assets such as computers, furniture, restaurant, or "white elephants" (equipment that is too specific to the clients needs and was specially built for them - there would be no resell available and our liquidity if repossessed would be in jeopardy). If you have any questions, please feel free to call, we will do our best to help or seek the answer for you.
(O) Bankers Capital " We will do ANY Type of Equipment, in ANY industry, in ANY state. We especially like 6-figure transactions with full financial packages no matter how good or bad they look. We look to structure the story C&D credits with any kind of additional collateral that makes sense. It could be with 2nd or 3rd mortgages on residential or commercial Real Estate, additional equipment, cash value life insurance, security deposits, vendor agreements. We look for any way to make the deal work instead of looking for any way to decline the deal."
(P) Financial Pacific Leasing supports a nationwide network of Brokers and Lessors. We specialize in "B" and "C" credits for established companies as well as companies under two years in business.
(Q) American Leasefund, Inc. funds small hard to do transactions under $50,000.00. Most of the transactions are "app only". We look for additional collateral or larger first payments to help the weaker credits. We maintain and service our own portfolio. All of our lessee billings are done via ACH.
(R) Dolsen Leasing has served the 11 Western States since 1958 and specializes in B & C Credits for established and new companies. We require a full financial package and offer both leases and financing for new and used equipment in the range of $10,000.00 to $250,000.00. Specialties include titled vehicles for both existing and new owner operators. Story credits are considered as long as credit has been reestablished and trends are positive. Credit decisions are based on old fashioned common sense, not credit scores, allowing us a very quick turnaround-often the same day. We accept broker business and also have in house salesmen.
(S) We at Summit Leasing consider ourselves to be primarily "B" credit lenders, working almost exclusively through brokers.
(T) TechLease - due to previous experiences, TechLease is vertically focused on three primary sectors: Semiconductor, Media and Aerospace. We fund all deals and hold paper an all equipment under $250,000. Deals over $150,000 we typically want to meet the Lessee face-to-face. We prefer business in California, however we will fund nationwide.
(U) We specialized in start-up business. These are the northern states we do business in AK, AZ, CA, CO, ID, OR, WA. Click here to read our Product overview and Press Realease.
(V) Agility Solutions; we fund all equipment used by Wireless Internet Service Providers.
Click here to see Leasing News story.
(W) Forum Financial Services, Inc., prefer venture capital backed start-ups and middle market to large corporate turnaround companies including companies in bankruptcy and post bankruptcy. Our absolute minimum sales for an established business with financial problems are $10.0 million. (this does not include venture capital backed start-ups).
[headlines]
--------------------------------------------------------------
Leasing Association Meetings Open Non-Members
SAVE THIS DATE!
First Meeting in 2006
Bringing together Funders, Brokers and Services
Wednesday February 8, 2006
5:30 P.M.
Location: Ajo Al's Mexican Restaurant
5101 N. 16 th Street
Phoenix , AZ 85016
Fee $1 5 .00
NO HOST BAR/COMPLIMENTARY HORS D 'OEVRES
DEADLINE FOR RESERVATIONS: JANUARY 30, 2006
Mark your calendars and read your AZELA Emails!
For more info contact:
Pat McCann Co-chairperson @ 480 218 0535 or universal5@cox.net
Bernice Truczkowski Co-chairperson @480 -949-0710 or elf1@prod igy.net
What to bring: Business Cards, Listening Devices, Willingness to meet Additional Lessors, Funders , Additional Financial Services People! Funders that already committed to give presentations: Team Equipment Leasing, Allegiant Partners, Dakota Financial, Pacific Capital Bank, Financial Pacific Leasing, Fair Lease Commerical , Padco Leasing , Specialty Funding and many more
[headlines]
---------------------------------------------------------------
Memorial Fund for Bob Henney's two daughters
The story in the last issue about the memorial fund for Bob Heeny's two girls is true, not a hoax. To those readers who said they were writing a check to help out, thank you for your warm generosity. It is not the amount as the fact that you are showing the family that you care about them.
http://www.leasingnews.org/archives/January%202006/01-11-06.htm#fund
[headlines]
---------------------------------------------------------------
### Press Release ###########################
(Amazing) MicroFinancial Transfer to American Stock Exchange
(A company once in trouble with the Federal Trade Commission, and amazing to many that it is still in business, moves to another stock exchange. Read previous stories and make you own assumption. Editor )
http://www.leasingnews.org/Conscious-Top%20Stories/micro_leasecomm.htm
WOBURN, Mass---MicroFinancial Incorporated (NYSE:MFI) a financial intermediary specializing in vendor based leasing and finance programs for transactions in the $500 to $15,000 range, today announced that the Company will transfer its common stock listing from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to the American Stock Exchange (AMEX), effective the beginning of trading on Tuesday, January 17th. The Company will continue to trade under the symbol, "MFI".
About The Company
MicroFinancial Inc. (NYSE:MFI), headquartered in Woburn, MA, is a financial intermediary specializing in leasing and financing for products in the $500 to $15,000 range. The Company has been in operation since 1986.
MicroFinancial Inc. Richard F. Latour, 781-994-4800
[headlines]
### Press Release ###########################
Mortgage Rates Slip Slight This Week
McLean, VA - Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) late yesterday released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market SurveySM (PMMSSM) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.15 percent, with an average 0.6 point, for the week ending January 12, 2006, down from last week's average of 6.21 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.74 percent.
The average for the 15-year FRM this week is 5.71 percent, with an average 0.6 point, down slightly from last week's average of 5.76 percent. A year ago, the 15-year FRM averaged 5.19 percent.
Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 5.76 percent this week, with an average 0.5 point, down very slightly from last week when it averaged 5.78 percent. A year ago, the five-year ARM averaged 5.05 percent.
One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 5.15 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, down very slightly from last week when it averaged 5.16 percent. At this time last year, the one-year ARM averaged 4.10 percent.
(Average commitment rates should be reported along with average fees and points to reflect the total cost of obtaining the mortgage.)
"Interest rates for long-term mortgages slipped lower this week due to some economic data releases that pointed towards more subdued inflation in the near term," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "Rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages are about the same as they were in late October of 2005. However, shorter-term rates, such as those for adjustable-rate mortgages, were basically unchanged due to market expectations of another rate hike by the Federal Reserve Board at the end of January.
"Our January forecast calls for a gradual rise in long-term rates throughout 2006, ending the year at about 6.5 percent for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, while relative rate differences with adjustable-rate mortgages will narrow. This should induce some slowing in housing market activity, but we expect the housing market in 2006 to be strong, nonetheless."
Freddie Mac is a stockholder-owned company established by Congress in 1970 to support homeownership and rental housing. Freddie Mac fulfills its mission by purchasing residential mortgages and mortgage-related securities, which it finances primarily by issuing mortgage-related securities and debt instruments in the capital markets. Over the years, Freddie Mac has made home possible for one in six homebuyers and nearly four million renters in America.
Freddie Mac
CONTACT: corprel@freddiemac.com
or (703) 903-3933
[headlines]
### Press Release ###########################
--------------------------------------------------------------
News Briefs----
Businesses ready to raise their stakes in the economy
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2006-01-12-business-spending_x.htm
Trade deficit narrows slightly in November
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20060112-1325-economy.html
Scientists: Donner Family Not Cannibals
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/01/12/national/a174130S00.DTL
Billy Joel Tickets
http://www.greatseats.com/artist/billy_joel/
[headlines]
---------------------------------------------------------------
You May Have Missed
An insider's tale from Google's great chef hunt
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/13593970.htm
[headlines]
----------------------------------------------------------------
"Gimme that Wine"
Alsace in Anderson Valley
Chilly Mendocino County nurtures the distinctive white grapes of northeastern France
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/01/12/WIGJTGI5D61.DTL
In Oregon, It's a Brew Pub World
http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/01/13/travel/escapes/13beer.html
Illinois state wineries sour on proposed law
http://www.suntimes.com/output/business/cst-fin-wine12.html
Napa Officials evaluate flood damage, seek aid
http://www.cfbf.com/agalert/AgAlertStory.cfm?ID=506&ck=
FF4D5FBBAFDF976CFDC032E3BDE78DE5
www.winezap.com
http://www.wine-searcher.com/
If you want to know if you got a value for your wine, or what the wine price is today, go to www.winezap.com Type in the vintage (year) and name of the producer with wine type or geographic area, such as 1995 Chateau Lynch Bages Pauillac. Even 1995 Lynch Bages will work, or 1999 Viader
[headlines]
----------------------------------------------------------------
Calendar Events This Day
Friday The 13th
Did you know: Friday got its name from a Norse deity worshipped on the sixth day - either Frigg (goddess of marriage and fertility) or Freya (goddess of sex and fertility) or both, the two having understandably been confused with one another over time.
It is said ... If 13 people sit down to dinner together, all will die within the year. The Turks so disliked the number 13 that it was practically expunged from their vocabulary (Brewer, 1894). Many cities do not have a 13th Street or a 13th Avenue. Many buildings don't have a 13th floor. If you have 13 letters in your name, you will have the devil's luck (Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy and Albert De Salvo all have 13 letters in their names).
One of the more concrete early taboos connected with the number 13 is said to have started with the Hindus, who believed (for reasons I haven't been able to ascertain) that it was always unlucky for 13 people to gather in one place - say, for dinner. Interestingly enough, exactly the same superstition has been attributed to the Vikings, though many scholars regard this and the accompanying mythological explanation as apocryphal. In any case, the story has been told as follows:
Twelve gods were invited to a banquet at Valhalla. Loki, the Evil One, god of mischief, had been excluded from the guest list but chose to crash the party, bringing the total to 13. True to form, Loki raised hell by inciting Hod, the blind god of winter, to attack Balder the Good, who happened to be a favorite of the gods. Hod took a spear of mistletoe offered by Loki and hurled it at Balder, killing him instantly. All of Valhalla grieved. And although one might take the moral of this story to be "Beware of uninvited guests bearing mistletoe," the Norse themselves supposedly concluded that 13 people at a dinner party is just plain bad luck.
As if to prove the point, the Bible tells us that there were exactly 13 present at the Last Supper. One of the guests - er, apostles - went on to betray Jesus Christ, setting the stage for the crucifixion.
Did I mention the crucifixion took place on a Friday ?
Accordion Day
Door-To-Door Salespeople Day
Blame Someone Else Day
To share the responsibility and the guilt for the mess we're in. Blame Someone else!!! Annually, the first Friday the 13 th of the year.
International Skeptics Days
International celebration of the fine art of skeptism. Today, examine those issues which you are most skeptical about. A day to collectively put these issues under a microscope and cut away those attachments that stand in your way of gaining greater success, freedom, and independence. Annually, on Friday the 12 th .
Lee-Jackson Day in Virginia
Annually, the Firday in January that precedes Martin Luther King Day. To commemorate the January birthdays of Robert E. Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson.
Old New Year's Eve
Russia, although January 1 is the official Ne wYear's Day in Russia, some Russians still celebrate on the old Julian date of January 13-14. Also celebrated in Belarus and Ukraine.
Winter Bird Festival (California)
Boat Show (Washington)
Tyvendedagen
Norway. "20 th Day," the traditional end of the Christmas season. Also commemorated as St. Knut's Day (Tjugondag Knut or "the 20 th Day of Knut" in Sweden.
[headlines]
----------------------------------------------------------------
Today's Top Event in History
1910-Radio pioneer and electron tube inventor Lee de Forest arranged the world's first radio broadcast to the public at New York, NY. He succeeded in broadcasting the voice of Enrico Caruso along with other stars of the Metropolitan Opera to several receiving locations in the city where listeners with earphones marveled at wireless music form the air. Though only a few were equipped to listen, it was the first broadcast to reach the public and the beginning of a new era in which wireless radio communication became almost universal.
[headlines]
----------------------------------------------------------------
This Day in American History
1733- James Oglethorpe and 130 English colonists arrive at Charleston, SC
http://georgiahistory.i-found-it.net/georgiahistory1.html
http://www.virtualmuseumofhistory.com/internationalhall/worldleaders/
JAMESOGLETHORPE.COM/
http://ourgeorgiahistory.com/people/oglethorpe.html
http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/jeo300/savanna1.htm
1794-Congress authorizes an "act making an alteration in the flag of the United States... that from and after the first day of May,1795, the Flag of the United States be fifteen stripes, alternated red and white; and that the union be fifteen stars, white, in a blue field. The change was made so that Vermont and Kentucky would be represented on the flag. A law passed on April 4, 1818, reduced the number of stripes to 13 to represent the original 13 states, as in the first American flag, and provided one star for each state. A new star was to be added on the Fourth of July following the admission of each new state.
1807- Birthday of Union General Napoleon Bonaparte Buford, born in Woodford, Kentucky. Buford held many commands in the west and was a hero at the Battle of Belmont early in the war. Buford attended West Point and graduated in 1827, sixth out of 38 in his class. After a stint with the frontier military, he was given leave to study law at Harvard. He taught at West Point before leaving the service to become a businessman. He was an engineer and banker in Illinois during the 1840s and 1850s. When the war began, the 54-year-old Buford raised his own regiment, the 27th Illinois. He was commissioned as a colonel, and his unit was sent to Cairo, Illinois, and placed in General Ulysses S. Grant's army. On November 7, 1861, Grant attacked a Confederate camp at Belmont, Missouri, and quickly drove the Rebels away. But Grant's men became preoccupied with plundering the area, and a Confederate counterattack nearly turned to disaster for the Yankees. Buford's regiment was nearly cut off from the main Union force. He rallied his men and they fought their way out of the Confederate trap. Buford was commended for his bravery After Belmont, Buford participated in the capture of Island No. 10, a Confederate stronghold in the Mississippi River, and Buford was left in command after its capture. Buford and his regiment fought at Corinth in October 1862, but the colonel fell seriously ill from sunstroke. He left field command and sat on the court martial of General Fitz John Porter in Washington. Buford returned to the west and was promoted to Brigadier General in charge of the District of Eastern Arkansas. He remained there for the remainder of the war, although his main military action came in chasing off Confederate raiders in the area. Buford generated controversy in his dealings with black troops. He had drawn earlier criticism for not helping refugee slaves, and now he proclaimed his preference for commanding white troops. He justified it by saying that black troops were not as well trained and they were more likely to fall prey to drawn attention from southern bushwhackers. It was also true that Confederate soldiers went out of their way to attack units with Black soldiers, killing all wounded men on the field and shooting prisoners. Buford silenced some of the criticism by implementing programs for freed slaves in Arkansas that generally succeeded in taking care of their immediate needs. Poor health forced his resignation in March 1865, just before the end of the war. He was brevetted to major general following his retirement. He worked in a variety of businesses after the war and died in Chicago in 1883. Napoleon Bonaparte Buford was the older half-brother of John Buford, a Union General who commanded the Union force that first engaged the Confederates.
1808-Birthday of Salmon Portland Chase, American statesman, born at Cornish, NH. US senator, secretary of the treasury and chief justice of the Supreme Court. Salmon P. Chase spent much of his life fighting slavery ( he was popularly known as "attorney general for runaway Negroes.") He was one of the founders of the Republican Party and his hopes for becoming a candidate for president of the US in 1856 and 1860 were dashed because his unconcealed antislavery view3s made him unacceptable. Died at New York, NY, May 7, 1873.
1832- President Andrew Jackson wrote Vice President Martin Van Buren expressing his opposition to South Carolina's defiance of federal authority. South Carolinians agreed and planned to use armed force to prevent duty collection in the state after February 1, 1833. The Nullification Crisis of 1832-1833 was resolved without bloodshed in March 1833. Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun, who left the vice presidency at the end of 1832 to serve South Carolina in the Senate, drafted a reduced tariff agreement that pacified South Carolina while allowing the Federal government to stand firm.
( lower half of: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jan13.html)
1834-Birthday of Horatio Alger, American clergyman and author of more than 100 popular books for boys ( some 20 million copies sold). Honesty, frugality and hard work assured that the heroes of his books would find success, wealth and fame. Born at Revere, MA, he died at Natick, MA, July 18,1899.
1847-" Capitulation of Cahuenga" ended all organized resistance to American rule in California as Los Angeles surrendered officially this date. All "rebels" were pardoned by Gen. Kearny.
On January 14, California was controlled by the United States military.
http://www.aztecclub.com/campo/CapCahuenga.htm
http://www.militarymuseum.org/Cahuenga.html
http://www.campodecahuenga.com/
1850-Birthday of Charlotte R. Ray, the first black lawyer in the United States who was also a woman and certified as the first woman admitted to practice in Washington, D.C., many say because she signed the application C.R. Ray without using her first name. By 1878, in the face of overwhelming sexual and racial prejudice when not even black men would consult her, she returned to teaching in Brooklyn, NY. Died January 4,1911 at the age of 61 from acute bronchitis.
http://www.womenshistory.about.com/library/bio/blbio_ray_charlotte.htm
http://www.law.howard.edu/alumni/legalgiants/huslgiantoct2k.htm
http://www.stanford.edu/group/WLHP/papers/CharlotteRay.pdf
1864 - Composer Stephen Foster was found critically ill in his hotel room three days earlier, and on this date, died in Bellevue Hospital, New York, at age 37. He only had 35 cents in his pocket, along with a little slip of paper on which he had written, "Dear friends and gentle hearts." While never a great composer, Foster wrote many of the popular songs of the era which remained a part of Americana for more than a century, including Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair, Oh! Susanna, My Old Kentucky Home, and Old Folks at Home, also known as Swanee River. Many of his songs - including "Oh! Susanna," "Camptown Races" and "Old Black Joe" - are written in black dialect. Foster gained much of his knowledge of blacks through his early experience in traveling minstrel shows. He became a heavy drinker, suffered from tuberculosis, and lapsed into obscurity. His last song, Beautiful Dreamer, which he penned just a few days before his death, joined his earlier classics
1869-First Convention of the Colored National Labor Union, the first Black labor convention.
http://www.uwm.edu/Course/448-440/national.htm
http://www.africana.com/Articles/tt_631.htm
http://www.afscme.org/about/aframlink.htm
1873-P.B.S. Pinchback ends service as first black governor of Louisiana.
http://www.africana.com/Articles/tt_1153.htm
http://www.sec.state.la.us/46.htm
http://www.huarchivesnet.howard.edu/9911huarnet/pbs1.htm
http://www.gnocdc.org/orleans/11/73/snapshot.html
http://66.216.8.84/CreoleCulture/famouscreoles/Pinchback/pinchback.htm
1884-Grand entertainer Sophie Tucker was born in Poland. She was known as "The Last of the Red Hot Mamas" and her career in stage, film, cabaret, radio, TV and recording lasted more than 60 years, beginning with an appearance at her father's cafe in Hartford, Connecticut in 1905. Tucker's most famous songs were "Some of These Days," recorded in 1926, and "My Yiddish Momma," cut two years later. Sophie Tucker died in 1966.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jan13.html
1885-Birthday of Alfred Carl Fuller, founder of the Fuller Brush Company, born at Kings County, NS, Canada. In 1906 the young brush salesman went into business on his own, making brushes at a bench between the furnace and the coal bin in his sister's basement. Died at Hartford, CT, Dec. 4, 1973.
1886 - A great blizzard struck the state of Kansas without warning. The storm claimed 50 to 100 lives, and eighty percent of the cattle in the state.
1888 - The mercury plunged to 65 degrees below zero at Fort Keough, located near Miles City MT. The reading stood as a record for the continental U.S. for sixty-six years
1892 - An Atlantic coast storm produced a record 18.6 inches of snow at Norfolk, VA, including 17.7 inches in 24 hours. The storm also produced 9.5 inches of snow at Raleigh NC, and brought snow to northern Florida for the first time in 35 years.
1909-Birthday of trombonist Quentin "Butter" Jackson, born Springfield, OH. With Duke Ellington from 1948 to 1959.
1910-Radio pioneer and electron tube inventor Lee de Forest arranged the world's first radio broadcast to the public at New York, NY. He succeeded in broadcasting the voice of Enrico Caruso along with other stars of the Metropolitan Opera to several receiving locations in the city where listeners with earphones marveled at wireless music form the air. Though only a few were equipped to listen, it was the first broadcast to reach the public and the beginning of a new era in which wireless radio communication became almost universal.
1912-Delta Sigma Theta, sorority, founded on the campus of Howard University.
http://www.deltasigmatheta.org/history/index.htm
1912 - The temperature at Oakland, MD, plunged to 40 degrees below zero to establish a state record.
1926-Birthday of arranger/trombonist Melba Liston, Kansas City, MO, Died April 23, 1999
http://hardbop.tripod.com/liston.html
http://elvispelvis.com/melbaliston.htm
http://www.jazzreview.com/articledetails.cfm?ID=438
1926-Birthday of Gwen Verdon, born Culver City, Los Angeles, CA. One of Broadway's premier female dances and actresses, many of her most successful roles were choreographed by her husband Bob Fosse. She won Tony Awards for Can-Can, Daman Yankees, New Girl in Town and Redhead. She also acted in movies, including Cocoon and the film adaptation of Damn Yankees. She starred in the original Broadway production, which my mother and father took me to see and I will never forget her performance, especially being a Brooklyn Dodger fan.
http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0893862/
http://www.povonline.com/cols/COL317.htm
1929-Birthday of guitarist Joe Pass
http://www.riffinteractive.com/expguitar/JoePass1.htm
http://www.classicjazzguitar.com/albums/artists_albums.jsp?artist=55
http://www.gould68.freeserve.co.uk/JoePass.html
1930 - The comic strip "Mickey Mouse" debuted in American newspapers, with Floyd Gottfredson as its ghost writer.
1933 - Making her first professional basketball appearance, Babe (Mildred) Didrikson scored nine points as the Brooklyn Yankees defeated the Long Island Ducklings.
1936- Baptist clergyman B.B. McKinney, 50, wrote the words and tune to the gospel song, "Wherever He Leads, I'll Go," a few days before the opening of a Sunday School convention in Alabama.
1938 - For Victor Records, singer Allan Jones recorded "The Donkey Serenade", which became the song most often associated with him. Allan also sang and acted in several Marx Brothers films including: "A Night at the Opera", "A Day at the Races". The film that made him a star was the operetta, "Firefly" with Jeanette MacDonald. Singer Jack Jones is the son of Allan and his actress wife, Irene Hervey ("The Count of Monte Cristo", "Play Misty for Me"). .
1941 - The four Modernaires came to sang with the Glenn Miller Band on a full time basis. In 1946, they had a 'solo' hit with "To Each His Own".
1941-Charlie Spivak records with own band first time. Okey label.
1942 - Henry Ford patented the plastic automobile, which decreased the weight of a car by 30%.
1949---Top Hits
Buttons and Bows - Dinah Shore
On a Slow Boat to China - The Kay Kyser Orchestra (vocal: Harry Babbitt & Gloria Wood)
A Little Bird Told Me - Evelyn Knight
I Love You So Much It Hurts - Jimmy Wakely
1953-Don Barksdale becomes the first Black person to play in an NBA All-Star Game.
http://sports.insidebayarea.com/top50.asp?story=Don_Barksdale
http://thisweek.kqed.org/segments/390/
1955 - Chase National Bank (founded in 1877) and the Bank of Manhattan Company (founded in 1799 as a water company) agreed to merge, becoming the second largest bank in the U.S.
1957 - The Wham-O Company developed the first plastic Frisbee. The most popular theory as to how this flying disc came to be dates back to the 1920s when Yale students invented a game of catch by tossing around metal pie tins from the Frisbee Baking Company in nearby Bridgeport, Connecticut. They would frequently shout "Frisbieeeee" to warn passersby of the oncoming pie plate. Building inspector Fred Morrison puttered with and refined a plastic flying disc that he sold to WHAM-O (for $1 million) on this day in 1955. The disc was introduced to the consumer market in 1957 as the Pluto Platter (the name inspired by the U.S. obsession with UFOs). Wham-O changed the name to Frisbee in 1958, upon hearing the Yale pie-tin story. (Mattel now owns the rights to Frisbee, which has become an American icon.)
1957 - For Victor Records in Hollywood, California, Elvis Presley recorded "All Shook Up" and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin"; which became Elvis' ninth consecutive gold record.
1957---Top Hits
Singing the Blues - Guy Mitchell
The Banana Boat Song - The Tarriers
Moonlight Gambler - Frankie Laine
Singing the Blues - Marty Robbins
1961 - In the first round of the Los Angeles Open golf tournament, golfing great Arnie Palmer scored an embarrassing 12 strokes on one hole.
1962 - Singer Chubby Checker set a record, literally, with the hit, "The Twist". The song reached the #1 position for an unprecedented second time -- in two years. "The Twist" was also number one on September 26, 1960. The song, widely considered one of the most successful singles of all time, was on the Top 100 charts for 39 weeks, longer than any other single except "Red Red Wine" by UB40. When an early recording of "The Twist" by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters became the top dance song on Dick Clark's American Bandstand but failed to get much radio play, Clark suggested that a new artist should record a cover. Singer Ernest Evans of Cameo Records recorded the song and changed his name to Chubby Checker as a takeoff on Fats Domino. The song hit the charts in 1960 when it became immensely popular with teenagers, but adults started buying the record in 1962, after Chubby Checker sang "The Twist" on Ed Sullivan's October 22 show.
1962-First Operation Farm Gate missions flown .
In the first Farm Gate combat missions, T-28 fighter-bombers are flown in support of a South Vietnamese outpost under Viet Cong attack.
By the end of the month, U.S. Air Force pilots had flown 229 Farm Gate sorties. Operation Farm Gate was initially designed to provide advisory support to assist the South Vietnamese Air Force in increasing its capability. The 4400th Combat Crew Training Squadron arrived at Bien Hoa Airfield in November 1961 and began training South Vietnamese Air Force personnel with older, propeller-driven aircraft. In December, President John F. Kennedy expanded Farm Gate to include limited combat missions by the U.S. Air Force pilots in support of South Vietnamese ground forces. By late 1962, communist activity and combat intensity had increased so much that President Kennedy ordered a further expansion of Farm Gate. In early 1963, additional aircraft arrived and new detachments were established at Pleiku and Soc Trang. In early 1964, Farm Gate was upgraded again with the arrival of more modern aircraft. In October 1965, another squadron of A-1E aircraft was established at Bien Hoa. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara approved the replacement of South Vietnamese markings on Farm Gate aircraft with regular U.S. Air Force markings. By this point in the war, the Farm Gate squadrons were flying 80 percent of all missions in support of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). With the build up of U.S. combat forces in South Vietnam and the increase in U.S. Air Force presence there, the role of the Farm Gate program gradually decreased in significance. The Farm Gate squadrons were moved to Thailand in 1967, and from there they launched missions against the North Vietnamese in Laos.
1962-Center Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors set an NBA regular season record by scoring 73 points in a game against Chicago. Chamberlain had scored 78 points in the previous December, but that game had gone into three overtime periods.
1962--- Chubby Checker's "The Twist" hits #1 for the second time.
1964 - Capitol released in the United States The Beatles' single I Want to Hold Your Hand/I Saw Her Standing There .
1965---Top Hits
I Feel Fine - The Beatles
She's a Woman - The Beatles
Love Potion Number Nine - The Searchers
Once a Day - Connie Smith
1965-After the NBA All-Star game in which San Francisco Warriors center Wilt Chamberlain scored 20 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, the Warriors shocked the basketball world by announcing that they were trading Chamberlain to the Philadelphia 76ers for three minor leaguers and !150,000.
1966 - On "Bewitched," Elizabeth Montgomery's character, Samantha, gave birth to her first child, Tabitha. The witch's daughter could wiggle her nose with her finger and cause problems for daddy, Darin, just like mom.
1967 -- The Dead, Junior Wells' Chicago Blues Band, & the Doors at the Fillmore, San Francisco, California.
1968- Johnny Cash recorded a live album at Folsom Prison. The LP was on the Billboard pop chart for 122 weeks, and from it came the chart-topping country single "Folsom Prison Blues."
1968-- Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love" enters the pop charts.
1968-Dr. K.C. Pollack of the University of Florida audio lab reports tests have found that the noise generated at rock & roll concerts is harmful to teenage ears.
1968-In a game between the Minnesota North Stars and the Oakland Seals, Minnesota rookie center Bill Masterton was checked into the boards and fell heavily on his head. He suffered massive brain damage and died two days later, the only fatality in NHL history.
1973--- Carly Simon's album No Secrets hits #1.
1973- Eric Clapton came back from his three-year heroin addiction problem with a concert at the Rainbow club in London. Clapton, helped and encouraged by Pete Townshend of the Who, was back on the album charts in 1974 with "461 Ocean Boulevard."
1972-Nixon announces additional troop withdrawals President Nixon announces that 70,000 U.S. troops will leave South Vietnam over the next three months, reducing U.S. troop strength there by May 1 to 69,000 troops. Since taking office, Nixon had withdrawn more than 400,000 American troops from Vietnam. With the reduction in total troop strength, U.S. combat deaths were down to less than 10 per week. However, Nixon still came under heavy criticism from those who charged that he was pulling out troops but, by turning to the use of air power instead of ground troops, was continuing the U.S. involvement in Vietnam rather than disengaging from the war. The last American troops would be withdrawn in March 1973 under the provisions of the Paris Peace Accords.
1972- The Beach Boys' "Surfin'" is getting airplay in Los Angeles and enters Billboard, moving up the Hot 100 chart at #118.
1973 - Carly Simon's "No Secrets" was the #1 album in the U.S. for the first of five weeks. The tracks: "The Right Thing to Do", "The Carter Family", "You're So Vain", "His Friends are More Than Fond of Robin", "(We Have) No Secrets", "Embrace Me You Child", "Waited So Long", "It Was So Easy", "Night Owl" and "When You Close Your Eyes".
1973---Top Hits
Me and Mrs. Jones - Billy Paul
Clair - Gilbert O'Sullivan
You're So Vain - Carly Simon
She's Got to Be a Saint - Ray Price
1974-A Gallup poll on religious worship showed that fewer Protestants and Roman Catholics were attending weekly services than ten years earlier, but that attendance at Jewish worship services had increased over the same period.
1974- 37 people were injured in a melee outside the Tower Records store in Los Angeles after the crowd discovered that singer Steve Miller was not going to be at a post-concert party at the store. The organizers forgot to invite him. Miller's single and album "The Joker" were riding high on the charts at the time.
1974 - Super Bowl VIII (at Houston): Miami Dolphins 24, Minnesota Vikings 7. The Dolphins win their second straight Super Bowl. Fran Tarkenton and the Vikings are the victims. MVP: Dolphins' RB Larry Csonka; Larry Csonka's 145 yards rushing to claim their second straight championship. . Tickets: $15.00
http://images.nfl.com/history/images/0113.jpg.
1976 - Sarah Caldwell, The Divine Miss Sarah, founder of the highly successful and artistically marvelous Boston Opera Company, the second woman in the history of the New York Philharmonic to conduct its orchestra (1975) became the first woman to conduct an opera at the Metropolitan, Verdi's La Traviata . Devoted to her Boston Opera company and opera in general, she uses off-beat methods to draw customers by using stage innovations which included such things as motorcycles and circus acts. She was born 03-05-24.
http://www2.worldbook.com/features/whm/html/whm068.html
http://www.smithsonianassociates.org/programs/cassettes/caldwell.HTM
1978-Elvis Presley's version of Paul Anka's "My Way" goes gold in five months after the King's death. Earlier, it had become one of Presley's 78 Top Twenty-five hits.
1980 - The Grateful Dead, Beach Boys and Jefferson Starship are the featured acts at a benefit concert for the people of Kampuchea, held at the Oakland Coliseum.
1981---Top Hits
(Just Like) Starting Over - John Lennon
Love on the Rocks - Neil Diamond
Hungry Heart - Bruce Springsteen
I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink - Merle Haggard
1982 - Air Florida Flight 90, a Boeing 737, attempted to take off from Washington's National Airport in one of the worst blizzards in history. Ice had built up on the wings of the jetliner as it waited its turn to take off, preventing it from gaining altitude. After crashing into the 14th Street Bridge, the plane fell into the Potomac River. 74 of the 79 people on the aircraft were killed in the accident. Four people on the bridge were killed.
1982 - The worst Louisiana rainstorm in more than 100 years came to an end. More than 18 inches fell at Vinton, LA, during the three day storm. Flooding was widespread, and property damage was estimated at 100 to 200 million dollars. President Reagan visited the state and declared ten parishes in northeastern Lousiana disaster areas
1984 - Wayne Gretzky extended his consecutive scoring streak to 45 games, but the Edmonton Oilers winning streak ended at an unlucky 13 when Gretzky and company lost to the Buffalo Sabres 3-1.
1985-While not a date in American history, Otto Bucher of Switzerland became the oldest golfer to record a hole-in-one when he aced the 12 th hole at a golf course in Spain. Burcher was 99 years old.
1986 - NCAA member schools voted overwhelmingly in convention to adopt Proposition 48, a controversial attempt to raise the academic performance of student-athletes. Prop 48 required incoming freshmen to score 700 or more on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) or 15 on the American College Testing (ACT) exam or graduate from high school with a 2.0 grade point average in order to be eligible for athletics during freshman year.
1986 - For the first time in about 10 years, "The Wall Street Journal" broke with tradition and printed a real, honest-to-goodness picture on its front page. The story was about artist O. Winston Link and featured one of his works.
1988 - A fast moving cold front ushered arctic cold into the north central and northeastern U.S. Mason City IA reported a wind chill reading of 51 degrees below zero, and Greenville ME reported a wind chill of 63 degrees below zero. Winds along the cold front gusted to 63 mph at Rochester NY, and a thunderstorm along the cold front produced wind gusts to 62 mph at Buffalo NY, along with snow and sleet.
1989 - Half a dozen cities in the northeastern U.S. reported record low temperatures for the date, including Elkins, WV, with a reading of 13 degrees below zero. Watertown NY was the cold spot in the nation with a morning low of 37 degrees below zero
1989---Top Hits
Every Rose Has Its Thorn - Poison
My Prerogative - Bobby Brown
Two Hearts - Phil Collins
Hold Me - K.T. Oslin
1990 - A winter storm in the southwestern U.S. produced more than a twelve inches of snow in the mountains of California and Nevada. In northern California, Huntington Lake was buried under 40 inches of snow, and up to 20 inches was reported in northeastern Nevada. Heavy rain soaked some of the lower elevations of California. Gibraltar Dam CA was drenched with 5.33 inches of rain in two days.
1992 - United States serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer pleaded guilty but insane to the murders of 15 young men and boys. He had kept parts of his victim in his refrigerator, and also claimed to be a cannibal. He was later murdered in by an inmate who said, " God had told me to do this."
1994-- GTE, in the midst of a massive restructuring program designed to "streamline" its operations for the dawning "multimedia age." announced that it was taking a $1.8 billion pretax charge for the fourth quarter of 1993 and, in the process, planned to slash its staff by some 17,000 jobs. GTE chairman Charles R. Lee declared the moves necessary for the company's future, noting that without a "competitive structure" GTE would likely "blow up." However, this logic didn't mollify GTE's primary union, the Communications Workers of America, which derided the lay-offs as "yet another example of a highly profitable company eliminating...the people who helped build the company and created its technology to further enhance the bottom line."
1996-The Medals of Honor were awarded to African-American servicemen for service in World War II by President William Jefferson Clinton at a ceremony in the White House, Washington, DC. None of the 1.7 million African-Americans who served in World War II had received a Medal of Honor despite the many documented cases of bravery that were presented to officials of the armed forces. Of the seven servicemen who received the medal at the ceremony, the only one still alive was Vernon Baker, a 77-year-old retired career Army officer. Medals were awarded posthumously to staff Sergeant Edward A. Carter, J., of Los Angeles, First Lieutenant Charles L. Thomas of Detroit, Private George Watson of Birmingham, AL, First Lieutenant John R. Fox of Boston, Private First Class Willy F. James, Jr., of Kansas City, KS, and Staff Sergeant Ruben Rivers of Tecumseh, OK.
1998 -- Baltimore and Minnesota combine to set an NFL record with three kickoff return touchdowns in the same game, all in the first quarter of the Vikings' 38-28 victory. Corey Harris and Patrick Johnson score for the Ravens while David Palmer turns the trick for Minnesota. Vikings kicker Gary Anderson sets an NFL record when he converts his 34th consecutive field goal.
1999-"The Sopranos" TV Premiere. The thinking viewer's mob drama," The Sopranos" features James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano, who's panic attacks drive him to seek out a psychiatrist ( Lorraine Bracco). The HBO drama revolves around Tony's home and crime lives. TV Guide has named the series one of the greatest TV shows of all time.
http://www.hbo.com/sopranos/
2000 - Microsoft chairman Bill Gates announced that he would be stepping down as Microsoft chief executive and handing over the reins to longtime friend and company president Steve Ballmer. Gates assumed the title of 'chief software architect'.
Superbowl Champions This Date
1974 Miami Dolphins
While he never won a Superbowl, losing in 1985 to the 49ers, Dan Marino just joined as head of football operations and is considered the most prolific passer in NFL history, holding league records with 61,361 yards passing and 420 touchdown passes
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/games/2004-01-12-marino_x.htm
[headlines]
-------------------------------------------------------------
American Football Poem
Some time . . . when the team is up against it, when things are wrong and the breaks are beating the boys - tell them to go in there with all they've got and win just one for the Gipper. I don't know where I'll be then, . . .. but I'll know about it, and I'll be happy.
spoken by Pat O'Brian about George Gipp, played by Ronald Reagan
Knute Rockne--All American [1940]
[headlines]
| 
