Position Wanted – Credit
Work Remotely or Relocate for Right Opportunity

 

Orlando, Florida - Will work remotely
As a Commercial Credit Analyst/Underwriter, I have evaluated transactions from sole proprietorships to listed companies, across a broad spectrum of industries, embracing a multitude of asset types. Sound understanding of balance sheet, income statement and cash flow dynamics which impact credit decisions. Strong appreciation for credit/asset risk.
rpsteiner21@aol.com
407 430-3917

Work Remotely from Portland, Oregon
Experienced commercial banker and former commercial equipment leasing industry professional seeking full-time or part-time work out of my home in Portland, Oregon. Over twenty years’ experience in credit analysis, underwriting, sales and collections. Known for creative problem solving and strong quantitative & qualitative analytical skills.  Demonstrated ability to gather information, evaluate and make informed strategic business decisions to maximize profit and mitigate risk. Well known for ability to develop strong business relationships with Clients and large list of national equipment leasing Brokers. Please see attached resume and contact me below if interested. 
Resume
JFrank@BL-Solutions.com

Seattle, WA – Will Work Remotely
A highly skilled credit expert.  Extensive underwriting background in small ticket leasing and commercial banking.  Managing equipment finance credit operations, performing daily credit tasks, spreading/analyzing financial statements, preparing monthly reports.  Exceptional organizational, analytical, communication skills.  I excel at making sound credit decisions in a fast paced environment.  murphy9679@frontier.com

---

Each Week Leasing News is pleased, as a service to its readership, to offer completely free ads placed by candidates for jobs in the industry. These ads also can be accessed directly on the website at: http://www.leasingnews.org/Classified/Jwanted/Jwanted.htm

Each ad is limited to (100) words and ads repeat for up to 6 months unless the candidate tells us to stop. Your submissions should be received here by the end of each week.

Please encourage friends and colleagues to take advantage of this service, including recent graduates and others interested in leasing and related careers. 

 

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Top Stories:  July 23 - July 27
(Opened Most by Readers)

 

(1) North Mill Equipment Finance LLC
Joins Funder, Looking for Broker, Story Credit Lists
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Jul2018/07_27.htm#north

(2) Leasing News Complaints Bulletin Board
       BBB Ratings
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Jul2018/07_23.htm#ln_bbb

(3) Menzel on Bob Fisher July 18, 2000 Capital Stream
   By Christopher Menkin, Editor
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Jul2018/07_25.htm#menzel

(4) Southern California home sales crash,
            a warning sign to the nation
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/24/southern-california-home-sales-crash-a-warning-sign-to-the-nation.html

(5) New Hires/Promotions in the Leasing Business
    and Related Industries
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Jul2018/07_27.htm#hires

(6) 10 Highest-Paid in US Banking Industry
   Ranked by Total Adjusted Compensation in 2017(#M)
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Jul2018/07_23.htm#peoples

(7) No Longer taking Broker/Discounting Business
 plus Leasing Companies Out of Business
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Jul2018/07_25.htm#no

(8) People's United Bank Acquires Vend Lease Company,
Leading Equipment Finance Business Joins Bank Purchase of LEAF
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Jul2018/07_23.htm#peoples

(9) Photos from Steve Crane, CLFP
 First Hawaii, Then Pictures from the Past
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Jul2018/07_27.htm#photos

(10) The Cost of Rent in 140+ North American Cities
 Average Rent Chart with Cities
http://www.visualcapitalist.com/mapped-cost-rent-140-north-american-cities/

 

 

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Changes at Amur Financial Group
Co-President/Chief Commercial Officer Gone

Amur Finance Company, Grand Island, Nebraska, with additional offices in New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Texas, California and New Hampshire reportedly has 120 employees, according to their website.  Michael Karman, Co-President and Chief Commercial Officer, abruptly left the company, according to a well informed source, who also says salesmen are not happy and will also be leaving.

Karman joined Amur January, 2015. Previously, he was Senior Vice President at Ascentium Capital; Chief Executive Officer, Finance Services; Executive Vice President, Greystone & Co.; Senior Vice President, BankVest Capital Corp.: Vice Present, AT&T Capital.

His departure follows a court case decision regarding Amur Finance vs. Pine River: http://leasingnews.org/PDF/pine_river2018.pdf

 

 

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Merchant Advance, Factor, Leasing, Loans Merchant Database
Protecting Funders Since 2015

DataMerch, LLC, Tampa, Florida, was founded in 2015, originally designed to help funders determine if a future client of theirs has a bad track record in the alternative finance industry. Today, the system has grown to 14 thousand individual records in the DataMerch Database. They also have 53 active members: Direct funders on their network.

Scott Williams, co- founder of the company, says, "The majority of our member are direct funders that offer term business loans and merchant cash advances.   We do have some members that are focused on invoice factoring and equipment leasing.  We are always open to adding other types of financial lenders. We do not allow debt settlement companies to be part of the service.  Also it usually doesn’t make sense for ISO’s/brokers to pay the $495 monthly fee since they are not risking the capital with the funding transaction.

In addition to being Co-Founder DataMerch, LLC, Connor is Managing Member of the Financial Advantage Group> He has lead the company for almost 15 years, specializing in helping business owners obtain alternative funding options.

"We are not a 'blacklist',” he explains. “We give our members background data about merchants that have applied for funding with them. 

"Our database collects data on merchants that have defaulted, submitted fraudulent documentation, were a slow pay to a funder, stacking history, split pay with an additional merchant terminal, and/or other helpful background information.

"We make it easy for our members to search and enter records on our platform. Members can easily enter records manually, send us an excel spreadsheet for mass uploads or they can integrate their underwriting software using our API to automate the process.

"DataMerch can literally save a funder hundreds of thousands of dollars; that's why we have been able to grow so much in the first few years. We expect the growth of members and records to continue to grow at a rapid pace."

Potential subscribers can contact DataMerch at support@datamerch.com

 

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Help Wanted

Byline Financial Group Bannockburn, Ilinois Positions Open Customer Service Repesentative  Credit Administrator    Sales Coordinator (Click on position to learn more) bylinebank.com/byline-financial-group/ Byline Financial Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Byline Bank, Member FDIC

 

Leasing Funding Coordinator Los Angeles, California Visit: Recent Transactions Visit: Leasing Program Job Description www.dakotafinancial.com Asset-Based Direct Funding Source

 

 

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Sales Make it Happen
by Mr. Terry Winders

“What is a professional lease salesperson?”

(This was written August 23, 2006. Terry is now
retired, but this column remains accurate today.)

Sales success comes from many attributes, but the main ingredient is a complete knowledge of the lease product, and how to use that knowledge in the selling effort. Education is the key to that knowledge and understanding this is the first step to becoming a true professional. Order takers survive but rarely succeed in leasing. I have met way too many lease salespeople that have a limited understanding of the purpose of each type of lease or the rules and regulations that are required to offer them.

Some people are born sales people. They can sell anyone anything. However in equipment leasing that will only get you so far. You need to know how to fit the correct lease to the lessee's needs and you need to learn how to explain its virtues to the lessee. Our product, called equipment leasing, is one of the most complex type of financing available in the marketplace today and yet some of us think it is only a fancy way to offer 100% funding.

To be a professional you must understand that many customers view our product with confusion, or misunderstanding, which requires you to explain in some detail why your lease meets their needs better that other methods. This takes a strong understanding of the tax, legal, and accounting aspects of each type of lease. If you have been trained how the rule makers approach leasing then you can explain to the lessee how each lease serves a different purpose. The right lease can have many different advantages that set it apart from lending or just 100% financing. But just for instance, how many differences are there when comparing a bargain purchase option lease to a loan? I know ten solid differences, how many can you name? If you cannot come up with at least eight, you need some education.

Take a moment and jot down all the differences between tax leasing and bargain option leases. How about the difference between a TRAC lease and a conventional Tax Lease. What is the restriction on interest deductions on municipal leases if you are a bank or plan to fund a Muni with a bank? Knowing all aspects of the rules and regulations helps you understand how to fit a lease to the lessee's “true needs” and more important explain “why” it is the best option.

An order taker just responds to the lease's request. A professional learns how to uncover the full facts of the customer’s request and then presents plan B or plan C, in addition to plan A, which does the best job of fitting the request. It also makes you look like a professional instead of an order taker.

Many of the lease trade associations offer courses in lease education and provide excellent training at modest prices or there are many books that will help you get the training you need but it does take some effort. Remember the longest journey begins with that first step.

(If you are serious about your profession, time to look into becoming
a Certified Leasing and Finance Professional---)
http://www.clfpfoundation.org/

Sales Makes it Happen
http://www.leasingnews.org/Legacy/index.html

 

 

 

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2018 Six Month Leasing/Finance Association Membership
By Christopher Menkin

2018 Six Month Association Numbers

Six Month Year-by-Year Since 2000 Numbers

 

Association Description, Category Changes, Membership Information Follows:

The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association has the largest professional  staff, the most conferences, workshops, programs, Washington lobbying, as well as working with state governments, which actually control most of the leasing and lending requirements, including licensing and usury laws.

In addition, the member companies often sponsor their key employees to attend conferences as well as workshops.

Membership Information
https://www.elfaonline.org/membership/membership-home 

 

Certified Leasing and Finance Professionals (individuals)

1/2Y: 583
2018: 521
2017: 399
2016: 289
2015: 213
2014: 199
2013: 173
2012: 168
2011: 174
2010: 159
2009: 182
2008: 179
2007: 204

Membership Requirements:
http://www.clfpfoundation.org/requirements.php

Academy for Lease & Finance Professionals
http://www.clfpfoundation.org/alfp.php

A Mentor Program is available
http://www.clfpfoundation.org/page-1857570

CLFP Foundation Companies with Two or More Members

Financial Pacific Leasing, Inc., an Umpqua Bank Company	24
Amur Equipment Finance	19
AP Equipment Financing	19
Ascentium Capital	18
U.S. Bank Equipment Finance	17
BB&T Commercial Equipment Capital Corp.	14
ECS Financial Services, Inc.	12
Ivory Consulting Corporation	12
Arvest Bank	11
Orion First Financial LLC	11
KLC Financial, Inc.	9
Northland Capital Financial Services	9
Canon Financial Services, Inc	8
Celtic Commercial Finance	8
BancorpSouth Equipment Finance	7
BMO Financial Group	7
Hanmi Bank	7
Marlin Business Bank	7
Bank of the West	6
Beacon Funding Corporation	6
Great American Insurance	6
GreatAmerica Financial Services	6
Oakmont Capital Services LLC	5
BSB Leasing, Inc.	4
Commerce Bank	4
DLL	4
LeaseQ	4
NCMIC Finance Corporation	4
Stearns Bank NA-Equipment Finance Division	4
Blue Street Capital, LLC	3
Clune & Company LC	3
Diversified Capital Credit Corporation	3
First Foundation Bank	3
First National Capital	3
FSG Capital Inc.	3
Innovative Lease Services, Inc.	3
International Decision Systems	3
Key Equipment Finance	3
LeaseTeam Inc.	3
Partners Capital Group, Inc.	3
Providence Capital Funding, Inc.	3
Provident Equipment Leasing	3
Quality Leasing Co. Inc.	3
Tamarack Consulting, Inc	3
Western Equipment Finance	3
American Leasing & Financial	2
Customers Bank Commercial Finance	2
Dakota Financial, LLC	2
Direct Capital a CIT company	2
Finance Capital	2
Fleet Advantage, LLC	2
Great Falls Capital Partners dba Pinnacle Capital Partners	2
Innovation Finance	2
Maxim Commercial Capital, LLC	2
OneWorld Business Finance LLC	2
Pacifica Capital	2
Padco Financial Services, Inc.	2
Patriot Capital Corporation a Division of State Bank & Trust Company	2
Portfolio Financial Servicing Company	2
Summit Funding Group, Inc.	2
Taycor Financial	2
TEQLease, Inc.	2

The National Association of Equipment Leasing Brokers changed their name this year to the American Association of Commercial Finance Brokers. “AACFB is a one-stop broker resource, providing our members with business tools, funding sources and a network of powerful resources. We provide a strong foundation for owning and operating a successful commercial financing business."

10 Reasons to Join AACFB
http://www.aacfb.org/membership-join/reasons-to-join

 

The Association of Government Leasing and Finance was founded in 1981 to provide an educational forum and industry oversight among issuers, leasing companies, investment banking firms, banks, and third-party lease brokers who participate in the lease-purchase financing of real and personal property to state and local governments. Law firms, municipal bond insurers and rating agencies complement the membership.

AGLF publishes a bi-monthly newsletter; 50-state leasing survey; federal leasing survey; and conducts numerous industry projects. Two types of membership: regular member - private sector organizations active in leasing/finance; governmental member - any state, territory, US possession, District of Columbia, or political subdivision of above. Non-members are very welcome at our conferences.

7 Individuals
13 Limited
42 Basic Company Members with 139 total people
8 Leader Company Members with 206 total people

Membership Categories
http://www.aglf.org/membership-categories

Formed by a group of lessor in 1974, the Western Association of Equipment Leasing became the United Association of Equipment Leasing which merged in 1910 with the Eastern Association of Equipment Lessors, later changing its name to the National Equipment Finance Association.

Membership Information:
https://www.nefassociation.org/page/MembershipMainPg

 

Commercial Finance Association

The Association for Professionals in the Asset Based Lending
   and Factoring Business

Founded in 1944, the Commercial Finance Association is the trade group of the asset-based financial services industry with members throughout the U.S., Canada and around the world. Members include the asset-based lending arms of domestic and foreign commercial banks, small and large independent finance companies, floor plan financing organizations, factoring organizations and financing subsidiaries of major industrial corporations. CFA membership is by organization, not by individual.

1/2 year: 249
2018: 233
2017: 228
2016: 246
2015: 280

Membership Information
http://community.cfa.com/membership/about-membership 

 

Boxer/Mix
Grand Island, Nebraska

Anna
ID: 37290004

Female
Age: 2 years, 7 months
Size: Medium
Color: Tan/Black
Spayed: Yes
Declawed: No
Housetrained: Partially
Site: Central Nebraska Humane Society
Location: Dog 18
Intake Date: 12/1/2017
Adoption Price: $120.00

"Anna is a sweet girl looking for a patient owner to help her come out of her shell. She is nervous in her kennel, and can seem a bit aggressive. When given the chance to blossom, she loves to be around people, likes to go outside and go for walks, and can potentially be good around other dogs. She is an adorable boxer mix, with a sweet smile that will melt your heart. Like most dogs, the way to her heart is through her stomach, so especially likes hot dogs! Stop into the shelter and give Anna a chance to steal your heart."

Central Nebraska Humane Society
1212 Sky Park Road
Grand Island, Nebraska 68801
(308) 385 -5305
Contact: http://www.centralnebraskahumanesociety.com/contactus

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

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

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Twelve Attorneys Against Evergreen Abuse

The original intention of the Evergreen clause in an equipment leasing contract was to have an alternative to when the lessee did not exercise the residual at the end of the contract. Often the clause calls for an automatic additional twelve months when the residual is not resolved.

In most cases, the lessor notifies the lessee that the residual will be due, often ninety days in advance. However, often there is nothing in the contract that requires the lessor to notify the lessee regarding the expiration of the contract.

Contrarily, many small ticket lessors do not notify the lessee, and automatically continue the lease, often via an ACH or continued billing, which often goes unnoticed until many payments have already been made.

Leasing News would like to see an industry standard that lessees are notified in advance of the expiration of their contract regarding its termination. We support the clause, and the notification requirement is wide open, meaning 90, 60, even 30 days and by telephone or mail.

This list of attorneys agrees with this and will be available to lessees, sometimes able to help them without a fee, or at a reduced rate, in an effort to end the abuse of Evergreen clause leases.

Joseph G. Bonanno, Esq., CLFP
Attorney at Law, Massachusetts
Andover Landing at Brickstone
300 Brickstone Square, Ste. 201
Andover, MA 01810
Tel: (781)328-1010
Fax: (781) 827-0866
Email: law@jgbesq.com
"Industry expert witness in litigation, numerous authored and
co-authored published articles and conducting educational
seminars. Very well-known in the industry."

Jim Coston
Coston & Coston LLC
105 W. Adams Street
Suite 1400
Chicago, Illinois 60603
(312) 205-1010
jcoston@costonlaw.com
(In 1998, he was elected to the United Association of Equipment
Leasing Board of Directors, and in 2003-04 was the first
attorney to become UAEL President, very active in his political party.)

Ronald J. Eisenberg
Schultz & Associates LLP
640 Cepi Drive, Suite A
Chesterfield, MO 63005
(636) 537-4645 x108
(636) 537-2599 (fax)
www.sl-lawyers.com
(Proven Leasing Litigator, well respected by all sides)

Ronald P. Gossett
Gossett & Gossett, P.A.
400 Seridan Street, Building I
Hollywood, Florida
954-983-2828
Fax: 954-983-2850
rongossett@gossettlaw.com
(Many cases including NorVergence, Brican, among others, a winner)

Ken Greene
Law Offices of Kenneth Charles Greene
5743 Corsa Avenue Suite 208
Westlake Village, California 91362
Tel: 818.575.9095
Fax: 805.435.7464
Skype: 424.235.1658
kenlaw100@gmail.com
(Ken was involved in the formation of Leasing News and
represented it (pro bono) in the early days.)

Peter S. Hemar, Esq.
Hemar & Associates, Attorneys at Law
2001 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 510
Santa Monica, CA 90403
Telephone: (310) 829-1948
Fax: (310) 829-1352
phemar@hemar.com
(My firm supports the clause giving lessees advance 
notice of the expiration of their contract.)

Brandon J. Mark
Attorney at Law, Admitted in Utah and Oregon
Parsons Behle & Latimer
201 South Main Street, Suite 1800
Salt Lake City, UT 84111
Direct Dial 801.536.6958
Facsimile 801.536.6111
www.parsonsbehle.com
BMark@parsonsbehle.com
(His firm represents banks who buy leases, and his
clients refuse to buy these types of leases.)

Barry S. Marks
MARKS & ASSOCIATES, P.C.
Financial Center - Suite 1615
505 North 20th Street
Birmingham, Alabama 35203
P. O. Box 11386
Birmingham, Alabama 35202
barry@leaselawyer.com
www.leaselawyer.com
205.251.8303
fax 278.8905 (Direct) 251.8305 (Main)
(Well-known to the leasing industry, also Alabama Poet)

Tom McCurnin
Barton, Klugman & Oetting
350 South Grand Ste. 2200
Los Angeles, CA 90071
Voice: (213) 617-6129
Fax: (213) 625-1832
Cell: (213) 268-8291
Email: tmccurnin@bkolaw.com
(Leasing News Advisor/Leasing News Legal Editor,
Well-Known top Leasing Litigator)

Frank Peretore
Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi
West Orange, New Jersey
http://www.csglaw.com/biographies/frank-peretore 
Phone 973-530-2058
fperetore@csglaw.com
(Experienced leasing attorney, aggressive, author, active
National Equipment Finance Association, ELFA, too)

Kevin E. Trabaris, Partner
Culhane Meadows PLLC
30 S. Wacker Drive, 22nd floor
Chicago, IL  60606
Telephone:  847-840-4687
Email:  ktrabaris@culhanemeadows.com
llflegal.com/attorneys/kevin-trabaris
"In my career, I’ve repeatedly seen this provision misused
by unscrupulous lessors and think it’s a bad idea for both
the lessee and the lessor."

Michael J. Witt, Esq.
MICHAEL J. WITT LAW OFFICES
4342 Oakwood Lane
West Des Moines, IA 50265
Tel: (515) 657-8706
Mobile: (515) 868-1067
Fax: (515) 223-2352
email: MWitt@Witt-Legal.com
 Web:  www.witt-legal.com
(Former Advanta Leasing
and Wells Fargo Equipment Finance attorney)

News Briefs----

The Junk Debt that Tanked the Economy?
  It's Back in a Big Way
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/the-junk-debt-that-tanked-the-economy-its-back-in-a-big-way/2018/07/27/af8b324c-90f3-11e8-bcd5-9d911c784c38_story.html?utm_term=.69988f9b11c6

The U.S. Housing Market Looks Headed
     for Its Worst Slowdown in Years
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-26/american-housing-market-is-showing-signs-of-running-out-of-steam

California farmers and Mexican cheese sales,
    U.S. trade war takes a toll
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-dairy-california/california-farmers-and-mexican-cheese-sales-u-s-trade-war-takes-a-toll-idUSKBN1KH2O4?il=0

The $3 Billion Plan to Turn Hoover Dam Into a Giant Battery
The process begins when the dam converts water into energy
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/07/24/business/energy-environment/hoover-dam-renewable-energy.html

Byline Financial Group Bannockburn, Ilinois Positions Open Customer Service Repesentative  Credit Administrator    Sales Coordinator (Click on position to learn more) bylinebank.com/byline-financial-group/ Byline Financial Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Byline Bank, Member FDIC

 

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You May Have Missed---

Neil Diamond thanks firefighters battling wildfire
    with surprise performance
https://www.yahoo.com/gma/neil-diamond-thanks-firefighters-battling-wildfire-surprise-performance-050913415--abc-news-topstories.html

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The Rookie

January Gill O’Neil

America under the lights
at Harry Ball Field. A fog rolls in
as the flag crinkles and drapes

around a metal pole.
My son reaches into the sky
to pull down a game-ender,

a bomb caught in his leather mitt.
He gives the ball a flat squeeze
then tosses it in from the outfield,

tugs his cap over a tussle of hair
before joining the team—
all high-fives and handshakes

as the Major boys line up
at home plate. They are learning
how to be good sports,

their dugout cheers interrupted only
by sunflower seed shells spat
along the first base line.

The coach prattles on
about the importance of stealing
bases and productive outs

while a teammate cracks a joke
about my son’s ‘fro, then says,
But you’re not really black…

to which there’s laughter,
to which he smiles but says nothing,
which says something about

what goes unsaid, what starts
with a harmless joke, routine
as a can of corn.

But this is little league.
This is where he learns

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Sports Briefs---

Alex Smith was a safe choice.
 But the Redskins may have lucked into something greater
https://www.yahoo.com/sports/m/1f7efcd7-deef-321a-8b8b-54edde9efd6d/ss_alex-smith-was-a-safe-choice..html

49ers' Reuben Foster feared off-field issues
     could end his football career
https://www.yahoo.com/sports/49ers-reuben-foster-feared-off-215328691.html

Eagles Players Frustrated with NFL Referees'
     Presentation of New Helmet Rule
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2788477-eagles-players-frustrated-with-nfl-referees-presentation-of-new-helmet-rule

Andrew Luck's shoulder "responding well" in practice
http://www.theredzone.org/Blog-Description/EntryId/71266/Andrew-Luck-s-shoulder---responding-well--in-practice

Void language at center of Sam Darnold's holdout with New York Jets
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/jets/2018/07/29/new-york-jets-sam-darnold-contract-roquan-smith-chicago-bears/860512002/

Serena Williams, San Francisco’s own,
   graces Silicon Valley Classic
https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/jenkins/article/Serena-Williams-San-Francisco-s-own-graces-13113631.php

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California Nuts Briefs---

Second firefighter killed fighting Ferguson Fire,
   officials confirm
https://www.sacbee.com/site-services/newsletters/breaking-news-alerts/article215734705.html#emlnl=Breaking_Newsletter

Carr Fire: Another fatality, fire spills into Trinity County,
 evacuations remain in Redding
https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article215729720.html#emlnl=Afternoon_Newsletter

Mendocino Complex fires in Mendocino,
   Lake counties force additional evacuations
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/8579975-181/mendocino-complex-fires-in-mendocino

Lakeport evacuated as Mendocino Complex Fire
   pushes east through Lake County
https://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/fires/article215730120.html

California runs up huge firefighting bill early in season
https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article215669725.html?#emlnl=BreakingCapitolState_Alert

 

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“Gimme that Wine”

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

Costco Meets the Millennials
https://www.winespectator.com/blogs/show/id/Costco-Meets-Millennials-Kirkland-ODonnell

Robert Mondavi made an impact on Washington wine
    through his friendship with Allen Shoup
https://www.seattletimes.com/pacific-nw-magazine/robert-mondavi-made-an-impact-on-washington-wine-through-his-friendship-with-allen-shoup/

Viticulture briefs: Winiarksi donates $3.3 million to UC Davis
www.pressdemocrat.com/business/8572151-181/viticulture-briefs-winiarksi-donates-33

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

This Day in History

     1608 - At Ticonderoga, now Crown Point, NY, Samuel deChamplain shoots and kills two Iroquois chiefs. This was to set the tone for French-Iroquois relations for the next one hundred years.
    1619 - The first representative assembly in the Colonies, the House of Burgesses, convened at Jamestown, Va. Composed of the governor and 21 other members, 17 of whom were elected by the land-owning males, this body enacted laws for the colony. Among these would be rules regulating the militia, from its arming and training to whom could serve. For instance, slaves and indentured servants were forbidden to bear arms but “free negroes” were expected to serve and, like their white counterparts, even furnish their own weapons.
    1715 - Spanish gold and silver fleet disappears off St Lucie, Florida
    1729 - The city of Baltimore was founded.
    1733 - Society of Freemasons opens first American lodge in Boston
http://www.glmasons-mass.org/ 
    1739 - Caspar Wistar begins glass manufacturing in Allowaystown, NJ
    1836 - First English language newspaper published in Hawaii
    1839 - Slave rebels took over the slave ship Amistad
    1851 - Gail Borden of Norwich, NY, obtained a patent on a “preparation of portable soup bread.” He called it a “meat biscuit” as he baked flat, brittle cakes from concentrated meat extract combined with vegetable flour or meal.  To make soup, the consumer added hot water and seasoning to the biscuit. He developed this in Texas, moved to New York and obtained a patent. It was a failure. He then tried his hand a producing condensed milk, and his company floundered, with two plants in Connecticut going broke. At the outbreak of the Civil War, where condensed milk was needed in great supply, he found success, and is recognized today as the founder of the Borden Company. After the Civil War, he moved back to Texas and founded the City of Borden, Borden County, Texas. http://www.foodreference.com/html/whoswho_8.html http://www.famoustexans.com/GailBorden.htm 
http://www.norfacad.pvt.k12.va.us/project2000/bordeng/index.htm 
http://www.southeastmuseum.org/SE_Tour99/
SE_Tour/html/borden_s_milk.htm 
    1857 – Thorstein Veblen (d. 1929), American economist and sociologist, is born in Cato, WI.  Veblen is famous for combining a Darwinian evolutionary perspective with his new institutionalist approach to economic analysis.  In his masterpiece, “The Theory of the Leisure Class,” he argued that there was a fundamental split in society between those who make their way via exploit and those who make their way via industry. as society matures it is the difference between the landed gentry and the indentured servant. The titular manifestation of those with the power of exploit is the "leisure class" which is defined by its lack of productive economic activity and its commitment to demonstrations of idleness. As Veblen describes it, as societies mature, conspicuous leisure gives way to "conspicuous consumption", but both are performed for the sole purpose of making the demonstration of wealth, the basis for social status.  Veblen was sympathetic to state ownership of industry, but he had a low opinion of workers] and the labor movement and there is disagreement about the extent to which his views are compatible with Marxism, socialism, and communism. Veblen saw socialism as one intermediate phase in an ongoing evolutionary process in society that would be brought about by the natural decay of the business enterprise system and by the inventiveness of engineers.
    1863 - Industrialist Henry Ford (d. 1947), whose assembly-line method of automobile production revolutionized the industry, was born at Wayne County, MI, on the family farm. His Model T made up half of the world's output of cars during its years of production. Ford built racing cars until, in 1903, he and his partners formed the Ford Motor Company. In 1908, the company presented the Model T, which was produced until 1927, and in 1913 Ford introduced the assembly line and mass production. This innovation reduced the time it took to build each car from 12-1/2 hours to only 1-1/2. This enabled Ford to sell cars for $500, making automobile ownership a possibility for an unprecedented percentage to the population. He is also remembered for introducing a $5-a-day wage for automotive workers and for his statement: “History is bunk.” He lowered the workday to eight hours, gave paid vacation, and benefits; way ahead of his time.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jul30.html 
    1863 - Pres. Lincoln issued his "eye-for-eye" order to shoot a rebel prisoner for every black prisoner shot.
    1863 - The Shoshone chief Pocatello signs the Treaty of Box Elder, bringing peace to the emigrant trails of southern Idaho and northern Utah. 
    1864 - Petersburg Campaign - http://www.civilwar.com/va28.html. 
Grant's writings on Petersburg and the Crater:  “The effort was a stupendous failure. It cost us about four thousand men, mostly, however, captured; and all due to inefficiency on the part of the corps commander [Burnside] and the incompetence of the division commander [Ledlie] who was sent to lead the assault.” 
http://saints.css.edu/mkelsey/Crater.html   Battle of the Crater: With the desperate situation in the crater, the racism of white Union soldiers became blatant. Knowing that the Confederates would give no quarter to black troops if taken prisoner, white soldiers feared that they would suffer the same if caught with black soldiers. They thus began to bayonet their own comrades in arms. By 2 PM, Confederate forces, who had been told that the black troops holding the crater had fought with the battle cry, "No quarter for rebels!" began their final assault on the crater. Many black soldiers who tried to surrender were killed by the Confederates. Union officers, in fear of "rebel vengeance," ripped off their unit insignias. Out of the 180 black prisoners taken, only seven survived the prison camps. The numbers are staggering. Union casualties totaled 3,475. Of the 4500 blacks that fought, 1327 were killed or wounded. More casualties came from the black division than from any of the white divisions, even though the white divisions had been fighting for an hour and a half prior to the entry of the colored troops. 
http://home.nycap.rr.com/civilwar/usctblakely.htm 
    1865 – The steamboat, “Brother Jonathan” sinks off the coast of California, killing 225 passengers, the deadliest shipwreck on the Pacific Coast of the U.S. at the time.
    1869 - The Charles, considered the world’s first oil tanker, departs from the United States headed for Europe with a bulk capacity of 7,000 barrels of oil.
    1890 - Birthday of Charles Dillon “Casey” Stengel (d. 1975), outfielder and Baseball Hall of Fame manager born at Kansas City, MO. Stengel played the outfield for several teams and earned a reputation for goofiness. He carried this over into his career as a manager, but his success with the New York Yankees (ten pennants and seven World Series titles in 12 years) made him one of the game's greatest managers.  Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1966. 
   1898 - Will Kellogg invents Corn Flakes
   1903 - Birthday of alto player Hilton Jefferson (d. 1968), born Danbury, CT.
http://www.harlem.org/oldsite/people/jefferson.html  http://shopping.yahoo.com/shop?d=product&id=1927072751
& clink=dmmu.artist&a=b
         1909 - US Army accepts delivery of first military airplane.
    1922 – Birthday of Henry Block, in Kansas City, MO, co-founder of H & R Block.
    1928 - Birthday of drummer Vernal Fournier (d. 2000), New Orleans, LA. http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers5/Vernel_Fournier.html http://www.drumplace.com/BB007.html 
    1928 – Joe Nuxhall (d. 2007), former Major League pitcher, was born in Hamilton, OH.  In addition to his 40 years of broadcasting Reds games, Nuxhall is most remembered for having been the youngest player ever to appear in a Major League game, pitching 2/3 of an inning for the Reds on June 10, 1944 at the age of 15 years, 316 days.
    1932 - The Olympic Games opened in Los Angeles, CA. The Games would revisit Los Angeles -- and the same venues of the Los Angeles Coliseum, the Rose Bowl, -- in 1984.
(Lower half of: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jul30.html ) 
    1932 - Premiere of Walt Disney’s “Flowers and Trees,” the first cartoon short to use Technicolor and the first Academy Award-winning cartoon short.
    1933 - Birthday of actor-singer Edd Byrnes, famous for his 1959 duet with Connie Stevens, "Kookie, Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb," was born Edward Byrne Breitenberger in New York City. Byrnes and Stevens both starred in the hit TV series "77 Sunset Strip." "Kookie" was the name of the character Byrnes played. (My father Lawrence Menkin was story editor, plus wrote several of the episodes). 
http://www.hollywood.com/celebs/detail/celeb/199456 
http://biography.com/cgi-bin/frameit.cgi?p=http%3A//biography.com/magazine/biomag/ebyrnes.html http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/PersonDetail/personid-13798 
    1934 – Retired MLB Commissioner Allan “Bud” Selig was born in Milwaukee.  Selig was previously the team owner and team president of the Milwaukee Brewers. As a Milwaukee native, he is credited for keeping baseball in Milwaukee. In 1970, he purchased the Seattle Pilots in bankruptcy court and renamed them the Milwaukee Brewers after the minor league team of the same name he had watched in his youth, which existed until the arrival of the Braves in Milwaukee in 1952. The Braves departed for Atlanta in 1966.   Selig served as Commissioner since 1992 as the acting commissioner, and as the official commissioner 1998-2015.   Selig oversaw baseball through the 1994 strike that included the cancellation of the World Series, the introduction of the wild card, interleague play, and the merging of the National and American Leagues under the Office of the Commissioner. Selig also introduced revenue sharing.   He is credited for the financial turnaround of baseball during his tenure with a 400 percent increase in the revenue of MLB and annual record breaking attendance.  He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2017.
    1936 - Birthday of guitarist/songwriter George “Buddy” Guy, Lettsworth, LA.
http://www.blueflamecafe.com/index.html 
http://shopping.yahoo.com/shop?d=product&id=192700029
4&clink=dmmu.artist&a=b 
    1937 - Birthday of sax player James Spaulding, Indianapolis, IN. 
http://shopping.yahoo.com/shop?d=product&id=
1927006436&clink=dmmu.artist&a=b 
    1937 - The American Federation of Radio Artists (AFRA) was organized. It was part of the American Federation of Labor. The union was for all radio performers except musicians. The union later became The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) to include TV performers. 
    1941 - Birthday of singer/songwriter Paul Anka, Ontario, Canada. He began his career as a teen singing idol in the late 1950's, but unlike most teen idols, he wrote a lot of his own material. "Diana," his first single for ABC-Paramount in 1957, became one of the most successful records in pop music history, hitting number one on the Billboard chart and selling more than five-million copies.  Anka's audience at the time consisted mainly of screaming teenage girls and he was as popular in Europe as in North America. His other hits included "Lonely Boy," "Puppy Love" and "Put Your Head on My Shoulder." When Anka's recording career waned with the coming of the Beatles, he turned to songwriting. Among his many credits are "My Way" for Frank Sinatra, "She's a Lady" for Tom Jones and the theme for Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show." Anka's popularity as a singer rose again at the beginning of the 1970's. His controversial duet with Odia Coates, "You're Having My Baby," went to number one in 1974.
http://www.paulanka.com/ 
    1942 - Frank Sinatra recorded the last of 90 recordings with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra on Victor Records. His last side was "There are Such Things," which became number one in January of 1943. Sinatra moved on to Columbia Records (1943-1952) as a solo singing sensation.
    1942 - Benny Goodman Band records Mel Powell's “Mission to Moscow.”
    1942 - German SS kills 25,000 Jews in Minsk, Belorussia 
http://motlc.wiesenthal.com/text/x15/xr1561.html 
    1942 - The WAVES were created by legislation signed by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The members of the Women's Auxiliary Voluntary Emergency Service were a part of the U.S. Navy.
    1942 - The US passenger-freighter Robert E. Lee with 268 passengers was sunk by the German U-166 submarine. 15 crew members and 10 passengers died. In 2001, wreckage of the U-166 was found in the Gulf of Mexico and it appeared that it was sunk by Coast Guard PC-566 right after the attack. U-166 had 52 crew members.
    1944 - OZBOURN, JOSEPH WILLIAM, Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Marine Corps. Born: 24 October 1919, Herrin, Ill. Accredited to: Illinois. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as a Browning Automatic Rifleman serving with the 1st Battalion, 23d Marines, 4th Marine Division, during the battle for enemy Japanese-held Tinian Island, Marianas Islands, 30 July 1944. As a member of a platoon assigned the mission of clearing the remaining Japanese troops from dugouts and pillboxes along a tree line, Pvt. Ozbourn, flanked by 2 men on either side, was moving forward to throw an armed hand grenade into a dugout when a terrific blast from the entrance severely wounded the 4 men and himself. Unable to throw the grenade into the dugout and with no place to hurl it without endangering the other men, Pvt. Ozbourn unhesitatingly grasped it close to his body and fell upon it, sacrificing his own life to absorb the full impact of the explosion, but saving his comrades. His great personal valor and unwavering loyalty reflect the highest credit upon Pvt. Ozbourn and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
    1945 – USS Indianapolis was sunk by a Japanese submarine, killing 833 men, the greatest single loss of life at sea in the history of the U.S. Navy. After delivering parts and enriched uranium for the atomic bomb to the United States air base at Tinian, the ship was torpedoed, sinking in 12 minutes. Of 1,196 crewmen aboard, approximately 300 went down with the ship.  The remaining 900 faced exposure, dehydration, saltwater poisoning and sharks while floating with few lifeboats and almost no food or water. The Navy learned of the sinking when survivors were spotted four days later by a routine patrol. Only 317 survived.
    1945 – Birthday of saxophonist David Sanborn, Tampa, FL. FL. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=B8q3tk65x9kra 
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/external-search/103-23589206763062?tag=drjohnholleman&
keyword=david+sanborn&mode=music 
    1945 - Duke Ellington records his son Mercer's “ Things Ain't What They Used to Be.”
    1947 - Top Hits 
“Peg o' My Heart” - The Harmonicats 
“I Wonder, I Wonder, I Wonder” - Eddy Howard 
“Chi-Baba, Chi-Baba” - Perry Como 
“Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)” - Tex Williams 
    1949 - The state record for Connecticut was established when the town of Greenville registered an afternoon high of 102 degrees. 
    1953 - Although books bound in soft covers were first introduced in 1841 at Leipzig, Germany, by Christian Bernhard Tauchnitz, the modern paperback revolution dates to the publication of the first Penguin paperback by Sir Allen Lane at London in 1935. Penguin Number 1 was “Ariel, a Life of Shelley” by Andre Maurois. 
    1954 -  Elvis Presley makes his first official concert appearance as a solo act, opening for Slim Whitman at Memphis' Overton Park Shell outdoor auditorium, billed third as "Ellis Presley" and performing "That's All Right, Mama," "Blue Moon Of Kentucky," and "I'll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin')." In the middle of the first song, a badly stage-frightened Elvis unconsciously begins to duplicate a move he usually made in the studio, shaking his leg in time with the music. The crowd of (mostly) girls goes absolutely wild, confusing Elvis and his band. "That's All Right," made several weeks earlier, was on its way to becoming a hit in the Memphis Area.
    1955 - Top Hits 
“Rock Around the Clock” - Bill Haley & His Comets 
“Hard to Get” - Giselle Mackenzie 
“Sweet and Gentle” - Alan Dale 
“I Don't Care” - Webb Pierce 
    1963 - Birthday of Christopher Paul “Chris” Mullin, basketball player, born Brooklyn, NY.  He is a two-time Olympic Gold medalist and a two-time Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee (in 2010 as a member of the 1992 US men’s Olympic basketball team known as The Dream Team, and in 2011 for his individual career).  Current head coach of St. John’s University, his alma mater.
    1956 - Singer Brenda Lee recorded her first hit for Decca Records, "Jambalaya" and "Bigelow 6-200," and started a new career for the petite 11-year-old from Lithonia, GA (near Atlanta). Born Brenda Mae Tarpley, she had been singing professionally since age six. She recorded 29 hit songs in the 1960s and became a successful country singer in 1971. Brenda Lee had a pair of number one tunes with "I'm Sorry" and "I Want to be Wanted". She recorded a dozen hits that made it to the top 10. 
    1956 - The phrase “In God We Trust” was adopted as the U.S. national motto. 
    1959 - Willie McCovey stepped to the plate for the first time in his Major League baseball career. McCovey of the San Francisco Giants batted 4-for-4 in his debut against Robin Roberts of the Philadelphia Phillies. He hit two singles and two triples, driving in two runs. It was the start of an all-star career that landed McCovey in baseball's Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. 
    1963 - Top Hits 
“Surf City” - Jan & Dean 
“So Much in Love” - The Tymes 
“Fingertips - Pt 2” - Little Stevie Wonder 
“Ring of Fire” - Johnny Cash 
    1965 - The temperature at Portland, OR, reached 107 degrees to equal their all-time record high. 
    1965 - The health insurance plans Medicare and Medicaid were enacted by Congress as part of the federal Social Security system, to help pay the cost of medical care for people aged 65 and over. The Social Security Fund was established with the passage of the Social Security Act during the FDR Administration with two significant conditions:  The Fund was to be funded and maintained separately from the US General Treasury and disbursements to eligible retirees would be free of taxation.  This Social Security Act of 1965 placed all Social Security funds within the US General Treasury and provided that benefits would be taxed going forward as regular income.  Payments are made from a fund made up of mandatory contributions from employers, employees, and the self-employed as well as contributions from the general revenue of the federal government. The first payments were made on July 1, 1966. The first payments for skilled nursing facilities, made under the extended care benefit provision of the statute, were made on January 2, 1967. The first Medicare identification cards were presented to former President Harry S. Truman and his wife, Bess Wallace Truman, by President Lyndon Baines Johnson at the Truman Library, Independence, MO, on January 20, 1966. 
    1967 - Race riot in Milwaukee (4 killed)
http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/Library/arch/curguide/HMtextr.html 
    1968 - Ron Hansen of the Washington Senators made the first unassisted triple play in the Majors in 41 years. The shortstop speared a line drive by Joe Azcue, doubled up the runner at second by stepping on the bag and then tagged out the runner who was moving in from first base. The Senators still lost the game to Cleveland by a score of 10-1. 
    1969 - Braves' catcher Bob Tillman hits three consecutive home runs. 
    1969 - The Beatles, producer George Martin, and the Abbey Road engineers assemble the first rough cut of the proposed Abbey Road medley. Paul McCartney, feeling that the song "Her Majesty" distracts from the flow of the medley, has it removed and orders it erased. Second engineer John Kurlander, not wanting to destroy a Beatles song, instead appends it to the end of the medley tape, adding 15 seconds of leader to make sure it's kept separate. When he finds out, Paul likes the effect so much that he leaves the ending of the album just that way
    1969 – Barbra Streisand opens for Liberace at International Hotel, Las Vegas
    1971 - Top Hits 
“Indian Reservation” - Raiders 
“You've Got a Friend” - James Taylor 
“Mr. Big Stuff” - Jean Knight 
“I'm Just Me” - Charley Pride 
    1971 – Apollo 15:  David Scott and James Irwin on the Apollo Lunar module Falcon land on the Moon with the first Lunar Rover.
    1974 - Three articles of impeachment were voted against President Richard Nixon by the House Judiciary Committee for blocking the investigation of the Watergate affair, for abuse of presidential powers, and for hindering the impeachment process by not complying with the committee's subpoena for taped White House conversations. 
    1975 - Former Teamsters Union leader, 62-year-old James Riddle Hoffa was last seen on this date outside Machus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield Township, near Detroit, MI. His 13-year federal prison sentence had been commuted by President Richard M. Nixon in 1971. On Dec 8, 1982, seven years and 131 days after his disappearance, an Oakland County judge declared Hoffa officially dead as of July 30, 1982. From 1935 to 1971, he had held positions of president of the Detroit local, vice president of the Teamsters union, and president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Hoffa was accused of corruption on various occasions and convicted of mail fraud and mishandling funds in 1964. He was imprisoned from 1967 to 1971. Despite one of the most intensive FBI investigations in history, Hoffa's disappearance remains a mystery. Federal investigators believe that mob bosses killed Hoffa because he wanted to recapture the union presidency he lost when he went to prison. Blocked by the courts and top union officials from running for the presidency, Hoffa had threatened to go public with the mob's involvement in the Teamsters, and how various organized crime figures had taken millions of dollars in unsecured loans from the union's pension funds. Hoffa's daughter, Barbara Crancer, a circuit court judge in St. Louis, sued the federal government in 1987, demanding that the investigative files in the Hoffa case be made public. But the U.S. Justice Department successfully blocked access to the reports, claiming that opening them would divulge informants and investigative techniques the government must keep confidential. Thirteen years later, in 1995, Jimmy Hoffa's son and daughter finally put their father to rest. The memorial service was held in Detroit, exactly 20 years after Hoffa disappeared. 
    1979 - A forty-minute hailstorm bombed Fort Collins, CO, with baseball to softball size hail. Two thousand homes and 2500 automobiles were damaged, and about 25 persons were injured, mainly when hit on the head by the huge stones. A three-month-old baby died later of injuries.
    1979 - Top Hits 
“Bad Girls” - Donna Summer 
“Good Times” - Chic 
“Gold” - John Stewart 
“You're the Only One” - Dolly Parton 
    1984 - Reggie Jackson hit the 494th home run of his career, passing the Yankees' Lou Gehrig and taking over 13th place on the all-time home run list. Larry Sorenson was the victim who gave up Reggie's milestone homer. 
    1985 - Gerry Cooney retired from professional boxing. Cooney had only one loss in a championship match with Larry Holmes (boxing's biggest money-making fight to that time). Cooney had a record of 27 wins against the 1 loss and 24 knockouts.
http://www.secondsout.com/legends/legends_39266.asp 
    1986 - The show business newspaper Variety reported that RCA dropped singer John Denver from its roster after the release of his single, "What Are We Making Weapons For." Variety said the record upset the record company's new owner, General Electric, one of the largest defense contractors in the US. GE sold RCA two months later. 
    1987 - Top Hits 
“Alone” - Heart 
“Shakedown” - Bob Seger 
“I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For” - U2 
“The Weekend” - Steve Wariner 
    1987 - Def Leppard's "Hysteria" was released. The album spawned six hit singles, and sold more than one-million copies in Canada alone. Worldwide sales totaled more than 11-million. 
http://www.defleppard.com/ 
    1987 - NBC's "L.A. Law" was nominated for 20 Emmy Awards, one shy of the record for nominations. "Hill Street Blues" was the record holder (in the 1981-1982 season). "L.A. Law" had only been on the air a year when it earned four out of the 20 Emmys. http://us.imdb.com/Title?0090466 
    1987 - Afternoon highs of 105 degrees at Aberdeen, SD, 102 degrees at Bismarck, ND, and 102 degrees at Pueblo, CO, were records for the date. Pueblo, CO, reported just .09 inch of rain for the first thirty days of the month. 
    1988 - Former member of The Spencer Davis Group and Traffic, Steve Winwood had the number 1 song in the US this week with "Roll With It". It stayed at the top for four weeks, making it the number one song of the year. In the UK however, the record stalled at #53. Winwood's next release, "Don't You Know What the Night Can Do?" also made it into the US Top Ten, while the following singles, "Holding On" and "One and Only Man" cracked The Top Twenty.
    1988 - A dozen cities in the north central and northeastern U.S. reported record high temperatures for the date. Downtown Baltimore, MD, hit 103 degrees, marking a record eight days of 100 degree heat for the month, and ten for the year. The high of 101 degrees at Billings, MT, marked a record seventeen days of 100 degree heat for the year. Thunderstorms produced severe weather in the northeast, with nearly fifty reports of large hail or damaging winds in Pennsylvania and New York State. A tree fell on a car at Erie, PA, injuring four persons.
    1990 – New York Yankees principal owner George Steinbrenner is forced by MLB Commissioner Faye Vincent to resign for hiring Howie Spira to “get dirt” on star outfielder Dave Winfield.
    1990 - Five Bank of Credit and Commerce members found guilty of money laundering.  The Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) was an international bank founded in 1972 by Agha Hasan Abedi, a Pakistani financier.  A decade after opening, BCCI had over 400 branches in 78 countries, and assets in excess of US$ 20 billion, making it the 7th largest private bank in the world.  BCCI came under the scrutiny of numerous financial regulators and intelligence agencies in the 1980s due to concerns that it was poorly regulated. Subsequent investigations revealed that it was involved in massive money laundering and other financial crimes, and illegally gained the controlling interest in a major American bank. BCCI became the focus of a massive regulatory battle in 1991, and, on 5 July of that year, customs and bank regulators in seven countries raided and locked down records of its branch offices.  Investigators in the United States and the UK revealed that BCCI had been "set up deliberately to avoid centralized regulatory review, and operated extensively in bank secrecy jurisdictions. Its affairs were extraordinarily complex. Its officers were sophisticated international bankers whose apparent objective was to keep their affairs secret, to commit fraud on a massive scale, and to avoid detection." 
http://www.apfn.org/apfn/BCCI.htm 
    1996 – Tommy LaSorda resigned as manager of the LA Dodgers. He compiled a 1,599–1,439 record as Dodgers manager, won two World Series championships, four National League pennants, and eight division titles in his 20-year career as the Dodgers manager. He was inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997.
    1997 - San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young signed a 6-year contract extension worth $45 million, making him one of the NFL's highest-paid.    
http://www.infoplease.com/ipsa/A0109769.html 
    1998 - A world-record Powerball jackpot of $295.7 million was won by a group of 13 machinists who worked together in Westerville, Ohio. The group chose the cash option, and received a lump-sum payment of $161.5 million. 
    1999 - Richard Gere (Ike Graham) and Julia Roberts (Maggie Carpenter) star in "Runaway Bride," which opened nationwide. The romantic comedy scored big with movie crowds, doing $35.06 million during its first weekend.
    1999 - United Airlines agreed to offer domestic-partner benefits to employees and retirees worldwide following a 2-year legal struggle against the SF domestic-partners law.
    2003 - In order to prove that the city is still safe to visit after a recent SARS outbreak, Toronto, Canada puts on the largest concert in the country's history, a massive open-air extravaganza featuring The Rolling Stones, The Guess Who, Rush, The Isley Brothers, The Flaming Lips and Justin Timberlake, among others. Total attendance is somewhere around 450,000
    2006 - Eighteen individuals, the largest number ever selected, are inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. The group consists of 17 persons, including the first woman to enter the Hall, who had participated in the pre-Negro Leagues or Negro Leagues and Bruce Sutter, the fourth reliever to be enshrined in Cooperstown.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060730&=
    2007 - In front of a record crowd of an estimated 75,000 fans and unprecedented number of 53 members of the Hall of Famers, Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn are inducted into the shrine at Cooperstown. Joining the ballplayers on the dais are Denny Matthews, the longtime radio voice of the Royals, the recipient Ford C. Frick Award given to outstanding broadcasters, and Rick Hummel, beat writer for the Post-Dispatch, the J.G. Taylor Spink Award honoree for his outstanding coverage of the Cardinals.
    2014 – Congress voted to sue the Obama administration, claiming he overstepped his authority by independently delaying a provision of the Affordable Care Act without seeking required congressional approval.
    2014 - Bank of America was ordered to pay $1.27 billion in a civil lawsuit over fraud committed by lending unit Countrywide Financial.  Countrywide operated a scheme that resulted in large numbers of unsubstantiated mortgages during 2007-8 that defaulted during the Great Recession.  The order was overturned in 2016 stating that federal prosecutors had failed to prove that Countrywide had defrauded Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac when it sold them troubled loans.
    2014 - The EU and US extend sanctions on Russia to include banks, energy, and defense firms; Moscow denies the allegation that Russia is arming rebels in Eastern Ukraine.
    2017 – Russian President Putin evicted 755 American diplomats in Russia in response to American sanctions.