Orange County, CA.
Operations/Credit Manager with 15 Years Experience, Middle & Large Ticket, initiated policies for Patriot Act and Sarbanes Oxley, Team Motivator.
E-mail: equiplender@aol.com

Experienced Credit, Collections, lease and Finance operations. Manager w/expertise in improving bottom line performance, excellent trainer, manager, motivator. Get result/keep the customer coming back.
Email: rgmorrill@comcast.net

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

Wayne, NJ
20+ heavily experienced collection/recovery VP looking to improve someone's bottom line. Proven, verifiable track record. Knowledge of all types of portfolio. Will relocate
Email: cmate@nac.net

April 29 th , Harris County, Texas Judge Brent Gamble ruled that “All Equipment Rental Agreements or other contracts procured between NORVERGENCE and Texas consumers or between finance companies and Texas consumers as a result of a NORVERGENCE solicitation directed to any Texas consumer are the result of deceptive and unfair practices and fraud on the part of NORVERGENCE and, therefore, are declared void ‘ab initio' and are unenforceable.”

The default was entered against NorVergence because they did not show up in court: “The Defendant, although having been duly and legally citied to appear and answer, failed to appear and answer, and wholly made default.”

When asked what the next step might be, including punitive damages, and money returned to lessees, a spokesman for the Texas Attorney General's office said, “ NorVergence is in bankruptcy,” evidently meaning any other actions or decisions would be directed to the bankruptcy proceedings.

It is reported that the ruling is in the process of being appealed as it was based on the defendant not being able to appear as they are in bankruptcy proceedings in New Jersey. In addition, the leasing companies may claim the signers and guarantors of the contracts, to be liable for co-conspiracy with NorVergence to defraud the leasing companies by not disclosing service being covered in the “Equipment Rental Agreements.”

On the other hand, many Texas NorVergence lessees believe their leasing company now can be sued in Texas for damages and return of lease payments made.

On November 17, 2004 Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott sued bankrupt telecommunications reseller NorVergence of New Jersey for allegedly engaging in a scheme to defraud hundreds of Texas small businesses. The Attorney General also demanded that “19 finance companies holding rental agreements for now worthless equipment stop attempting to collect millions of dollars from Texas small business owners who signed up for NorVergence's services.”

Attorney General Abbott's civil investigative demands and lawsuit were brought under authority of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, which permits the office to seek restitution for consumers, injunctive relief, attorneys' fees and penalties of up to $20,000 per violation.

The bankruptcy is under the charge of Chief Judge Rosemary Gambardella. There most likely will not will be another meeting of all creditors.

Here are the latest listings from Pacer Law Report:
“Notice of Hearing for: (related document:739 Objection filed by Creditor Nextel of New York, Inc. to 733 Application to Employ Special Litigation Counsel filed by Trustee Charles Forman). Hearing scheduled for 5/10/2005 at 10:00 AM at DHS - Courtroom 3B, Newark. (zlh, ) (Entered: 04/15/2005)

“Hearing Rescheduled from 4/25/05. (related document:745 Objection filed by Creditor John P. O'Hare) Hearing scheduled for 5/9/2005 at 10:00 AM at RG - Courtroom 3E, Newark. (car, ) (Entered: 04/26/2005)”

Location: Timpano Restaurant
450 East Las Olas Blvd
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
Phone: 954-462-9119

I thought I would send you an email in reference to one of the WILDEST, MOST ENJOYABLE, leasing events in the Mid Atlantic area. For the past seven years a group of leasing professional (usually between 100- 120 attendees) kick off the summer season by gathering together in Hanover Maryland, for the annual "EAEL Networking Crab Feast"

Any of your readers within walking, driving, or flying distant of BWI airport in Baltimore should consider attending this leasing event. It is advertised as a social gathering however with most situations where 10 or more leasing people gather together it quickly develops into a Business Opportunity for everyone. This is the type of event where long-term business relationships are strengthened and new ones are established.

And it all happens as people are elbow deep in crab shells, crab soup and pitchers of cold beer. "A REAL BALTIMORE TRADITION"

The event is open to everyone EAEL members and Non- Members. The group is usually made up of brokers, lessors, funders, small ticket, mid market and large ticket leasing professionals, bankers, attorneys and just about anyone else that has the slightest connection to the industry and wants to enjoy a night of fun,great food. and excellent copmpany.

The event is hosted by :
Nancy Pisorio, CLP, Madison Capital LLC
Dennis Horner , The Equipment Leasing Company
Bruce Winter, CLP, FSG Leasing Inc

I highly recommend everyone to mark their calendars for June 9, 2005
and call Dennis Horner to register at 800 365 6566 ext 110

Scott Wheeler C.L.P
V.P Sales and Marketing
The Equipment Leasing Company
Sparks Maryland
800 365 6566
Fax: 410 472 2005
53 Loveton Circle
Sparks Maryland 21152

Call UAEL at 760-564-2227 to REGISTER NOW (before May 16 th ) as this is a first come, first serve event, and tickets are limited!! This is an event you will not want to miss.

Event: This is the most popular event at the ball park, as Thursday's are considered “Thirsty Thursdays” as beers are only two dollars ($2.00). June 9 th is “Fresh Beer Night with the Budweiser Clydesdales pre-game appearance”. The mighty Beavers will be playing Tucson. We have reserved a LUXURY SUITE at the top level, in the middle, right behind home plate. Simply put, you cannot find better accommodations. It is also important to mention the price covers only the price of the tickets, as this event is not for profit. Food will be provided, and we will rely on sponsors to help pay for food. If you have not been to the PGE Park, ask someone who has, as the food is really good, and a night at the ball park is a great time.

Registration: Simply call UAEL at 760-564-2227 to make payment arrangements. As mentioned, this is first come, first serve, so please REGISTER NOW.

Final Comments: The Oregon Region has always maintained a solid reputation for have a strong region. The suites provide an excellent format to both watch the game, but also provides plenty of room to network, and to get caught up with old friends. We are encouraging early registration , as we have the ability to reserve more than one Suite if we a strong turn out, but you will need to ACT NOW!

For additional information: Please contact Gary Parker, Commercial Equipment Lease, at 800-234-1884 or email gparker@commlease.com .

Asset Management: Long Island City, NY
seeking an experienced off lease and repossession manager. Successful candidates should have prior experience. Email resume to ekaye@advantagefunding.us or fax to 718 392 5427.

About the Company: Advantage Funding is a leading commercial and consumer vehicle and equipment financing and leasing company, Long Island City, NY.

www.advantagefund.com

The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) Executive Committee Task Force on State and Local Taxation of Telecommunications and Electronic Commerce will meet from 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM at the Sheraton Seattle Hotel & Towers, 1400 Sixth Avenue at Union Street on Monday, August 15. The meeting will be followed by the Task Force's annual dinner on Monday evening.

This Task Force meeting reviewing Streamlined Sales Tax will take place in conjunction with the NCSL Annual Meeting scheduled Tuesday, August 16 through Saturday, August 20. Conference registration information is available at http://www.ncsl.org/annualmeeting
For hotel reservation information call 888/221-9425 or visit the online Housing Bureau https://resweb.passkey.com/Resweb.do?mode=welcome_ei_
new&eventID=18425

As a reminder , the next meeting of the NCSL Task Force will be at Loews Annapolis Hotel [Telephone: 410/263-0084] in Annapolis, Maryland from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM on Friday, May 13. This Task Force meeting takes place in conjunction with the NCSL Executive Committee meeting on Saturday, May 14. The agenda for the meeting will include discussion and consideration of the following items:

Federal Legislation Discussion –109 th Congress
Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Act – Revisions in Federal Legislation
Small Business Exemption
Business Activity Tax Simplification Act

Telecommunications Tax Reform
Report of State, Local and Industry Telecommunications Tax Summit
Prospect of federal legislation in the 109th Congress
Task Force strategy for state legislative consideration beginning in 2005

Task Force Consideration to Include Tribal Government Participation in the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement

Baltimore Finance Executive Elected President of the
Eastern Association of Equipment Lessors

Nancy Pistorio, Executive Vice President of Madison Capital, is elected for a 2-year term

Pikesville, MD – On April 15, 2005, Baltimore based finance executive Nancy Pistorio was elected by the membership of The Eastern Association of Equipment Lessors as their next President. Pistorio, who will serve a two-year term, is the first woman elected president in the 25-year history of the EAEL. She is the Executive Vice President of Madison Capital, a lease finance company, providing funding for equipment and vehicles.

The EAEL is a non-profit trade association serving independent equipment lessors and their affiliates, including legal, insurance, banking and accounting professionals. Most of the approximately 180 members of EAEL are located East of the Mississippi, but membership is open to all.

The mission of EAEL is to provide educational, professional and networking opportunities to members EAEL facilitates information exchange within the leasing industry through study, discussion and publication. EAEL's activities include:

• Developing efficient methods, procedures and techniques for managing common interests
• Developing and encouraging the practice of high standards of personal and professional conduct
• Holding meetings and conferences for the mutual improvement and education of members
• Exchanging and compiling information with respect to all new case law and other legal and legislative developments at state and federal levels which affect the leasing industry
• Collecting and disseminating statistics and other useful industry information

Madison Capital has been an active member of EAEL for 10 years and is a leader in the industry, funding equipment transactions up to $450,000 and vehicle fleets up to $5,000,000. Transactions above this amount are handled through syndication with established funding partners. Madison Capital currently has in excess of $100,000,000 in assets under management and expects to originate in excess of $25 million this year.

GE Commercial Finance, Commercial & Industrial Finance, Names Industry Leader for Construction & Transportation Focus

NORWALK, Conn.------GE Commercial Finance, Commercial & Industrial Finance (CIF) has appointed Gene Leary as Industry Leader for the construction and transportation markets.

In his new role at GE, Leary will be responsible for driving organic growth in the construction and transportation industries, where GE's CIF has successfully invested over $3 billion predominantly through senior debt and lease transactions during the past 10 years. He will report to Craig Reynolds, Senior Managing Director, GE CIF.

"With his extensive background in financing and trucking, Gene is uniquely qualified to understand our customer's specific needs," said Reynolds. "His leadership skills will play a central role in our continued success in the construction and transportation markets."

Leary joined GE in 1997 and has most recently served as a Senior Vice President of Sales for CIF, originating financing opportunities in the Northeast. He has held various sales and sales management roles for over 20 years in lending and leasing. His experience includes acquisition financing, structured finance, leasing, recapitalizations and project finance to a broad range of customers.

Prior to joining GE, Leary held various origination roles with Citibank and Swiss Bank Corporation. He also was an Operations Manager for Roadway Express, Inc., a national trucking company.

Leary holds a BS in Economics from the State University of New York and an MBA in Accounting and Finance from Columbia University in New York.

GE Commercial & Industrial Finance (CIF), a unit of GE Commercial Finance, is a premier global provider of structured financing solutions to the commercial and industrial marketplace. CIF provides innovative financing solutions for a broad array of customer needs including recapitalization, equipment leasing, and growth capital. With over $10 billion in served assets, Commercial & Industrial Finance has the expertise and funding capability to deliver exceptional financing solutions.

GE Commercial Finance, which offers businesses around the globe an array of financial products and services, has assets of over US$230 billion and is headquartered in Stamford, Conn., USA.

GE (NYSE:GE) is Imagination at Work -- a diversified technology, media and financial services company focused on solving some of the world's toughest problems. With products and services ranging from aircraft engines, power generation, water processing and security technology to medical imaging, business and consumer financing, media content and advanced materials, GE serves customers in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit www.ge.com

GE Commercial Finance, Norwalk, Conn. Ellen Mann, 203-229-1915 ellen.mann@ge.com

Edmunds.com Reports True Cost of Incentives: Domestic Automakers Footed 77% of April's $3.6B Bill
but Captured Only 56% of April Market Share

SANTA MONICA, Calif., -- Edmunds.com, the premier online resource for automotive information, reported today that the average manufacturer automotive incentive in the United States was $2,434 per vehicle sold in April 2005, up $67, or 2.8%, from April 2004, and down $121, or 4.7%, from March 2005.

Edmunds.com's monthly True Cost of Incentives(SM) (TCI(SM)) report takes into account all of the manufacturers' various United States incentives programs, including subvented interest rates and lease programs as well as cash rebates to consumers and dealers. To ensure the greatest possible accuracy, Edmunds.com bases its calculations on sales volume, including the mix of vehicle makes and models for each month, as well as on the proportion of vehicles for which each type of incentive was used.

The industry's aggregate incentives spending bill totaled $3.6 billion in April. Domestic manufacturers spent $2.8 billion, or 77%, of the total cost; Japanese manufacturers spent $528 million, or 14%; European manufacturers spent $178 million, or 5%; and Korean manufacturers spent $128 million, or 4%.

Overall, combined incentives spending for domestic Chrysler, Ford and General Motors nameplates averaged $3,339 per vehicle sold in April, down $133 from March 2005. Average domestic incentives have never been higher in any prior April. This month, Chrysler became the biggest spender by increasing incentives spending $28 to $3,535 per vehicle sold. At the same time, its market share increased by 0.2%, up to 13.8%. Ford decreased incentives spending by $78 to $2,986 per vehicle sold in April while its market share decreased by 0.6% to 17.3%. General Motors decreased incentives spending by $255 to $3,477 per vehicle sold while its market dropped by 1.4% to 25.0%. The combined market share of the Big Three reached an historic low of 56.1% in April 2005.

From March to April, European automakers decreased incentives spending by $48 to $1,919 per vehicle sold and increased its market share .05%, up to 6.2%. Japanese automakers decreased incentives spending by $45 to average $1,065 per vehicle sold and gained 0.9% market share, climbing to an all-time high: 33% of the U.S. market. Korean automakers increased incentives spending by $148 to $1,885 per vehicle sold and gained 0.4% market share to a total of 4.5%.

Comparing all brands in April, Mini spent only $14 on incentives, while Scion spent $136 and Porsche spent $161 per vehicle sold. At the other end of the spectrum, Lincoln was the biggest spender at $5,284, followed by Cadillac at $5,063 and Jaguar at $4,113 per vehicle sold. Looking at incentives expenditures as a percentage of MSRP for each brand, Pontiac spent the most, 15.4%, while Mini and Porsche spent the least, 0.1%.and 0.2%, respectively.

Among vehicle segments, large SUVs continued to have the highest average incentives, $4,352 per vehicle sold, while sports cars had the lowest average incentives per vehicle at $93. Looking at incentives expenditures as a percentage of MSRP for each segment, large cars were the highest, 11.1%, while sports cars were the lowest, 3.2%.

Edmunds.com's TCI(SM) is a comprehensive monthly report that measures automobile manufacturers' cost of incentives on vehicles sold in the United States. These costs are reported on a per vehicle basis for the industry as a whole, for each manufacturer, for each make sold by each manufacturer and for each model of each make. TCI covers all aspects of manufacturers' various incentives programs (except volume and similar bonus programs), including dealer cash, manufacturer rebates and consumer savings from subvented APR and lease programs (including subvented lease residual values used in manufacturer leasing programs). Data for the industry, the manufacturers and the makes are derived using weighted averages and are based on actual monthly sales and financing activity.

Edmunds.com is the premier online resource for automotive information. Its comprehensive set of data, tools and services, including Edmunds.com True Market Value(R) pricing, is generated by Edmunds.com Information Solutions and is licensed to third parties. For example, the company supplies content for the auto sections of NYTimes.com, AOL, About.com, iVillage.com and IGN.com, provides weekly data to Automotive News and delivers monthly data reports to Wall Street analysts. Edmunds.com also publishes a high-speed, on-screen car magazine called Inside Line available free at www.insideline.com. Edmunds.com was named "best car research" site by Forbes ASAP, has been selected by consumers as the "most useful Web site" according to every J.D. Power and Associates New Autoshopper.com Study(SM) and was ranked first in the Survey of Car-Shopping Web Sites as reported by The Wall Street Journal. The company is headquartered in Santa Monica, Calif. and maintains a satellite office outside Detroit.

Synovus Announces New Chief Information Officer;
Company Promotes B. Scott McGlaun

COLUMBUS, Ga.-----Synovus (NYSE:SNV), the Columbus, Georgia-based, diversified financial services company, announced the naming of B. Scott McGlaun as the company's new Chief Information Officer.

"Information management and security are top priorities throughout our network of decentralized companies," said Elizabeth R. "Lee Lee" James, Synovus Vice Chairman and Chief People Officer (CPO). "Scott has demonstrated tremendous leadership in guiding the Synovus Technology team through a period of significant growth for our company and increased regulatory requirements. I am confident in his continued ability to focus our technology resources on managing organizational risk, supporting sales efforts and delivering solutions to our customers."

McGlaun joined the Synovus family of companies in 1990 when he became a Bank Teller at Columbus Bank and Trust Company. During his 15-year tenure, he has served in various capacities, providing him broad financial services experience. In 1992, he moved to Synovus' Internal Audit Department and in 1994, transferred into the Finance Division as Vice President and Synovus Controller. In 1999, McGlaun moved to the Technology and Operations Division and was promoted to Senior Vice President and Technology Division Manager in 2000. In 2004, McGlaun was promoted to Group Executive of Technology and Operations. He received his degree in Accounting from Columbus State University.

As Chief Information Officer, McGlaun follows James, who became Synovus' CIO in 2000. James will continue to serve as Vice Chairman and CPO. McGlaun will report to James and is responsible for the daily management of the Technology and Operations Divisions within Synovus. He will also direct the company's technology investments toward innovative and cost effective solutions that are aligned with the strategic business needs of the company.

Synovus (NYSE:SNV) is a diversified financial services holding company with over $25 billion in assets based in Columbus, Georgia. Synovus provides integrated financial services including banking, financial management, insurance, mortgage and leasing services through 41 banks and other Synovus offices in Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Florida and Tennessee; and electronic payment processing through an 81-percent stake in TSYS (NYSE:TSS), the world's largest third-party processor of international payments. Synovus has been named one of "The 100 Best Companies To Work For" in America by FORTUNE magazine, and has been recognized in its Hall of Fame for consecutive appearances on the list since its inception in 1998. In 2005, Synovus was also named as one of "America's Most Admired Companies". See Synovus on the Web at
www.synovus.com .

### Press Release ######################
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36 Extraordinary Pinot Noir/Rosenblum Zinfandel
Some great buys from the grand master Jerome Draper,
who came out of retirement to get back involved as
the most trustworthy and best priced broker in the wine
business. By the way, Rosenblum has become the
“Mr.Zinfandel” of California with wines from under
$5 to over $50, all “Zin.” all info in “pdf””
http://leasingnews.org/PDF/Jerome_Draper.pdf

    1607- The first Episcopal Church service in an English colony took place at Cape Henry, near Jamestown, Virginia, when the Reverend Robert Hunt celebrated the Eucharist. The event was reported as follows: “ We did hang an awning ( whish is an old saile) to three or four trees, to shadow us form the sunne, our walles were railes of wood, our seats unhewed trees till we cut plankes; our Pulpit a bar of wood nailed to two neighboring trees.”
    1773-An American creation, the first newspaper cartoon was “Join or Die,” designed by Benjamin Franklin and published in Philadelphia, PA, in his newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette. It was printed in the first column of the second page. It depicted a snake cut into segments representing South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and New England.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/may09.html
    1783-The Purple Heart, the first honor badge for enlisted men and noncommissioned officers, was awarded to Sergeants Daniel Bissell, William Brown, and Elijah Churchill of Connecticut regiments, for meritorious action in the Revolutionary War. They were entitled “to wear on facings over the left breast, the figure of a heart in purple cloth or silk, with narrow lace or binding.”
http://www.americal.org/awards/ph.htm
http://www.purpleheart.org/
    1796-William Blount and William Cocke of Tennessee, elected by the Tennessee legislature, present their credentials to the US Senate. They were refused seats because Tennessee was not admitted until June 1, 1796. They were elected again on August 2, 1796, and took their seats on December 6, 1796. Blount was impeached for concocting a plain to aid the British, but the procedure did not pass the US Senate; however during the trial he was elected to the Tennessee Senate, and eventually and became Speaker of the Senate.
http://www.lexrex.com/bios/wblount.htm
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000570
Cocke assumed the role of US Senate in the next term until the legislature elected another person (in these days the state legislature elected US Senate representatives). He later moved to Mississippi, served under General Andrew Jackson in the War of 1812, and afterwards was appointed Indian Agent for the US.
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000572
    1800-birthday of John Brown, Abolitionist leader born at Torrington, CT, and hanged December 2, 1859, at Charles Town, WV. Leader of attack on Harpers Ferry, October 16, 1859, which was intended to give impetus to movement for escape and freedom for slaves. His aim was frustrated and in fact resulted in increased polarization and sectional animosity. The first civilian killed by John Brown's raiders at Harpers Ferry was a free Black man. History has made him the legendary martyr of the abolitionist movement; even Walt Whitman wrote a poem about Harpers Ferry. Unfortunately, the real facts are “He was a complete failure in business. He welched on his debts. He almost certainly was insane. And in 1856 he nearly plunged Kansas into civil war by ruthlessly murdering five helpless members of a mildly proslavery family, in the process “ splitting open heads and chopping off arms and fingers.” Dixon Wecter, The Hero in American (1941)
http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/jbrown/master.html
http://www.johnbrown.org/
    1813-General William Henry Harrison turned back a siege of Fort Meigs by Shawnee military leader Tecumseh and British general Henry A. Proctor. Harrison was to become the ninth president of the United States, but for only a month, as he contacted pneumonia from a cold and died in office (the first president to die in office ).
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/may09.html
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/wh9.html
    1830- Birthday of Lane Harriet, who acted as official hostess in the White House for her uncle-bachelor James Buchanan, 15th president of the United States, and became known as America's first lady. It is rumored that Buchanan was the first “gay” president She is known as the first modern first lady (using her position to advocate causes) including the arts and American Indian causes.
    1843-birthday of Belle Boyd, notorious Confederate spy who later became an actress and lecturer was born at Martinsburg, VA. Belle Boyd at 18 became a famed spy for the Confederacy during the Civil War, stealing weapons, secrets, and helping prisoners to escape. She was arrested several times, once deported to Canada. She authored a book about her exploits. Following the war she became an actor and lecturer, continuing in that profession until her death in 1900. She married three times, her last marriage to a man 15 years her junior. She once shot at a man who was calling on her daughter and refused to marry her. Author of the book, “ Belle Boyd in Camp and Prison,” she died June 11,1900 at Kilbourne ,WI.
http://www.civilwarhome.com/boydbio.htm
http://www.travelwv.com/bell.htm
    1862-Confederate forces at Norfolk, VA, evacuated the city in costly move, leaving valuable material for the Union army. Norfolk and Portsmouth were occupied on May 10, and the naval yard at Gosport, VA, was burned, in reality ended the Confederates ability to build metal ships and make major repairs to their navy.
http://www.civilwarhome.com/merrimacbirth.htm
http://www.civilwarhistory.com/navy/CSSNavy.htm
    1862-At Hilton Head, SC, General David Hunter, commander of the Department of the South, issued orders freeing slaves in South Carolina, Florida and Georgia. Not having congressional or presidential approval, the orders were countermanded by President Lincoln on May 19 th , ordering Hunter to retract his proclamation as he
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWhunter.htm
still feared that this action would force slave-owners in border states to join the Confederates. President Jefferson Davis and the he leaders of the Confederate Army were furious when they heard of Hunter's actions and orders were given that he was a "felon to be executed if captured” President Lincoln explained to the New York Tribune, “My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it."
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWhunter.htm
    1868-First known as Fullers Crossing, then Lakes Crossing, the name was officially changed to Reno (Nevada). It was named after General Jesse Reno, a Union officer of the Civil War. When the Comstock load was discovered in Virginia City, the nearest large city was Reno, thus it became popular and is still known today as “ The Biggest Little City in the World.” Its six-week residency requirement for divorce became law on May 1,1931, making it a popular city. At the time, it was the major “gambling city” in the United States, and prostitution was legal in several surrounding counties. It was the Las Vegas of its day, today primarily visited by people living in Northern California, although visited by tourists from around the world for not only gambling activity, but the surrounding “ghost towns” and surrounding old West towns such as Carson City, its capital, Virginia City, and other cities in the California gold country.'
http://www.cityofreno.com/ .
    1894 - Portland, Oregon had its latest freeze when the temperature fell to 32 degrees. This is the only may freeze in Portland's history.
    1899-African American John A. Burr patents the rotary-blade lawn mower.
    1909- Alice Koller Leopold birthday. She wrote Connecticut's equal pay and minimum wage bills in 1949, her freshman year in the Connecticut Assembly.
The next year she was elected the Connecticut's secretary of state. She then served as Director of the Women's Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor from 1953- 61, and was the Assistant to the Secretary of Labor to aid and develop programs for women. She was a strong advocate of the Equal Rights Amendment.
The mother of two, she had created her own toy company before entering public life.
    1910-pianist Bob Zurke born Detroit, MI, died February 16, 1944
http://www.parabrisas.com/d_zurkeb.html
    1914- President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation asking Americans to give a public expression of reverence to mothers through the celebration of Mother's Day. Carnations have come to represent the day following President William McKinley's habit of always wearing a white carnation, his mother's favorite flower. This year, families in the United States and Canada will celebrate Mother's Day on Sunday, May 14, 2000.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/may09.html
(The first Mother's Day was observed in 1907 at the request of Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia, PA, who asked her church to hold service in memory of all mothers on the anniversary of her mother's death. The newspapers of the day reported this event and it continued the next year at other churches, now annually, the second Sunday in May.
    1914- Hank Snow, one of the fathers of country music in Canada, was born in Liverpool, Nova Scotia. He was heavily influenced by singer and yodeler Jimmie Rodgers, and began to perform in his style in the early 1930's. Snow made his radio debut about 1933 on CHNS in Halifax, and three years later made his first recording for Victor, the company with which he remained for four decades. He settled permanently in Nashville, Tennessee about 1950, and became a US citizen in 1958.Snow became a regular on the Grand Ole Opry in 1950, the same year he recorded "I'm Movin' On," which became one of the most successful singles of the first 50 years of recorded country music. His other hits include "Golden Rocket" and "I've Been Everywhere." Hank Snow was indicted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1976 and into the Juno Awards Hall of Fame in 1979.
On this date in 1994, on his 80th birthday, Hank Snow received an honorary degree from St. Mary's University in Halifax. The presentation was made in Nashville, and he spoke to the graduates via videotape.
http://www.hanksnow.com/
    1918---TV Journalist Mike Wallace born Brookline, MA.
    1927 - A major tornado outbreak occurred from Texas to Michigan. There were 28 tornadoes rated f2 or greater. 9 separate tornadoes killed 5 or more people making this day one of the worst tornado days in U.S. History. Popular Bluff, Missouri was devastated by a tornado rated f4 on the fujita scale. 98 people were killed and 300 were injured. 31 business and residential blocks were destroyed in the city. Strong, Arkansas was leveled by another f4 tornado with 24 people killed.
    1928-birthday of Pancho Gonzales. Richard Alonzo “Pancho” Gonzales, tennis player born at Los Angeles, CA. A self-taught player, Gonzales won the 1948 US National Singles Championship and repeate4d in 1949. He turned pro and won the world's championship from 1954 through 1962. Gonzales was an aggressive, temperamental player who rarely trained. Died at Las Vegas, NV, July 3, 1995.
    1933 - A tornado, rated F4 on the Fujita Scale, moved through Monroe, Cumberland, and Russell Counties in Kentucky. 36 people were killed.
    1939 –birthday of Ralph Boston (National Track & Field Hall of Famer, Olympic Hall of Famer: gold medalist: long jump [1960], silver [1964], bronze [1968]; broke world long jump record 5 times, the last at 27 feet, 5 inches [1965])
http://www.hickoksports.com/biograph/bostonra.shtml
    1939 – Glenn Miller records "Stairway to the Stars" with Ray Eberle, one of the most popular singers in the 1940's..
    1941-Billie Holiday records “ God Bless the Child” (Okey 6270)
http://www.cmgww.com/music/holiday/bio.html
    1942—Attorney General John Ashcroft born Chicago, Illinois.
    1944- Jimmie Davis, who was a successful country singer as early as the 1930's, became governor of Louisiana. Davis, the composer of the country standard "You Are My Sunshine," later resumed his music career.
http://www.nashvillesongwritersfoundation.com/fame/davis.html
http://www.pbs.org/riverofsong/artists/e4-jimmie.html
http://www.etrecordshop.com/jdtribut.htm
    1945- Steve Katz birthday: vocalist, guitarist and harmonica player with such bands as the Blues Project, Blood, Sweat and Tears and American Flyer.
http://www.altx.com/katz/katzbio.html
http://www.rdrop.com/users/rickert/steve-solo.html
    1946---Birthday of Candice Bergen - U.S. actor and photographer.A whole generation, however, knows her as Murphy Brown. She was the daughter of famous actor and ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, who also was very popular on the radio as well as in movies. At 34 she married French filmmaker Louis Malle who died in 1995. They had one daughter Chloe (b. 1985). In 2000 she remarried.
    1949-Singer/pianist/composer Billy Joel was born in Long Island, New York. His hit single "Just the Way You Are," won two Grammy Awards in 1979, and has since become a standard. The album from which the song was taken, "The Stranger," is reported to have sold more than five-million copies. Joel's other hit singles include "My Life," "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me", “ We Didn't Start the Fire,” “Piano Man,” and "Uptown Girl."
http://www.billyjoel.com/intro.html
http://www.billyjoel.com/
http://www.billyjoelmusic.com/
http://billyjoel.8k.com/
http://www.geocities.com/Wellesley/2256/billyjoel.html
    1953—Top Hits
Pretend - Nat King Cole
Song from Moulin Rouge - The Percy Faith Orchestra
I Believe - Frankie Laine
Mexican Joe - Jim Reeves
    1954-Chet Baker Quartet first concert, Ann Arbor, MI.
(Saw him play many times. He always sounded “flat,” but then I dated a girl he used to date, and enough said.)
http://www.jerryjazzmusician.com/shop/shopmain.cfm?
CatalogName=bakerchet
http://www.chetbaker.net/
    1959- 16-year-old Wayne Newton made his Las Vegas debut at the Freemont Hotel. That first booking, scheduled to last two weeks, stretched into three years. Newton went on to become king of the Vegas showrooms, earning close to $20- million a year. He has been seen live by over 12 million people, more than have seen either Frank Sinatra or Elvis Presley in concert.
    1960-The U.S. Food and Drug Control approved the “birth control pill.” It was developed over a five year period by Gregory Pincus, a biochemist at Worchester Foundation for Experimental Biology, Shrewsbury, MA, and John Rock, a gynecologist at Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA> It used synthetic progesterone and estrogen to repress ovulation in women. The first clinical tests were performed in 1954. The project was initially commissioned and funded by birth-control pioneer Margaret Sanger and heiress Katherine Dexter McCormick.
    1961—Top Hits
Runaway - Del Shannon
Mother-In-Law - Ernie K-Doe
A Hundred Pounds of Clay - Gene McDaniels
Hello Walls - Faron Young
    1961-Perhaps still germane today, Speaking before the bigwigs of network TV at the annual convention of the National Association of Broadcasters, Newton Minow, the new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, exhorted those executives to sit through an entire day of their own programming. He suggested that they “will observe a vast wasteland.” Further, he urged them to try for “imagination in programming, not sterility; creativity, not imitation; experimentation, not conformity; excellence, not mediocrity.”
    1961-First baseman Jim Gentile of the Baltimore Orioles became the fourth player to hit grand slams in consecutive innings. Genitle hit his homers in the first and second innings of a game against the Minnesota Twins and added a sacrifice fly as the Orioles won, 13-5.
    1964 – Great jazz trumpet player, and now singer, found his recording of "Hello Dolly!" on the "Billboard" music chart in the top spot for the first time in his 41-year music career. Later, ‘Satchmo' was cast in the movie version of "Hello Dolly!”. When the song hit Number One, it pushed out the Beatles “She Loves You.” He had another top pop tune also sung by Bobby Darin, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, but he is best remembered for “ Mack the Knife.”
http://tinpan.fortunecity.com/riff/11/frame/h2.html
In the many old recordings, when Louis Armstrong played, you could always pick him out. He was the most influential jazz man of the 20th Century.
http://www.redhotjazz.com/louie.html
http://www.louis-armstrong.com/
http://www.satchmo.com/louisarmstrong/props4pops.html
    1968-- In front of only 6,298 Oakland fans, Jim Catfish Hunter hurls the first American League perfect game in forty-six years as the A's defeat the usually heavy hitting Twins, 4-0.
    1969—Top Hits
Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In - The 5th Dimension
Hair - The Cowsills
Hawaii Five-O - The Ventures
Hungry Eyes - Merle Haggard
    1965 - Vladimir Horowitz played his first public concert in 12 years at Carnegie Hall in New York City. The audience applauded the piano virtuoso with a standing ovation that lasted for 30 minutes.
    1977—Top Hits
Hotel California - Eagles
When I Need You - Leo Sayer
Sir Duke - Stevie Wonder
Play, Guitar Play - Conway Twitty
    1977---- Patty Hearst let out of jail.
http://www.crimelibrary.com/classics4/hearst/
    1984-The Chicago White Sox defeated the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-6, on a Harold Baines home run in the 25 th inning. The game, the first 17 innings of which were played the day before, was the longest extra-inning game by time, 8 hours, 6 minutes. The teams then played their regularly scheduled game of nine innings, making a total of 34 innings in two days.
    1985—Top Hits
We are the World - USA for Africa
Crazy for You - Madonna
Don't You Forget About Me - Simple Minds
There's No Way – Alabama
    1987-Switch-hitter Eddie Murray of the Baltimore Orioles became the first play in major league history to hit home runs from both sides of the plate in consecutive games
http://users.aol.com/barbramusc/hello.html
http://www.omega23.com/books/s5/satchmoarmstrong.html
    1992--- Final episode of "Golden Girls" airs on NBC-TV.
http://lifetimetv.com/shows/golden/
http://epguides.com/GoldenGirls/
http://www.beatricearthur.com/
    1997-Peter Peterson presented his portfolio in Hanoi, becoming the first Ambassador to Vietnam after the end of the Vietnam War. Peterson, a former Air Force captain, had been held as a prisoner of war in Vietnam for 6.5 years after his bomber was shot down near Hanoi in 1966. He was released in March, 1973. The United States had not maintained formal diplomatic relations with Vietnam since its previous ambassador, Graham Martin, left Saigon by helicopter in 1975 as the city fell to t North Vietnamese forces.
    1998 ----Cardinal Mark McGwire reaches the 400th career home run mark. Big Red's historic milestone comes in 4,727 at-bats (127 less at-bats than Babe Ruth) which is the least plate appearances ever needed to reach the mark.

Spring is the beginning
of baseball lore,
when rookies' feet
touch the grass
and try
to spin the world.

Written by Robert L. Harrison, published
in his book: “Green Fields and White Lines”
Baseball poems, published by McFarland & Company