Correction: ELFA Extends "Call for Presentations"
Submission Deadline Extended to Monday, May 31, 2021

This will be a very important, very well-attended convention, not just because it is their 60th, but a real get-together since the start of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Entries must be submitted electronically no later than 11:59 pm ET, Monday, May 31, 2021. No further extensions will be permitted.

Submit Your Proposal
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdXB5y_XfNt9G1hD502192lOsIeYS

Please note: The submission form is a Google Form. If you are unable to access Google Forms from your work computer, we ask that you access the submission form from a personal device. All submissions must be submitted electronically.

For more detailed and important information, please go here:
https://www.elfaonline.org/events/2021/ac/call-for-presentations/

 

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The Mysterious FDIC $3.4 Million Fine & Restitution Against
Umpqua Bank re: Financial Pacific
By Christopher Menkin, Editor/Publisher, Leasing News

It has become a real mystery looking into the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) order to Umpqua Bank to pay a $1.8 million penalty over what the regulator determined to be unfair and deceptive debt and fee collection practices at the Oregon-based bank’s subsidiary, Financial Pacific Leasing.

The bank also paid more than $1.6 million in restitution to 16,902 customers who were charged undisclosed collection fees, according to the FDIC's announcement. There has been no comment from Umpqua Bank to Leasing News or anyone else.

First, Financial Pacific has an excellent reputation and is extremely well-run according to those in the industry. I personally have known and spoken with presidents of Fin Pac since the 1970's. All had very  high standards, well-run operations, and participated in industry events, conventions, and activities. The past president, Paul Menzel, CLFP, in 2005, was named “Leasing Person of the Year.” When he recently retired, after 45 years in the industry, he joined Alta Group, perhaps the leading industry consulting firm, as Vice Chair. He also was chosen as a Leasing News Advisory Board Director. At the beginning of this year, he was named Vice Chair of the Leasing News Advisory Board. (1) He is an example of the executive caliber of the people at the top at Financial Pacific, as well as those who work very hard for the company and have high standards, even during the COVID 19 pandemic.

I can also tell readers when there were complaints against Financial Pacific and not resolved in a Bulletin Board Complaint, Paul got involved, participated, resolved the issue. We have not received any complaints in the last few years against Financial Pacific.

To also state our search for answers, the Better Business Bureau in the last two years had only 22 complaints against Financial Pacific. One of their competitors with an A+ rating had 137 complaints the last three years, with 45 complaints in the last 12 months (2). There has been no fine from the FDIC with 137 complaints.

So, where do the FinPac penalties of $3.4 million come from?

Most of the complaints Leasing News received regarding FinPac, (which  have not recurred in several years)  involved with broker representations to lessees with the complaints about residuals, interest rates, and what the broker representative told them about the transaction. This is perhaps a subject that has led to California and New York with disclosure laws on the books, with Connecticut, New Jersey, and North Carolina among other states are now actively pursuing. As well as there are interest programs  available today online as reported in Leasing News, plus many merchant cash advance companies promote a calculator on line for prospect to use.

Let's look at two of the 22 Better Business Bureau Reports on Financial Pacific to look further into the complaints to see if they approach what the FDIC and Umpqua Bank agreed to:

“Customer Complaints: 22 closed in last 3 years (7 complaints were closed in the last 12 months)” (3)

“05/06/2020

"Lease Agreement has been paid in full with interest and fees. I have provided proof of payments but Financial Pacific Leasing is harassing via email and calls through their collections and asset recovery department few times a day and refuses to work out this situation and threatens to take back our equipment and report it to credit agencies. It has been horrific and mentally stressful during the term of my agreement with them due to their lack of capabilities to keep their books straight throughout the last 4 years. Every few months, they contacted me saying that I am late on my payments, meanwhile, they have cashed all the payments month or two after payments were sent in. I believe, they delay on cashing the checks in a timely manner in order to leave false payment records to charge us late fees intentionally. Originally I have entered into an agreement with Partners Capital Group and they have sold or transferred my agreement to FPL only a month after the agreement commenced. I believe they may be working together to cause confusion or find ways to charge more fees and interests. Despite my every effort to resolve this situation, FPL is refusing to review their sloppy accounting records or they are just trying to pressure us to pay something that is not due by harassing us every day. It is very unfortunate that they are taking advance of business owners trusting them to provide funding to better our business by charging fees and payments that are not validated above and beyond the agreed amount."

“01/09/2021

"We purchased a dump truck through mhc of Durham NC through Harbour Capital. We had no idea Harbour Capital was working g for or with pacific leasing. Things got really slow and we sold the truck back to mhc for $25,000.00 now this whole time we had been making $2,900.00 payments as well. At one time we paid pacific leasing almost $10,000 in one month to catch up. They were supposed to send us a letter stating we were in good standing in which they never did. Now the truck is gone there sending threatening letters calling us all times of the day and so one. We spoke to the people they assigned to our account about setting up a payment plan (in which we can only pay $300.00 per month because the truck is gone. Now they know all of this information and they said they would work with us and now there not. They lady that has our file *** ***** is the worst. They don't want to work with us at all. They want us to continue to make huge payments as if we still had their property and also as if it was still working. We’re trying to pay them something but that’s all we can do no more or no less."

These complaints were responded by management, but no note if they were resolved by the Better Business Bureau.

Coda:
Umpqua Bank was contacted to speak with the bank spokesperson, which the operator said would be sent to the appropriate person. No response to date. Cirith Anderson-Sebree, SVP and Chief Compliance Officer at Umpqua Bank, said that Eve Callahan was the best contact and, and while we communicated with her, we also sent her a message. She communicated that she would also refer email address and telephone number to Eve Callahan, Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Communications Officer. No response to date.

It should be noted that the Portland Business Journal named Umpqua the "Most Admired Finance Service Company."

Forbes noted, "One of America's Best Banks." There are many other awards and it seems they are overlooking the operation of Financial Pacific.

(1) Leasing News Vice Chair, Paul Menzel, CLFP
http://leasingnews.org/Advisory%20Board/menzel_paul.htm

(2) TimePayment BBB Report
https://www.bbb.org/us/ma/burlington/profile/leasing-services/timepayment-corp-0021-117288

(3) Financial Pacific Better Business Bureau Report:
https://www.bbb.org/us/wa/federal-way/profile/financial-services/financial-pacific-leasing-1296-22025327/complaints

 

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Scientists initially estimated that 60 to 70 percent of a population would have to acquire resistance to COVID-19 in order for herd immunity to take effect, a threshold that has been revised upwards since the start of the year with 80 to 85 percent quoted in some cases. The race towards full vaccination is well underway and Israel has the highest share of its population fully jabbed, according to Our World in Data.

Despite the ever-higher immunity threshold discussed by scientists, Israel's COVID-19 case count started to tumble when 40 percent of its population received at least one jab and now 58.9 percent of its inhabitants are fully vaccinated. The country's reproduction rate has been around 0.5 in recent weeks and it appears to be on track to emerge from the pandemic, suggesting that initial herd immunity estimates carried some accuracy.

With 39 percent of its inhabitants fully vaccinated, Chile comes second on the list. In the United States, 36.4 percent of people have been fully vaccinated. In this case, full vaccination refers to all doses prescribed by the vaccination protocol with data only available for countries reporting the breakdown of their doses.

By Niall McCarthy, Statista

Help Wanted Ads

 

 

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Working in the Office Creates "Selling the Process"

Sales Makes it Happen by Scott Wheeler, CLFP

Successful originators in the commercial equipment leasing and finance industry know credit, documentation and funding; they set realistic expectations and they sell the process.

In a recent conversation with a veteran industry professional, he spoke about his first year in the industry. He was required to work in every department of the leasing company. He was required to learn credit processes and put his name on approvals and declinations. He was required to prepare documents and verify that they were returned correctly signed. He was required to work in the funding department and verify that transactions were ready for funding. He was required to go to court and defend the company's processes and documentation. After fully understanding the process, his company released him to represent them as a knowledgeable salesperson. The veteran recalled in his first sales encounters how he was able to answer the basic questions that his vendors and end-users were asking:

• What is your approval process?
• Why do you limit the terms on some equipment?
• What does paragraph X mean in your document?
• Who is your perfect customer?
• How long does it take fund a transaction? Why do some take longer than others?
• How do you determine your collateral position?

This industry veteran made the following statement that every originator should heed:

"Top originators are never order takers. They go to market armed with the facts. They sell their process. They are able to explain in layman's terms exactly what services and products they offer; and how their company reacts to the risk and reward calculation of lending money in today's environment."

As an originator, are you armed with the facts? Do you fully understand the process? Are you aggressively selling the process on every call?

Order via Amazon: https://www.createspace.com/5355516

Scott A. Wheeler, CLFP
Wheeler Business Consulting
1314 Marquis Ct.
Fallston, Maryland 21047
Phone: 410 877 0428
Fax: 410 877 8161
Email: scott@wheelerbusinessconsulting.com
Web: www.wheelerbusinessconsulting.com

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

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Auto Defaults Dip Again
Bank Cards Low, First Mortgage Not

Massachusetts Firm Discovers That Tears
Can Help Detect Drivers Impaired by Cannabis

Breathalyzers, blood tests and standard sobriety tests can be used by police officers to ascertain to a high degree of accuracy whether a driver has been impaired by alcohol. However, no such measures are available to law enforcement for the purpose of identifying drivers who are under the influence of marijuana. A company based in Quincy, Massachusetts seems to have found a way to test for marijuana impairment and the test relies on tears as samples to be examined.

Impairment Measurement Marijuana and Driving (“IMMAD”) is working with the Biomedical Forensics Program of Boston University’s School of Medicine to refine how tears can be used to establish the quantity of active cannabinoids within a driver’s body as a measure of how impaired the driver may be.

The research team’s work established that a person’s tears are a good way to identify and measure which particular cannabinoids may be inactive or active. This particular sample is more specific and sensitive when compared to a person’s saliva or breath. The abstract of this research paper was discussed in April at a forensic science conference and the paper itself will be presented later this year at a virtual conference of the Midwest Toxicology & Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Association.

Sabra B. Jones, a professor at Boston University, worked with Allen Mello, one of her graduate students, last fall and winter to document the efficacy level of relying on tears as an indicator of the magnitude of cannabinoids present in one’s body. The team relied on the understanding that since tears contain a lot more fat/lipophilic contents and since marijuana as well as its compounds are fat soluble, tears would give better test results when compared to one’s breath or saliva, which contain hardly any fats.

Recreational cannabis is legal in Massachusetts and the research team recruited volunteers who used their own marijuana for the research. Tears and blood samples were then drawn for analysis. Mello conducted this research to fulfil the requirements of a course. The program trains people who would like to work as forensic scientists, and chemistry/biomedical background is crucial for such forensic scientists, such as those working in crime labs. The research submitted must meet all the requirements of studies published in peer-reviewed journals, and Mello’s work met this criteria. What is left now is to develop the test further so that it can be commercialized.

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

Key Equipment Finance employees
achieve preeminent industry credential

Education is a constant in the equipment leasing and finance industry, including at Key Equipment Finance, where the list of employees who have attained the Certified Lease & Finance Professional (CLFP) designation continues to grow.

The CLFP is the preeminent credential for demonstrating competency and commitment to industry best practices. The certification is available to equipment leasing and financing professionals throughout the world who have demonstrated competency through testing of knowledge, continuing education, a commitment to their business practices, and dedication to the industry. (The designation was previously known as the Certified Lease Professional (CLP) designation.)

At Key Equipment Finance, the following individuals have passed the eight-hour online CLFP exam and attained the designation:

• Jeremiah Branham, Credit & Underwriting
• Nina Cole, Credit & Underwriting
• Tamara Darnow, Risk Compliance
• Jennifer Eckert, Credit & Underwriting
• Toni Egan, Key Government Finance Sales
• James Eulenstein, Bank Channel Sales
• Lisa Guelzow, Collections
• Ben Hall, Legal
• Kathy Havlik, Bank Channel Sales
• Carrie Hayes, Asset Management
• Rhonda Howlett, Originations
• Christina Lee, Credit & Underwriting
• Al Lopez, Asset Management
• Jodi Mackinnon, Originations
• Keri Marlink, Finance
• Katie Morris, Originations
• Matthew Nalbach, Payment Processing
• Hank Nhep, Pricing
• Lucas Pick, Originations
• Catherine Rein, Asset Management
• Laura Riley, Originations
• Michelle Riley, Originations
• Karin Schreck, Initiative Support
• Tanner Teply, Credit & Underwriting
• Mark Thomas, Bank Channel Sales
• Heather Valenty, Bank Channel Sales
• Derek Vander Linden, Initiative Support
• Will Vassar, Vendor Sales

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

 

Shepherd Mix
Tualatin, Oregon  Adopt-a-Dog

Blueberry

Male
Adult
60 lbs.
Yellow/Tan/Blond Fawn
Coat Length: short
Health:
Vaccinations-up-to-date
Neutered
Good in a Home with other days
Prefers a Home without children

“My name is Blueberry. I am a 1 year old, male, Shepherd type mix. I weigh around 60 pounds. I was a stray in Texas. I am very outgoing, playful and full of energy here. I really like to play with other dogs but sometimes I want to keep playing when they are tired. I am learning about crate training and love walks!”

My Adoption fee is $295

Oregon Dog Rescue
6700 SW Nyberg St
Tualatin, Oregon 97062
(503) 612-0111
info@oregondogrescue.org
WWW.OREGONDOGRESCUE.ORG

Application:
https://www.oregondogrescue.org/adoptionapplication

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Broker Fair 2021 is BACK – December 6 in NYC
Very Well-Attended in Person

Broker Fair returns to New York City in person on December 6, 2021 at Convene at Brookfield Place!

As previously announced, tickets that were purchased for Broker Fair 2020 have simply carried over to Broker Fair 2021. That means you might already be registered! You can confirm by emailing events@debanked.com.

Broker Fair is the largest annual conference for brokers in the commercial finance industry. Business loans, merchant cash advance, factoring, leasing, SBA, real estate, and more will be incorporated into the full-day lineup. Sponsorships are almost entirely sold out.

If you’ve been following along, New York City is already roaring back. Most capacity restrictions are scheduled to be lifted this week on May 19th.

We’ll see you there!

Buy Tickets Here!
https://brokerfair.org/register/

 

News Briefs---

Biden takes new electric F-150 for a test drive:
     'This sucker's quick'
https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/18/politics/biden-ford-test-drive/index.html

Passengers on Seattle-bound flight from Hawaii
    faces $52K fine for assaulting crew member
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h90VFX4h-m0

Restaurant Sales Reach New Pandemic Peak
    Figures still below $1.3 Billion February, 2020
www.fsrmagazine.com/consumer-trends/restaurant-sales-reach-new-pandemic-peak

H-1B visa: American Silicon Valley veteran employs
    foreign workers in Canada for U.S. firms
https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/05/18/h-1b-visa-american-silicon-valley-veteran-employs-foreign-workers-in-canada-for-u-s-firms/

After National Search, the DFPI Hires ‘Fintech’ Legal Expert
    to Lead New Financial Technology and Innovation Office
https://www.einnews.com/amp/pr_news/541367609/after-national-search-the-dfpi-hires-fintech-legal-expert-to-lead-new-financial-technology-and-innovation-office

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You May Have Missed---

Coronavirus vaccines may not work in some people
    It’s because of their underlying conditions.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/05/18/immunocompromised-coronavirus-vaccines-response/

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Sports Briefs---

Stanford will not cut any sports programs,
    in stunning reversal
https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/7049869-stanford-reverses-decision-to-cut-sports-programs

Oakland A’s will visit Las Vegas next week
    to hear relocation pitch, per report
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2021/05/18/report-as-to-visit-las-vegas-next-week-as-they-consider-relocation-options/

Green Bay Packers add fourth quarterback
      to roster by signing Kurt Benkert
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/2021/05/15/green-bay-packers-sign-qb-kurt-benkert/5117449001/

Kyle Shanahan: Getting Nick Bosa back
    changes who we are
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/05/18/kyle-shanahan-getting-nick-bosa-back-changes-who-we-are/

Why did Sacramento Kings GM Monte McNair keep
     coach Luke Walton? Here’s what he said
https://www.sacbee.com/sports/nba/sacramento-kings/article251512383.html#storylink=topdigest_latest

Santa Clara upsets top-ranked Florida State
      to claim NCAA women's soccer title
https://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Santa-Clara-upsets-top-ranked-FSU-to-claim-NCAA-16183956.php

Sacramento settles lawsuit over law that required
    people to stand for the national anthem
https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article251480708.html?ac_cid=DM452428&ac_bid=469042893

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California Nuts Briefs---

California is set to reopen on June 15:
    What will change?
https://www.sfchronicle.com/local/article/Cailfornia-is-set-to-reopen-on-June-15-What-will-16178314.php

Gavin Newsom wants to test guaranteed income programs,
    give grants to laid-off workers
https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article251416338.html

Why a new ‘freeway’ is being built to connect
    three rapidly growing Sacramento suburbs
https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/sacramento-tipping-point/article251187854.html?ac_cid=DM451526&ac_bid=458199916

Despite pandemic closures, it's nearly impossible
    to get a restaurant space in the San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/Despite-pandemic-closures-it-s-nearly-16178425.php

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“Gimme that Wine”

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

Winery Hiring Surges as Reopening Begins
https://www.winebusiness.com/news/?go=getArticle&dataId=245656

House lawmakers unveil bill to end ban
     on Postal Service shipments of alcohol
https://thehill.com/news/house/553938-house-lawmakers-unveil-bill-to-end-ban-on-us-postal-service-shipments

Napa Valley College online wine auction supports students
https://napavalleyregister.com/wine/napa-valley-college-online-wine-auction-supports-students/article_c8fed24f-a7ad-553a-803b-86a3bf9dc637.html

Wine of the week: Fetzer, 2019 California Chardonnay
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/lifestyle/wine-of-the-week-fetzer-2019-california-chardonnay/

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

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

This Day in History

     1643 - The United Colonies of England was formed. Development of the coastal towns of Boston, Salem, Dorchester, and Charleston in Massachusetts Bay Colony alone dwarfed the Plymouth settlement. There were an estimated 20,000 inhabitants in the London Company's Bay Colony alone. The chance to be “free” of government control, escape religious persecution, the chance to own your own land, the adventure and opportunities began to bring thousands to what was called in those days, “The New World.”
    1749 - George II grants a charter to several hundred thousand acres around the forks of the Ohio River to the Ohio Company to settle Ohio Valley, thereby promoting westward settlement by Virginia colonials.
(see second part: http://www.answers.com/topic/ohio-company ) 
    1774 – Ann Lee and eight Shakers sailed from Liverpool to New York. The religious group originated in Quakerism and fled England due to religious persecution. They become the first conscientious objectors on religious grounds and were jailed during the American Revolution in 1776. In 1998, Suzanne Skees published “God Among the Shakers.” The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing is the full, proper name for the 19th-century religious group better known as the Shakers. Although they were the largest and best-known communal society a century ago, the Shakers were rarely referred to by their proper name. Outsiders dubbed them “Shakers” for the movements in their ritualistic dance.
    1780 - The infamous "dark day" in New England tradition. At noon, it was nearly as dark as night. Heavy smoke from forest fires west of New England dimmed the sunlight, so that the noon sky was nearly as dark as night. Chickens went to roost and many persons were fearful of divine wrath. Candles were lit and many fearful persons believed that doomsday had arrived. At New Haven, CT, Colonel Abraham Davenport opposed adjournment of the town council in these words: “I am against adjournment. The day of judgment is either approaching or it is not. IF it is not, there is no cause for an adjournment. If it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. I wish therefore that candles may be brought.”
    1795 - Johns Hopkins (d. 1873) is born in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, to a Quaker family. Convinced that slavery was morally wrong, his parents freed their slaves. As a result, Johns had to leave school at age twelve to work in the family tobacco fields. Hopkins regretted that his formal education ended so early. Ambitious and hardworking, he abandoned farming, and, at his mother’s urging, became an apprentice in his uncle's wholesale grocery business when he was seventeen. Within a decade, he had created his own Baltimore-based mercantile operation. Hopkins single-mindedly pursued his business ventures. He never married, lived frugally, and retired a rich man at age fifty. A series of wise investments over the next two decades—he was the largest individual stockholder in the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, for example—further increased his wealth. He used his fortune to found The Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, incorporating them in 1867. His will divided $7 million equally between the hospital and the university. At the time, the gift was the largest philanthropic bequest in U.S. history. Hopkins also endowed an orphanage for African-American children. Johns Hopkins University opened February 22, 1876. Hopkins' President Daniel Coit Gilman set a new standard for higher education by focusing on ground-breaking research and advanced study. The research university system he introduced continues to characterize American higher education today. Johns Hopkins Hospital opened in 1889, and the medical school opened four years later. Here too, rigorous academic standards and an emphasis on scientific research profoundly influenced medical practice in the United States.
    1848 - Milly Francis (B. 1803), Creek Indian woman, voted a U.S. congressional medal and a pension of $96, neither of which she received because she had died of chronic starvation and tuberculosis. The award was made 31 years after she saved a white soldier's life. The American Indian wars changed her life from a prosperous farmer's daughter in Alabama to a half-starved refugee in Florida, and then a victim of the Trail of Tears when Native Americans from Florida were moved under the most deplorable conditions to Oklahoma.
http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/millyfrancis
    1858 - Charles Hamilton, leader of a paramilitary proslavery band from Georgia, shoots 11 prisoners he had captured during a raid in Kansas.
    1862 - The Homestead Act was enacted by Congress, “an act to secure homesteads to actual settlers on the public domain,” passed by both houses of Congress on May 19, 1862 and approved on May 20, 1862 by President Abraham Lincoln. Under this law, any man or woman of 21 years of public land by living on it for five years, making certain improvements, and paying fees of approximately $18. The first homestead granted under the act was taken by Daniel Freeman, a Union soldier, on January 1, 1863, near Beatrice, NE.
http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/homestead-act/
    1863 - Siege of Vicksburg. Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's armies converged on Vicksburg, entrapping a Confederate army under Lt. Gen. John Pemberton. On July 4, Vicksburg surrendered after prolonged siege operations. This was the culmination of one of the most brilliant military campaigns of the war. With the loss of Pemberton's army and this vital stronghold on the Mississippi, the Confederacy was effectively split in half. Grant's successes in the West boosted his reputation, leading ultimately to his appointment as General-in-Chief of the Union armies. Pemberton blamed Jefferson Davis and other generals but the real cause was the absence of supplies or reinforcements and various states were having difficulty sending troops elsewhere as they were short ammunition, food, and soldiers. Many were not uniformed and, in several Southern states, the troops were farmers or woodsman with their own rifle and only one pair of shoes that they did not wear all the time to make them last longer. It was Grant's decision to further cut off supplies as he learned the Southern cities could not withstand the siege approach, plus he could cut them off from shipping supplies that they had received from Europe or their own local lands and manufacturing facilities.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Vicksburg
    1864 – One of the fiercest battles of the Civil War that engaged both General Grant and General Lee against each other occurred in series of battles known as Spotsylvania Campaign. On May 19, a Confederate attempt to turn the Union right flank at Harris Farm was beaten back with severe casualties. Union generals Sedgwick (VI Corps commander) and Rice were killed. Confederate generals Johnson and Steuart were captured, Daniel and Perrin mortally wounded. The Union troops were strong with 100,000 compared to the 52,000 Confederates. In the battle, 18,000 Union troops would be killed to 12,000 Confederates, and while General Grant withdrew, the series of battles were considered “inconclusive as General Grant continued his offense.” The facts are the South was losing men and supplies in these battles, many wounded, and the North was well supplied with reinforcements, many of whom were immigrants anxious for the pay, food, and acceptance to their new land.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/may19.html
http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/va048.htm
    1864 – President Lincoln wrote to ant-slavery advocate Charles Sumner of Massachusetts that widow and children of soldiers are to receive equal treatment regardless of race.
    1864 - Birthday of Carl Akelly (d. 1926), Clarendon, New York, known as the “father of modern taxidermy.” He spent his life elevating taxidermy to a science. His research led to many inventions and innovations that benefited museums worldwide. Regret over killing a mountain gorilla led him to petition King Albert I of Belgium to create a sanctuary, later Africa’s first national park. Akeley died Nov. 18, 1926, from a fever near Mt. Mkeno, Congo.
    1866 - "When You and I Were Young, Maggie," which became one of the most popular ballads in North America, was published in Indianapolis, Indiana by James A. Butterfield. The song was based on a poem written by G.W. Johnson in Hamilton, Ontario about 1864 as a tribute to his wife. Johnson was a schoolteacher who later taught at the University of Toronto. The most popular recorded version of the song was made in 1905 by Frank Stanley and Corrine Morgan for the Victor label.
    1891 - Rice Institute, which became Rice University, is chartered
    1892 - Charles Brady King invents pneumatic hammer, founder of the King Motor Company. His car was driven on Detroit's streets four months before Ford.
http://clubs.hemmings.com/clubsites/kingmotorcar/king.html
http://www.detroithistorical.org/collections/vewebsite/
exhibit1/e10018a.htm
    1892 - Birthday of bassist Pops Foster, born George Murphy Foster (d. 1969) in McCall, La.
    1898 - The first postcard privately printed and mailed was authorized. The regulation allowed the use of private mailing cards of the same form, quality, and weight as postal cards printed by the government. It cost one cent to mail a postcard, which became a very popular means of communication, especially as a souvenir of where you had traveled.
    1906 – The Federated Boys’ Clubs was founded, later becoming the Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs of America.
    1915 - Connecticut passed the first licensed dental hygienists law. The first examination for dental hygienists was given by the State Board in June, 1918, since no hygienist applied for a license prior to that date.
    1919 - Birthday of the great tenor saxophone player Georgie Auld (d. 1990), born Toronto Canada. Played with Berigan, Shaw, Goodman, and lead his own band, too.
http://www.swingmusic.net/Auld_Georgie.html
http://www.317x.com/albums/a/georgieauld/card.html
http://www.parabrisas.com/d_auldg.html
    1921 - The first Immigration quota, the Emergency Immigration Act of 1921, was enacted by Congress.  It was formulated mainly in response to the large influx of Southern and Eastern Europeans and successfully restricted their immigration as well as that of other "undesirables" to the US. Although intended as temporary legislation, it "proved, in the long run, the most important turning-point in American immigration policy" because it added two new features to American immigration law: numerical limits on immigration and the use of a quota system for establishing those limits, which came to be known as the Nations Origins Formula, which limited immigration to 3 percent of the number of foreign-born persons of any given nationality in the United Sates as shown in the 1910 census. Not more than 20 percent of any country's quota was permitted to arrive in one month, in addition to this national law. [and this immigration law was enforced].    
    1925 - Birthday of Malcolm Little (d. 1965), better known as Malcolm X, black nationalist and civil rights activist, at Omaha, NE. While serving a prison term, he resolved to transform his life. On his release in 1952, he changed his name to Malcolm X and worked for the Nation of Islam until he was suspended by Black Muslim leader Elijah Muhammad, Dec. 4, 1963. Malcolm X later made the pilgrimage to Mecca and became an orthodox Muslim. He was assassinated as he spoke to a meeting at the Audubon Ballroom at New York, NY, Feb 21, 1965. As a young newsman, I interviewed Malcolm X on several occasions, twice "one-to-one." He reminded me very much of John F. Kennedy, except he could scare you. When Malcolm X came into the room, you knew he was there. As part of the press corps, you would wait and you knew when he entered the room as his "presence" was that strong.
http://www.who2.com/malcolmx.html (autobiography is excellent reading)
http://www.cmgww.com/historic/malcolm/
    1928 - The first Frog-Jumping jubilee was held at Angles Camp, Calaveras County, CA. in commemoration of Mark Twain's famous story, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.” Fifty-one frogs were entered in the contest. “The Prize of San Joaquin,” a frog owned by Louis R. Fisher of Stockton, CA, was the winner with a jump of 3 feet, 4 inches.
    1930 - Lorraine Hansberry (d. 1965) birthday, Chicago.  The first black playwright to have a play on Broadway. Her parents had fought against restricted housing in Chicago and won a Supreme Court victory (Hansberry v. Lee - 1940; the NAACP's most celebrated housing suit) but they moved to Mexico before the judgment.  The family had integrated a white neighborhood and while the father went to Washington (and incidentally out of harm's way), her mother kept the family in the Chicago home that was attacked by angry whites. She studied painting in Chicago and Mexico before moving to New York City in 1950. She participated in and wrote for a number of progressive movements. In 1959, the landmark “A Raisin in the Sun” - produced, directed, and performed by blacks - became the first Broadway play ever produced by a black woman on Broadway.  She tragically died of cancer at age 34. Her mother worked as a hairdresser, cashier, and schoolteacher. Her husband wrote a book and a play based on her unpublished writings and drawings. It is entitled “To Be Young, Gifted, and Black.”
    1933 - For the first time in Major League history, brothers on opposite teams homer in the same game. Red Sox catcher Rick Ferrell takes his brother Wes deep, but the Indians' rightly returns the favor as he homers in the third on a pitch called by his sibling.
    1934 - Birthday of journalist Jim Lehrer (d. 2020), born Wichita, Kansas.
    1936 - Margaret Mitchell's epic novel of the Civil War South, “Gone with the Wind,” was published. It would be awarded the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award as best novel of 1936. It has been a bestseller since publication, and 40 countries have published translations. “Gone with the Wind” was also made into a famous motion picture with Clark Gable, Oliva de DeHaviland, Vivian Leigh and cleaned up at the Oscars.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gone_with_the_Wind_(film)
    1939 - Birthday of Astronaut Francis Scobee (d. 1986), Cle Elum, WA. He was the commander of the ill-fated space shuttle Challenger. The 46-year old pilot had been in the astronaut program since 1978 and had been pilot of the Challenger in 1984. Scobee perished with all others on board when the Challenger explored on Jan 28, 1986.
    1942 - Mrs. W. Driver became the first golfer of either sex to get two holes-in-one in the same round. She aced the third hole and the eight hole at Balgowlah Golf Club, Australia.
    1943 - Canadian composer and synthesizer musician John Mills-Cockell was born in Toronto. He was one of the first musicians in Canada to use the Arp and Moog synthesizers in concert. Mills-Cockell performed from 1969 to 1972 with the Toronto rock bands Kensington Market and Syrinx, and with the Vancouver group Hydro-Electric Streetcar. After 1972, he concentrated on composing and recording, making only occasional live appearances.
    1943 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Churchill begin planning the cross-channel landing in France, the D-Day Invasion, to be launched on May 1, 1944.
    1945 – The UN Charter committee met in Muir Woods. The meeting was planned by Roosevelt on a suggestion by Sec. of the Interior Ickes.  One of the sessions “might be held among the giant redwoods in Muir Woods. Not only would this focus attention upon the nation’s interest in preserving these mighty trees for posterity, but in such a “temple of peace” the delegates would gain a perspective and sense of time that could be obtained nowhere better than in such a forest.” Visiting today, often people have to park a mile away to walk to the park. My parents used to live right next to Muir Woods in Mill Valley, California.
    1945 - Birthday of musician Pete Townshend, “The Who,” London, England.  The Who were one of the most widely respected rock groups of the 1960's and '70s, apparently winding up their career with a farewell tour in 1982. But there were to be a couple of reunions, including a world tour in 1989. Formed in 1963, they had only one personnel change in their entire career. Kenny Jones replaced original drummer Keith Moon, who died of a sedative overdose in 1978. The other two members of The Who were vocalist Roger Daltry and guitarist John Entwistle. Pete Townshend was the group's main songwriter, responsible for such early hits as "My Generation" and "I Can See for Miles." The Who later expanded their songs into the rock operas "Tommy" and "Quadrophenia."
    1948 - Birthday of saxophonist and bandleader Tom Scott, Los Angeles.
    1949 - Birthday of Archie Manning, Drew, Mississippi. A former football NFL QB with the Saints and Houston Oilers, following an All-American career at Ole Miss, he is perhaps better known as the father of two football quarterbacks, Eli and Peyton Manning.
    1952 - Disco singer, actress, and songwriter Grace Jones was born in Spanishtown, Jamaica. At first mainly a cult artist popular in homosexual dance clubs, she gained wider popularity beginning with her 1980 album "Warm Leatherette."
http://www.imdb.com/Bio?Jones,%20Grace
http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=grace_jones
http://www.emory.edu/ENGLISH/Bahri/GraceJones.html
    1952 - Joey Ramone (d. 2001), leader of the punk rock group the Ramones, was born in New York City. The Ramones had a great influence on the punk movement, beginning with their 1976 album, "Ramones." It contained such songs as "Beat on the Brat" and "Now I Want to Sniff Some Glue."
    1955 - Lake Mayola, Minnesota received 11.28 inches of rain over a 24 hour period, to establish the state record for 24 hour rainfall.
    1955 - Top Hits
Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White - Perez Prado
Unchained Melody - Les Baxter
A Blossom Fell - Nat King Cole
In the Jailhouse Now - Webb Pierce
    1958 - Bobby Darin's single, "Splish Splash," was released as the first eight-track master recording pressed to a plastic 45 RPM disc at Atlantic Records. Darin is said to have written the song in 12 minutes.
    1958 - The original Broadway soundtrack to “South Pacific” hits #1
    1958 - The United States and Canada formally established the North American Air Defense Command, “NORAD.”
    1960 – Disc jockey Alan Freed was charged with accepting payola - money for playing records. Freed, the deejay who did the most to spread rock 'n' roll, who is alleged to have also coined the description of this music, was a broken man by the time he came to trial in December 1962. He pleaded guilty to accepting bribes and received a suspended sentence and a $300 fine. Freed, facing new charges of tax evasion, died in January 1965 at the age of 42.
    1960 - A 17-year-old Annette Funicello blows off her high school graduation ceremony in order to perform at Radio City Music Hall.
    1961 - The Everly Brothers form the Calliope label, the first artist-owned label to be formed by a rock group.
    1962 - Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals got his 3,431st hit, setting a new National League record.
    1962 - An all-time May record was set when the temperature climbed to 99 degrees at Central Park in New York City.
    1962 – At a Democratic Party fundraiser at Madison Square Garden, Marilyn Monroe sang “Happy Birthday” to President John F Kennedy, although his birthday is May 29.  Monroe wore a sheer sparkling dress that became a pop culture legend, and sold in 1999 for $1.26 million.
    1963 - Top Hits
If You Wanna Be Happy - Jimmy Soul
Surfin' USA - The Beatles
Foolish Little Girl - The Shirelles
Lonesome 7-7203 - Hawkshaw Hawkins
    1964 - The State Department disclosed that 40 hidden microphones had been found in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.
    1965 - Roger Miller received a gold record for the hit, "King of the Road." The song was Miller's biggest hit record. It got to number four (3/20/65) on the pop charts and stayed on for 12 weeks. It was a number one country music hit (3/27/65) as well. Miller, a country singer, humorist, guitarist and composer from Fort Worth, TX and raised in Oklahoma, went to Nashville, TN in the mid-'50s to begin a songwriting career. He wrote songs and played drums for Faron Young in 1962, then won what was an unprecedented, six Grammy Awards in 1965, had his own TV show in 1966; wrote "Little Green Apples", a huge hit for O.C. Smith and had five tunes in the top ten in 1968. To top it off, he composed the music for the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, "Big River" in 1985. He died October 10, 1992.
http://www.rogermiller.com/
http://www.nashvillesongwritersfoundation.com/fame/millerr.html
    1965 - Convinced that the lyrics to the Kingsmen's hit "Louie Louie" are as filthy as urban legends claim, the FBI visits Wand Records to ask a few questions. Eventually, they decide the group's version of the Richard Berry R&B classic is too garbled to make out, anyway.
    1967 – The Soviet Union ratified a treaty signed by the US, Britain, and others banning nuclear weapons. This is the culmination of discussion begun in 1959 with an agreement to ban such weapons from being used in Antarctica.
    1968 - 20th Emmy Awards: “Get Smart,” “Mission Impossible,” and Barbara Bain
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0151536.html
    1968 - Piano stylist and vocalist Bobby Short gained national attention as he presented a concert with Mabel Mercer at New York's Town Hall. He had been the featured artist at the intimate Hotel Carlisle for years. He died April, 2005.
    1969 - The Beatles' "Get Back" is certified gold
    1971 - "Godspell" first opened at the Cherry Lane Theater in New York City. The musical by Stephen Schwartz is based on the New Testament Gospel of Matthew and is still produced by secular and religious theater groups today.
    1971 - Top Hits
Joy to the World - Three Dog Night
Never Can Say Goodbye - The Jackson 5
Brown Sugar - The Rolling Stones
I Won't Mention It Again - Ray Price
    1973 - Secretariat won the second jewel of horse racing's Triple Crown by capturing the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore, Maryland. The famed horse later went on to win the Belmont Stakes in New York to earn the Triple Crown with jockey Ron Turcotte as the rider.
    1973 - Stevie Wonder moved to the number one position on the "Billboard" pop music chart with "You are the Sunshine of My Life." It was the third number one song for Wonder, following earlier successes with "Fingertips - Pt 2" (8/10/63) and "Superstition" (1/27/73). He would have seven more number one hits between 1973 and 1987: "You Haven't Done Nothin'", "I Wish", "Sir Duke", "Ebony & Ivory" (with Paul McCartney), "I Just Called to Say I Love You", "Part-Time Lover" and "That's What Friends are For".
    1973 - After Elvis Presley's critically-savaged debut at the Sahara resort on Lake Tahoe, and several more cancellations due to "illness," manager Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis' father Vernon plead with Los Angeles lawyer Ed Hookstratten to look into Elvis' prescription drug use and identify his main suppliers. With Elvis unwilling to cooperate, however, the investigation dies a slow death.
    1975 - 27th Emmy Awards: “Mary Tyler Moore Show,” Robert Blake and Jean Marsh
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0151554.html
    1976 - Poet Gwendolyn Brooks becomes the first black woman inducted into the US National Institute of Arts & Letters.
    1979 - Top Hits.
Reunited - Peaches & Herb
Hot Stuff - Donna Summer
In the Navy - Village People
If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me - 
Bellamy Brothers
    1979 - After a bitter six-week strike, Major League umpires return to work. During the work stoppage, the men in blue were replaced by amateur arbiters.
    1984 – Wayne Gretsky teams with Mark Messier to lead the Edmonton Oilers to the Stanley Cup, defeating the New York Islanders.
    1984 - Pink Floyd's epochal “Dark Side of the Moon” LP marks its tenth anniversary, having never left the Billboard album charts.
    1985 - Motown celebrates the 50th anniversary of the legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem with NBC-TV's special, “Motown Returns To The Apollo”, featuring performances by James Brown, The Cadillacs, Joe Cocker, The Commodores, Sammy Davis Jr., The Drifters, The Four Tops, Al Green, Thelma Houston, Chuck Jackson, Patti Labelle, Little Richard, The Manhattans, Marilyn McCoo, Wilson Pickett, Billy Preston, Lou Rawls, Martha Reeves, Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, Mavis Staples, Rod Stewart, The Temptations, Sarah Vaughn, Mary Wells, and Stevie Wonder.
    1987 - Thunderstorms in Texas produced 13 inches of rain northwest of Lavernia. The heavy rain, along with golf ball-size hail, destroyed 80 percent of the crops in the area. Strong winds also toppled many trees throughout the region.
    1987 - Top Hits
With or Without You - U2
The Lady in Red - Chris DeBurgh
Heat of the Night - Bryan Adams
To Know Him is to Love Him - Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris
    1992 - Two doctors who performed an autopsy on John F. Kennedy confirmed the U.S. president died from two bullets fired from above and behind.
    1992 – The 27th Amendment to the US Constitution went into effect, thereby prohibiting Congress from giving itself midterm pay raises.
    1992 - Vice President Dan Quayle cites Murphy Brown as a poor example of family values
http://www.forerunner.com/forerunner/X0406_Quayles_Murphy_Brown.html
    1992 – MaryJo Buttafuoco was shot in the face by Amy Fisher, who at the time was having an affair with Buttafuoco's then husband Joey.  Fisher had come to the Buttafuocos' house to confront Buttafuoco about Joey, with whom she had been having an affair since July 1991.  The shooting and subsequent trial gained nationwide media attention.  Fisher was tried, convicted, and sentenced to five to 15 years in prison. She served seven years and was granted parole in May 1999.  Joey Buttafuoco pleaded guilty to one count of statutory rape (Fisher was 16 at the time) and served four months in jail.  Buttafuoco and her husband later moved to southern California.  She stayed defensively loyal to her husband for several years.  She even defended him when he was arrested in 1995 for sexual solicitation in Los Angeles, blaming others, such as Fisher, instead of her husband.  She eventually filed divorce papers in 2003.
    1994 – Former First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis dies in New York City at age 64.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacqueline_Kennedy_Onassis
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0448080/
http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/13/politics/jackie-kennedy-letters/index.html
    1995 - Emmy's 22nd Daytime Award presentation - Susan Lucci loses for 15th time, Kelsey Grammer, Helen Hunt, Andre Braugher (“Homicide: Life on the Street”)
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0764344.html
    1998 - The World Golf Village, an ambitious 6,300 acre development supported by every major golf organization in the world and located in St. Augustine, FL, opened to the public. The complex includes three championship golf courses, a luxury hotel, vacation villas, retail stores, a convention center, a Mayo Clinic medical facility and the World Golf Hall of Fame with more than 70 exhibits arranged in on “18-hole” layout.
    1998 - Sonny and Cher are awarded with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7020 Hollywood Blvd.
    1998 - Peter, Paul and Mary begin their 40th anniversary tour with a three-night stint in Vegas.
    1998 - For the second time this season and fourth time in his career, Mark McGwire hits three homers in a game. 'Big Mac' becomes the 12th player to hit two three-homer games in a season as he smacks three two-run round trippers against the Phillies.  Androstenedione helped
    1999 - Following months of media hype, promotional gimmicks, and thousands of ardent fans camping out in front of theaters to buy tickets, George Lucas's much-anticipated “Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace” opened in theaters across the U.S. The film starred Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, and Natalie Portman.
    2001 – Apple opened its first retail stores, in Tysons Corner, VA and Glendale, CA.
    2002 - Cubs' first baseman Fred McGriff's two-run homer at Miller Park ties Ellis Burks' record of homering in 40 different major league parks. The 'Crime Dog's' eighth inning blast knots the score 3-3 in an eventual 4-3, 11-inning victory over the Brewers snapping Chicago's nine-game losing streak.
    2004 - Brad Thompson breaks a 97-year-old minor league record set in 1907 by Irvin Wilhelm by hurling 57 consecutive scoreless innings. The 22-year-old St. Louis Cardinals farmhand, playing in the Southern League for Tennessee Smokies, falls just two innings short of Orel Hershiser's professional mark of 59 established in 1988.
    2004 - Yankee spokesman Jason Zillo announces Cracker Jacks, which has been baseball's most famous snack for over 100 years, will not be sold at Yankee Stadium and will be replaced by a product known as Crunch 'n Munch. The change is being made, according to Yankees' officials, because Crunch 'n Munch tastes better but may have been really prompted by Frito-Lays decision to make only bags and not boxes.
    2004 - Breaking his own record set two weeks ago, Julio Franco becomes the oldest player to hit a pinch-hit home run. The Braves' first baseman is 45 years, 269 days old when he accomplishes the feat.
    2007 – Los Angeles is the first stop on a cross-country tour to launch the SMART Car, to be released in the US the following year. It is a “For Two” minicar that is highly efficient in its consumption of gasoline. It is now a division of Mercedes-Benz and is sold globally.    
    2011 – Katie Couric, the first regular solo anchorwoman of a major network newscast, signed off the “CBS Evening News,” for the final time after five years of mostly disappointing ratings.
    2019 - Billionaire Robert F. Smith announces he will pay off college loans of nearly 400 students of the graduating class of Morehouse College, Atlanta.
    2020 - WHO member states agree to set up an inquiry into the global response to the pandemic, including looking at the WHO itself.  online. Australia and the EU tabled a seven-page motion which was supported by over 120 delegations.  The Australian delegation hardened the tone of the original European text, to include the qualifiers "impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation,” to the text of OP9.10 "as appropriate, to review experience gained and lessons learned from the WHO-coordinated international health response to COVID-19", "using existing mechanisms.” The motion was supported by China but not by the United States which threatened to withhold its funding.
Stanley Cup Champions:
    1974 - Philadelphia Flyers
    1984 - Edmonton Oilers