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######## surrounding the article denotes it is a “press release,” it was not written by Leasing News nor has the information been verified. The source noted. When an article is signed by the writer, it is considered a “byline.” It reflects the opinion and research of the writer.

U.S. Top Banks by Uninsured Deposits
Top Thirty Uninsured

Today, there is at least $7 trillion in uninsured bank deposits in America.

Here are the 30 U.S. banks with the highest percentage of uninsured deposits, using data from S&P Global.

So far, more than $50 billion in loans have been withdrawn from the BTFP, up from $11.9 billion in its first week. (The Federal Reserve updates these numbers on a weekly basis.) This has led the Fed’s balance sheet to once again tick higher after slowly declining with the introduction of quantitative tightening in 2022.

Source:
https://elements.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-the-u-s-banks-with-the-most-uninsured-deposits/

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TRAC Leasing Very Popular for Vehicle Use
by Terry Winders

A TRAC (Terminal Rental Adjustment Clause) is a lease on vehicles intended for commercial use more than half of the time. TRAC leases reduce the high cost of equipment to low monthly payments, thus allowing you to get access to the equipment you need at the lowest possible rate.
TRAC leasing dominates the truck market but many lessors forget it also covers executive cars, pickups and light duty transportation equipment of all kinds if it carries a license to be used “over the road.”

In 1984 The U.S. Congress passed the Terminal Rental Adjustment Clause for licensed “over the road use” transportation equipment. This means; business use cars, trucks, trailers etc. The 1986 Code – Subtitle F, Ch.79 defines a TRAC clause as:

“(A) In General, For purposes of this subsection, the term “terminal rental adjustment clause” means a provision of an agreement which permits or requires the rental price to be adjusted upward or downward by reference to the amount realized by the Lessor under the agreement upon sale or other disposition of such property.”

There seems to be some misunderstanding that only the short fall must be made up by the lessee and the lessor can keep the overage if one occurs. This is false as you can see from the definition above.

Sec.7701(h) goes on to say:
(h)Motor Vehicle Operating Lease,
(1) In General, for purposes of this title, in the case of a qualified motor-vehicle operating agreement which contains a terminal rental adjustment clause;
     (A) Such agreement shall be treated as a lease if (but for such terminal rental adjustment clause) such agreement would be treated as a lease under this title, and
     (B) The lessee shall not be treated as the owner of the property subject to an agreement during any period such agreement is in effect
(2) Qualified Motor Vehicle operating agreement defined for purposes of this sub section,
      (A) In General, the term “qualified motor vehicle operating agreement” means any agreement with respect to a motor vehicle (including a trailer) which meets the requirements of subparagraph (B), (C), and (D) of this paragraph.
     (B) Minimum Liability of Lessor: An agreement meets the requirements of this subparagraph if under such agreement the sum of.
              i. The amount the Lessor is personally liable to repay, and
              ii. The net fair market value of the Lessor’s interest in any property pledged as security for property subject to the agreement, equals or exceeds all amounts borrowed to finance the acquisition of property subject to the agreement. There shall not be taken into account under clause (ii) any property pledged which is property subject to the agreement or property directly or indirectly financed by indebtedness secured by property subject to the agreement.

    (C) Certification by Lessee: Notice of Tax Ownership, An Agreement meets the requirements of this subparagraph if such agreement contains a separate written statement separately signed by the Lessee,
i. under which the Lessee certifies, under penalty of perjury, that it intends that more than 50% of the use of the property subject to such agreement is to be in a trade or business, and
ii. which clearly and legibly states that the Lessee has been advised that it will not be treated as the owner of the property subject to the agreement for Federal income tax purposes.
      (D) Lessor must have no knowledge that certification is false, and agreement meets the requirements of this subparagraph if the Lessor does not know that the certification described in subparagraph
     ( C) (i)
       is false.

I believe you can read that each and every TRAC clause must have the signed statement that the transportation equipment will be use more than 50% of the time for business even if it appears that a cement truck (as an example) could not be used for personal proposes.

In additional rulings the IRS has stated that “business use” means carrying people or goods for hire. There has always been a question of allowing permanently attached items to be included in the TRAC and it appears the IRS position is that the attachment must be used in the transportation segment because if it is just being transported to a location where it will be put to use such as a attached crane on the back of the truck then the truck is not transportation equipment any longer. However there are many schools of thought on this subject and I have not been able to find any case law to settle the issue.

TRAC leasing is very much a Tax lease and the lessor will have to take the payments in as income and use the MACRS depreciation to reduce the Tax effect.

Terry is now retired. The above is updated from a prior column.

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AACFB Annual Conference May 2-4
Hotel Deadline is Monday, April 10
Updated Exhibitors List

The 2023 American Association of Commercial Finance Brokers Annual Conference will be held May 2-4th at the Irvine Marriott located in Irvine, CA. AACFB has been bringing commercial finance brokers together with the leading funding sources and service providers in the industry for over 30 years! See you there!

The deadline to get the AACFB group rate at the Irvine Marriott is April 10, 2023, or until the block is full. Be sure to use our unique reservation link because rooms may not be available outside our block.

The deadline for Early-Bird registration rates is April 29, 2023. Don't miss out on the savings!
https://annualconference.aacfb.org/registration

This Will Be a Major Event for Brokers, Super Brokers and Exhibitors

Exhibitors to Date
4 Hour Funding, LLC
60 Equipment Finance2
American Capital Group
American Lease Insurance, an Assurant Company
Amur Equipment Finance
Apex Commercial Capital
ARF Financial
AvTech Capital LLC
Balboa Capital, a Division of Ameris Bank
Bankers Capital
BankFinancial Equipment Finance
Baystone Government Finance/KS StateBank
Blue Bridge Financial, Inc.
C.H. Brown Co. LLC
Channel | Your Partner in Funding
CLFP Foundation
Commercial Funding Partners LLC
East Harbor Financial
Entegra Capital LLC
Equipment Leasing Group of America, LLC (ELGA)
FileInvite
Financial Pacific Leasing, Inc.
First Business Bank
First Federal Leasing
First Foundation Bank
First Savings Bank
FORA Financial
Founders First Capital Partners
Fountainhead
Global Financial & Leasing Services LLC
Gulf Coast Business Credit
instaCOVER
JB&B Capital
JS Capital Corp. dba F.I.T. Leasing
Lenders Access
LTi Technology Solutions
Maxim Commercial Capital LLC
McKenzie Credit, Inc.
Meridian Equipment Finance LLC
Monitor
National Business Capital
Navitas Credit Corp.- Partner Funding
NCMIC/Professional Solutions
NewLane Finance
NFS Leasing
North Mill Equipment Finance LLC
North Star Leasing
Orange Commercial Credit
Paradigm Equipment Finance
Pawnee Leasing Corporation
PEAC Solutions
Platinum Filings
Quality Equipment Finance
ROK Financial
SLIM Capital
TimePayment Corporation
TradeRiver USA, Inc.
United Capital Source, Inc.
Universal Finance
VFI Corporate Finance
Wallwork Financial
YES Leasing, Inc.
Registration
https://annualconference.aacfb.org/registration

Tech Layoffs Hamper West Coast Housing Markets
MReport.com

CoreLogic has released new data covering February 2023 through its Home Price Index which overall found that home price growth remains in positive territory at 4.4%, marking 133 straight months of growth.

However, the 4.4% of growth recorded in February was the lowest seen since 2019. Eight states and districts recorded annual home price losses, with much of the depreciation seen in the relatively expensive Western U.S., including California, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Utah.

According to CoreLogic, tech company layoffs were the most likely culprit of falling home prices on the West Coast, but prices on the East Coast held steady.

Selma Hepp, Chief Economist at CoreLogic, noted, “The divergence in home price changes across the U.S. reflects a tale of two housing markets.

“Declines in the West are due to the tech industry slowdown and a severe lack of affordability after decades of undersupply. The consistent gains in the Southeast and South reflect strong job markets, in-migration patterns and relative affordability due to new home construction.”

Top takeaways as highlighted by CoreLogic include:

Miami posted the highest year-over-year home price increase of the country's 20 tracked metro areas in February, at 15.6%, while Tampa, Florida continued to rank second at 9.3%.

Florida and Maine recorded the highest annual home price gains, 11.3% and 10.3%, respectively.

South Carolina posted the third-highest growth, with a 9.2% year-over-year increase. Eight states and districts recorded annual losses: Washington (-4.9%); Montana (-3.1%); Nevada (-1.7%); Idaho (-1.6%); Utah (-1.6%); California (-1.5%); Washington, D.C. (-1.2%); and Oregon (-0.7%).

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Section 1071, Requiring Lending Data Collection
and Reporting, is Now Final
By Marshall Goldberg, Esq., Leasing News Legal Editor

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued its final rule for Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act on March 30, 2023, which we have all been expecting for quite a while. The rule was enacted to facilitate enforcement of lending laws and aims to promote fair lending practices and increase access to credit for small businesses owned by women, minorities, veteran-owned businesses and other underserved populations. The data that financial institutions will be required to report, among other factors, includes, the race, ethnicity, and gender of the business owner, the size of the loan and the loan’s interest rate.

The new rule is long and complex. It includes provisions aimed at preventing discrimination in the underwriting process, such as a requirement that loan officers receive training on fair lending practices. It requires financial institutions to establish fair lending policies and procedures. It includes streamlined sample forms for lenders to use to make it easy for lenders to know on which applications to collect the data from small business credit applicants. The rule also addresses the CFPB’s privacy interests and the publication of data, in order to shield the demographic data from underwriters and other persons.

We will be breaking down the new law in future articles during the next few months. However, just in case you have lots of extra time for reading this weekend, here is the link to the rule, which consists of 888 pages: Small Business Lending Data Collection under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (Regulation B) (consumerfinance.gov). The instructions on formats for the actual reporting are 123 pages.

Covered Small Businesses. Section 1071 requires financial institutions to collect and report demographic data on small businesses, which are defined as companies with gross revenue under $5 million in their last fiscal year.

Covered Credit Transactions. Covered credit transaction within the scope of the Rule include, closed-end loans, lines of credit, business credit cards, online credit products and merchant cash advances.

Covered Financial Institutions. A covered financial institution, subject to collection and reporting requirements, is defined as one that originated at least one hundred covered credit transactions for small businesses in each of the two preceding calendar years. This accounts for more than 95 percent of small business loans by banks and credit unions. Entities subject to the rule include banks, credit unions, non-depository financial institutions and savings associations. Thanks in great part to the advocacy of the ELFA, the CFPB is excluding true leases, as defined by UCC Article 2A. The CFPB is also excluding from the rule, trade credit, public utilities credit, securities credit, incidental credit, transactions reportable under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975 (HMDA), insurance premium financing. Factoring and consumer designated credit that is used for business or agricultural purposes are also not covered credit transactions. The final rule outlines the specifics of how covered financial institutions will collect and report this data and establishes thresholds for which institutions will be subject to reporting requirements.

Timing. Financial Institutions with over five hundred covered originations are required to collect this data and report beginning in April 2025, and those with more than one hundred covered originations must begin in January 2026. Originations are based upon each of the previous two calendar years.

Marshall Goldberg
Glass & Goldberg, A Law Corporation
22917 Burbank Blvd.
Woodland Hills, CA 91367-4203
(818) 474-1532 Direct
(818) 888-2220 Main
(818) 888-2229 Facsimile
mgoldberg@glassgoldberg.com
www.glassgoldberg.com

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Leasing News: Easter Edition
by Fernando Croce

Though Christmas, Halloween and Thanksgiving all boast a long list of holiday-themed movies, Easter-related movies are rarer but no less inspiring. With Easter Sunday right around the corner, check out Netflix for these classic holiday choices.

The Robe (1953): Seeking a monumental format for a monumental story, this early Biblical epic was the first film to be presented in Cinemascope widescreen. Set in ancient Rome after the Crucifixion, it centers on Marcellus Gallio (Richard Burton), a tribune whose cynical life takes a sharp turn when he wins the titular robe in a game of dice. Said garment turns out to be the one worn by none other than Jesus Christ, disdained by Marcellus but cherished by his Christian slave Demetrius (Victor Mature). When Demetrius escapes with the robe, Marcellus tracks him down and, with the help of childhood sweetheart Diana (Jean Simmons), discovers his own faith. Though the original visual innovation will suffer on small screens, the reverent story will still resonate with Easter audiences.

Here Comes Peter Cottontail (1971): Specialists in stop-motion holiday shows such as “Here Comes Santa Claus,” Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr. supplied their own Easter special with this engaging and tuneful short. The story follows Peter Cottontail (voiced by Casey Kasem), a bunny next in line to be the Easter Bunny’s successor in the noble art of delivering chocolate eggs to children all over the world. However, that position is also coveted by the malicious January Q. Irontail (Vincent Price), which leads to a great race with disastrous results. When the mysterious Sassafras (Danny Kaye) turns up to give Peter a second chance, can the outcome be reversed before it’s too late? Full of colorful animation and catchy songs, this is a bouncy seasonal effort that deserves more recognition.

Steel Magnolias (1989): A terrific ensemble cast elevates this affecting comedy-drama, which features an Easter egg hunt as one of its numerous emotional moments. Set in Louisiana, it follows a group of close-knit friends who gather at a beauty salon run by Truvy (Dolly Parton) and whose lives intertwine in humorous and tragic ways. There’s M’Lynn (Sally Field), who’s preparing for the wedding of her daughter Shelby (Julia Roberts). There’s Claire (Olympia Dukakis), the mayor’s widow whose cheery demeanor is contrasted with the grouchiness of her confidante, Louisa (Shirley MacLaine). And there’s Annelle (Daryl Hannah), a shy young beautician who’s just moved to town. Directed by Herbert Ross (“The Goodbye Girl”), this is a portrait of sisterhood that expertly engages audiences with its mix of laughter and heartbreak.

Mallrats (Kevin Smith, 1995): Christmastime has “Bad Santa,” so Easter can also enjoy a healthy dose of raunchy humor with this comedy from quirky director Kevin Smith (“Clerks”). Unfolding largely inside a mall, the plot focuses on the misadventures of best friends T.S. (Jeremy London) and Brodie (Jason Lee) as they deal with girlfriend breakup and comic books. Other characters weaving in and out include sharp-tongued ex (Shannen Doherty), sleazy nemesis Shannon (Ben Affleck), and mismatched slackers Jay and Silent Bob (played by Jason Mewes and Smith himself). Things built up to a madcap contest on a TV show, though for the sake of the season the highlight is a tussle with the mall’s resident Easter Bunny. Not for all tastes, but a must for fans of Smith’s humor.

Rise of the Guardians (2012): The Easter Bunny is just one member of a quintet of storybook characters in this whimsical animated feature, which marked the directorial debut of Peter Ramsey (“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”). The Guardians are a group of magical heroes recruited by the Man in the Moon to protect the innocence of children worldwide. They include Jack Frost (voiced by Chris Pine), the Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher), the Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman), Santa Claus (Alec Baldwin) and the wise, silent Sandman. Against them all is the sinister Pitch Black (Jude Law), a Boogeyman-type figure with plans of bringing about eternal darkness. Originally released in 3-D, this cheerful amalgam of contrasting holiday staples goes for a breakneck combination of colorful action and childhood wonder.

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This Day in American History

       30 - Scholars' estimate of Jesus' crucifixion by Roman troops in Palestine, most probably between the years 30 and 33. Jesus, whom Christians believe to be the Son of God as well as the Messiah (Christ), was arrested, tried and sentenced by Pontius Pilate to be scourged and crucified by the Romans. According to Mark's Gospel, he endured the torment of crucifixion for some six hours from the third hour, at approximately 9 am, until his death at the ninth hour, corresponding to about 3 pm. The soldiers affixed a sign above his head stating "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" in three languages, divided his garments and cast lots for his seamless robe.
    1712 - Nine whites were killed in a slave revolt in New York City. Planned by 27 slaves, the rebellion was begun by setting fire to an outhouse. As whites came to put the fire out, they were shot. The state militia was called out to capture the rebels and the city of New York responded to the event by strengthening its slave codes. Twenty-one blacks were executed as participants, and six alleged participants committed suicide. New York outlawed slavery in 1799.
    1788 - Pioneers arrived at the confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers, establishing Marietta, Ohio, as the first permanent American settlement of the new United States in the Northwest Territory and opening the westward expansion of the new country.
    1790 - Birthday of William Ellery Channing (d. 1842) at Newport, RI. Well-known abolitionist and leader of the Unitarian movement in the US. He stood for religious liberalism and influenced such people as Longfellow, Byrant, Emerson, Lowell and Holmes.
    1798 – The Mississippi Territory was organized from disputed territory claimed by both the US and Spain. It is expanded in 1804 and again in 1812.
    1818 – General Andrew Jackson conquered St. Marks, FL from the Seminoles tribe.
    1829 – Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Latter Day Saints movement, commenced the translation of the Book of Mormon, with Oliver Cowdery as his scribe.
    1857 - A late season freeze brought snow to every state in the Union. Even as far south as Houston, TX the mercury plunged to 21 degrees.
    1859 - Birthday of Walter Camp (d. 1925), college athlete, coach and administrator, at New Britain, CT. Camp played football and several other sports at Yale, but he gained prominence for helping to reshape the rules of rugby football into American football. Among his innovations were reducing the number of players on a side from 15 to 11, introducing the line of scrimmage, giving one team definite possession of the ball and proposing the downs system. He served as a volunteer coach at Yale and became a national figure as a promoter of football. He selected an All-American team from 1889 to his death.
    1860 – Will K. Kellogg, founder of The Kellogg Company, was born…wait for it…in Battle Creek, MI.
    1862 - In the Civil War, the Union army under Grant defeated the Confederates under Albert Johnston at the Battle of Shiloh near Pittsburgh Landing, TN. Johnston was killed during the battle.
    1873 – Early baseball star and one of the game’s greatest managers, John McGraw (d. 1934), was born in Truxton, NY. His total of 2,763 victories in that capacity ranks second overall behind only Connie Mack and he still holds the National League record with 2,669. McGraw is widely held to be "the best player to become a great manager" in the history of baseball. McGraw also held the MLB record for most ejections by a manager (132) until Bobby Cox broke the record in 2007. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937, three years after he died.
    1884 - Bronislaw Malinowski’s (d. 1942) birthday at Krakow, Poland. Leading British anthropologist, author and teacher. His pioneering anthropological fieldwork in Melanesia inspired his colleagues and students. In 1939, he became a visiting professor at Yale University. I wrote my college thesis about his findings as anthropologist.
    1890 - Birthday of Marjory Stoneman Douglas (d. 1998) in Minneapolis. Author, conservationist, especially for the Florida Everglades, she wrote “The Everglades: River of Grass” (1947), probably the most influential book in Florida's history. It forced the establishment of the Central and South Florida Flood Control that kept the Everglades River system viable.
    1891 – Nebraska introduced the 8 hour work day
    1893 – Allen Dulles (d. 1969) was born in Watertown, NY. A diplomat and lawyer, he became the first civilian Director of Civilian Intelligence and is its longest-serving director to date. As head of the CIA during the early Cold War, he oversaw Operation Ajax, the Lockheed U-2 Program and the Bay of Pigs Invasion. His older brother was John Foster Dulles, Secretary of State for President Eisenhower and after whom the airport and town are named.
   1897 – Walter Winchell (d. 1972) was born in NYC. After leaving school in the sixth grade, he began in vaudeville. He began his career in journalism by posting notes about his acting troupe on backstage bulletin boards. Joining the “Vaudeville News” in 1920, Winchell left the paper for the “Evening Gazette” in 1924, and in turn was hired on June 10, 1929 by the “New York Daily Mirror” where he finally became the author of what would be the first syndicated gossip column, entitled “On-Broadway”. He made his radio debut over WABC in New York, a CBS affiliate, on May 12, 1930. His coverage of the Lindbergh kidnapping and subsequent trial received national attention. Within two years, he befriended J. Edgar Hoover. His newspaper column was syndicated in over 2,000 newspapers worldwide, and he was read by 50 million people a day from the 1920s until the early 1960s. His Sunday-night radio broadcast was heard by another 20 million people from 1930 to the late 1950s. In 1948, Winchell had the top-rated radio show when he surpassed Fred Allen and Jack Benny.   During the 1950s, Winchell favored Sen. Joe McCarthy, but he became unpopular as the public turned against McCarthy. He also had a weekly radio broadcast which was simulcast on ABC television until he ended that employment because of a dispute with ABC executives in 1955. A dispute with Jack Paar effectively ended Winchell's career, signaling a shift in power from print to television. During this time, NBC had given him the opportunity to host a variety show, which lasted only thirteen weeks. His readership gradually dropped, and when his home paper, where he had worked for thirty-four years, closed in 1963, he faded from the public eye. He did, however, receive $25,000 per episode to narrate “The Untouchables” on the ABC television network for four seasons beginning in 1959.
  1908 - Orchestra conductor, arranger and composer Percy Faith (d. 1976) was born in Toronto. He began by playing music for silent films in the city's movie houses, later turning to arranging and composing when his hands were severely burned in an accident. After a stint at the CBC, Faith moved to the US, where he became an arranger-conductor for Columbia Records. He worked with many pop singers, including Guy Mitchell and Tony Bennett, as well as recording with his own orchestra and chorus. His "Theme from a Summer Place" won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1960.
    1915 - Billie Holiday’s (d. 1959) birthday in Philadelphia, born Eleanora Fagan and nicknamed "Lady Day". She is considered by many jazz critics to have been the greatest jazz singer ever recorded. In her 26-year career, despite having received no formal training, she demonstrated a unique style with sophisticated and dramatic phrasing. Among her best-known songs are "Lover Man," "God Bless the Child," "Don't Explain" and "Strange Fruit." Often coupled with saxophonist Lester Young, a fan wrote "Strange Fruit" as a poem, she set it to music, and sang at a time that considered this quite revolutionary. Some of her backing musicians included such famous jazzmen as Lester Young, Roy Eldridge and Teddy Wilson. A movie loosely based on Billie Holliday's autobiography, "Lady Sings the Blues," was made in 1973 starring Diana Ross. On this date in 1986, Holliday was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, nearly 27 years after her death.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/apr07.html
    1918 – Red Sox Hall of Famer Bobby Doerr was born in LA. He played his entire 14-year baseball career for the Sox (1937–51), compiling over .300 batting average in several seasons. He is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, elected in 1986.
    1919 - Birthday of pianist, arranger, and band leader Ralph Flanagan (d. 1995), born Ralph Elias Flenniken in Lorain, OH.
http://www.centrohd.com/biogra/f2/ralph_flanagan_b.htm
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/artist/glance/-/44519/002-5217827-1679236
    1920 - Birthday of Indian musician Ravi Shankar (d. 2012).
http://www.ravishankar.org/bio.html
    1922 – The Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall leased to private oil companies at low rates, without competitive bidding, Navy petroleum reserves at Teapot Dome in Wyoming, and two locations in California, in what would become the center piece of the Teapot Dome Scandal that plagued the presidency of Warren G. Harding. Before the Watergate, Teapot Dome was regarded as the "greatest and most sensational scandal in the history of American politics".
    1923 – The first brain tumor operation under local anesthetic was performed at Beth Israel Hospital in NYC by Dr. K Winfield Ney.
    1928 – “Maverick” and “Rockford”, James Garner was born James Scott Bumgarner in Norman, OK. In addition to huge TV success, he played leading roles in more than fifty films. Garner died of a heart attack in 2014 in LA.
    1928 - 44-yr old New York Ranger General Manager Lester Patrick replaced his injured goaltender in a Stanley Cup game, and beat the Montreal Maroons 2-1.
    1929 – Record heat prevailed across New England. Hartford, CT reported an afternoon high of 90 degrees.
    1931 – Daniel Ellsberg was born in Chicago. He is an activist and former military analyst who, while employed by the RAND Corporation, precipitated a national political controversy in 1971 when he released the Pentagon Papers, a top-secret Pentagon study of U.S. government decision-making in relation to the Vietnam War, to The New York Times and other newspapers. Ellsberg was charged with others of theft and conspiracy, carrying a total maximum sentence of 115 years. Due to gross governmental misconduct and illegal evidence gathering, and the defense by Leonard Boudin and Harvard Law School professor Charles Nesson, Judge Byrne dismissed all charges against Ellsberg on May 11, 1973. The release of these papers was politically embarrassing not only to those involved in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations but also to the then incumbent Nixon administration. As a response to the leaks, the Nixon staffers began a campaign against further leaks and against Ellsberg personally. Aides, under the supervision of John Erlichman, created the "White House Plumbers", which would later lead to the Watergate burglaries. On September 3, 1971, the burglary of Lewis Fielding's office was carried out by the Plumbers and they found Ellsberg's file but it did not contain the potentially embarrassing information they sought. Hunt and Liddy subsequently planned to break into Fielding's home, but Ehrlichman did not approve the second burglary. The break-in was not known to Ellsberg or to the public until it came to light during Ellsberg's trial in April 1973.
    1931 – Seals Stadium, first California home of the San Francisco Giants, opened in The Mission at Bryant & 16th. It began as the home of San Francisco’s TWO minor league teams, the Seals and the Missions. It was demolished in late 1959 as the Giants moved to their home at Candlestick Park.
    1933 – Prohibition in the US was repealed for beer of no more than 3.2% alcohol by weight, eight months before the ratification of the
21st amendment.
    1933 – Wayne Rogers (d. 2015) was born In Birmingham, AL. Best known for playing Trapper John McIntyre in the first four seasons of M*A*S*H*.
    1935 – Bobby Bare was born in Ironton, OH. Singer and songwriter, best known for “Detroit City” and “500 Miles Away from Home”. Just before he was drafted, he wrote a song called "The All-American Boy” and did a demo for his friend, Bill Parsons, to learn and record. Instead of using the version Bill Parsons did later, the record company decided to use the original demo recorded by Bare. The record reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, but they made an error: the singles' labels all credited the artist as being "Bill Parsons." The same track, with the same billing error, peaked at No. 22 in the UK Singles Chart in April 1959.
    1935 – Sarazen’s Double Eagle. In the final round of the second Masters Tournament, Gene Sarazen reached the par-5 15th hole four shots out of the lead. His drive left him 220 years shot of the cup. Sarazen hit his 4-wood and knocked the ball over the pond protecting the green, onto the fringe and into the hole for a double-eagle two. Sarazen tied Craig Wood at 282, six under par, and defeated him the next day in a playoff.
    1935 – Amarillo, TX, reported dust obscuring visibility for twenty hours. Blowing dust was reported twenty-seven of thirty days in the month. On several days the visibility was reduced to near zero by the dust.
    1938 – Birthday of jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard (d. 2008) in Indianapolis.
    1938 – Once and current California Governor Jerry Brown was born Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown Jr. in San Francisco.
    1939 – Birthday of Francis Ford Coppola in Detroit, MI. Winemaker, film maker, bon vivant, true Renaissance man who has evidently passed his talents on to his children.
    1940 - First postage stamp depicting an African-American showed the educator Booker Taliaferro Washington, whose likeness was on the 10-cent brown stamp placed first at sale at Tuskegee Institute, AL. The stamp was one of the Famous American Commemorative series issues of 1940. A three-cent deep blue stamp depicting the log cabin in which Washington lived had been issued on April 5, 1936.
    1943 – SWETT, JAMES ELMS, Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Marine Fighter Squadron 221, with Marine Aircraft Group 12, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing. Place and date: Solomon Islands area, 7 April 1943. Entered service at: California. Born: 15 June 1920, Seattle, Wash. Other Navy award: Distinguished Flying Cross with 1 Gold Star. Citation: For extraordinary heroism and personal valor above and beyond the call of duty, as division leader of Marine Fighting Squadron 221 with Marine Aircraft Group 12, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, in action against enemy Japanese aerial forces in the Solomon’s Islands area, 7 April 1943. In a daring flight to intercept a wave of 150 Japanese planes, 1st Lt. Swett unhesitatingly hurled his 4-plane division into action against a formation of 15 enemy bombers and personally exploded 3 hostile planes in midair with accurate and deadly fire during his dive. Although separated from his division while clearing the heavy concentration of antiaircraft fire, he boldly attacked 6 enemy bombers, engaged the first 4 in turn and, unaided, shot down all in flames. Exhausting his ammunition as he closed the fifth Japanese bomber, he relentlessly drove his attack against terrific opposition which partially disabled his engine, shattered the windscreen and slashed his face. In spite of this, he brought his battered plane down with skillful precision in the water off Tulagi without further injury. The superb airmanship and tenacious fighting spirit which enabled 1st Lt. Swett to destroy 7 enemy bombers in a single flight were in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.
    1945 - The Japanese battleship Yamato, the largest battleship ever constructed, was sunk with four destroyers by American planes 200 miles north of Okinawa while en route to a suicide mission in Operation Ten-Go.
    1945 – JAMES, WILLY F., Jr., Medal of Honor
Citation: For extraordinary heroism in action on 7 April 1945 near Lippoldsberg, Germany. As lead scout during a maneuver to secure and expand a vital bridgehead, Private First Class James was the first to draw enemy fire. He was pinned down for over an hour, during which time he observed enemy positions in detail. Returning to his platoon, he assisted in working out a new plan of maneuver. He then led a squad in the assault, accurately designating targets as he advanced, until he was killed by enemy machine gun fire while going to the aid of his fatally wounded platoon leader. Private First Class James’ fearless, self-assigned actions, coupled with his diligent devotion to duty exemplified the finest traditions of the Armed Forces.
    1945 – OKUTSU, YUKIO, Medal of Honor
Technical Sergeant Yukio Okutsu distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action on 7 April 1945, on Mount Belvedere, Italy. While his platoon was halted by the crossfire of three machine guns, Technical Sergeant Okutsu boldly crawled to within 30 yards of the nearest enemy emplacement through heavy fire. He destroyed the position with two accurately placed hand grenades, killing three machine gunners. Crawling and dashing from cover to cover, he threw another grenade, silencing a second machine gun, wounding two enemy soldiers, and forcing two others to surrender. Seeing a third machine gun, which obstructed his platoon’s advance, he moved forward through heavy small arms fire and was stunned momentarily by rifle fire, which glanced off his helmet. Recovering, he bravely charged several enemy riflemen with his submachine gun, forcing them to withdraw from their positions. Then, rushing the machine gun nest, he captured the weapon and its entire crew of four. By these single-handed actions he enabled his platoon to resume its assault on a vital objective. The courageous performance of Technical Sergeant Okutsu against formidable odds was an inspiration to all. Technical Sergeant Okutsu’s extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the United States Army.
    1946 – Syria’s independence from France was recognized.
    1947 – The first Tony Awards ceremony for Broadway plays was held in New York. The award was named after Antoinette (Tony) Perry, who died the previous year. Perry served as director of the wartime board of the American Theater Wing. Winners at the first presentation included Best Actresses Ingrid Bergman for “Joan of Lorraine” and Helen Hayes for “Happy Birthday”. Best Actors: José Ferrer for “Cyrano de Bergerac” and Fredric March for “Years Ago”. Patricia Neal as Best Supporting Actress for “Another Part of the Forest”, David Wayne for Best Supporting Actor in “Finian’s Rainbow”, and Elia Kazan as Best Director for “All My Sons”.
    1949 – The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “South Pacific” opened at the Majestic Theatre on Broadway. Adapted from James Michener’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel “Tales of the South Pacific,” the musical ran for 1,925 performances. Mary Martin and Ezio Pinza were the stars. “South Pacific” was made into a movie in 1958.
    1949 – John Oates of the duo Hall and Oates, was born in New York City. Beginning with their first record, “Whole Oats,” in 1972, Daryl Hall and Oates had great success with their energetic blend of rhythm-and-blues and rock ‘n’ roll.
    1951 – Singer/songwriter/musician Janis Ian was born Janis Eddy Fink in The Bronx. She has won two Grammy Awards, the first in 1975 for her song “At Seventeen”, and the second in 2013 for Best Spoken Word, for her autobiography, “Society's Child”.
    1951 – Ben Hogan won the Masters with a 280.
    1953 – Top Hits
“Pretend” – Nat King Cole
“Till I Waltz Again with You” – Teresa Brewer
“I Believe” – Frankie Laine
“Your Cheatin’ Heart” – Hank Williams
    1954 – Birthday of football Hall of Famer Anthony Drew “Tony” Dorsett, Rochester, Pa. He won the 1976 Heisman Trophy as a running back from the University of Pittsburgh and was drafted in the first round by the Dallas Cowboys with whom he established his Hall of Fame career. In 1983, Dorsett broke a 99-yard touchdown run against the Vikings, which is the longest run from scrimmage in NFL history. He is the first of only two players in history (with Marcus Allen) who has won the Heisman Trophy, won the Super Bowl, won the College National Championship, been enshrined in the College Hall of Fame, and been enshrined in the Pro Football Hall Of Fame.
    1954 – “Gee,” by The Crows, became the first rhythm and blues single to gain attention on pop music charts.
    1954 – President Eisenhower gave his speech on the domino theory regarding the spread of communism in Indochina: ”Finally, you have broader considerations that might follow what you would call the "falling domino" principle. You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly. So you could have a beginning of a disintegration that would have the most profound influences.”
    1956 – Little Richard’s “Long Tall Sally” is released.
    1956 – The CBS Radio Network debuts the first regularly scheduled, nationally broadcast Rock and Roll show, “Rock ‘n’ Roll Dance Party”, with Alan Freed as host.
    1956 – The Platters made their television debut on the Dorsey Brothers' “Stage Show”, broadcast on CBS. The Platters formed in Los Angeles in 1952 and the original group consisted of Alex Hodge, Cornell Gunter, David Lynch, Joe Jefferson, Gaynel Hodge and Herb Reed. Reed created the group's name. They were one of the most successful vocal groups of the early rock ‘n’ roll era. The act went through several personnel changes, with the most successful incarnation comprising lead tenor Tony Williams, Lynch, Paul Robi, Reed and Zola Taylor. It was this version of the group that achieved the great stardom for which they are still remembered, charting 40 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 between 1955 and 1967, including four no. 1 hits. The Platters were one of the first African-American groups to be accepted as a major chart group and were, for a period of time, the most successful vocal group in the world.
    1957 – Cable cars resume clambering up and down Hyde Street for the first time in nearly three years. The new route is a combination of parts of the Washington and Jackson lines and the end of the Hyde line.
    1958 – The Platters’ “Twilight Time” is released.
    1958 - The Capitol label officially abandons issuing 78 rpm records.
    1958 – To welcome their new team, the Dodgers, for their first season in LA, the LA Memorial Coliseum erected a 42-foot screen in left field to cut down on home runs, since it is only 250 feet down the line
    1959 – Marty Robbins recorded “El Paso”.
   1961 – Top Hits
“Blue Moon” – The Marcels
“Apache” – Jorgen Ingmann
“On the Rebound” – Floyd Cramer
“Don’t Worry” – Marty Robbins
    1962 – The Rolling Stones began to take shape when Mick Jagger and Keith Richards met guitarist Brian Jones at the Ealing Jazz Club. Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts came into the picture in January of 1963.
    1962 - Elvis arrived in Hawaii to begin shooting the ocean shots for his latest film, “Blue Hawaii”. At his hotel, the Kaiser Hawaiian Village, he was mobbed by over a thousand fans and sprints away from them, losing several pieces of jewelry in the process. (His ring was returned the next day.)
    1962 - Bobby Rydell was ironically cast as Hugo Peabody in the film version of the hit Broadway musical “Bye Bye Birdie.”
    1964 – IBM launched System/360.
    1969 – Ted Williams made his debut as a Major League manager as the New York Yankees defeated his Washington Senators 8-4 in Washington’s RFK Stadium before 45,000. The Senators finished the year in fourth place for the AL West with a record of 86-76. This was and has been considered one of the great managerial seasons on record as the Senators were woeful. William’s managerial career lasted four seasons. His team won 273 games and lost 364.
    1969 – Top Hits
“Dizzy” – Tommy Roe
“Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In” – The 5th Dimension
“You’ve Made Me So Very Happy” – Blood, Sweat & Tears
“Who’s Gonna Mow Your Grass” – Buck Owens
    1969 – The Internet’s symbolic birthdate with the publication of RFC (Request for Comment) 1. Request for Comments documents were invented by Steve Crocker in 1969 to help record unofficial notes on the development of ARPANET. RFCs have since become official documents of Internet specs, communications protocols, procedures, and events. Today, it is the official publication channel for the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the Internet Architecture Board (IAB), and to some extent, the global community of computer network researchers in general. Oddly there is no mention of Al Gore’s role in all of this!!!
    1969 – Former Niners RB and Super Bowl hero Ricky Watters was born in Harrisburg, PA.
    1970 - Three weeks after moving hurriedly from Seattle, where they were called the Pilots, the Milwaukee Brewers made their American League debut, losing to the California Angels 12-0, at Milwaukee County Stadium. The Brewers finished fourth in the AL West in 1970 with a record of 65-97. They won their first division pennant in 1982 but lost the World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals.
    1970 – John Wayne, a veteran of over 200 films, won his first and only Oscar. The Duke received the Academy Award for Best Actor for “True Grit”, which also starred Kim Darby and Glen Campbell. Estimates show movie-goers paid over $500 million to see John Wayne in his films which include: “The Big Trail”, “Reap the Wild Wind”, “The Long Voyage Home”, “Red River”, “The Quiet Man” and “The Sands of Iwo Jima”. The only other film to earn him an Oscar nomination was “Midnight Cowboy”, starring Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, becoming the first X- rated movie to win the Best Picture Oscar at the Academy Awards ceremony. B.J. Thomas' "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head," featured in the Redford/Newman film “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”, won Best Original Song.
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0149147.html
    1973 - Vicki Lawrence got her number one single as “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia” made it to the top of the pop charts.
    1977 - The Toronto Blue Jays, an American League expansion team, played their first regular season game, beating the Chicago white Sox, 9-5, at Toronto's Exhibition stadium. The Jays finished last in the AL East in 1977 with a record of 54-108. They won their first division title in 1985.
    1977 - AT&T celebrated the 75th Anniversary of the First Television Broadcast, a public broadcast to New York City from Washington, DC, displaying the image of Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover. Could this have been the first C-SPAN?
http://www.newstream.com/cgi-bin/display_story.cgi?5472
    1977 - Top Hits
“Rich Girl” - Daryl Hall & John Oates
“Dancing Queen” - Abba
“Don't Give Up on Us” - David Soul
“Lucille” - Kenny Rogers
    1979 - Houston pitcher, Ken Forsch, tossed a no-hitter over the Atlanta Braves, 6-0. Forsch only walked two batters in the earliest no-hitter ever pitched in a baseball season. He and brother, Bob, a pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, were the only brothers to ever pitch no-hitters in the big leagues when Bob pitched a no-hitter on April 16, 1978.
    1979 - "Music Box Dancer", an instrumental by Canadian pianist Frank Mills, became the number-one single in the US, the first instrumental in several years to reach the top of the charts. In Mills' home country, the record only made it to #47.
    1979 - The two-day California Music Festival at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum opens. 110,000 people pour in and it makes $1.2 million. The promoters claim it's a financial loss though performers like Aerosmith, the Bootown Rats, Cheap Trick, Ted Nugent and Van Halen make appearances.
    1980 - President Jimmy Carter broke off diplomatic relations with Iran and ordered out all Iranian embassy staff because of the detention of United States embassy hostages in Tehran. He also suspended all immigration of Iranian nationals during the crisis.
    1981 - Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played their first concert outside North America, opening their new tour at the Congress Centre in Hamburg.
    1982 - Seven people die in the firestorm that engulfs the Caldecott Tunnel when an AC Transit bus collides with a gasoline truck in the westbound lanes at about 12:15 a.m. Steve Rutledge heroically saves lives by running back to the tunnel entrance and stopping cars that otherwise would have driven in the inferno. Rutledge's mother, June, dies in the explosion.
    1984 - Jack Morris of the Detroit Tigers tied the record for the earliest no-hitter in a season when he beat Chicago 4-0. A national television audience watched as Morris struck out eight batters, and walked six, for the first no-hitter thrown in Comiskey Park, Chicago, in 17 years.
    1985 - Top Hits
“One More Night” - Phil Collins
“We are the World” - USA for Africa
“Crazy for You” - Madonna
“Country Girls” - John Schneider
    1986 - Red Sox outfielder Dwight Evans becomes the first player to hit the first pitch on Opening Day for a home run. Jack Morris throws the gopher ball but gets the win as the Tigers edges Boston, 6-5.
    1987 - International Falls, MN, with record warm afternoon high of 71 degrees, was warmer than Miami, FL, where the high was a record cool 66 degrees.
    1988 - High winds in the Middle Atlantic Coast Region gusted to 172 mph atop Grandfather Mountain, NC. Twenty-nine cities in the southwest and north central U.S. reported record high temperatures for the date, including Yankton, SD with a reading of 91 degrees.
    1989 - Twenty-seven cities in the southwestern U.S. reported record high temperatures for the date. Afternoon highs of 92 degrees in Downtown San Francisco and 104 degrees at Phoenix established records for April. Highs of 78 degrees at Ely, NV and 93 degrees at San Jose equaled April records.
    1990 - Farm Aid IV is held at the Indiana Hoosier Dome. Performers include Neil Young, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Guns N' Roses and Jackson Browne. Elton John dedicates "Candle in the Wind" to AIDS patient Ryan White during the show. White dies later that night.
    1990 - Low pressure brought strong winds to the Alaska Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands. Winds gusted to 68 mph at Port Heiden two days in a row. Unseasonably warm weather prevailed across central Alaska. Yakutat reported a record high of 54 degrees. Unseasonably cold weather prevailed over central sections of the Lower Forty-eight states. A dozen cities from Kansas to Indiana and Alabama reported record low temperatures for the date. Evansville, IN equaled their record for April with a morning low of 23 degrees.
    1990 – In Iran-Contra, National Security Advisor John Poindexter was found guilty of five charges for his part in the scandal (the conviction is later reversed on appeal).
    1997 - Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis became the first jazz composer to win a Pulitzer Prize for music. He won for "Blood on the Fields," a three-hour work for big band and three singers.
    2003 - Syracuse wins the NCCA Mens’ basketball title at the Louisiana Superdome. Syracuse won their first national championship in three tries under Jim Boeheim, defeating Kansas 81-78 in what would be Roy Williams’ final game as head coach of the team. He left to become the head coach at North Carolina, a position he still holds. Carmelo Anthony of Syracuse was named the tournament's MVP.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/
college/2003/ncaa_tourney/news/2003/04/07/championship_gamer_ap/
    2003 – US troops captured Baghdad and Saddam Hussein’s regime fell two days later.
    2008 - Kansas Jayhawks defeated the Memphis Tigers 75-68 in overtime at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, to win their fifth national championship, and third NCAA championship. On August 20, 2009, the NCAA forced Memphis to vacate all of its wins from the 2007-08 season, as well as their trip to the Final Four and the NCAA Championship Game. The penalty, which was due to use of an ineligible player, widely believed to be Derrick Rose, was upheld by the NCAA Infractions Appeals Committee on March 22, 2010.
    2008 - 66 year old Bob Dylan received an honorary Pulitzer Prize for his "profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power."
    2008 - Olivia Newton-John began a walk across the entire length of China's Great Wall in order to raise funds for and awareness of the battle to cure breast cancer. The walk took three weeks and covered 141 miles.
    2014 - The UConn Huskies beat the University of Kentucky Wildcats 60-54 for the NCAA Men's Basketball Division I championship title

NBA Champions:
    1956 - Philadelphia Warriors

NCCA Champions:
    2003 - Syracuse
    2004 - UConn
    2008 - Kansas
    2014 - UConn

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