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Day in American History

Monday, April 25, 2005

Headlines---

Classified Ads--- Asset Management
    Economic Events This Week
        Archives—April 25, 2000--“Repeat business protection”
From Johnnie Johnson in Kuwait, Suggests New Changes
    Karl Probst at Radiance Capital
        Classified Ads---Help Wanted
CyberNET widow questioned in court
    Leasing Association Spring Conference Up-Date
        GATX Announces Quarterly Dividend
            GATX Election of Brian Kenney to CEO
News Briefs---
    Sports Briefs---
        "Gimme that Wine"
            This Day in American History
                Baseball Poem

######## surrounding the article denotes it is a “press release”

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Classified Ads--- Asset Management

Austin, TX.
20+ years exper. lease/finance. P & L responsibility, strong credit & collection management, re-marketing& accounting. Computers, construction, auto & transportation. Both commercial/ consumer portfolios.
Email: kmalone@austin.rr.com

Bloomfield Township, MI.
15+ yrs experience asset management and credit analyst. Leadership and training skills. Audited returns, max residual, lease end and resale negotiator.
E-mail: cmcozzolino@msn.com

Chicago, IL.
MBA, 15+ years exp. Long history of success in maximizing residual position through outstanding negotiation skills & lease contract management. Third party re-marketing, forecasting etc...
email: jgambla@aol.com

Hartford, CT.
7yrs exp structuring US Leveraged & Single Investor leases w/ pre-paid deferred rents, 467 loans & early buyouts. Engineer rv guarantees, synthetic leases, economic capital models & securitizations.
E-mail: lease_structuring@yahoo.com

Princeton, NJ.
Asset management/credit/collection 20+ years experience in equipment financing. Last five years in Asset Management including remarketing, end of lease negotiations, equipment and market evaluations
E-mail: bgaffrey@earthlink.net

Wilton, CT.
18 years exp. in IT and High Tech leasing industry. Residual forecasting, workouts, off-lease sales, mid-term restructures, auctions, all aspects of remarketing and equipment management.
Email: charrer@hotmail.com

Full listing of all “job wanted” ads at” http://216.66.242.252/AL/LeasingNews/JobPostings.htm

[headlines]

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Economic Events This Week

April 25
Monday
Existing-Home Sales: March

April 26
Tuesday
Consumer Confidence: April
New-Home Sales: March

April 27
Wednesday
Durable Goods Orders: March

April 29
Thursday
Real Economic Growth: First Qtr.
Weekly Jobless Claims

April 30
Friday
Personal Income: March

[headlines]

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Archives—April 25, 2000 ----“Repeat business protection”

“GE/Colonial follows Financial Pacific, Advanta and others in tightening credit and criteria, but steps further with two new mandates:

‘Sub-broker business will no longer be accepted.'

Discounting commission limits have been lowered as well as broker commission limits. About five percent has been taken off from each.

“The above was sent to me by a broker, so I can release it, as I am a Colonial Pacific Discounter and have kept this information confidential. However, when sent to me by others, I then consider it ‘public knowledge.'

“There definitely is a trend by fundors to change their credit scoring and commission to match the economy as there appears to be a credit tightening as reaction to the rise in rates and turn about in business as orders have reportedly slowed down in certain marketplaces.

“I have been sent some applications sent to a broker's vendor by Marlin Leasing, who I am told bought the Imperial Credit portfolio and company. In this regards, who has rights to the accounts would go to Imperial and a broker would not have any claim, unless the lessor had signed an agreement to such. That Marlin is going direct is their right. That Marlin works with brokers and vendors is their right. I have not been able to reach my contact at Marlin to get ‘their side.'

“At the NAELB Conference, this was one of the hot discussions as it appears to be a consolidation of portfolo's and leasing companies selling off or going out of business. Should brokers require fundors to sign agreements on ‘repeat business' was a ‘hot topic'. As I understand it, if the portfolio is sold, you may lose your right to ‘repeat business,' especially if the original lessor is no longer in business.

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From Johnnie Johnson in Kuwait, Suggests New Changes----

Johnnie Johnson, CLP

“Just a couple of items regarding Leasing News....

“First of all, don't know if you realize it, but the notice for the day's newsletter goes out an hour or so before Leasing News is actually posted on the site – thus for me, in this part of the world (it's the middle of the night for you – but broad daylight for me), who gets the notice e-mail and invariably immediately tries to open the latest edition of Leasing News in anticipation of great things....alas....all I find is “old news” in the form of the previous day's edition! Never know when I will eventually find the treasure (sometimes an hour or so...sometimes longer).

“Also, with a heavy travel schedule and a Thursday/Friday weekend in this part of the world, it seems I am often playing “catch-up” on Leasing News. However, as I go through my e-mails one by one and click on the link, what I get is the latest edition, not the day's edition referenced in the e-mail. What would be the chance of using the same reference as the archive in the e-mail notice of any given day's edition of Leasing News? That way, no matter what day you open the e-mail announcing a leasing news edition—when you click on the link for that day's edition, you get that day's edition, not the most current one posted. (Hey, I know, all I have to do is click on “archives”, scroll through the dates, etc, and do it that way, but human nature is to do as little work as possible to get what we want. Doesn't make me a bad guy for asking...)

“Anyway, couple of suggestions that may only seem practical for me since my location puts me out of sync with the rest of the world....

“Keep up the good work.... always enjoy your efforts.

“Johnnie”

When Edward Castagna of Nassau Asset Management first joined our advisory board, he made a suggestion for an HTML format.

After a few months, we changed to it, which allowed us to start posting “help wanted” ads in the newsletter, plus use more pictures, graphics, and give us other changes. He made further suggestions and we thought about it, but never figured it out until we received the e-mail above from Johnnie Johnson.

Thank you both Ed and Johnnie.

To us it was a technical change and centered around actually sending out the e-mail notice. Kit finishes writing and putting the newsletter at his house, around 2am, then does the headlines and front section, sending to the web master to post, then actually e-mailing the notice in waves ( otherwise, more treat it as spam.) Readers may notice he makes mistakes in headlines, dates, and even a few times the wrong month as it is the last thing he does, and sometimes it is at 3am ( by writing at this time, he has access to all the morning newspapers and thus the latest news.)

Under the new format, the web master posts the web site, then moves the headlines into a service that utilizes a format, which gives other features. The service handles it from there, including all the mailing list maintenance, something that Kit did personally, thus saving more time. Thus the email notice goes out after the site is actually posted, not earlier, meeting one of Johnnie's criteria.

Our web trend states we have readers all around the world, so time is a factor in bringing the latest news to them.

The second is we now bring to the page an archive button that allows the reader to go to the current editions, as well as the archive editions, plus we now experiment with also including the top stories. Hopefully this enables readers who have missed previous editions to go to them more easily.

Please bear with us as we take the kinks out of this. It appears that there are readers who only receive in text, and we send out two versions and the receiver automatically chooses the version. Text viewers will not be able to click automatically to the web site, nor see the graphics.

We hope to make other improvements due to this new HTML format, which is an extension of Ed Castagna's idea along with Johnnie Johnson's suggestions.

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Karl Probst at Radiance Capital

Friday we ran a 1996 “Picture from the Past” article and it stated we had lost contact with him.

http://www.leasingnews.org/archives/April%202005/4-22-05.htm#pics

Karl Probst has resurfaced at Radiance Capital LLP, a newly formed "B Credit" Funding Source for Broker Business in the Pacific Northwest and Columbia Bank did know where he was, as he was solicited away from the bank by a long time very good customer of the bank.

This move of Karl's has some humor behind it. While Karl was negotiating his new career via email with the owners of the prospect new lease company, he inadvertently emailed his offer and proposal to 172 of Columbia Banks Lending Officers. Opps's...HR called Karl and he was immediately dismissed for improper use of the bank email system.

This seemed to reportedly work out well for all the concerned parties except Karl's wife Kathi who to him he should get a Tattoo in his forehead " DUMMY "

Karl said since this event, many people are cautious when the see a email coming in from Karl.

He is reportedly very happy to be back in the private sector of business ( read between the lines). Karl is happy to be working with that special group of brokers he has known for years.

He said he “...will of course take on some more good brokers...visit our web site at www.radiance-capital.com .

He told Leasing News he believes feels there is a big hole in the leasing market place for " B Credits "

“ Radiance Capital will fill that need in the Pacific Northwest,” he said.

He promises he will be attending the United Association of Equipment Leasing Fall Conference.

“ Look for our funding booth,” he added. “ We will be sure to have some fun give-a-ways as usual.”

It will also give you a chance to say hello to an old friend.
www.radiance-capital.com

Here is Karl's e-mail: karl@radiance-capital.com

[headlines]

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Classified Ads---Help Wanted

Account Representatives & Sales Coaches

Asset Management

Collection Attorney

Finance Administrator

Sales / Sales Representative

[headlines]

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CyberNET widow questioned in court

"Regarding Krista Kotlarz-Watson of Cyberco, the bankruptcy lawyers need to question her about the whereabouts of her DIAMOND WEDDING RING. That woman knows a lot more than she is telling. Her wedding ring is not a cubic zirconia as she previously stated. I saw her real ring years ago on more than one occasion. It was the biggest diamond I have ever seen outside of a jewelry store (several carats).

If the bankruptcy attorneys don\'t have it then she\'s probably hiding it along with who knows what other assets. She\'s not the innocent victim that she makes herself out to be. She was very much aware of what was going on at Cyberco for years. Her \"performance\" at the hearing on Friday, April 22 was pathetic!

Please do not use my name but feel free to pass this information along to the lawyers involved. The creditors deserve to be paid. Thank you."

(name with held )

Mlive.com report

GRAND RAPIDS --

Kritsa Kotlarz-Watson, broke into tears when answering questions this morning during a federal court hearing involving the CyberNET Group bankruptcy case. After about 15 minutes of testimony, in which she responded to questions by saying she "didn't know" or "couldn't recall," the judge declared a break in the hearing. Kotlarz-Watson, 38, widow of CyberNET executive Barton Watson, is under scrutiny by federal authorities after the sudden demise of the CyberNET Group, a Grand Rapids company that collapsed in November when lenders learned that millions of dollars were never used to buy high-tech equipment and instead supported a lavish lifestyle.

Kotlarz-Watson also worked there and was pushed into bankruptcy because she guaranteed millions of dollars in loans.

She attended the first meeting of creditors, a two-hour session where a bankruptcy trustee and lenders were free to ask about what she owns. It was her first public appearance in a legal proceeding linked to the collapse of CyberNET and its parent, Cyberco Holdings.

Kotlarz-Watson, 38, seemed to be in a fog.

Her soft replies were hard to hear in the small room, and she claimed to not know much, not even details from a trip to Hawaii in November when she apparently signed loan documents worth millions.

Sitting at a long table with her hands in her lap, she couldn't read legal papers because she didn't have her glasses.

Larry Ver Merris, the attorney for the bankruptcy trustee, twice asked about a $698,000 check issued to Kotlarz-Watson from CyberNET last summer. "I don't recall," she replied.

Her attorney, Perry Pastula, warned she only would answer questions related to her assets, mostly mortgaged real estate listed at $1.4 million, and liabilities, pegged at more than $5 million.

Still, Ver Merris wanted to know about Teleservices Group, a shell company that was used to divert money to bank accounts controlled by CyberNET executives.

"I don't recall," Kotlarz-Watson said again.

She cried and asked for a break when the topic turned to horses, a favorite pastime.

Kotlarz-Watson explained how she donated an old thoroughbred to a program for handicapped children in Rockford.

"They rejected him because he was unable to carry riders without tripping," she said through tears.

Steve Rayman, an attorney overseeing a separate bankruptcy involving CyberNET, said he has clothes that Kotlarz-Watson apparently purchased in Hawaii last fall.

"Can you just send them back?" she said.

At least 400 creditors (many are leasing companies) are looking for $60 million, maybe $65 million. Authorities believe they might be able to scrape up $5 million, maybe $10 million, in assets, leaving about $50 million still missing.

It is alleged that Barton and wife Krista were masters at duping creditors. At one point, they secured a $17 million line of credit from Huntington Bank.

The St. Louis Business Journal reports:

Three regional banks -- Heartland Bank, Pioneer Bank and Trust in St. Louis, and Bank Midwest of Kansas City -- are owed more than $7.6 million, and possibly as much as $11 million, by a bankrupt Grand Rapids, Mich., technology company.

Pioneer Bank Chief Executive Gaines Dittrich said when the bank saw the loan could be a problem, it sold the note to its parent company, Forbes First Financial Corp. in St. Louis, to remove it from Pioneer's books. Tom Brouster, the primary owner of Forbes First Financial, could not be reached for comment.

"This will have no impact on the bank," Dittrich said, adding that Pioneer's earnings for 2004 were up 50 percent to $3.75 million from 2003's earnings of $2.5 million.

CyberCo.'s alleged fraud began to unravel in mid-November, a little more than a week after some of the banks had loaned millions of dollars to the company, according to court documents outlining CyberNET's dealings.

Charter One Vendor Finance of Illinois sued CyberCo in Michigan Nov. 19 claiming it loaned CyberNET $3 million to buy 66 computer servers. Charter One said it could find only 25 servers at the company's Grand Rapids headquarters, and CyberNET's executives could not provide an explanation for the missing equipment. Within days, other lenders also inspected CyberNET's offices and could find none of the equipment covered in their loan agreements.

On Nov. 25, after a standoff with local police, CyberCo's Watson was found dead in his home from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Creditors forced CyberCo Holdings into bankruptcy in December. The company had assets of $4 million and liabilities of $65 million. "We haven't been able to see all the records, because they were seized by the FBI," said Steve Rayman, an attorney in Kalamazoo, Mich., representing CyberCo's bankruptcy trustee.

CyberCo made its connection with the St. Louis banks through a loan broker who had brought prospective loan clients to those banks before, said a banker familiar with CyberCo's loans in St. Louis. Riverbend Capital Group in St. Louis County is identified in the bankruptcy documents as a loan broker that had secured loans for CyberCo from Pioneer Bank. Pioneer's attorneys want a deposition, or formal testimony, from Riverbend's president, Tom Sears, about the CyberCo case, according to bankruptcy court documents. Sears said he has not given a deposition in the case and is not at liberty to discuss the matter.

Heartland Bank is represented in the CyberCo case by Greg Willard, who leads the bankruptcy practice at the Bryan Cave law firm. The other area banks hired law firms based in Michigan.

Loan brokers shop prospective deals to banks for customers that usually have been turned down in their home market, according to banking industry observers. Brokered loans can carry higher interest rates, but also present a greater risk. Executives at a bank making loans on computer equipment two states away should raise questions about why the loan could not get funded in the company's own backyard, those industry observers said.

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Leasing Association Conferences—Spring

May 4-6,2005

Loews Miami Beach Hotel
South Beach, Miami, Florida

for more information, please go here:
http://leasingnews.org/PDF/25AM05_springpgm.pdf

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May 12-15,2005

Hyatt Regency Union Station
St. Louis, Missouri

Claude Elmore—Conference Chairman
Netbank Business Finance

Conference information:
http://www.naelb.org/associations/2004/files/
NAELB05%20Reg%20Brochure%20FINAL.pdf

Registration Form:
http://www.naelb.org/displayconvregister.cfm?convnbr=1588

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National Vehicle Leasing Association

Annual Conference & Exposition

May 18th - 21st, 2005
Orlando, Florida

Regional meetings are generally open to non-members.

Conferences are open to all.

Details:
http://www.nvla.org/docs/ace2005.pdf

Reservation:
http://www.nvla.org/docs/sponsorshipreservation05.pdf

Current Registrants:
http://www.nvla.org/content.php?PageID=21&NavID=17

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

GATX Announces Quarterly Dividend

CHICAGO, -- The board of directors of GATX Corporation (NYSE:GMT) today declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per common share, payable June 30, 2005, to shareholders of record on June 15, 2005.

The board also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.625 per share on the $2.50 preferred stock, payable June 1, 2005, to shareholders of record on May 13, 2005.

The common and preferred dividends declared today are unchanged from the previous quarter.

COMPANY DESCRIPTION

GATX Corporation (NYSE:GMT) is a specialized finance and leasing company combining asset knowledge and services, structuring expertise, partnering, and capital to provide business solutions to customers and partners worldwide. GATX specializes in railcar, locomotive, and aircraft operating leasing.

[headlines]

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

GATX Corporation Announces Election of Brian Kenney
to Chief Executive Officer

CHICAGO----GATX Corporation (NYSE:GMT) announced the Board of Directors elected Brian A. Kenney, 45, as Chief Executive Officer at a Board meeting held in conjunction with the company's annual shareholders' meeting. This follows the management succession plan announced by the Board in October 2004, when Mr. Kenney was elected to the Board of Directors and as President of GATX Corporation. Mr. Kenney retains the title of President and succeeds Ronald H. Zech, who will continue to serve as Chairman of GATX's Board of Directors until his previously announced retirement in October 2005.

[headlines]

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

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News Briefs----

RMBS Dominate Diversified CDOs
http://www.absnet.net/include/showfreearticle.asp?file=/headlines/1.htm

Morphing MBS market still a hot topic at the BMA conference
http://www.absnet.net/include/showfreearticle.asp?file=/headlines/2.htm

Why the Fleet Bank Deal was Smart for Bank of America
http://ficinc.com/2003%20Files/SME%20Newsletter/Nov%2028-03.htm

Balancing work and life the Jack Welch way
http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2005/04/24/
balancing_work_and_life_the_jack_welch_way/

Constantine Maroulis will release their first CD on May 10,
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/shared-gen/ap/
Recordings/People_Maroulis.html

'Today' Seeks Yesterday's Glory
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/25/arts/television/25watc.html?8hpib

MATT LAUER DUMPED!
Heartbroken wife can't trust Matt after he cheated.
http://www.nationalenquirer.com/celebrity/63313

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Sports Briefs---

Nuggets surprise Spurs 93-87
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/games/
2005-04-24-nuggets-spurs-game-1_x.htm

2005 NFL Draft Selections
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/
2005/04/23/sports/s110213D59.DTL

Broncos roll the dice on former Ohio State running back who sued to enter draft in 2004.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/2005draft/
2005-04-24-broncos-clarett_x.htm

Raiders Expect Gannon to Retire
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/
2005/04/24/sports/s145650D01.DTL

Niners would welcome back Rice ... to retire
http://theredzone.org/news/showarticle.asp?ArticleID=2620

Danielson coasts to win in Tour de Georgia
http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/tour/index.html

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“Gimme that Wine”

Benziger Family protecting the environment
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/features/food/sfl-fdwine21
apr21,0,6711274.story?coll=sfla-features-food

Bonny Doon indulges in screwy cellar humor
http://www.straight.com/content.cfm?id=9638

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This Day in American History

    1507-little is known about the obscure scholar now called the "godfather of America," the German geographer and mapmaker Martin Waldseemuller, who gave America its name. In a book titled Cosmographiae Introductio , published this day, 1507, Waldseemuller wrote: "Inasmuch as both Europe and Asia received their names from women, I see no reason why any one should justly object to calling this part Amerige, i.e., the land of Amerigo, or America, after Amerigo, its discoverer, a man of great ability." Believing it was the Italian navigator and merchant Amerigo Vespucci who had discovered the new continent, Waldseemuller sought to honor Vespucci by placing his name on his map of the world, published in 1507. First applied only to the South American continent, it soon was used for both the American continents. Waldseemuller did not learn about the voyage of Christopher Columbus until several years later. Of the thousand copies of his map that were printed, only one is known to have survived. Waldseemuller probably was born at Radolfzell, Germany, about 1470. He died at St. Die, France, about 1517-20. 
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15531a.htm
    1831-The first streetcar company was incorporated this day in 1831 to be known as the New York and Harlem Railway
http://www.westchestergov.com/wcarchives/sneakapeek/
Mar2000/march2000sneakapeek.htm
http://www.aggreen.net/ny_railroads/ny_rails.html
http://www.harlem.org/
    1875 - New York City received three inches of snow, the latest measurable snow of record for that location.
    1898—the U.S. declares war on Spain.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/apr25.html
    1898 - The temperature at Volcano Springs CA hit 118 degrees to establish a U.S. record for the month of April.
    1901- New York began requiring license plates on automobiles, the first state to do so.
    1907- revolutionizing shipping, covered in a “History” Television documentary very well, was the first turbine-propelled naval ship “Chester,” commissioned this day and built at the Bath Iron Works, Bath, ME. The contract price for the hull and machinery was $1,688,000, quite a bit of money for its day. The” Chester” was equipped with four Parsons turbines. It trail speed was 26.52 knots, freeing ships from relying on wind to cross the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean.
    1908-birthday of pianist Joe “from Bowling Green” Dean, St. Louis, MO.
    1908-Birthday of Edward R. Murrow( born Egbert Roscoe Murrow) in Greensboro, North Carolina
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/murrow_e.html
http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/M/htmlM/
murrowedwar/murrowedwar.htm
    1910 - Chicago, IL, was blanketed with 2.5 inches of snow, and a total of 6.5 inches between the 22nd and the 26th. It was the latest significant snow of record for the city.
    1913-birthday of the great alto sax player Earl Bostic, Tulas, OK Died 1965, New York City.
http://www.spaceagepop.com/bostic.htm http://www.jazzradio.net/jazzcity/m_earl_bostic.html http://home.earthlink.net/~jaymar41/bostic.html
( When I was learning how to play the alto sax, he was my favorite in the early 1950's. I played along with “Harlem Nocture” for hours until I memorized every lick and turn. It was not until I went to California and saw Charlie Parker in person that I decided I would never become an alto saxophone player and took up playing the Dixieland clarinet and fronting a 21 piece dance band sans musical instrument. Charlie Parker with strings is perhaps my favorite album, next to Gil Evans and Miles Davis “Sketches of Spain” or “ Old Bottle, New Wine.” or Basie's atom bomb album.
I also like both Turk Murphy Plays WC Handy and Louis Armstrong plays WC Handy. I like my friend Warren Luening's Big Band recordings.
On yes, forgot, Bill May plays Jimmy Lunceford. Love all the Billy May albums. Kit Menkin).
    1913-birthday of accordion player Santiago “Don” Jimenez, San Antonio, TX Died December 18,1984 San Antonio
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/JJ/fji3.html
http://www.arhoolie.com/titles/7023.shtml
    1915-birthday of guitarist Johnny Shines, Frayser, TN .Died April 20, 1992, Tuscaloosa, AL
http://www.island.net/~blues/johnnys.htm http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000003OQZ/
inktomi-musicasin-20/103-6620160-9563023
    1917-birthday of Ella Fitzgerald. Ella Fitzgerald was admired for her superlative musicianship and her skill in scat singing (singing improvised syllables while using the voice as an instrument). Born in Newport News, Virginia, and reared in a New York City orphanage, Fitzgerald was discovered at the age of 16, singing in a Harlem talent show. From 1934 until 1939 she sang with the Chick Webb Band, directing it for a time after the leader's death in 1939. One of her first hit tunes was is now an Easter favorite,” A Tisket, A Tasket.” In the mid-1940s, working with the American impresario Norman Granz, she toured Europe and Asia and performed in his Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts. In 1958 Fitzgerald appeared with the American jazz composer Duke Ellington at Carnegie Hall in New York City. She has also toured Europe frequently with the Oscar Peterson Trio. ( see above for websites)
http://museum.media.org/ella/
http://www.redsugar.com/ella.html
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000047FO/
inktomi-musicasin-20/103-6620160-9563023
    1923-birthday of guitarist/singer Albert King (Albert Nelson), Indianola,MS Died December 21, 1992.
http://home.t-online.de/home/MSilberberg/king.htm http://www.blueflamecafe.com/index.html
    1928-birthday of tenor sax player Willis “Gator Tail” Jackson, Miami,FL Died, October, 1987
http://www.musicweb.uk.net/encyclopaedia/j/J14.HTM
http://www.fantasyjazz.com/catalog/jackson_w_cat.html
    1928 - Buddy, the first seeing eye dog, was presented to Morris S. Frank on this day. Many seeing eye organizations and schools continue to offer specially trained dogs “...to enhance the independence, dignity, and self-confidence of blind people...”
(visit http://www.seeingeye.org/).
    1932-birthday of Meadow George “Meadowlark” Lemon II, basketball Hall of Famer, born Lexington, SC.
http://www.wcgroups.com/globe.htm
    1945-East meets West: US Army Lieutenant Albert Kotzebue encountered a single Soviet soldier near the German village of Lechwitz, 75 miles south of Berlin. Patrols of General Leonard Gerow's V Corps saluted the advance guard of Marshall Ivan Konev's Soviet 58th Guards Division. Soldiers of both nations embraced and exchanged toasts. The Allied armies of East and West had finally met.
    1946 - Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra recorded "Cement Mixer", (Majestic . ) http://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/artist_id_lunceford_jimmie.htm http://home.swipnet.se/bearrecords/luncef.htm http://www.cleveland.oh.us/wmv_news/jazz54.htm
    1947-Theodore Roosevelt National Park established. Located in North Dakota, the Theodore Roosevelt National Park includes two sections of the Badlands on the Missouri River as well as Theodore Roosevelt's Elkhorn Ranch.
http://www.theodore.roosevelt.national-park.com/
    1950-The Boston Celtics made Chuck Cooper, an All-American from Dugquesne University playing with the Harlem Globetrotters, the first black player drafted by any NBA team when they selected him in the second round.
    1953 - NBC-TV presented "Ethel and Albert", the video version of the popular radio show. Peg Lynch and Alan Bunce starred in the program
http://www.classicthemes.com/50sTVThemes/
themePages/ethelAndAlbert.html.
    1954-Bell Telephone Laboratories, New York City, announced the invention by Gearld Pearson, Calivin Fuller, and Daryl Chapin of a solar energy battery to convert the sun's energy into useful amounts of electricity. Made of specially treated strips of silicon, the battery needed no fuel other than the light of the sun. It had no moving parts, nothing in it was consumed or destroyed, and theoretically it was possible for it to last indefinitely.
    1956-Malcolm McLean of Maxton, NC first containership, the Ideal X, left the port of Newark, NJ. He invented containerized shipping. He developed a large shipping container that could be packed with goods at the factor5y, hauled by truck to a port facility, carried on a specially fitted ships to a port terminal, offloaded from the ship, and hitched directly to trucks or loaded on freight cards for cross-continental transport, all without unpacking the containers' contents. The first containership facility was the Elizabeth-Port Authority Marine Terminal, operated by the Port of New York Authority. It opened for business on August 15,1962, when Sea-Land Service's SS Elizabethport docked in New Bay, Elizabeth, NY, on the south side of Elizabeth Channel, south of Port Newark. During its first year, the facility handled 1.5 million tons of cargo on 242 vessels and employed730 people, who earned a total of more than $4 million. This revolutionized the entire shipping industry, plus gave birth to container and railroad carrier leasing.
http://lonestar.texas.net/~mdmclean/MDM_BIO.html
    1958-Arnold Palmer struggled to a final round 73, one over par, but still won the first of his four Masters championships. Palmer finished at 284, one shot better than Doug Ford and Fred Hawkins. He would win the tournament again in 1960, 1962 ( in a playoff) and 1964.
http://www.palmergolf.com/
    1956- Elvis Presley reached number one on the charts for the first time, with "Heartbreak Hotel." It was Presley's first hit for RCA Victor after the company purchased his contract from Sam Phillips of Sun Records for $35,000.
    1959-the canal incorporated into a seaway opened, a 400-mile waterway between Montreal and Lake Erie, connecting the St. Lawrence River with the Great Lakes. It formed part of the St. Lawrence Seaway, 2,342 miles long, which allowed oceangoing ships to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to Duluth, MN.
    1967-Abortion first legalized: the first law legalizing abortion in the US was signed by Colorado Governor John Arthur Love. The law allowed therapeutic abortions in cases in which a three-doctor panel unanimously agreed.
    1970 - DJs around the U.S. played the new number one song, "ABC", quite often, as the Jackson 5 reached the number one spot in pop music for two weeks. "ABC" was the second of four number one songs in a row for the group from Gary, IN. "I Want You Back" was their first. "ABC" was one of 23 hits for Michael, Tito, Jackie, Jermaine and Marlon. "ABC" was knocked out of first place by The Guess Who and their hit, "American Woman".
    1972 - Bill Sharman, ending his first year as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, was named Coach of the Year in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Sharman had a first year record of 69 wins and 13 lo1973 - The group, The Sweet, received a gold record for the hit "Little Willy". The English rocker band recorded four hits in addition to their first million-seller, "Ballroom Blitz", "Fox on the Run", "Action" and "Love is like Oxygen". "Little Willy" was a top-three hit, while the group's other gold record winner, "Fox on the Run" made it to the top five.
http://www.hoophall.com/halloffamers/Sharman.htm
1974, Anniversary of the Portuguese revolution; a public holiday in Portugal.
    1974-the National Football League adopted a 15-minute, sudden death quarter in an effort to reduce the number of tie games. The league also moved the goal posts from the goal line to the back line of the end zone to make it more difficult to kick field goals.
    1976-Center fielder Rick Monday of the Chicago Cubs rescued an American flag from several fans who ran onto the field and attempted to set it on fire. The incident occurred in Dodger Stadium in the fourth inning of a 5-4 10 inning victory by the Dodgers.
    1982- National holiday in Egypt celebrating the return of Sinai to Egypt after the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel.
    1985 - "Big River (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn)" opened at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre on Broadway in New York City. The Tony Award-winning score for the show was written by Roger Miller (his first Broadway production). The show, about life on the Mississippi, with Daniel Jenkins in the starring role of Huck Finn, ran for 1,005 performances and won the Tony for Best Musical of the Year. "Big River" picked up several more Tony Awards: Featured Actor in a Musical to Ron Richardson; Best Director (Musical) to Des McAnuff; Best Book (Musical) to William Hauptman; and Best Scenic Designer and Lighting Designer to Heidi Landesman and Richard Riddell respectively.
    1988---Top Hits
Wishing Well—Terence Trent D Arby
Anything for You—Gloria Estefan
Angel---Aerosmith
Where Do Broken Hearts Go—Whitney Houston
Pink Cadillac---Natalie Cole
    1990-Hubble Space Telescope: deployed by Discovery , the telescope is the largest on-orbit observatory to date and is capable of imaging objects up to 14 billion light-years away. The resolution of images was expected to be seven to ten times greater than images from Earth-based telescopes, since the Hubble Space Telescope is not hampered by Earth's atmospheric distortion. Launched Apr 12, 1990, from Kennedy Space Center, FL. Unfortunately, the telescope's lenses were defective, so the anticipated high quality of imaging was not possible. In 1993, however, the world watched as a shuttle crew successfully retrieved the Hubble from orbit, executed the needed repair and replacement work and released it into orbit once more. In December 1999 the space shuttle Discovery was launched to do extensive repairs on the telescope.
    1993—Top Hits
Freak Me---Silk
Informer—Snow
Nothin' But a “G” Thang---Dr.De
I Have Nothing (from the “Bodyguard”)—Whitney Houston
    1995-- The 257-day strike ends as the Dodgers beat the Marlins 8-7. The work stoppage caused last season to end early, force the cancellation of World Series, and delayed the opening of this season.
    1998-- The 'Iron Man's' streak continues as Cal Ripken plays in his 2,500th consecutive game as the Orioles host the A's at Camden Yards.
    2001-- Padres' outfielder Rickey Henderson, 42, breaks the career walks record established by Babe Ruth when he receives his 2,063rd base on balls.
    2002—Top Hits
Foolish---Ashanti
What's Luv---Fat Joe featuring Ashanti
U Don't Have to Call—Usher
I Need a Girl (part 1)---P.Diddy featuring Usher and Loon
Ain't It Funny—Jennifer Lopez featuring Ja Rule

NBA Finals Champions This Date

    1952 Minneapolis Lakers
    1965 Boston Celtics.

Stanley Cup Champions This Date

    1964 Toronto Maple Leafs

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Baseball Poem

Hot Stove

by Two Finger Carney

Before television
People talked
And when the snows came
People talked near the hot stove

Smell the bread baking
And wonder if the Babe
Really did call that homer

Pull off your wet boots
Prop up your feet so your soles
Are toasting
And wonder how Cobb would do

Against Carl Hubbell
Or how your favorite team
Of the past
Might fare next spring

If they could be resurrected
Or coaxed out of that Iowa cornfield
Sip some hot cocoa with marshmallows
Invite the kids to join in

Was it better when the gloves were small
Or is that just nostalgia?
For your own youth?
Could Canseco have started

For the '27 Yankees
And should games in which
The first hit is yielded in the 10th
Count as a no-hitter?

Steer clear of religion and politics
And players' salaries
And the afternoon can go on
Until sundown

Was the best-pitched game
The double no-no by Vaughn and Toney
Or Walsh's 1-0 loss to Joss' perfecto / Or the iron man duel between Burdette and Haddix?
And how come no one hits .400 any more?

The stoves are in junk yards or museums now, forever cool
But the questions live on
Talking baseball
Beats most things on TV
That is
When there's no game to watch

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