Positions Wanted
Accounts Receivable/Collections

Ray Borgaard

Senior Accounts Receivable and Collections professional with over 30 years of experience. Have successfully and consistently reduced DSO and increased cash flow during my entire career. Have worked with Fortune 500 "C" Suite level to resolve large outstanding balances. This has been done by dealing on a one on one with these individuals after written correspondence has not resolved the delinquency.

Have worked well with marketing, contact administrators, and credit to resolve any contractual issues that are preventing payment. Looking for an opportunity with a company that can utilize my experience to have better control and results for the future.
References furnished upon request. roborgaard@aol.com

Post a Free Ad that You are Looking
Limited to 100 Words
https://leasingnews.org/Classified/Jwanted/Jwanted-post.htm

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The Top Seven Leasing/Finance Company Websites
in North America

Alexa Rank is a rank (number) used to measure the popularity of a website among millions of other websites on Internet. For example, a website with a rank of 1 means it is the most popular website on Internet (i.e. google.com) and is on the first position of the Alexa global rank. It is similar to golf, the lower the number, the better the score.

Basically, the three-month, all internet Alexa ratings followed the Monday, November 29, 2021 ratings. Previous ratings were September 13 24, 2021 (1)

The top seven leasing/finance companies were taken from three-month Siteworthtraffic.com ratings (2). They were chosen from the Leasing News Funder List and originally, over 100 were checked for ratings under 1,000 (3). Note: many leasing companies are listed under their bank URLs. Brokers and Superbrokers are not included in these listings.

If your company is on the funder list and has less than a 1,000 rating, please email kitmenkin@leasingnews.org to be included in the next  Company listing.

Changes in list: National Funding is now number one, followed by the long time previous top site, Balboa Capital.

Balboa Capital moves back to number one, which they have been for several years, except for September, 2021.

National Funding moves to second place.  CrestCapital to number three from four last year. Ascentium Capital falls to number four from number three, Marlin Capital falls to number 6 and

TimePayment moves up from six, LeafNow falls to seven from six; GreatAmerica who joined the list in September, falls off this time at 1,138,292 from 720,254 in September.

Added to the count are Alexa U.S. ratings (available to add to your Google search browser). Except for TimePayment, which was up, the US ratings follow the three month general average of all leasing search sites. (An article follows that shows readers how to obtain the free Alexa link.}

In the next three- month website report, it will be only on US ratings in comparison to the November 29, 2021 ratings which was basically  worldwide, but US was included. An article follows on how this program can be put on the Google browser for free.

It should also be noted if a company only conducts business in the United States, it has the option of excluding international traffic to avoid inflating its website traffic and Alexa ranking.

Balboa Capital, and perhaps others, have a means through Google to increase the accuracy of their traffic and their Alexa ranking by excluding internal traffic from being counted in Google Analytics. For example, if a funder has 100 employees and they visit the company’s website each day, the traffic counts in Google Analytics will increase, but it is not true traffic from customers and prospects. This can make it difficult for SEOs and marketing managers to determine actual traffic and gauge results from marketing efforts.

It should also be noted that blocking international traffic reduces the chances of bots and hackers because they can’t find your site. Most on the hacking and problems come from out-of-country hackers.

Excluding international traffic and internal traffic are highly complex tasks that require the expertise of an IT professional. If you do not have someone on your staff, ask Google for help or recommendations.

November 29, 2021 Results

www.balboacapital.com
94,107 world-wide
103,073 previous
US 27,699

https://www.nationalfunding.com/
98,816 world-wide
96,723 Previous
US 31,610

www.crestcapital.com
300,637 world-wide
267,398 Previous
US 65,335

www.AscentiumCapital.com
331,115 world-wide
229,734 Previous
US 89,710

https://timepayment.com/brokers/
290,399 world-wide
398,437 previous
US 64,890

https://marlincapitalsolutions.com/
470,634 world-wide
293,566 previous
US 98,992

https://www.leafnow.com/
874,179 world-wide
634,144 previous
US 106,084

(1)Three months ago numbers:
https://leasingnews.org/archives/Sep2021/09_13.htm#8
(2) http://www.siteworthtraffic.com/
(3) Funder List "A"
http://leasingnews.org/Funders_Only/Funders.htm

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Alexa USA Traffic Rank
How to Install for Free

Readers can not only follow their own website, but competitors as well

Alexa Rank is the “gold standard” of measuring website’s popularity; it uses algorithms and data collected from the Alexa toolbar to estimate the number of visitors and page views a website receives worldwide, and in specific countries. It is worth noting that many websites in the United States block international traffic and therefore only have USA Alexa Ranks. The reason is they only conduct business in the U.S. The lower the Alexa Rank, the more popular a website is. For example, Google’s Alexa rank is 1, making it the most popular site in the world. SEOs agree that a USA Alexa rank of 1 million or less is considered good, and a USA rank of under 100,000 is excellent.

To check your site’s Alexa Rank, you can visit this link and type in your URL:

https://www.alexa.com/siteinfo

There is also a free Alexa Rank extension that you can download and add to your Chrome browser. It is available in the Chrome Web Store here:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/alexa-traffic-rank/cknebhggccemgcnbidipinkifmmegdel?hl=en

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Please Suggest to a Colleague to Subscribe
to Leasing News Editions

https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/DNDJuBX

Sign up for the three times a week Free News Edition

Information, news, and entertainment for the commercial
alternate financing, bank, finance and leasing industries

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Help Wanted Ads

A UCC Search on Your Top Clients

A commercial finance company recently claimed that it had deep relationships with its clients, especially its top 20 end-users. I challenged the company to prove its assumptions.

The test was easy - conduct a UCC search on its top 20 end-users and see if any other finance or leasing companies had fillings within the past 18 months. The results showed that 60% (12 out of 20) of its very best clients had UCC filings secured by equipment filed by other finance and leasing companies within the last 12 months. (The number was higher for 18 months.) The results don't suggest that these end-users have moved on or that the company's relationships are poor. The exercise suggests that even the company's best clients have options (equipment vendors are constantly presenting financing and leasing options, competitors are constantly soliciting the company's clients). However, the exercise also suggests that business is not always being captured and there is possible untapped potential - even with the company's best clients.

The sales team of the company mentioned above agreed to make the following changes.

• To acknowledge that every client is presented with multiple options on every transaction, to explore what options are being considered, and to determine what it needs to offer to win every transaction. There is no shame is losing a deal if you know why.
• To know the client's decision-making process. When does it have an advantage and when is it not in the mix to win a transaction? And why?
• To make sure that every client understands the company's full capabilities. The company may be missing opportunities because clients do not know the company's full capabilities.
• To fully understand competitors' strengths and weaknesses so that it can win more transactions.

If the above UCC results are true for the top 20 clients, just imagine the results for average clients. What business are you leaving on the table because you are not considering all the options that your clients have in today's market? Top originators are aggressively winning transactions because they are outperforming their competition rather than assuming they are the only option available or being considered.

Order via Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/Call-Action

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

FDIC-Insured Institutions Reported Net Income
of $69.5 Billion in Third Quarter 2021

• Net Income Continued to Increase Year Over Year
• Net Interest Margin Rose Modestly from Last Quarter’s Record Low
• Quarterly Loan Growth Continued
• Asset Quality Continued to Improve
• Community Banks Reported an Increase in Quarterly Net Income from a Year Ago

FDIC Chairman Jelena McWilliams commented, “With strong capital and liquidity levels to support lending and protect against potential losses, the banking industry continued to support the country’s needs for financial services while navigating the challenges presented by the pandemic.”

WASHINGTON— Reports from the 4,914 commercial banks and savings institutions insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) reflect aggregate net income of $69.5 billion in third quarter 2021, an increase of $18.4 billion (35.9 percent) from a year ago. [1] This increase was driven by further economic growth and improved credit conditions, which led to a third consecutive quarter of aggregate negative provision expense.  These and other financial results for third quarter 2021 are included in the FDIC’s latest Quarterly Banking Profile.

“The banking industry reported strong earnings in third quarter 2021, supported by continued economic growth and further improvements in credit quality,” McWilliams said.

Highlights from the Third Quarter 2021
Quarterly Banking Profile

Net Income Continued to Increase Year over Year: Quarterly net income totaled $69.5 billion, an increase of $18.4 billion (35.9 percent) from the same quarter a year ago, primarily due to a $19.7 billion decline in provision expense.  Two-thirds of all banks (66.5 percent) reported annual improvements in quarterly net income, and the share of profitable institutions increased slightly year over year to 95.9 percent.  However, net income declined $875.5 million (1.2 percent) from second quarter 2021, driven by an increase in provision expense from second quarter 2021 (up $5.5 billion to negative $5.2 billion).

The banking industry reported an aggregate return on average assets ratio of 1.21 percent, up 24 basis points from a year ago but down 3 basis points from second quarter 2021.

Net Interest Margin Rose Modestly from Last Quarter’s Record Low: The net interest margin (NIM) improved to 2.56 percent in the third quarter, up 6 basis points from the recent record low in the previous quarter but down 12 basis points from the previous year.  Quarterly NIM expansion was accompanied by an increase in net interest income of $5.2 billion (4 percent) from the prior quarter. 

The yield on earning assets rose 5 points from the previous quarter’s record low to 2.73 percent while average funding costs declined 1 basis point from the previous quarter to a new record low of 0.17 percent.  Improvements in net interest income were widespread, as nearly three-quarters of banks (72.1 percent) reported higher net interest income compared with a year ago.

Community Banks Reported a 19.6 Percent Increase in Quarterly Net Income Year over Year: Community banks reported annual net income growth of $1.4 billion, supported by an increase in net interest income and a decline in provision expense.  Provision expenses declined $1.4 billion (83.5 percent) from a year ago and increased $219.2 million (427.9 percent) from the previous quarter.  Higher commercial and industrial (C&I) loan income, reflecting, in part, increased fee income from the payoff and forgiveness of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, helped lift net interest income $2.2 billion (11.7 percent) from the same quarter a year ago.

The net interest margin for community banks expanded 3 basis points from the year-ago quarter to 3.31 percent, as the continued reduction in average funding costs outpaced the decline in earning asset yields.  Nearly two-thirds (65.8 percent) of the 4,450 FDIC-insured community banks reported higher quarterly net income.

Loan Balances Increased From the Previous Quarter and a Year Ago: Total loan and lease balances increased $62.7 billion (0.6 percent) from the previous quarter.  Several portfolios contributed meaningfully to the industry’s growth, including 1-4 family residential mortgages (up $41.3 billion, or 1.9 percent), consumer loans (up $39.6 billion, or 2.3 percent), nonfarm nonresidential commercial real estate loans (CRE) (up $24.5 billion, or 1.5 percent), and loans to nondepository institutions (up $24.2 billion, or 3.9 percent).

Annually, total loan and lease balances increased $10 billion (0.1 percent) as growth in  loans to nondepository institutions (up $95.9 billion, or 17.5 percent), consumer loans (up $87.1 billion, or 5.1 percent), and nonfarm nonresidential CRE loan balances (up $63.2 billion or 4.1 percent) help offset declines in C&I loans (down $301.8 billion, or 11.9 percent).  The decline in C&I balances was driven by Paycheck Protection Program loan forgiveness and repayment.

Community banks reported a 0.2 percent decline in loan balances from the previous quarter, and a 1.1 percent decline from the prior year.  Declines in C&I loan balances resulting from payoffs and forgiveness of PPP loans drove the change.

Credit Quality Continued to Improve: Loans 90 days or more past due or in nonaccrual status (i.e., noncurrent loans) continued to decline (down $6.9 billion or 6.3 percent) from second quarter 2021.  The noncurrent rate for total loans declined 7 basis points from the previous quarter to 0.94 percent.  Net charge-offs also continued to decline (down $7.4 billion, or 58.4 percent) from a year ago.  The total net charge-off rate dropped 27 basis points to 0.19 percent—the lowest level on record. 
The Reserve Ratio for the Deposit Insurance Fund Remained Stable at 1.27 Percent: The Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) balance was $121.9 billion as of September 30, up $1.4 billion from the end of the second quarter.  The reserve ratio remained at 1.27 percent, due to modest growth in the DIF balance and insured deposits.

Three New Banks Opened During the Quarter: Three new banks opened, 39 institutions merged with other FDIC-insured institutions, one bank ceased operations, and no banks failed in third quarter 2021.

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

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

Free ELFA Webinar on Commercial Financing
Disclosure Laws in New York and California

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As state-level regulatory pressures mount, the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association announced a new webinar for members and non-members designed to help industry leaders prepare for state-level regulations that are expected to impact equipment finance firms in the near future. The webinar, “ELFA State Advocacy New Year’s Resolutions: Prepare for Commercial Financing Disclosure Laws in New York and California” will take place on Wed, Dec. 15, 1-2pm ET.

ELFA President and CEO Ralph Petta announced. “ELFA’s State Government Relations team has been working overtime monitoring bills that mandate disclosure and licensing of commercial financial services.

“Through our state advocacy efforts, the association has achieved critical wins in disclosure bills making their way through state legislatures around the nation. This work will continue in the year ahead, and we encourage all members to participate in this webinar to learn critical information and steps to prepare for new measures that could impact their businesses.”

The Dec. 15 webinar will provide attendees with the latest information and practical tips concerning commercial financing disclosure laws that are slated to take effect in 2022 in New York and California. It will also touch on the dizzying array of regulations coming out of the states that could impact key areas, from usury laws to licensing requirements to the definition of a “true lease.”

Overlaps and contradictions between and among state regulations could require redundant investments in technology, software and training. And, there is a real worry how quickly some of these new or proposed state-level regulations could move from proposal to fully enacted policy.

Speakers will include:

• Scott Riehl, Vice President, State Government Relations, Equipment Leasing and Finance Association
• Bonnie Michael, Shareholder, Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz PC
• Moorari Shah, Partner, Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLC
• Jeff Taft, Partner, Mayer Brown LLP

The event is part of the ELFA Wednesday Webinar series, designed to provide critical information to equipment finance professionals on essential hot topics. The webinar will feature an experienced panel and attendees will be invited to ask questions during an interactive Q&A session.
To register, please visit https://bit.ly/ELFADisclosureWebinar.

About ELFA
The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) is the trade association that represents companies in the nearly $1 trillion equipment finance sector, which includes financial services companies and manufacturers engaged in financing capital goods. ELFA members are the driving force behind the growth in the commercial equipment finance market and contribute to capital formation in the U.S. and abroad. Its 580 members include independent and captive leasing and finance companies, banks, financial services corporations, broker/packagers and investment banks, as well as manufacturers and service providers. ELFA has been equipping business for success for more than 60 years. For more information, please visit www.elfaonline.org.

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

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• A Healthy Start Certificate at VCA Animal Hospitals towards an initial exam and health guarantee within 10 days of adoption.
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• 100% reimbursement after a $50 deductible for covered accidents & illnesses
• Use any licensed vet, emergency clinic, or specialist in the United States

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Atlanta Humane Society
981 Howell Mill Rd NW
Atlanta, GA 30318
(404) 875-5331
https://atlantahumane.org/

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Attorneys Who Specialize in
Banking, Finance, and Leasing

Kenneth C. Greene California Leasing and Financial consultant, active in several leasing associations, as well as involved in music and film production in LA.  Mention "Leasing News" for a free consultation. 818.575.9095 Skype: 424.235.1658 ken@kengreenelaw.com	Connecticut, Southern New England: EVANS, FELDMAN & ASSOCIATES, LLC Collections, litigation, documentation, portfolio sales and financing, bankruptcy. We represent many of the national and local leasing companies doing business in this state. Competitive rates. email: rcfeldman@EFandA-law.com https://efandalaw.com/richard-feldman/
Los Angeles/Santa Monica Hemar & Associates, Attorneys at Law Specialists in legal assistance, including debt collection, equipment recovery, litigation for 35 years. Fluent in Spanish. Tel: 310-829-1948 email: phemar@hemar.com	David G. Mayer Partner, Dallas, Texas Schackelford, Bowen, McKinley & Norton 9201 N. Central Expressway Fourth Floor Dallas, Texas 75231 Telephone: (214) 780-1400 http://shackelfordlaw.net/attorneys/david-g-mayer/
Los Angeles, Southern CA Seasoned attorney representing secured creditors in auto finance and truck/equipment lease industry.  Bankruptcy and State Court litigation.   Vincent V. Frounjian (818) 990-0605 or email: vvf@pacbell.net.	Encino, California: Statewide “ELFA” Hemar, Rousso & Heald, LLP 30 yr excellent reputation Lessor representation commercial litigation, debt collection, and bankruptcy. Call Stephen E. Jenkins Esq (818) 501-3800
Los Angeles, Statewide: CA.     "ELFA" Aggressive creditors rights law firm specializing in equipment leasing handling collection matters on a contingency, fixed fee or hourly cbasis. email:RGarwacki@prodigy.net	Los Angeles, Statewide: CA      "ELFA" Practice limited to collections, bankruptcy and problem accounts resolution. Decades of experience. 10-lawyer firm dedicated to serving you. Call Ronald Cohn, Esq. (818)591-2121 or email. Email: rrcohn@aol.com
	California & National Paul Bent – More than 35 years experience in all forms of equipment leasing, secured lending, and asset based transactions. Financial analysis, deal structuring, contract negotiations, documentation, private dispute resolution, expert witness services. (562) 426-1000 www.paulbent.attorney pbent@paulbent.attorney
Illinois Kevin E. Trabaris: Concentrates his practice in the areas of commercial finance, corporate and business transactions. Extensive experience representing banks, financial companies, equipment lessors, insurers and other funding and intermediary entities and borrowers in connection with thousands of business financing matters. He has handled everything from small ticket transactions to billion dollar syndicated loans, real estate financing to asset-based facilities. Email:  ktrabaris@culhanemeadows.com Telephone:  847-840-4687 www.culhanemeadows.com	Massachusetts Joseph G. Bonanno, Esq., CLFP.  Transactional/Documentation. Past special industry consultant to The World Bank,  industry expert witness in litigation, appointed to Governor’s Counsel to adopt Articles 2A and 9 in Massachusetts, MA continuing legal education co-instructor,  past (5) Term Certified Leasing and Finance Professional Board Member, CLFP review instructor, numerous authored and co-authored published articles and conducting educational seminars. (781) 328-1010; law@jgbesq.com
	New York Sloan Schickler, Esq. Counsel to the National Vehicle Leasing Association. Accomplished counsel in lease-finance; installment sales; dealer floor plan finance; portfolio sales, acquisition and foreclosure; syndicated revolving credit facilities; asset securitization; corporate structuring and governance; regulatory licensing and compliance. Clients have included major commercial banks, financial institutions, investment banks, captive finance companies, leasing companies, auto manufacturers and auto dealerships. sloan.schickler@schicklerlaw.com Direct Dial: 212-262-6400.
New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania SCHICKLER KAYE LLP, is an experienced firm representing vehicle and equipment creditors and debtors in lease-finance, installment sales, dealer floor plan finance, portfolio sales, acquisition and foreclosure, syndicated revolving credit facilities, asset securitization, corporate structuring and  regulatory licensing and compliance. Clients have included major commercial banks, financial institutions, investment banks, captive finance companies, leasing companies, auto manufacturers and auto dealerships. Sloan Schickler, Esq. sschickler@skfinancelaw.com Edward P. Kaye, Esq. ekaye@skfinancelaw.com 212-262-6400 www.skfinancelaw.com	New Jersey/New York Robert L. Hornby Chair, Equipment Leasing & Finance CSG Attorneys at Law Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi PC One Boland Drive | West Orange, NJ 07052 11 Times Square, 31st Floor | New York, NY 10036 973.530.2032 973.530.2232 fax rhornby@csglaw.com
St. Louis County , MO. - statewide: Schultz & Associates LLP., collections, negotiation, and litigation. Also register and pursue recovery on foreign judgments. Contingency and reasonable hourly rates. Ronald J. Eisenberg, Esq. (636) 537-4645 x108 reisenberg@sl-lawyers.com www.sl-lawyers.com	NJ, De, Pa: Specializing in leased equipment/secured transactions. Collections, replevins/workouts reasonable rates. Sergio Scuteri/Capehart & Scratchard, PA sscuteri@capehart.com / www.capehart.com
New York and New Jersey Frank Peretore Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi West Orange, New Jersey http://www.csglaw.com/ biographies/frank-peretore Phone 973-530-2058 fperetore@csglaw.com Documentation, portfolio purchase & sale, replevin, workouts, litigation, collection, bankruptcy. Aggressive. Over 30 years experience.	Thousand Oaks, California: Statewide coverage Spiwak & Iezza, LLP 20+ years experience,Representing Lessors banks in both State/ Federal Courts/ all aspects of commercial leasing litigation. Nick Iezza 805-777-1175 niezza@spiwakandiezza.com

News Briefs---

Existing vaccines might not be effective against omicron
    variant right away, Moderna CEO says
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/11/30/omicron-moderna-ceo-vaccines-covid/

A Complete Guide to a Successful Lease Accounting Audit
Download the eBook to learn the best tips
https://www.cfo.com/products/whitepaper/a-complete-guide-to-a-successful-lease-accounting-audit/

Dallas home prices jump by 25%
largest ever in monthly Case-Shiller report
https://www.dallasnews.com/business/real-estate/2021/11/30/dallas-home-prices-jump-by-25/

Powell Lays Groundwork for Faster End to Stimulus
    as Inflation Outlook Worsens
https://www.wsj.com/articles/powell-warns-omicron-variant-could-worsen-inflation-boosting-bottlenecks-11638280800?st=j5wkljyw1nc2uuy&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

Gas Prices Pressure Drivers’ Finances
     U.S. gasoline has climbed around 50% in a year
https://www.wsj.com/articles/gas-prices-pressure-drivers-finances-11638241233?st=z81kmq8lfmkg9i0&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac
     to Back Home Loans of Nearly $1 Million
https://www.wsj.com/articles/fannie-mae-freddie-mac-housing-million-dollar-mortgage-11638291030?st=mgmrzoels1d5j1d&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

 

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You May Have Missed---

The U.S. gave $3.7 billion in relief to likely
    ineligible businesses, auditor finds.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/30/business/sba-eidl-pandemic-relief.html


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Sports Briefs---

Week 13 NFL power rankings: Packers return to No. 1 spot,
     Patriots top AFC field
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/columnist/nate-davis/2021/11/30/nfl-power-rankings-week-13-2021-packers-patriots-buccaneers/8801783002/

49ers will be without Deebo Samuel and Fred Warner,
arguably their 2 best players, vs. Seahawks
https://www.sfgate.com/49ers/article/49ers-without-perhaps-2-best-players-warner-samuel-16661278.php

Sean Payton on whether QB Trevor Siemian
or Taysom Hill will start vs. Cowboys: 'We'll see'
https://www.theredzone.org/Blog-Description/EntryId/19396/Sean-Payton-on-whether-QB-Trevor-Siemian-or-Taysom-Hill-will-start-vs--Cowboys---We-ll-see-

'Soft schedule' talk surrounding Warriors'
18-2 start isn't backed up by data
https://www.sfgate.com/warriors/article/soft-schedule-warriors-talk-not-backed-by-data-16663781.php?IPID=SFGate-HP-CP-Spotlight

LSU hires Notre Dame's Brian Kelly
as next head football coach
https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/32748893/lsu-set-hire-notre-dame-brian-kelly-next-head-football-coach-sources-say

The Seahawks offense is completely broken,
and that’s why this season is over
https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/seahawks/the-seahawks-offense-is-completely-broken-and-thats-why-this-season-is-over

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California Nuts Briefs---

How are jobs recovering in California,
     North Bay in the pandemic?
https://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/article/article/how-are-jobs-recovering-in-california-the-north-bay/

Vacant Northern California commercial properties
get new life as housing, offices
https://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/article/article/vacant-northern-california-commercial-properties-get-new-life-as-housing-o/

This 1924 San Francisco 'mini-mansion' with a unique
backstory sold in just days. Can you guess the price?
https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/2021/real-estate-quiz-outer-richmond/

Californians legalized pot, but these 10 big cities
still don’t have retail dispensaries
https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/california-weed/article255899226.html?ac_cid=DM571348&ac_bid=-1802448041

Snowpack in California’s Sierra Nevada
could disappear in just 25 years
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Snowpack-in-California-s-Sierra-Nevada-could-16660437.php

More than 400 toxic sites in California
are at risk of flooding from sea level rise
https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2021-11-30/toxic-tides-sea-level-rise?utm_id=43496&sfmc_id=1646692

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"Gimme that wine"

Sales Gain Ground as New Year Approaches
https://www.winebusiness.com/news/?go=getArticle&dataId=253804

Sotheby’s and Napa Valley Vintners Announce
First-of-its-Kind Partnership
https://napavintners.com/press/press_release_detail.asp?ID_News=3624108

These Bay Area wines and spirits are worthy of a holiday splurge
https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/2021/best-wine-spirits-gift-holidays-2021/

“Gimme that Wine”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJnQoi8DSE8

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

     1641 - Massachusetts became the first colony to give statutory recognition to slavery. It was followed by Connecticut in 1650 and Virginia in 1661.   
    1750 – The first school in America to offer manual training courses opens in Maryland
    1814 - The shallow-draft steamboat Enterprise, completed in Pittsburgh under the direction of keelboat captain Henry Miller Shreve, left for New Orleans to deliver guns and ammunition to Gen. Jackson during the final days of the War of 1812.  
    1824 - In the 1824 presidential election, no candidate received an electoral majority. John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts received 84 votes: Andrew Jackson of Tennessee, 99: Secretary of State William H. Crawford, who had suffered a stroke and was effectively out of the running, 41: Henry Clay, 37: John C. Calhoun of South Carolina was elected vice president. On this day, the House of Representatives, in compliance with the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution, convened for deliberations on the selection of the president.  On February 9, 1825, John Quincy Adams was chosen as president.
    1831 - The coldest December of record in the northeastern U.S. commenced. Temperatures in New York City averaged 22 degrees, with just four days above freezing, and at Burlington, VT, the temperature never did get above freezing. The Erie Canal was closed the first day of December and remained closed the entire month.
    1835 – Hans Christian Anderson published his first book of fairy tales.
    1842 - Midshipman Philip Spencer, son of the Secretary of War, was hanged from the yardarm of the U.S.S. Somers, a brig of war, while at sea in West Indian waters. Boatswain Samuel Cromwell and Seaman Elisha Small were hanged at the same time. They were convicted, at a court-martial held aboard ship, of inspiring to organize a mutiny, murder the officers, and turn the ship into a pirate cruiser. The commander of the Somers was Alexander Slidell Mackenzie, who was exonerated by a court of inquiry. It was quite a “scandal” upon their return. There were questions as to whether a mutiny even actually occurred or if this was just paranoia on the part of the captain, who over the course of the 6-month training cruise is purported to have ordered 2,265 lashings. This incident inspired Herman Melville to write “Billy Budd,” and is commonly held to be the major factor that precipitated the establishment of the Naval Academy.  The Somers was in the Gulf of Mexico off Vera Cruz at the opening of the Mexican War in the spring of 1846, and, but for runs to Pensacola for logistics, she remained in that area on blockade duty until winter. On the evening of 26 November, the brig, commanded by Raphael Semmes, later commanding officer of CSS Alabama, was blockading Vera Cruz when Mexican schooner Criolla slipped into that port. Somers launched a boat party which boarded and captured the schooner. However, a calm prevented the Americans from getting their prize out to sea so they set fire to the vessel and returned through gunfire from the shore to Somers, bringing back seven prisoners. Unfortunately, Criolla proved to be an American spy ship operating for Commodore Conner. On December 8, 1846, while chasing a blockade-runner, Somers capsized in a squall and sank with the loss of 32 of her 76 crew. In 1986, her remains were found in 110 feet of water about a mile off Isla Verde.
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-s/somers2.htm
http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/s/somers.htm
    1843 – The first chartered mutual life insurance company opens
    1847 - Birthday of Julia Moore (d. 1920), known as the "Sweet Singer of Michigan," in a log cabin at Plainfield, MI. A writer of homely verse and ballads, Moore enjoyed remarkable popularity and gave many public readings before realizing that her public appearances were occasions for laughter and ridicule. Her poems were said to be "so bad, her subjects so morbid and her naiveté so genuine" that they were actually gems of humorous genius. At her final public appearance, she told her audience: "You people paid 50 cents to see a fool, but I got $50 to look at a house full of fools."
http://www.flint.lib.mi.us/about/programs/jmoore/bio.html
http://www.wmich.edu/english/txt/Moore/
    1862 - President Abraham Lincoln sent his Second Annual Message to Congress, which was read aloud by the Secretary of the Senate. In it, Lincoln called for the abolition of slavery, saying that "in giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free."
    1865 – Shaw University, historically the first black university in the South, was founded in Raleigh, NC.
    1878 - Birthday of Arthur Spingarn (d. 1971), NYC.  An American Jew, one of the original founders of NAACP and chairman in 1914.  The prestigious NACCP Springarn medal is named after him. “The purpose of this medal is twofold — first, to call the attention of the American people to the existence of distinguished merit and achievement among American Negroes, and secondly, to serve as a reward for such achievement, and as a stimulus to the ambition of colored youth.” This prestigious award is in the form of a gold medal that is valued at one hundred dollars. To make certain that this award is continued on an indefinite basis, Joel E. Spingarn bequeathed in his will twenty thousand dollars to the NAACP “to perpetuate the lifelong interest of my brother, Arthur B. Spingarn, of my wife, Amy E. Spingarn, and of myself in the achievements of the American Negro.” If this organization fails to continue, the Spingarn Medal is to be managed by the president of Howard or Fisk University.”
http://www.thurgoodmarshall.com/gallery/tm19.htm
http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/1349/
MoorlandSpingarn_Collection_a_great_experience
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?faid/faid:@field(TITLE+@band
(spingarn+arthur+b+++))
    1878 – The White House received its first telephone.
    1884 - Near Frisco, New Mexico, deputy sheriff Elfego Baca holds off a gang of 80 Texas cowboys who want to kill him for arresting Charles McCarthy.
    1885 – Dr. Pepper is served for the first time, at a drug store in Waco.
    1887 – Sherlock Holmes first appears in print.
    1891 - Basketball created: James Naismith was a teacher of physical education at the International YMCA Training School at Springfield, MA. To create an indoor sport that could be played during the winter months, he nailed up peach baskets at opposite ends of the gym and gave students soccer balls to toss into them. Thus was born the game of basketball.
http://www.hoophall.com/halloffamers/Naismith.htm
http://collections.ic.gc.ca/naismith/
1894 - Yukon Order of the Pioneers were founded at Forty Mile, Yukon. It began as a vigilante police force to deter claim jumping and later inaugurated Discovery Day (Aug 17), a statutory Yukon holiday commemorating the discovery of gold on Bonanza Creek in 1896.
    1896 - Frank Broaker of New York City became the first Certified Public Accountant, receiving Certificate Number One from the New York State Board of Certified Public Accountant Examiners. Broaker became the first secretary of the New York Board of CPA Examiners. He organized a school to prepare individuals to sit for the CPA examination. Broaker was criticized for publishing a book in 1897 entitled “The American Accountants Manual,” which contained questions and answers from the first CPA exam. He kept the proceeds from the sale of the book. He also was charged with forming a society of accountants with himself as president. It was alleged that Broaker had led prospective members of the society to believe that the Board of Regents might be willing to waive the CPA exam for those who were members. The Board of Regents responded to these complaints by appointing James T. Anyon to replace Broaker.
http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/1996/1096/newsviews/CPAcen.htm
    1903 – The first western of the film genre, “The Great Train Robbery,” is released.  Twelve minutes long, it was shot at the Edison studios in New York City, on location in Milltown, NJ. The film was inspired by Scott Marble’s 1896 stage play and may also have been inspired by a 1900 train robbery perpetrated by Butch Cassidy. 
    1909 - The first payment to a Christmas savings club at a bank was made. It was started by the Carlisle Trust Company, Carlisle, PA. The idea originated with Merkel Landis, the bank’s treasurer. When I was younger, all kids had such a “savings account.”  Today, most money is spent to make monthly payments to credit cards and kids are not encouraged to save. Do you have a Christmas savings account, or even a vacation savings account?
    1911 - Birthday of Walter Alston (d. 1984), baseball player and Baseball Hall of Fame manager, at Venice, OH. Alston struck out in his only Major League at-bat, but he became one of the game’s most successful managers. Working under a series of one-year contracts with the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers from 1954 through 1976, Alston won seven National League pennants and four World Series. Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1983.
    1911 – Calvin Griffith (d. 1999) was born in Montreal.  The son of a minor leaguer, he was the nephew of Clark Griffith, the Hall of Fame pitcher and manager who became president of the Washington Senators in 1920. He raised Calvin from the age of 11 and moved him and Calvin’s siblings to Washington.  At least three brothers, Sherry, Jimmy and Billy, and a brother-in-law, Joe Haynes, would eventually become Senators' executives, while brother-in-law Joe Cronin, a Hall of Fame shortstop, would serve as playing manager of the Senators and Boston Red Sox, general manager of the Red Sox, and president of the American League.  In 1955, upon the death of Clark, the Senators would pass to Calvin and his sister.  Through this period, the Senators won their last World Series in 1924, with Hall of Famer Walter Johnson winning game 7 in extra innings, and their last World Series appearance was 1933.  The saying was, “Washington…first in war, first in peace and last in the American League.”  This took a toll on attendance and, in 1961, he moved the team to Minnesota and renamed them the Twins.  
    1912 - Harry Arthur “Cookie” Lavagetto (d. 1990), baseball player and manager, was born at Oakland, CA. Lavagetto was the first manager of the Minnesota Twins but he is best remembered for breaking up the Yankees’ Floyd Bevens’ bid for a no-hitter in Game 4 of the 1947 World Series at Ebbets Field. Lavagetto doubled with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning, spoiling Bevens’ effort and driving in the tying and winning runs for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Oddly, it was the last game Lavagetto and Bevens would ever play in the Majors. The enduring recording of this feat involves Dodgers’ Hall of Fame broadcaster, Red Barber, “…here comes the tying run…and here comes theee winning run…friends, they’re killin’ Lavagetto!”
    1912 – Minoru Yamasaki (d. 1986), architect of the World Trade Center, was born in Seattle.  Yamasaki was one of the most prominent architects of the 20th century. 
    1913 - The first drive-in gas station was opened by Gulf Refining Company at the intersection of Baum Boulevard and St. Clair Street, Pittsburgh, PA. The station remained open all night and provided free crankcase service. Thirty gallons of gasoline were sold the first day. Frank McLaughlin was the first manager.
    1913 - A 6-day Front Range snowstorm began, ultimately producing 45.7 inches of snow at Denver, CO, the biggest single snowstorm on record for that city.
    1913 - The Ford Motor Company introduced the continuous moving assembly line which could produce a complete car every two-and-a-half minutes. This change is one of the most significant changes in automobile production methods and allowed Ford to sell cars cheaper than any other manufacturer which forced the others to also move to automated production lines.
1914 - Following the outbreak of World War I, the nation's stock markets temporarily shut down to safeguard against a debilitating bear run. But, this day, traders were back at it again, at least on the West Coast, where the San Francisco Stock & Bond Exchange became the first U.S. exchange to re-open its doors for business.
    1915 - The US requests that Germany withdraw its military and naval attaches from the Embassy in Washington
    1917 – Boys Town was founded by Father Edward Flanagan west of Omaha.
    1919 – Lady Nancy Astor, an American by birth, is sworn in as the first female member of the British Parliament. The former Constance Markiewicz did not take her seat because of her Irish nationalist views.
    1921 - The first airship filled with helium gas was the semi-rigid, cigar-shaped Navy dirigible C-7. It contained 181,000 cubic feet of gas and was powered by two motors. It was tested at Hampton Roads Base, Hampton Roads, VA, and on December 4, made a round trip from Hampton Roads to Washington, DC. Lieutenant Commander R.F. Wood was the pilot.
    1924 – George and Ira Gershwin’s musical "Lady Be Good" premieres in NYC
    1924 – A nationwide farm census began, lasting until January 31, 1935. More than 6 million farms were to be covered by an army of 10,000-20,000 enumerators. Farmers filled out surveys to prepare them for the census.
    1924 - The National Hockey League’s first United States-based franchise, the Boston Bruins, played their first game in league play at home, at the still-extant Boston Arena indoor hockey facility.
    1928 – Al Mundy’s boss, Noah Bain was born in The Bronx.  Actor Malachi Throne (d. 2011) played that role opposite Robert Wagner’s starring character in the TV series, “It Takes a Thief.”  In addition, Throne starred in several other TV series and films. 
    1928 – National League president John Heydler first proposed a baseball rule change calling for a 10th man, or a designated hitter, to bat in place of the pitcher. The NL voted in favor of the proposal, but the AL rejected it. Oddly, the Designated Hitter is now used only in the American League which approved it for the 1973 season and was never adopted in the NL. The rule allowing a DH has always been controversial since some want the rule eliminated, some want the rule adopted in both leagues and some want the rule to remain in its current state. NL teams use a DH in road games during interleague and World Series, while AL teams have the pitcher bat in road games in interleague match-ups.
    1929 – Bingo was invented and manufactured by Edwin S. Lowe. Bingo has grown into a five-billion-dollar-a-year charitable fund-raiser. He got the idea from “Beano” played at carnivals for several centuries. Here is the story:
http://www.starlightonlinebingo.com/history.html
    1933 - Birthday of alto sax player Jimmy Lyons (d. 1986), Jersey City, NJ
http://www.artistdirect.com/music/artist/bio/0,,461272,00.html?artist=Jimmy+Lyons
    1934 - First “Let’s Dance” broadcast on NBC with Benny Goodman Band.
    1934 - Singer Billy Paul (d. 2016) is born in Philadelphia. His biggest hit is the million-selling No. 1 song "Me and Mrs. Jones."
    1935 - Woody Allen was born Allen Stewart Konisberg in Brooklyn, NY.  Actor, writer, producer (Oscar for “Annie Hall,” “Sleeper,” “Manhattan,” “Bullets over Broadway.”)
http://torp.priv.no/woody/
    1935 - Birthday of blues singer/actor Lou Rawls (d. 2006), at Chicago.  “You’ll Never Find a Love Like Mine,” "A Natural Man,” "You've Made Me So Very Happy,” “Happy Man,” “Bring It On Home.”  
http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0712675/
http://www.lourawls.com/
http://www.barberusa.com/adult/rawls_lou.html
    1936 – The second Heisman Trophy was awarded to Larry Kelley of Yale.
    1936 – Bell Labs tests coaxial cable for television.    
1939 - Birthday of Lee Buck Trevino, golfer, at Dallas, TX.  He is one of only four players to twice win the US Open, The Open Championship and the PGA.  The only major that eluded him was the Masters. Trevino was the first player to shoot all four regulation rounds under par at the U.S. Open. At Oak Hill in 1968, Trevino played rounds of 69-68-69-69.
http://www.asiangolfmonthly.com/highlights/greatest/14.htm
http://www.golfdigest.com/features/index.ssf?/features/gd200205myshot.html
    1940 - Birthday of Richard Pryor, born Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor (d. 2005), at Peoria, IL. Actor, comedian (“Blue Collar,” “Stir Crazy,” "The Richard Pryor Show," “Silver Streak.”)  Known for uncompromising examinations of racism and topical contemporary issues, which employed colorful vulgarities, profanity, and racial epithets. He reached a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential stand-up comedians of all time.  Pryor co-wrote “Blazing Saddles,” directed by Mel Brooks and starring Gene Wilder. 
http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/specialevents/marktwain/pryor_bio.html
http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/P/htmlP/pryorrichar/pryorrichar.htm
    1941 - Formation of the Civil Air Patrol: The Director of Civilian Defense, former New York Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia, signed a formal order creating the Civil Air Patrol, a US Air Force Auxiliary. The CAP has a three-part mission: to provide an aerospace education program, a CAP cadet program and an emergency services program.
http://cap.gov/about/history.html
    1941 – With the Imperial Navy heading east toward Pearl Harbor, Emperor Hirohito of Japan gives the final approval to attack the United States.   
    1942 - The British Coalition Government accepts The Beveridge Report.  Officially entitled “Social Insurance and Allied Services,” it was an influential document in the founding of the welfare state in the UK.  It was drafted by the liberal economist William Beveridge who identified five "Giant Evils" in society: squalor, ignorance, want, idleness, and disease, and went on to propose widespread reform to the system of social welfare to address these. The Report came in the midst of war and promised a reward for the sacrifices undertaken by everyone. Highly popular with the public, the report formed the basis for the post-war reforms known as the Welfare State, which include the expansion of national insurance and the creation of the National Health Service. 
    1942 - Nationwide gasoline rationing goes into effect with most drivers receiving coupons for 3 gallons per week generally supported by the population, although there was some black market activity.
    1943 - The Allied leaders of Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union having met together for the first time in Tehran, the capital of Iran, have agreed to work together to win the war in Europe and in Asia and establish an "enduring peace." The leaders Winston Churchill, President Franklin D Roosevelt and Marshal Joseph Stalin had never met together in one place.  It was during this conference that the Allies agreed to Operation Overlord, the D-Day invasion of Normandy that would ultimately end World War II.
    1944 - Duke Ellington records “I’m Beginning to See the Light,” (Victor 20-1618)
    1945 - Bette Midler is born in Honolulu, Hawaii. She is named after actress Bette Davis. She won a best new artist Grammy in 1974. Her biggest hits are the million-sellers: "Wind Beneath My Wings" and "From a Distance." She was nominated for an Oscar in 1979 for "The Rose" and appeared in such films as "Outrageous Fortune," "Down and Out in Beverly Hills" and "Beaches."  Midler also owns the distinction of being Johnny Carson’s final guest on his farewell “Tonight” show performance, May 25, 1992.
http://delveintothedivine.cjb.net/
http://www.betteontheboards.com/boards/index.html
    1945 - Burl Ives makes his concert debut at New York's Town Hall.
    1945 - The New York premier of Paramount's “The Lost Weekend,” starring Ray Milland in a brilliant performance. The film earned Oscars and Golden Globe awards for Best Picture, Best Actor for Milland, and Best Director for Billy Wilder.  Milland and the film were also honored at the Cannes Film Festival.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000549B1/lksmsubsite-sub-dv-asin-20
/104-3191958-8595946
http://www.flickfilosopher.com/oscars/bestpix/lostweekend.shtml
http://www.dvdmg.com/lostweekend.shtml
    1945 - Lionel Hampton cuts, “Hey-Ba-Ba-Re-Bop,” (Decca 18754)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000IB1N/steinede-20/
104-3191958-8595946
    1949 - RCA Victor introduced the 45 rpm record. It was designed as a rival to Columbia's 33 1/3 rpm long-playing disc, introduced the previous year. The two systems directly competed with each other to replace 78 rpm records, bewildering consumers and causing a drop in record sales. By the end of 1949, all the major companies, except RCA, had committed themselves to the LP record, seemingly putting an end to the 45. Even RCA itself announced it would issue its classical library on 33 1/3 rpm discs. But RCA was not ready to admit the demise of the 45 rpm record. The company spent $5-million publicizing 45 rpm as the preferred speed for popular music. The campaign worked. Buyers of non-classical records turned increasingly to the 45 rpm record, so that by 1954, more than 200-million of them had been sold. And all the major companies now were producing both 33 1/3 and 45 rpm records.  Long before albums became the preferred method of song library-building for recording artists, it was the 45 on which rock ‘n’ roll flourished as they usually cost 69 cents.  How many of you Boomers still have your 45s from the 50s and 60s?
    1950 - Eighth Army and X Corps began withdrawing in the face of the massive Chinese offensive during the Korean War. The U.S. 2nd Infantry Division, the British 27th Brigade and the Turkish Brigade, began to fight their way south from the Kunu-ri area through the bloody Gauntlet, under continuous fire from Chinese forces occupying the terrain commanding the route to safety. The 2nd Infantry Division was virtually destroyed during the Battle of Kunu-ri where over 4,000 men were lost. The division's overall combat capability was rated equivalent to a single regimental combat team by the end of the action. The ROK Capitol Division withdrew under heavy pressure to Pukchong.
    1950 - Task Force MacLean/Faith, composed of elements of the U.S. 7th Infantry Division's 31st and 32nd Infantry Regiments, was annihilated east of the Chosin/Changjin Reservoir. Only 385 soldiers of its 3,200-man force were able-bodied following their withdrawal.
    1950 - WINDRICH, WILLIAM G., Medal of Honor.
Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps, Company I, 3d Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein.). Place and date: Vicinity of Yudam-ni, Korea, 1 December 1950. Entered service at: Hammond, Ind. Born: 14 May 1921, Chicago, Ill. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as a platoon sergeant of Company I, in action against enemy aggressor forces the night of 1 December 1950. Promptly organizing a squad of men when the enemy launched a sudden, vicious counterattack against the forward elements of his company's position, rendering it untenable, S/Sgt. Windrich, armed with a carbine, spearheaded the assault to the top of the knoll immediately confronting the overwhelming forces and, under shattering hostile automatic-weapons, mortar, and grenade fire, directed effective fire to hold back the attackers and cover the withdrawal of our troops to commanding ground. With 7 of his men struck down during the furious action and himself wounded in the head by a bursting grenade, he made his way to his company's position and, organizing a small group of volunteers, returned with them to evacuate the wounded and dying from the frozen hillside, staunchly refusing medical attention himself. Immediately redeploying the remainder of his troops, S/Sgt. Windrich placed them on the left flank of the defensive sector before the enemy again attacked in force. Wounded in the leg during the bitter fight that followed, he bravely fought on with his men, shouting words of encouragement and directing their fire until the attack was repelled. Refusing evacuation although unable to stand, he still continued to direct his platoon in setting up defensive positions until weakened by the bitter cold, excessive loss of blood, and severe pain, he lapsed into unconsciousness and died. His valiant leadership, fortitude, and courageous fighting spirit against tremendous odds served to inspire others to heroic endeavor in holding the objective and reflect the highest credit upon S/Sgt. Windrich and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
    1952 – The New York Daily News reported the first sexual reassignment operation.  Christine Jorgensen of The Bronx, after serving in World War II, attended several schools, worked, and around this time, learned of transitioning surgery. She travelled to Europe, and in Copenhagen, obtained special permission to undergo a series of operations starting in 1951.  She returned to the United States in the early 1950s and her transformation was the subject of The Daily News front page story. She became an instant celebrity, using the platform to advocate for transgender people, and became known for her directness and polished wit. She also worked as an actress and nightclub entertainer, and recorded several songs.  Jorgensen died in 1989.
    1954 - Senator Joe McCarthy was silenced by the US Senate.  Joseph McCarthy, a relatively obscure senator from Wisconsin, announced during a speech in 1950, in Wheeling, WV, that he had a list of Communists in the State Department. Through all of the hearings and accusations, McCarthy never produced the list.  Over the next two years, he made increasingly sensational charges and, in 1953, McCarthyism reached its height as he held Senate hearings as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Government Operations, during which he bullied defendants. McCarthy's committee began inquiries into the US Army, starting by investigating supposed Communist infiltration of the Signal Corps laboratory at Ft. Monmouth, NJ.   McCarthy's investigations were largely fruitless, but after the Army accused McCarthy and his staff of seeking special treatment for Private G. Davis Schine, a chief consultant to the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and who had been drafted into the Army as a private the previous year, McCarthy claimed that the accusation was made in bad faith.  In 1954, McCarthy’s tyranny was exposed in televised hearings, known as the Army-McCarthy hearings, during which he took on the Army (at twelve years old, I remember watching them and not understanding how they could take him seriously as he looked like he was drunk).   Army Counsel Joseph Welch reprimanded McCarthy for his needless attack on a witness, saying that "Until this moment, Senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness." McCarthy, accusing Welch of filibustering the hearing and baiting, dismissed Welch's dissertation and casually resumed his attack on the witness, at which point Welch angrily cut him short:  "Senator, may we not drop this? We know he belonged to the Lawyer's Guild... Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator; you've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"  On this day, the Senate voted to censure him. McCarthy died May 2, 1957 of hepatitis but was long suffering from the effects of alcohol.
http://mccarthy.cjb.net/
http://www.webcorp.com/mccarthy/wcmmlv2b.gif
    1954 – The biggest trade in Major League history occurred between the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees, involving 17 players.  Among the players involved were Don Larsen and Bob Turley going to the Yankees and Gene Woodling and Gus Triandos to Baltimore.
    1954 - Top Hits
“Mr. Sandman” - The Chordettes
“Teach Me Tonight” - The De Castro Sisters
“The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane” - The Ames Brothers
“More and More”- Webb Pierce
    1955 - African-American seamstress Rosa Parks is arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white person as required by law.  Her refusal triggers a bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, led by Martin Luther King Jr., and changes history in the United States. Her arrest triggered a yearlong boycott of the city bus system and led to legal actions which ended racial segregation on municipal buses throughout the southern US. The event has been called the birth of the modern civil rights movement. Historians consider this the first, longest, and largest mass boycott by civil rights protestors. It lasted from 1955 to 1956, 381 days. Eventually the city agreed to treat all riders equally and to hire African-Americans as bus drivers. Interstate buses and other transportation still had restrictions on where African-Americans sat. Rosa McCauley Parks was born at Tuskegee, AL, Feb 4, 1913 and she died on Oct. 25, 2005.  Parks received national recognition, including the NAACP's 1979 Spingarn Medal, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal, and a posthumous statue in the United States Capitol's National Statuary Hall. Upon her death, she was the first woman and second non-U.S. government official to lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/dec01.html
http://www.grandtimes.com/rosa.html
http://www.time.com/time/time100/heroes/profile/parks01.html
http://www.tsum.edu/museum/
    1956 – Frank Robinson, Cincinnati Reds left fielder and Chicago White Sox SS Luis Aparicio were named Rookies of the Year.  Both are Hall of Famers.
    1957 - Ed Sullivan presents three rock and roll acts, each making its national television debut, on his Sunday evening show: Buddy Holly & the Crickets, playing "That'll Be the Day," Sam Cooke, singing "You Send Me" and the Rays performing their hit "Silhouettes."
    1958 - The Phil Spector-written "To Know Him Is To Love Him" was the number one song in the US for The Teddy Bears. The trio consisted of Spector, along with two friends, Marshall Leib and Annette Kleinbard.
    1958 - A fire at Our Lady of Angels School grade school in Chicago leaves 90 children dead due to poor fire prevention including no sprinklers and no fire drills.
    1959 - Representatives of 12 countries, including the United States, sign a treaty setting aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve, free from military activity
    1960 - Bobby Darin took time out from his busy recording schedule to marry actress Sandra Dee. Bobby had put four songs on the singles chart that year, including "Beyond the Sea," "Clementine," "Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey" and "Artificial Flowers." The couple would divorce in early 1967.
    1960 - A San Diego, California quintet called Rosie and the Originals reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 with a crudely recorded ballad called "Angel Baby." Written by the group's 14-year-old singer, Rosie Hamlin, the song held the position for six weeks and stayed on the chart for three months.
    1960 – Paul McCartney and Pete Best are arrested then deported from Hamburg, Germany for accusation of attempted arson.
    1962 - Top Hits
“Big Girls Don’t Cry” - The 4 Seasons
“Return to Sender” - Elvis Presley
“Bobby’s Girl” - Marcie Blane
“Mama Sang a Song” - Bill Anderson
    1964 - In two crucial meetings (on this day and two days later) at the White House, President Lyndon B. Johnson and his top-ranking advisers agree, after some debate, to a two-phase bombing plan for North Vietnam. 
    1964 – The expansion National League team founded as the Houston Colt .45s was renamed the Astros to coincide with their planned move to the eighth wonder of the world for the home field, the Astrodome. The change in name for the three-year old expansion franchise is necessitated due to a dispute with the Colt firearm company and the team's proximity to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
    1965 - An airlift of refugees begins from Cuba to the United States.
    1966 - California folk-pop vocal group, the Mamas and the Papas earn their fourth gold record for their album, "Cass, John, Michelle & Denny."
    1966 - ALBANESE, LEWIS, Medal of Honor.
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Company B, 5th Battalion (Airmobile), 7th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division. Place and date: Republic of Vietnam, 1 December 1966. Entered service at: Seattle, Wash. Born: 27 April 1946, Venice, Italy. G.O. No.: 12, 3 April 1968. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life and beyond the call of duty. Pfc. Albanese's platoon, while advancing through densely covered terrain to establish a blocking position, received intense automatic weapons fire from close range. As other members maneuvered to assault the enemy position, Pfc. Albanese was ordered to provide security for the left flank of the platoon. Suddenly, the left flank received fire from enemy located in a well-concealed ditch. Realizing the imminent danger to his comrades from this fire, Pfc. Albanese fixed his bayonet and moved aggressively into the ditch. His action silenced the sniper fire, enabling the platoon to resume movement toward the main enemy position. As the platoon continued to advance, the sound of heavy firing emanated from the left flank from a pitched battle that ensued in the ditch which Pfc. Albanese had entered. The ditch was actually a well-organized complex of enemy defenses designed to bring devastating flanking fire on the forces attacking the main position. Pfc. Albanese, disregarding the danger to himself, advanced 100 meters along the trench and killed 6 of the snipers, who were armed with automatic weapons. Having exhausted his ammunition, Pfc. Albanese was mortally wounded when he engaged and killed 2 more enemy soldiers in fierce hand-to-hand combat. His unparalleled actions saved the lives of many members of his platoon who otherwise would have fallen to the sniper fire from the ditch, and enabled his platoon to successfully advance against an enemy force of overwhelming numerical superiority. Pfc. Albanese's extraordinary heroism and supreme dedication to his comrades were commensurate with the finest traditions of the military service and remain a tribute to himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army
    1967 – Wilt Chamberlain missed a record 22 free throws.
    1967 – The American League awarded a franchise to the Seattle Pilots who folded after one year, and the Kansas City Royals.  The NL expanded to include the Montreal Expos and the San Diego Padres.  The Pilots became the Milwaukee Brewers and the Expos became the Washington Nationals.   
    1968 - Janis Joplin makes a final appearance with Big Brother & the Holding Company.    
    1969 - The first African-American US Air Force chief master sergeant was Thomas N. Barnes (d. 2003) of Chester, PA, who entered the Air Force in April, 1949. He became chief master sergeant of the Air Force on October 1, 1973, for a two year term. He retired July 31, 1977. http://www.chiefsgroup.org/barnes.htm
http://www.af.mil/bios/bio_4609.shtml    
    1969 - The U.S. government holds its first draft lottery since World War II when the Selective Service System of the United States held a lottery to determine the order of draft induction into the U.S. Army for the Vietnam War.
    1970 - Top Hits
“I Think I Love You” - The Partridge Family
“The Tears of a Clown” - Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
“Montego Bay” - Bobby Bloom
“Endlessly” - Sonny James
    1971 - Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr. of the US Navy became the first astronaut to become an admiral. He also was the first American astronaut to be launched into space. During his Apollo 14 walk on the Moon in 1971, Shepard took two golf balls that he had smuggled in his spacesuit and used an implement from the tool cart to execute what he called a "sand-trap shot," the only golf shot ever made on the Moon. He died at the age of 74, July 22, 1998, after a long battle with leukemia.
http://www.cnn.com/US/9808/01/shepard.memorial/
    1972 - Carly Simon's "You're So Vain" is released in the US where it will reach #1. The tune causes much speculation about who Carly was singing about, with popular guesses that included Mick Jagger (who sang uncredited backing vocals on the song), Cat Stevens, Warren Beatty, Kris Kristofferson (with whom she had had brief relationships), her unfaithful fiancé William Donaldson, and her ex-husband, James Taylor.  Like the meaning of “American Pie” the truth has never been revealed.
    1973 - The Carpenters' "Top of the World" hits #1.
    1974 - TWA Flight 514 crashes into Mount Weather, Virginia while making its landing approach to Washington Dulles International airport, killing all passengers and crew.  Later, Northwest Orient Flight 6231 crashes near JFK International on Long Island.  Both planes were Boeing 727s.
    1977 - Billy Joel's fifth album, "The Stranger," becomes his vehicle to stardom, making it to #2 and containing the hits "Just the Way You Are," "She's Always a Woman," "Movin' Out" and "Only the Good Die Young."
    1978 - Top Hits
“MacArthur Park” - Donna Summer
“How Much I Feel” - Ambrosia
“You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” - Barbra Streisand & Neil Diamond
“Sweet Desire” - The Kendalls
    1980 - IBM delivered its first prototype PC to Microsoft. IBM selected Microsoft to create MS-DOS, the operating system for its first PC. Steve Ballmer arrived from Proctor & Gamble as an assistant to Gates. Paul Allen bought the QDOS operating system (Quick and Dirty Operating System) from a rival company for $50,000. It was renamed MS-DOS and licensed to IBM. The IBM 5150 PC standardized the marketplace.
    1982 - Epic Records releases "Thriller," Michael Jackson's first solo album in three years. It will yield four smash singles "This Girl is Mine" (a duet with Paul McCartney), "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," "Billy Jean" and "Beat It." It is the best-selling album of all time, with worldwide sales of more than 40 million copies.
    1984 – Boston College QB Doug Flutie, a week after he threw his Hail Mary, last-second TD pass to come from behind to beat Miami, was selected as this year’s Heisman Trophy winner.  Although he won wherever he went, he could never convince NFL coaches for whom he played that he could win in the NFL.  Undaunted, Flutie went to the CFL where he won three Grey Cup Championships…he was MVP in all three…and was the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player a record six times.  He returned to the NFL with the Buffalo Bills in 1998 where he compiled a 22-9 won-loss record after his CFL career.
    1986 - Top Hits
“You Give Love a Bad Name” - Bon Jovi
“The Next Time I Fall” - Peter Cetera with Amy Grant
“Hip to Be Square” - Huey Lewis & The News
“Touch Me When We’re Dancing” – Alabama
    1988 - Squalls in the Great Lakes Region produced up to a foot of snow in Ashtabula County, OH, up to ten inches in Erie County, PA, and up to a foot of snow in western New York State.
    1988 – Roy Orbison gave his final concert, at The Front Row Theater in Cleveland, Ohio.  Exhausted, he returned to his home in Hendersonville to rest for several days before flying again to London to film two more videos for the Traveling Wilburys. Five days later, he died of a heart attack at his mother's house at the age of 52.
1989 - Zamboni Medical Alert!!! The Center for Disease Control revealed in the “Journal of the American Medical Association” that the fumes from a Zamboni ice machine could make fans at a hockey game sick if the rink is not properly ventilated.
    1989 - A Spokane, Washington, funeral director revealed that jazz saxophonist and pianist Billy Tipton, who had lived his life as a man, was a woman. Tipton played for years in the US northwest after a career with several big bands. He appeared to have a wife and adopted three sons.
    1991 - Miami quarterback Dan Marino sets an NFL record when he goes over 3,000 yards passing for the eighth time in his career in Miami's 33-14 win over Tampa Bay.
    1992 – Teenager Amy Fisher was sentenced to 5-15 years in prison for shooting Mary Jo Buttafuoco, her lover’s wife.
    1993 - Jack Nicklaus won the Disney World Open to become the first golfer to earn more than $2 million in career winnings.
    1994 - US Congress passed the GATT Treaty.  Following the lead of the House of Representatives, the US Senate voted 76-24 to approve the Uruguay Round provisions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The worldwide trade pact is intended to reduce tariffs by a third, eliminate trade quotas and protect intellectual property. The GATT agreement is expected to add $300-500 billion to the global economy through the year 2005. In January, 1995, the World Trade Organization (WTO) became the successor to GATT.
    1997 - Kenny G, whose real name is Kenny Gorelick, set a world record when he held a note on his saxophone for 45 minutes and 47 seconds. That record has since been broken by Geovanny Escalante, who held a sax note for 1 hour, 30 minutes and 45 seconds, using a technique that allows him to blow and breathe at the same time.
    1997 - Sprewell Chokes Coach: Basketball player Latrell Sprewell of the Golden State Warriors, provoked, he said, “by a lot of verbal abuse,” choked his coach, P.J. Carlesimo at practice and threatened to kill him. The Warriors suspended Sprewell for 10 games, and the terminated the remaining three years of Sprewell’s $32 million, 4-year contract.  The NBA suspended him for a year. The NBA Players Association filed a grievance on Sprewell’s behalf, and on March 4, 1998, arbitrator John Feerick reinstated the contract and reduced the suspension to five months. Two weeks before the season, the New York Knicks acquired Latrell Sprewell from Golden State for John Starks, Chris Mills and Terry Cummings. In 2004, he joined the Minnesota Timberwolves.  Sprewell's career came to an unexpected end in 2005 when he refused a $21-million three-year contract offer from the Timberwolves, which he implied would not be enough to feed his children. Since that time, he has made headlines for grounding his million dollar yacht, losing two of his homes to foreclosure, and being prohibited from seeing his children.
http://www.nba.com/playerfile/latrell_sprewell/index.html?nav=page
    1997 – Westinghouse, a venerable manufacturing giant in America, changed its name to CBS after discontinuing or selling off all manufacturing operations and merging with the radio/television/media icon.
    1998 - Exxon buys Mobil for $73.7 billion creating the world’s largest oil company Exxon-Mobil
    2001 - The last Trans World Airlines flight, Flight 220, flies into St. Louis Lambert International Airport ending 76 years of TWA operations following TWA’s purchase by American Airlines.
    2002 - Heavy lake effect snow fell downwind of the U.S. Great Lakes. Buffalo, New York reported 16 inches of snow, with thunder snow reported late in the afternoon. While the eastern U.S. experienced much colder than normal temperatures on December 1, much of Alaska was basking in above average warmth. Many daily temperature records were set across this region through the beginning of the month.
    2005 - The Boston Red Sox have petitioned a judge to keep the ball used to record the last out of 2004 World Series making the team World Champs for the first time in 86 years. Former first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz, who caught the ball after being thrown by Keith Foulke, loaned it to Boston but continues to claim ownership of the sensational sphere.  The club's legal team said that Mientkiewicz had gained possession of the ball only because he was a Red Sox employee and that the ball remained the team's property. On April 23, 2006, it was announced that he had reached an agreement with the Red Sox, and the ball would go to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
    2006 - The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles agrees to pay $60 million to settle lawsuits against claims of sexual abuse by its priests. The settlement is for forty-five cases, although there are still five hundred outstanding. One of the largest settlements since the allegations that started in 2002.
    2008 – President-elect Barack Obama nominated Hillary Clinton to be Secretary of State. Also announced were nominations for the current Defense Secretary, Robert Gates to retain his position, retired General James Jones as a National Security Adviser, Eric Holder as Attorney-General and Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano as Secretary of Homeland Security.
    2013 – A Metro-North Railroad train derailed in The Bronx, killing 4 and injuring 63
2019 – The earliest traceable patient, a 55-year-old man, developed symptoms of a novel coronavirus, COVID-19, in Wuhan, China.