Leasing News - information, news, education and entertainment for the commercial bank, finance and leasing industry

You May Have Missed
Inside the ‘Top Chef’ Industrial Complex
Entering its 20th season, the franchise changed way Americans eat

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

Funders Forum + Brokers Expo Report
By Bruce Kropschot, The Alta Group

The fourth annual Funders Forum + Brokers Expo was held March 8-10, 2023 at the Diplomat Hotel in Hollywood, FL. The sponsor of this event, Revenue Based Finance Coalition (“RBFC”), claims that this is the first conference organized for the small business finance industry by the small business finance industry.

The attendance at the conference exceeded 600 as compared to about 120 at the first conference in 2019. (There was no conference in 2020 due to COVID.) One company executive estimated that about 60% of the attendees were funders, 30% were brokers, and 10% were service providers. There were many exhibit booths occupied by funders and service providers, and the large number of sponsoring companies and exhibitors enabled RBFC to offer first class amenities at an exclusive ocean-front resort hotel at a reasonable registration fee.

The conference schedule included 8 panel discussion featuring CEOs and other executives from leading non-traditional finance company members of RBFC and service providers to the industry. These programs were professional and very informative. They covered a number of topics that one might expect to find at an equipment finance conference.

Revenue Based Finance Coalition is a group of finance companies who provide needed capital to small and medium sized businesses through non-traditional methods, such as Merchant Cash Advances, working capital loans, or revenue-based finance transactions (“RBF”) in which a finance company (“buyer”) provides needed funds to a company (“seller”) that commits to deliver to the buyer a percentage of future revenue, provided such revenue exists, to pay back the amount originally advanced plus an additional fixed fee.

Policymakers in some states believe that RBF instruments should be regulated in the same way as regular business loans, including APR disclosures. Members of RBFC, which include finance companies, brokers who provide business to them, and service providers, strongly disagree, and the organization was formed to help educate Congress, federal and state regulators, and state elected officials on issues related to non-bank commercial finance.

Some of the companies who provide non-traditional finance to small and medium sized business and some of the brokers who provide business to them also do equipment finance and lease transactions.

Most such companies sell such transactions to banks or equipment finance companies, but a few non-traditional finance companies, such as Channel Partners, also have a sizable equipment finance business. Also, many traditional equipment finance and leasing companies and brokers offer non-traditional financing to their small and medium sized customers.

A few equipment finance and leasing companies, including PEAC Solutions, CIT, Ascentium Capital, and National Funding, retain this non-traditional business, but most sell such transactions to established non-traditional finance companies.

It is apparent that there are cross-overs between non-traditional finance companies and equipment finance companies, and both types of companies share similarities such as regulation, credit risks, origination channels, the importance of strong collection, efforts, the need for sufficient and competitive funding, and the use of technology to reduce costs and provide efficiency. Thus, the RBFC thought that it was time at this year’s conference to include a discussion of equipment leasing and finance. I was pleased to fill this role by being on a panel that addressed financing and M&A for commercial finance businesses.

Bruce Kropschot
Senior Managing Director
4751 Bonita Bay Blvd., Unit 201
Bonita Springs, FL 34134
The Alta Group
(772) 321-2167
bkropschot@thealtagroup.com
www.thealtagroup.com

Bruce Kropschot is one of the first asked to join the Leasing News advisory board and he has been active since September 6, 2000. He was named Leasing Person of the Year for 2015. Editor.

[headlines]
--------------------------------------------------------------

Fed Forecasts Answer on Why SVB Failed
to Be Released May 1, 2023

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

Michael S. Barr

Federal Reserve Board announces that Vice Chair for Supervision Michael S. Barr is leading a review of the supervision and regulation of Silicon Valley Bank, in light of its failure. The forecast is to be released May 1, 2023

The Federal Reserve Board on Monday announced that Vice Chair for Supervision Michael S. Barr is leading a review of the supervision and regulation of Silicon Valley Bank, in light of its failure. The review will be publicly released by May 1.

"The events surrounding Silicon Valley Bank demand a thorough, transparent, and swift review by the Federal Reserve," said Chair Jerome H. Powell.

"We need to have humility, and conduct a careful and thorough review of how we supervised and regulated this firm, and what we should learn from this experience," said Vice Chair Barr.

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

[headlines]
--------------------------------------------------------------

More on Employee Retention Credit
from the Internal Revenue Service
By David Goldin, Founder & CEO

It can take months to a year to receive the Checks for Employee Retention Credit (ERC / ERTC) from bank or other closing of businesses.

Finance ERC (http://www.financeerc.com) can provide $75,000 to several million dollars to companies that have filed their Employee Retention Credit (ERC/ERTC).

We can typically provide funds in 10 days or less.

This can be a great liquidity solution for companies affected by the SVB collapse or others in a similar ERC procedure.

If companies haven’t filed yet, we can also introduce them to reputable ERC filers that don’t require any fees upfront and will work on contingency.

David Goldin
dgoldin@financeerc.com
Founder & CEO of Capify / Head of Originations at Lender Capital Partners / Co-Founder & Managing Member Finance ERC, Boca Raton, Florida
https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidgoldin/

[headlines]
----------------------------------------------------------------

This Day in American History

    1767 - Andrew Jackson (d. 1845) was born in a log cabin at Waxhaw, SC. The 7th president of the US (Mar 4, 1829-Mar 3, 1837), Jackson was the first president since George Washington who had not attended college. He was a military hero in the War of 1812. His presidency reflected his democratic and egalitarian values. His birthday is observed as a holiday in Tennessee.
    1781 – The Continental Army inflicted heavy losses on the British at the Battle of Guilford Court House, North Carolina. A 2,100-man British force under Cornwallis defeated Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene’s 4,500 Americans but lost a considerable number of men during the battle with estimates as high as 27%. Such heavy British casualties resulted in a strategic victory for the Americans. The battle was the “largest and most hotly contested” battle of the American Revolution’s southern campaign and led to the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown.
    1783 - General George Washington addressed a meeting at Newburgh, NY of Continental Army officers who were dissatisfied and rebellious for want of back pay, food, clothing and pensions. General Washington called for patience, opening his speech with the words: "I have grown gray in your service." Congress later acted to satisfy most of the demands.
    1820 - Maine became the 23rd state. Prior to this date it was part of Massachusetts. The Pine Tree State. The white pine cone with its tassel is the state flower. The chickadee is the state bird. The landlocked salmon is the state fish, the tourmaline is the state mineral. The state song: “State of Maine Song”. ‘I direct' is the state motto which is ‘dirigo' in Latin. From the 15th to 19th centuries, this was a great fishing area, off the coast of islands off Nova Scotia. The name of the state comes for its first use to distinguish the mainland from islands offshore. Maine was also thought to be named in honor of Henrietta Maria, Charles I of England's queen. She owned a province in France titled, Mayne. Augusta is the state capital.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/mar15.html
    1827 – “Freedom's Journal,” first Black newspaper, published by John Russwurm and Samuel Cornish
http://www.shsw.wisc.edu/library/aanp/freedom/index.html
    1848 - "The Californian" reported gold was discovered along the American River at a sawmill owned by Capt. John A. Sutter. News was not widely believed in San Francisco.
    1848 – “The Californian”: "We entertain several reasons why slavery should not be introduced here. First, it is wrong for it to exist anywhere. Second, not a single instance of precedence exists at present in the shape of physical bondage of our fellow men. Third, there is no excuse whatever for its introduction into this country (by virtue of climate or physical conditions). Fourth, Negroes have equal rights to life, liberty, health and happiness with the whites. Fifth, it is every individual's duty, to self and to society, to be occupied in useful employment sufficient to gain self-support. Sixth, it would be the greatest calamity that the power of the United States could inflict upon California. Seventh, we desire only a white population in California. Eighth, we left the slave states because we did not like to bring up a family in a miserable, can't-help-one's-self condition. Ninth, in conclusion we dearly love the 'Union,' but declare our positive preference for an independent condition of California to the establishment of any degree of slavery, or even the importation of free blacks." Ten days later the other local journal, “The California Star,” said editorially; "While we sincerely entertain these views, and value the union with the United States as highly as we should, the simple recognition of slavery here would be looked upon as a greater misfortune to the territory than though California had remained in its former state, or were at the present crisis, abandoned to its fate. * * We believe, though slavery could not be generally introduced, that its recognition would blast the prospects of the country. It would make it disreputable for the white man to labor for his bread, and it would thus drive off to other homes the only class of emigrants California wishes to see, the sober and industrious middle-class of society. We would, therefore, on the part of 90 per cent of the population of this country, most solemnly protest against the introducing of this blight upon the prosperity of the home of our adoption. We should look upon it as an unnecessary moral, intellectual and social curse to ourselves and posterity."
    1849 - Gen. Smith, military commander of California, declared the Yerba Buena harbor to be poor because the seas are too rough and it is located on a peninsula with little water and few food supplies.
    1864 - The U.S. Navy fleet arrived at Alexandria, LA for the Red River Campaign that lasted into May. The campaign was a Union initiative, fought between approximately 30,000 Union troops under the command of Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Banks, and 6,000 to 15,000 Confederate troops under the command of Lt. Gen. Richard Taylor. The campaign was primarily the plan of Union General-in-Chief Henry Halleck, and a diversion from Lt. Gen. Grant’s plan to surround the main Confederate armies by using Banks's Army of the Gulf to capture Mobile, AL. It was a Union failure, characterized by poor planning and mismanagement, in which not a single objective was fully accomplished. Taylor successfully defended the Red River Valley with a smaller force.

    1875 – The Archbishop of New York, John McCloskey, was named the first Roman Catholic Cardinal in the US.
    1885 - A lower court in NYC ruled that playing baseball on Sunday is a crime. This decision will be overturned, but it will be appealed.
    1892 - New York State unveiled an automatic ballot booth (voting machine).
    1892 – The escalator was patented by Jesse W. Reno of NYC.
    1901 – Horse racing was banned in San Francisco.
    1907 - Trumpet player Jimmy McPartland (d. 1991) was born, Chicago, IL.
http://www.redhotjazz.com/McPartland.html
http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/su/cja/mcpphotos.html
    1912 - Birthday of guitarist/folksinger Lightin' Hopkins (d. 1982), Centerville, TX. His career spanned more than 30 years, even though he did not begin performing in earnest until middle age. Hopkins spent most of his life in the Houston area, recording his first hits, "Short Haired Woman" and "Baby Please Don't Go" for the local Gold Star label in 1947. Texas blues fell from favor in the mid-1950s, and Hopkins was not heard from again until 1959 when he began playing folk and blues festivals. Lightnin' Hopkins's last performance was at Carnegie Hall in 1979.
http://www.blueflamecafe.com/index.html
    1912 – Cy Young retired from Major League Baseball with a still-record 511 wins. His average year was 20-12 with 30 complete games. Of all the records in sports, most agree this will never be broken.
    1913 - The first small claims court established for small debtors, was authorized by Kansas, to deal with cases involving not more than $20. Plaintiffs and defendants appeared without legal representation. Judges served without fee, pay, or award. Appeals could be taken to the district court.
    1913 – President Woodrow Wilson held the first presidential press conference.
    1914 – The birthday of Joe E. Ross, born Joseph Roszawikz (d. 1982) in NYC. Known for his trademark "Ooh! Ooh!" exclamation, which he used in many of his roles, he starred as Mess Sgt. Rupert Ritzik in “The Phil Silvers Show” and as Patrolman Gunther Toody in “Car 54, Where Are You?”
    1916 - Trumpet player/bandleader Harry James (d. 1983) was born in Albany, GA. His was the first "name band" to employ Frank Sinatra in 1939. James signed Sinatra to a one-year contract, of which Sinatra worked seven months before going to sing for Tommy Dorsey. His later band included drummer Buddy Rich. His orchestra succeeded Glenn Miller’s on a radio program in 1942, when Miller disbanded his orchestra to enter the Army.
http://www.davidmulliss.com.au/HarryJames/index.htm
    1922 – The first radio station in the South, WSB Atlanta, began broadcasting.
    1926 – “The Dutchman,” Norm Van Brocklin (d. 1983) was born in Parade, SD. After nine seasons with the LA Rams, winning the 1951 NFL Championship, he signed as the QB for the Philadelphia Eagles. He led the Eagles to the 1960 NFL Championship, the only QB to defeat Vince Lombardi in an NFL title game. He became the first head coach of the Minnesota Vikings in 1961. He is a member of the University of Oregon and the Pro Football Halls of Fame.
    1930 - USS Constitution (Old Ironsides) floated out to become a national shrine. A 1924 inspection found her in grave condition. The Navy Board of Inspection and Survey recommended that she be thoroughly repaired in order to preserve her as long as possible. The estimated cost of repairs was $400,000. Secretary of the Navy Wilbur proposed to Congress that the required funds be raised privately, and he was authorized to assemble the committee charged with her restoration. A nationwide campaign included $148,000 raised from the pennies of schoolchildren across the US. Constitution entered dry dock with a crowd of 10,000 observers on 16 June 1927. Charles F. Adams had been appointed as the Secretary of the Navy, and he proposed that Constitution make a tour of the United States upon her completion as a gift to the nation for its efforts to help restore her. She emerged from dry dock with many amenities installed to prepare her for the three-year tour of the country. Setting out with much celebration and a 21-gun salute, the tour of 90 port cities along the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coasts began at Portsmouth, NH. She went as far north as Bar Harbor, ME, on the Atlantic coast, south through the Panama Canal, and north again to Bellingham, WA. Constitution returned to her home port of Boston in May, 1934 after more than 4.6 million people visited her during the three-year tour.
http://www.ussconstitution.navy.mil/historyupdat.htm
http://www.ussconstitution.navy.mil/
    1930 – USS Nautilus, the first streamlined US submarine was launched at Mare Island in California. The third sub of this name, she was the forerunner of USS Nautilus, the first nuclear submarine that was launched in 1954.
    1933 - Birthday of Ruth Bader Ginsburg (d. 2020), Brooklyn, NY. U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice appointed in 1992, she is a lifelong advocate of women's rights. She won five of the six cases that she argued before the Supreme Court, establishing the unconstitutionality of unequal treatment for men and women. She was the editor of the Harvard Law Review. Ginsburg graduated first in her class of 1959, but she was unable to find a job in a law firm as neither mothers nor Jews were being hired. She eventually found employment as a clerk with a federal district judge in New York with the proviso that a male appointee would be waiting when she failed. She was the first female tenured professor at Columbia University and former director of the Women's Rights Project of the ACLU. President Bill Clinton nominated Ginsburg to the Supreme Court on June 15, 1993, and the Senate overwhelmingly (96—3) approved her nomination. She took the oath of office on August 10, 1993.
    1935 – Actor Judd Hirsch was born in The Bronx. He is best known for playing Alex Rieger on the television comedy series “Taxi” (1978–1983). Over the course of his career, he has twice won the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a comedy Series, has twice won the Tony for Best Actor in a Play, and has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
    1937 - The first birth control clinic run by a state government was opened in Raleigh, NC, by the state board of health, including a program setting up contraceptive clinics for poor married women in local maternity and child health services.
    1937 - The first blood bank to preserve blood by refrigeration for future use in transfusions was established by the Cook County Hospital, Chicago, IL.
    1941 - Mike Love of the Beach Boys was born in Los Angeles. Love is a cousin of the three Wilson Brothers - Brian, Carl and Dennis. With their friend, Al Jardine, they formed a high school group which played under such names as the Pendletones, Kenny and the Cadets, and Carl and the Passions. Mike Love and Brian Wilson wrote "Surfin'," which was a California hit in 1961 for the group, now called the Beach Boys. Murray Wilson, the father of Brian, Dennis and Carl, got the Beach Boys a contract with Capitol Records. Their hits began - "Surfin' Safari," "Surfin' USA" and "Surfer Girl." These were the songs that launched the surf music fad. They went to University High School, as I did, played in some of their pick-up bands, and yes, they really were surfers, who got up at 5am to go surfing before going to school—before the days of wet suits, too.
    1941 - The most severe blizzard in modern history struck North Dakota and Minnesota. The blizzard hit on a Saturday night while many were traveling and resulted in the tragic loss of 71 lives. Winds gusted to 75 mph at Duluth, Minnesota and to 85 mph at Grand Forks, North Dakota. Snow drifts reached 12 feet in north central Minnesota.
    1943 - Sly Stone was born Sylvester Stewart in Denton, Texas. Sly & The Family Stone had their first hit single with "Dance to the Music” (1968). Their fourth album, “Stand!” (1969), became a runaway success, selling over three million copies and spawning a number one hit single, "Everyday People." By the summer of 1969, Sly & The Family Stone were one of the biggest names in music, releasing two more top five singles, "Hot Fun in the Summertime" and "Thank You" / "Everybody Is a Star", before the end of the year, and appearing at Woodstock.
http://www.artistinformation.com/sly_&_the_family_stone.html
    1944 – The Washington Senators started spring training with six knuckleballers likely to make the staff. Of them, Mickey Haefner, Dutch Leonard, Johnny Niggeling and Roger Wolff joined Early Wynn as starters and the rest went to the bullpen.
    1946 - Nat “King” Cole records “Route 66” written by Bobby Troup, the first of dozens of covers since. Troup, a Wharton graduate in economics, got the idea for the song on a cross-country drive from Pennsylvania to California. Troup wanted to try his hand as a Hollywood songwriter, so he and his wife, Cynthia, packed up their 1941 Buick and headed west. The trip began on US 40, then continued along US 66 to the California coast. Troup initially considered writing a tune about US 40, but Cynthia suggested the title "Get Your Kicks on Route 66." The song was composed on the ten-day journey and completed by referring to maps when the couple arrived in Los Angeles.
    1947 - Ensign John W. Lee of Indianapolis, IN was commission an officer, becoming the first in the U.S. Navy. He was assigned to the U.S. S. Kearsarge.
    1948 - Parcel Post Air Service between the United States and 21 countries in Europe and Africa began. Service late in the year began to South America and then to the Pacific.
    1952 – Kay Starr hit # 1 with “Wheel of Fortune.”
    1954 - Top Hits
“Make Love to Me!” - Jo Stafford
“I Get So Lonely” - The Four Knights
“Answer Me, My Love” - Nat ‘King' Cole
“Slowly” - Webb Pierce
    1954 - The Chords released "Sh-Boom." It was a U.S. Top 100 #2 hit that year for both The Chords (who first recorded the song) and The Crew-Cuts who took it to #1.
    1955 - Colonel Tom Parker becomes Elvis Presley's manager. Parker's previous show-business experience included managing country stars Hank Snow, Eddy Arnold and Gene Autry. Parker manages Presley all his life and after his death.
    1955 - Fats Domino released "Ain't It (That) A Shame." It became a top 10 hit and was covered later by Pat Boone who took it to #1. Domino didn’t care…he wrote the song!
    1956 - The musical, "My Fair Lady", opened on Broadway. The show ran for 6-1/2 years before 2,717 audiences. It became, thanks to Rex Harrison and an outstanding cast, the longest running major musical theatre production in history. It was followed by a hit London production, a popular film version, and numerous revivals. It has been called "the perfect musical."
    1957 - Carol Heiss of Ozone Park, Queens, New York City, won her first National Women's figure skating championship at Berkeley, CA: her second and third in 1958 and 1959; and her fourth consecutive title on January 29, 1960, at Seattle, WA.
http://www.worldskatingmuseum.org/chjhof.htm
    1959 - The musical, “No Strings,” opened on Broadway at the 54th Street Theatre. Richard Kiley and Diahann Carroll starred in the show. Also featured was the show’s composer in an acting role, singing his own lyrics. The composer was Richard Rodgers.
    1960 - The Key Largo Coral Reef Preserve, an area 21 miles long and 3.5 wine in the Atlantic Ocean was made an undersea park by proclamation of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. This wildlife refuse contains 40 of the 52 known coral species.
  1962 - Top Hits
“Hey! Baby” - Bruce Channel
“Midnight in Moscow” - Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen
“Don't Break the Heart that Loves You” - Connie Francis
“Misery Loves Company” - Porter Wagoner
    1966 - Winners of the eighth annual Grammy awards for 1965 are announced. Record of the Year is "A Taste of Honey" by Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass. Album of the year is Frank Sinatra's "September of My Years." Song of the Year is "The Shadow of Your Smile" by Paul Francis Webster and Johnny Mandel.
    1964 – “My Fair Lady,” by Lerner and Loewe, opened on Broadway. It ran for 6-1/2 years before 2,717 audiences. It became, thanks to Rex Harrison and an outstanding cast, the longest-running musical to that time.
    1968 - "LIFE" magazine called Jimi Hendrix, “the most spectacular guitarist in the world.”
    1968 - Blood, Sweat and Tears opened at the S.F. Avalon Ballroom.
    1970 - Top Hits
“Bridge Over Troubled Water” - Simon & Garfunkel
“Travelin' Band/Who'll Stop the Rain” - Creedence Clearwater Revival
“The Rapper” - The Jaggerz
“It's Just a Matter of Time” - Sonny James
    1971 - CBS-TV announced the cancelation of “The Ed Sullivan Show,” then the longest-running TV show in history, after 23 years.
    1971 – Bernice Gera, a 39-year-old NYC housewife, filed a lawsuit against organized baseball, claiming violation of her civil rights. Mrs. Gera had completed an umpire school and signed a contract to work in the New York-Penn League, only to see the deal be voided six days later with no explanation. Gera will eventually umpire one game before quitting.
    1972 - Singer Robert John scores with a remake of the Tokens' Number One hit "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." John's version goes Top Fifteen and earns him a gold record
    1972 - Los Angeles Radio station KHJ is raided by L.A. police after calls from listeners who feared there'd been a revolution at the station from 6:00 to 7:30 in the morning. DJ Robert W. Morgan had played Donny Osmond's "Puppy Love" over and over. The police left without making any arrests.
    1972 - "The Godfather," Francis Ford Coppola's epic gangster movie based on the Mario Puzo novel and starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino, premiered in New York. Paramount obtained the rights to the novel for the price of $80,000, before it gained popularity. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest films in world cinema and one of the most influential. It was nominated for 11 Oscars and won three, including Best Picture. It was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in 1990, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and is ranked the second-greatest film in American history (behind “Citizen Kane”) by the AFI.
    1977 - “Eight is Enough” premiers on TV. This one-hour comedy-drama was set in Sacramento and starred Dick Van Patten as Tom Bradford, a columnist for a local paper and a widower with eight children. Diana Hyland played his wife Joan; she died from cancer after filming five shows. The children were played by Grant Goodeve, Lani O'Grady, Laurie Walters, Susan Richardson, Dianne Kay, Connie Needham, Willie Aames and Adam Rich. In the fall of 1977, Betty Buckley joined the cast as tutor Abby Abbott, who later married Tom. Most of the cast was reunited for Tom's 50th birthday on "Eight Is Enough: A Family Reunion" shown on Oct 18, 1987.
http://www.becoming.net/eie/
http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/ShowMainServlet/showid-691/
    1977 - “Three's Company” appears on TV. This half-hour comedy featured two girls and a guy sharing an apartment. In order for the landlord to go along with the living arrangements, Jack Tripper, played by John Ritter, had to pretend he was gay. Cast included Joyce DeWitt, Suzanne Somers, Norman Fell, Audra Findley, Richard Kline, Don Knotts and Priscilla Barnes. The last telecast aired on Sept 18, 1984.
http://www.threescompany.com/tcompany/www/
http://www.sitcomsonline.com/threescompany.html
    1978 - The Oakland A’s traded star pitcher Vida Blue to the San Francisco Giants for seven players and nearly $400,000 in cash. Blue won 18 games for the Giants that season. In 1976, baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn vetoed an attempt by Oakland A's owner Charlie Finley to sell Blue to the New York Yankees, and in 1978, Kuhn cancelled a proposed trade of Blue to the Cincinnati Reds. In both instances, Kuhn said the trades would be bad for baseball because they would benefit already powerful teams without making them give up any significant talent in return. At the end of the 1976 season, nearly the entire A's roster of star players from Oakland's championship teams left with baseball's new free agency, or were traded off by Finley, leaving Blue, who was still under contract with Oakland, to mentor a new team of primarily rookies and other young players.
    1978 - Top Hits
“(Love Is) Thicker Than Water” - Andy Gibb
“Night Fever” - Bee Gees
“Lay Down Sally” - Eric Clapton
“Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys” - Waylon & Willie
    1978 - "American Hot Wax," a film about a week in the life of pioneer rock & roll disc jockey Alan Freed, premieres in New York. The soundtrack features Jackie Wilson, Buddy Holly, the Moonglows, Drifters, Spaniels, Cadillacs, Zodiacs and others. It is widely considered one of the best rock and roll movies of all time.
    1981 – The National Football League prohibited the use of any sticky substances on the body uniform or equipment of any player. The rules change was largely aimed at the defensive unit of the Los Angeles Raiders, winners of the 1981 Super Bowl, and in particular, at LA defensive back Lester Hayes, who coated his arms and chest with Stickum and intercepted 13 passes during the 1980 season.
    1984 - Severe thunderstorms in Arkansas produced 2 violent (F4) tornadoes. The first tornado tracked 48 miles through Van Buren, Cleburne, and Independence counties. 2 people were killed and 13 were injured. 63 homes and 22 mobile homes were destroyed. The tornado lifted the highway 16 bridge and threw it into Greers Ferry Lake. The bridge was 1/4 mile long and had a large steel superstructure. The second tornado tore through Jackson and Poinsett counties with 5 people killed and 12 injured
    1985 - “Mr. Belvedere” premiers on TV. A sitcom about a sarcastic, talented, wise British housekeeper and his love-hate relationship with a Pittsburgh family. It starred Christopher Hewett as Lynn Belvedere, former baseball player Bob Uecker as his employer/antagonist, sportswriter George Owens, Ilene Graff as George's wife Marsha, a law student, Rob Stone as Kevin, Tracy Wells as Heather and Brice Beckham as mischievous Wesley. At the end of each episode, Mr. Belvedere narrated the day's lesson as he wrote in his journal and ended the show on a funny note. The last telecast aired July 8, 1990.
http://www.sitcomsonline.com/mrbelvedere.html
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0088576/
    1985 - The first Internet domain name, symbolics.com, was registered.
    1986 - Top Hits
“Sara” - Starship
“These Dreams” - Heart
“Secret Lovers” - Atlantic Starr
“I Could Get Used to You” - Exile
    1987 - Bryan Adams' "Heat of the Night" becomes the first commercially released cassette single, or cassingle, in the U.S.
    1987 - The place: Orlando, Florida. The golf course: the Arnold Palmer-designed Bay Hill layout. The tournament: the Bay Hill Classic. Don Pooley showed the golf world what a true million-dollar swing looked like, as he made a hole in one during the final round. The tournament sponsor had offered a million dollars to anyone making an ace. Pooley didn't win the tourney but won a lot more than anyone else.
    1987 - Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Starlight Express" opened on Broadway. This was the first ever roller-skating musical.
    1988 - “The Wonder Years” premiered on TV. A coming-of-age tale set in suburbia in the 1960s and 1970s, this drama/comedy starred Fred Savage as Kevin Arnold, Josh Saviano as his best friend Paul and Danica McKellar as girlfriend Winnie. Kevin's dad was played by Dan Lauria, his homemaker mom by Alley Mills, his hippie sister by Olivia d'Abo and his bully brother by Jason Hervey. Narrator Daniel Stern was the voice of the grown-up Kevin. The last episode ran Sept 1, 1993 but it remains popular in syndication.
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~kpearce/wy.html
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094582/
    1988 - More than one hundred hours of continuous snow finally came to an end at Marquette, MI, during which time the city was buried under 43 inches of snow. Unseasonably cold weather prevailed in the southeastern U.S., with forty-one cities reporting record low temperatures for the date.
    1993 - 69 daily low temperature records were broken over the eastern US as cold air persisted behind the "blizzard of '93". Elkins, West Virginia recorded 5 degrees below zero to break its old record by 15 degrees and New Orleans, Louisiana dropped to 31 degrees to break its old record by 9 degrees. Fort Myers, Florida shivered at 39 degrees.
    1994 - 0.9 inches of snow on this day brought the seasonal snowfall total at Binghamton, New York to 123.2 inches -- the city's snowiest winter ever.
    1997 - Dave Andreychuk of the New Jersey Devils became the 26th player in the National Hockey League and the second in two days to score 500 regular-season goals. Andreychuk's goal helped the Devils beat the Washington Capitals, 3-2.
    1997 - The University of North Carolina men's basketball team defeated Colorado, 73-56, in the second round of the NCAA tournament to give coach Dean Smith the 877th victory of his career, one more than Adolph Rupp. Smith's win, his 63rd in NCAA tournament play, came in his 36th season as a head coach. He finished his career with 879 wins, the most in NCAA Division I Men’s basketball at the time.
    1999 - Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Dusty Springfield, the Staples Singers, Del Shannon, Curtis Mayfield and Beatles producer George Martin are among those inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Springfield died just 11 days before.
    2003 - Thousands of anti-war demonstrators marched in SF, Washington, DC and around the world.
    2006 - Remnants of Fats Domino's three pianos were discovered and saved by the Louisiana State Museum after attempting to salvage his Ninth Ward home after Hurricane Katrina.
    2011 – MLB Commissioner Bud Selig formed a twelve-person committee to study the origins of baseball   newly-appointed official historian John Thorn as its chair. The issue has been rekindled with the publication this week of Thorn's book, “Baseball in the Garden of Eden,” which casts doubt on the role of Alexander Cartwright in laying down the fundamental principles of the game. Ironically, Cartwright was promoted as the "real" founder of the game to counteract the unfounded legend that Abner Doubleday had laid down the first baseball diamond in Cooperstown in 1839. Thorn argues that the game is in fact much older than once thought, with traces found in 18th century records.
    2015 - Boston reached a new snowfall record of 108.6 inches. The city's previous record of 107.6 inches was set in the winter of 1995-1996.
    2018 – Toys R Us announced it will close all its stores after filing for bankruptcy.
    2018 – A pedestrian bridge on near Florida International University in Miami collapsed onto 8-lane highway 5 days after it was built, killing 6 and injuring 10.

The object is to insert the numbers in the boxes to satisfy only one condition: each row, column and 3x3 box must contain the digits 1 through 9 exactly once. What could be simpler?

You can save up to 20 different routes and check them out with one click,
or type in a new route to learn the traffic live