Updates on California and Nevada Commercial Laws
Kenneth C. Greene, Leasing News Legal Editor

California: The California Financing Law (“CFL”) historically exempted from its licensing provisions a person who makes only one commercial loan in a 12-month period. That exemption ended on January 1, 2022. However, on April 28, Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill 577, which reenacted that exemption and made the provision remain operative indefinitely.

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB577

This really does little for the commercial finance industry, though it may be helpful if you have applied for your CFL license, are waiting for the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (“DFPI”) to issue it, and you are presented with an opportunity that can’t wait the three months or so for the review process to conclude.

As an aside, the CFL law still permits a person to make 5 or fewer loans in a rolling 12-month period without a license as long as those loans are “incidental to the business of the person relying on the exemption.” CFL Section 22050(e).

This exemption from licensing is also of limited utility, as it is not available to persons or companies whose business is making loans. It would be useful for, say, a Burger King franchisor who might loan money to its franchisee to assist in its start-up, but that is only because the franchisor’s business is making cheeseburgers, not loans.

In other recent developments in California, on May 4, 2022, Gov. Newsom signed an executive order which lays the groundwork for the regulation of cryptocurrency, a three trillion dollar industry, in the state. Newsom’s goal, as outlined in the order, is to “create a transparent and consistent business environment for companies operating in blockchain” that balances “the risks and benefits to consumers.”  The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development will be working with the DFPI to devise “potential blockchain applications and ventures.” It also calls for the DFPI to “shape a regulatory approach to cryptocurrency, create consumer protections” and more. One can only wonder whether part of that “regulatory approach” will be mandatory licensing for crypto dealers. Either way, this is sure to increase the workload at the DFPI.

Gov. Newsom’s bill is consistent with President Biden’s recent executive order requiring oversight of the burgeoning cryptocurrency industry. According to the Wall Street Journal, and The Hill, New York and Wyoming have also narrowly passed laws addressing this industry.

Nevada: After my article on Nevada was published, I was reminded by my erudite colleague Sloan Schickler at Schickler Kaye to point out that there is an exemption from licensing in Nevada that permits an “internet business lender” to do business without a physical location in the state under NR §675.090. However, if a lender is either (a) making loans to consumers or (b) making commercial loans by physically conducting business within the state, it will require a physical location under Section 675.060 and thus a license.

How this affects those at a conference from out of state making a commercial law needs more investigation, as there does not seem to be any case law regarding its enforcement. Stay tuned.

NR §675.090
https://law.justia.com/codes/nevada/2021/chapter-675/statute-675-090/

NR §675.060.
https://law.justia.com/codes/nevada/2021/chapter-675/statute-675-060/

This brings up a fascinating discussion about the ability of states to regulate interstate commercial finance, particularly now that virtually every company’s primary “situs” is the internet. I will leave that discussion for another day.

Ken Greene Leasing & Finance Observations
https://leasingnews.org/Pages/greene_observations.html

Ken Greene
Tel: 818.575.9095
Fax: 805.435.7464
ken@kengreenelaw.com
Alternate: kengreenelaw@outlook.com

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Funders Taking "New" Broker Business List
Four Do Not Require that Brokers Be Licensed

BSB Leasing, Inc.
Bankers Capital
C.H. Brown Company
Forum Financial Services
TimePayment Corp.

The following “funders” have informed Leasing News they will consider business from “new” third party originators.  Many companies require a certain length of time in business and other requirements, such as a specific volume of business.  These “funders” will consider submissions from those new in the leasing and finance business:

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Billions of Dollars Are Transferred Daily
from Independent to Professional Investors
By Dr. Dan Geller

The stock market is down because independent investors are panicking and selling equities at deep discounts. On the other sides of the trade are professional investors of asset management companies, such as Warren Buffett, who increased his stake in Chevron to $26 billion at bargain prices. The loss of the independent investors is the gain of the professionals, which is the largest transfer of wealth that goes on unnoticed and uncontested.

Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway invests only when the price of a target company is much less than its value. In the beginning of the pandemic, until the beginning of 2022, the Chevron stock (CVX) fluctuated around $115, and even went down to $59 in the beginning of the pandemic. Today, the Chevron stock stands at $170.

Independent investors, who are mostly working people or retirees trading with their savings or IRA money, make investment decisions emotionally and instinctively, which is why they end up selling their equities when their level of money anxiety goes up. They panic and sell because they lack the scientific analysis and projection models that professional use to evaluate the underlying economy. Case in point, the U.S. economy added 428K new jobs in April – a sign of strong demand.

Dr. Dan Geller
Behavioral Economics
for Financial Services
Analyticom LLC
drgeller@analyticom.com
www.analyticom.com
415-891-3093

Help Wanted Ads

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Yes, I meant:  “We Are Living in Exciting Times”
By Scott Wheeler, CLFP, Wheeler Business Consulting

Last Wednesday Leasing News ran my column on “We Are Living in Exciting Times.” (1). I was very serious.

There are several headwinds facing the U.S. economy including, but not limited to: geopolitical uncertainty, inflation, and the federal interest rate rise last Thursday.

There have been many discussions related to how originators, sales teams, and companies can best prepare for the uncertainty. The answer to any challenge within the commercial equipment finance and leasing industry always boils down to "Quality" (quality assets, quality relationships, quality vendors, quality equipment, quality talent, etc.).

The best teams and companies weather the storms by being prepared, by being focused on funding high quality assets, and by having professionals who know the difference between sub-par, average, and superior assets. Ultimately, professionals and companies are not judged by being the largest but by being the best. Long-term success is often tested in challenging times and the commercial equipment finance and leasing industry appears to be facing a test over the coming six to eighteen months.

The best organizations will thrive and will be dominant leaders in the industry. They will experience controlled growth and capture new opportunities because of their expertise and willingness to define and win quality commercial equipment assets.

At a recent industry event, a small group of industry veterans made the following observations:

• The industry is currently robust but facing strong headwinds in the near-term (6-18 months).
• Savvy participants have already pivoted to aligning their risk with reward matrices (getting paid for their risk).
• Rates will rise significantly to combat inflation. The industry is currently focused on the internal challenges of increasing rates; however, the real challenge will come when higher rates impact small and medium size businesses and their ability to pay outstanding debt.
• The focus of industry participants will quickly pivot from growth to quality. The industry has been here before with the same reaction each time.
• Participants will be reminded of many old lessons learned and some will repeat the same misguided strategy once again in the future. We have seen the same story played out many times with each economic cycle.
• There will be some participants that will not survive the upcoming challenges, while many participants that have already positioned themselves for long-term success will capture greater opportunities and become stronger because of the challenges.

The discussions reminded me of a conversation that I had many years ago with a top producing originator. He claimed that industry challenges only created greater opportunities for him and his clients. His business was based upon quality relationships that produced quality assets in all stages of an economic cycle. Therefore, he never had to participate in any downturn. There were always high-quality companies with a demand for new equipment to outperform average competitors.

The future has never been brighter for those originators and companies who focus on quality.

We Are Living in Exciting Times

By Scott Wheeler, CLFP, Wheeler Business Consulting
https://leasingnews.org/archives/May2022/05_04.htm#we

Scott A. Wheeler, CLFP
Wheeler Business Consulting
Comments, questions and suggestions are welcome.
Phone: 410-877-0428
email: scott@wheelerbusinessconsulting.com

Wheeler Business Consulting works with banks, independents, captives, origination companies, and investors in the equipment leasing and finance arena. We provide training, strategic planning, and acquisition services. Scott Wheeler is available to discuss your long-term strategy, to assist your staff to maximize outcomes, and to better position your organization in the market.

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Penske Adds Electric Terminal Trucks to Lease Offering
A New Era for Fleets

Penske Truck Leasing is adding specialty-designed Orange EV electric terminal trucks to its fleet offering across the U.S.

The vehicles are designed for trailer-handling operations in truck yards, warehousing and distribution centers, container terminals and related operations where short-distance moves are required.

These units will be leased and maintained by Penske. Charging will take place in the customer’s yard, plugging in when the vehicles are not in operation.

Penske officials say the company has several customers placing orders for these units and taking delivery of their equipment.

The Orange EV terminal trucks offer zero tailpipe emissions, regenerative braking with 50% shorter stopping distance, digital cab architecture, and remote diagnostic capabilities. The trucks operate up to 24 hours on a single charge

Earlier this year, North American Council for Freight Efficiency’s Run on Less Electric fleet efficiency demonstration concluded that electric yard tractors may be a great first step for fleets interested in learning more about electrification in commercial vehicle applications.

Source: HDT Truckinfo.com

Top Ten Leasing News Read by Readers
May 2 to May 6

 
(1) What Happens in Nevada May Not Stay
        in Nevada Licensing:
          How to Register, Rules, Requirements, Advice
Kenneth C. Greene, Leasing News Legal Editor
https://leasingnews.org/archives/May2022/05_06.htm#what

(2)  Billy Joel Never Sells Tickets to the Front
Rows of his Concerts
https://leasingnews.org/archives/May2022/05_04.htm#joel

(3) If You Are the Smartest in the Room…
Placard
https://leasingnews.org/archives/May2022/05_02.htm#if

(4) New Hires/Promotions in the Leasing Business
and Related Industries
https://leasingnews.org/archives/May2022/05_04.htm#hires

(5) New Hires/Promotions in the Leasing Business
and Related Industries
https://leasingnews.org/archives/May2022/05_06.htm#hires

(6)  Changing Rates Means Time for a New Marketing Plan
Prepare to Enter New Markets
https://leasingnews.org/archives/May2022/05_02.htm#changing

(7) The U.S. solar market is in chaos. Shipments have stopped,
installations are stalled, and people are starting to be laid off
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/29/climate/solar-industry-imports.html

(8) Opinion of Why Billy Joel Never Sell Tickets to the
Front Rows of his Concerts/May G. Philpott, CLFP
https://leasingnews.org/archives/May2022/05_06.htm#joel

(9) CLFP Foundation Adds 14 New CLFPs
from Private Hosting by DLL
https://leasingnews.org/archives/May2022/05_02.htm#clfp

(10) Sales Talent Crisis is Here Now
By Steve Chriest
https://leasingnews.org/archives/May2022/05_02.htm#talent

Spaniel Pointer
Kennesaw, Georgia  Adopt-a-Dog

Candice

Female
Three Years Old
41 lbs.
Spayed
Vaccinated
Microchipped
Adoptable
Fee: $299

A LOT OF LOVE AND ENERGY:

Hi, my name is Candice! I came to Mostly Mutts from animal control and then I got to participate in the prison foster/training program where I learned a ton! I am so glad to be on the journey to my furever home.

• OTHER DOGS/CATS/KIDS: I can be reactive to other dogs when I’m on the leash, but after a proper introduction, I liked the dogs I met in the prison program. In fact, I’m a submissive player. So, if you have a nice dog at home already, let’s meet and see if we can be pals. / Cats unknown. / I recently met kids at Mostly Mutts (around age 10+). I did well with them, though I became playfully jumpy when they started to run around, so best no small children that I may bump over.

• PERSONALITY/ENERGY LEVEL: I am a fun and affectionate girl who is as energetic as I am lovable. I need a good leader who will continue my training. I see myself as a lap dog – all 40+ pounds of me – lol. Playful and outgoing, I am ready to make great memories with my people. / My energy level is 6-8, so be ready to be active with me!

• SKILLS/CRATE/POTTY: I am a proud graduate of the Mostly Mutts University training program, and I’ve mastered the ‘sit’, ‘down’, ‘come’, ‘stay’, ‘drop it’, ‘leave it’ and ‘go to your place’ commands as well as greeting nice strangers without jumping on them. I also walk well on my leash and use proper door etiquette. / My crate manners are good at Mostly Mutts and in the prison program. / I have great potty habits on the shelter schedule.

• LIKES/DISLIKES: At the shelter, I love playing in the play yard with the volunteers. Exercise is an important part of my training. I will need this in my new home as well. My favorite toy is a ball with treats in it. I also like squeaky and crinkle toys, so have those handy for our play sessions, and I sure enjoy laps. / I sure I wouldn’t like it if I didn’t get enough love, attention, exercise, and training.

• MEDICAL: I'm current on vaccinations, micro-chipped and spayed.

I am looking for an active family to include me in a lifetime of adventures with them! My adoption fee is $299.00, and I’m located in Kennesaw, Ga.

Mostly Mutts
3238 Cherokee Street
Kennesaw, Georgia 30144
adopt@mostlymutts.org
Phone:  770-272-MUTT(6888)
https://www.mostlymutts.org/

Adoption Hours
10:00am to 3:00pm
Monday through Saturday

Closed Sunday

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Archives---May 9, 2000
Bad News from Cindy Spurdle,
Former Executive Director of NAELB

"Kit--

It was great to meet you finally. Thank you for arranging to get the AOL Disks to hand out. That was a great idea. I would like to also make sure that the two page handout you provided about free access to the internet so everyone could have an Email address is provided to all of our members.

Unfortunately, I won't be involved much longer. The Board voted to turn the management of the Association over completely to the Prime Management Services. They have eliminated my position altogether. I'm sure they will be notifying all the members of their decision.

Best of luck to you in the future and I know that it would surely be a benefit to the association and especially its brokers' members to have you actively involved as we discussed.

Thank you,

Cindy"

From NAELB, she went and worked for the United Association of Equipment Leasing, May, 2000, became Executive Director of the CLP Foundation, retiring in early 2012 from the position. An award is given annually in her name for the outstanding member of the CLP Foundation. 

News Briefs---

Italy impounds $700 million megayacht linked to Putin
    had been undergoing repairs before Russia invaded Ukraine
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/05/06/yacht-putin-italy-scheherazade/

Your new ‘retirement’ home could be
     a cruise ship
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/08/your-new-retirement-home-could-be-a-cruise-ship.html

Mortgage rate rise roils housing market
     but doesn’t shut off demand
https://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta-news/mortgage-rate-rise-roils-housing-market-but-doesnt-shut-off-demand/O32WCLLECZE7FH7MADWDFH74OI/

Electricity Shortage Warnings Grow Across U.S.
   Power-grid operators caution that electricity supplies aren’t keeping up
https://www.wsj.com/articles/electricity-shortage-warnings-grow-across-u-s-11652002380?st=naomnp3517v0hvl&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

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You May Have Missed---

America's official 'best beach' is in Hawaii,
    and it's worth the flight - Hapuna Beach
https://www.sfgate.com/hawaii/article/fly-to-America-most-beautiful-beach-17154634.php?IPID=SFGate-HP-CP-Spotlight

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Sports Briefs---

Steve Cohen’s New York Mets Will Pay $40 Million
    to Cut Ties With Robinson Canó
https://www.wsj.com/articles/steve-cohen-new-york-mets-robinson-cano-11651513843?mod=hp_major_pos1#cxrecs_s

Takeaway For Every MLB Team 1 Month Into 2022 Season
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10034210-1-takeaway-for-every-mlb-team-1-month-into-2022-season

In retirement, Buster Posey is already coaching kids
     Could he manage the SF Giants some day?
https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/05/08/in-retirement-buster-posey-is-already-coaching-kids-could-he-manage-the-giants-some-day/?

Deebo Samuel goes back to following
    San Francisco 49ers on Instagram
https://www.sfgate.com/49ers/article/Deebo-Samuel-follows-49ers-Instagram-17151018.php

Gold Standard: The change in Trey Lance this offseason
https://www.ninersnation.com/2022/5/5/23058918/49ers-news-the-change-in-trey-lance-this-offseason

Robert Saleh impressed with Zach Wilson,
    physically and mentally
https://www.theredzone.org/Blog-Description/EntryId/22782/Robert-Saleh-impressed-with-Zach-Wilson--physically-and-mentally

NFL power rankings: How did 2022 draft alter
    league landscape heading into next season?
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/columnist/nate-davis/2022/05/05/nfl-power-rankings-2022-draft-aj-brown-eagles-ravens-jets/9656235002/

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California Nuts Briefs---

At California’s second biggest lake,
    the latest fallout of drought is gruesome
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Clear-Lake-hitch-17152310.php

Will the impending Roe decision upend the LA mayor’s race?
https://www.courthousenews.com/will-the-impending-roe-decision-upend-the-la-mayors-race/

California College of the Arts bids farewell to Oakland
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/California-College-of-the-Arts-bids-farewell-to-17154848.php

Review: Paul McCartney amazes during
    first of two Oakland shows
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/05/07/review-paul-mccartney-amazes-during-first-of-two-oakland-shows/

COVID recovery: San Jose’s Valley Fair mall
    tops 100 new merchants
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/05/06/covid-recovery-san-jose-valley-fair-mall-100-new-merchants-economy/

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"Gimme that wine"

Napa Wine Star Jack Cakebread Started Out
     as an Auto Mechanic
https://www.wsj.com/articles/napa-wine-star-jack-cakebread-started-out-as-an-auto-mechanic-11651760724?mod=lead_feature_below_a_pos1

California’s ‘class of 1972’ wineries continue to raise the bar
https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2022/05/11/california-class-of-1972-wineries/

Rise of California North Coast ultrapremium boxed wine
https://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/article/industrynews/rise-of-california-north-coast-ultrapremium-boxed-wine/

Wine buyers return for Sonoma County Barrel Auction
https://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/article/business/wine-buyers-return-for-sonoma-county-barrel-auction/

This is why Burgundy is going to get even pricier
https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2022/05/this-is-why-burgundy-is-going-to-get-even-pricier/

Glass shortage, supply chain bottles up Northwest wineries
https://greatnorthwestwine.com/2022/04/12/glass-shortage-supply-chain-bottles-up-northwest-wineries/

From the Land of Bold Reds: 10 Superb Spanish Whites
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/05/dining/drinks/review-white-wine-spain.html

“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

      1502 – Christopher Columbus left Spain on his final voyage to the New World.
    1607 - The first Episcopal Church service in an English colony took place at Cape Henry, near Jamestown, Virginia, when the Reverend Robert Hunt celebrated the Eucharist. The event was reported as follows: “We did hang an awning (whish is an old saile) to three or four trees, to shadow us from the sunne, our walles were railes of wood, our seats unhewed trees till we cut plankes; our Pulpit a bar of wood nailed to two neighboring trees.”
    1754 - An American creation, the first newspaper cartoon was “Join or Die,” designed by Benjamin Franklin and published in Philadelphia, PA, in his newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette. It was printed in the first column of the second page. It depicted a snake cut into segments representing South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and New England.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/may09.html
    1763 - The Siege of Fort Detroit began during Pontiac’s War against British forces.  It was an ultimately unsuccessful attempt by North American Indians under Pontiac to capture the fort that had been captured by the British during the French and Indian War following the fall of Montreal in 1760.
    1783 - The Purple Heart, the first honor badge for enlisted men and noncommissioned officers, was awarded to Sergeants Daniel Bissell, William Brown, and Elijah Churchill of Connecticut regiments, for meritorious action in the Revolutionary War. They were entitled “to wear on facings over the left breast, the figure of a heart in purple cloth or silk, with narrow lace or binding.”
http://www.americal.org/awards/ph.htm 
http://www.purpleheart.org/
    1784 - A deadly hailstorm in South Carolina hit the town of Winnsborough. The hailstones, measuring as much as nine inches in circumference, killed several persons, and a great number of sheep, lambs and birds. 
    1796 - William Blount and William Cocke of Tennessee, elected by the Tennessee legislature, present their credentials to the US Senate. They were refused seats because Tennessee was not admitted until June 1, 1796. They were elected again on August 2, 1796, and took their seats on December 6, 1796. Blount was impeached for concocting a plain to aid the British, but the procedure did not pass the US Senate; however during the trial he was elected to the Tennessee Senate, and eventually and became President of the Senate.
http://www.lexrex.com/bios/wblount.htm
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000570
Cocke assumed the role of Senator in the next term until the legislature elected another person (in these days the state legislature elected US Senate representatives). He later moved to Mississippi, served under General Andrew Jackson in the War of 1812, and afterwards was appointed Indian Agent for the US. 
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000572
    1800 - Abolitionist leader John Brown (d. 1859) was born at Torrington, CT.  Leader of attack by slaves on the US arsenal at Harpers Ferry, October 16, 1859, which was intended to give impetus to movement for escape and freedom for slaves. His aim was frustrated and in fact resulted in increased polarization and sectional animosity. The first civilian killed by John Brown's raiders at Harpers Ferry was a free Black man. History has made him the legendary martyr of the abolitionist movement; even Walt Whitman wrote a poem about Harpers Ferry. Unfortunately, the real facts are: “He was a complete failure in business. He welched on his debts. He almost certainly was insane. And, in 1856, he nearly plunged Kansas into civil war by ruthlessly murdering five helpless members of a mildly proslavery family, in the process ‘splitting open heads and chopping off arms and fingers.’  Dixon Wecter, “The Hero in America” (1941).  Brown was hanged on December 2, 1859 at Charles Town, WV.
http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/jbrown/master.html 
http://www.johnbrown.org/
    1813 - General William Henry Harrison turned back a siege of Fort Meigs by Shawnee military leader Tecumseh and British general Henry A. Proctor. Harrison was to become the ninth President of the United States, but for only a month, as he contacted pneumonia from a cold and died in office (the first president to die in office).
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/may09.html
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/wh9.html
    1830 - Birthday of Harriet Lane (d. 1903), Franklin County, PA.  She acted as official hostess in the White House for her uncle, bachelor James Buchanan, 15th President of the United States, and became known as America’s First Lady. Her popularity at the time is compared to that of Jacqueline Kennedy in the 1960s. She is known as the first modern First Lady (using her position to advocate causes) including the arts and American Indian causes.
http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/buchanan_j.html
    1843 - Birthday of Belle Boyd (d. 1900) at Martinsburg, VA.  She was a notorious Confederate spy, stealing weapons, secrets, and helping prisoners to escape. She was arrested several times, once deported to Canada. She authored a book about her exploits. Following the war, she became an actor and lecturer, continuing in that profession until her death in 1900. She married three times, her last marriage to a man 15 years her junior. She once shot at a man who was calling on her daughter and refused to marry her. Author of the book, “Belle Boyd in Camp and Prison.” 
http://www.civilwarhome.com/boydbio.htm
http://www.civilwarhome.com/belleboyd.htm
http://www.angelfire.com/ga3/southernrebels/belle.html 
    1846 - Word reaches Washington that an American patrol had been ambushed by Mexican forces north of the Rio Grande. This leads to the US Congress granting President James K. Polk’s request for a declaration of war four days later. The Mexican-American War began with a dispute over the US government’s 1845 annexation of Texas, which had won independence from Mexico in 1836. Mexico believed that France and Britain would support it in a war against the US. In January of 1846, President James K. Polk, a strong advocate of westward expansion, ordered General Zachary Taylor to occupy disputed territory between the Nueces and Rio Grande rivers. On 12 May 1846, Mexican troops attacked the forces of General Taylor, who went on to win the Battle of Palo Alto.  On 13 May 1846, Congress, yet unaware of that battle, approved a declaration of war, appropriating ten million dollars for the war effort and authorizing the President to call for 50,000 volunteers. On 02 February 1848, representatives from the US and Mexico signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, formally ending the Mexican War, recognizing Texas as part of the United States, and extending the boundaries of the United States west to the Pacific Ocean.
    1862 - Confederate forces at Norfolk, VA evacuated the city in a costly move, leaving valuable materiel for the Union army. Norfolk and Portsmouth were occupied on May 10, and the naval yard at Gosport, VA was burned.  In reality, this ended the Confederates’ ability to build metal ships and make major repairs to their navy.
http://www.civilwarhome.com/merrimacbirth.htm
http://www.civilwarhistory.com/navy/CSSNavy.htm
    1862 - At Hilton Head, SC, General David Hunter, commander of the Department of the South, issued orders freeing slaves in South Carolina, Florida and Georgia. Not having congressional or presidential approval, the orders were countermanded by President Lincoln on May 19th, ordering Hunter to retract his proclamation as he still feared that this action would force slave-owners in Border States to join the Confederates. President Jefferson Davis and the leaders of the Confederate Army were furious when they heard of Hunter's actions and orders were given that he was a "felon to be executed if captured.”  President Lincoln explained to the New York Tribune, “My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union and is not either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it."
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWhunter.htm
    1862 – As a precaution during the Civil War, the U.S. Naval Academy relocated from Annapolis to Newport, Rhode Island. 
    1864 - Union General John Sedgwick is shot and killed by a Confederate sharpshooter during fighting at Spotsylvania. His last words are: "They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist--" 
http://civilwar.bluegrass.net/OfficersAndEnlistedMen/johnsedgwick.html
http://shopping.yahoo.com/p:General%20John%
    1865 – Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, learning of Lee’s surrender to Grant, surrendered his forces at Gainesville, AL.  Separately, President Andrew Johnson issued a proclamation ending the belligerent rights of the Confederacy and enjoining foreign nations to intern or expel Confederate ships.
    1868 - First known as Fullers Crossing, then Lakes Crossing, the name of this Nevada town was officially changed to Reno. It was named after General Jesse Reno, a Union officer of the Civil War. When the Comstock Lode was discovered in Virginia City, the nearest large city was Reno, thus it became popular and is still known today as “The Biggest Little City in the World.” Its six-week residency requirement for divorce became law on May 1, 1931, making it a popular city. At the time, it was the major “gambling city” in the United States, and prostitution was legal in several surrounding counties. It was the Las Vegas of its day, today primarily visited by people living in Northern California, although visited by tourists from around the world for not only gambling activity, but the surrounding “ghost towns” and surrounding old West towns such as Carson City, its capital, Virginia City, and other cities in the California gold country. 
http://www.cityofreno.com/.
    1871 - The first Hispanic player in Major League Baseball was Esteban Bellan, a Cuban, for the Troy Haymakers of the National Association.
    1882 – Henry J. Kaiser (d. 1967) was born in Sprout Brook, NY.  He was one of America’s leading industrialists during its rise in the early 20th century to industrial might.  He became known as the father of modern American shipbuilding, establishing Kaiser Shipyards to build Liberty Ships during World War II.  After the War, he formed Kaiser Aluminum and Kaiser Steel.  Kaiser organized Kaiser Permanente’s health care for his workers and their families. He led Kaiser-Frazer followed by Kaiser Motors, automobile companies known for the safety of their designs. Kaiser was involved in large construction projects such as civic centers and dams, and invested in real estate. With his wealth, he established the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit, non-partisan, charitable organization. 
    1894 - Portland, Oregon had its latest freeze when the temperature fell to 32 degrees. This is the only May freeze in Portland's history.
    1899 – African-American John A. Burr patents the rotary-blade lawn mower.
    1909 - Alice Koller Leopold birthday. She wrote Connecticut's equal pay and minimum wage bills in 1949, her freshman year in the Connecticut Assembly. The next year, she was elected the Connecticut's secretary of state. She then served as Director of the Women's Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor from 1953-61, and was the Assistant to the Secretary of Labor to aid and develop programs for women. She was a strong advocate of the Equal Rights Amendment. The mother of two, she had created her own toy company before entering public life.
    1910 - Pianist Bob Zurke (d. 1944) was born Detroit, MI.
http://www.parabrisas.com/d_zurkeb.html
    1914 - President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation asking Americans to give a public expression of reverence to mothers through the celebration of Mother's Day. Carnations have come to represent the day following President William McKinley’s habit of always wearing a white carnation, his mother's favorite flower.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/may09.html
(The first Mother’s Day was observed in 1907 at the request of Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia, PA, who asked her church to hold service in memory of all mothers on the anniversary of her mother’s death. The newspapers of the day reported this event and it continued the next year at other churches, now annually, the second Sunday in May. 
    1914 - Hank Snow (d. 1999), one of the fathers of country music in Canada, was born in Liverpool, Nova Scotia. He was heavily influenced by singer and yodeler Jimmie Rodgers, and began to perform in his style in the early 1930's. Snow made his radio debut about 1933 on CHNS in Halifax, and three years later, made his first recording for Victor, the company with which he remained for four decades. He settled permanently in Nashville, Tennessee about 1950, and became a US citizen in 1958.  Snow became a regular on the Grand Ole Opry in 1950, the same year he recorded "I'm Movin' On," which became one of the most successful singles of the first 50 years of recorded country music. His other hits include "Golden Rocket" and "I've Been Everywhere." Hank Snow was indicted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1976 and into the Juno Awards Hall of Fame in 1979. 
On this date in 1994, on his 80th birthday, Hank Snow received an honorary degree from St. Mary's University in Halifax. The presentation was made in Nashville, and he spoke to the graduates via videotape.
http://www.hanksnow.com/
    1916 - President Woodrow Wilson mobilizes the National Guard of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas to patrol their borders with Mexico as Brigadier General John J. Pershing led an Army expedition into northern Mexico to try to capture or kill the bandit leader Pancho Villa and his group. In March, Villa and his men raided the town of Columbus, NM, killing a number of soldiers and civilians before slipping back across the border. Soon these Guardsmen would be joined by Guard units coming from all the states to a total 158,000 men. While their main mission was to secure the border, the Army used this partial mobilization to train the Guard in large unit formations almost impossible to conduct in normal peacetime exercises for just a few days. This training paid great dividends when America committed its Guardsmen to combat in France after our entry in World War I.
    1918 - TV Journalist Mike Wallace was born Myron Leon Wallace (d. 2012), Brookline, MA.  He interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers during his sixty-year career and he was one of the original correspondents for CBS’ “60 Minutes,” which debuted in 1968. Wallace retired as a regular full-time correspondent in 2006, but still appeared occasionally on the series until 2008.
    1926 – Adm. Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett made what they claimed was the first airplane flight over the North Pole. At 9:02 a.m., their plane passed over the North Pole. Bennett swung the plane to the right to confirm their position on the sextant, then circled and confirmed it twice more. 
Later, evidence suggests they may have missed their target by 150 miles. 
    1927 - A major tornado outbreak occurred from Texas to Michigan. There were 28 tornadoes rated F2 or greater. 9 separate tornadoes killed 5 or more people making this day one of the worst tornado days in U.S. History. Popular Bluff, Missouri was devastated by a tornado rated F4 on the Fujita Scale. 98 people were killed and 300 were injured. 31 business and residential blocks were destroyed in the city. Strong, Arkansas was leveled by another F4 tornado with 24 people killed.
    1928 - Birthday of Pancho Gonzales, born Richard Alonzo Gonzales (d. 1995) at Los Angeles, CA. A self-taught player, Gonzales won the 1948 US National Singles Championship and repeated in 1949. He turned pro and won the world’s championship from 1954 through 1962. Gonzales was an aggressive, temperamental player who rarely trained. 
    1933 - A tornado, rated F4 on the Fujita Scale, moved through Monroe, Cumberland, and Russell Counties in Kentucky. 36 people were killed.
    1934 - The nationwide labor upsurge of 1934 reached its peak in San Francisco when leaders of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) called a strike of all West Coast dockworkers, demanding a wage scale, a “closed shop” (union membership as a requirement of employment), and union-administered hiring halls. A few days later, seamen and teamsters joined the strike, effectively stopping all shipping from San Diego to Seattle. “The Big Strike: A Journalist Describes the 1934 San Francisco Strike” by Mike Quinn 
    1937 – Cincinnati Reds C Ernie Lombardi tied the modern Major League record with six hits in six consecutive at bats as Cincinnati routed Philadelphia, 21-10, on 24 hits.   At the Polo Grounds in NYC, the Giants’ Carl Hubbell won his 4th straight and his 20th in a row, subduing the Cubs, 4-1. Hubbell matched the mark of Rube Marquard, who won that many in 1911-12.
    1939 – Birthday of Ralph Boston, Laurel, MS.   US National Track & Field Hall of Famer, Olympic Hall of Famer: gold medalist: long jump [1960], silver [1964], bronze [1968]; broke world long jump record 5 times, the last at 27 feet, 5 inches [1965]. 
http://www.hickoksports.com/biograph/bostonra.shtml
    1939 – Glenn Miller records "Stairway to the Stars" with Ray Eberle, one of the most popular singers in the 1940’s. 
    1941 - Billie Holiday records “God Bless the Child” (Okey 6270)
    1944 - Jimmie Davis, who was a successful country singer as early as the 1930's, became governor of Louisiana. Davis, the composer of the country standard "You Are My Sunshine," later resumed his music career.
http://www.nashvillesongwritersfoundation.com/fame/davis.html
http://www.pbs.org/riverofsong/artists/e4-jimmie.html
http://www.etrecordshop.com/jdtribut.htm
    1945 - Steve Katz birthday, Brooklyn, NY.  Vocalist, guitarist and harmonica player with such bands as the Blues Project, Blood, Sweat and Tears and American Flyer.
http://www.altx.com/katz/katzbio.html
http://www.rdrop.com/users/rickert/steve-solo.html
    1946 - Birthday of Candice Bergen in Beverly Hills, CA, daughter of ventriloquist Edgar Bergen. A whole generation, however, knows her as Murphy Brown, the role for which she won five Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards as the title character on the CBS sitcom “Murphy Brown” (1988–98). At 34, she married French filmmaker Louis Malle who died in 1995. They had one daughter Chloe (b. 1985). 
    1949 - Singer/pianist/composer Billy Joel was born in The Bronx. His hit single "Just the Way You Are," won two Grammy Awards in 1979 and has since become a standard. The album from which the song was taken, "The Stranger," is reported to have sold more than five-million copies. Joel's other hit singles include "My Life," "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me," “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” “Piano Man,” and "Uptown Girl."  Joel had Top 40 hits in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, achieving 33 Top 40 hits in the US, all of which he wrote. He is also a six-time Grammy Award winner who has been nominated for 23 Grammy Awards. He has sold more than 150 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling artists of all-time.  Joel was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (1992), the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1999), and the Long Island Music Hall of Fame (2006). In 2001, Joel received the Johnny Mercer Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2013, Joel received the Kennedy Center Honors, the nation's highest honor for influencing American culture through the arts.  Joel also held the first rock concert at Yankee Stadium on June 22, 1990.
http://www.billyjoel.com/
http://www.billyjoelmusic.com/
http://billyjoel.8k.com/
    1953 - Top Hits
“Pretend” - Nat King Cole
“Song from Moulin Rouge” - The Percy Faith Orchestra
“I Believe” - Frankie Laine
“Mexican Joe” - Jim Reeves
    1954 - Chet Baker Quartet first concert, Ann Arbor, MI. 
(Saw him play many times. He always sounded “flat,” but then I dated a girl he used to date, and enough said.)
http://www.jerryjazzmusician.com/shop/
    1958 - Still angry that his employers refuse to back him in his defense of recent charges of inciting a riot at a Boston show, DJ Alan Freed quits New York radio station WINS, claiming they refused to "stand by my policies and principles." The same day, Freed debuts his new package tour in Hershey, PA, starring Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, Danny and the Juniors, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Larry Williams, and the Chantels. 
    1959 - 16-year-old Wayne Newton made his Las Vegas debut at the Fremont Hotel. That first booking, scheduled to last two weeks, stretched into three years. Newton went on to become king of the Vegas showrooms, earning close to $20 million a year. He has been seen live by over 12 million people, more than have seen either Frank Sinatra or Elvis Presley in concert.
    1960 - The U.S. Food and Drug Control approved the “birth control pill.” It was developed over a five-year period by Gregory Pincus, a biochemist at Worchester Foundation for Experimental Biology, Shrewsbury, MA, and John Rock, a gynecologist at Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA.  It used synthetic progesterone and estrogen to repress ovulation in women. The first clinical tests were performed in 1954. The project was initially commissioned and funded by birth-control pioneer Margaret Sanger and heiress Katherine Dexter McCormick.
    1960 – Tony Gwynn (d. 2014) was born in LA.  He played 20 years in the majors, all with the San Diego Padres, with a lifetime .338 batting average and 3,141 hits. He won the batting title 8 times, led the league in hits 7 times and was a 15-time All-Star.  In 2007, Gwynn was elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. He received 532 of 545 possible votes. He was inducted with Cal Ripken, Jr. 
    1961 – Top Hits
“Runaway” – Del Shannon
“Mother-In-Law” – Ernie K-Doe
“A Hundred Pounds of Clay” – Gene McDaniels
“Hello Walls” – Faron Young
    1961 – Perhaps still germane today, speaking before the bigwigs of network TV at the annual convention of the National Association of Broadcasters, Newton Minow, the new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, exhorted those executives to sit through an entire day of their own programming. He suggested that they “will observe a vast wasteland.” Further, he urged them to try for “imagination in programming, not sterility; creativity, not imitation; experimentation, not conformity; excellence, not mediocrity.”
    1961 – First baseman Jim Gentile of the Baltimore Orioles became the fourth player to hit grand slams in consecutive innings. Gentile hit his homers in the first and second innings of a game against the Minnesota Twins and added a sacrifice fly as the Orioles won, 13-5.
    1964 – Louis Armstrong, great jazz trumpet player, and now singer, found his recording of "Hello Dolly!" on the "Billboard" music chart in the top spot for the first time in his 41-year music career. Later, ‘Satchmo’ was cast in the movie version of "Hello Dolly!” When the song hit Number One, it pushed out the Beatles “She Loves You.” He had another top pop tune also sung by Bobby Darin, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, but he is best remembered for “Mack the Knife.”  In the many old recordings, when Louis Armstrong played, you could always pick him out. He was the most influential jazz man of the 20th Century.
http://www.redhotjazz.com/louie.html 
http://www.louis-armstrong.com/
http://www.satchmo.com/louisarmstrong/props4pops.html
    1968 - In front of only 6,298 Oakland fans, Jim “Catfish” Hunter hurls the first American League perfect game in forty-six years as the A's defeat the usually heavy hitting Twins, 4-0.
    1969 - Top Hits
“Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In” - The 5th Dimension
“Hair” - The Cowsills
“Hawaii Five-O” - The Ventures
“Hungry Eyes” - Merle Haggard
    1965 - Vladimir Horowitz played his first public concert in 12 years at Carnegie Hall in New York City. The audience applauded the piano virtuoso with a standing ovation that lasted for 30 minutes.
    1970 - Blues Images "Ride Captain Ride" is released.
    1970 - The Guess Who hit the top spot on Billboard's Hot 100 with "American Woman." The song was born by accident when guitarist Randy Bachman was playing a heavy riff on stage after he had broken a string and the band had taken a break. The other members joined in on the jam and Burton Cummings started singing the first thing that came into his head. A fan in the audience had it all on tape and presented it to the group after the show. It was quickly developed into a full song in the studio and ended up spending 3 weeks at the top of the US singles chart. 
    1973 – Mick Jagger added $150,000 of his own money to the $350,000 raised by The Rolling Stones’ January benefit concert for victims of the Nicaraguan earthquake. 
1974 - Congress begins impeachment hearings of President Richard M. Nixon. 
    1974 - Bruce Springsteen gives the most important performance of his career, opening for Bonnie Raitt at her Boston Arena show. Playing his full two-hour set at Raitt's insistence, Bruce delivers a show so impressive that Rolling Stone's Jon Landau later wrote in Boston's The Real Paper, "I saw rock and roll future, and its name is Bruce Springsteen. And on a night when I needed to feel young, he made me feel like I was hearing music for the very first time." Landau would later become Springsteen's manager and producer. 
    1977 - Top Hits
“Hotel California” - Eagles
“When I Need You” - Leo Sayer
“Sir Duke” - Stevie Wonder
“Play, Guitar Play” - Conway Twitty
    1977 - Patty Hearst let out of jail.
http://www.crimelibrary.com/classics4/hearst/
    1979 - At the Astrodome, substitute umpire Dave Pallone ejected the entire Cardinal bench after the players threw helmets and bats onto the field to protest a call. The minor league arbitrator was pressed into duty due to the Major League umpire strike. 
    1981 - The Dallas/Fort Worth area experienced its worst hailstorm of record as baseball to grapefruit size hail, accompanied by 100 mph winds, caused nearly $200 million in damage. Hail accumulated eight inches deep at Cedar Hill, TX
    1984 - The Chicago White Sox defeated the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-6, on a Harold Baines’ home run in the 25th inning. The game, the first 17 innings of which were played the day before, was the longest extra-inning game by time, 8 hours, 6 minutes. The teams then played their regularly scheduled game of nine innings, making a total of 34 innings in two days.
    1985 - Top Hits
“We are the World” - USA for Africa
“Crazy for You” - Madonna
“Don’t You Forget About Me” - Simple Minds
“There’s No Way” – Alabama
    1987 - Switch-hitter Eddie Murray of the Baltimore Orioles became the first player in Major League history to hit home runs from both sides of the plate in consecutive games
    1987 - Twenty-eight cities in the northwestern U.S. reported record high temperatures for the date. The record high of 95 degrees at Redding, CA was their fifth in a row, and the record high of 102 degrees at Hanover, WA was just one degree shy of their record for May. 
    1988 - Thunderstorms in the Mississippi Valley spawned a total of 57 tornadoes, including 24 in Wisconsin, and a record 22 tornadoes in one day in Iowa. There were also more than 200 reports of large hail and damaging winds. Baseball size hail was reported at Terre Bonne, MO. At Rockford, IL one person was temporarily trapped inside a portable toilet toppled by thunderstorm winds gusting to 80 mph. Fortunately, not a single person was killed in the "Mother's Day" tornado outbreak.
    1989 - Twenty-one cities in the eastern U.S. reported record low temperatures for the date. Lows of 28 degrees at Asheville, NC and 31 degrees at Greer, SC were records for May.
    1992 - Seventeen years after his first American chart entry, Bruce Springsteen makes his US TV debut when he appears on “Saturday Night Live” with host Tom Hanks.
    1992 - Final episode of "Golden Girls" airs on NBC-TV.  It now lives a vigorous second life in re-runs on multiple cable channels.
http://lifetimetv.com/shows/golden/
http://epguides.com/GoldenGirls/
http://www.beatricearthur.com/
    1994 - Netscape changes the World Wide Web, opens it open for everyone to use easily. James Clark, founder of Silicon Graphics, Inc., announces he will start a new company called Mosaic Communications Corporation. (The company would later change its name to Netscape Communications.) Clark teamed up with Marc Andreessen and six other programmers to create Mosaic, one of the earliest Web browsers, at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois. When Netscape went public in December, 1995, it broke records for the most successful opening day of stock trading in history. Unfortunately, the company later found itself in a fierce and expensive battle with Microsoft, which ultimately led to its sale to AOL in late 1998.
    1997 - Peter Peterson presented his portfolio in Hanoi, becoming the first Ambassador to Vietnam after the end of the Vietnam War. Peterson, a former Air Force captain, had been held as a prisoner of war in Vietnam for 6.5 years after his bomber was shot down near Hanoi in 1966. He was released in March, 1973. The United States had not maintained formal diplomatic relations with Vietnam since its previous ambassador, Graham Martin, left Saigon by helicopter in 1975 as the city fell to the North Vietnamese forces.
    1998 - Cardinal Mark McGwire hit his 400th career home run. Big Red's historic milestone comes in 4,727 at-bats (127 fewer at-bats than Babe Ruth), the fewest ever needed to reach the mark.
    2005 - Carlos Beltran (.267, 38, 104) becomes the tenth $100 million player in Major League history as the 27-year old native of Puerto Rico agrees to seven-year deal for $119 million with the Mets.  The current standard is $325 million signed by Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins in 2014.
    2010 – Dallas Braden pitched the 19th perfect game in Major League history as the Oakland A’s defeated the Tampa Bay Rays, 4-0.
    2011 – The Texas Senate approved amended legislation allowing students in Texas to carry handguns on campus. 
    2013 - A report revealed that hackers using fraudulent ATM cards in February, 2013, stole $45 million.
    2014 - The NBA named business executive Dick Parsons as acting CEO of the L.A. Clippers.  Owner Donald Sterling was banned for life from contact with the Clippers or the NBA after he made racist remarks and the NBA forced the sale of the team.