title: Alberto Gonzales

text: Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) asked Mueller "Did you have an opportunity to talk to General Ashcroft, or did he discuss what was discussed in the meeting with Attorney General Gonzales and the chief of staff?" He replied "I did have a brief discussion with Attorney General Ashcroft." Lee went on to ask "I guess we use [the phrase] TSP [Terrorist Surveillance Program], we use warrantless wiretapping. So would I be comfortable in saying that those were the items that were part of the discussion?" He responded "It was—the discussion was on a national—an NSA program that has been much discussed, yes."


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: On Thursday, August 16, 2007, the House Judiciary Committee released the heavily redacted notes of FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III regarding the Justice Department and White House deliberations of March 2004, which included the March 10, 2004 hospital-room visit of Gonzales and Andrew H. Card Jr. on John Ashcroft in the presence of then-acting Attorney General James B. Comey. The notes list 26 meetings and phone conversations over three weeks—from March 1 to 23—during a debate that reportedly almost led to mass resignations at the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: On July 26, 2007 a letter to Solicitor General Paul Clement, Senators Charles Schumer, Dianne Feinstein, Russ Feingold and Sheldon Whitehouse urged that an independent counsel be appointed to investigate whether Gonzales had perjured himself in his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the previous day. "We ask that you immediately appoint an independent special counsel from outside the Department of Justice to determine whether Attorney General Gonzales may have misled Congress or perjured himself in testimony before Congress," the letter read in part. According to the July 10, 2009 DOJ Inspector General Unclassified Report on the President's Surveillance Program, Gonzales did not intend to mislead Congress. There was no finding of perjury or other criminal wrongdoing by Gonzales.


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: On Wednesday, June 27, 2007, the Senate Judiciary Committee issued subpoenas to the United States Department of Justice, the White House, and Vice President Dick Cheney seeking internal documents regarding the program's legality and details of the NSA's cooperative agreements with private telecommunications corporations. In addition to the subpoenas, committee chairman Patrick Leahy sent Gonzales a letter about possible false statements made under oath by U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearings before the committee the previous year.


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: On July 27, 2007, both White House Press Secretary Tony Snow and White House spokeswoman Dana Perino defended Gonzales's Senate Judiciary Committee testimony regarding the events of March 10, 2004, saying that it did not contradict the sworn House Judiciary Committee account of FBI director Robert S. Mueller III, because Gonzales had been constrained in what he could say because there was a danger he would divulge classified material. Lee Casey, a former Justice Department lawyer during the Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush administrations, told The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer that it is likely that the apparent discrepancy can be traced to the fact that there are two separate Domestic Surveillance programs. "The program that was leaked in December 2005 is the Comey program. It is not the program that was discussed in the evening when they went to Attorney General Ashcroft's hospital room. That program we know almost nothing about. We can speculate about it. ... The program about which he said there was no dispute is a program that was created after the original program died, when Mr. Comey refused to reauthorize it, in March 2004. Mr. Comey then essentially redid the program to suit his legal concerns. And about that program, there was no dispute. There was clearly a dispute about the earlier form or version of the program. The attorney general has not talked about that program. He refers to it as "other intelligence activities" because it is, in fact, still classified."


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: On Tuesday, August 28, 2007—one day after Gonzales announced his resignation as Attorney General effective September 17—Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy indicated that it would not affect ongoing investigations by his committee. "I intend to get answers to these questions no matter how long it takes," Leahy said, suggesting that Gonzales could face subpoenas from the committee for testimony or evidence long after leaving the administration. "You'll notice that we've had people subpoenaed even though they've resigned from the White House," Leahy said, referring to Harriet E. Miers, the former White House counsel, and Karl Rove, who resigned in August 2007 as the president's top political aide. "They're still under subpoena. They still face contempt if they don't appear." Gonzales testified voluntarily to Congress and provided interviews to the Inspector General on numerous occasions. He ordered full cooperation by all Department of Justice employees with ongoing investigations.


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: On Thursday, August 30, 2007, Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine disclosed in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee that as part of a previously ongoing investigation, his office is looking into whether Gonzales made statements to Congress that were "intentionally false, misleading, or inappropriate," both about the firing of federal prosecutors and about the terrorist-surveillance program, as committee chairman Patrick Leahy had asked him to do in an August 16, 2007 letter. Fine's letter to Leahy said that his office "has ongoing investigations that relate to most of the subjects addressed by the attorney general's testimony that you identified." Fine said that his office is conducting a particular review "relating to the terrorist-surveillance program, as well as a follow-up review of the use of national security letters," which investigators use to obtain information on e-mail messages, telephone calls and other records from private companies without court approval. Fine concluded his investigation and found that Gonzales did not intend to mislead Congress.


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: It has been reported that a person involved in the incident of March 10, 2004 hospital room meeting with John Ashcroft has said that much of the confusion and conflicting testimony that occurred about intelligence activities was because certain programs were so classified that they were impossible to speak about clearly. The Department of Justice Inspector General recognized that Gonzales was in the difficult position of testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee about a highly classified program in an open forum.


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: On July 31, 2007, Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell confirmed, in a letter to Senator Specter, that the activities publicly referred to "as the TSP did not exhaust the activities subject to periodic authorization by the President." Gonzales was then able to explain publicly, on August 1, 2007, that while TSP "was an extraordinary activity that presented novel and difficult issues and was, as [he understood], the subject of intense deliberations within the Department," the aspect of Mr. Comey's advise [sic] that prompted the Gang of Eight meeting on March 10, 2004, was not about TSP, but was about another or other aspects of the intelligence activities in question, which activities remain classified. Comey himself acknowledged that the nature of the disagreement at issue on March 10, 2004, is "a very complicated matter", but he declined to discuss in a public setting. Professor Jack Goldsmith appears to acknowledge that there is a difference between TSP and other classified intelligence activities that prompted the March 10, 2004 Gang of Eight meeting and visit to General Ashcroft's hospital room.


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: As Attorney General, Gonzalez led the Justice Department's defense of the 2003 Partial Birth Abortion Act when it was challenged in court and for this reason the legal case bears his name. The Supreme Court issued its opinion in this case on April 18, 2007, ruling in favor of Gonzalez and the Justice Department and upholding the 2003 Partial Birth Abortion Act as constitutional.


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: Shortly before the July 1, 2005 retirement announcement of Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Sandra Day O'Connor, rumors started circulating that a memo had leaked from the White House stating that upon the retirement of either O'Connor or Chief Justice of the United States William Rehnquist, that Gonzales would be the first nominee for a vacancy on the Court.


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: Quickly, conservative stalwarts such as "National Review" magazine and Focus on the Family, among other socially conservative groups, stated they would oppose a Gonzales nomination.


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: Much of their opposition to Gonzales was based on his perceived support of abortion rights as a result of one vote on a single case before the Texas Supreme Court, In re Jane Doe 5 (43 Tex. Sup. J.910).


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: In a series of cases before the Texas Supreme Court in 2000, the court was asked to construe for the first time the 1999 Texas parental notification law forbidding a physician from performing an abortion on a pregnant, unaccompanied minor without giving notice to the minor's parents at least 48 hours before the procedure. Texas legislators adopted a policy to create a judicial bypass exception in those cases where (1) the minor is mature and sufficiently well informed to make the decision to have an abortion performed without notification to either of her parents; (2) notification will not be in the best interest of the minor or (3) notification may lead to physical, sexual or emotional abuse of the minor. The court was asked in these cases to discern legislative intent for the first time to these subjective standards, presumably included in the law as a matter of Texas policy and to make the law constitutional under U.S. Supreme Court precedents.


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: In the seven parental notification decisions rendered by the court, Gonzales voted to grant one bypass. For "In re Jane Doe 5" his concurring opinion began with the sentence, "I fully join in the Court's judgment and opinion." He went on, though, to address the three dissenting opinions, primarily one by Nathan L. Hecht alleging that the court majority's members had disregarded legislative intent in favor of their personal ideologies. Gonzales's opinion dealt mostly with how to establish legislative intent. He wrote, "We take the words of the statute as the surest guide to legislative intent. Once we discern the Legislature's intent we must put it into effect, even if we ourselves might have made different policy choices." He added, "[T]o construe the Parental Notification Act so narrowly as to eliminate bypasses, or to create hurdles that simply are not to be found in the words of the statute, would be an unconscionable act of judicial activism," and "While the ramifications of such a law and the results of the Court's decision here may be personally troubling to me as a parent, it is my obligation as a judge to impartially apply the laws of this state without imposing my moral view on the decisions of the Legislature."


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: Political commentators had suggested that Bush forecast the selection of Gonzales with his comments defending the Attorney General made on July 6, 2005, in Copenhagen, Denmark. Bush stated, "I don't like it when a friend gets criticized. I'm loyal to my friends. All of a sudden this fellow, who is a good public servant and a really fine person, is under fire. And so, do I like it? No, I don't like it, at all." This speculation proved to be incorrect, however, as Bush nominated D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge John Roberts to the Supreme Court.


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: After the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist on September 3, 2005, creating another vacancy, speculation resumed that President George W. Bush might nominate Gonzales to the Court. This again proved to be incorrect, as Bush decided to nominate Roberts to the chief justice position, and on October 3, 2005, nominated Harriet Miers as associate justice, to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. On October 27, 2005, Miers withdrew her nomination, again renewing speculation about a possible Gonzales nomination. This was laid to rest when Judge Samuel Alito received the nomination and subsequent confirmation.


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: On September 11, 2005, U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary chairman Arlen Specter was quoted as saying that it was "a little too soon" after Gonzales's appointment as attorney general for him to be appointed to another position, and that such an appointment would require a new series of confirmation hearings. "He [Gonzales] is attacked a lot," observes Larry Sabato, a political analyst and the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, who adds that the serious political spats "virtually eliminated him from the Supreme Court chase."


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: A number of members of both houses of Congress publicly said Gonzales should resign, or be fired by Bush. Calls for his ousting intensified after his testimony on April 19, 2007. But the President gave Gonzales a strong vote of confidence saying, "This is an honest, honorable man, in whom I have confidence." The President said that Gonzales's testimony "increased my confidence" in his ability to lead the Justice Department. Separately, a White House spokeswoman said, "He's staying".


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: On May 24, 2007, Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) of the Senate Judiciary Committee announced the Democrats' proposed no-confidence resolution to vote on whether "Attorney General Alberto Gonzales no longer holds the confidence of the Senate and the American People."


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: On June 11, 2007 a Senate vote on cloture to end debate on the resolution failed (60 votes are required for cloture). The vote was 53 to 38 with 7 not voting and 1 voting "present" (one senate seat was vacant). Seven Republicans, John E. Sununu, Chuck Hagel, Susan Collins, Arlen Specter, Olympia Snowe, Gordon Smith and Norm Coleman voted to end debate; Independent Democrat Joseph Lieberman voted against ending debate. No Democrat voted against the motion. Not voting: Biden (D-DE), Brownback (R-KS), Coburn (R-OK), Dodd (D-CT), Johnson (D-SD), McCain (R-AZ), Obama (D-IL). Stevens (R-AK) voted "present."


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: On July 30, 2007, MSNBC reported that Rep. Jay Inslee announced that he would introduce a bill the following day that would require the House Judiciary Committee to begin an impeachment investigation against Gonzales.


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: Others wrote in support of Gonzales, including the Latino Coalition and the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association.


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: In addition, several Republicans were critical of Gonzales, without calling for his resignation or firing:


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: Republican Senators Trent Lott and Orrin Hatch expressed support for Gonzales, although Hatch conceded that Gonzales had "bungled."


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: On August 26, 2007, Gonzales submitted his resignation as attorney general with an effective date of September 17, 2007. In a statement on August 27, Gonzales thanked the President for the opportunity to be of service to his country, giving no indication of either the reasons for his resignation or his future plans. Later that day, President Bush praised Gonzales for his service, reciting the numerous positions in Texas government, and later, the government of the United States, to which Bush had appointed Gonzales. Bush attributed the resignation to Gonzales's name having been "dragged through the mud" for "political reasons". Senators Schumer (D-NY), Feinstein (D-CA), and Specter (R-PA) replied that the resignation was entirely attributable to the excessive politicization of the attorney general's office by Gonzales, whose credibility with Congress, they asserted, was nonexistent.


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: On September 17, 2007, President Bush announced the nomination of ex-Judge Michael B. Mukasey to serve as Gonzales's successor. Bush also announced a revised appointment for acting attorney general: Paul Clement served for 24 hours and returned to his position as solicitor general; the departing assistant attorney general of the Civil Division, Peter Keisler was persuaded to stay on, and was appointed acting attorney general effective September 18, 2007.


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: Soon after departure from the DOJ in September 2007, continuing inquiries by Congress and the Justice Department led Gonzales to hire a criminal-defense lawyer George J. Terwilliger III, partner at White & Case, and former deputy attorney general under former president George H. W. Bush. Terwiliger was on the Republican law team involved in Florida presidential election recount battle of 2000.


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: On October 19, 2007, John McKay, the former U.S. Attorney for Washington's Western District, told "The (Spokane) Spokesman-Review" that Inspector General Glenn A. Fine may recommend criminal charges against Gonzales. The Inspector General did not recommend criminal charges against Gonzales. To the contrary, the Inspector General found no criminal wrongdoing and no perjury.


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: On November 15, 2007, "The Washington Post" reported that supporters of Gonzales had created a trust fund to help pay for his legal expenses, which were mounting as the Justice Department Inspector General's office continued to investigate whether Gonzales committed perjury or improperly tampered with a congressional witness. The Inspector General determined that Gonzales did not commit perjury or improperly tamper with a congressional witness.


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: In July 2008, the DOJ-OIG issued a report investigating improperly politicized hirings by the attorney general's office.


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: On September 2, 2008, the Inspector General found that Gonzales had stored classified documents in an insecure fashion, at his home and insufficiently secure safes at work. The Inspector General investigation found no evidence showing that there was any unauthorized disclosure of classified information resulting from his mishandling and storage of the materials in question, and the IG did not make a referral to the National Security Division for violation of a criminal statute.


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: Some members of Congress criticized Gonzales for selectively declassifying some of this information for political purposes. The Justice Department declined to press criminal charges.


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: In April 2008, "The New York Times" reported that Gonzales was having difficulty securing a new job, unusual for a former attorney general. Gonzales had a mediation and consulting practice in Austin, TX and taught at Texas Tech beginning in 2009. In October 2011, Belmont University College of Law announced that Gonzales would fill the Doyle Rogers Distinguished Chair of Law. Gonzalez also joined the Nashville law firm of Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP as Of Counsel.


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: Gonzales gave an interview to "The Wall Street Journal" on December 31, 2008, in which he discussed the effect that controversies in his Bush Administration roles had had on his career and public perception. He stated:


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: Since leaving public office he has appeared on a number of television and radio news shows, including "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer", to discuss the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court, "Larry King Live" to discuss the challenges of immigration, and "Geraldo at Large" to discuss terrorism related issues. He has given numerous radio interviews on shows such as NPR's "Tell Me More", covering such topics as Guantanamo Bay and Supreme Court nominations. Additionally, he has written opinion pieces for "The Washington Post", "Los Angeles Times", and "USA Today", covering issues ranging from immigration to sexual predators. He stated an intention to write a book about his roles, with the intention of publishing the book "for my sons, so at least they know the story." No publishing company had agreed to promote the book at the time of the interview.


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: Gonzales was featured in the 2008 Academy Award-winning documentary "Taxi to the Dark Side." A biography of Gonzales and his controversial public life, "The President's Counselor: The Rise to Power of Alberto Gonzales," was written in 2006 by presidential biographer and historian Bill Minutaglio.


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: In 2009, Texas Tech University System hired Gonzales. He acted as the diversity recruiter for both Texas Tech University and Angelo State University. Additionally, at Texas Tech, he taught a political science "special topics" course dealing with contemporary issues in the executive branch, and a graduate level course to students pursuing a master's degree in public administration. He began the new job on August 1, 2009. After the announcement, more than 40 professors at Texas Tech signed a petition opposing the hiring. Texas Tech Chancellor Kent Hance said Gonzales has generated interest in the University by recruiting outside of Lubbock and through his reputation in the news. "I had a young man come up to me Monday in a restaurant and he said, "I'm in Judge Gonzales's class, and it's the best class I've ever taken. Thank you for providing him to the community." Hance said.


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: In November 2008 Gonzales was indicted by a grand jury in Willacy County in Texas. He was accused of stopping an investigation into abuses at the Willacy Detention Center, a federal detention center. Vice President Dick Cheney and other elected officials were also indicted. A judge dismissed the indictments and chastised the Willacy County district attorney, Juan Angel Gonzales, who brought the case. The district attorney himself had been under indictment for more than a year and a half before the judge dismissed the indictment. The district attorney left office after losing in a Democratic primary in March 2008. All charges were dropped after further investigation.


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: On November 14, 2006, invoking universal jurisdiction, legal proceedings were started in Germany against Gonzales for his alleged involvement under the command responsibility of prisoner abuse by writing the controversial legal opinions.


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: On April 27, 2007, Germany's Federal Prosecutor announced she would not proceed with an investigation. In November 2007, the plaintiffs appealed the decision. On April 21, 2009, the Stuttgart Regional Appeals Court dismissed the appeal.


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: On March 28, 2009, a Spanish court, headed by Baltasar Garzón, the judge who ordered the arrest of former Chilean President Augusto Pinochet, announced it would begin an investigation into whether or not Gonzales, and five other former Bush Justice and Defense officials violated international law by providing the Bush Administration a legal framework and basis for the torture of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Garzón said that it was "highly probable" the matter would go to court and that arrest warrants would be issued. Also named in the Spanish court's investigation are John Yoo, Douglas Feith, William Haynes II, Jay Bybee, and David Addington. In April 2010, on the advice of the Spanish Attorney General Cándido Conde-Pumpido, who believes that an American tribunal should judge the case (or dismiss it) before a Spanish Court ever thinks about becoming involved, prosecutors recommended that Judge Garzon should drop his investigation. As CNN reported, Mr. Conde-Pumpido told reporters that Judge Garzon's plan threatened to turn the court "into a toy in the hands of people who are trying to do a political action".


title: Alberto Gonzales

text: This is a list of opinions in which Alberto Gonzales wrote the majority court opinion, wrote a concurring opinion, or wrote a dissent. Cases in which he joined in an opinion written by another justice are not included. A justice "writes" an opinion if the justice has primary responsibility for the opinion. Justices are assisted by a law clerk who may play an important role in the actual analysis of legal issues and drafting of the opinion. The Texas Supreme Court issued 84 opinions during Gonzales's tenure on the court, according to LexisNexis.


title: Toby Marlow

text: Toby Marlow (born 12 October 1994) is a British composer, writer, and actor best known for co-creating the international hit musical "Six" with Lucy Moss. "Six" received five Olivier Award nominations, including Best New Musical and Outstanding Achievement in Music. Marlow and Moss went on to win the Tony Award for Best Original Score in 2022.


title: Toby Marlow

text: Marlow is also co-creator of "Hot Gay Time Machine", a musical comedy cabaret show directed by Lucy Moss, in which he co-stars with Zak Ghazi-Torbati .


title: Toby Marlow

text: Marlow was born on 12 October 1994 to parents Helma and Andrew Marlow and was raised in Henley-on-Thames, England. He has two siblings: an older brother named Jasper and a younger sister named Annabel, who later originated the role of Katherine Howard in "Six" at the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Marlow's mother and maternal grandparents are Jewish. He was a child actor from the ages of 9 to 14, appearing in several films and on TV, including an appearance on ITV’s "Marple", in which he played a French boy with glasses. Marlow's father is a professional musician, his grandfather also trained as an actor and his great-grandmother taught speech and drama.


title: Toby Marlow

text: Marlow was educated at Abingdon School from 2008 to 2013, and was a member of the Acorn Music Theatre Company in Henley. He went on to study English at Robinson College at Cambridge University. While at Cambridge, he was very active in the ADC Theatre scene, as both a performer and a composer. According to Lucy Moss, their friendship "solidified" during the 2015 amateur student production of "Rent" at the ADC Theatre, during which Marlow played the lead character Angel, and Moss was one of the dancers.


title: Toby Marlow

text: In 2017, Marlow co-composed and co-wrote the musical "Six," produced by Kenny Wax. The musical received positive reviews at the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and went on to be performed in the West End in London. On 28 July 2019, Marlow stepped into the role of Catherine Parr for two sold-out performances at London's Arts Theatre when a cast-wide illness struck and the show required a sixth performer. Marlow, along with his collaborator Lucy Moss, signed with Warner Chappell Music in August 2019. "Six" began previews on Broadway at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on 13 February 2020 and was scheduled to open on 12 March 2020. However, the show's opening night was delayed due to the closure of all Broadway theatres because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Previews for the show resumed on 17 September 2021 and the official opening night occurred on 3 October 2021.


title: Toby Marlow

text: On 12 June 2022, Marlow became the first openly non-binary composer–lyricist to win a Tony Award, sharing the Tony Award for Best Original Score for "Six" with Moss.


title: Jerry Vale

text: Jerry Vale (born Gennaro Louis Vitaliano; July 8, 1930 – May 18, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter and actor. During the 1950s and 1960s, he reached the top of the pop charts with his interpretations of romantic ballads, including a cover of Eddy Arnold hit "You Don't Know Me" (1956) and "Have You Looked into Your Heart" (1964). Vale, who was of Italian descent, sang numerous songs in Italian, many of which were used in soundtracks by films of Martin Scorsese.


title: Jerry Vale

text: Vale showed his love of Italian music with his albums, "I Have But One Heart" (1962) and "Arrivederci, Roma" (1963), full of Italian standards such as "Amore, Scusami", "Ciao, Ciao, Bambina", "Arrivederci, Roma", and "O Sole Mio". His renditions of "Volare", "Innamorata (Sweetheart)", and "Al di là" became classic Italian-American songs.


title: Jerry Vale

text: Vale was born Gennaro Louis Vitaliano in the Bronx, New York, to Italian immigrant parents, and grew up in the Wakefield section of the Bronx which at the time was composed mainly of Italian-American families. In high school, to earn money, Vale took a job shining shoes in a barbershop, singing while he worked. His boss, Vito Veneziano, liked the sound so well that he paid for music lessons for the boy. Vale started singing in high school musicals and at a local nightclub. Still a teenager, he left school to work in a factory as an oiler alongside his father.


title: Jerry Vale

text: Vale's early nightclub performances led to additional shows in the early 1950s, including one lasting for three years at the Enchanted Room, a club in Yonkers, New York. When Paul Insetta (road manager for singer Guy Mitchell and hit songwriter) heard him there, he signed him to a management contract and further coached him. Insetta arranged for Vale to record some demonstration records of songs he'd written, and he brought them to Columbia Records. Guy Mitchell introduced Vale to Mitch Miller, then head of A&R at Columbia Records. Vale signed a recording contract, with Insetta as his manager for many years to come.


title: Jerry Vale

text: Vale's first recording with the Columbia label, with accompaniment by Percy Faith and his band, was "You Can Never Give Me Back My Heart", reached No. 29 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart, becoming Vale's first U.S. hit.


title: Jerry Vale

text: His version of "The Star-Spangled Banner", recorded in late 1963, was a fixture at many sporting events for years, and the gold record Vale received was displayed at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Vale frequently sang the song at Yankee Stadium. Additionally, he owned the Daytona Beach Admirals.


title: Jerry Vale

text: He sang the "Late Night with David Letterman" anthem "It's A Late Night World" on the program's eighth anniversary special in 1990. He made cameo appearances as himself in the 1990 film "Goodfellas" and the 1995 film "Casino", both directed by Martin Scorsese.


title: Jerry Vale

text: In 1959, Vale married Rita Grapel, a burlesque dancer. His biography "A Singer's Life", by Richard Grudens, was published in 2000 by Celebrity Profiles.


title: Jerry Vale

text: Jerry Vale died of natural causes in his sleep on May 18, 2014, at his home in Palm Desert, California. Vale was 83 years old. He and his wife had two children, Robert Vale and Pamela Vale Branch. He is interred at Forest Lawn Cemetery, in Cathedral City, California.


title: Jerry Vale

text: As an actor, Vale appeared as himself in the films "Goodfellas" and "Casino" as well as in television series such as "The Sopranos", "Midnight Caller", "Who's The Boss" and "Growing Pains".


title: Jerry Vale

text: In the 2016 Disney animated film "Zootopia", Nick Wilde finds a CD by "Jerry Vole". Vale is portrayed by Steven Van Zandt in the 2019 film "The Irishman".


title: Historical linguistics

text: Historical linguistics, also termed diachronic linguistics, is the scientific study of language change over time. Principal concerns of historical linguistics include:


title: Historical linguistics

text: Historical linguistics is founded on the Uniformitarian Principle, which is defined by linguist Donald Ringe as:


title: Historical linguistics

text: Western modern historical linguistics dates from the late-18th century. It grew out of the earlier discipline of philology, the study of ancient texts and documents dating back to antiquity.


title: Historical linguistics

text: At first, historical linguistics served as the cornerstone of comparative linguistics, primarily as a tool for linguistic reconstruction. Scholars were concerned chiefly with establishing language families and reconstructing unrecorded proto-languages, using the comparative method and internal reconstruction. The focus was initially on the well-known Indo-European languages, many of which had long written histories; scholars also studied the Uralic languages, another Eurasian language-family for which less early written material exists. Since then, there has been significant comparative linguistic work expanding outside of European languages as well, such as on the Austronesian languages and on various families of Native American languages, among many others. Comparative linguistics became only a part of a more broadly-conceived discipline of historical linguistics. For the Indo-European languages, comparative study is now a highly specialized field.


title: Historical linguistics

text: Some scholars have undertaken studies attempting to establish super-families, linking, for example, Indo-European, Uralic, and other families into Nostratic. These attempts have not met with wide acceptance. The information necessary to establish relatedness becomes less available as the time increases. The time-depth of linguistic methods is limited due to chance word resemblances and variations between language groups, but a limit of around 10,000 years is often assumed. The dating of the various proto-languages is also difficult; several methods are available for dating, but only approximate results can be obtained.


title: Historical linguistics

text: In linguistics, a synchronic analysis is one that views linguistic phenomena only at a given time, usually the present, but a synchronic analysis of a historical language form is also possible. It may be distinguished from diachronic, which regards a phenomenon in terms of developments through time. Diachronic analysis is the main concern of historical linguistics. However, most other branches of linguistics are concerned with some form of synchronic analysis. The study of language change offers a valuable insight into the state of linguistic representation, and because all synchronic forms are the result of historically-evolving diachronic changes, the ability to explain linguistic constructions necessitates a focus on diachronic processes.


title: Historical linguistics

text: Initially, all of modern linguistics was historical in orientation. Even the study of modern dialects involved looking at their origins. Ferdinand de Saussure's distinction between synchronic and diachronic linguistics is fundamental to the present day organization of the discipline. Primacy is accorded to synchronic linguistics, and diachronic linguistics is defined as the study of successive synchronic stages. Saussure's clear demarcation, however, has had both defenders and critics.


title: Historical linguistics

text: In practice, a purely-synchronic linguistics is not possible for any period before the invention of the gramophone, as written records always lag behind speech in reflecting linguistic developments. Written records are difficult to date accurately before the development of the modern title page. Often, dating must rely on contextual historical evidence such as inscriptions, or modern technology, such as carbon dating, can be used to ascertain dates of varying accuracy. Also, the work of sociolinguists on linguistic variation has shown synchronic states are not uniform: the speech habits of older and younger speakers differ in ways that point to language change. Synchronic variation is linguistic change in progress.


title: Historical linguistics

text: Synchronic and diachronic approaches can reach quite different conclusions. For example, a Germanic strong verb like English "sing – sang – sung" is irregular when it is viewed synchronically: the native speaker's brain processes them as learned forms, but the derived forms of regular verbs are processed quite differently, by the application of productive rules (for example, adding "-ed" to the basic form of a verb as in "walk – walked"). That is an insight of psycholinguistics, which is relevant also for language didactics, both of which are synchronic disciplines. However, a diachronic analysis shows that the strong verb is the remnant of a fully regular system of internal vowel changes, in this case the Indo-European ablaut; historical linguistics seldom uses the category "irregular verb".


title: Historical linguistics

text: The principal tools of research in diachronic linguistics are the comparative method and the method of internal reconstruction. Less-standard techniques, such as mass lexical comparison, are used by some linguists to overcome the limitations of the comparative method, but most linguists regard them as unreliable.


title: Historical linguistics

text: The findings of historical linguistics are often used as a basis for hypotheses about the groupings and movements of peoples, particularly in the prehistoric period. In practice, however, it is often unclear how to integrate the linguistic evidence with the archaeological or genetic evidence. For example, there are numerous theories concerning the homeland and early movements of the Proto-Indo-Europeans, each with its own interpretation of the archaeological record.


title: Historical linguistics

text: Comparative linguistics (originally comparative philology) is a branch of historical linguistics that is concerned with comparing languages in order to establish their historical relatedness. Languages may be related by convergence through borrowing or by genetic descent, thus languages can change and are also able to cross-relate.


title: Historical linguistics

text: Genetic relatedness implies a common origin or proto-language. Comparative linguistics has the goal of constructing language families, reconstructing proto-languages, and specifying the changes that have resulted in the documented languages. To maintain a clear distinction between attested language and reconstructed forms, comparative linguists will prefix an asterisk to any form that is not found in surviving texts.


title: Historical linguistics

text: Etymology is the study of the history of words: when they entered a language, from what source, and how their form and meaning have changed over time. A word may enter a language as a loanword (as a word from one language adopted by speakers of another language), through derivational morphology by combining pre-existing elements in the language, by a hybrid of these two processes called phono-semantic matching, or in several other minor ways.


title: Historical linguistics

text: In languages with a long and detailed history, etymology makes use of philology, the study of how words change from culture to culture over time. Etymologists also apply the methods of comparative linguistics to reconstruct information about languages that are too old for any direct information (such as writing) to be known. By analyzing related languages with a technique known as the comparative method, linguists can make inferences about their shared parent language and its vocabulary. In that way, word roots that can be traced all the way back to the origin of, for instance, the Indo-European language family have been found. Although originating in the philological tradition, much current etymological research is done in language families for which little or no early documentation is available, such as Uralic and Austronesian.


title: Historical linguistics

text: Dialectology is the scientific study of linguistic dialect, the varieties of a language that are characteristic of particular groups, based primarily on geographic distribution and their associated features. This is in contrast to variations based on social factors, which are studied in sociolinguistics, or variations based on time, which are studied in historical linguistics. Dialectology treats such topics as divergence of two local dialects from a common ancestor and synchronic variation.


title: Historical linguistics

text: Dialectologists are concerned with grammatical features that correspond to regional areas. Thus, they are usually dealing with populations living in specific locales for generations without moving, but also with immigrant groups bringing their languages to new settlements.


title: Historical linguistics

text: Phonology is a sub-field of linguistics which studies the sound system of a specific language or set of languages. Whereas phonetics is about the physical production and perception of the sounds of speech, phonology describes the way sounds function within a given language or across languages.


title: Historical linguistics

text: An important part of phonology is studying which sounds are distinctive units within a language. For example, the "p" in "pin" is aspirated, but the "p" in "spin" is not. In English these two sounds are used in complementary distribution and are not used to differentiate words so they are considered allophones of the same phoneme. In some other languages like Thai and Quechua, the same difference of aspiration or non-aspiration differentiates words and so the two sounds (or phones) are therefore considered two distinct phonemes.


title: Historical linguistics

text: In addition to the minimal meaningful sounds (the phonemes), phonology studies how sounds alternate, such as the /p/ in English, and topics such as syllable structure, stress, accent, and intonation.


title: Historical linguistics

text: The principles of phonological theory have also been applied to the analysis of sign languages, but the phonological units do not consist of sounds. The principles of phonological analysis can be applied independently of modality because they are designed to serve as general analytical tools, not language-specific ones.


title: Historical linguistics

text: Morphology is the study of the formal means of expression in a language; in the context of historical linguistics, how the formal means of expression change over time; for instance, languages with complex inflectional systems tend to be subject to a simplification process.


title: Historical linguistics

text: Words as units in the lexicon are the subject matter of lexicology. While words are generally accepted as being (with clitics) the smallest units of syntax, it is clear that, in most (if not all) languages, words can be related to other words by rules. The rules understood by the speaker reflect specific patterns (or regularities) in the way words are formed from smaller units and how those smaller units interact in speech. In this way, morphology is the branch of linguistics that studies patterns of word-formation within and across languages, and attempts to formulate rules that model the knowledge of the speakers of those languages, in the context of historical linguistics, how the means of expression change over time. See grammaticalisation.


title: Historical linguistics

text: Syntax is the study of the principles and rules for constructing sentences in natural languages. The term "syntax" is used to refer directly to the rules and principles that govern the sentence structure of any individual language, as in "the syntax of Modern Irish". Modern researchers in syntax attempt to describe languages in terms of such rules. Many professionals in this discipline attempt to find general rules that apply to all natural languages in the context of historical linguistics, how characteristics of sentence structure in related languages changed over time. See grammaticalisation.


title: Historical linguistics

text: Studies in historical linguistics often use the terms "conservative" or "innovative" to characterize the extent of change occurring in a particular language or dialect as compared with related varieties. In particular, a "conservative" variety changes relatively less than an "innovative" variety. The variations in plasticity are often related to the socio-economic situation of the language speakers. An example of an innovative dialect would be American English because of the vast number of speakers and the open interaction its speakers have with other language groups; the changes can be seen in the terms developed for business and marketing, among other fields such as technology.


title: Historical linguistics

text: The converse of an innovative language is a conservative language, which is generally defined by its static nature and imperviousness to outside influences. Most but not all conservative languages are spoken in secluded areas that lack any other primary language speaking population.


title: Historical linguistics

text: Neither descriptive terms carries any value judgment in linguistic studies or determines any form of worthiness a language has, compared to any other language.


title: Historical linguistics

text: A particularly-conservative variety that preserves features that have long since vanished elsewhere is sometimes said to be "archaic". There are few examples of archaic language in modern society, but some have survived in set phrases or in nursery rhymes.


title: Historical linguistics

text: In terms of evolutionary theory, historical linguistics (as opposed to research into the origin of language) studies Lamarckian acquired characteristics of languages.


title: Las Vegas Lights FC

text: Las Vegas Lights FC is an American professional soccer team based in Las Vegas, Nevada, that plays in the USL Championship. The team made its debut in 2018 and plays its home games at Cashman Field. The Lights the company changed ownership and was purchased by the Italian company Holding Maraja


title: Las Vegas Lights FC

text: The team employs neon imagery in its crest and jerseys. It has engaged in unusual promotions to attract fans, including the use of llama mascots and rewarding players with casino chips. The team's main rivals were Reno 1868 FC, a Nevada club who used to play in the USL Championship but folded due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.


title: Las Vegas Lights FC

text: North American Soccer League, who moved from San Diego after the 1976 season. The team played at Las Vegas Stadium and had an average attendance of 7,092 during the 1977 season, but moved back to San Diego the following year. The Las Vegas Seagulls of the American Soccer League briefly played at Las Vegas Stadium (by then the Las Vegas Silver Bowl) in 1979, but were terminated by the league after their first season due to financial issues. The city also played host to the 1994 FIFA World Cup draw in December 1993 and was considered several times for a Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise, but was passed over by the league.


title: Las Vegas Lights FC

text: The city hosted several exhibition matches between club and national soccer teams during the early 2010s, including a 2012 World Football Challenge match between Real Madrid and Santos Laguna that drew a state-record attendance of 29,152 spectators. An MLS expansion bid was explored in 2014, led by Findlay Sports and Entertainment and the Cordish Company, proposing a 24,000-seat stadium at Symphony Park in Downtown Las Vegas. The Las Vegas bid was rejected for further consideration by MLS in February 2015, putting an end to plans for the publicly financed downtown stadium. Despite an attempted revival, the city declined to submit a proposal in time for the league's deadline for expansion bids in February 2017.


title: Las Vegas Lights FC

text: In April 2017, Brett Lashbrook submitted a formal proposal to the Las Vegas City Manager to use Cashman Field as the venue of a USL expansion team that would begin play in 2018. The Las Vegas City Council approved the Cashman Field lease in July, and the USL began planning for a formal announcement in mid-August. On August 11, 2017, Las Vegas was formally announced as a USL expansion team that would join the league in 2018. The team unveiled its official name, Las Vegas Lights FC, on August 29 and its official crest in late October.


title: Las Vegas Lights FC

text: Chelís, a former MLS and Liga MX manager, was introduced as the team's head coach in November and promised to build a team that would entertain. The Lights held their first scouting camps in December and signed several Mexican players using connections from Chelís. In the inaugural preseason match, the team lost 2–0 to the Montreal Impact but attracted a sellout crowd of 10,387 people. The signing of Mexican players caused a language barrier that hindered on-field chemistry during its preseason matches against MLS teams, losing all three, but the team's players worked through the language gap. The team signed former MLS teenage prodigy Freddy Adu, who debuted in a preseason match against his first club, D.C. United.


title: Las Vegas Lights FC

text: The team played their inaugural regular season match in Fresno, California, on March 17, 2018, winning 3–2 over Fresno FC. In their first home regular season match, played on March 24, the Lights drew 1–1 with in-state rivals Reno 1868 FC in a match attended by 9,019 spectators. In the 2018 U.S. Open Cup, the Lights defeated FC Tucson and advanced to the third round, where they lost to FC Golden State Force. The club went on a long winless streak in August and September that eliminated the Lights from qualifying for the USL Playoffs. Chelis announced his departure from the club on September 18, following poor performances and an eight-match suspension for misconduct involving a spectator. Las Vegas concluded the season with 8 wins, 19 losses, and 7 draws, and manager Isidro Sánchez was fired on October 14. Former U.S. player and Atlanta Silverbacks coach Eric Wynalda was hired as manager and technical director on October 17.


title: Las Vegas Lights FC

text: On March 12, 2021, Las Vegas Lights FC announced an affiliation partnership with Los Angeles FC (LAFC) of Major League Soccer. Under the one-year partnership, Las Vegas became the USL affiliate of LAFC and shared technical staff, including new manager Steve Cherundolo, a former U.S. national team player.


title: Las Vegas Lights FC

text: The Lights play their home matches at Cashman Field, a stadium in Downtown Las Vegas that was primarily used for the Las Vegas 51s, a minor league baseball team from 1983 until 2018. It has 9,334 permanent seats and additional standing room capacity. The configuration of Cashman Field is more suited for soccer than other former baseball parks. With center field at a right angle and all the foul territory behind first and third base at equal distance, the field is in a square shape and seats are close to the field for soccer. Prior to the Lights, the stadium also hosted MLS preseason matches between the LA Galaxy and San Jose Earthquakes in 2016 and 2017. The Lights have a 15-year lease agreement with the city government to use Cashman Field, expiring in 2032.


title: Las Vegas Lights FC

text: The Las Vegas 51s (renamed the Las Vegas Aviators) relocated to a new stadium in Summerlin in 2019, leaving the Lights as the sole tenant of Cashman Field. The Lights began renovations to the locker rooms and stadium offices prior to the 2019 season, with further plans to make it a soccer-specific venue. The city government also began exploring options for a larger soccer-specific stadium in downtown Las Vegas to accommodate an MLS expansion team.


title: Las Vegas Lights FC

text: The Lights name was announced on August 29, 2017, after being decided in an online poll ahead of five other finalists, including Las Vegas FC, Las Vegas Silver, Club Vegas, Viva Vegas and Las Vegas Action. The name evokes the Las Vegas Strip and Downtown Las Vegas, where many buildings use neon lights and signage. The neon imagery is also reflected in the club's crest, a rotated version of the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign bordered by neon tubes. The crest also features text written in neon tubes, as well as a pink star. The team's colors, blue, yellow, and pink, were submitted by fans and are derived from the city's traditional seal.


title: Las Vegas Lights FC

text: The club's jerseys are manufactured by BLK and include the logos of sponsors Zappos and Findlay Toyota. The home jersey was designed by Zappos's art director and is primarily black with the team's color in neon trim. The underside has an emoji smiley face covered in confetti, to be used in goal celebrations when pulled up and over players' heads. The away jersey is primarily white, with light blue and yellow accents and was unveiled with players donning a body painted replica.


title: Las Vegas Lights FC

text: The Lights are owned by Las Vegas Soccer, LLC, founded by Brett Lashbrook, a former consultant to USL and MLS clubs in Florida and the team's current general manager. Lashbrook spent part of his childhood in the Las Vegas area and was part of Orlando City SC during their transition from the USL to MLS and also worked for the Tampa Bay Rowdies. The team's vice president of corporate partnerships is Steve Pastorino, who worked with the Chicago Fire and Oakland Athletics as marketing director.


title: Las Vegas Lights FC

text: The team's first head coach and technical director was Chelís, who left the club in September 2018 after earning a losing record and missing 12 matches due to a suspension. His son and assistant coach, Isidro Sánchez, took over for the remainder of the inaugural season until his firing in October 2018. Former U.S. national team player and television commentator Eric Wynalda was subsequently hired and led the Lights to an improved record but short of a playoff spot. On June 17, 2020, Wynalda was fired by the Lights for an undisclosed violation of league rules during the USL's preparations to resume play amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Former MLS coach Frank Yallop was named as interim head coach later that month.


title: Las Vegas Lights FC

text: In April 2018, the Lights became the first professional sports team in the United States to be sponsored by a licensed marijuana dispensary. As part of the agreement, the Nuwu dispensary has a sign in Cashman Field advertising its downtown store, located two blocks from the stadium. Two months later, the club announced a partnership with bookmaker William Hill to offer in-game betting via a special mobile app, along with free $5 bets for each home win.


title: Las Vegas Lights FC

text: The Lights have used unusual promotions and gimmicks to attract fans, including a DJ in the supporters' section and two llama mascots, Dolly and Dotty. The llamas were provided by sponsors Zappos and appear during tailgate parties and pre-game festivities, including the team photos; during one incident, a llama defecated on the field with only two minutes left before kickoff. The team's mascot is "Cash the Soccer Rocker", a dancing caricature of Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley, who rides a Harley Davidson motorcycle around the stadium. The team's players are rewarded with casino chips for regular season home wins with three or more goals, out of a pot of $30,000 supplied by the Plaza Hotel & Casino for the team. Owner Brett Lashbrook stated that he wanted his team to be "a fast, fun soccer party" and encouraged the use of flags and smoke bombs by supporters. The team regularly hosts "cash drop" stunts, in which helicopters or other means are used to drop money onto the field for fans to grab. One instance with a helicopter in September 2019 was investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration for improper altitude control.


title: Las Vegas Lights FC

text: Before home matches, the Lights award a "pink scarf" to Las Vegas residents for their contributions to the community at large. The inaugural honoree of the pink scarf was mayor Carolyn Goodman.


title: Las Vegas Lights FC

text: The team had a rivalry with Reno 1868 FC, the other USL team in the state of Nevada, called the Silver State Cup. The rivalry was named in an online poll by fans of both teams ahead of their first match in March 2018.


title: Las Vegas Lights FC

text: The Lights broadcast their home matches and some away matches on KVCW, an over-the-air channel serving the Las Vegas market. All matches are streamed online on ESPN+ as part of a league-wide broadcast deal that began in April 2018. Some of the club's matches are also scheduled to be broadcast on ESPNews and ESPN3. The inaugural preseason match in February 2018 had been aired on "KCLV", a city-run government access channel, but a broadcast agreement could not be reached due to the commercial nature of the club. Radio broadcasts for Lights matches are carried on 1460 AM ESPN Deportes in Spanish.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: Kokomo ( ) is a city in Indiana and the county seat of Howard County, Indiana, United States. It is the principal city of the Kokomo, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Howard County, the Kokomo-Peru CSA, which includes Howard and Miami counties, as well as the North Central Indiana region consisting of six counties anchored by the city of Kokomo. Kokomo's population increased from 45,468 at the 2010 census to 59,604 in the 2020 census.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: Named for the Miami Ma-Ko-Ko-Mo who was called "Chief Kokomo", Kokomo first benefited from the legal business associated with being the county seat. Before the Civil War, it was connected with Indianapolis and then the Eastern cities by railroad, which resulted in sustained growth. Substantial growth came after the discovery of large natural gas reserves, which produced an economic boom in the mid-1880s. Among the businesses which the boom attracted was the fledgling automobile industry. A significant number of technical and engineering innovations were developed in Kokomo, particularly in automobile production, and, as a result, Kokomo became known as the "City of Firsts." A substantial portion of Kokomo's employment still depends on the automobile industry.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: The following is a list of all the buildings in Kokomo, Indiana, that are listed in the National Register of Historic Places:


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: The city of Kokomo was named after the Miami man Ma-Ko-Ko-Mo, said to have been one of the four sons of Chief Richardville, last of the chiefs of the Miami people. Tradition holds that David Foster, the "Father of Kokomo," named the town Kokomo after the "ornriest Indian on earth" because Kokomo was "the ornriest town on earth." Kokomo is thought to have been born in 1775 and died in 1838. The only documentary proof of his existence is a trading post record of a purchase of a barrel of flour for $12 for his "squaw." His remains (with those of others) were reportedly discovered during the construction of a saw mill in 1848 and re-interred in the "north-east corner" of the Pioneer Cemetery. The tradition of the Peru Miami is that the town was named after a Thorntown Miami named Ko-kah-mah, whose name is rendered Co-come-wah in the Treaty at the Forks of the Wabash in 1834. That name was translated as "the diver" (an animal that could swim under water).


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: As a result of various removals, by 1840 the Miami population in Howard County (until 1846 known as Richardville County) was reduced to about 200. The principal settlement was the Village of Kokomo, on the south side of Wildcat Creek. Indian paths connected Kokomo with Frankfort and Thorntown (along the Wildcat) and led to Peru by way of Cassville, and to Meshingomesia by way of Greentown. At the time David Foster had a trading post in Howard County, near the intersection of the reservation boundary line and Wildcat pike, where he engaged in both legitimate trade and illegal sale of alcohol to the Miamis on government property.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: Shortly after Richardville County was organized in 1844 the commissioners appointed to establish the county seat approached Foster for a donation from his substantial holdings. (In 1846 tax records show that he owned of farmland and as well as 67 divided lots in the business district.) At the time of the request the only improvements in what is now Kokomo were Foster's log house and log barn and several Miami huts. The commissioners sought a donation of the more fertile lands south of Wildcat Creek, but Foster refused, donating instead north of the creek—land which was thickly forested and "swampy." The terms of the donation required that Foster build a courthouse on the land, but he was later excused and Rufus L. Blowers was promised $28 to build it. He was penalized $2 for construction delays. The log courthouse was completed in 1845.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: In June 1855 Henry A. Brouse petitioned the board of Howard county commissioners to incorporate the town of Kokomo. The original election was not held (for unspecified reasons), but another took place on October 1, 1855. After a vote of 62–3 in favor of incorporation, the board so ordered it.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: On March 31, 1865, an election was held for Kokomo to assume a city government. The resolution was passed, and Nelson Purdum was elected the first mayor.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: In anticipation of business that the court would bring, Kokomo began a fairly quick growth from the time that lots were first sold on October 18, 1844. David Foster was granted the first license to sell merchandise in Kokomo at the December 1844 commissioners meeting. Two more merchants were licensed in March 1845. John Bohan, who would become a major shop owner, merchant, justice of the peace and investor, moved to Kokomo in December 1844, and erected the first two-story frame house, not only in Kokomo, but in all the county.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: After the enactment of the 1846 pre-emption law, settlers rapidly attempted to secure homesteads in the surrounding lands.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: In 1848 Stonebreaker's Mill, west of Kokomo, began operations. By 1850 Kokomo had a newspaper, when James Beard purchased the printing equipment of the New London "Pioneer" and set up the Howard "Tribune". By 1851 county business was so brisk that the county ordered the construction of two more court buildings, both one story brick affairs, . The county auditor and treasurer occupied one building, and the clerk and recorder occupied the other.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: On April 1, 1854, Kokomo's first bank, the Indian Reserve Bank, was organized with David Foster, John Bohan and Harless Ashly the principal shareholders. (It only lasted a few years until a robbery impaired its capital. The loss substantially injured Foster's fortune.)


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: 1854 saw the first railroad stop at Kokomo. The New London "Pioneer" had long advocated for a rail line to connect Kokomo with Indianapolis. Colonel C.D. Murray was the agent at Kokomo for stock subscriptions in support of the railroad. In 1852 the construction of the Peru and Indianapolis Railroad commenced. In Kokomo Samuel C. Mills and Dr. Corydon Richmond, commercial competitors of David Foster, donated several lots to the railroad in order to secure the location of the rail depot near their commercial property. The route was laid along Buckeye Street at the insistence of the merchants who hoped to reduced drayage expenses. Samuel Mills built a large frame structure at the Howard flouring mills, which served as a warehouse for the company's freight and a passenger depot. For some time after 1854 Kokomo was the terminus of the line, but eventually the line was extended to Peru and then to Michigan City.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: A short time after the construction of the Peru and Indianapolis Railroad began, the Pennsylvania Railroad announced that one of its lines would pass through Kokomo. By 1853 a line was commenced between Kokomo and Logansport (which was intended to become the hub of a network of lines for the company). Railroad service was inaugurated on that line on July 4, 1855.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: The most important rail line for Kokomo became the standard-gauge Clover Leaf line. This railroad would eventually link Kokomo with both the West Coast and the Eastern Seaboard. It began as a short line linking Frankfort and Kokomo, the Frankfort and Kokomo Railroad. Henry Y. Morrison of Frankfort was the principal promoter, and A.Y. Comstock acted for him in Kokomo. A failure of the proposed subsidy caused the promoters to turn all assets over to the contractors, who promised to complete the line. Construction began in 1873 and was completed the following year. Limited freight between the two cities made the line unprofitable. After a series of acquisitions by other railroads, the line became part of the Toledo, St. Louis and Kansas City Railroad. A line connecting it to the east reached Kokomo on January 1, 1881.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: In 1881, one of the most remarkable and controversial events in Kokomo's history took place. Mayor Henry C. Cole was shot to death by a sheriff's posse. Dr. Cole had a curious history and had stirred up a great deal of passion in the previous fifteen years. He was reputed to have been a gifted surgeon, who served in the Union Army during the Civil War and when afterwards he settled in Kokomo, he became a prominent physician. In Kokomo he married a woman, Natalie Cole, of whom he became intensely jealous. He became suspicious of one Allen, whom he warned away from Kokomo. When he discovered Allen leaving the post office one day in October 1866, he shot him dead. The fact that the killing both took place in broad daylight and showed cold-blooded rage (Cole continued shooting after Allen was down) caused the crime to receive national attention. Cole's case was venued to Tipton County, where he retained Daniel W. Voorhees of Terre Haute to represent him. Voorhees obtained a not guilty verdict on a plea of emotional insanity. Cole divorced his wife thereafter.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: Cole's reputation for violent instability, and the cowardice in the way he killed Allen, created many enemies for him, but his generosity toward poor patients and a promise to "clean up" the town won him enough support to win a bitter election for Mayor in 1881. Shortly thereafter, on September 19, 1881, he was shot dead by a sheriff's posse at Old Spring Mills at West Jefferson Street. According to the coroner's inquest, he died from shotgun wounds inflicted by Deputy George Bennett (father of New York stage idol Richard Bennett). The sheriff claimed that an informant had advised him that Cole was planning to rob a flour mill, possibly to incriminate his enemies. The posse was forced to fire on Cole in self-defense (the sheriff claimed he had two revolvers) and to prevent his escape, although his injuries seemed inconsistent with that version. Cole's supporter's argued that no revolvers or burglary tools were produced and that the motive was implausible. Nevertheless, no action was taken against Bennett or the other members of the posse.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: Natural gas had been developed in Pennsylvania and Canada for some time, and had most recently been developed around Findlay, Ohio. In March 1886, a group of citizens, led principally by A.Y. Comstock (who had promoted the Frankfort and Kokomo Railroad) and D.C. Spraker (later President of Kokomo Rubber Company), circulated a memorandum seeking subscribers (at $100 each) for the purpose of boring for gas at a distance of at least below ground. It took until September to obtain the necessary 22 subscribers. The first rig was built south of Wildcat Creek. and on October 6, 1886, natural gas erupted forth and the well was capped.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: Together with the well in Eaton, which began producing slightly before Kokomo's, the discovery led to the Indiana Gas Boom. This discovery was directly responsible for Elwood Haynes' move to Kokomo, as a superintendent with a gas company with interests in Kokomo and Howard County. The Diamond Plate Glass Company (now part of PPG Industries) began in Kokomo in 1887, lured by the cheap and plentiful natural gas. The Kokomo Opalescent Glass Works started making stained glass in Kokomo in 1888 and has been in continuous operation ever since.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: As a result of the natural gas boom, Kokomo attracted an increasing number of industries, which resulted in significant technological innovations. For these industrial and technical achievements, Kokomo is officially known as the "City of Firsts." Among other achievements, Kokomo was a pioneer of the United States automobile manufacturing, with Elwood Haynes test-driving his early internal combustion engine auto there on July 4, 1894. Haynes and his associates built a number of other autos over the next few years; the Haynes-Apperson Automobile Company for mass-production of commercial autos was established in Kokomo in 1898. Haynes went on to invent Stainless Steel flatware in 1912 to give his wife tarnish-free dinnerware. In 1938, the Delco Radio Division of General Motors (now Aptiv) developed the first push button car radio.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: Kokomo serves as the "City of Firsts" in the food industry as well. In 1928 Walter Kemp, Kemp Brothers Canning Co. developed the first canned tomato juice because of a request by a physician in search for baby food for his clinic. Kokomo is also home to the first mechanical corn picker which was developed by John Powell in the early 1920s. Kokomo was home to the first Ponderosa Steakhouse, which opened in 1965. Kokomo opened the first McDonald's with a diner inside, locally called "McDiner." This McDonald's theme failed nationally. Eventually, the "McDiner" closed and was converted back to a regular McDonald's restaurant.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: On March 21–26, 1913 Kokomo suffered severe flooding when of rainfall occurred. The "Kokomo Tribune" reported at the time that the Wildcat Creek over-topped its levee to reach nearly wide after rising at a rate of per hour. Damage was widespread, including loss of electrical power due to the power plant being flooded. On March 26, flooding was declared over after the water level dropped in a 24-hour period.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: In the summer of 1923, record numbers attended rallies of the Ku Klux Klan in Indiana. On June 16, 1923, a crowd of 75,000 attended a Klan rally in Terre Haute. On June 21 Argos held the largest rally it had ever seen. On June 26 a large Klan rally was held in Alexandria. All of this was merely a prelude to the rally planned for Kokomo. Conceived as a "monster tristate conclave," it was intended to charter 93 Indiana klans representing more than 300,000 members. Some doubted the prospect of 200,000 attendees, claiming it would be "without parallel in history"; others predicted attendance of 300,000. Extensive preparations for that number were made, including the scheduling of 1,000 interurban cars from around Indiana to Kokomo. The Union Traction Company, in addition to supplying 50 cars, transported three cars of white horses to Kokomo for the parade. The Kokomo Klan rented the fields surrounding its own large lot for parking, and electric amplifiers were obtained to allow the large crowd to hear the speeches.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: According to historian Robert Coughlan, "literally half" of Kokomo residents were members of the Ku Klux Klan during its height in the 1920s and 1930s. On July 4, 1923, Kokomo achieved national notoriety when it hosted the largest Ku Klux Klan gathering in history. An estimated 200,000 Klan members and supporters gathered in Malfalfa Park for a massive Konklave in which D. C. Stephenson was elevated to the position of Grand Dragon of the Indiana Klan. Other estimates say the crowd was only 10,000. A huge flag was used that day to collect a reported $50,000 for construction of a local "Klan hospital" so that Klan members would not have to be treated at the only local hospital, which was Catholic. Both men's and women's Klans held weekly rallies and initiations in Malfalfa Park, and Kokomo's Klanswomen held meetings at the armory, the local headquarters of the Women of the Ku Klux Klan, and churches. A speech at a Baptist church was attended by 1,000 Klanswomen.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: The Kokomo rally sent shockwaves through the national GOP, which had come to believe that the re-election of President Warren G. Harding depended on the vote of Indiana. According to the Washington correspondent of the "New York World", Republicans feared that the Klan had "obliterated party lines" and "virtually swallowed" the Indiana Republican Party. Since the Republicans held only a 25,000 vote plurality in the state, any serious defection of African-Americans would tip the state to the Democrats. In the event, Harding died within a month and Republican Calvin Coolidge succeeded him with a substantial electoral majority (including Indiana) against a divided opposition. The Klan, however, continued to dominate state politics especially after the election of Edward L. Jackson as governor.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: On April 11, 1965, the southern part of Kokomo was struck by one of the 47 tornadoes that erupted over six Midwestern states, an event now known as the Palm Sunday outbreak. The F4 tornado that swept through Kokomo was wide and killed 25 people in the surrounding area. Significant damage was done to the Chrysler transmission plant. Windows were broken and the framework cracked throughout, and sections of the west wall were leveled. The Maple Crest elementary and junior high schools suffered extensive damage. The roof collapsed on the junior high school, and the framework of both schools was substantially wrecked. The Maple Crest Shell Station at the intersection of Lincoln and Washington was torn from its foundation and scattered about. Mills Drug Store at the same intersection was demolished. A house on Holly Lane was uprooted, and one on James Drive was demolished. The Maple Crest Shopping Center was extensively damaged, with Woolworth's suffering the most damage. The front and back of the one-story structure were caved in and merchandise was strewn about. Numerous homes in the Maple Crest area were flattened, and the top floor of the Maple Crest apartments was blown off. The only thing left standing on the nearby Church of the Brethren was the steeple. The force of the wind on the flat earth near Kokomo was so great that Ted Fujita was able to make aerial photographs of the spiral scoring on the ground.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: Kokomo served to symbolize the nation's early misunderstanding and ignorance of AIDS in the mid-to-late 1980s when Ryan White was expelled from school due to his illness. White was a teenage hemophiliac who had been infected with HIV through contaminated blood products (Factor 8). At the time blood products were often collected through state prison systems. Factor 8 was made from pooled plasma of thousands of donors. Later the plasma was screened for HIV and Hepatitis and heat treated to inactive HIV and Hepatitis. The teen had been attending Western Middle School (which is actually in Russiaville) but was ostracized by his classmates, and forced to eat lunch alone and use a separate restroom. Many parents and teachers in Kokomo rallied in support of banning White from attending the school. A lengthy administrative appeal process with the school system ensued, followed by death threats and violence against White and his family, including a bullet being fired through the window of their Kokomo home. Media coverage of the case made White into a national celebrity and spokesman for AIDS research and public education. In 1987, the White family left Kokomo for Cicero, Indiana. Ryan attended Hamilton Heights High School in nearby Arcadia, where he was welcomed by faculty and students.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: The Kokomo Gas Tower had been a symbol of Kokomo since it was constructed in 1954. The tower was tall and had a capacity of . Due to high maintenance costs of $75,000 a year, and up to $1,000,000 to paint it, the gas company decided to demolish it in 2003. Other ideas were reviewed before settling on this decision, including a plan to turn the tower into a giant Coca-Cola advertisement. On September 7, 2003, at approximately 7:30 a.m., the Gas Tower was demolished by Controlled Demolition, Inc. (CDI). Pieces of the tower were sold to the public for $20–$30, and proceeds went to a planned Kokomo technology incubation center and Bona Vista.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: On August 24, 2016, a strong EF3 tornado caused major damage in the southern part of Kokomo. 1,000 homes were damaged, 170 of which sustained major damage. 80 of these homes were destroyed, some sustaining loss of roofs and exterior walls. Many large trees and power poles were snapped along the path, and the Park Place Apartments were heavily damaged as well. Vehicles were also damaged, including a large truck that was moved 10 feet from the driveway of a house and flipped over. A Starbucks was completely destroyed, and several people were left trapped inside the still standing bathroom and had to be rescued. Many sheds and detached garages were destroyed as well, and a receipt from Kokomo was found 30 miles away in Marion. The storm followed a path very close to that of another tornado which hit on November 17, 2013. Scientists have noticed that nearly every tornado in Kokomo has struck the southern part of the city.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: According to the 2010 census, Kokomo has a total area of , of which (or 99.68%) is land and (or 0.32%) is water.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: Kokomo has been struck by 18 tornadoes between 1950 and 2015, some of which were strong enough to claim lives.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: On March 6, 1961, two F3 tornadoes struck the southern part of Kokomo, killing one person and injuring three others.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: On April 11, 1965, an F4 tornado tore through portions of Russiaville, Alto, southern Kokomo, and Greentown killing 25 people and injuring hundreds of more.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: On April 20, 2004, Two tornadoes struck the Northern part of Kokomo. The first tornado was rated F0 and caused little damage to homes and trees. The second tornado was rated F1 and caused a roof to collapse at the local skating rink, and damaged three other homes and a truck stop. Both tornadoes caused 1 injury and no fatalities. This was the first time ever a tornado has struck the Northern part of Kokomo.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: On November 17, 2013, two EF2 tornadoes tore through the southern part of Kokomo. The first tornado Damaged over 300 homes/businesses. The second tornado touched down briefly and caused damage to the local golf course and other businesses. In all, The two tornadoes caused 0 fatalities and only five injuries.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: On August 24, 2016, an EF3 tornado caused significant damage to the Southern part of Kokomo damaging over 1,000 homes and businesses. 80 of these homes were destroyed, 176 had their walls blown in and roofs torn off, and over 700 were damaged badly. No fatal injuries were recorded during this tornado.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: From 1914 through 1986, the Continental Steel Corporation facility produced nails, wire and wire fence from scrap steel on a facility in Kokomo. Manufacturing operations in the steel plant and on other portions of the property included the use, handling, storage and disposal of hazardous materials. Steel-making operations had included reheating, casting rolling, drawing, pickling, galvanizing, tinning and tempering.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: After the company filed for bankruptcy in 1986, EPA and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management investigated the plant and property and found soil, sediments, surface water and ground water contaminated with volatile organic compounds (PCBs) and several metals, including lead, arsenic, cadmium, and chromium. Lead contamination was also detected in soils on nearby residential properties.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: The site was proposed to the National Priorities List as a Superfund site in 1988 and formally added in 1989.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: In April 2009, EPA received almost $6 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to complete needed cleanup at two problems at the Continental Steel Superfund site: the former Slag Processing Area and the site's contaminated ground water. The ARRA funding helped accelerate the cleanup of hazardous waste on the site. In the process, total of 15 Indiana contractors or subcontractors were involved in the ARRA-funded work, creating at least 45 temporary jobs.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: In August 2010, using the ARRA funds, EPA completed the cleanup of the former slag processing area of the Superfund Site. Approximately of slag were moved to the site's acid lagoon area for use as fill on that portion of the site. of clean soil were used to cap the former slag processing area, leaving it suitable for potential redevelopment. ARRA funds were also used to address contaminated groundwater at the site. This work included extensive groundwater sampling to determine the contaminated plume area and installation of groundwater extraction and monitoring wells. Three wind turbines will be used to generate much of the power needed to operate the groundwater extraction system.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: In 2016 the former site was approved as the location of a Solar farm with installation of panels beginning in August 2016. The estimated cost of the project is $10M.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: In 1995 the Indiana American Water treatment facility found groundwater beneath the city contaminated with trace amounts of vinyl chloride. In 2007, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management found groundwater at four municipal wells containing vinyl chloride at levels exceeding the EPA maximum contaminant level in raw water.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: In 2011, it found one of the monitoring wells, not owned or used by Indiana American Water, had amounts of vinyl chloride that were more than 2,500 times the maximum level for drinking water. IDEM has identified fourteen facilities that handle chlorinated solvents and could be sources to the contamination plume. Some of these potential sources are currently being managed under other authorities but there is no cleanup approach focusing on the ground water plume. Water from several well fields in Kokomo are blended and treated prior to distribution. A water treatment system has been successfully removing the vinyl chloride from the finished drinking water, but this is not a permanent solution to address the contaminated ground water plume.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: The site was proposed to the National Priorities List and added to the Superfund in March 2015. No cleanup plan is yet in effect.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: Kokomo is the larger principal city of the Kokomo-Peru CSA, a Combined Statistical Area that includes the Kokomo metropolitan area (Howard and Tipton counties) and the Peru micropolitan area (Miami County). The three counties had a total population of 133,061 in 2018, however the Kokomo-Peru CSA listed population of 117,933 suggest that Tipton County was dropped from the Kokomo MSA by the US Census Bureau.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: As of 2000 the median income for households in the city was $36,258, and the median income for a family was $45,353. Males had a median income of $38,420 versus $24,868 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,083. About 9.6% of families and 13.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.5% of those under age 18 and 9.3% of those age 65 or over.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: As of the census of 2010, there were 45,468 people, 19,848 households, and 11,667 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 23,010 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 83.5% White, 10.7% African American, 0.4% Native American, 1.0% Asian, 1.1% from other races, and 3.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.3% of the population.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: There were 19,848 households, of which 30.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.4% were married couples living together, 16.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.8% had a male householder with no wife present, and 41.2% were non-families. 35.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.90.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: The median age in the city was 38.2 years. 24% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.8% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 25.2% were from 25 to 44; 26.2% were from 45 to 64; and 15.8% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 46.8% male and 53.2% female.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: Kokomo's employment, largely based in manufacturing, was hard hit by the economic downturn which led to the recession beginning in December 2007. In December 2008, Kokomo was ranked third by "Forbes" in its list of America's fastest dying towns, mainly as a result of the financial difficulties of the automotive industry.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: In May 2011, "Forbes" magazine listed Kokomo as one of the "Best Cities for Jobs" after the city ascended 177 places in the rankings. The same article described Kokomo's success in the past few years as "inspirational" and attributed the turnaround to "a revival in manufacturing." In June 2011, "Conexus" released a report touting Kokomo's "rapid bounce" after the recession, and predicted a rise in income of more than 2%, assuming increased automobile production.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: By May 2013 Kokomo's unemployment rate was 9%, representing a 1.4% decrease in non-farm employment, it was higher than the national rate of 7.6%. The May 2013 statistics reported a 6.9% decline in manufacturing jobs over the previous 12 months. Government employment was 18.7% below the previous year.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: Kokomo's current mayor is Republican Tyler Moore, elected in November 2019. The previous mayor was Democrat Greg Goodnight (2008–2019) The two previous mayors before Goodnight were Matt McKillip (2004–2008) and Jim Trobaugh, both Republicans.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: The mayor is elected in a citywide vote. The city council is known as the Common Council. It consists of nine members. Six members are elected from individual districts. The other three are elected at-large.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: The Howard County Historical Society occupies the Seiberling Mansion and the Elliot House, and their carriage houses. The Seiberling Mansion was built as the residence of Monroe Seiberling, one of Kokomo's richest citizens. Because of its architectural significance, the building has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1972. The Elliot House was also built as a residence; it was later adapted for use as office space. These buildings are in the Old Silk Stocking Neighborhood, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, the only neighborhood in the county to be so recognized.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: Other current teams include the City of First Roller Girls (Founded 2010) who compete in the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). Indiana University of Kokomo Cougars compete in 12 sports within the NAIA in the River States Conference (RSC).


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: Kokomo has a 12-screen movie theater, called AMC Showplace Kokomo 12, located on 1530 East Boulevard. In addition to AMC, Kokomo also has several forms of live entertainment, including choirs, a Park Band Association, and three live theatres.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: The city's major mall is Markland Mall, which features Target. The Kokomo Town Center, the former Kokomo Mall, underwent a major renovation in 2011 when it became an outdoor mall.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: A major roadway traversing through Kokomo, nicknamed "stop light city", US 31 had become one of the state's most congested roadways. In Howard County, there were 15 traffic signals on US 31. As part of the state of Indiana's Major Moves Project, US 31 was updated to bypass the city of Kokomo to the east. It has interchanges at SR 26, Boulevard, Markland Avenue, and Touby Pike, as well as where the current SR 931 meets the new US 31. There was a similar change near South Bend and there will be one near Indianapolis. The construction in Howard County cost roughly $340 million. Construction started on the County Road 200 South bridge on November 1, 2008. The new US 31 was opened November 27, 2013, at which time the existing roadway was renamed SR 931.


title: Kokomo, Indiana

text: The town for many years was a stop on the Pennsylvania Railroad's division running on a Chicago-Logansport-Richmond-Hamilton-Cincinnati itinerary. The last named train on the route was the overnight "Buckeye," whose unnamed successor ended service in 1969. A day train counterpart on the route lingered on at least another year.


title: Campeche

text: Campeche (; ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Campeche (), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. Located in southeast Mexico, it is bordered by the states of Tabasco to the southwest, Yucatán to the northeast, and Quintana Roo to the east; to the southeast by the Orange Walk district of Belize, and by the Petén department of Guatemala to the south. It has a coastline to the west with the Gulf of Mexico. The state capital, also called Campeche, was declared a World Heritage Site in 1997. The formation of the state began with the city, which was founded in 1540 as the Spanish began the conquest of the Yucatán Peninsula. The city was a rich and important port during the colonial period, but it declined after Mexico's independence. Campeche was part of the province of Yucatán but split off in the mid-19th century, mostly due to political friction with the city of Mérida. Much of the state's recent economic revival is due to the discovery of petroleum offshore in the 1970s, which has made the coastal cities of Campeche and Ciudad del Carmen important economic centers. The state has important Mayan and colonial sites; however, these are not as well-known or visited as others in the Yucatán.


title: Campeche

text: The state's executive power rests in the governor of Campeche and the legislative power rests in the Congress of Campeche which is a unicameral legislature composed of 35 deputies.


title: Campeche

text: The name of Campeche is derived from the Maya name of a settlement called “Ah-Kin-Pech” where the city of Campeche is now. When the Spanish first arrived to the area in 1517, they called it Lazaro, since "the day of our landing was St. Lazarus'


title: Campeche

text: Campeche is a relatively flat area of Mexico with of shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico. Most of the surface is of sedimentary rock, much of which is of marine origin. The area with the highest elevations is near the borders with Guatemala and Quintana Roo. Notable elevations include Cerro Champerico, Cerro los Chinos, Cerro El Ramonal, Cerro El Doce, and Cerro El Gavilán. However, these hills are separated by large expanses of lower flat land. In the south of the municipality of Champotón begin a series of rolling hills known as the Sierra Alta or Puuc, which extend northeast to Bolonchen and then into the state of Yucatán. These have only an average altitude of between with some reaching . Other areas of these rolling hills lie near the city of Campeche, the main ones known as Maxtum, Boxol and El Morro. Another set is called the Sierra Seybaplaya in the center of the state.


title: Campeche

text: Rainforest areas subdivide into a number of types which include perennial tall tree rainforest, semi perennial tall tree rainforest, deciduous medium height tree rainforest, semi-deciduous medium height tree rainforest, deciduous low height tree rainforest and semi-perennial low height tree rainforest. Away from the coast, these rainforests are interspersed with savannah areas and along the coast are accompanied by areas with sand dunes, mangrove wetlands and estuaries. Species that can be found in the various rainforests include Spanish cedar ("Cedrela odorata"), oxhorn bucida ("Bucida buceras"), Campeche logwood ("Haematoxylum campechianum"), and wild tamarind ("Lysiloma latisiliquum"). It also includes a number of precious tropical hardwoods such as red cedar ("Toona ciliata"), Honduran mahogany ("Swietenia macrophylla"), ziricote ("Cordia dodecandra") and holywood ("Guaiacum sanctum"). Along the coastal areas, palms dominate such as the coconut tree ("Cocos nucifera") and royal palm ("Roystonea regia"). The main wildlife species in the state are the jaguar, ocelot, puma, deer, collared peccary, raccoon, hare, ring-tailed cat and Yucatan spider monkey. There are many bird species including the plain chachalaca, quail, pelican, and toucan. Reptiles include rattlesnakes, coral snakes, boa constrictors, various species of sea and land turtles, iguanas, and crocodiles. While still rich in wildlife, much has been decimated because of agriculture and exploitation of forest resources destroying habitat as well as uncontrolled hunting. Most of the state's aquatic life — including many species of fish, crustaceans, and mollusks — is found in the Bay of Campeche. Many of these are exploited commercially.


title: Campeche

text: Most of the state's surface freshwater is in the south and southwest, with rivers, small lakes and estuaries. These diminish in the north where rainfall rapidly filtrates into the subsoil. The rivers in the south and southwest belong to various basins, with the largest being the Grijalva to which the Candelaria, Chumpán and Mamantal Rivers belong. The -Usumacinta also flows in the state but it tends to change course frequently and occasionally divides into branches. The east branch of this river is also called the Palizada River, which has the largest volume although it is narrow. The San Pedro River is another branch of the Usumacinta, which passes by Jonuta Municipality in Tabasco before emptying in the Gulf of Mexico. The Chumpán River is an isolated river formed by the union of various streams. It runs north-south and empties in the Laguna de Terminos. The Candelaria River forms in Petén, Guatemala and runs north-south and empties into the Laguna de Pargos. The Mamantel River empties into the Laguna de Panlau. The Champotón River is in the center of the state and empties into the Gulf of Mexico. The rest of the state's streams flow only in the rainy season.


title: Campeche

text: The Laguna de Términos lagoon is located in the southwest of the state, near the border with Tabasco. It is separated from the Gulf of Mexico only by the Isla del Carmen. It receives freshwater from most of Campeche's rivers as well as saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico. In these brackish waters have developed a number of aquatic species such as sea bass, small sharks, crabs, oysters, turtles, and storks. The lagoon is ringed by smaller lakes and forms the most important lake-lagoon system in the country. These lakes include Atasta, Pom, Puerto Rico, El Este, Del Vapor, Del Corte, Pargos and Panlau. This system formed about five thousand years ago by the accumulation of sediment carried by surrounding rivers. This system connects to the Sabancuy estuary to the northeast.


title: Campeche

text: Campeche is in the tropics; it has a humid climate, with a defined rainy season, and a relatively dry season from late winter to early spring. Average annual rainfall varies between . The hottest and most humid areas of the state are along the coast between the Laguna de Términos and the northern border. Average annual temperature is with highs up to in the summer and lows of in the winter. Prevailing winds are from the northwest from November to March, from the north between September and October, from the southeast from June to August and from the south in April and May. In the winter, storms from the north called “nortes” can bring colder dry air from the area of the United States. In the late summer, there are sometimes hurricanes.


title: Campeche

text: The state has a number of ecosystems, from rainforest, to savanna to coast and sea. Environmentally, the state is divided into four major regions. The coastal region consists of the entire coastline of the state and a strip of shallow water just offshore called the Sonda de Campeche with coral reefs and low islands called cays. The region has large expanses of mangroves that dominate the swamps. Non-swamp areas are dominated by palm trees. Wildlife is dominated by bird and reptile species such as storks, pelicans, ducks, seagulls, lizards, turtles and water snakes. The mountain region is in the north and east of the state consisting of two chains of low hills called the Dzibalchen and Sierra Alta. It also includes the savannah area and an area called Los Chenes, where natural wells (called "cenotes") are common. This area is noted for its tropical hardwoods and the chicle or gum tree. Wildlife includes deer, armadillos, rabbits, quail, and woodpeckers. The rainforest region is located on the center and south of the state with a wide variety of trees including tropical hardwoods such as mahogany. Many of the plants used in the state's cuisine such as "achiote" and tropical fruits are from here. The river region is located in the southwest of the state, named after the various rivers that flow here, mostly emptying into the Laguna de Términos. It has the hottest and most humid climate in Campeche with wildlife and vegetation similar to that found in both the Rainforest and Coast regions.


title: Campeche

text: Campeche has four protected areas: the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, the Laguna de Términos Reserve, Ría Celestún Biosphere Reserve, and the Los Petenes Biosphere Reserve. The Calakmul Reserve was created in 1989 over . It consists of Yucatán and Tehuantepec moist forests, containing high and medium growth semi-deciduous forests and seasonally flooded low height semi-deciduous forests. There is also aquatic vegetation. The Laguna de Términos Reserve includes the lagoon and the area surrounding it with an area of . It was established in 1994. Los Petenes is a natural reserve consisting of isolated pockets of rainforest with mangrove areas in between. The wildlife is dependent on a varied and complex system of fresh and brackish water. The reserve extends over in the municipalities of Campeche, Tenabo, Hecelchakán and Calkiní.