Podcast appearances and mentions of hal smith

In this gripping episode of Gangland Wire, host Gary Jenkins sits down with Robert “Bob” Cooley, the Chicago lawyer whose extraordinary journey took him from deep inside the Outfit's criminal operations to becoming one of the federal government's most valuable witnesses against organized crime. Cooley pulls back the curtain on the hidden machinery of Chicago's underworld, describing how corruption, bribery, and violence shaped the Chicago Outfit's power in the 1970s and beyond. As a lawyer, gambler, and trusted insider, Cooley saw firsthand how mob influence tilted the scales of justice—often in open daylight. Inside the “Chicago Method” of Courtroom Corruption Cooley explains the notorious system of judicial bribery he once helped facilitate—what he calls the “Chicago Method.” He walks listeners through: How defense attorneys worked directly with Outfit associates to buy favorable rulings. The process of approaching and bribing judges. Why weak forensic standards of the era made witness discrediting the key mob strategy. His personal involvement in the infamous Harry Aleman murder case, where clear guilt was erased by corruption. Life in the Outfit: Gambling, Debt, and Mob Justice Cooley recounts his early days gambling with Chicago Outfit associates, including Marco D'Amico, Jackie Cerrone, and John DeFranzo. Notable stories include: The violent implications of unpaid gambling debts in mob circles. Tense interactions with bookmaker Hal Smith and the chaotic fallout of a bounced check involving mobster Eddie Corrado. How D'Amico often stepped in—sometimes with intimidation—to shield Cooley from harm. These stories reflect the daily volatility of life inside the Outfit, where money, fear, and loyalty intersect constantly. Bob Cooley has a great book titled When Corruption Was King where he goes into even greater detail and has many more stories from his life inside the Chicago Mob. Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee” Subscribe to the website for weekly notifications about updates and other Mob information. To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup, click here To rent ‘Brothers against Brothers’ or ‘Gangland Wire,’ the documentaries click here.  To purchase one of my books, click here. 0:06 Introduction to Bob Cooley 1:32 Life as an Outfit Gambler 2:00 My Relationship with Marco D’Amico 10:40 The Story of Hal Smith 11:05 A Dangerous Encounter 20:21 Meeting Sally D 22:23 A Contract on My Life 22:37 The Harry Alleman Case 34:47 Inside the Courtroom 51:08 The Verdict 52:26 Warning the Judge 53:49 The Case Against the Policewoman 58:36 Navigating the Legal Maze 1:08:14 The Outcome and Its Consequences 1:11:39 The Decision to Flip 1:24:38 A Father’s Influence 1:33:57 The Corruption Revealed 1:50:12 Political Connections 2:02:07 The Setup for Robbery 2:20:29 Consequences of Loyalty transcript [0:00] Hey, guys, my guest today is a former Chicago outfit associate named Robert Bob Cooley. He has a book out there titled When Corruption Was King. I highly recommend you get it if you want to look inside the Chicago outfit of the 1970s. Now, Bob’s going to tell us about his life as an outfit gambler, lawyer, and I use payoff to judges to get many, many not guilty verdicts. Now, I always call this the Chicago method. This happened for, I know, for Harry Ailman, a case we’re going to talk about, Tony Spolatro got one of these not-guilties. Now, the outfit member associate who is blessed to get this fix put in for him may be charged with a crime, even up to murder. And he gets a lawyer, a connected lawyer, and they’ll demand a bench trial. That means that only a judge makes the decision. A lawyer, like my guest, who worked with a political fixer named Pat Marcy. [0:53] They’ll work together and they’ll get a friendly judge assigned to that case and then they’ll bribe the judge. And all that judge needs is some kind of alibi witnesses and any kind of information to discredit any prosecution witnesses. Now, this is back in the olden days before you had all this DNA and all that kind of thing. So physical evidence was not really a part of it. Mainly, it was from witnesses. And they just have to discredit any prosecution witness. Then the judge can say, well, state hadn’t really proven their case beyond a reasonable doubt and issue a not guilty verdict and walk away. Now, our guest, Bob Cooley, is going to take us inside this world. [1:29] And it’s a world of beatings, murders, bribes, and other kinds of plots. He was a member of the Elmwood Park crew. He was a big gambler. He was a big loan shark. And he worked for a guy named Marco D’Amico, who was their gambling boss and loan shark in that crew. Among other bosses in this powerful crew were Jackie Cerrone, who will go on and become the underboss and eventually the boss for a short [1:55] period of time. and John no-nose DeFranzo, who will also go on to become the boss eventually. What was your relationship with Marco D’Amico? I talked about when I first came into the 18th district, when I came into work there, and they put me back in uniform, the first person I met was Rick Borelli. Rick Borelli, he was Marco’s cousin. [2:23] When I started gambling right away with Rick, within a couple of days, I’m being his face, and I’m calling and making bets. There was a restaurant across the street where every Wednesday and sometimes a couple days a week, I would meet with Ricky. And one of the first people he brought in there was Marco. Was Marco. And Marco would usually be with a person or two. And I thought they were just bookmakers. [2:55] And I started being friendly with him, meeting him there. Then I started having card games Up in my apartment And, Because now I’m making, in the very beginning, I’m making first $100 extra a week. And within a couple of weeks, I’m making $500, $600 extra a week. And within about a month, I’m making $1,000, sometimes more than that. So now I’m having card games, relatively big card games, because I’ve got a bankroll. I’ve got probably about $5,000, $6,000, which seemed like a lot of money to me. Initially uh and after a while that was a daily that was a daily deal but uh so we we started having card games up there and then we started socializing we started now he’d be at these nightclubs all the time when when i’d go to make my payoffs he was part of the main group there he was one of the call he was right he was right under jack right under at that time originally Jackie Cerrone, and then he was right under Johnny DeFranco. [4:07] But he was… And we became real good friends. We would double date and we spent a lot of time together. And we had these big card games. And that’s when I realized how powerful these people were. Because after one of the card games, there was somebody that was brought in, a guy named Corrado. I’m pretty sure his name was I can’t think of his first name, but Corrado was this person that somebody brought into the game. And after we finished playing cards, and I won all the time. I mean, I was a real good card player, and I wouldn’t drink. I’d supply liquor and food and everything, but I wouldn’t drink. And as the others drank, they were the same as at my office. After we finish up, this guy says, you want to play some? We can play maybe some gin. just human being. And he was there with another friend of his who just sat there and watched. So we played, not gin, but blackjack. We played and passed cards back and forth when you win. Then you’re the dealer and back and forth. And I lost, I think I lost about $4,000 or $13,000 to him. [5:26] I lost the cash that I had. I had cash about $5,000 or $6,000. And I gave him a check for the rest. You know, but everything I was doing was wrong, you know. Yeah, one of those nights. It’s in there. And it’s funny because you asked about Marco. [5:47] And I thought, you know, oh, well, and whatever. And I gave him a check. I said, no, it’s a good check. And it was. It was for my office. It was an office check that I gave him. And that next morning, I’m meeting with Ricky and with Marco at this restaurant across from the station before I go in and to work. And I said, son of a B. I said, you know, they had a bad night first ever. Marco wasn’t at that game, at that particular game. And what happened? I said, I blew about 12,000. Okay, but you? Wow. And I said, yeah, I said, one of the guys at the game played some, I played some blackjack with somebody. What was his name? Eddie, Eddie Corrado. Eddie Corrado. He said, that mother, he said, stop payment on the check. He said, stop payment on the check. He said, because it wasn’t nine o’clock. It was only like, you know, seven, you know, seven 30 or whatever. He said, and when he gets ahold of you, arrange to have him come to your house. Tell him you’ll have the money for him at your house. So that’s what I, that’s what I do. So I stopped payment on it probably about five after nine. I get a call from, from Mr. Corrado. You mother fucker. [7:17] I said, no, no. I said, there wasn’t enough money in the account. I said, I’m sorry. I said, all right, then I’ll be over. I said, no, no, no. I said, I’m in court right now. I said, I’m in court. I said, I’m going to be tied up all day. I’ll meet you at my place. I’ll meet you back there. Well, I’ll be there. You better have that. I want cash and you better have it. Okay. Oh, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m at home. Marco comes in. And he was there with Tony and Tony was there and Ricky was there. And Ricky was there. And they come over a little ahead of time and he comes in. I live on the 27th floor. The doorbell rings. Up he comes with some big mustache. [8:00] I open the door. You better have the fucking money and whatever. And I try to look nervous. I try to look real nervous. and when you walk into my apartment you walk in and you see the kitchen right in front of you and to the left to the left you’ve got an area away and you’ve got the the kitchen wall blocking what’s behind it over there and these three guys are standing marco and you are standing right there alongside of it and and when he walks in behind me, He sees Marco and all but shit in his pants. When he sees Marco, he goes, and Marco, you motherfucker. And, you know, oh, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I didn’t know he was with you. He says, how much money you got me right now? And, you know, he says, pull your pockets out. He had about, he had about three or 4,000 with him. [9:02] And he says, you give him that. He says, you, he says, you, and he says, you give him that right now. And you apologize to him. Oh, and he says, he says, and I may give you a number. I want you to call. He says, we can put you to work. Apparently this guy had done the same thing to them a few years before and got the beating of his life somebody brought him into one of their card games, did he have a technique a cheating technique or had some marked cards no it was a card mechanic he could play games with cards they call him a mechanic and, in fact the guy was great at it because he had his own plane and everything else. But again, he had moved from Chicago and had just come back in the area. And they mounted. And so anyhow, he leaves. And he leaves then, and Marco took the money. Marco took the money. Marco took the money. Typical Bob guy, man. [10:19] And I says, what about the cash I lost to him? He says, well, you lost that. He says, you lost that. That’s when I realized how powerful. That’s when I realized how powerful that [10:35] he was part of the mob, not only a part of it, but one of the operational. Yeah, important part of it. That brings to mind another unbelievable situation that occurred. [10:49] The, uh, this is probably the, we’ll know the year by when it happened. There was a bookmaker named Hal Smith. Oh yeah. I remember that name. He got, tell us about Hal Smith. [11:05] Well, Hal Smith was a, he was a big guy too. A real, a real big guy. I met him on Rush street. He knew I was a gambler. He knew that I was a big gambler and I started gambling with him. Thank you. And I was with him probably for about maybe five or six months. And I’d win with him. I’d lose with him. And he would take big places. He would take $5,000 a game for me. And as they say, so the numbers were big. At the end of the week, we were sometimes $60,000, $70,000. [11:42] They were big numbers back and forth. And he was always good for the money. I was always good for the money. And one particular week, it was about $30,000. And I was waiting for money. Somebody else was supposed to give me even more than that. And the person put me off. And it was a good friend of mine. And I knew the money would be there. But a lot of times, these guys are going to collect it at a certain time. And then they’re expecting to give it to somebody else. Well, he was short. So I said, look, I don’t have it right now, but I’ll have it tomorrow, I said, because I’m meeting somebody. Well, okay, it better be there. [12:31] And look, it’ll be there, okay? Not a problem. So the next day, the person I’m supposed to get it from says, I’ll have it in a couple of hours. I don’t have it right now, but I’ll have it by late this afternoon. And I’m in my office when Hale Smith calls me and I said, I’ll have it a little bit later. And he slams the phone bell. I’m downstairs in Counselor’s Row. In fact, I’m meeting with Butchie and Harry. We’re in a booth talking about something. They had just sent me some business or whatever, but I’m talking about something. And George, the owner of the restaurant, comes over and he says, somebody is asking who you are and they want to talk to you. And they point out this guy. It was a guy I had seen before, because a lot of times at two in the morning, I would go down on West Street, and they had entertainment upstairs. And there was this big English guy. He was an English guy, as you could tell by his accent, a real loud guy. And when I walk up to talk to him, and he’s talking loud enough so people can hear him, and he says, you better have that. I’m here for it. You better have that. You better have that money. [13:51] Bob Hellsmith sent me, you get the money and you better have that money or there’s going to be a problem or whatever. And I said, well, the money will be there, but people can hear what this guy, this guy talking that shit. And he leaves. And he leaves. He’s going to call me back. And he leaves. I said, I’m busy right now. I says, give me a call back when I’m in the office and I’ll meet with you. So Butch, he goes, what was that all about? And I said, you know, it’s somebody I owe some money to. Well, who is he? Who is he with? I said, Harold Smith. And he said, who’s Harold Smith? You don’t pay him anything. He said, you don’t pay him anything. And he calls, when he calls back, he says, you will arrange to meet him. And I said, you know, I said, well, where? [14:44] And they knew where I lived. They’d been to my place at that time. I’m living in Newberry Plaza and they said, there’s a, there’s a Walgreens drugstore in Chicago Avenue. Tell him you’ll meet him there at Walgreens, and we’ll take it. And he says, and we’ll take it from there. When he does call me, I said, look, I said, I’ll meet you tomorrow morning for sure at Walgreens. I’ll have the cash. I said, I’ll have the cash, and I’ll have all of it. I said, but, you know, I’m tied up on some things. I said, I’ll go to my own bank when I’m finished here and whatever, and I’ll see you tomorrow morning for sure at 9 o’clock tomorrow morning. Okay. I sit down with them and they just said, I said, they said, go there and go meet them. And we’ll take care of it. The Walgreens is a store right in the corner of Michigan Avenue and Chicago Avenue, south side of the street. And it’s all windows. Huge windows here. Huge windows here. And a bus stop, a bus stop over here. When I get there, I park in the bus stop and I’m looking to my right and here he is sitting in a booth by himself, right by the window. And I look around and I don’t see anybody. I mean, with a lot of people, I don’t see Butchie. [16:06] Uh or red or anybody around but i i go in there anyhow and uh sit down and i uh sit down in the booth across from him and he’s eating breakfast he’s got some food in front of him and uh the girl comes by right away the girl comes by and i says you know just get me a coke and and he says have you got the money and i said yes and why i got i got a lot i got a lot of money in my pocket but not the, whatever it was he wanted, not the 27 or 28,000. There’s nobody there. And, uh, so we’re talking for no more than about two or three minutes. They had a telephone on the counter. I hear the phone ring and the waitress, the waitress is on the phone. And then she comes walking over and she says, it’s a call for you. And, and when I go get in the phone, I woke up and there’s a phone booth there. And here’s Butchie in the phone booth. And he’s there with a couple of other people. I hang the phone up. I walk over and I had my appointment booked. And I walk over and I just pick up the book. And as I’m walking out there, walking in, we pass each other. And so now when I get in my car and he’s looking at me in my car and right next to him is Butchie. And across from him was a red old male and Fat Herbie. [17:34] Herbie Blitzstein? Herbie Blitzstein? No, it wasn’t Herbie. This is another one. That’s one thing of Herbie. We called Herbie Fat. It was Fat Herbie. And the third guy is like sitting facing him. This is like, that weighs about 300 pounds. Oh, Sarno. Make Mike Sarno. Mike Sarno. That was it. And that’s, that’s, that’s who it was. You know, and I, I drive off, go to my office and go about my business. I get a call later that day from, uh, Hale Smith. Where’s my money? Where’s my money? I said, I gave it to your guy. You what? I gave it to him. I met him at nine o’clock this morning and I gave him the money. You did. And I said, yeah. Um, okay. And he hangs, and he hangs up. I don’t hear anything for a while. I never saw him again. I saw Hale a couple of times because he was always in one of the other restaurants. I lived in Newberry right across from there, but he never talked to me. I never talked to him, never said anything. It was about maybe it had to be a good couple of months later, When I read about Hale, Hale’s no longer with us. [18:52] That’s obviously how they found out about him. I never saw the other guy again. I’m hoping they didn’t kill him, but I’m assuming that’s what probably happened to him. In a public place like that, they probably just scared him off. He probably said, you know, I’m way over my head. I’m out of here. [19:15] They didn’t kill him in the public place he wouldn’t have been in the newspapers my little thought is like with the three guys they took him for a ride, I don’t know they just told him to leave town and he realized what it was and he did Hal didn’t get a chance to leave town Hal had other problems if I remember right I’d have to look it back up but he had other problems with the outfit what I found out later what they had done, was they had gotten one of their guys connected with him to find out who his customers were. In other words, one of the other people that he didn’t realize, that Hale didn’t realize was with them, they got him connected with them where he’s the one who’s doing his collecting and finding out who the customers were because they wanted to get all his customers as well as his money. It turns out he was He was a huge bookmaker for years. That’s what happened to him. And they just took his book. Yeah, I remember something about that story because I killed him in his house, I believe. Yeah, Sally D. [20:22] Sally D, yeah. Sally D was one. When I first met Sally D, he was with Marco’s Fruit, too. [20:30] He owned a pizza place up on the north side, north shore, and I broke him. I was betting with him and beating him week after week. And one of the last times I played with him, he couldn’t come up with the money. It took him an extra couple of weeks to get the cash to pay me. But we were real close friends with him. He’s a bizarre character because he was a totally low level at that time. Yeah. When he then connected up with the Cicero crew, with Rocky and Felice, with Rocky and those people, he became a boss with them. It turns out it was after they killed Al Smith. He was part of all that. That’s Salih De Laurentiis. He’s supposed to be a boss. He moved on up after the Family Secrets trial. He didn’t go down with that, I believe, and he kind of moved on up after that. I don’t know what happened to him. What was so funny about that, when he would come into the club, Marco’s club, Bobby Abinati. [21:42] Who was strictly a very low-level player, although we indicted him with the Gambia star. He’s the one who set up the robbery. Would that have been great if that would have gone through? He’s the one who set up that robbery in Wisconsin. He’d be making fun of Salihide all the time. [22:03] When Salihide would come in, he would make fun of him and joke about him and talk about what a loser he was. This is when he’s a boss of that crew. I mean, just a strange, I mean, nobody talked to bosses like that, especially when, when you’re, when you’re what they call Bobby, you know, what was Marco’s nickname for Bobby Knucklehead? [22:23] That was his nickname, Knucklehead. Pat Marcy, uh, contacted me about, you know, handling me in the only own case. [22:32] I couldn’t have been happier because that was a short time after they put a contract on me. So now i realized if they’re going to be making money you know they finally stopped because for good six seven months when i when i came back to chicago uh i was checking under my car every day in case there was a bomb i moved i moved from uh from a place that i own in the suburbs into an apartment complex so i wouldn’t be living on the first floor yeah it’d be impossible to somebody to break into my, you know, took them thrashing into my place. I changed my whole life around in that sense. [23:10] And when I drove everywhere I went, you know, I would go on the highway and then jump over. I would do all, I wanted to make absolutes. Even though nobody came around, I wasn’t taking any chances for a long period of time. And that was too when it cost me a fortune because that’s when I stopped dealing with the bookmakers because I wasn’t going to be in a position where I had to go meet somebody at any time to collect my money and whatever. [23:39] So what had happened, though, was somebody came to see me. And when I was practicing, there’s a lot of things I wouldn’t do. I set my own rules. I would not get involved. After the Harry Alleman case, I never got involved anymore myself fixing certain cases. But even prior to that, I wouldn’t fix certain cases. I wouldn’t get involved in certain cases, especially involving the police, because my father was such a terrific policeman, and I felt I was too in a lot of sentences. I loved the police. I disliked some of the crooked cops that I knew, but on the surface, I’d be friendly with them, etc. Harry Ailman was a prolific hitman for the Elmwood Park crew. He killed a teamster who wouldn’t help set up trucks for the outfit, a guy named Billy Logan. He was just a regular guy. He’s going to take us right into the meeting with the judge. He’ll take us into a counselor’s row restaurant where these cases were fixed. Now, Bob will give us a seat right at Pat Marcy’s table. Now, Pat Marcy was the first ward fixture, and he’s going to take us into the hallway with Pat Marcy where they made the payoffs. [24:57] Now, Bob, can you take us inside the famous Harry Aileman murder case? I know you fixed it. And tell us, you know, and I know there was a human toll that this took on that corrupt judge, Frank Wilson. Okay. The Harry Aileman case was, it was not long after I became partners with Johnny DeArco. I get a call from, I’m in Counselor’s Row at the restaurant. Whenever I was in there now, my spot was the first ward table. Nobody was allowed to sit there day or night. That was reserved for first ward connected people and only the top group of people. [25:40] I’m sitting there at the table and Johnny DeArco Sr. Tells me, you know, Pat wants to talk to you. About something. And I said, you know, sure. Not long afterwards, Pat comes downstairs. We go out. We go out in the hall because we never talk at the table. And he tells me, have you got somebody that can handle the Harry Alleman case? I had seen in the news, he was front page news. He was one of the main mob hitmen. He was partners with Butchie Petrucelli. But it was common knowledge that he was a hitman. He looked like one. He dressed like one. He acted like one. And whatever. And he was one. In fact, he was the one that used to go to New York. And I know he also went to Arizona to do some hits and whatever. He traveled around the country. I said to Pat, they thought the case was a mob hit on a team street. a teamster. I assumed that it was just that. It was people doing what they do. But I said to Pat, I said, well, get me the file. Get me the file. Let me see what the case looks like. Because I would never put a judge in a bad spot. That was my nature. [27:06] When I had cases, a lot of these judges were personal friends of mine. What I would do, if I wanted to have a case, if I wanted to fix a case to save all the time of having to go to a damn long trial, I would make sure that it was a case that was winnable, easily winnable. When I got the file, when I got the file from Pat, he got me the file the next day. The next morning, when he came in, he gave me the file. I looked at the file. It was a throw-out case. When I say throw-out case, absolutely a nothing case. [27:46] The records in the file showed that a car drove up down the street. Suddenly somebody with a shotgun blasted a guy named Billy Logan in front of his house and drove away. They were contacted by a neighbor, this guy, Bobby Lowe. Was it Bobby Lowe? Yeah, I’m pretty sure Bobby Lowe. Who indicated that he opened the door and let his dog run out. And when he looked, he saw somebody. He saw a car, and he gave a description of the car. And he saw somebody pull up, and he saw him shoot with a shotgun. And then he saw the person get out of the car and shoot him with a .45, and shoot him with a .45. And then the car sped away. That was pretty much the case. Some other people heard some noise, looked out, and saw a car driving away. A period of time after that, it had to be about a year or so after that, somebody was arrested driving to Pennsylvania to kill somebody. There was a guy who stopped. [29:16] Louie Almeida was his name. Louie Almeida was stopped in his car. He was on the way to Pennsylvania. And in front of his car, he had shotguns. And he winds up, when he gets arrested, he winds up telling the authorities that he can tell them about a mob murder back in Chicago and winds up cooperating with them. He indicates what happened. He indicated that, you know, he was asked to, you know, or he got involved in it. He got the car and whatever. They did this. They did that. And he pulled up alongside Billy and wound up shooting the victim as he came out of the house. [30:09] Now, I look at some other reports in there, some reports that were made out, new reports. They talk about the Louis Almeida. They talk about the witness that gave the first statement. and they said that they found, or he’s giving us a new statement now where he says he’s walking his dog. He hears a shotgun. His dog runs towards the car where the shooting was coming from. He saw Harry get out of the car and walk over and shoot him, walk over and shoot the victim, and he was looking at him, And then he jumped in the bushes and the car drove away. A complete new story. Yeah. A complete new story. And. I looked at the reports, and this is an easy winner. And so I told Pat, you know, I’ll take it. You know, I’m sure I can handle it. I said, I’m sure I can handle it, but, you know, I’ll let you know. [31:21] That’s when I contacted, I met my restaurant, Greco’s, and I had Frank Wilson there a lot. Well, I called Frank Wilson, invited him and his wife to come to the restaurant. I had done that many times before. When he gets there, I tell him, I have the case. You know, I told him I was contacted on this case, I said. And I said, it’s an easy winner, I said. And I explained to him what it was. I told him, you know, it’s the driver of the car who’s doing this to help himself. And this other guy, Bobby Lowe, that gave a complete new story from the original story that he gave. And I indicated, you know, can you handle the case? And he tells me, I can’t handle the case, he said, because I was SOJ’d. In Chicago, Illinois, they have a rule that makes it easy for people to fool around because for no reason at all you can ask to have a judge moved off the case. And you can name a second judge that you don’t want to handle the case. [32:34] Frank Wilson’s reputation was as such that the lawyer that turned out to be a judge later on, Tom Maloney, who had the case, named him in the SOJ. It was assigned to somebody else, and he indicated he wanted any other judge except Frank Wilson. Frank Wilson on the case. And this was Harry Aileman’s lawyer. Yeah. Okay. And who Tom Maloney, who then ends up being the judge years later. But yeah. Well, because we knew he was going to be a judge. Yeah. We knew ahead of time. I knew at that time. That’s what makes the story so unbelievably interesting. Yeah. Anyhow, he says, I can’t do it because… In Chicago, in Chicago, it’s supposed to keep it honest. I love this. To keep it honest. Yeah. To keep it honest, each judge is supposed to be picked by computer. [33:33] Same thing they’re doing to this day. Trump wondered why the same judge kept getting all his cases. Because they’re doing the same thing we did, some of us could do in Chicago. He was the chief judge in the area. he said to me, I don’t think I can get the case. I don’t think I can’t get the case. I said, I’ll get the case to you. I said, I’ll get, because I already, I, in fact, through Pat Marcy, anytime I wanted a case to go anywhere, I would contact Pat and I’d give him a thousand dollars and he would get me any judge I wanted. Uh, I said, well, I think I can. I said, I said, And I gave him $1,000. [34:16] I said, here, this is yours. And if I can’t get the case to you, you keep it. If I can’t get, I never said to him, will you fix it? Will you this or that? I mean, he understood what it was. I didn’t know how he would react to it. When I asked him, would you handle it? Were the words I used. I had never fixed anything with him before. [34:43] In case he was, you know, he would want to report it to somebody. I wasn’t worried because Frank had a reputation as being a big drinker. After I got the Harry Elliman file, Pat tells me, I’m going to have somebody come and talk to you. Who comes? And we meet in the first ward office, and then we go downstairs into the special room they had for conversations. It’s Mike Ficarro. He’s the head of the organized crime section. He’s the one who prosecutes all the criminals. He’s one of the many prosecutors in Chicago. That’s why there were over 1,000 mob murders and never a conviction from the time of Al Capone. Not a single conviction with over 1,000 mob murders because they controlled absolutely everything. He’s the boss. [35:35] I knew him. I didn’t like him. He had an attitude about him. You know, when I would see him at parties and when I’d see him at other places, and I’d walk by and say, hi, he just seemed coldish. [35:47] I found out later why. He was jealous of the relationship I had with all these people. [35:54] He says, I’ll help you any way I can, anything you need, whatever. So the prosecutors on the Harry Olliman case were our people. That’s who’s prosecuting the case anyhow. But they couldn’t get one of their judges apparently who would handle the case. So, but anyhow, uh, so, uh, when we, um, when we go, when we, when we go to trial, um. [36:25] Before to help me out, I told Pat, I’ll get somebody else to handle the case. I’ll have somebody else. I said, I won’t go in there. I won’t go in there because everybody knows I’m close to Frank, very close to Frank. I said, so I won’t go in there. I’ll get somebody. He says, no, no. He said, I’ll get somebody. And so he gets a guy named Frank Whalen, who I didn’t know at the time. He was a retired lawyer from Chicago. He was one of the mob lawyers. [37:00] He was one of the mob lawyers. And he lived in Florida. He lived in Miami. I think it was, no, Lauderdale. He lived in the Lauderdale area. He was practicing there. So I fly out. I fly out to meet him. I i do all the investigating in the case the i’m using an investigator that harry alleman got from me in fact he was the same investigator that got in trouble in in uh in in hollywood for what for a lot of stuff i can’t think of his name right now but he’s the one who got indicted in hollywood eventually for you know wiretapping people and whatever it was the same one. And he got me information on Bobby on this Bobby Lowe. He found out Bobby Lowe, Bobby Lowe was a drug addict. [37:59] When the FBI got a hold of him, Bobby Lowe was living out in the street because he had been fired from his first job. He had a job in some kind of an ice cream company where they made ice cream, and he got fired there for stealing. And then he had a job after that in a gas station, and he faked a robbery there. Apparently, what he did was he called the police and said he had been robbed. This is before they had cameras and all the rest of that stuff. He said he had been robbed. And somebody happened to have been in the gas station getting gas. It was a big place, apparently. [38:45] And when the police talked to him, he said, I didn’t see anything strange. He said, I saw the attendant walk out to the back about 10, 15 minutes ago. I saw him walk out to the back of the place and then come back in. And so they go out, and he had his car parked behind it, and they found the money that was supposed to have been stolen in the car. So not the best witness, in other words. Well, that’s an understatement, because that was why… That was why now he suddenly shows up, and they know all this. The FBI agents that obviously know all this, that’s their witness. That’s their case. To me, it’s an airtight, you know. Yeah. Anyhow, I developed the defense. I went back to see Frank a second time. I flew out to Florida a second time, gave him all this information. [39:48] I had talked to some other people to a number of people that were going to indicate that Harry played golf with them that day see how they remembered not golf but he was at a driving range with them with about five people they remember what they were three or four years three or four years before that what I also found out now, and I didn’t know and it changed my whole attitude on that this wasn’t a mob killing you, This guy that he killed was married to his, I think it was his cousin or some relation was married. I’m pretty sure it was to his cousin. She had told Harry, I got this from Butchie, Butchie Petrosselli, who had become a close friend of mine after I got involved with Harry’s case, his partner. And that was why he killed them, because apparently the sister, his sister-in-law, whatever she was, had told him, you know, when he was beating her up, she had said, well, my Harry Alameda won’t be happy about this. And he said, supposedly, he said, fuck that, Kenny. [41:02] And that’s why the shooting took place. Wow. This changed me. You know, I’m in the middle of it. There’s no getting out of it now. Yeah, they’ll turn it back. And by now, I’m running around all the time with Butch and Mary at night. I’m meeting them at dinner. They’re coming to one of my places where I have dinners all the time. You know, I’m becoming like close friends, close friends with both of them. Yeah. So anyhow, but anyhow, the lawyer that he got, Frank Whalen, who was supposed to be sharp, turned out like he was not in his, let’s just say he was not in his prime. [41:46] Charitable. And when he went in, you know, while the trial was going on, you know, while the trial was going on, I get a call from Frank. From Frank Wilson, because I told him, you don’t come back into the restaurant now. You don’t come back into the restaurant. I used his office as my office all the time, along with a bunch of other judges. I had a phone, but it cost about a dollar a minute to talk on my phone. I had to talk on my phone. So when I’d be at 26th Street in the courthouse, even though no lawyers are allowed back there in the chamber, so I’m back there sitting at his desk using the phone taking care of my own other business. I stopped going in there while the trial was going on. [42:35] So, anyhow, he calls me, and he wants to meet me at a restaurant over on Western Avenue. And, okay, he called me from one of the pay phones out there in front of the courthouse, and I go to meet him. What did he want? Was he complaining about the lawyer, Waylon? What was he complaining about, Waylon? and I was screwing it up. [42:59] When I meet him, I said, you know, he’s like, you know, he said, you know, we go into the bathroom and he and he said he’s all shooken up. He says, this is going to cost me my job. He said, he said, you know, they’re burying him. You’re burying him. You know, because I had given this information on the two witnesses. And he says, Frank Whalen, he said, isn’t doing a thing and cross-examining these people and whatever. [43:32] And he says, and he’s all upset. And I said, Frank, no, I’m shook up one of the few times in my life where it’s something I can’t handle. He had never told me, you know, I’ll fix the case, never. And I said to him, and I said, Frank, I said, if something goes wrong, I said, I’m sure they’re going to kill me, is what I said to him. Yeah. I said, if something goes wrong, I’m sure they’re going to kill me. And I left. I left the bathroom. Now, I have no idea what’s going on in his mind and whatever. Yeah. I see Pat the next day. And by something goes wrong in this case, you mean if he gets found guilty, that’d be what would go wrong and you would get killed. Is that that’s what you mean? Well, no question, because when I met, I didn’t go into that. I met with Harry Alleman. I get a call after I got involved in the case. A couple days later, I get a call from Markle. Meet me at one of the nightclubs where I was all the time at night with these people. [44:47] Above it, you’ve got a motel, a bunch of hotel rooms. I get a call from Markle. The reason everybody loved me and the mob, I never discussed what I was doing with anybody or any of the other dozens of mobsters I run with that I was involved in Harry’s case. Never said a word to anybody about any of this. That was my nature, and that’s why all these people love me. I never talked about one thing with anybody else or whatever. He says, I want to meet you. When I get over there, he says, let’s go upstairs. Somebody wants to talk to you. And we go upstairs, and there’s Harry Alleman. And Harry, how you doing? How are you? [45:27] And he says, listen, you’re sure about this? And I said, yeah. I said, I’m sure. And he said, well, if something goes wrong, you’re going to have a problem. Those were his words to me. You’re going to have a problem. And I said, you know, he says, because this judge, he says, this judge is a straight judge. And he said, Tom, you mean Tom Maloney. He says, and Tom wants to handle my case. And he tells me he’s going to be named a judge by the Supreme Court real soon. And he wants to handle and he wants to handle my case before he… Uh, you know, before he becomes a Supreme court, before he becomes a judge, I knew the moment he told me that I knew for sure that was the case because we control everything, including the Supreme court. I said, you know, I said, don’t, you know, don’t worry about it. I lied to him. And I said, uh, I said, yeah, the judge is going to, I said, yeah, he’s going to throw it out. He knows, I said, he knows what’ll happen if he doesn’t. That’s what I told Harry. I want to keep him happy. [46:34] I’m going to keep him happy probably for a few hours I’m a little nervous and then that’s all behind me like so many other problems I got in the middle of oh my god talking about walking a tightrope so now the lawyer came into Chicago he was in Chicago I met him when he came in he was staying at the Bismarck was at the Bismarck Hotel right around the corner from you know where Counselor’s Row was that’s where he was staying in the in the hotel right there by the first board office and there was a way to go in there without being seen and there was a, You go through another restaurant and you go through the alley and go up there. And I wouldn’t, I didn’t want to be seen walking into there because I know the FBI are probably, are probably watching and whatever. When he comes into town, they handle the case. So I go upstairs to see him. You know, I said, what the hell’s going on in court? He says, I’m going, it’s going great. It’s going great. I said, it’s going great. I just, you know, I just got a call last night. I had to go meet the judge. And he said, you’re not doing any cross-examining. Oh, I’m doing a great job. You know, I’m doing a great job. So after a few minutes of, I leave. Yeah. [47:52] That’s when I saw Pat Marcy, too. And I said, Pat, I said, the judge is upset about whatever’s going on. I said, maybe we should give him some more because I agreed to give him $10,000. And he said, you know, what a piece of work he is. You know, he said $10,000, and that’s all he’s going to get, not a nickel more or whatever. So now to say I’m nervous again is an ultra statement. The case, I walked over, and I wouldn’t go in the room, but I wanted to just be around that room for some reason. FBI agents all over the place. [48:30] FBI agents all over the place. And so now I’m at home and I’m packed. I’ve got my bags packed because if he finds it, I don’t know what he’s going to do. I’m worried he might find him guilty because of all that had happened. He, when the trial ended a given night, and the next day he was going to give the result. In fact, I didn’t go out and play that night. I was a little nervous, and I stayed home, and I packed up my bags. I packed up my bags, and about 9 o’clock, I got in the car, and I started driving. And by the time he gave the ruling, I was probably about 100, maybe 150 miles away. And I hear on the radio, you know, found him not guilty, found him not guilty. So I turn around. Hit the next exit, turn around and come back. I turn around. Northbound on I-55. [49:27] Probably a couple hours later, here I am parked in my parking spot. My parking spot was in front of my office, right across from City Hall. And I parked in the mayor’s spot when she wasn’t there. And drove probably to drive her crazy. But that was where I parked. That was my parking spot. We’d see my big car with the RJC license plates parked in the bus stop. And so here I am. I parked the car and I go in. I go in. [50:01] And I’m sure Pat told some people, probably not, but I’m sure they told all the mobsters, all the top mobsters, because these guys all wanted to meet me afterwards and get the restaurant. I go in to see them. We walked into the janitor’s closet. You walk out of Counselor’s Row. You go to the left. It goes into the 100 North Building. Now, you’ve got the elevators to the right. And behind that, you’ve got a closet where the janitors keep all their stuff. And you’ve got some stairs leading up to the, there was a, what do you call it? There was an office there where the commodities, big commodity exchange was right there. that there was a stairway leading up to where the offices were with some doors with bars and everything on it. And Pat is standing on those stairs, about two or three stairs. You know, I said, wow. I said, you know, everybody’s going nuts. And he goes, well, you know, you did a good job. And he gives me an envelope. He gives me an envelope. And, you know, I put the money in my pocket. [51:09] We said we had some more. We said a couple other words about, you know, this and that. And then I just go in there. I go back in the counselor’s. [51:21] Now, after the feds started getting indictments, did you try and warn the Aleman case judge, Frank Wilson? Why did you do that? And when I went to see Frank Wilson, I went to help him. I said, Frank, I said, look, I said, I was contacted by, I said, I was contacted by the, by the, by the FBI. They were investigating the Harry Aleman case. I said to him, I said, they, they feel the case was fixed. I said, when they come to see me, I said, you know, I said, I’m not going to talk to them. I said, I’m not going to talk to them. I’m going to take the fifth. And in your case, you can do the same thing. When they, if they come to talk to you, you just take the fifth amendment. If they give you immunity, I said, you know, then you, then you testify, but you tell them the truth. I said, don’t worry about me. Tell them the truth. This is how I talk to him. When I’m talking to him like that, it’s almost like he’s trying to run away from me. [52:27] We’re at a restaurant in a big complex. It was in one of those resorts in Arizona. He’s all but running away from me. I was trying to help him. What I said to him was, Frank, I said, the statute of limitations ran on all this. It’s been more than five years. There’s nothing they can do to you or to me, I said, because the statute ran. I said, so don’t lie to them. What the feds were concerned about, and I don’t know why, that he would deny ever fixing the case when it went through. I don’t know why they’re worried about that, but they were, and I didn’t want to see him get in trouble. [53:13] That’s why I went there to protect him. Hey, Bob, you were asked to represent an outfit associate or an outfit associate’s son who was accused of breaking the jaw of a Chicago policewoman. And you know, when a cop is injured in a fight with somebody, the cops follow that case. And I do not want to see any shenanigans going on. So, so tell us about how you walked that line. And I bet those cops were, were not happy with you in the end. Some people think this is a reason you flipped. Take us inside that case, will you? [53:45] And the reason I mentioned that it had a lot to do with what I eventually did. Now we’ll get back to what made me do what I was going to do. When I was practicing law now, and now I have been away from all this for years, I was out of town a lot because I’m representing the Chinese all around the country. I’m their main lawyer right now. [54:10] And I get a call from Lenny Colella. And he says, my son, he said, my son is in trouble. I want to come in and I want to talk to you about handling his case. This was a heater case, too. This was a front page case because he was charged with aggravated battery and attempted murder. Supposedly, he had beat up a policewoman and it was all over the place. He was a drug addict and whatever, supposedly he did all this. And when he came into the office with his dad, he was high. When I talked to him, he’s got his kid with him. And the kid is a smart aleck. As we’re talking, the kid, and I asked the kid, well, whatever. The kid was a smart aleck. And I just said to him, I said, Len, I can’t help you. I said, get him out of here. I want nothing to do with him. I said, I can’t help you. You didn’t take cases that were involved with cops anyhow, for the most part. No. I didn’t know what had happened in this case. I know what I saw in the paper. I didn’t know what the facts or anything were or whatever. I mean, if it turned out that if I felt when I talked to him that he had done it, whatever, I would not have taken the case anyhow. [55:26] I mean, I would not have. That’s why I say, too, that may be, too, why I was as quick and as rude as I was when he came in there and was acting and was a little bit high. I just wanted nothing to do with him, period. I said to his dad, his father said, you know, if I get him cleaned up, you know, I said, well, if you get him cleaned up, then we’ll talk again. I said, but I can’t help him, and I can’t help him. [55:54] And off he goes. the father re-contacted me about a week later. And he said, I had him in rehab and he straightened out and whatever. And he brought him back in and it was a new person. And when he told me the facts of the case, when he told me what happened, because he was a big, tough kid. He was a big, you know, he was a weightlifter, but he was a big, tough looking kid. [56:19] And it’s a little police woman. When he told me what happened, I believed him. Because I’ve been out in the street and whatever. And he says, you know, he told me what happened, that he had gotten stopped. He was out there talking to her. And when she said, you’re under arrest for DUI, he just walked. He says, I walked. I was going to get in my car and drive away. And she grabbed me and was pulling me or whatever. And I hear all these sirens coming. And within a few minutes, there’s all kinds of police. There’s about half a dozen police there. He says, and then they started jumping on me. He said, she was under me. He was all beaten up. He was all bloody and whatever. And she apparently had her jaw broken. And there’s no doubt in my mind when he’s telling me that, you know, when they were hit with his clubs or with this thing that they claimed he had without his fingerprints, it was a metal bar. Right, a slapper. A chunk of lead covered by leather. Everybody used to carry a slapper. How about you carry a slapper? They claimed, but there was no cloth on this. It was just the metal itself. Yeah, oh really? [57:45] Anyhow, that makes it interesting during the trial when they flat out lied. No, he had no blood. I got the hospital reports. They wouldn’t take him in the station because he was too badly beaten up. But anyhow, he also had two other charges. He had been involved in a fight in a bar. And he had been involved in another situation with the police. And he was charged with resisting arrest and battery on a policeman out in Cicero. So he had these three cases. So I gave the father a fee on handling, you know, the one, I was going to, I gave him a fee one case at a time. I said, you know, first thing we’ll do, I want to get rid of those other two cases. I’ll take them to juries, I said. [58:36] I’ll take them to juries because I wasn’t going to put them. I knew both the judges on those cases, but I wasn’t going to put them in a position on a case like that. I take the first case to trial. And I get him a not guilty. That was the fight in the bar. [58:54] That was out in one of the suburbs. That was out in, I’m not sure which suburb, in the northwest side. After we get that case over with, before that case, I get a call from Pat Marcy. Pat Marcy, I hadn’t seen him probably even for a couple months, but I hadn’t talked to him for quite a long period of time. And he says to me, you got a case that just came in. He said, we’re going to handle it. And I said, there’s no need, Pat. I said, I can win these cases. I said, there’s no need. I can win these cases. And he said, we’re going to handle this. The case is going to go to Judge Passarella, he said, and we’ll take care of it. I said, Pat, there’s no need to. I said, I can win these cases. I said, they’re all jury trials, but I know I can win them all. And he says, you do as you’re told. Pat had never talked to me like that before. [59:54] Powerful as he was and crazy as I am, And he never, you know, you never demand that I do anything or whatever. We had a different type relationship. And although I hadn’t broken away from them by now, it’s been years. I had broken away from them for about, you know, two, three years. And he says, you know, take the case to trial. I said, well, he’s got some other cases, too, and I’m going to take the one. And she says, I’ll take it to a jury, and I’ll win it. You’ll see how I win it. I take her to trial, and I get her not guilty. The second case was set for trial about a month after that. Not even, yeah, about a month or so after that. And during that time, a couple of times I’m in counselors, and Pat says, when are you going to take the case to trial? I said, well, Pat, you know, I won the one case. I got the other case on trial, and it was before Judge Stillo. He was a judge that we eventually indicted. [1:00:51] Stillo was very, very well connected to the first ward. He’s one of the old-time judges out in Maywood. And I told him, you know, when I came in there, he assumed I’d take it to trial and he’d throw it out. And I said, no, no, no, there’s no need to. I says, I’m going to take the jury on this one. Number one, I had stopped fixing things long before this. And, but he was, to make money, he was willing that he would have thrown the case out. It was a battery with a Cicero policeman. And I says, no, no, I’ll take it. I’ll take it to, you know, I’ll take the jury. I said, I don’t want to put you in that pursuit. Oh, don’t worry about me. I take that one to trial and I win that one too. Now Pat calls me, when the hell are you going to take the case to trial? And that’s the original case with the police woman. That’s the main one. The main one. Okay, go ahead. [1:01:44] When are you going to take it to trial? And I don’t want to take it to trial. In fact. I had talked to the prosecutor, and I said, look, I said, because he was charged with, he was charged with, you know, attempted murder and arrest. I said, if you’ll reduce it, the prosecutor was an idiot. He knew me, should have realized that, you know, that I never lose cases. Yeah. You know, but I want to work out something. He was a special prosecutor on it. He said, we’re not going to reduce it. We said, you know, if you want to work out a plea, we went five years, we went five to ten or whatever in the penitentiary. And I said, well, that’s not going to happen. I said, well, then we’ll just have to go to trial. So now, while I’m at Counselor’s Row, on one of my many occasions, because I was still having some card games over there at somebody else’s other lawyer’s office, because I had had big card games going on there for years. I’m sitting at the counselor’s row table, and Judge Passarella comes in. There’s just him and me there, and when he comes in, I say, Oh, you’re here to see Pat? [1:02:56] And he goes, Pat, who? No more conversation. Who the fuck? No more. The guy’s treating me like I’m some kind of a fool or whatever. And I developed an instant disliking to him. I had never seen him around that much or whatever before that. So now, after the second case, you’re going to go to, you know. So I talked to Lenny. When Lenny came in, Lenny came in with him when we were starting to get prepared for the case. And, oh, this is before this is before I talked to the prosecutor. And I said, Lenny, I said, I says, if I can get it reduced to a misdemeanor, to a misdemeanor. I said, you know, can we work with, you know, and work out a plea, let’s say, for maybe a month or two, you know, a month or two. Is that OK with you? Oh, sure. He says, oh, sure. [1:03:57] Now, this Lenny, this was the kid’s dad, your client’s dad. This is his dad. Now, explain who he was, who Lenny was. His dad was. What’s his last name? Yeah, Karela. Karela, okay. Lenny Karela, I’m pretty sure was his name. He owned a big bakery out there in Elmwood Park area. Okay. And he was friendly with all the mobsters. Okay, all right. I got you. For all I knew, he may have been a mobster himself, but I mean, he may have been because we had thousands of people that were connected. He was a connected guy. All right, go ahead. I’m sorry. And he said, oh, yeah, sure, no, not a problem because the papers are meant, they’re still, after a year, they’re still mentioning that case will be going to trial soon and every so often. [1:04:43] What I had also done, I tried to make contact with the policewoman, not with her, but I put the word out and I knew a lot of police and I got a hold of somebody that did know her. And I said, look, I said, no, the case is fixed if I want it. Yeah. But I don’t want it. Even though I know that, you know, that it’s all BS, you know, I said, look, I said, get a hold of her and get a hold of her lawyer and tell them if they want to file a lawsuit, you know, you know, we can, they can get themselves some money on it. Uh, you know, he’ll indicate, you know, he’ll, he’ll, he’ll indicate that, you know, he, he was guilty or whatever, but I wanted to get her some money. The word I get back is tell him that piece of shit, meaning me to drop dead, to drop dead. You know, we’re going to put this guy in prison and that’s where he should be too. When the case now, now when the case goes to trial. [1:05:48] The coppers lied like hell and talk about stupid. I’ve got the police reports there. When they took him into the police station, they wouldn’t take him. The station said take him to a hospital. He goes to the hospital and the reports, you know, bleeding here, bleeding there, and, you know, marks here, marks there. They beat the hell out of him. [1:06:10] You know, nobody touched him. You know, nobody touched him. Nobody touched him. Was he bleeding? No, no, he wasn’t. He wasn’t bleeding. Didn’t have any, you know, along with, you know, along with everything else. Flat out lied. How many policemen were there? There were two or three. There were about 10 by the time it’s over. But it’s an absolute throwout. Any fingerprints on that metal? Well, we had some fingerprints, but not his. And on and on it went. It’s a throwout case to start with. The courtroom now where the case was, was very interesting. You walk in there, and when you walk in there, there’s about 20 people that can sit. And then there’s, it’s the only courtroom in the building where you have a wall, a glass wall, all the way up, all the way up. Covering in the door, opens up and goes in there. You go in there. It’s a big courtroom. A bunch of benches now in there. You go to the left, and here’s the judge’s chambers. You come out of the chambers, and you walk up about four steps. And here the desk is on like a podium. And it’s not where all the others are, you know, where you look straight forward. It’s over on the side. It’s over, you know, to the left as you walk out of his chambers. [1:07:40] When the judge listens to the case he goes in there I’ll come up back with my ruling he comes out about 10 minutes later he walks up the steps, And now he turns off the microphone. Somebody turns off the microphone so the people in the back can’t hear anything. The ones inside there can, you know, can hear. The one back there can’t hear anything because it’s all enclosed. [1:08:11] That’s why they got the microphone back there. Somebody shut it off. He says, basically, I’m not guilty in a real strange voice. And all but runs off the all but run and don’t ask me why this is what he did all but runs off all but runs off into the into his chambers, you know he’s afraid all those cops out in the audience were going to come and charge the stand I guess and put a whack on him. [1:08:43] But think about it this is Chicago he’s with the bad guys but I’m just saying I don’t know why he did all that, but that’s what he did. And so now, as I come walking out with Mike, and they’re all in uniform, and most of them are in uniform, and then you’ve got the press and all kinds of cameras and whatever there. And as I come walking out along with him, some of these guys I know, and these jerk-offs are like calling me names and whatever. I go, I go see Pat. [1:09:23] And when I go back into Counselor’s Row now, he’s there at the table. And when I come in, it’s a repeat of the Harry Allerman thing. He walks out. He walks directly. And I’m following him, and he walks in. He goes back into the same janitor’s closet and stands on the same steps just above me, you know, talking to me. And I said to him I said this judge is going to have a problem, I said, he’s going to have a problem. I said, what if he says something? And he said to me, nobody would dare. He said, nobody would dare cooperate against us. They know what would happen. Or words to that effect. And don’t ask me why. So many other things had happened before this. But now I’m looking at him and I’m thinking, you know, somebody’s got to stop this craziness. All this stuff. I’m thinking that at the moment, but then I’m worried for some reason, I think he can read my mind. [1:10:34] Stupid as all of this seems, I’m afraid to think that anymore. I’m almost, you know, cause Pat’s such a powerful person and every sense I know, I know his power, but anyhow, so I leave. And like I say, 10, 15 minutes later, that’s all forgotten about. He paid me the rest of the money I was supposed to get from them. [1:10:56] Obviously, he wanted to do it because he was probably charging a lot of money. That’s why he didn’t want me to take things. He wanted to collect the money because while the case was going on too, he puts me in touch with the head of the probation department because he was able to help in some way. He knew some of the, you know, some of the, some of the policemen involved in the thing had been contacted too. Yeah. But they were contacted and they messed up by, you know, they messed up by lying about all that. Yeah. When there’s police reports saying, oh, no, but anyhow, that was that particular case. Tell us why you decided to flip. [1:11:38] These had been your friends. You knew you had explosive information. You knew as a lawyer, you knew what you had to say would send these people to prison for many, many years. if not life. It had to be hard. As other things happened, why did I commit the, Probably two or three other times things happened. But the most important thing was to think when my dad was dying, and I was very close to my dad. When my dad was dyi

MONOLOGUE  Mark Carney's Canada: The End of Free Speech if the Liberals Win NEWSMAKER Regular folks struggling to get by as PM hobnobs with hockey stars https://torontosun.com/news/national/federal_elections/warmington-regular-folks-struggling-to-get-by-as-pm-hobnobs-with-hockey-stars   Joe Warmington – Toronto Sun Columnist OPEN LINES THE SOFA CINEFILE Key Largo, 1947 American film noir crime drama starring Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson and Lauren Bacall   Nick Soter is The Sofa Cinefile and the founder of a Toronto community cinema club THE LIMRIDDLER   Fit Mitochondrion   Secretive sect for subversion to sprout. Spartan retreat for offender's timeout. Phone of your own To waste time all alone. Where fit mitochondria flitter about. MONOLOGUE Illinois' Woke Tyranny: Forced Strip-Downs & Jailed Homeschoolers NEWSMAKER The Globalists Across theWorld are Aligning Against President Trump: Can America Weather the Storm?  https://www.amazon.com/Dethrone-Davos-Theodore-Gadsden-Pierce/dp/B0D5W39W4K   Teddy Pierce, Author of Dethrone Davos: Save America is a writer, speaker, and political commentator hellbent on upending the globalist agenda. STEELHEADS TALK Mike Karafilidis, Play-By-Play Announcer and Color Commentator with The Brampton Steelheads and co-host of Trout Talk on Sauga 960 AM THERE'S SOMETHING HAPPENING HERE! Should People Harassing Tesla Drivers or Vandalizing Tesla Cars be Jailed? Greg Carrasco, Host of The Greg Carrasco Show, Saturday Mornings, 8-11am on SAUGA 960 AM THE LIMRIDDLE ANSWER AND WINNERS   Fit Mitochondrion   Secretive sect for subversion to sprout. Spartan retreat for offender's timeout. Phone of your own To waste time all alone. Where fit mitochondria flitter about. Answer: Cell Secretive sect for subversion to sprout. A cell is a small group of people. The term often refers to a clandestine, conspiratorial sect with subversive goals. Spartan retreat for offender's timeout. A jail cell tends to be spartan or lightly furnished. It houses adults who the justice system feels require a timeout from society. Phone of your own To waste time all alone. Once upon a time, people had home phones that the household shared – remember that? Or how about party lines, where several households shared a phone number and could eavesdrop on each others' calls? Today, you can play on a cell (a.k.a. cellular, mobile) phone for hours all by yourself – you don't even need to call anyone. Where fit mitochondria flitter about. Mitochondria are organelles that play a very active role in the cells of animals and plants by means of energy conversion, producing adenosine triphosphate (ATP) through aerobic respiration. Whoa, talk about a workout!Yael Zaretsky, Toronto, Ontario 2. Jennifer Cromwell, Edmonton, Alberta3. Hal Smith, Pigeon Lake, Alberta4. Duncan Ruxton, Thunder Bay, Ontario5. Amye Rappe, Cottonwood, Arizona Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Follow Proof of Coverage Media: https://x.com/Proof_Coverage Connor speaks with Hal Smith Stevens, CEO of Rilla Network, about their mission to revolutionize live streaming with peer-to-peer technology. Hal shares insights from Rilla's recent $3.5 million seed round and his experiences as a third-time founder, highlighting the importance of building strong networks and finding the right investors. They discuss Rilla's decentralized content delivery network, which leverages unused upstream bandwidth from viewers to reduce costs for broadcasters and transform passive audiences into active contributors. Hal explains how this approach enhances engagement and reduces expenses, offering examples like cost savings for sports broadcasters. The conversation also touches on Rilla's plans for a token to distribute value within their ecosystem, showcasing the potential of blockchain and peer-to-peer technology to shape the future of live streaming. Timestamps: 00:00 - Introduction 00:35 - Seed Round Experience 01:58 - Advice for First-Time Founders 05:41 - The Importance of Networking 07:24 - Understanding Real Networks 07:36 - Decentralized CDN Concept 08:00 - Core Technology Overview 09:05 - Live Streaming Use Case 12:55 - Transforming Passive Audiences 14:03 - Explaining the Peer-to-Peer Model 19:41 - Concrete Example of Live Streaming 20:59 - Value Attribution and Redistribution 26:25 - Supply Side and Hardware Requirements 29:43 - Blockchain Choice Discussion 30:58 - Future Use Cases Beyond Sports 32:01 - Building a Protocol vs. Application 33:38 - Token Design and Future Plans Disclaimer: The hosts and the firms they represent may hold stakes in the companies mentioned in this podcast. None of this is financial advice.

MONOLOGUE The End of the DEI Cult—A Victory for Common Sense Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert raises questions about an underwater alien base https://www.mediaite.com/politics/lauren-boebert-hammered-by-local-news-for-returning-to-congress-to-investigate-underwater-space-aliens/ L. A. Marzulli filmmaker,Author of Rungs of Disclosure: Following the Trail of Extraterrestrials and the End Times Guilbeault wants ANOTHER carbon tax https://tnc.news/2024/11/15/otr-guilbeault-wants-another-carbon-tax/ Kris Sims Alberta Director at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation THE SOFA CINEFILE Nick Soter Reviews 1990 Comedy Home Alone The LimRiddler Command and Commitment Command from superior powers that lead. Vow that becomes one's commitment to heed. Term in your mind That you're flummoxed to find. Private, brief chat we occasionally need. Big Pharma's reign is over as a health policy revolution is about to unfold  https://www.rebelnews.com/big_pharma_s_reign_is_over_as_a_healthy_policy_revolution_is_about_to_unfold  Tamara Ugolini – Rebel News Journalist NEWS NOT IN THE NEWS Toronto food banks see unprecedented demand, surpassing city's population https://tnc.news/2024/11/14/toronto-food-banks-see-unprecedented-demand-surpassing-population STEELHEADS TALK Last weekend was a tough one for the Steelheads, as they lost all 3 of their games. Tonight the Steelheads host the Barrie Colts, who have won all three contests against Brampton this season. What do the blue and white need to do differently tonight to end up with the win? Mike Karafilidis Commentator for the Brampton Steelheads on Sauga960 AM OPEN LINES LIMRIDDLE ANSWER AND WINNERS The answer to today's Limriddle is: Word Winners 1. Hal Smith, St. Albert, Alberta 2. Marilyn Smith, St. Albert, Alberta 3. Robert Abbott, York, Ontario 4. Dave Langlois, Stratford, Ontario Command from superior powers that lead. The “word of God” is understood to be a divine pronouncement or command. But the “word” may come down through other chains of command, including the workplace, the government or your mother. Vow that becomes one's commitment to heed. When you give your word, it becomes a promise or commitment. Term in your mind That you're flummoxed to find. Do you ever have that tip-of-the-tongue experience, where a simple word is temporarily lost somewhere in your brain? It happens with Limriddles. And it gets worse with age. A private, brief chat we occasionally we need. “I say, could we have a word?” This normally implies that a private, yet important, conversation is required. Sometimes, it turns into many words and they aren't always pleasant. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mastering Performance Advertising with Hal Smith, Founder of H Street DigitalIn this podcast episode, the host welcomes Hal Smith, founder of H Street Digital, a performance advertising agency helping 8-figure DTC brands achieve over $1M in monthly e-commerce revenue. Hal discusses his experience managing $150M+ in ad campaigns and shares insights on profit-focused advertising strategies. Key topics include understanding the marketing funnel, optimizing ad campaigns for profitability, the significance of tracking and analytics, and the importance of a strong team culture. Hal also advises on scaling e-commerce brands and crafting effective offers.00:55 The Importance of Profit-Focused Advertising01:36 Marketing Funnels and Advertising Strategies02:13 Challenges and Metrics in Digital Advertising03:55 Brand Awareness vs. Performance Marketing08:44 Effective Advertising Platforms09:44 Tracking and Reporting in Advertising13:46 Evaluating Clients and Offers22:06 Building a Strong Agency Culture29:49 Leadership and Team ManagementConnect with Hal: • Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hal-smith-hstreet/• The book Hal mentioned: Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization - Dave Logan, John King, and Halee Fischer-WrightConnect with Raul: • Work with Raul: https://dogoodwork.io/apply • Free Growth Resources: https://dogoodwork.io/free-growth-resources• Connect with Raul on LinkedIn (DMs open): https://www.linkedin.com/in/dogoodwork/ 

In this must-watch episode, we delve into the turbulent world of Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) brands with Hal Smith, the visionary behind H Street Digital. As many DTC brands face a daunting landscape characterized by dwindling venture funding, soaring costs, and digital advertising hurdles, Hal provides a masterclass on how some brands not only survive but thrive under these conditions.Join us as Hal breaks down the three key strategies that successful DTC brands are employing to overcome the industry's current adversities:Profit-First Approach: Learn how prioritizing profitability over rapid scaling, setting clear financial goals, and managing customer acquisition costs can transform the effectiveness of performance advertising.Systems-Driven Operations: Discover how applying systems thinking to optimize processes can enhance efficiency and output, ensuring sustainable growth despite market constraints.Strategic Nimbleness: Uncover the importance of adaptability in DTC strategy, from rapidly testing different marketing platforms to adjusting targeting strategies based on real-time data.Hal also sheds light on why large agencies often fail to implement these strategies effectively, emphasizing the need for a nimble, focused approach that H Street Digital champions. This episode is a treasure trove of insights for any DTC brand looking to scale profitably and maintain relevance in a competitive market.Whether you're a startup founder, a DTC marketer, or someone interested in the dynamics of modern consumer brands, this discussion offers critical insights into making strategic decisions that lead to real-world success.

Mastering Performance Advertising with Hal Smith, Founder of H Street DigitalIn this podcast episode, the host welcomes Hal Smith, founder of H Street Digital, a performance advertising agency helping 8-figure DTC brands achieve over $1M in monthly e-commerce revenue. Hal discusses his experience managing $150M+ in ad campaigns and shares insights on profit-focused advertising strategies. Key topics include understanding the marketing funnel, optimizing ad campaigns for profitability, the significance of tracking and analytics, and the importance of a strong team culture. Hal also advises on scaling e-commerce brands and crafting effective offers.00:55 The Importance of Profit-Focused Advertising01:36 Marketing Funnels and Advertising Strategies02:13 Challenges and Metrics in Digital Advertising03:55 Brand Awareness vs. Performance Marketing08:44 Effective Advertising Platforms09:44 Tracking and Reporting in Advertising13:46 Evaluating Clients and Offers22:06 Building a Strong Agency Culture29:49 Leadership and Team ManagementConnect with Hal: • Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hal-smith-hstreet/• The book Hal mentioned: Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization - Dave Logan, John King, and Halee Fischer-WrightConnect with Raul: • Work with Raul: https://dogoodwork.io/apply • Free Growth Resources: https://dogoodwork.io/free-growth-resources• Connect with Raul on LinkedIn (DMs open): https://www.linkedin.com/in/dogoodwork/ 

The Pittsburgh Pirates were the doormat of the National League for much of the 1950s but began to turn things around late in the decade. Through changes in the front office and management, the Bucs had their first winning season in a decade in 1958 but slipped to fourth place the following year. 1960: When the Pittsburgh Pirates Had Them All the Way is the story of that magical run, from spring training to a wild World Series against the New York Yankees. Wayne Stewart brings his love of baseball, plus extensive research and player interviews to the table in this comprehensive look at a unique team that won 95 games and then took the Yankees the distance. Shortstop Dick Groat earned the NL MVP Award, 20-game winner Vernon Law took Cy Young honors, and an outfielder named Roberto Clemente hit .314 with a then career-high 16 home runs. Players such as Harvey "The Kitten" Haddix, Roy Face, Hal Smith, and Bill Mazeroski made their respective marks; the latter was mostly a defensive specialist who hit the series-clinching homer. A native of Pittsburgh, Wayne Stewart grew up in Donora, Pennsylvania. The town produced several athletes who made it in the pros, including Stan Musial and Ken Griffey, Senior, and Junior (Stewart in fact was a high school teammate of the elder Griffey). Stewart is the author of a string of books on baseball, football and basketball, and has interviewed some of the biggest names in professional sports. "A must-read for every baseball fan." -- Vernon Law    

Hal Smith, the Founder of H Street Digital, is an adept entrepreneur cultivating business growth through data-driven digital advertising. Focused on scaling leads and new customers for consumer brands, his leadership propels the company with triple-digit growth annually. With a track record of managing over $100 million in digital advertising campaigns and a knack for objective data analysis, Hal ensures H Street Digital empowers brands to scale customers profitably. His strategic prowess ensures businesses thrive amid the ever-shifting digital landscape. Hal's impact is evident in H Street Digital's reputation as a trailblazer in the industry. His pragmatic grasp of digital advertising has revolutionized how companies navigate digital advertising and triumph with profitable growth. With an unyielding emphasis on results, he continues to drive transformative success for businesses through innovative strategies at H Street Digital. Listen to this informative Sharkpreneur episode with Hal Smith about high impact advertising strategies. Here are some of the beneficial topics covered on this week's show: - How performance advertising involves tracking revenue generated for every dollar spent on ads. - Why your advertising should be driving sales rather than spreading branding awareness. - How using generative AI for creative and copy offers cost advantages and efficiency in campaign management. - Why it's important to stay on top of industry changes using X, LinkedIn, and conversations with other professionals. - How business owners should constantly adapt to new principles and ideas, focusing on growth and stripping out ineffective strategies. Connect with Hal: Guest Contact Info X @hstreetdigital LinkedIn linkedin.com/company/h-street-digital Links Mentioned: hstreetdigital.co Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Warehouse 13 Fancast Lead Agent Shannon fawns over the newest Warehouse Regent on the show and Agent Carolyn admires Claudia's job performance while Janitor SP surprises the Agents with his episode. The Agents review and rewatch the Warehouse 13 season 3 eighth episode S3E8 "The 40th Floor." The Agents review the stacked episode cast, discuss the new Regent with personal ties to Pete, say farewell to one of SP's favorite actors, discuss Ronald Reagan's Berlin wall speech and the last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, Steve Jinks' serious decision with consequences, run down all the artifacts of the episode, soak in some amazing e-mail feedback from Hal Smith, and give some nods to the episode creative team. Stay after the credits for some bonus audio and video. Thank you so much for listening to our coverage of Warehouse 13. Artie's Attic: A Warehouse 13 Fancast will release Thursday nights most weeks. Email: warehouse13fancast@gmail.com X: https://www.x.com/syfygurl X: https://www.x.com/ocean363 Best place to find SP: http://www.GonnaGeek.com/discord All music and sound effect used on this episode were purchased on http://www.pond5.com Find more Artie's Attic content and other shows on the Lone Wolf Podcasts network at: http://www.lonewolfpodcasts.com LINKS DISCUSSED IN THE PODCAST EPISODE: Noah Dalton Danby's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noahdanby Support Artie's Attic: A Warehouse 13 Fancast by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/arties-attic-warehouse-13-fanc

In this episode Hal Smith and Yaron Been  delve into the world of direct response advertising and explore the strategies and techniques used to optimize ad campaigns for maximum effectiveness. Hal Smith  an experienced digital advertiser with a background in both politics and performance advertising, shares insights into the principles that drive successful campaigns and discusses the importance of testing and iteration in the direct-to-consumer space. Key Main Takeaways: The Power of Testing. Hal emphasizes the critical role of testing in direct response advertising, drawing parallels between political fundraising and consumer product marketing. Just as different voter groups respond to different messages, different audience cohorts are motivated to buy products for different reasons. By testing various ad iterations and messaging strategies, advertisers can identify what resonates best with their target audience and optimize their campaigns accordingly.  Scale of Testing. One key lesson Hal learned from the political space is the scale of testing required to achieve meaningful results. While many e-commerce advertisers may test only a few ads per month, we  advocate for a much higher volume of testing, drawing on his experience of testing hundreds of thousands of ad iterations per month in the political arena. This scale allows advertisers to identify winning concepts more quickly and iterate or scale their campaigns accordingly. Testing Framework. Rather than traditional A/B testing, Hal Smith describes a framework of assumptions used to guide testing efforts. These assumptions are based on psychological triggers such as social proof, authority, and urgency, and are tested by running ads with different messaging approaches concurrently. By generating a wide range of assumptions and testing them simultaneously, advertisers can identify which triggers resonate most with their audience and optimize their messaging accordingly.  Dynamic Creative Testing. Dynamic ads can be used to test multiple messaging hooks programmatically. By leveraging dynamic ad formats, advertisers can test up to 10 static images and five videos simultaneously, allowing for efficient testing of different messaging approaches without the need for extensive creative production. Navigating Platform Restrictions: As advertising platforms impose increasingly stringent restrictions, advertisers must find creative ways to navigate these limitations while still delivering effective messaging. It is important to work closely with platform representatives to navigate restrictions and leverage additional benefits available to high-spending advertisers. Additionally, Hal suggests focusing on visually compelling content and finding ways to communicate messaging indirectly to overcome platform restrictions. Direct response advertising is  an ever-evolving field that requires constant testing, iteration, and adaptation. By leveraging the principles and strategies discussed in this episode, advertisers can optimize their ad campaigns for maximum effectiveness and drive better results for their brands. Whether testing different messaging approaches, navigating platform restrictions, or leveraging the expertise of agencies, the key takeaway is clear: success in direct response advertising requires a commitment to testing and optimization. Links and Resources: 1.Connect with  Hal Smith. 2. The EcomXFactor YouTube Channel. 3. The EcomXFactor Community.

Head over to Leadfeeder.com and sign up for a 14-day (no strings attached) free trial! Hal Smith, the Founder of H Street Digital, is an adept entrepreneur cultivating business growth through data-driven digital advertising. Focused on scaling leads and new customers for consumer brands, his leadership propels the company with triple-digit growth annually. With a track record of managing over $100 million in digital advertising campaigns and a knack for objective data analysis, Hal ensures H Street Digital empowers brands to scale customers profitably. In this episode, you will learn How the landscape of digital advertising is evolving in the next few years, especially with the increasing concerns around privacy and data protection What are the most significant challenges brands face today in scaling their customer base through digital advertising, and how does H Street Digital approach these challenges In what ways have AI and machine learning transformed digital advertising strategies, and how does H Street Digital leverage these technologies to optimize campaign performance The key performance indicators (KPIs) that you should prioritize to assess the effectiveness of a digital advertising campaign How do shifts in consumer behavior impact digital advertising strategies, and can you share an example of how you've adapted a campaign to meet changing consumer preferences Emerging trends and technologies that will have the biggest impact on digital advertising For show transcript and past guests, please visit https://www.ecommercemarketingpodcast.com Or on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/@ecommercemarketingpodcast and other social medial platforms: https://www.facebook.com/ecommercemarktingpodcast https://twitter.com/emarketpodcast https://www.instagram.com/emarketingpodcast/  Follow Arlen: Twitter: https://twitter.com/askarlen   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/arlen.robinson.7   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arlenyohance/   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arlenrobinson/   Past guests on the ecommerce marketing podcast include Neil Patel, Nemo Chu, Luke Lintz, Luke Carthy, Amber Armstrong, Kris Ruby and many more. Thanks for listening. Be sure to subscribe and leave a review.

Watch this episode on YouTube! In this episode of the Marketing x Analytics Podcast, host Alex Sofronas interviews Hal Smith, founder of H Street Digital. They discuss the intricacies of performance advertising, customer acquisition strategies, and digital marketing platforms. The conversation covers approaches to calculating customer acquisition costs, differentiating agency services in a crowded market, and measuring the effectiveness and return on ad spend for lower funnel marketing. Join the discussion below! X          |          LinkedIn   Have you heard Alex's other podcasts? ASofronas Podcast Network on Apple Podcasts   AI x Automation on Apple Podcasts AI x Automation on Spotify   Security x Privacy on Apple Podcasts Security x Privacy on Spotify   Support Alex by checking out products and services at asofronas.com   Click Here for Transcribed Episodes of Marketing x Analytics   All view are our own.

This episode of The Other Side of the Bell, featuring jazz trumpeter/cornetist Marc Caparone, is brought to you by Bob Reeves Brass.  Marc has been listening to classic jazz his entire life and is dedicated to keeping the traditions of the great early jazz trumpet players alive. His specialties are the jazz trumpet styles of the 1920's and ‘30s, and he also has a deep interest in jazz history that started when he began collecting records as a teenager.  Marc has performed and recorded with many groups around the world including the High Sierra Jazz Band, Hal Smith's Rhythmakers with Rebecca Kilgore, Narvin Kimball's All Stars, Carl Sonny Leyland, Dave Stuckey's Hot House Gang, Dave Stuckey's Hoot Owls, Clint Baker's New Orleans Jazz Band, the Reynolds Brothers, The Western Swing All Stars and Barbara Dane, and with bands led by his wife, vocalist Dawn Lambeth.  For several years Marc performed at Disney California Adventure as a member of the Ellis Island Boys.   In addition to leading his own groups he has also put together groups to back up blues legends Little Charlie Baty and Duke Robillard.  Marc is a regular member of the Holland-Coots Quintet, and Carl Sonny Leyland's Boogie Woogie Boys and leads the Sierra Stompers and the Back O Town All Stars.   In 2022 he was inducted into the Western Swing Society Hall of Fame.    To grab an appointment or find out more about Bob Reeves Brass at TMEA, use this link.

John welcomes the creator of Adventures in Odyssey, as Phil shares the surprising behind-the-scenes story of America's favorite family radio drama. Phil tells how he and Paul McCusker were just trying to keep up with the scripts, when one day, they discovered true gold. And how Hal Smith (the original Whit) said to Dr. Dobson, "You'll make a thousand of these!" Poignant as AIO is now heading for Episode #1000! 

THIS IS A PREVIEW. FOR THE FULL EPISODE, GO TO Patreon.com/worstofall Hussein Kesvani (Trashfuture,Ten Thousand Posts) joins the lads in Odyssey for further adventures in pen pals, unemployment, and some good old fashioned lore spelunking. Topics include the allure of Lifetime movies, the death of Hal Smith, and the fascinating lore potential of a town with a weapons-grade nuclear device sitting in the back of an ice cream parlor. Want more TWOAPW? Get access to the rest of this episode, our full back catalogue of premium and bonus episodes, and add your name to the masthead of our website by subscribing for $5/month at Patreon.com/worstofall! Hussein Kesvani Website // Twitter Trashfuture: a podcast about business success and making yourself smarter with the continued psychic trauma of capitalism. Podcast // Website // Twitter // Patreon Ten Thousand Posts: A show about how everything is a form of posting, and how our lives are guided by the only dialectic that matters: good posts and bad posts. Podcast // Twitter // Patreon Media Referenced in this Episode: Adventures in Odyssey #206 Pen Pals #262 A Prayer for George Barclay #268 Pet Peeves #266 It Began With a Rabbit's Foot #267 And Ended With a Handshake Something Awful's Cyber Seduction Review by Andrew "Linguica" Stine TWOAPW theme by Brendan Dalton: Patreon // brendan-dalton.com // brendandalton.bandcamp.com

The English pianist Keith Ingham is a treasure trove of American Popular Song and these two dates also show off his arranging and playing abilities. The Hal Smith Trio with Ingham, drummer Smith and clarinetist Bobby Gordon play music of the early 1900's while the swingtet with trumpeter Peter Ecklund, Gordon, guitarist Chris Flory, bass player Murray Wall and drummer Steve Little explore the 1930's. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/john-clark49/support

Husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, friend, leader, and above all else, a true man of God! In this episode, we take time to remember Pastor Hal Smith, former board president of the Topeka Rescue Mission, who recently passed away. Hear from Hal, in his own words, from an episode of the podcast we just happened to have pre-recorded on the same day he would later have a heart attack. Hal held on a few more days, of course using that time to minister to others! Join us as we celebrate the life of a good and faithful servant.Hal Smith (1937-2023)

Otis gets his own sets of wheels and Barney goes to great lengths to save Mayberry from what may be its first drunk driver.

March 23, 2023The Daily Mojo is 2 hours of news, commentary, comedy, and auditory deliciousness."Hunter's One Eyed Mole"Are we all just being distracted with the Trump deaI in NYC that has no merit? Is the real prize the Biden crime family? People are getting stupider...as in low IQ. Personal responsibility - does it exist? Brad walks back down memory lane with Hal Smith and Michael McDonald. Please support the Mojo50 platform if you can. We stand for the Constitution and individual responsibility. We especially love 1A & 2A. Join us and help take our country back! Purchase official merch:https://www.mojo50.com/shopJeff Fisher - aka Jeffy - host of Chewing The Fat Podcast, joins the convo and has a startling revelation about Perry Mason! Links:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/chewing-the-fat-with-jeff-fisher/id904652321https://linktr.ee/JeffFisherRadiohttps://twitter.com/JeffyJFRhttps://www.facebook.com/JeffFisherRadioBrandon Morse may be vacationing with Dan Andros, but that's just a rumor.Links:https://redstate.com/author/brandon_morsehttps://twitter.com/TheBrandonMorsehttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5qtJeio-Hb3Fh9P2fNi7CAAll things in one place: https://linktr.ee/realbradstaggs All things in one place: https://linktr.ee/realronphillips WATCH The Daily Mojo LIVE 7-9a CT:Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/DailyMojoFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MoJo50Radio Mojo 5-0 TV: https://www.mojo50.com/mojo50tvOr just LISTEN:MoJo 5-0 Radio PlayerPlease support our advertising partners, if you're able. American Pride Roasters CoffeeCustom Laser Engraving:MojoLaserPros.comMy Pillow Promo Code: Mojo50My Pillow Mojo Specials!Emergency Food Supply & Tools:PrepareWithMojo50.com

Welcome to Massena, New York, "Gateway to the Fourth Coast!"  Massena is located on the St. Lawrence River along the Canadian border.  The town was founded in the early 19th century by French lumberjacks and was named in honor of Andre Massena, a French prince and military leader.  The town's early economy relied on dairy farming and two local sulphur springs which attracted visitors who sought out their healing properties.  By 1900 the popularity of the springs had faded.  In 1902  the Pittsburgh Reduction Company broke ground on an aluminum production facility to take advantage of the electricity available from the recently completed hydroelectric power plant.  The  plant is the longest continually operating aluminum facility in the world and celebrated its 120 anniversary last year.  The town has been called home by a number of notables including actor, Hal Smith.  Smith is credited in over 300 film and TV productions, but is best known for his work as Otis Campbell in The Andy Griffith Show.  We hope you enjoy our trip to Massena!

Steve & Izzy continue Love on Film Month, a celebration of the golden era of pornography, as they are joined by Diana of the Happily Ever Aftermath Podcast to discuss 1976's "Once Upon a Girl" starring Hal Smith, all the voice actors of Hanna-Barbara & more!!! What's going on with Kevin Smith & DC Comic movies? Who remembers CB radio songs? How does this movie tie in with "Society"? What REALLY happened with Jack, Cinderella & Red Riding Hood?!? Let's find out!!! So kick back, grab a few brews, pay for passage, and enjoy!!! This episode is proudly sponsored by Untidy Venus, your one-stop shop for incredible art & gift ideas at UntidyVenus.Etsy.com and be sure to follow her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram & Patreon at @UntidyVenus for all of her awesomeness!!! Try it today!!! Twitter - www.twitter.com/eilfmovies Facebook - www.facebook.com/eilfmovies Etsy - www.untidyvenus.etsy.com TeePublic - www.teepublic.com/user/untidyvenus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Almost forgotten Frank Chace was a Chicago-styled clarinet player who sounded like Pee Wee Russell, but was not just an imitator. Here he brings his sound and unique approach to bands including Wild Bill Davison, Eddie Hubble, George Wein, Yank Lawson, Eddie Miller, Dave Remington, Sid Dawson, Don Ewell, Dewey Jackson, Tom Pletcher, Hal Smith, Jimmy Archey, Johnny Frigo, Ted Butterman and Jim Kweskin from 1951-1987. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/john-clark49/support

What's up, dudes? I got a rock this year for Halloween since my voice completely left me for a few days. So, I got Little #1 to do an episode on the 1983 educational short “Disney's Haunted Halloween!” A  jack o'lantern teaches Goofy about Halloween traditions and customs. Costumes? Yup. Treats? Uh huh. Frights? Well… So grab your black cat, put 9 grains of oats in your mouth, and stroll along to this episode!Check us out on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Totally Rad Christmas Mall & Arcade, Teepublic.com, or TotallyRadChristmas.com! Later, dudes!

On todays episode I chatted with restauranteur and current CEO of Hal Smith Restaurants, Hank Kraft. Hank grew up here in OKC and went to study architecture at OU. While at OU he met and starting working for Hal Smith and quickly found his passion for restaurants. After giving architecture one more year at OU he turned his attention to the restaurant industry and never looked back. Hank tells some fantastic stories about his journey through small to large scale restaurant operations and then back to to small again when him and Hal Smith started HSR. 30 years on they've been through thick and thin and today Hank says they are like brothers. No doubt we didn't get to all the stories today but Hank takes us through the last 30 years of HSR and how they have built a family orientate businesses culture. 13 concepts, 83 restaurants in 5 states.  Concepts such as: Charlstons, El Huevo, The Garage, Jimmy B's, Neighborhood Jam, Upper Crust, Pub W, Hefner Grill, Hollie's, Mama Roja, Louie's, Mahogany, Toby Keith's, The Winston. Listen in to this brilliant episode with one of Oklahoma's greatest restauranteurs.  Michael Kraft episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-is-oklahoma/id1387331955?i=1000497119392 Hal Smith episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-is-oklahoma/id1387331955?i=1000465673437  This episode is presented by the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, telling Oklahoma's story through its people since 1927. For more information on the Oklahoma Hall of Fame go to www.oklahomahof.com and follow them on instagram www.instagram.com/oklahomahof #thisisoklahoma 

Host: Allan NewsomeRunning time: 0:30:41 We’re starting off this episode with Randy Turner and his “This Weeek in Mayberry History” concluding his report on Hal Smith. He also has a special announcement that you’re going to enjoy hearing. SpiritWalker couldn’t do a report for us this week so he did the next best things and […]

Sportswriter Elton Hayes returns to help us break down one of the more introspective episodes of the series.

Aaron and Chris break down the latest issue of Closer, featuring a "tell-all" from Ron Howard, and an episode where Clara first proves to be the worst giver of advice in town.

Hal was born in Ardmore, Oklahoma and went to school in Oklahoma City where he was a junior Rotarian and was exposed for the first time to the business world. He attended UCO and OU studying marketing and finance and then began his career in the restaurant industry while attending OU and a restaurant on Campus Corner. Hal has held C-level leadership, often as the CEO, President, or owner, for restaurants and corporations that include Steak & Ale, Pillsbury, Haagen Daz Ice Cream, and Chili's Restaurants, Outback Steakhouse, On the Border, and Krispy Kreme. In June 1992, he founded Hal Smith Restaurants along with Hank Kraft, David Brauckmann and Mike Rogers. HSR is a restaurant management company headquartered in Norman, Oklahoma responsible for these restaurant concepts: Charleston's Restaurant, Red Rock Canyon Grill, Mahogany Prime Steakhouse, Ted's Café Escondido as a partner to Ted Curtis, Louie's Bar & Grill, Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill, Hefner Grill, The Garage, Upper Crust, Pub W, Jimmy B's, Notorious Pie, Neighborhood Jam, The Library Bar and Grill, Mama Roja, and Hollie's. Lexie Winters is a 12 year old entrepreneur, owner of Mooi (Pronounced "moy") Mooi is an all-natural and organic skincare business that sells exfoliation scrubs and body butters. Lexie's Exfoliation Scrubs are used to remove dead skin and moisturize dry skin. They come in different scents like Sweet Orange and Lavender. Her Body Butters are used to moisturize dry skin and then give your skin a protective layer against UV rays. They come in scents like Coconut and Vanilla. I also have one that smells like shea butter. Lexie started Mooi because she wasn't getting a good result when I used store bought beauty products. She didn't like the chemicals in them and it was hard to find stuff that works great. Mooi only uses all-natural ingredients and no harmful chemicals are in the products.

Hal was born in Ardmore, Oklahoma and went to school in Oklahoma City where he was a junior Rotarian and was exposed for the first time to the business world. He attended UCO and OU studying marketing and finance and then began his career in the restaurant industry while attending OU and a restaurant on Campus Corner. Hal has held C-level leadership, often as the CEO, President, or owner, for restaurants and corporations that include Steak & Ale, Pillsbury, Haagen Daz Ice Cream, and Chili's Restaurants, Outback Steakhouse, On the Border, and Krispy Kreme. In June 1992, he founded Hal Smith Restaurants along with Hank Kraft, David Brauckmann and Mike Rogers. HSR is a restaurant management company headquartered in Norman, Oklahoma responsible for these restaurant concepts: Charleston's Restaurant, Red Rock Canyon Grill, Mahogany Prime Steakhouse, Ted's Café Escondido as a partner to Ted Curtis, Louie's Bar & Grill, Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill, Hefner Grill, The Garage, Upper Crust, Pub W, Jimmy B's, Notorious Pie, Neighborhood Jam, The Library Bar and Grill, Mama Roja, and Hollie's. Lexie Winters is a 12 year old entrepreneur, owner of Mooi (Pronounced "moy") Mooi is an all-natural and organic skincare business that sells exfoliation scrubs and body butters. Lexie's Exfoliation Scrubs are used to remove dead skin and moisturize dry skin. They come in different scents like Sweet Orange and Lavender. Her Body Butters are used to moisturize dry skin and then give your skin a protective layer against UV rays. They come in scents like Coconut and Vanilla. I also have one that smells like shea butter. Lexie started Mooi because she wasn't getting a good result when I used store bought beauty products. She didn't like the chemicals in them and it was hard to find stuff that works great. Mooi only uses all-natural ingredients and no harmful chemicals are in the products.

“Repetition makes reputation and reputation makes customers.”   Elizabeth Arden Fortune may come knocking, but sometimes the sound is very faint, almost imperceptible.   When someone takes you under their wing, how do you know if that's where you want to be?   If the bug to start your own business bites, what do you do next? Where can you learn from others' experience and insights? We're pleased to welcome the very successful HVAC contractor Hal Smith to the podcast.   Hal shares with us the story of how he started and grew Halco Energy. We learn the ups and downs of growing an HVAC, Plumbing, (and more) contracting business in a mostly rural area of NY State with just 1-2 competitors.   Hal uses straightforward thinking and simple insights to create a business where the goal is to earn customers for life.   We also hear where Hal gains new perspectives and insights including the way he “snacks on learning.”    Hal is a hands-on business operator who knows and communicates with his customers. Hal Smith is founder and owner of HALCO Energy in Phelps, NY servicing Rochester, Ithaca, Syracuse, The Finger Lakes and surrounding areas of upstate NY.   For more info go to: www.HalcoEnergy.com This episode was recorded in December 2019.

Some of the hardest working actors in Hollywood are the ones whose names you don't know. They create memorable characters and leave indelible images while mostly toiling in anonymity. Host Jeff Hoyt remembers the day when Hal Smith came to town. He was famous for one particular character but he brought several dozen extra in his luggage.

When it comes to learning and thriving during the pandemic, many students have faced one obstacle after another - lack of access to high speed internet and devices, disconnection from teachers and friends, the cancellation of sports, clubs and church choirs.   But where many people see obstacles, Hal Smith sees opportunity.   Smith is Senior Vice President of Education, Youth Development & Health for the National Urban League and leads the organization's programmatic, advocacy, policy and research work in those areas.   Across his career, Smith has focused on issues of educational opportunity, access and excellence for historically underserved communities wherever teaching, learning and development take place.   Which is why, as you'll hear, Smith argues that the pandemic presents the chance to reimagine what school could look like – to seize the moment and try something better – grounded in the science of learning and development. For more information, go to www.turnaroundusa.org/podcast.

In today's episode, we visit with TRM Board President, Hal Smith, and hear about his history with Topeka Rescue Mission, and the importance of trusting God in difficult times and walking along side those who are going through those times.Want to volunteer? Call: (785) 730-8856To learn more about TRM Ministries, Click Here!To donate to TRM, Click Here!

Merry Christmas! "House Guest," one of the early dramas Focus produced, was a sequel to the first drama ever ("Spare Tire") It was also the first to feature Hal Smith who would, of course, became the first voice of John Avery Whittaker. Hear this drama that helped lay the foundation for Adventures in Odyssey.

Merry Christmas, Fire and Water Listeners! 'Tis the season for finding your joy, which means Ryan Daly and Kyle Benning reunite to discuss a favorite holiday special: Walt Disney's MICKEY'S CHRISTMAS CAROL. It's got Disney, Carl Barks, ghost stories, and Christmas; what's not to love about this animated classic from 1983, directed by Burny Mattinson, and featuring the voice talents of Alan Young, Wayne Alwine, Hal Smith, Will Ryan, and Eddie Carol, plus music by Irwin Kostal. This podcast is a proud member of the FIRE AND WATER PODCAST NETWORK. Visit our WEBSITE: http://fireandwaterpodcast.com/ Follow us on TWITTER – https://twitter.com/FWPodcasts Like our FACEBOOK page – https://www.facebook.com/FWPodcastNetwork Use our HASHTAG online: #FWPodcasts Subscribe to the FW PRESENTS: Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/fw-presents/id1207382042 Subscribe via other podcatchers: http://feeds.feedburner.com/fwpresents Also available on Stitcher, Spotify and Google Podcasts Support the FIRE AND WATER PODCAST NETWORK on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/fwpodcasts Thanks for listening!

Welcome to the inaugural episode! Josh and Rachel talk about their memories of Adventures in Odyssey and why they started this podcast before diving in to episode 1, Whit's Flop, from the album The Adventure Begins. Along the way, they cover sketch comedy, training montages, and the many voice talents of Hal Smith. Artwork courtesy of Focus on the Family. Adventures in Odyssey Theme by John Campbell, re-recorded by Wesley Burchell. To listen along with us, you can purchase the album through our affiliate link: The Adventure Begins: The Early Classics (Adventures in Odyssey Golden Audio Series No. 1)

Two times the Pirates won a thrilling come from behind Game 7 of the World Series. In the 1925 and 1960 World Series, a pair of players who began the game on the bench became unlikely heroes.It is time to salute Red Oldham and Hal Smith.Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON,” and you'll get $10 off your first order. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Two times the Pirates won a thrilling come from behind Game 7 of the World Series. In the 1925 and 1960 World Series, a pair of players who began the game on the bench became unlikely heroes. It is time to salute Red Oldham and Hal Smith. Built Bar Built Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON,” and you’ll get $10 off your first order. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Blues in Chicago with Dave Katzman and an interview with vocalist Petra Van Nuis and guitarist Andy Brown.   About Andy Brown   Andy Brown is a guitarist based in Chicago. Born in New York in 1975, he has played professionally for over twenty five years. He has had a varied performing career that has included stints in Cincinnati and New York City. Since coming to Chicago in 2003, Andy has been fortunate to work at many of the area's finest jazz venues with his own bands, as well as playing his unique brand of solo jazz guitar. He has backed visiting jazz names at places including The Jazz Showcase, Ravinia and the Harris Theater. Currently he plays solo guitar every Thursday at The Green Mill, leads his quartet every Wednesday at Andy's Jazz Club and performs with his trio bi-weekly at Winter’s Jazz Club. As a sideman he has performed with internationally know jazz musicians including Scott Hamilton, Howard Alden, Harry Allen, Warren Vaché, Ken Peplowski, Hod O’Brien, Rebecca Kilgore, Judy Carmichael, John Pisano, Michael Feinstein, Anat Cohen, Kurt Elling and many others. He has also worked with many names on the Chicago jazz scene including Russ Phillips, Don Stiernberg, Chris Foreman, Eric Schneider, Bobby Lewis and Judy Roberts. His love of great tunes, as well as accompanying skills have made him a favorite with vocalists. Married to frequent partner vocalist Petra van Nuis, Andy has worked with many of Chicago's finest singers. Andy also had the good fortune to accompany Barbra Streisand when she appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show in 2009. Andy has made many festival and club appearances around the world. Highlights include Dizzy’s Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Chautauqua Jazz Party, the Chicago Jazz Festival, the Cleveland Classic Jazz Party, as well as festivals in Rio de Janeiro, the Netherlands, Germany and throughout the United States. Andy has provided the music for a wide variety of parties and private events. In 2012, his trio was invited by the Chicago Mayor's office to perform for the Nobel Peace Prize dinner in Chicago where invited guests included U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, as well as the Dalai Lama and Mikhail Gorbachev. Also in 2012, Andy's trio was hired by the U.S. State Department to provide music for the opening night gala at the NATO summit held in Chicago. Andy enjoys being a member of several bands besides his own. He works often with vocalist Petra van Nuis, either in duo or larger groups, including Petra's Recession Seven. They have worked together all over Chicago and in venues throughout the country, as well as tours of Europe and Canada. Since 2009, Andy has co-led a two-guitar quartet with renowned guitarist Howard Alden. In 2013, Delmark Records released a CD of the group entitled "Heavy Artillery" which received four stars in Downbeat magazine and was featured in their annual Albums Of The Year issue. Andy plays regularly with jazz mandolinist Don Stiernberg's trio. They have worked at festivals in Germany and Brazil, as well as throughout the United States. He is also a member of trombonist Russ Phillips' group, both with Russ' Quartet and his Windy City All-Stars. Andy has been featured on a wide array of recordings. As a leader, his latest is the 2016 Delmark Records release “Direct Call” which received four stars in Downbeat magazine. His previous Delmark release “Soloist” was his first solo jazz guitar recording and received warm reviews from critics and fans alike. 2015 marked the release of organist Chris Foreman's debut recording "Now Is The Time” which featured Andy on several cuts. In 2016, mandolinist Don Stiernberg released a CD titled “Good Numbers” featuring Andy on acoustic archtop guitar. Andy has collaborated on four CDs with Petra van Nuis, the most recent being their 2017 duet release “Lessons Lyrical." Andy had the good fortune to learn directly from several guitar masters, including Cal Collins, Ted Greene, and Howard Alden. His most important mentor was the late Kenny Poole, who called Andy his protégé.   About Petra   Petra van Nuis (pronounced Pay-tra van Nouse) is a Chicago-based jazz vocalist who has been described in Downbeat Magazine as having "a light, gorgeous, and fairly delicate voice...a gift for melody and plenty of rhythmic confidence." A Chicagoan since 2003, Petra sings at all the finest jazz venues in town including the Jazz Showcase, the Green Mill, Andy's Jazz Club, Winter's, Fitzgerald's, the City Winery, and the Old Town School of Folk Music. Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs has presented Petra's groups at the Chicago Cultural Center and Chicago Summer Dance. The Jazz Institute of Chicago has featured Petra's Recession Seven band at the Chicago Jazz Festival and Jazz City. Petra has been interviewed and her music featured on Chicago's WGN for Rick Kogan's "After Hours" show and on WBEZ's "Morning Shift" with Tony Sarabia. Outside of Chicago, Petra plays at jazz festivals such as the Cleveland Classic Jazz Party, the Roswell Jazz Festival and Joe Boughton's Chautauqua Jazz Party with such renowned musicians as Dan Barrett, Nicki Parrott, Ken Peplowski, John Di Martino, Dan Block, Scott Robinson, Frank Tate, Hal Smith, Rossano Sportiello, and Duke Heitger. Petra's latest project, Because We're Night People, is a live recording of night-themed standards which was awarded 4 stars by DownBeat Magazine and included in their "Top Rated Albums of 2019" listing. Revered Chicago pianist Dennis Luxion blends his signature impressionistic harmony with Petra's lush vocals. This CD was re-issued in Japan on the Japanese label Muzak in October 2018 and was used as in-flight music on All Nippon Airways (Japan's largest airline) in January/February 2019. Germany's Jazzpodium Magazine hails Petra's seventeen year musical collaboration with her husband, guitarist Andy Brown, as "a magical musical dialogue, which can only partially be described as blind understanding." Petra and Andy's romantic style has been enjoyed in intimate club settings around the country including Shanghai Jazz (Madison, NJ), the Kerrytown Concert House (Ann Arbor, MI), Night Town (Cleveland,OH), the Saugatuck Center for the Arts (Saugatuck, MI), and the Blue Wisp Jazz Club (Cincinnati, OH). Several European tours have brought the duo to Germany (Traditional Jazz Hall Stuttgart, Jazzhaus Heidelberg, Mampf Frankfurt, Le Pirate, Jazz Club Neustadt, Jazz Club 77, Musikhaus Birlkehof) to the Netherland's (Gorinchem Jazz Festival, Culuurschip Thor, Jazz Hall 72, Stichting Jazz Zevenbergen) and to Belgium (Jazz Cafe Hopper). With the re-release of the duo's 2017 CD Lessons Lyrical and their 2009 CD Far Away Places on Japan's Muzak label, Petra and Andy continue to spread their swinging sounds far and wide. Petra and Andy often augment their duo with bass and drums forming the Petra van Nuis/ Andy Brown Quartet. In addition to Chicago performances, the quartet frequently tours the Midwest having played for the West Michigan Jazz Society (Grand Rapids, MI), Polyrhytms (Davenport,IA), the Firefly Jazz Club (Ann Arbor, MI), the Wilson Center for the Arts (Milwaukee, WI), the Detroit Institute for the Arts (Detroit, MI), and headlined the 32nd Michelob Women In Jazz Festival (Dayton, OH). At the start of the Great Recession in September 2008, Petra's Recession Seven, a Chicago-style early swing/trad jazz band was born at Chicago's legendary Green Mill. This seven piece ensemble features an all-star line up of internationally known Chicago veterans including trombonist Russ Phillips, reed man Eric Schneider, and trumpeter Bob Ojeda. Festival appearances include the 32nd Elkhart Jazz Festival, 33rd annual Chicago Jazz Festival, the 34th, 35th, 37th, 40th and 42nd annual Cedar Basin Jazz Festival, Fitzgerald's 29th annual American Music Festival, the Juvae Jazz Society's 25th anniversary Festival, and the Illiana Club of Traditional Jazz's 40th anniversary Jazz Festival. The band regularly travels to regional jazz societies such as the Madison Jazz Society, the Starr-Gennett Foundation, the "Masters of Swing" series at Cincinnati's Xavier University, the Lafayette Jazz Club, and the Indianapolis Jazz Club. The American Rag, in a review of the band's 2011 on location recording Live In Chicago praises "a killer of a band that grabs your attention and doesn't give it back until they are finished playing." You may have heard selections from Petra's 2006 debut CD A Sweet Refrain on digital cable's Music Choice, where it regularly rotates on the "Singers & Swing" channel. In a review, Los Angeles Jazz Scene critic Scott Yanow notes "a sweet voice, a straightforward delivery....one hears touches of Billie Holiday, Blossom Dearie, and Mildred Bailey in her phrasing, but not in the sound of her voice which is distinctive." This CD is a throwback to the classic vocal recordings of the 50's with a blend of duo, quartet, quintet, and tight two-horn sextet arrangements by bassist/arranger Joe Policastro. In 2012, these arrangements were recreated with the teaming of Petra and Andy with four Canadian musicians at Edmonton's famed Yardbird Suite. In 2015, two songs from this CD were selected by famed Japanese jazz writer/historian/record producer Yasukuni Terashima to be included in the compilation CD For Jazz Vocal Fans Only on the Japanese label Disk Union. Petra continues to play with Chicago's finest instrumentalists including Bobby Lewis, Art Davis, Kim Cusack, Larry Harris, Greg Fishman, Chris White, Joe Adamik, Joe Policastro, Bob Rummage, Andy Schumm, Jeremy Kahn, Judy Roberts, Phil Gratteau, Don Stille, Dan Delorenzo, Tom Bartlett, Mike Schlick, Bill Overton, Bradley Williams, Ron Dewar, John Otto, Stewart Miller, and Don Stiernberg.

On this episode I sit down with restaurant entrepreneur Hal Smith. Trying hard to find the words to describe how amazing this episode was. For me this was one of my favorite interviews. Hal has so many great stories. I think we just scratched the surface. He's a huge supporter of Oklahoma. Born in Ardmore now living in Norman. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 2017 a moment that he said was one of the biggest achievements. Hal is still growing his concepts today, on average 8 stores a year. Both his children have a love of food and continue to work in the industry. His wife Sandy loves her golf and they try to play every Sunday afternoon. This episode is presented by The Oklahoma Hall of Fame. Telling Oklahoma's Story Through Its People Since 1927. Follow them on Instagram @oklahomahof and online www.oklahomahof.org. Hal Smith Restaurantswww.halsmith.com Charleston’s RestaurantHefner GrillHollie’s Flatiron GrillLouie’s Grill & BarThe WinstonNeighborhood JA.M.Pub WRedrock Canyon GrillMama RojaThe Garage Burgers & BeerSmitty’s Garage Burgers & BeerMahogany Prime SteakhouseToby Keith’s I Love This Bar & GrillUpper Crust Wood Fired PizzaEl Huevo Mexi-DinerNotorious P.I.E.Thanks for listening and please subscribe and leave a review. It means the world to hear your feedback. Cheers, Mike

This week we hear from guest speaker Pastor Hal Smith. Learn more at www.topekafirst.com/mission-hill

Merry Christmas! "Gone Fishing," one of the early dramas Focus produced, featured two actors who would later become familiar names on Adventures in Odyssey: Chuck Bolte and Hal Smith. Chuck Bolte was executive producer on the show during the majority of its first decade and Hal Smith, of course, became the first voice of John Avery Whittaker. Hear this drama that helped lay the foundation for Adventures in Odyssey, plus some special memories from Chuck.

This week we discuss how to achieve education equity and excellence in America’s public school system. Our guest is Dr. Hal Smith, Senior Vice President for Education, Youth Development, and Health at the National Urban League. The host for this episode is Kim Atterbury, Senior Director of Communications and External Affairs. From the National Urban League, For The Movement discusses persistent policy, social, and civil rights issues affecting communities of color.   Mentioned in this Episode: How do we achieve equity and excellence in public education How parents and stakeholders in holding schools accountable Determining accountability measures Public school reform Meeting students where they are U.S. Department of Education Every Student Succeeds Act Secretary Betsy Devos No Child Left Behind Common Core     Contact and Follow Web: #ForTheMovement Email: podcast@nul.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/NULpolicy Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NULPolicy Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/NULPolicy Marc’s Twitter: @MarcMorial Don’s Twitter: @DCravins Kim’s Twitter: @kayellea Jordun’s Twitter: @_jordun  

Janelle and Lennon join Malory as ONLINE COMMUNICATION/MARKETING EXPERTS and we talk about what OKC Restaurants are doing RIGHT AND WRONG in social media. Also my dog Amy falls in love with Lennon. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/okcovereasy/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/okcovereasy/support (https://anchor.fm/okcovereasy/support)

DJ Harner has been acting on our show from before it was called Adventures in Odyssey. She appeared in the very first Focus drama called "Spare Tire." She was later cast as Whit's daughter Jana and recently returned as the same character in "Between the Lines." Hear how she was cast for Odyssey, her experiences with Hal Smith, and how she actually held the same job as Jana in real life.

Learn the history of the voice of John Avery Whittaker, from Hal Smith to Paul Herlinger and beyond to the future.