A Soulful ‘Please, Please, Please’ to Free James Brown

--The state Senate in West Virginia thinks the governor of South Carolina should show some soul and pardon James Brown, in part because he is “an excellent dancer who can do a full leg split while in mid-dance.” A resolution passed by the state legislators, which also noted that Brown “has prettier hair than anyone in the Senate of West Virginia,” is unofficial because it was approved minutes after the midnight Saturday deadline for the group’s 1989 session. Brown was sentenced to a six-year jail term last Dec. 15 for two counts of assault and failure to stop for police during a two-state chase. The resolution said Brown has “expressed sincere remorse for his inappropriate behavior. . . . James Brown should be released by pardon so that he might be able to continue his tremendous career and his great ability to entertain, making all our lives a little happier.” Senators directed the clerk to forward a copy of the resolution, by Sen. Buffy Warner (R-Monongalia), to South Carolina Gov. Carroll A. Campbell Jr. And, lest the governor not take their request seriously, the senators added a doleful “please, please, please” at the end of the document.

--The heirs of a Philadelphia wine merchant who bailed out George Washington’s army at Valley Forge now want the government to make good on their debt to him. Back in that treacherous winter of 1777, Jacob DeHaven lent Washington’s troops $450,000 in gold, supplies and food at 6% interest, the Pittsburgh Press reported in a story detailing the family’s suit to recover the loan, plus interest. The loan was secured with a promissory note from the Revolutionary government, but DeHaven never received payment and died impoverished in 1812, the newspaper said. The family sought to recover the loan by petitioning Congress in the 1850s, 1870s, 1890s and in the early part of this century, without success. Now, Thelma Weasenforth Lunaas, a Houston descendant of one of DeHaven’s brothers, has filed a lawsuit in U.S. Claims Court in Washington asking for the original $450,000 and “whatever interest the court deems just.” That could mean a grand total of $98.3 billion, according to officials at a Texas bank cited in the story. The Justice Department will represent the government but has not yet filed a formal response to the suit.