Looking to Improve Your Career
   Post a Free Position Wanted Here

Free Career Positon Wanted goes into our Classified Ad section here
http://leasingnews.org/Classified/Jwanted/Jwanted.htm

It also runs once a week in the News Edition.

Use your personal email address only. We encourage you to add a resume, although not necessary. If you do so, please make sure your name, address and telephone number are not included. If so, we will delete them. The reason is once the resume is placed on line: it remains in Google, as well in Leasing News Editions’ archives. A search of your name will bring up your posting, which will have your address and telephone number for years to come.

It is also a good idea to create an email for the ad specifically that you can delete after use.
This is “free” to those looking for a new position. Each ad is limited to (100) words.

To post your free position wanted, please email: kitmenkin@leasingnews.org

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Top Ten Stories
February 24 - February 28

(Stories most opened by readers)

 

(1) Ascentium Capital to be Acquired by Regions Bank
   (Warburg Pincus acquired Ascentium October 4, 2016) (1)
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Feb2020/02_28.htm#asc

(2) Balboa Capital and Ascentium Duke it Out
      In April 11, 2018 Case over Millions of Dollars
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Feb2020/02_26.htm#balboa

(3) New Hires/Promotions in the Leasing Business
          and Related Industries
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Feb2020/02_28.htm#hires

(4) Coronavirus: How to prepare for likely U.S. outbreak - Scary
   Braced for U.S. spread, CDC recommends these steps to save lives
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/02/25/coronavirus-how-to-prepare-for-likely-outbreak/

(5) Which Industries Are Most Common in Wuhan?
   Industry Locations in Wuhan, China/Surrounding Areas
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Feb2020/02_24.htm#which

(6) Reasons Employees Look Elsewhere
   Career Crossroads---by Emily Fitzpatrick/RII
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Feb2020/02_24.htm#crossroad

(7) Tom McCurnin
   Leasing News Advisor
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Feb2020/02_26.htm#advisor

(8) SF mayor London Breed declares state of emergency
    over coronavirus
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/SF-mayor-London-Breed-declares-state-of-emergency-15083811.php

(9) Research for Better Sales
   Sales Makes it Happen by Scott Wheeler, CLFP
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Feb2020/02_26.htm#research

(10) Fair Employee Selection
   Cartoon
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Feb2020/02_24.htm#cartoon

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Leasing Industry Ads---Help Wanted
Opportunities for 2020

[headlines]
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Rumor Tom Depping to Retire before End of Year
Regions Bank Deal to Complete by End of Second Quarter

(1)

Regions Bank, Birmingham, Alabama, announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Ascentium Capital LLC, Kingwood, Texas, from Warburg Pincus, LLC, New York, New York, a global private equity firm focused on growth investing. The transaction is expected to close during the second quarter of 2020, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

Tom Depping, formerly head of First Sierra Financial, Inc., Sierra Cities-Financial (sold to American Express, then sold to Key Equipment Finance), and Main Street Bank, which he sold to get back into leasing and lending without bank regulation. Main Street was doing well, according to the June Bank Beat story(2).

He is CEO and founder of Ascentium Capital, now one of the largest independent equipment finance lenders in the United States with approximately $2 billion in loans and leases as of year-end and originations of $1.5 billion in 2019. Partnering with nearly 4,000 manufacturers, dealers and distributors to finance essential-use equipment for small business customers, Ascentium Capital offers comprehensive financing solutions through more than 460 employees.

Tom Depping was always an innovator, one of the first to use FinTech and the internet, also promoting private label contract financing, according to his old friend Charlie Lester, who passed away at 69 in May, 2010. He actually wrote the following story that appeared in Leasing News, including enclosed photos:

“Reportedly the man who originated the First Sierra concept was Bob Quinn, not Tom Depping. Bob Quinn approached Tom Depping in 1993 after Denrich was purchased by AT&T Capital in December, 1992. Bob did not feel AT&T was dedicated to their Private Label Program so he approached Tom Depping as an old friend and business acquaintance about forming a new company to do nothing but Private Label (allowing another to use their name on your contract along with other “privileges.”)

“From that meeting in 1993 to April 1994, Tom Depping sold some movers and shakers in Houston to raise the capital to start First Sierra. When Bob Quinn left AT&T in May, 1994, he and Tom along with Fred Van Etten, Pete Smith and Sandy Ho actually began the operations at First Sierra.

 

Thomas J. Depping Looking at Houston from his Sierra Cities office

Thomas J. Depping at his Sierra Cities office in Houston

"‘SierraCities.com (NASDAQ:BTOB) has harnessed the power of the Internet to create a totally new way for small business owners to get the funding they need. The leader in online banking and financing, we've automated the funding process to offer quick and convenient access to loans, leases, and a full range of comprehensive banking services. Since 1994, SierraCities.com has funded over $2.5 billion in small business loans.'"

The above quote was from the Sierra Cities website. For the full story about Thomas J. Depping and Sierra Cities, please go to:
http://www.leasingnews.org/articles.doc/newsletter3.htm

For the full story of the $20 million law suit against RW Professional Leasing and their role with Sierra Cities, the private label debacle, “Take the Money and Run,” please go here:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Conscious-Top%20Stories/moneyandrun1.htm

 
(1)  Gazelle---that is the word Tom Depping used to describe himself in his letter of Sierra Cities resignation to employees (that he was going out like a Gazelle). He told the parable, which is on several motivational posters, about the lion and the gazelle both co-existing in the same jungle, and how each started each morning running, either to eat or avoid being eaten."

(2)  http://leasingnews.org/archives/Jun2011/6_13.htm#bank_beat

 

Being Authentic
 - The Only Way to Succeed In an Interview

The Ultimate Hire by Ken Lubin, ZRG Partners

When going on an interview, most people try to be the person they think the company wants to hire, similar to taking a personality assessment or going on a first date.  As humans we inherently think we know what the other person wants us to say, be, or do; this is a bad strategy. In my time in the recruiting business, I can’t tell you how many times a candidate tried to act their way into a job but it never works out. It is like the man behind the curtain; once they are found out, the game is up and things don’t end well.

True professionals go into an interview being themselves, having “authentic confidence” and realizing that the only way that they are going to be successful in a culture is to be accepted as they are. They take the guess work out of the meeting, show their true selves and if the company doesn’t hire them for being their true selves, then they know it was never going to be a fit. When going on an interview, don’t act and don’t be afraid to be you, because you are the only thing you have.

klubin@zrgpartners.com

"What is the Ultimate Hire? The Ultimate Hire is the professional that every business, team or leader needs in their organization. This is the high performance individual that always rises to the top, brings the team to the next level and can significantly add to the bottom line. The Ultimate Hire is the person that you can't afford to be without. Finding, Attracting, Hiring and Retaining these professionals is critical to the success of your business. We have identified these traits and can help you find these top professionals."

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CLFP Foundation Adds 43 New CLFPs
Brings Active Professionals to 902

The Certified Lease and Finance Professionals designation identifies an individual as a knowledgeable professional to employers, clients, customers, and peers in the equipment finance industry. There are currently 902 active Certified Lease & Finance Professionals and Associates in the United States, Canada, India and Australia.

Here are the 43 individuals who recently sat through the 8-hour online CLFP exam and have passed. 

Kawika Ahquin, CLFP Finance Manager Sales, Ascentium Capital LLC Marc Angel, CLFP Lead Credit Analyst Stryker John Antoon, CLFP Vice President, Construction Equipment Division 1st Source Bank Christy Bader, CLFP Senior Credit Analyst I 1st Source Bank Ezel (CJ) Baltali, CLFP Purchasing Manager Fleet Advantage, LLC Mark Bemenderfer, CLFP Credit Analyst II 1st Source Bank Kirk Browning, CLFP President, Auto, Truck & Specialty Vehicle Fleet Divisions 1st Source Bank Frederick Clauhs, CLFP Vice President Sales, Ascentium Capital LLC Christopher Crespo, CLFP Associate Finance Manager  Sales, Ascentium Capital LLC Jessica Davila-Jasso, CLFP Credit Analyst Ascentium Capital LLC Matthew de Aguiar, CLFP Associate Director, Corporate Development & Strategy Fleet Advantage, LLC Griffin Dulligan, CLFP Relationship Manager North Mill Equipment Finance Dennis Fitzgerald, CLFP Sales Technology Support Specialist Ascentium Capital LLC Keith Hachey, CLFP Vice President, Sales Ascentium Capital LLC Brian Holland, CLFP President and CFO Fleet Advantage, LLC Sandra Hora, CLFP Documentation Specialist Fleet Advantage, LLC Scott Jacewicz-O'Kelly, CLFP Vice President, Sales Ascentium Capital LLC Jacquelyn Jacobs, CLFP Associate Transaction Analyst Fleet Advantage, LLC Garrett Kautz, CLFP Relationship Sales Officer 1st Source Bank Danuta Kawecki, CLFP Associate Commercial Banker Development Program Associate 1st Source Bank Brian Kemp, CLFP Senior Vice President of Sales Lease Corporation of America Trace LaBarr, CLFP Finance Manager Ascentium Capital LLC

Ryan Larsen, CLFP Vice President, Sales Ascentium Capital LLC Karen Lopez Gutierrez, CLFP Associate Commercial Banker Development Program 1st Source Bank Joseph McClintock, CLFP Senior Credit Analyst for Domestic Aircraft Financing 1st Source Bank Tony Obringer, CLFP Vice President, Business Banking and Leasing 1st Source Bank John (JR) Rickette, CLFP Vice President of Portfolio & Transaction Management Fleet Advantage, LLC Lewis Robbins, CLFP Vice President, Sales Ascentium Capital LLC Ryan Rogers, CLFP Associate Commercial Banker Development Program Associate 1st Source Bank Stephen Royer, CLFP Staff Accountant, Fleet Advantage, LLC Andrew Sawyers, CLFP Vice President, Sales Ascentium Capital LLC Shane Shidaker, CLFP Senior Credit Analyst 1st Source Bank James (Cal) Shoemake, Jr., CLFP Vice President, Sales Ascentium Capital LLC Benny Tarwater, CLFP Finance Manager Ascentium Capital LLC Christopher Dat Tan Tram, CLFP Credit Analyst Ascentium Capital LLC Cindy Trenerry, CLFP Vice President Auto/Light Truck Division 1st Source Bank Brandon Tunnell, CLFP Associate Finance Manager Ascentium Capital LLC Jillian Vogel, CLFP Senior Vice President Operations Lease Corporation of America James Wharton Jr., CLFP Associate Vice President of Finance Fleet Advantage, LLC Stacey Widom, CLFP Vice President, Credit Ascentium Capital LLC Lee Wisler, CLFP Lender, Specialty Finance Group 1st Source Bank Brian Zetting, CLFP Associate Finance Manager Ascentium Capital LLC Anthony Zieglar, CLFP Vice President, Sales Ascentium Capital LLC

Mr. Holland, whose company, Fleet Advantage, hosted an Academy for Lease & Finance Professionals in Ft. Lauderdale in February stated, “I pursued the CLFP designation to set an example for others in our company and to demonstrate that our executive management team believed it was important.  The CLFP designation is recognition of the recipient’s knowledge and experience and earns one the right to be included in a select group of professionals – enhancing the recipient’s reputation and stature in the industry.”

Membership:

2020: 902
2019: 644
2018: 521
2017: 399
2016: 289
2015: 213
2014: 199
2013: 173
2012: 168
2011: 174
2010: 159
2009: 182
2008: 179
2007: 204

Classes to Become Lease & Finance Professional Updated
Attendance Update: Classes Scheduled plus Mentor Program

The Academy for Lease & Finance Professionals (ALFP) is a three-day event designed to fully prepare an individual to sit for the CLFP exam assuming the attendee has read and studied The Certified Lease & Finance Professionals’ Handbook prior to attending.

On the first two days, all of the required sections of the CLFP exam are covered in-depth. On the third day, the exam is offered, but not mandatory. http://www.clfpfoundation.org/alfp.php

March 5 – 7
Seattle, Washington
Financial Pacific Leasing (open)
3455 S 344th Way, Federal Way, WA 98001, USA
Spaces Left: 10
Registered: 10 registrant

Hotel Recommendations:
Marriott Courtyard – Federal Way, WA
https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/seafw-courtyard-seattle-federal-way/?scid=bb1a189a-fec3-4d19-a255-54ba596febe2
Hilton Hampton Inn – Federal Way, WA
https://hamptoninn3.hilton.com/en/hotels/washington/hampton-inn-and-suites-seattle-federal-way-SEAFWHX/index.html

 APRIL 14, 2020
Start: Tue, April 14, 2020
8:00 AM
End: Thu, April 15, 2020
  4:00 PM
Location
TBD - Fairfield Inn & Suites
 by Marriott Portland
 South/Lake Oswego,
 6100 South West,
Meadows Rd,
Lake Oswego, OR 97035-
Hosted by U.S. Bank Equipment Finance
Spaces left: 7
Registered: 18 registrants
Recommended Hotels:
Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Portland South/Lake Oswego
6100 South West, Meadows Road
Lake Oswego, OR 97035
(503) 670-7557

Holiday Inn Express Portland South - Lake Oswego
15700 SW Upper Boones Ferry Rd.
Lake Oswego, OR 97035
(503) 620-2980

Hilton Garden Inn Portland/Lake Oswego
14850 Kruse Oaks Dr.
Lake Oswego, OR 97035
(503) 684-8900

Crowne Plaza Portland - Lake Oswego
14811 Kruse Oaks Dr.
Lake Oswego, OR 97035
(503) 624-8400

Thursday, April 23, 2020
  8:00 AM (CDT) 4:00 PM
· End Sat, April 25, 2020,       
4:00 PM (CDT)
·       
Co-hosted by Arvest Bank and LTi Technology Solutions. Class Location: 7401 W 135th St., Overland Park, KS (2nd Floor). Exam Location: 9300 W. 110th St. Suite 270, Overland Park, KS 66210
Class Location:
Arvest Bank
7401 W. 135th St.
Overland Park, KS 66223
(2nd Floor)

Exam Location:
LTi Technology Solutions, Inc.
9300 W. 110th St., Suite 270
Overland Park, KS 66210
          Spaces left: 0
·         Registered: 20 registrants
Recommended Hotels:
Townplace Suites by Marriott 
7020 W. 133rd St.
Overland Park, KS
(913) 851-3100
Holiday Inn Express
7580 W 135th St.
Overland Park, KS
(913) 681-8400

Hampton Inn and Suites
7521 W. 135th Street
Overland Park, KS
(913) 681-6600
Mon, June 15, 2020
9:00 AM (EDT) -4:00 PM (EDT)
End: – Wed, June 17, 2020, 4:00 PM (EDT)
 @ Hosted by DLL, 1111 Old Eagle School Rd., Wayne, PA 19087  
Private Academy

Thu, August 20, 2020
8:00 AM (EDT) End 4:00PM (EDT)
Sat, August 22, 2020
· 4:00 PM (EDT)
·  Location
301 E. 4th Street, Floor 23, Conference Room 1, Cincinnati, OH 45202
2020 Academy for Lease & Finance Professionals - Cincinnati, OH Hosted by Great American Insurance (Public)
http://www.clpfoundation.org/event-3702215  

Spaces left 21
 Registered 4 registrants
 Need to check-in with our lobby security to gain access to the conference room. 

Hotel recommendation:
Should any out of town guests need assistance with hotel accommodations, please contact Michele Noyes mmnoyes@gaig.com

MENTOR PROGRAM
The Mentor Program was created to assist candidates in preparing to take the CLFP Exam. The Program is voluntary and is offered at no additional cost to the candidate.

A candidate will be assigned a Mentor upon request following formal application and receipt of fee for the CLFP Exam. Candidates are matched with a mentor who is knowledgeable in areas of the Body of Knowledge of interest to the candidate. Or, the candidate may request a specific individual.

All Mentors hold the CLFP designation and will answer questions about the conduct of the exam, assist the candidate in understanding and interpreting areas of the Body of Knowledge, and generally provide intellectual, experiential and moral support.

Mentors are not instructors or tutors. The candidate is expected to learn the required material on his or her own by studying written materials, by taking available industry courses, and through industry work experience. Mentors will provide clarification and interpretation for subjects the candidate has already studied. For instance, the Mentor will clarify Present Value Theory, but will not teach the Theory.

About Academy
https://clfpfoundation.org/academy-for-lease-and-finance-professionals/

Application:
https://clfpfoundation.org/how-to-become-a-clfp/#Examination

 

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New Book by Richard Contino, Esq.
Equipment Leasing and Financing:  A Product Sales
                      and Business Profit Center Strategy

“This book explains how companies that sell equipment and other products can increase product sales and add an additional profit center by establishing their own innovative leasing and financing operation.

“Industry data shows that the need for equipment and other product financing has evolved over the past few decades to where now nine out of ten U.S. companies use leasing or other forms of third party financing to acquire the equipment or other products they need. For market-aggressive companies offering products for sale, having an available in-house customer product leasing and financing program as a product marketing strategy can dramatically increase their ability to close product sales.

“In the past, establishing an in-house financing activity was difficult and expensive, requiring unique and substantial additional business operational and financing components in addition to an extensive learning curve. This is no longer the case. In recent years, there have been wide-spread market advances surrounding the financing of equipment and other products that enable forward-thinking companies to cost-effectively establish their own in-house product financing activity, using readily available, state-of the-art financing software programs, and third-party back-office services to manage any part of the financing process.

“This book will provide a product vendor with the turnkey know how it needs to assess the viability of establishing an in-house equipment financing operation, as well as the various considerations needed to set up and run its own cost-effective and profitable product financing activity.”

https://www.amazon.com/Equipment-Leasing-Financing-Business-Strategy/dp/194999192X

Richard M. Contino is an internationally-recognized equipment leasing expert, with an extensive legal, business, marketing, tax, transaction structuring, financial and management background.  He is an advisor on all types of start-up and on-going equipment leasing business activities for lessors, lease lenders and syndicators, equipment vendors, lease investors and corporate lessees.  He is former General Counsel of De Lage Landen, Wayne, Pennsylvania, a subsidiary of The Rabobank Group, and the 14th largest equipment lessor in the U.S. Mr. Contino is the author of eight books on business, negotiating, and equipment leasing. He has conducted private on-site and publicly-held business success, communication, finance, and negotiation seminars throughout the United States for professional organizations (e.g., American Management Association, Equipment Leasing and Finance Association, Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education, National Seminars Group, Practicing Law Institute, and University of California Graduate School of Law) as well as corporations (e.g., AT&T, EXXON Corporation, NYNEX, and Texas Instruments Corporation). He is a retired JAG Captain, US Air Force.

(Source: Leasing News
Most Influential Lawyers
in Equipment Finance and Leasing
http://leasingnews.org/Pages/top_lawyers.html

 

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Reid Raykovich, CLFP
Leasing News Advisor

Reid joined the Leasing News Advisory Board January 1, 2019.

Reid Raykovich, CLFP
Executive Director
Certified Lease & Finance Professional Foundation
(206) 535-6281
P.O. Box 146, Northbrook, IL 60065
reid@CLFPFoundation.org
www.CLFPFoundation.org

Reid Raykovich, CLFP, is the Executive Director at the Certified Lease & Finance Professional Foundation. Reid took over the Foundation in 2012 and has grown the membership by approximately 450%. In 2014, she was honored with the Foundation’s Cindy Spurdle Award of Excellence.

Reid began her career in the commercial equipment leasing and finance industry at Great American Insurance where she obtained her CLFP designation. She has also held various positions at McCommon Leasing, Irwin Commercial Finance and Financial Pacific Leasing where she was presented the “Above and Beyond Leadership” Award. She was also given the Leasing News Person of the Year Award in 2016 and was named as one of the top 50 most powerful and influential women in the industry by Monitor magazine in 2019.

Reid has authored and co-authored several articles regarding certification and continuing education and has spoken on various panels and presented at many industry conference sessions. In 2018, she traveled to Australia and spoke in three cities regarding the certification.

She has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, with minors in Classics and Business from the University of Washington where she graduated magna cum laude in two and a half years.

In her spare time, she loves crafting and making gifts for others. She has a daughter Milla, a purebred mutt Sophie, and a loving cat Toonces who all keep her on her toes.

Flat-Coated Retriever Mix
Houston, Texas   Adopt-a-Dog

NOVA

- ID#A1665270

My name is NOVA.
I am a spayed female, black and silver Labrador Retriever mix.
The shelter staff thinks I am about 1 year old.
I have been at the shelter since Feb 21, 2020.

Ready for the goofiest, sweetest, smartest lady in the land? Well, don't wait, Miss Nova is ready for you! Email BARCFoster@gmail.com to meet her!

Or for more information about this animal, call:
BARC Animal Shelter & Adoptions at (713) 229-7300
Ask for information about animal ID number A1665270

BARC Animal Shelter & Adoptions
3200 Carr Street
Houston TX 77026
Hours:
Noon to 5:00 p.m.
Seven days a week

Adopting a Pet Information:
http://www.houstontx.gov/barc/about_adopting_at_barc.html

 

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January/February issue of the Deal Maker Magazine
Download Free 36 page Magazine

Published by the National Alliance of Commercial Loan Brokers, "This issue of the magazine includes articles on every corner of the industry. Download your copy today to learn more about Merchant Cash Advance, Factoring, Equipment Financing, Commercial Real Estate and SBA Lending. This issue also includes articles on sales, law and how to survive as a new broker."

Look for the article from Attorney Ken Greene on
    "Broker Agreements" in the magazine.
http://leasingnews.org/Advisory%20Board/Greene_Law.htm

Available as PDF:
http://leasingnews.org/PDF/dealmaker2020.pdf

News Briefs----

Phone carriers face $200 million in fines for not protecting
  consumers’ location data; T-Mobile fine would be the highest
https://www.seattletimes.com/business/technology/cellphone-carriers-face-200-million-in-fines-for-not-protecting-consumers-location-data-t-mobile-faces-biggest-proposed-fine/

Intel’s Culture Needed Fixing.
   Its C.E.O. Is Shaking Things Up.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/01/technology/intel-culture-robert-swan.html

United postpones new pilot class and warns
   of additional flight cuts amid coronavirus outbreak
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/01/united-postpones-new-pilot-class-amid-coronavirus-outbreak.html

McDonald's is giving away free Egg McMuffins Monday Only
  just as Wendy's launches breakfast
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/01/business/mcdonalds-egg-mcmuffin-day/index.html

 

[headlines]
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You May Have Missed---

Elon Musk says military drones will outlive fighter jets
"The fighter jet era has passed."
https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/elon-musk-drones-fighter-jets

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Spring Poem

Mending Wall
By Robert Frost

SOMETHING there is that doesn't love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun;
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
The work of hunters is another thing:
I have come after them and made repair
Where they have left not one stone on a stone,
But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,
To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,
No one has seen them made or heard them made,
But at spring mending-time we find them there.
I let my neighbour know beyond the hill;
And on a day we meet to walk the line
And set the wall between us once again.
We keep the wall between us as we go.
To each the boulders that have fallen to each.
And some are loaves and some so nearly balls
We have to use a spell to make them balance:
“Stay where you are until our backs are turned!”
We wear our fingers rough with handling them.
Oh, just another kind of out-door game,
One on a side. It comes to little more:
There where it is we do not need the wall:
He is all pine and I am apple orchard.
My apple trees will never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says, “Good fences make good neighbors.”
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
“Why do they make good neighbors? Isn't it
Where there are cows? But here there are no cows.
Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offence.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That wants it down.” I could say “Elves” to him,
But it's not elves exactly, and I'd rather
He said it for himself. I see him there
Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top
In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed.
He moves in darkness as it seems to me,
Not of woods only and the shade of trees.
He will not go behind his father's saying,
And he likes having thought of it so well
He says again, “Good fences make good neighbors.”

[headlines]
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Patriots could turn Jacob Eason into Tom Brady 2.0
https://nypost.com/2020/02/29/patriots-could-turn-jacob-eason-into-tom-brady-2-0/

Isaiah Simmons Is NFL Draft's Most Athletic Defender,
   but Where Will He Play?
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2878612-isaiah-simmons-is-nfl-drafts-most-athletic-defender-but-where-will-he-play

Original San Francisco Giant and former World Series star dies at 89
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/02/28/original-san-francisco-giant-and-former-world-series-star-dies-at-89/

Raiders expected to target CB Byron Jones in free agency
http://www.theredzone.org/Blog-Description/EntryId/80608/Raiders-expected-to-target-CB-Byron-Jones-in-free-agency

[headlines]
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California Nuts Briefs---

Housing group calls for 15,000 homes near Google Diridon project
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/02/28/affordable-housing-group-calls-for-15000-homes-near-google-development-around-diridon-station/

Do new Fry’s closures signal the company’s end?
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/02/26/do-new-frys-closures-signal-the-companys-end/

[headlines]
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“Gimme that Wine”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJnQoi8DSE8

South African wines get a Trump tariff bump
https://www.wine-business-international.com/wine/news/south-african-wines-get-trump-tariff-bump

This Napa Wine Organization Puts Farmworkers First
https://www.winemag.com/2020/02/27/napa-valley-farmworkers-foudation/

Washington Wine Industry Proposes
   Special License Plate to help Push Tourism Efforts
https://www.winebusiness.com/news/?go=getArticle&dataId=226747

Does the size of a wine glass affect how much we drink?
https://www.ciencia-e-vinho.com/2020/02/27/does-the-size-of-a-wine-glass-affect-how-much-we-drink/

Viticulture Briefs: Barbara Banke to be honored by wholesaler group
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/business/10756862-181/viticulture-briefs-barbara-banke-to

Free Wine App
https://www.nataliemaclean.com/mobileapp/

Wine Prices by vintage
http://www.winezap.com
http://www.wine-searcher.com/

US/International Wine Events
http://www.localwineevents.com/

Leasing News Wine & Spirits Page
http://two.leasingnews.org/Recommendations/wnensprts.htm

This Day in History

     1646 - Roger Scott was tried in Massachusetts for sleeping in church.
    1778 - The Rhode Island General Assembly authorized the enlistment of slaves during the American Revolution. About 200 blacks soon joined the 1st Rhode Island Regiment, the only all-black regiment of the war. In August 1778, they defended Newport during the Battle of Rhode Island. In 1750, more than 10 percent of Rhode Island's population was black -- the highest concentration of blacks in New England. Rhode Island was the first colony/state to establish a public school for blacks (1773), to outlaw the importation of slaves (1774), and to declare free the children born of slave mothers (1784). Segregation in Rhode Island's public schools was outlawed in 1866, and a law forbidding interracial marriage was repealed in 1881. 
    1793 - The Senate election of Abraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin of Pennsylvania presented his credentials this day, but his election was declared void.  He was born in Switzerland and immigrated to the United States in 1780. On December 2, a petition was presented alleging that he had not been a citizen of the United States for the nine years required by the Constitution. The trial began on February 28, 1794, after he had served a year, and on February 28 the Senate declared his election void. Gallatin was later elected to the House of Representatives, where he served from March 4, 1795 to March 3, 1801. A motion passed on the first day of the trial required that the Senate chamber “ be provided with gallery, which shall be permitted to be open every morning so long as the Senate shall be engaged in their legislative capacity, unless in such case as may in the opinion of the Senate require secrecy.” Born in Geneva, Switzerland, January 29, 1761. Democrat. Delegate to Pennsylvania state constitutional convention, 1790; member of Pennsylvania state house of representatives, 1790-92; U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, 1793-94; U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania 11th District, 1795-1801; U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, 1801-14; U.S. Minister to France, 1815-23; U.S. Minister to Great Britain, 1826-27. His portrait appeared on the $500 U.S. Note in the 1860s. Died in Astoria, Queens, Queens County, N.Y., August 12, 1849. Entombed at Trinity Churchyard, New York, N.Y. Gallatin counties in Ill., Ky. and Mont. are named for him. See also: congressional biography. Books about Albert Gallatin: John Austin Stevens, Albert Gallatin: An American Statesman; L. B. Kuppenheimer, Albert Gallatin's Vision of Democratic Stability.
http://currencygallery.org/vignettes/gallatin.htm
http://gallatinky.tripod.com/Gallatin.html
    1797 - Mary Lyon, born near Buckland, MA, became a pioneer in the field of higher education for women. She founded Mount Holyoke Seminary (forerunner of Mount Holyoke College) in South Hadley, MA, in 1837 at a time when American women were educated primarily by ministers in classes held in their homes. Mount Holyoke was one of the first permanent women's colleges. She died Mar 5, 1849, at South Hadley.
    1827 - The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad became the first commercial railroad for passengers and freight.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/feb28.html
    1844 - During an official inspection tour of the U.S.S. Princeton, a 10-inch gun (the Navy's largest at the time) blew up, killing Secretary of State Abel P. Upshur, Secretary of the Navy Thomas W. Kilmer, and 10 others. President John Tyler, who at the time of the explosion was in a cabin below with Miss Julia Gardiner (the daughter of one of those killed) was unharmed. They subsequently married. Tyler was the first of the three presidents to be married while in office. Between his two wives, he fathered 14 children- seven by each woman.
http://www.exploredc.org/index.php?id=82
http://www.bcpl.net/~etowner/rodman.html
    1849 - During the California Gold Rush, the first shipload of prospectors arrive in San Francisco Bay from the East Coast via South America's Cape Horn. The prospectors join the thousands of gold-seekers who had already traveled to California by land to reap the rewards of California's newly found riches. Over a year earlier, near Coloma, California, gold was discovered on the property of Johann A. Sutter by James W. Marshall. After the find was assayed in Sacramento, modest prospecting in the area showed favorable results, and in the summer of 1848, eastern newspapers published the first reports of the newly discovered gold fields. As there had been false claims of gold in California before, the majority of the US public treated Sutter's claims with skepticism. 
However, in December of the same year, President James K. Polk corroborated "the accounts of the abundance of gold" found in the recently acquired territory, and the California Gold Rush began. By the spring of 1849, tens of thousands of prospectors had set out for El Dorado, often abandoning their farms, their jobs, and their families. By the end of 1849, some 55'000 people had arrived by land and another 25'000 had made their way by sea. In 1850, California's rapidly increasing population encouraged Congress to grant statehood to the territory. Although many of California's original "Forty-Niners" returned to their home states empty-handed, tens of thousands made a living in California, and by 1852, the population at the time of Marshall's discovery — 14'000 non-Indians — had grown to 250'000 Californians.
    1861 - The Confederate government bond was authorized today “ to raise money for the support of the government and to provide for the defense of the Confederate States of America.” The bond issue limit was $15 million.
    1861 - Congress creates Colorado Territory. In July 1858, a band of prospectors working streambeds near modern-day Denver found tiny flecks of gold in their pans. Since the gold-bearing streams were located in the foothills not far from the massive mountain named for the explorer Zebulon Pike, the subsequent influx of hopeful miners was termed the Pike's Peak gold rush. By the spring of 1859, an estimated 50,000 gold seekers had reached this latest of a long series of American El Dorados. The Congressional designation of new western states and territories had been bogged down for several years as southern and northern politicians fought over whether slavery would be permitted in the new western regions. By 1861, the South had seceded, clearing the way for the northern politicians to begin creating free-labor states. On this day in 1861, Congress combined pieces of Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, and New Mexico to make a large rectangle of land it designated Colorado Territory.
    1876 - American composer John Alden Carpenter, born Park Ridge, IL, Died 1951
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/ihas/composer/carpenter.html
http://www.teachervision.com/ce6/people/A0810557.html
http://www.press.uillinois.edu/f01/pollack.html
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1560984007/inktomi-bkasin-20/
102-1682336-8966565
    1882 - Birthday of Geraldine Farrar, born Melrose, MA American-born opera singer who studied in Europe and became the toast of the continent before being offered a contract at the Metropolitan Opera in 1906. She overworked her voice which broke in a performance in 1913. She returned after a rest and amassed a record of 493 performances of 29 roles including 95 as Butterfly. She and Arturo Toscanini were reportedly lovers for seven years and before that she and Crown Prince Frederick Wilhelm of Germany had been lovers. For her verve and modern life-style she drew a legend of "Gerry-flappers" women fans. , Died March 11, 1967
http://search.eb.com/women/articles/Farrar_Geraldine.html
http://www.cantabile-subito.de/Sopranos/FarrarBio/farrarbio.htm
http://www.silentsmajority.com/PhotoGallery3/farrar.htm
    1894 - Ben Hecht birthday. His newspaper column, "1001 Afternoons in Chicago," popularized human interest sketches. His play The Front Page, written with Charles MacArthur, was a hit on Broadway (1928) and on film (1931). He was a successful reporter and his first novel Eric Dorn, resulted partly from his time reporting from Berlin after World War I. Hecht wrote or co-wrote a number of successful movie scripts, including Notorious and Wuthering Heights. Born at New York City, he died there Apr 18, 1964.
    1900 - A massive storm spread record snows from Kansas to New York State. Snowfall totals ranged up to 17.5 inches at Springfield IL and 43 inches at Rochester NY, with up to 60 inches in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State.
    1903 - Ford hires the Dodges: Henry Ford hired John F. and Horace E. Dodge to supply the chassis and running gear for his 650 Ford automobiles. They were originally bicycle manufacturers. In providing car bodies for Henry Ford and Ransom Olds, they became largest parts-manufacturing firm in the U.S. by 1910. In 1914, the brothers founded the Dodge Brothers Motor Car Company and began work on their first automobiles. Dodge vehicles were known for their quality and sturdiness. Soon they were among the richest men in America. The influenza epidemic that swept the country in 1920 claimed their lives. Their company was sold to a New York bank, before eventually being purchased by Chrysler in 1928. 
    1932 - The last Ford Model A was produced, ending an era for the Ford Motor Company. The successor to the Model T, the Model A was an attempt to escape the image of bare bones transportation that had driven both the Model T’s success and its ultimate failure in the market. The vastly improved Model A boasted elegant Lincoln-like styling, a peppy 40 horsepower four-cylinder engine, and, of course, a self-starting mechanism. The Model A was as affordable as its predecessor, however, and with a base price at $460, five million Model A’s would roll onto US highways between 1927 and 1932.
    1934 - Percussionist Willie Bobo was born William Correa, New York City, NY
http://www.spaceagepop.com/bobo.htm
    1936 - Louis Prima records his composition “Sing, Sing, Sing” for Brunswick.
    1939 - Guitarist John Fahey born Takoma Park, MD Died Feb. 22,2001
http://www.furious.com/perfect/johnfahey.html
http://www.johnfahey.com/
http://www.musicfringe.com/store/fahey-john/index.htm
http://www.countryjoe.com/fahey.htm
http://www.guitarvideos.com/interviews/fahey/core.htm
http://www.netmagic.net/~snake/fahey/voyager1.htm
    1939 - Tenor Sax player Charles Gayle born Buffalo, NY 
http://www.creativemusicarchive.com/artistList_query.asp?artID=
168&artName=Charles%20Gayle
http://www.theiceberg.com/artist.html?artist_id=30947
http://www.jazzpages.com/scheiner/gayle.htm
http://www.furious.com/perfect/charlesgayle.html
    1939 - Singer/song writer/arranger General Crook born Mt. Bayou, MS.
http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/General%20Crook.html
    1941 - Happy birthday Alice Brock. 
http://www.answers.com/topic/arlo-guthrie
http://www.guthriecenter.org/main.shtml
http://www.wgbh.org/cainan/article?item_id=1081316
    1942 - Guitarist and creator of rock styles Brian Jones birthday, best known as an early guitarist with the Rolling Stones, was born in Cheltenham, England. Jones began playing with Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated in the early 1960's, and it was here that he met Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. The three began to play on their own and by 1962 were calling themselves the Rolling Stones, after a Muddy Waters song. With the addition of bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts in 1963, the Rolling Stones were complete. By their third single, "It's All Over Now," the band was a sensation in Britain. And in late 1964, they had their first top ten hit in North America, "Time Is on My Side." 
During the British invasion of 1964, the Stones were promoted as rock 'n' roll's bad boys, an image that has remained with them for more than 30 years. By the late '60s, the Stones were billing themselves as the "World's Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band." In June 1969, Brian Jones announced he was leaving the group because of musical differences (he was getting heavier into drugs.) He said he was going to form his own band, but less than a month later was found dead in the swimming pool at his home. The coroner's verdict - death by misadventure; July 3, 1969.
http://home.earthlink.net/~hobhead/ 
http://www.angelfire.com/rock2/faithlessjones/
http://www.classicrockpage.com/rrheaven/jones.htm
    1945 - The first Charlie Parker-Dizzy Gillespie record date on Guild. “Groovin’ High,” “All the Things You Are,” “Dizzy Atmosphere.” Clyde Hart on piano, Slam Stewart on bass, Cozy Cole on drums, Remo Palmieri on guitar.
http://www.citypaper.net/articles/052297/article014.shtml
http://www.rhino.com/features/tracks/72260trx.lasso
    1947 - Top Hits
“For Sentimental Reasons” - Nat King Cole
“The Anniversary Song” - Dinah Shore
“Oh, But I Do” - Margaret Whiting
“So Round, So Firm, So Fully Packed” - Merle Travis
    1951 - The US Senate committee, headed by Estes Kefauver, D-Tenn., issued a preliminary report saying at least two major crime syndicates were operating in the US.
    1955 – Top Hits 
“Sincerely” - McGuire Sisters
“Melody of Love” - Billy Vaughn
“The Crazy Otto” (Medley) - Johnny Maddox
“In the Jailhouse Now” - Webb Pierce
    1959 – Chicago Cardinals halfback/receiver Ollie Matson was traded to the LA Rams for NINE players in one of the biggest trades in NFL history.  When Matson retired in 1966, he was second to Jim Brown in total yards gained.  The architect of that trade was Rams GM, Pete Rozelle.
    1960 - Richard Petty won the first grand National (later Winston Cup) stock car race of his career in Charlotte, NC. The victory earned him $800 and set him on the road toward 200 wins on the NASCAR circuit, including seven triumphs in the Daytona 500 and seven NASCAR driving titles.
    1960 - The US hockey team defeated Czechoslovakia, 9-4, to win the gold medal at the VIIth Winter Olympic Games at Squaw Valley, CA. 
    1963 - Top Hits
“Hey Paula” - Paul & Paula
“Ruby Baby” - Dion
“From a Jack to a King” - Ned Miller
“The Ballad of Jed Clampett” - Flatt & Scruggs
    1967 - No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: “Ruby Tuesday,'' The Rolling Stones. The song is released as the B side to the single, “Let's Spend the Night Together.'' Most American radio stations play “Ruby Tuesday'' because the other song is so blatantly sexual.
    1968 - General Earle Wheeler, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, returns from his recent round of talks with General William Westmoreland in Saigon and immediately delivers a written report to President Lyndon B. Johnson. Wheeler stated that despite the heavy casualties incurred during the Tet Offensive, North Vietnam and Viet Cong forces had the initiative and were "operating with relative freedom in the countryside."
    1970 - Simon and Garfunkle's Bridge Over Troubled Water zoomed to the Number 1 spot on Billboard's record charts on this date, and remained there for 6 weeks. The album and the single went on to win six Grammy awards. 
    1970 - Bicycles permitted to cross Golden Gate Bridge.
http://www.inetours.com/Pages/SFNbrhds/Golden_Gate_Bridge.html
http://www.blazingsaddles.com/about.html
http://www.infohub.com/TRAVEL/SIT/sit_pages/3900.html
    1971 - Top Hits
“One Bad Apple” - The Osmonds
“Mama’s Pearl” - The Jackson 5
“Sweet Mary” - Wadsworth Mansion
“Help Me Make It Through the Night” - Sammi Smith
    1971 - For the second time, Jack Nicklaus, ‘The Golden Bear,’ won the Professional Golfers Association Championship after completing the cycle of winning golf’s four major titles twice. The Big Four in golf are: The United States Open, the Masters, the PGA Championship and the British Open.
    1972 - Radical Angela Davis trial starts, San Jose, California. Davis worked to free the Soledad (Prison) Brothers, African-American prisoners held in California during the late 1960s. She befriended George Jackson, one of the prisoners. On August 7, 1970, during an abortive escape and kidnap attempt from Marin County's Hall of Justice, the trial judge and three people were killed, including Jackson's brother Jonathan. Although not at the crime scene, Davis was implicated when police claimed that the guns used had been registered in her name, plus she had visited the prisoners as an attorney with her briefcase never being searched. Davis fled underground. She was captured in New York City in August 1970 but was freed eighteen months later and cleared of all charges in 1972 by an all-white jury. She teaches today at UC Santa Cruz.
http://voices.cla.umn.edu/authors/AngelaDavis.html
http://www.disinfo.com/pages/dossier/id91/pg1/
    1974 - No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: “Seasons in the Sun,'' Terry Jacks.
    1977 - Orca was born in captivity, a six-foot, 125 pound calf, at Marineland, Los Angeles, CA. She was the off-spring of Cork, a 16-year-old, 11-ton orca. Orcas are also known as killer whales.
    1979 - Top Hits
“Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” - Rod Stewart
“Fire” - Pointer Sisters
“I Will Survive” - Gloria Gaynor
“Every Which Way But Loose” - Eddie Rabbitt
    1982 - The J. Paul Getty Museum receives a $1.2 billion bequest left to it by the late J. Paul Getty. The American oil billionaire died in 1976, but legal wrangling over his fortune by his children and ex- wives kept his will in probate until 1982. During those six years, what was an originally $700 million bequest to the museum nearly doubled. By 2000, the endowment was worth $5 billion--even after the trust spent nearly $1 billion in the 1990s on the construction of a massive museum and arts education complex in Los Angeles.
    1983 - “M*A*S*H: The Final Episode: concluding a run of 255 episodes, this 2 1/2-hour finale, "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen," was the most-watched television show at that time.  77 percent of the viewing public was tuned in, topping the "Who Shot JR.?" revelation on "Dallas." The show premiered in 1972. The series was based on the 1970 Robert Altman movie and a book by Richard Hooker. Set during the Korean War, the show aired for 11 years (lasting longer than the war). It followed the lives of doctors and nurses on the war front with both humor and pathos. The cast included: Alan Alda as Captain Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce, Wayne Rogers as Captain John "Trapper John" Mcintyre, McLean Stevenson as Colonel Henry Blake, Loretta Swit as Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan, Larry Linville as Major Frank Burns, Gary Burghoff as Corporal Walter "Radar" O'Reilly, William Christopher as Father Francis Mulcahy, Jamie Farr as Corporal Max Klinger, Harry Morgan as Colonel Sherman Potter and Mike Farrell as Captain B.J. Hunnicut.
http://timstvshowcase.com/mash2.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/rickstvshows/mash.html
    1984 - Singer Michael Jackson won a record eight Grammy Awards at the presentation ceremony in Los Angeles. But he lost the best song award to "Every Breath You Take," written by Sting for the Police. Jackson's Pepsi commercial - the one in which he was injured when his hair caught fire - premiered that day on MTV. He broke the previous record of six awards set by Roger Miller in 1965. The reason: the biggest selling album of all time, "Thriller," which sold more than 35 million copies around the world soon after its release in 1983. 
    1987 - Top Hits
“Livin’ on a Prayer” - Bon Jovi
“Jacob’s Ladder” - Huey Lewis & The News
“You Got It All” - The Jets
“I Can’t Win for Losin’ You” - Earl Thomas Conley
    1987 - A powerful storm produced severe thunderstorms in Louisiana and Mississippi early in the day. About mid-morning, a monstrous tornado touched down near Moselle, MS and grew to a width of two miles as it passed near Laurel, MS. The tornado traveled a distance of 40 miles killing six persons, injuring 350 others, and causing $28.5 million damage. The tornado swept homes right off their foundations and tossed eighteen wheel trucks about like toys. Strong straight-line winds associated with the powerful storm system gusted to 70 mph at Jonesboro, AR and Carbondale, IL.
    1991 - IBM announced it would cut up to 10,000 workers from its payroll. IBM struggled to keep up with small, fast-moving technology firms but its tremendous size and inertia weighed it down. In another effort to turn the company around, IBM hired former chairman of R. J. R. Nabisco, Lou Gerstner, as CEO in 1993. Gerstner was IBM's first leader brought in from outside the company.
    1991 - The Record Plant in Hollywood closes. Among the albums recorded at the recording studio and rock hangout were the Eagles' “Hotel California,'' Fleetwood Mac's “Rumours'' and Stevie Wonder's “Songs in the Key of Life.''
    1992 - The “Star Trek” television series exhibit opened at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., an exhibit honoring the original “Star Trek” television series.
    1993 - United States Federal agents battled it out with members of an armed religious cult in Waco, Texas. Four agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and two cult members were killed and 12 agents were wounded during the shootout. The agents planned to arrest Branch Davidian cult leader, David Koresh, on federal firearms charges, but were taken by surprise when cult members began firing on them with heavy weapons.
    1994 - Hewlett-Packard announces a new line of ink-jet printers. The resolution of the printers doubled from 300 to 600dpi and the cost went down, instead of up. An economic color ink-jet printer was in the works.
    1994 - Canadian singer Celine Dion made her New York debut at Town Hall. Reviews were mixed. New York Newsday reviewer Elisabeth Vincentelli described Dion as "a classy, upscale alternative for people who think of Mariah Carey as a shopping mall superstar." The New York Times' Stephen Holden was less kind, dismissing Dion's songs as "the kind of generic pop anthems that win international song competitions and that Olympic athletes use to accompany their routines."
    1996 - Canadian singer Alanis Morissette won four major Grammy Awards, including album of the year and rock album of the year for "Jagged Little Pill." She also picked up trophies for best rock song and best female rock vocal performance, both for her single "You Oughta Know." Canadians picked up a total of 11 Grammys, including two by Joni Mitchell for her album "Turbulent Indigo." Faith Hill won the best country album Grammy for "The Woman In Me." Hootie and the Blowfish are named Best New Artist
    1997 - The Food and Drug Administration implemented restrictions on retailers that required them to check the ages of all customers younger than 27 to prevent persons under 18 years of age from buying tobacco. Store owners caught selling cigarettes and other tobacco products to minors faced federal fines of $250 per violation. All states already had laws banning the sale of tobacco to persons under 18, but enforcement was erratic.
    1997 - Netscape announced it had created alliances with VeriFone and CyberCash, a developer of Internet-payment software, to foster secure online purchases.
    1998 – “My Heart Will Go On,” Celine Dion's runaway hit single from the film “Titanic,” went to Number 1 on the pop charts, and was in the top spot for 2 weeks.