Crystal Bowersox said if she is committed to a record company, it is news to her.

Billboard.com reported May 28 that “American Idol” runner-up Bowersox has been “signed to 19 Recordings Limited and Jive Records,” but when asked to comment about the news, she denied knowledge of the commitment.

“I haven’t signed anything,” she told Toledo Free Press in a phone interview at 6:27 p.m. EST May 28. “Unless it’s something I don’t have a choice in, I haven’t signed anything. There are a lot of details to be worked out and I haven’t signed anything.”

Bowersox joined on stage by Muddy and Muddonna

Bowersox said she and other “Idol” contestants “have a lot of help” in negotiating the myriad proposals and legalities of contracts.

UPDATE: Bowersox confirmed no contract has been signed on the May 31 CNN program “Larry King Live,” telling the host: “we work with my team and our management and then we get the deals outside that. So, you know, it’s all in the works right now.”

Bowersox, who said she does not watch television and is “out of the loop,” was also surprised to learn that news of her pre-finals break-up with boyfriend Tony Kusian was being reported by news outlets such as USA Today and Associated Press.

“I knew I would lose privacy through this process, but my life has been an open book through my music,” the Northwest Ohio native said. “I am an open book and I am comfortable with that; I have nothing to hide.”

Bowersox said life after the competition is still “very busy” as she prepares for an “American Idol” tour and recording her first album.

“I am ready to get to work,” she said, adding that while she is “open to working with other writers,” she hopes her debut album will be “100-percent original compositions.”

She said she was still “blown away” from her finale duets with musicians Alanis Morissette and Joe Cocker.

“Alanis was sweet but not a big talker,” Bowersox said. “Joe knew my name but said he wanted to call me ‘Angel,’ and he did, the whole time.”

Bowersox said she has not yet heard from Patty Griffin, whose song “Up to the Mountain” has been released as Bowersox’s first post-”Idol” iTunes single, but hopes the recording ends up making a lot of royalty money for the writer.

When asked if she sees herself continuing to be an ambassador for Northwest Ohio and Toledo, and if she would fall on the side of the scale of Jamie Farr, who returns every year for his charity golf tournament, or on the side of the scale of Katie Holmes, who is rarely associated with Toledo, Bowersox laughed and immediately said, “Oh, I’m Jamie Farr, no doubt. Come on; I wrote a song called ‘Holy Toledo.’ I love Toledo.”

More of this interview will appear in next week’s Toledo Free Press Star.

The Toledo area will celebrate Memorial Day with parades and memorial services in honor of those who lost their lives serving our country. Unless otherwise noted, all events are scheduled for Monday, May 31.

• Toledo will have a parade on Saturday that starts at 10 a.m. at the intersection of Monroe Street and Summit Street. After the parade, a service will be conducted at the Civic Center Mall.
• Sylvania will have a memorial service at 9 a.m. at the Toledo Memorial Park Cemetery. At 10 a.m., a parade will step off from Lourdes College campus and end with a memorial service at the Veterans Memorial Field.
• Perrysburg’s parade will begin on Louisiana Street at 10 a.m. and end with a service at Fort Meigs Union Cemetery.
• Maumee’s parade will start at 9:30 a.m. at the Maumee United Methodist Church on Sackett Street. The parade will end with a closing ceremony.
• Rossford will hold a parade on Sunday starting at 1:30 at Elm Street and Dixie Highway. It will take Hannum Avenue down to Veterans Memorial Park for a memorial service with a few speakers.
• Bowling Green’s parade will assemble at the post office at 10:30 on Monday. It will proceed north on Main Street and stop at the Court House for a acknowledgment of the service monuments, then go on to the Oak Grove cemetery for laying of the wreaths and a ceremony.
• Findlay will host a ceremony honoring veterans at 9 a.m. at the Main Street bridge, followed by a parade that starts at the intersection of Main Street and Front Street at 10 a.m.
• Monroe will host a Memorial Day sunrise ceremony at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at 6:30 a.m. Its Memorial Day parade will begin at 2 p.m. at Jones Avenue and end at St. Mary’s Park on Elm Avenue.

UPDATE: Bowersox denies signing contract.

Billlboard.com is reporting that Crystal Bowersox has signed a recording deal.

“Bowersox is signed to 19 Recordings Limited and Jive Records,” Billboard reports.

Bowersox’s single, “Up to the Mountain,” is available on iTunes and currently ranks among its top 10 sellers.

USA Today is reporting that Bowersox has broken up with her boyfriend.

• First Top 40 single
• First Top 10 single
• First No. 1 single
• First Top 10 album
• First No. 1 album
• First Grammy nomination
• First Grammy win
• First Oscar nomination for Best Song
• First appearance on cover of Rolling Stone
• First appearance on cover of Entertainment Weekly
• First appearance on cover of People
• First appearance on cover of High Times
• First reference in The Onion
• First gig on “Saturday Night Live” as musical guest
• First gig on Saturday Night Live” as host
• First mention in Letterman Top Ten List
• First appearance on “Late Night with David Letterman”
• First appearance as subject of “FunnyorDie” video
• First appearance on “Oprah”
• First onstage appearance at Melissa Etheridge concert
• First onstage appearance at Sheryl Crow concert
• First onstage appearance at Indigo Girls concert
• First onstage appearance at Bonnie Raitt concert
• First onstage appearance at Lilith Fair
• First mention on “The Simpsons” (DONE! An “American Idol” audience member held up a sign reading “I’m a Crystal addict” in the May 23 episode “Judge Me Tender.”)
• First character voice on “The Simpsons”
• First mean joke at her expense on “Family Guy”
• First guest appearance on a TV show “as herself”
• First guest appearance on a TV show acting as a character
• First appearance in a movie “as herself”
• First appearance in a movie acting as a character
• First product endorsement (Knotty Boy dreadlock wax? Dr. Frankel?)
• First celebrity feud (Miley Cyrus? Siobahn Magnus? Rosie O’Donnell? Clay Aiken?)
• First reference to her on VH-1 “I (Heart) the Decade” special (EDITOR’S NOTE: What do we call the years between 2010 and 2019? The Post-Aughts? The Tweens? The Teens?)
• First reference in media to “sophomore slump”
• First episode of “Biography”

Crystal Bowersox’ second-place finish on “American Idol” didn’t change how people on her home turf feel about her.

“She’s already won” said Judi Clapper, 60, of Whitehouse, who watched the results of the Fox singing competition Wednesday night at one of the bars where Bowersox first started performing when she was 14.

Bowersox holds drawing done by Emily Avaritt

The two share a bond, Clapper said, because they both have diabetes.

“There’s a lot of kids with diabetes who see her,” Clapper said. “It gives them hope that there’s more to life than shots and insulin pumps.”

Fans and friends inside Papa’s Tavern shook their heads in disbelief when it was announced that Lee DeWyze had won. So did hundreds who watched the show at a downtown arena.

“She’s going to be successful no matter what,” said Alisa Smith, 43, of Perrysburg. “She’s got her own style.”

Just a few months ago, Bowersox was a single mother struggling to make a living and playing every Wednesday night at the same tavern on taco night. She’d stand with her guitar on a tiny stage in the corner and play her original songs.

But this Wednesday, everyone watched her on television.

Ryan Popp, 34, of Toledo, said it’s surreal to watch her now and think back to all the years he saw her perform in front a few dozen people.

“She’s set for life,” he said. “It might be better because now she can do the music she wants. She won’t be locked into being the ‘American Idol.”’

With her blue-collar roots, Bowersox is a lot like the Ohio towns where she grew up, and her unlikely path to stardom has hit just the right note with people in an area that has fallen on hard times.

“She’s one of us,” said Diane Frick, who lives in Oregon, a Toledo suburb. “People are for the underdog today because everyone has been hit by the economic downturn.”

Part of what makes Bowersox likable is that she embraces what her story means to people.

A song she wrote a few years ago called “Holy Toledo” has become a favorite on local radio stations, with its refrain: “How do I get to heaven from here?”

“It’s the anthem for my city,” she said during last week’s ”Idol’ show. “And it’s given the area so much hope and something to look forward to, and that’s what this is all about.”

As soon as Wednesday night’s show was over, the crowd in Papa’s Tavern started singing along with her signature song as it played on the jukebox.

Bowersox, 24, started singing when she was 10. She used money she won in talent contests to buy clothes and left home for Chicago when she was 17. She strummed her guitar in subway stations and coffee houses before returning home to raise her son, Tony, who’s now a toddler.

She grew up in Elliston, a tiny village just outside the eastern edge of Toledo, and calls both places home.

She’s from the side of the city that’s home to a pair of oil refineries, a coal burning power plant and a hazardous waste dump. Her father is an electrician at a plant that processes metal.

The area has been hit hard by auto industry and manufacturing layoffs in recent years, and the unemployment rate has stayed around 13 percent, well above the national average.

Bad news seems to come in bunches lately — schools being shut down, jobs moving out of town and police officers and firefighters taking pay cuts.

That’s why this rags-to-riches story couldn’t have come at a better time.

“It’s given people something to smile about,” said Becky Zaborski, of Petersburg, Mich.

What if Romeo and Juliet’s parents would have wanted them marry? In “The Fantasticks,” two fathers, one with a daughter, the other with a son, arrange to have their offspring fall in love. In the end, the two lovebirds (and their parents) discover that love is more complex than a business arrangement or a moonlit walk. For three weeks, Director Paul Palmisano delighted full houses to a fantastic production. Dave Dysard seduced the audience into trusting El Gallo.

From the moment Dysard entered, he owned the production. When El Gallo told the audience to remember when they were young, Dysard’s smooth articulation manipulated their minds. As El Gallo sang, Dysard’s deep voice enchanted them. Dysard danced figurative and literal circles around the other actors. The two fathers, Hucklebee (David Engel) and Bellomy (Tom Wagner), were hilarious.

Engel’s no-nonsense demeanor was comical, yet relatable. Wagner made Bellomy’s emotions entertainingly exuberant. In the song “Plant A Radish,” the clash of their acting styles created captivating chemistry. The parents’ bickering was more absorbing than the story’s central couple. The same is true for the two professional actors, Henry (Larry Farley) and Mortimer (Paul Palmisano).

Farley’s confident demeanor made Henry the epitome of a Shakespearean actor. As Henry incorrectly quoted Shakespeare, the gusto in Farley’s voice made the audience burst from their seats. Even though Henry is the over-dramatic actor stock character, Farley’s performance made him believable. Palmisano was hysterical as Mortimer, Henry’s touched sidekick. Farley and Palmisano consistently generated the loudest reactions from the audience. Even though it is the longest-running musical in the history of American theatre, “The Fantasticks” is not without flaws.

With the exception of El Gallo, the characters are flat. Luisa is weak-willed. Matt lacks a unique personality. While the fathers have the best intentions for the couple, they are underdeveloped. While the Shakespeare quotations are cleverly integrated, the songs are forgettable. In one scene, there is an outdated and stereotypical depiction of Native Americans. Despite this musical’s shortcomings, the cast and crew of “The Fantasticks” gave their audience an unforgettable production.

“The Fantasticks” concludes the 53rd season of the Village Players Theatre. Its 54th Season begins on Sept. 10, with “Play On!” a comedy by Rick Abbott.

There are a lot of clichés being bandied about in the controversies surrounding President Obama’s agenda. One is voter preoccupation with American Idol – as if there are no other distractions from our national distress. Another is the belief that there isn’t a dime’s worth of difference between the Republican and Democrat parties.

The latter cliché has been used to argue variously for creation of a third party, changing over to the Libertarian Party (does that make the proposed third party a fourth party?) and, as many people chose to do in 2008, washing one’s hands of the entire process and not voting at all.

But it is an evasion, an excuse from fairly scrutinizing the members and platforms of both parties and to advocate one’s own allegiances on the basis of this blanket prejudice against all other serious considerations. It is also a falsehood. There are numerous proofs of this; as a sample, let’s consider the controversy over Arizona’s immigration legislation.

The conduct of leading Democrats concerning this legislation has been lamentable, to put it mildly. Most prominently, President Obama has engaged in a campaign of outright lies against it. When Mexican President Felipe Calderon criticized the legislation, and by extension the safety and rights of American citizens whom illegal aliens target for crimes against person and property, President Obama sided with him against the people he is Constitutionally obligated to protect. (President Calderon later defended Mexico’s amazingly strict and punitive immigration policies to the American press!) Also, Assistant Secretary of State Michael Posner apologized to the Communist Chinese regime, which has over the decades massacred tens of millions of its own people, for America so egregiously violating human rights as to pass such a law. Such madness has been repeated nationwide in various forms among Democrat officials who want to make Statements (say the word with the hushed awe and reverence due utterances by the Anointed).

Now pay your dime. Hardly any Republicans sided with the President in this propaganda campaign. But he has unquestioning support from his party, especially in its upper echelons and the gullible among its membership. This contrast has played out repeatedly as most Congressional Republicans distance themselves from the socialist agenda of Obama, Reid and Pelosi, even as Democrats such as our own Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur and Senator Sherrod Brown openly embrace it.

It is undeniable that – barring a serious reformation – the Republicans are, by and large, hardly the ideal choice for a return to strictly Constitutional government. The Libertarian Party has that honor, and many voters are being persuaded to vote Libertarian. They’re making this change out of fear for where the Republic is heading under socialist Democrat rule. And this calls up a conflict of principles.

One usually votes for candidates who most closely follow one’s principles. With the rise of the tea parties, many voters’ principles now revolve around faithfulness to the Constitution. This has been lacking in both major parties, hence increased interest in the Libertarians. But another principle is in play: The critical importance of voting the socialists and their supporters out of office. Citing another cliché, the survival of the Republic as we have known it depends on this.

It would be wonderful if the Libertarians sweep to triumph this November and win perpetually thereafter. But the fact is, they are still a small minority; especially in a strongly Democrat area like Toledo, the Libertarians are a very long shot to win any election. If the vote is split – another cliché! – between Republicans and Libertarians so that neither wins, we’ll be blessed with at least two more years of the reckless spending, regional economic malaise, kissing up to the President, unresponsiveness to dissent, unfaithfulness to the Constitution, and other hallmarks of government by the Anointed as practiced by both Kaptur and Brown.

Rather than targeting Republicans, the Libertarians should aggressively seek to convert rank and file Democrats. Surely there are a great many such who so strongly disagree with their party leadership’s support for unrestricted abortion, higher taxes, rights for terrorists and illegals, and expanded government power with attendant loss of liberty that they would switch to a party that limits itself to the powers granted to government by the Constitution. Ideally, the Republicans will return to those limits as well, and Libertarians and Constitutional Republicans will win and the socialists will be stripped of power. But one can only hope.

One last cliché: I do not regard a vote for the Libertarians to be wasted. No vote, cast in keeping with one’s conscience and the founding principles of the Republic, is wasted. The waste is with those who blithely dismiss the future of the Republic as not being worth their attention as they absorb themselves in distractions – including American Idol.

Thomas Berry, for the Children of Liberty.

During the next decade over $100 trillion will pass by inheritance to the next generation. Over 90% of that wealth will pass through the hands of women (their life expectancy is seven years longer than men.)  What impact will this landslide of wealth transfer have on our next generation?
The right for women to vote was won over one hundred years ago.  The empowerment of women at the turn of the last century gave momentum to the pursuit of gender equality in every aspect of society.  Young women today are facing different battles than those of their grandmother’s.  This redefinition has created new boundaries in the segmentation of our society.
Women in general see the world from a more value (we used to call this “feeling”) based perspective.  Their decisions tend to be made from a collective point of view, versus the more traditional male version of logical or transactional decision making.
In 1884, Mary Garrett, daughter of the president and founder of B & O Railroad, agreed to completely fund the new medical school, Johns Hopkins University, on the condition that women would be admitted on the same basis as men.  In 1643, Anne Radcliffe gave the first scholarship to Harvard because she believed that the opportunity for education should not be limited by social class.
While not strictly limited to female membership, Giving Circles have emerged as a popular means for women to collectively practice charitable living.   Typically, groups gather informally around a common social dimension and do not affiliate themselves with any formal organization.  Members of Giving Circles are provided an opportunity to learn, share and grow as philanthropists and community leaders.
Grass roots. . .unsung heroes. . . the collective call of women is to inspire and create a better world.

Cynthia Roepke earned the professional designation of CFP, awarded by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards. She is a wealth management adviser in Fifth Third’s Private Bank.

Responding to a fire with lights and sirens is not as glamorous as often portrayed. Inside the cab, everybody but the driver is scrambling to get their fire gear on and be ready to roll upon arrival. This includes bunker gear, hood, radio, self contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), mask, gloves, helmet, flashlight and ax or similar tool.
Dispatchers constantly update responding crews on the radio with information from callers. When it is a reported “occupied” structure, even the most seasoned vet’s pulse starts to quicken, causing an even more hectic donning of gear. Results include incorporating the rig headphone wire with SCBA straps and having to redo it or even trying to reach the glove that dropped to the floor between the console and the seat. It can be frustrating and is rarely graceful.
As the first arriving engine, you hop out of the backseat and the officer sizes up the scene as the driver readies the pump. If it’s a vacant, boarded-up two-story house, with heavy smoke pouring out of a back second-story window and an occupied house next door just 3 feet away with fire lapping at its roofline. You attack. Along with your 30 to 40 pounds of fire gear and tool of choice, you pull and carry on your shoulder the 225-foot length of 1 ¾-inch fire line up to the door.
As you approach, you take a mental snapshot of the building. Once inside, that helps you orient yourself to possible floor plans, victims and fire locations and possible escape routes. At night, you look for civilians in upstairs bedrooms. In daytime, you aim for kitchens or living areas.
You set the nozzle down to force entry. Sledgehammers, axes and specialized fire tools like halligan bars typically make short work of boarded doors. You have to be quick here. The nozzle is a hotly contested commodity in the fire service. Being first into a fire with the hose is an experience; you don’t just leave it laying on the ground.
You’re in, yet you still have to find the fire. You know it’s upstairs. Smoke has settled throughout first floor. Imagine burning tires in a confined space; most modern furnishings are plastic/petroleum products and the smoke is dense black. While hauling the line, you have to feel your way around, crawling on hands and knees, up over and around furniture, for the stairs. Flashlights are minimally effective. After about 2 to 3 feet the light is reflected back at you by the smoke particles.
Up you go. The farther you go, the hotter it gets. The outer rims of your ears burn. The air in your mask gets warm, fogging the face piece. Under the gear, it’s thick and humid as you sweat. The disembodied voice on your radio states a crew is being sent into the occupied exposure house to prevent the fire from spreading, and the truck crew is heading to the roof to put a hole in it for ventilation.
The smoke is thicker here. It’s not like on TV where visibility is wonderful and nobody needs to wear a face piece. It’s an abyssal sea black. Everybody has masks and SCBA on or they would be suffocated in the burning carbon monoxide and plastics atmosphere. All communication is muffled through the masks. You have to recognize people by their helmet, size and/or walk.
Judicious use of water is necessary. You’ll know quickly if you’re on top of the matter. If you can’t darken the fire in the first 45 seconds, you are probably in over your head. The engine only has 500 gallons of water which only gives you three to five minutes depending on nozzle setting. If headway is not being made you have to have faith that command directs an arriving engine crew to secure a hydrant.
The “low air” bell on your SCBA rings. In this case, frugal use of water was able to darken the body of the fire. The truck has gotten access to the roof and put a hole in it. This allows the smoke and heat to escape much like through a chimney.
The next arriving crew heads in to mop up and overhaul. Overhaul is where we start tearing apart the house to put out hotspots and find the last vestige of fire, ensuring it has been contained. Why we continue what may appear to be needless destruction has a purpose — a story for another day.

Michael Nicely has been a firefighter for 18 years. He is a paramedic and certified in confined-space rescue. Tom Bartley has been a firefighter for 10 years. He is an EMT, registered nurse, rescue diver and is certified in confined space rescue.

The housing market has shown some positive signs in the first four months of 2010 that have homebuyers, builders and real estate agents feeling cautiously optimistic about the future.
“I think it’s a positive sign but we have to be cautious about the outlook for the year. It’s still difficult in our market due to the local economy,” said Mary Ann Coleman, president of the Toledo Board of Realtors.
“Now is a great time to buy a home since interest rates and prices are low and inventory is high with more people putting their homes on the market,” said Coleman, vice president of sales for Welles Bowen Realtors with multiple offices in Northwest Ohio.
The 1,165 homes sold in the first four months of 2010 were nearly the same as 1,169 sold in the same period last year. However, the average selling price increased 16 percent from $79,850 to $92,220 with a 15 percent growth in volume from $93.3 million in 2009 to $107.5 million in 2010.
Last year, investors were buying less expensive homes on the market, which explains the increase in average selling price and volume in 2010 versus 2009, Coleman said.
The numbers for April were even better with 389 homes sold in 2010 compared to 335 sold in April 2009, a 16 percent increase. The average price increased 15 percent from $89,137 to $102,577 and volume grew 34 percent from $29.8 million to $39.2 million from 2009 to 2010.
All numbers represent sales of single family homes in Lucas County from the Multiple Listing Service data supplied by the Northwest Ohio Real Estate Information System.
The sales increase in the first four months was due largely to homebuyer tax credits that expired April 30. Those homes were sold to individuals and young couples using the tax credit, Coleman said.  A lot more homes sold with the tax credits will close in May and June.
Area real estate agents continue to see more interest from potential home buyers, she added.
There are no plans to extend or renew the tax credits, according to Coleman, who just returned from the mid-year conference of the National Association of Realtors in Washington, D.C.
Coleman said real estate agents visited their congressmen and senators about the continuing need to improve the economy and change property rights related to foreclosures.
The increase in home sales is also an encouraging sign for area home builders.
“We’re cautiously optimistic about the market this year. We’ve had more inquiries from clients who want to purchase a new home,” said James Moline, president of the Home Builders Association of Greater Toledo (HBA).
His company, James E. Moline Builders, recently closed on the sale of a model home it built in the Deer Valley development and “got a good price for it,” Moline said. It is an Energy Star home built to meet the guidelines for energy efficiency set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Moline said he constantly reminds customers that a new home will cost more than a used one just as with a car. The buyer gets more with new construction today with features that will save 50 to 60 percent on energy bills.
“New construction prices are still depressed, but they will increase when the demand increases,” Moline said.
“The purchase of existing housing stock will help to spur construction of new homes,” said Cindy Westfall, who started as the new executive officer of the HBA of Greater Toledo on May 17.