Calvary Assembly of God purchased the Maumee 18 Theater on Conant Street.

The church plans to relocate from its current property on Glendale Avenue in the later part of 2011.

“Calvary believes in changing lives to change the world, said Chad Gilligan, lead pastor in a press release. “The purchase of a larger facility provides unlimited possibilities for the expansion of Calvary’s ministries and the involvement of the community. Calvary looks forward to having a community presence in this strategic location.”

The theater was closed by Rave Motion Pictures in July. Jeremy Devine, vice president of marketing for Rave, previously told Toledo Free Press that finding a tenant for the empty building was a priority for the company.

In a press release Rave said, “We are delighted that this long time local community based church has acquired the property. We wish Calvary Assembly of God great success in their future home.”

Ohioans won’t be forced to pay higher taxes if Republican Gov.-elect John Kasich’s promises hold true. But could they be persuaded to pay more by choice?

The voluntary income-tax checkoff — where taxpayers donate a portion of their anticipated refund to a good cause — has become a carefully studied option for cash-strapped groups bracing for the most painful budget in recent Ohio memory.

The same is the case in other states, where lawmakers are considering the voluntary rather than forced tax option for causes from cancer and wildlife, to veterans and even schools.

Three checkoffs now appear on Ohioans’ tax forms, for military injury relief, endangered wildlife and natural areas and preserves. If backers are successful next year, more could be on the way.

Kasich has pledged to support a planned income tax cut in the two-year budget he must present by mid-March, despite an estimated $8 billion budget gap. That means deep cuts ahead even to vital state programs, such as social services, prisons, public schools and universities.

For relatively smaller programs, like the Ohio Breast and Cervical Cancer Project, money could dry up altogether. The first pot of state funding for that program — $5 million for the two years beginning in July 2007 — was already cut to $1.6 million during the last budget cycle.

“Believe me, we understand this whole budget deal. We’re trying to work within the confines that are out there,” said Pam Mascio, advocacy chair for the Northeast Ohio Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. “But here you are fourth in the nation in mortality (from breast cancer) and you’re going to cut funding? It’s tragic, it really is.”

The Komen organization estimates it could raise from $300,000 and $600,000 a year from taxpayers willing to support its screening and biopsy program through a checkoff. At $90 for a mammogram and $125 for a biopsy, that’s a lot of money.

The amount the group could raise may depend on the competition — which is steep.

In May, so many tax checkoffs were surfacing that Tax Commissioner Richard Levin cautioned lawmakers about approving too many — noting that lengthening the list may thin taxpayers’ donations to the programs as they spread their contributions.

Ohio Department of Taxation spokesman John Kohlstrand said taxpayers with the smallest refunds — say, $2 or $3 — are often the ones who participate.

About 40,000 taxpayers contribute to each of the three existing checkoffs annually. In 2008, they donated a combined $1.4 million out of the roughly $1.5 billion in refunds the state paid.

Ted Davis, a state worker from Columbus, said he typically donates to one or more of the checkoff programs at tax time. He said he would consider giving more for the right cause.

“It sounds worthwhile to me,” said Davis, 61. “It depends which ones they are, I guess, whether or not the person has any interest in that particular area.”

Looming competition over checkoffs hasn’t stopped advocates around the Statehouse.

The Ohio Historical Society has lobbied for five years for a tax checkoff — not for its own budget, but to fund a matching grant program for local historical organizations. And the society intends to try again next session. The checkoff could generate an estimated $200,000, said lobbyist Todd Kleismit.

While not a government agency, the Historical Society is a nonprofit corporation with state responsibilities such as, archiving public records and maintaining the state library.

Some legislators balk at giving checkoff status to a nonprofit because they fear its operations wouldn’t be as accountable to the public. That same argument has come up in debate over other cash-strapped nonprofits that work hand-in-hand with state government, such as the Red Cross or Ohio Association of Second Harvest Food banks.

State Sen. Kirk Schuring said the breast cancer checkoff is run through the Ohio Department of Health and has all the necessary checks and balances. He plans to pursue the proposal when he moves to the Ohio House next year.

“I’m not saying it’s a perfect solution, but certainly it will help maintain this valuable program that helps the underserved population and those that have no health care benefit at all, those who are most at risk,” he said.

Michael Farley, a lobbyist for the Red Cross, said he doesn’t begrudge any group that seeks a checkoff. But he believes the Red Cross, a nonprofit that doesn’t receive state funding, has a legitimate argument given its response to emergencies and disasters along with other efforts.

“If we didn’t perform the services we do, the state would have to support them,” he said.

Holding a 46-30 advantage with 12:16 remaining in the game, the Rockets saw the visiting Panthers go on a 29-12 run and regain the lead for the first time since the 11:43 mark of the first half after Anne Breland’s three-pointer from the right corner with 52 seconds left put her team up 59-58. However, with 20 seconds to play, junior guard Naama Shafir was fouled on her drive to the hoop and sank both of her free throws to make it 60-59 Toledo. UW-Milwaukee had the ball to go for the win at the end, but senior forward Melissa Goodall tipped Sammy Theut’s pass and senior guard Jessica Williams came up with the steal and got fouled with one tick left. Williams hit her first attempt from the line, and Goodall got the rebound and subsequent tip-in on the second shot to make it 63-59 and seal the victory Dec. 19 at Savage Arena.

“Obviously, I feel pretty fortunate that we were able to get this win because I thought Milwaukee did a tremendous job the second half of really coming back and Breland, she caught fire,” Toledo head coach Tricia Cullop said. “I thought our defense was just a little bit too slow. We weren’t talking, we weren’t rotating quick enough to get a hand in her face, and she had too many wide open looks, but to credit our team, they didn’t hang their head when they made their run.”

The Rockets (7-4, 0-0 Mid-American Conference) were led by Williams, who finished with a team-high 19 points along with five rebounds and five assists. Williams was red hot from the three-point line against the Panthers (3-7, 0-0 Horizon League), connecting on six-of-10 attempts from beyond the arc. She is now fifth all-time in the Toledo record books with 176 career three-pointers.

“Well, I missed a few, but it just comes from confidence from my teammates just giving me the ball,” Williams said. “Them giving me confidence to keep shooting is what that was.”

Sophomore forward Lecretia Smith finished with 11 points and tied for a team-high seven rebounds, while Shafir posted 10 points and tied for a team-best five assists in the contest. Goodall, who entered the game as the team’s leading scorer with an average of 14.4 points per outing, finished with just four points but grabbed seven boards.

“It shows how versatile and deep our team is, really, that any given night anyone can score 20 points,” Williams said. “On the other hand, when our key players don’t score, we’re always pushing other people to step up and fill those roles.”

The game went scoreless until the 15:08 mark of the first half when redshirt freshman guard Andola Dortch found sophomore center and Start graduate Yolanda Richardson open underneath the basket for the easy layup. With 10:13 left to play in the half, the score was just 8-6 in favor of the Panthers, who hit two-of-four three-point attempts, while six of the Rockets’ first eight points were in the paint. Following the media timeout, Toledo took a 12-8 lead after two-consecutive three-pointers from Williams and junior guard Courtney Ingersoll.

Williams’ hot hand from behind the arc continued in the half as she hit back-to-back treys with under seven minutes remaining in the period to extend the Rockets’ lead to 22-14. She hit her fourth three-pointer at the 1:13 mark and Toledo headed into halftime with a 30-22 advantage over UW-Milwaukee. The Rockets shot 35.3 percent from both the field and the three-point line in the half while limiting the Panthers to 32 percent shooting. However, Toledo did not make any trips to the free throw line in the first 20 minutes of play.

“There were some opportunities the first half where I thought they got some easy put-backs because we just weren’t checking out, and there was a couple where even the kid was five feet away from the basket and we let her get her own rebound,” Cullop said. “Boy, those about drive you nuts, but I do think that part of it is we’re shooting threes instead of driving to the basket. So part of it’s the offense and what we were doing, but I do think we can be a little bit more aggressive to get those same foul calls.”

Williams started the second half where she left off, nailing a three-pointer from the top of the key to extend the Rockets’ lead to 11. Toledo continued to get baskets from multiple players in the second half and opened up a 46-30 advantage with 12:16 to go before UW-Milwaukee’s run and comeback. The Rockets will be in action again Dec. 22 when they travel to Northwestern to face the Wildcats (10-2, 0-0 Big Ten) at 3 p.m.

The Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority launched the Diversified Contractors Accelerator Program (DCAP), which provides financial solutions to encourage increased participation by Northwest Ohio-based minority- and women-owned contractors in publicly bid work and privately funded construction projects.
The DCAP offers both access to bid, performance and payment bonds to contractors who are unable to obtain bonding through traditional sources. It also offers access to capital for the purchase of materials and payment of labor costs. Bonding is an essential piece of both public and private construction and construction-related businesses.
By allowing the bonding and project cash flow decision to be brought to a local community level, DCAP intends to remove some of the obstacles that many minority- and women-owned businesses face in securing bonding and managing project cash flow. Access to capital is equally critical to fund project materials and labor costs.
“The Diversified Contractors Accelerator Program has been a vision of the Port Authority for several years,” Paul Toth, president and CEO of the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority said in a statement. “We are incredibly appreciative of our partners at the City of Toledo and The University of Toledo for assisting us in bringing this program to fruition.”
The Port Authority, the city of Toledo and The University of Toledo all contributed $200,000 in seed money to initiate the program. The Port Authority will establish a credit facility of up to $2 million from a syndicate of local banks to facilitate the program’s capital flow to program participants.
The Port Authority continues to reach out to other private and nonprofit entities interested in the success of the program to secure additional in-kind contributions and expand the scope of its ability to serve the greatest amount of participants within this constituency base.
Interested contractors can get started with the program by completing a company overview, which is located on the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority website at www.toledoportauthority.org/dcap.
DCAP governance will consist of the Port Authority being the program sponsor with an Executive Board providing advisory oversight.  The board will be comprised of members representing the Port Authority, University of Toledo, city of Toledo, Toledo’s African-American Bureau of Commerce, Northwest Ohio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and two additional financial contributors and local community representatives appointed by the program sponsor.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the year-end tax debate of 2010, President Barack Obama got the economic stimulus he sought while Democrats in Congress settled for picking a political fight.

Far more quietly, Republicans pocketed a two-year extension of George W. Bush-era tax cuts at all income levels and a lower estate tax to go with it, without having to swallow billions in public works spending that would have inflamed their conservative tea party supporters.

By the time Obama had signed the bill on Dec. 17, he and Rep. Eric Cantor, the conservative Virginian in line to become House majority leader, could have read entire sections of each other’s speeches.

“This tax deal is not perfect, and nearly all of us, myself included, disagree with certain elements of this bill,” Cantor said Thursday night before the legislation cleared Congress, echoing what the president said at the signing ceremony.

The bill was “prompted by the fact that tax rates for every American were poised to automatically increase” on Jan. 1, Obama said on Friday. “That wouldn’t have just been a blow to them — it would have been a blow to our economy just as we’re climbing out of a devastating recession.”

Cantor had put it this way: “The choice is to act now or impose the onset of a $3.8 trillion tax increase that will crush the fragile recovery and cost tens of thousands of jobs nationally.”

It was, as Florida Republican Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite said in the House, “a bipartisan moment of clarity.”

It won’t last.

Republicans will be in a position to pay less deference to the Democrats in Congress beginning in January, when the opposition party takes control of the House and adds seats in the Senate. Cantor, Ohio Rep. John Boehner, who’s expected to become House speaker, and the rest of the new Republican House majority will be eager to make a show of cutting spending, more than Obama will support, and much more than most Democrats will consider.

“There will be moments, I am certain, over the next couple of years, in which the holiday spirit won’t be as abundant as it is today,” Obama said to laughter as he signed the tax bill.

In fact, the alignment of political forces that led to the tax bill could reoccur before the 2012 elections if the president and Republican leaders decide it’s in their mutual interest to rein in federal deficits.

For now, the compromise underscored the change in government the voters decreed in the Nov. 2 elections near the halfway point of Obama’s term.

Republicans were empowered and House Democrats embittered as the bill took shape, almost exclusively in private.

It unfolded during a 10-day period that Obama, in a moment of particular candor, called political posturing.

Democrats are already focused on the 2012 elections, and their principal objective was to attack Republicans. In the short term, they lashed out at the president as well as at their intended targets, and wound up far from united.

The tax bill, which included extended unemployment benefits as well as a one-year cut in Social Security payroll taxes, drew opposition in the end from 112 Democrats in the House and 14 in the Senate. Only 36 Republicans in the House and five in the Senate spurned Obama’s deal with the Republican congressional leaders.

Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner of New York said Republicans turned out to be “better poker players” than Obama. His was a far more charitable assessment than the one from Oregon Democratic Rep. David Wu, who said that if Obama couldn’t get a better deal, it showed he would be “eaten alive” by the Republicans once they take control of the House.

As they take up new positions in the minority, Democratic House leaders splintered on the biggest tax bill in a decade.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi chose not to vote when the bill passed. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland supported it, and Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, the third-ranking leader, opposed it. So, too, did Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, a member of the leadership who raised his political profile inside the caucus by aligning hims elf with critics of the bill.

Even before Obama announced a framework agreement at the White House two weeks ago, congressional Democrats were already pointing toward the 2012 elections, casting themselves as guardians of the middle class while depicting Republicans as friends of “millionaires and billionaires.”

In the House, they pushed through legislation to extend the Bush tax cuts only on incomes up to $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for couples. It was a nonstarter in the Senate, where Republicans have enough seats to block final passage, and Democrats knew it.

That wasn’t really the point.

A few days later, at a time they — but not the public — knew that Obama was certain to reach agreement with Republicans, Senate Democrats staged a pair of Saturday votes.

One was on the House-passed plan, the other an alternative to let taxes rise only on incomes over $1 million. Republicans, predictably, scuttled both.

“I’m going to be here for the next year, next two years, to remind my colleagues that they were willing to increase the deficit $300 billion to give tax breaks to people who have income over a million dollars,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, making it explicit that the Democratic objective was more related to the 2012 elec tions than altering the emerging tax compromise.

Democratic unhappiness in the Senate was mild compared with that in the House, where the party’s grip on power is measured in mere days.

“Just say no,” the rank and file chanted at a closed-door meeting.

They pledged to keep the bill from the House floor unless it was changed, but were forced to relent when reminded that a tax increase would certainly follow.

Instead, they were allowed a vote to remove the estate tax provision they opposed, but failed.

One more final maneuver — to reject the bill and pass one without any tax cuts for the wealthy — would have thrown the issue back to the Senate. It was viewed as too politically risky a few days before taxes were scheduled to rise on millions.

_____

David Espo is AP’s chief congressional correspondent

To binky or not to binky, that is the question. Or perhaps some of you are more familiar with the other Shakespearean allusion: “Do you suck your thumb at us, sir? No sir, I do not suck my thumb at you, sir, but I do suck my thumb, sir!” Either way you look at it, many of us have children who are stuck on thumbs or stuck on pacifiers and, for as many kids out there sucking thumbs, pinkies, fingers, bobos, binkies and nuks, there are just as many relatives and strangers clicking their tongues and shaking their heads. Beware the pacifier! Beware the thumb! Nipple confusion! Loss of appetite! You will pay thousands in orthodontist’s bills! Your child will be ridiculed in school! Germs abound!
And let’s not even get into what the psychoanalysts have to say about sucking thumbs and pacifiers.
Babies suck. It’s what they do, even in the womb. Based on this, I’d say it’s a perfectly natural behavior, and one that should not be condemned. Sometimes we ought to believe that our babies know what they need. Certainly they know better than well-meaning relatives and strangers, whose fears and aversions to infantile oral fixations are typically borne from old wives’ tales and other superstitions (even those grounded, at some point, in medical opinion).
This is as much a defense of the pacifier and the thumb as it is a comparison between the two. How are they different? Is one better than the other? Having weighed the two, I admit I’ve not reached a discernible conclusion. I suppose that whichever option your child has chosen is the best one. As usual with children, their habits and methods are as unique as they are.
The thumb has the notable advantage of being attached, though this can make the habit a harder one to break. You can’t really take a kid’s thumbs from him — and taping a kid’s thumbs to his hands is (apparently) inhumane. The binky/bobo/nuk/insert your own nickname here/pacifier is a “controlled” substance, so to speak, which can be useful in weaning the child. However, they are easy to lose. Not only are they not necessarily a cheap purchase, the lost-binky-induced screaming at 2 in the morning costs an unknown price against your soul. The thumb comes free with the kid.
While thumb-sucking may potentially complicate hands-on activities, you might notice that your child becomes adept at completing tasks one-handed. I was a thumb-sucker myself, and I am an ace when it comes to picking objects off of the floor with my toes. This skill, perhaps ironically, became most useful after having a baby.
My son had some difficulty when it came to selecting his oral fixation. There were a few nights, early on, of solid four-hour blocks of sleep when he first discovered his thumb. He must have sensed that that made it too easy on Mom and Dad, though, because the luxury was short-lived. It was several months later when he finally succumbed to the pacifier. And guess what? The volume level at my house plummetted. The fussing stopped. He was soothed. You might even say he was … pacified. Moreover, it made a handy barrier against the spoonfuls of dirt he wanted to put in his mouth.
On the other — er, thumb … too much of a good thing is just that — too much. Prolonged sucking, be it thumb or pacifier, can land you some decent bills from the dentist’s office. That’s generally when the habit continues into kindergarten. So I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. With my son. He and I (though mostly I) will make the decision together when it’s time to say goodbye to the pacifier. Until then, I am happy to ignore uninvited commentary regarding the binky. My son’s comfort is more important than anyone else’s standards or superstitions.

Leah Lederman lives in Toledo with her husband, their 18-month-old son and a boxer puppy. She has 11 nieces and nephews.

President Obama is expected to sign the repeal of the the military’s 17-year ban on openly gay troops before the end of 2010 after the Senate on Dec. 18 voted 65-31 to pass the bill, with eight Republicans siding with 55 Democrats and two independents in favor of repeal. The House had passed an identical version of the bill, 250-175, earlier this week.

The historic vote for gay rights is not expected to have an immediate impact on military policy. Under the bill, the president and his top military advisers must first certify that lifting the ban won’t hurt troops’ ability to fight. After that, the military would undergo a 60-day wait period. Some have predicted the process could take as long as a year.

More than 13,500 service members have been dismissed under the 1993 law.

Earlier on Dec. 18 the Senate voted to advance legislation that would overturn “don’t ask, don’t tell” by a 63-33 vote.

Repeal meant that, for the first time in American history, gays would be openly accepted by the military and could acknowledge their sexual orientation without fear of being kicked out.

Rounding up a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate was a historic victory for President Barack Obama, who made repeal of the 17-year-old policy a campaign promise in 2008. It also was a political triumph for congressional Democrats who struggled in the final hours of the postelection session to overcome GOP objections on several legisla tive priorities before Republicans regain control of the House in January.

“As Barry Goldwater said, ‘You don’t have to be straight to shoot straight,”’ said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., referring to the late GOP senator from Arizona.

Sen. John McCain, Obama’s GOP rival in 2008, led the opposition. Speaking on the Senate floor minutes before the vote, the Arizona Republican acknowledged he didn’t have the votes to stop the bill. He blamed elite liberals with no military experience for pushing their social agenda on troops during wartime.

“They will do what is asked of them,” McCain said of service members. “But don’t think there won’t be a great cost.”

In the end, six GOP senators broke with their party in favor of repeal. Republicans supporting the bill were Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Olympia Snowe of Maine, Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, George Voinovich of Ohio, and Mark Kirk of Illinois.

West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, the only Democrat to oppose repeal, did not vote.

The GOP lawmakers swung behind repeal after a recent Pentagon study concluded the ban could be lifted without hurting the ability of troops to fight.

Advocacy groups who lobbied hard for repeal hailed the vote as a significant step forward in gay rights. The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network called the issue the “defining civil rights initiative of this decade.”

Supporters of repeal filled the visitor seats overlooking the Senate floor, ready to protest had the bill failed.

“This has been a long fought battle, but this failed and discriminatory law will now be history,” said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign.

The Pentagon study found that two-thirds of service members didn’t think changing the law would have much of an effect. But of those who did predict negative consequences, a majority were assigned to combat arms units. Nearly 60 percent of the Marine Corps and Army combat units, such as infantry and special operations, said in the survey t hey thought repealing the law would hurt their units’ ability to fight.

The Pentagon’s uniformed chiefs are divided on whether this resistance might pose serious problems.

Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos has said he thinks lifting the ban during wartime could cost lives.

“I don’t want to lose any Marines to the distraction,” he told reporters this week. “I don’t want to have any Marines that I’m visiting at Bethesda (Naval Medical Center) with no legs be the result of any type of distraction.”

Adm. Mike Mullen and Marine Gen. James Cartwright, the chairman and vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, respectively, have said the fear of disruption is overblown. They note the Pentagon’s finding that 92 percent of troops who believe they have served with a gay person saw no effect on their units’ morale or effectiveness. Among Marines in combat roles who said they have served alongside a gay person, 84 percent said there was no impact.

Associated Press contributed to this report

Making the decision to hire an investment professional can be an intimidating task.  Putting this off can be the easiest solution, but is it the right solution?  It is often an event such as retirement or the addition of a new baby that makes an individual or family seek out professional advice.  Relying on a company for a pension or any type of benefits can be a risky move.  Do you feel the government is going to take care of you and your family?  Managing finances is now, more than ever, a personal responsibility. If now is the right time to choose an investment professional for your family, here are a few tips on what you should ask about that many others overlook.
n Search for an investment professional based upon what the needs are, find a specialist.  Financial Services is a pretty broad term to use to pick an investment professional, but it is a category in the yellow pages and online.  This may make sense for an investor who is looking for general guidance.  In many cases looking for financial advice involves very specific financial goals or needs. Consider specialists first. If a person is in their 40s and is looking to go back to college, a college planning specialist may provide more value than a person listed under general financial services.
n Ask for client references at the first meeting. Although confidentiality and privacy is paramount in the financial services business, the professional should be able to provide at least three references. Call every reference, but don’t just ask about investment results. Ask about the communication the investment professional provides. Ask the reference why the advisers contacts them. Asking how the reference gets value working with that professional is a great way to decide if you are at the right place.
n Never rely on a rating alone. Although ratings can be useful when making smart financial decisions about products and companies to work with, investors should be educated about investment options before buying or selling any investments. FINRA, the main regulatory body for licensed investment professionals, in a report on Understanding Securities Analysis Recommendations, says do your own homework first. Just because the company you are considering working with has a great rating doesn’t mean that it is a suitable choice for you. Listen to the positives and ask what the negatives are about the recommended product.
n Many investments have both disclosed and undisclosed fees and expenses.  No one in the financial services works for free. Fees and expenses are not always a bad thing. The cheapest isn’t always the best depending upon what the needs are.  Yet, cost does count. Bottom line, there has to be a “got versus cost” analysis completed.
n How safe is the investment? That question involves both the stock market losses of 2008 and the Bernie Madoff question, and it’s another OK question to ask. Although the vast majority of financial professionals are good and caring people, a quick check into their background is a good idea. Do a background check into an investment professional at www.finra.org and it can help protect against fraud. A general rule of thumb is, as you get older, be safer with your money.

For more information about The Retirement Guys, tune in every Saturday at 1 p.m. on 1370 WSPD or visit www.retirementguysradio.com. Securities and Advisory Services are offered through NEXT Financial Group Inc., Member FINRA / SIPC. NEXT Financial Group, Inc nor its representatives provide tax advice.  The Retirement Guys are not an affiliate of NEXT Financial Group. The office is at 1700 Woodlands Drive, Suite 100, Maumee, OH 43537.

Anthony Bruno is following his father Stanley Bruno in the jewelry business at the young age of 14.
Anthony is working with his father at J. Foster Jewelers located in The Shops at Fallen Timbers in Maumee where Stanley is a managing partner of the business.
“I would like to attend the Gemological Institute of America to learn the jewelry business and open my own jewelry store one day,” said Anthony, who has been working about 20 hours per week at the store during the holiday season.
He may be an eighth grader at St. Patrick’s of Heatherdowns School but he already knows he wants to pursue a career in the jewelry business. First, he plans to attend St. John’s Jesuit High School in Toledo next year.
He said his interest in jewelry started in his younger years, but became serious when he started working with his father at the store this year.

Anthony and Stanley Bruno.

Anthony has been selling Pandora bracelets and necklaces to customers at J. Foster Jewelers. The line offers gold and sterling silver bracelets and necklaces with more than 1,500 different beads or charms to satisfy the individual tastes of teens to senior citizens.
The silver base bracelet starts at $55, the gold at $1,300, the necklaces from $100 with charms selling for $25 and up.
“Anthony sells a lot of those bracelets that are the modern day charm bracelet,” Stanley said. “We started him out in the Pandora jewelry so he can work his way up to diamonds.”
“I usually start up a conversation about their interests and offer a few suggestions for charms,” Anthony said. “Women are usually buying for themselves and men are buying for women.”
“The colorful beads and charms put life into the bracelets and necklaces. People usually begin with one to three charms on a bracelet,” he said.
The beads include gemstones, glass, wood, gold and silver with a special pink bead for breast cancer, crosses and the Star of David for religious charms, and a selection of Christmas charms including a drum, gift package, sleigh, snowman and Santa.
The necklaces are often sold as a follow-up to the bracelets, Anthony said. He suggests starting with a larger colored bead with silver or gold ones on either side for a symmetrical look on a necklace.
They also sell other Pandora jewelry that matches the bracelets and necklaces.
“The Pandora jewelry is doing very well for us along with the traditional diamond tennis bracelet, stud earrings and watches as holiday gifts this year,” Stanley said.
“Watches are a passion of mine so I enjoy selling them,” said Anthony, who has about 12 different watches that he wears for different occasions.
Anthony recommends the Swiss brand of Movado men’s and women’s watches which range in price from $500 to $4,000. They also carry Bulova’s Accutron limited edition watch that sells for $4,000.
Away from jewelry and his school studies, he enjoys boating with his father and flying with his uncle who is a pilot. Anthony traveled alone to Los Angeles this summer to visit his cousin there and accompanied his family on a trip to the Bahamas.
Stanley said he is proud that his son wants to follow him in the jewelry business. He is teaching Anthony about selling jewelry from his years of experience.
“Business has been very good for us going into the holidays this year,” said Stanley, who usually works 12-hour days at this time of year.
J. Foster Jewelers operates the store at Fallen Timbers and one at Westfield Franklin Park Shopping Center in Toledo. The retailer is offering its 2010 Holiday Collection, an assortment of contemporary and fine jewelry for a sale in its stores and online catalog at the website www.jfosterjewelers.com.

Despite a 16-0 run by Florida Gulf Coast in the first half, Toledo was able to weather the storm as five Rockets scored in double figures to help take down the visiting Eagles by a score of 75-63 Dec. 18 in Savage Arena for the team’s second-straight victory of the season.

“I think more than anything this team is starting to understand who we are, how we have to play, and that’s been a good thing for us,” first-year Toledo head coach Tod Kowalczyk said. “I thought as we played in some games they started to listen more, but nothing helps listening more than having success.

“Now with us experiencing two games where we played well in stretches, I’d like to think we can build upon this.”

Freshman guard J.T. Thomas led the Rockets with a season-high 16 points, while fellow freshman guard Reese Holliday had his second-straight double-double with 11 points and a season-high 13 rebounds. Sophomore guard Malcolm Griffin and senior forward Anthony Wright each had 12 points, while freshman forward Delino Dear finished with 10 points and seven boards. Toledo had a season-high 11 triples in the contest, with Griffin hitting all four of his attempts from beyond the arc.

“I think I was just feeling it tonight,” Griffin said. “I’ve been struggling on threes during the season so far, but I got my stroke back. It’s another weapon for me. I think I’ve got more confidence in it, and I worked on it.”

After the Rockets (2-9, 0-0 Mid-American Conference) started the game with an early 5-1 lead, Florida Gulf Coast (2-7, 0-2 Atlantic Sun Conference) went on a 16-0 run on the strength of 80 percent shooting from beyond the arc to take a 17-5 lead by the 14:40 mark. Dear’s lay-in following Toledo’s timeout ended the run with 14:25 on the clock, while Griffin’s three less than a minute later made it an 18-10 ballgame with 13:29 remaining in the first half. However, two consecutive three-pointers from Christophe Varidel sparked an 8-2 Eagles run and put his team up 26-12 by the 11:01 mark.

A lay-in from Wright with 8:31 to go in the half made it 26-16, while a pair of treys from Griffin and senior forward Justin Anyijong and a jumper from Thomas cut Florida Gulf Coast’s lead to six, the score 30-24 by the 3:57 mark as the Rockets went on an 8-4 run. However, Toledo would head to the locker room with the Eagles holding a 37-30 lead at halftime. While both teams had 19 rebounds in the game’s first 20 minutes, the Rockets had seven turnovers to Florida Gulf Coast’s two, and the Eagles capitalized by scoring 11 points off those Toledo miscues.

“Of course, we’re going to hear it in the locker room, but it’s just a wakeup call,” Thomas said of the first half struggles. “We know how to handle adversity pretty well right now. Everybody’s just trying to stay hungry.”

In the second half, Florida Gulf Coast outscored the Rockets 10-8 to start the period and led 47-38 with 15:26 left on the clock. However, a three-pointer from freshman walk-on guard and Rossford graduate Zack Leahy as the shot clock buzzer sounded got the crowd involved and made it 47-41 with 14:27 remaining in the game. Holliday kept the momentum going on the next possession with a layup, and Thomas nailed a three from the right wing after Holliday missed his free throw on his and-one attempt to make it 47-46 at the 14-minute mark. Wright hit a trey of his own on Toledo’s ensuing possession to tie the game at 49 apiece as the Rockets went on an 11-2 run by the 13:29 mark.

Toledo took its first lead since the opening minutes of the first half following a pair of free throws from sophomore forward Hayden Humes with 8:55 left in the contest to make it 52-51. After a three-pointer from Wright at the 6:08 mark made it 59-56 Rockets, Holliday found an open Dear underneath the basket for Toledo’s next points to extend his team’s advantage to 61-56 with 5:12 remaining. Two free throws from Anthony Banks cut the Rockets lead to 61-58 nine seconds later, but Dear lunged out of bounds to save a loose ball on Toledo’s ensuing possession and then hit both of his free throws to put his team back up by five at the 4:05 mark. Griffin hit a three-pointer from the left wing on the Rockets next trip down the court to make it 66-58, and the eight-point deficit proved to be too much for the Eagles to overcome.

“The good thing is we’re getting to the point where we can have some guys not play well and other guys pick it up,” Kowalczyk said. “We didn’t have that the first eight games of the season. Our margin of error is small, but it gets better when you have guys that perform off the bench like J.T. [Thomas] and like Anthony [Wright] did tonight.”

Toledo will be in action again on Dec. 21 in Savage Arena to face Indiana University Northwest (1-12) at 7 p.m.