Radio host Andrew Zepeda will appear in court this week for a hearing regarding a possible violation of his intervention in lieu of conviction.

Zepeda’s attorney said he does not believe Zepeda was in violation of the terms.

The hearing is set for 11:30 a.m. July 29 before Judge Alan R. Mayberry at the Wood County Court of Common Pleas in Bowling Green.

Andrew Z

The petition submitted July 15 by the Wood County Prosecutor’s Office states Zepeda violated the conditions of his intervention in lieu of conviction, which stipulate Zepeda “shall not frequent any establishment serving alcoholic beverages or associate with those who are consuming alcoholic beverages.”

According to the petition, Zepeda was seen at Fat Fish Blue/Funny Bone on June 23 by a Perrysburg Police Division detective and also appeared on restaurant video surveillance July 2.

The prosecution also states Zepeda took part in the filming of a local music video at Quimby’s at the Park in May and appears in the video “drinking what appeared to be champagne.”

Subpoenas to appear at the hearing were issued for the managers of Quimby’s at the Park and Fat Fish Blue/Funny Bone.

Zepeda’s attorney, Beau Harvey, said Zepeda did not enter Fat Fish Blue/Funny Bone on June 23, but greeted people outside the building. He said Zepeda did enter the venue July 2, but only to meet with the performing comic as a potential radio show guest.

In response to the video shoot at Quimby’s, Harvey said the bar was closed and Zepeda was holding a glass of water. He said Zepeda did not consume alcohol or illicit drugs on any of the occasions.

The music video, which shows large groups of people dancing and drinking in a club setting, features the song “One More Drink,” by local artist Yvonne Ramos. A link to the video was posted to Zepeda’s website, andrewzonline.com, as recently as mid-July.

Ramos said Zepeda was at Quimby’s for about 20 minutes in the morning of the all-day shoot and asked for ice water.

Harvey also said the terms of Zepeda’s intervention are contradictory as another stipulation is he must be employed and his job as a radio host sometimes requires him to enter a place where alcohol is served.

On July 15, prior to the hearing being requested, Harvey filed a motion to modify or clarify the terms and conditions of the intervention.

Harvey also said the Perrysburg Police Division seems to be expending more time and effort watching Zepeda than it typically does in determining whether someone is still eligible for intervention in lieu.

“I believe they’ve targeted Andrew to prove a point,” Harvey said.

On Feb. 4, Zepeda pleaded guilty to three charges in connection with a break-in at his business, Andrew Z’s Sportz Pizzeria, at Levis Commons in Perrysburg and entered an intervention program for alcohol abuse, which he completed in May.

All charges will be cleared from his record if he successfully completes his two-year supervision, but if he violates any conditions, he could face the charges again.

Wood County Prosecuting Attorney Paul Dobson said Zepeda can choose to waive the hearing, meaning he admits to the violations, or ask that a hearing be held.

If the judge determines Zepeda violated the conditions of the program, the judge may elect to allow Zepeda to continue in the intervention in lieu program despite the violation or he may accept Zepeda’s previously entered guilty pleas on the three charges.

If the judge accepts Zepeda’s guilty pleas, the judge has all the sentencing options available at Zepeda’s original sentencing, including incarceration. The sentencing could be done that day or the judge could set a separate sentencing date.

In November, Zepeda was charged with theft, complicity to breaking and entering, and failure to remit sales tax in connection with an October break-in at his Levis Commons pizzeria.

Other stipulations of Zepeda’s probation include that he undergo random drug and alcohol testing, attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and have no contact with David Wright or his uncle Paul Zepeda, the two others charged in connection with the break-in.

Zepeda debuted his new weekday morning radio show “Andrew Z in the Morning: The People’s Show,” on July 18 on Cumulus station 100.7 The Vibe. The contract was signed July 8.

Zepeda was formerly the host of one of the region’s top-rated morning show, “Andrew Z in the Morning” on 92.5 KISS FM. His noncompete agreement with Clear Channel expired July 1.

When my friends first saw “food editor” after my name in Toledo Free Press Star a few weeks ago, the responses ranged from, “Hmm, that’s a little ironic, isn’t it?” to “You?” I am not known for my cooking skills; in fact, in close circles I’m known for my lack of them, and for my great good fortune in having married someone who loved to cook and had the time to do it.
I greatly admire the people who can do it, and all the ways they’re smart about flavors and not burning things, but I am a “foodie” of the eating variety — everything about the dining experience has the potential to delight me. I love the gathering of like-minded eaters, the atmosphere that tells me about the people who are feeding me, the anticipation of trying something new and delicious or a tried-and-true dish perfectly executed. I try hard to never waste a meal. That being the case, I try hard never to make one.
You can imagine how my culinary world was thrown into a tailspin last fall, when I abruptly found myself without the personal chef, the guy who’d not only done the cooking but the meticulous meal planning and grocery shopping as well. Amid the emotional wreckage lots of scary concepts loomed large, and one of the scariest was that I was going to have to cook for myself and, God help her, for our 10-year-old daughter.

One of the first bits of disaster relief I received was my mother’s help in taking inventory of the freezer, so at least I’d know what I had to work with. One of the first laughs I had was when a neighbor saw me in the yard and told me he was relieved. He was starting to worry we had starved.
So far we haven’t starved, although for the first couple of months I wondered how I’d ever do anything but plan, shop, thaw, prep, “cook” and clean up again, or how it was possible, after spending a frustrating hour-plus preparing the meal, that it took us only about eight minutes to eat it and be on to other things — in my case, cleaning the kitchen. I was putting a lot of pressure on myself to make our whole situation OK — or at least not excruciating — for my daughter, and on that score meals were by far my weakest area. At the time, I’d lost sight of the fact that this wasn’t news to my little girl. Once when she was 3 years old she asked, as I was getting her up from her nap, where daddy was. I told her daddy had to work late and I was going to make dinner.
“Mommy make dinner?” she said, not just asking, but awed. “Mommy make dinner, on da stove?”
So after a while I started cutting myself some slack. Just because my daughter has a sophisticated palate for a fifth-grader, for example, doesn’t mean she’s not just as happy with hot
dogs and beans as pork ragout and polenta. And if creating three piles of food every night — protein, veg, starch — wasn’t fun or interesting to do or to eat, what foods would make me happy? What would I look forward to eating at the end of all that work? And if it turned out to be variations on pasta four nights a week … so what?
That’s when the tide started to turn. I signed up for “weeknight recipe” newsletters. I started paying attention to the grocery circular and let go of the idea — demonstrated to me for years by the former personal chef — that every element of the meal should be made from scratch. I treated myself to ingredients I liked then started figuring out how to use them. Cooking feels less like a chore, and although I’m not good at it yet, for the first time in my life, I want to be.
I still delight in the food world as much as I ever did, so I’m excited to explore it and report back to Star readers, and I’m going to do it with gusto. But I’m also hoping to get something from you: cooking help. So occasionally, interspersed with stories about culinary events and destinations, I’ll offer some of my own kitchen exploits and await your insight and advice. I promise to be honest about the disasters, and if I have a success … well, we’ll just cross that bridge when we come to it.

Amy Campbell is Toledo Free Press Star Food Editor. Email her at star@toledofreepress.com.

DETROIT—Toledo arrived at the Mid-American Conference’s Media Day at Ford Field on July 26 as the preseason selection to win the conference.

The poll, conducted by 26 members of the league’s media contingent, picked Toledo as the favorite to win the MAC Championship with five votes, followed by Miami (OH) and Northern Illinois which each had three.

“I think we were probably the No. 1 because we have Northern Illinois at home and we have Western Michigan at home,” Toledo Head Coach Tim Beckman said. “Every team in this conference has a chance to be here on Dec. 2 [for the MAC Championship] and that’s the greatest thing about MAC football. Not every conference is like that.”

The Rockets received 83 votes in the preseason poll for the league’s West Division, just two votes ahead of defending champion NIU. Western Michigan (76) was picked third followed by Central Michigan (55), Ball State (27) and Eastern Michigan (24).

“It’s pretty exciting to actually have expectations going into a season,” senior cornerback Desmond Marrow said. “Usually we are at the bottom of the MAC and we have to sneak up on people. Not so much this year. Everyone is going to be ready for us.”

Toledo is coming off an 8-5 season, including a 7-1 record in league play. The Rockets reached their first bowl game since 2005 in a 34-32 loss to FIU in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl.

The Rockets return 17-of-22 starters (9 offense, 8 defense) including wide receiver Eric Page, who received First-Team All-American honors as a kick returner in 2010.

“We are picked number one but it really doesn’t mean a lot to us. We are still trying to prove a lot,” Page said. “We have to come out this year and play every game one by one and try to get back to the MAC Championship.”

UT reports to training camp on Aug. 2 as they begin practice for the season-opening contest against FCS school New Hampshire on Sept. 1.

Radio host Andrew Zepeda will appear in court this week for a hearing regarding a possible violation of his intervention in lieu of conviction.

The hearing is set for 11:30 a.m. July 29 before Judge Alan R. Mayberry at the Wood County Court of Common Pleas in Bowling Green.

Andrew Z.

The petition submitted by the Wood County Prosecutor’s Office states Zepeda violated the conditions of his intervention in lieu of conviction, which stipulates Zepeda “shall not frequent any establishment serving alcoholic beverages or associate with those who are consuming alcoholic beverages.”

According to the petition, Zepeda was seen at Fat Fish Blue/Funny Bone on June 23 by a Perrysburg Police Division detective. Zepeda also appeared on video surveillance of the restaurant July 2.

The prosecution also states Zepeda took part in the filming of a music video at Quimby’s at the Park in May and appears in the video “drinking what appeared to be champagne.”

Zepeda told Toledo Free Press the drinks were nonalcoholic and Quimby’s was closed at the time. Zepeda’s attorney Beau Harvey could not be reached for comment.

On Feb. 4, Zepeda pleaded guilty to three charges in connection with a break-in at his business, Andrew Z’s Sportz Pizzeria, at Levis Commons in Perrysburg and entered an intervention program for alcohol abuse, which he completed in May.

All charges will be cleared from his record if he successfully completes his two-year supervision, but if he violates any conditions, he will face the charges again.

Subpoenas to appear at the hearing were issued for the managers of Quimby’s at the Park and Fat Fish Blue/Funny Bone.

Wood County Prosecuting Attorney Paul Dobson said Zepeda can choose to waive the hearing, meaning he admits to the violations, or ask that a hearing be held.

If the judge determines Zepeda violated the conditions of the program, the judge may elect to allow Zepeda to continue in the intervention in lieu program despite the violation or he may accept Zepeda’s guilty pleas entered on the three charges.

If the judge accepts Zepeda’s guilty pleas, the judge has all the sentencing options available at Zepeda’s original sentencing, including incarceration. The sentencing could be done that day or the judge could set a separate sentencing date.

The music video, which shows Zepeda among large groups of people dancing and drinking in a club setting, features the song “One More Drink,” by local artist Yvonne Ramos. A link to the video was posted to Zepeda’s website, andrewzonline.com, as recently as mid-July.

Ramos said Zepeda was at Quimby’s for about 20 minutes in the morning of the all-day shoot and asked for ice water.

In November, Zepeda was charged with theft, complicity to breaking and entering, and failure to remit sales tax in connection with an October break-in at his business, Andrew Z’s Sportz Pizzeria, at Levis Commons in Perrysburg.

Other stipulations of Zepeda’s probation include that he undergo random drug and alcohol testing, attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, obtain lawful employment, and have no contact with David Wright or his uncle Paul Zepeda, the two others charged in connection with the break-in.

Zepeda debuted his new weekday morning radio show “Andrew Z in the Morning: The People’s Show,” on July 18 on Cumulus station 100.7 The Vibe.

Zepeda was formerly the host of one of the region’s top-rated morning shows, “Andrew Z in the Morning” on 92.5 KISS FM. His noncompete agreement with Clear Channel was up July 1.

Many Toledo musicians expressed the same emotion regarding Amy Winehouse’s July 23 death — a lack of surprise.
The British singer, 27, was found dead in her London apartment on July 23. A cause of death has not yet been determined.
“I wasn’t too surprised,” said Amjad Doumani, owner of B-Bop Records, who found out on Facebook. “But it’s always sad when someone so young dies.”

The petite songstress with the big voice famously sang about her troubles with love, alcohol and drugs on her 2006 album “Back to Black.” The album won five Grammys and featured the hit single “Rehab” about Winehouse’s refusal to seek help. Pat O’Connor, owner of Culture Clash Records and a self-described former addict, said that song stuck out to him because “it’s so anti what I think.”
Aaron Brown, a Toledo-based DJ who also learned about Winehouse’s death on Facebook, said, “I was surprised that many of my friends A. cared, B. were surprised.” He added that although Winehouse had a good voice, “past that she was just a famous junkie.”
Other area musicians also said they noticed the irony of the song’s shocking lyrics.
“Based on her escalating self-destructive behavior, her death came as no surprise. ‘Rehab’ foretold it,” said Doreen Robideaux, lead singer of the Frostbite Band.
“It (‘Rehab’) was kind of funny and maybe a little tongue-in-cheek and a little rebellious,” said Ryan Bunch, performing and literary arts coordinator for the Arts Commission of Greater Toledo. Still, he added of her attitude, “Ironically and ultimately, that’s what killed her.”
Danni Stinson, poet, spoken-word artist and entrepreneur, said the song “Tears Dry on Their Own” inspired her and helped her through bad relationships.
“She was actually one of my favorite artists,” Stinson said. “I was hoping she’d get back on track.”
However, Stinson said when she saw footage of Winehouse’s last public performance in Belgrade, Serbia, she knew the opposite was true.
“I remember thinking to myself, ‘this poor baby’,” said Kim Buehler, singer for 6th Edition and jazz educator, of Winehouse’s onstage slurring. Winehouse canceled the rest of her European tour after being booed off the stage.
Chavar Dontae, a local musician who just signed with Submerge in Detroit, said he learned of Winehouse’s death on Twitter.
“I hope people don’t make her whole legacy the problems she had,” Dontae said. Winehouse’s honesty in her song lyrics inspired Dontae. “I believed what she said and that’s the way I look at songwriting.”
Others also noted Winehouse’s upfront approach to her music.
“Amy was a natural talent, and what I mean by that was that she did not have to contrive a sound or an image. She was who she was,” said Megan Yasu Davis, an area musician.
O’Connor said he doubts Winehouse’s problems will cause anyone to give up drugs.
“Not one drug addict thinks, ‘That’s going to happen to me’,” he said.
Calvin Cordy, guitarist for Prayers for Rain, also said he didn’t think Winehouse’s death would motivate anyone to give up drugs or alcohol.
“It’s just the same as Courtney Love — predictable,” he said.
Still, many like Stinson found Winehouse’s sudden death “heartbreaking” if not surprising. Like Dontae, Stinson said she found inspiration in Winehouse’s lyrics and would write with Winehouse’s music playing.
Buehler, who felt sick after reading about Winehouse’s death, said that although many people wish they possessed talent like Winehouse’s, people with “creative talent are often tortured by it.”

Winehouse among music talents gone too soon

By Jake Coyle
Associated Press Entertainment Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Amy Winehouse released only two albums in her life, one of which sold more than a million copies, won five Grammys and sparked a retro soul movement that hasn’t yet stopped.
The small output, in inverse relation to her outsized talent, made her death July 23 in London all the more tragic. Fans will only be able to imagine the unrecorded singles, the never-to-be concerts and the comeback album that didn’t come.
It’s a sadly familiar script in pop music, the history of which is checkered with greats and would-be greats snuffed out too early in life.

Almost as soon as news of Winehouse’s death broke and spread across social media, fans were inducting her into the unfortunate pantheon of music talents gone too soon. Many noted that Winehouse, 27, shared the same age at death as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Brian Jones, Kurt Cobain and Jim Morrison.
“You would think that Amy Winehouse would clean up her act given that,” Danni Stinson, poet, spoken-word artist and entrepreneur, said.
“Americans talk about Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin in this kind of romantic way,” said Ryan Bunch, performing and literary arts coordinator for the Arts Commission of Greater Toledo. “I would hope that it’s at least a wake-up call for kids that it’s really not that glamorous.”
The British singer-songwriter Billy Bragg, though, realized that a meaningful commonality was being mistaken for coincidence.
“It’s not age that Hendrix, Jones, Joplin, Morrison, Cobain & Amy have in common,’’ wrote Bragg on Twitter. “It’s drug abuse, sadly.’’
Those names were touted on the Web as the 27 Club, a ghoulish glamourizing of rock star death that makes it sound as though even in death VIPs remain behind a seductive velvet rope.
It’s a term, sometimes called the Forever 27 Club, that has spawned a Wikipedia entry, an independent 2008 movie (“The 27 Club”), numerous websites and at least one book (“The 27s: The Greatest Myth of Rock & Roll’’).
The causes of death vary. Jones, the Rolling Stones guitarist, was found dead at the bottom of his swimming pool in 1969 and was ruled dead “by misadventure.’’ Hendrix, having mixed sleeping pills and wine, died in 1970 in a London hotel room. Joplin, also in 1970, died in her Porsche in Los Angeles, with heroin suspected as the culprit. Morrison died of heart failure in 1971 in the bathtub of his Paris apartment. Cobain killed himself in 1994.
Some have claimed Cobain was aware of the so-called 27 Club. After his death, his mother, Wendy O’Connor, was understandably fed up with the concept, saying: “I told him not to join that stupid club.’’
Early death typically mythologizes pop stars, inflating their reputation. Pop culture writer Chuck Klosterman, in his book “Killing Yourself to Live,’’ wondered why “the greatest career move any musician can make is to stop breathing.’’
The posthumous releases from Winehouse will surely follow, and her legacy will grow. But hopefully mythologizing will be resisted.
Winehouse’s death, an unfortunate but unsurprising end to a long, public decline, might be best remembered not just as another tragic loss but as a modern portrait of how untrue those rock myths really are.

It’s been an endless summer for The Beach Boys, who continue to ride a wave of music synonymous with surfing, sun, souped-up cars and fun.
“A lot of music has survived and thrived from the ’60s — The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Motown,” said lead singer Mike Love. “In our case, the subject matter was a bit unique, starting out with songs about surfing and California girls and our car songs — ‘I Get Around’ and ‘Fun, Fun, Fun,’ ‘Little Deuce Coupe.’
“Prior to that, I think most songs revolved around that boy-girl attraction and love songs, and we came along and did songs about cars, surfing and stuff. So I think for young people who are not overly involved with relationships, especially when you’re very young, I think those songs have a lot of appeal.”

The Beach Boys

Not only does the group’s music attract fans of all ages, it’s been hanging 10 for five decades.
“Seems like every year a Beach Boy song or two shows up in a major motion picture soundtrack, which keeps The Beach Boys’ sound really current in terms of popular culture,” Love said during a call from a tour stop in Waukesha, Wis. He mentioned the films “50 First Dates” and “It’s Complicated,” which featured “Wouldn’t It Be Nice.”
“The ‘Full House’ reruns, can’t forget Uncle Jesse — John Stamos, our friend, he’s a big Beach Boys fan,” Love said. “He got us on his show three or four times. We get recognized by kids who’ve seen us on ‘Full House’ all the time and young adults who watched it 10, 15 years ago.”
And Katy Perry’s 2010 smash “California Gurls” paid tribute to the band’s “California Girls,” a 1965 hit co-written by Love.
“I think she’s quite creative, good singer, good writer — bad speller though,” he said and laughed. “We have something in common in addition to the song ‘California Girls’: We both kissed girls and liked it.”
Love and his cousins, Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson, and their friend, Al Jardine, formed The Beach Boys in Hawthorne, Calif., in 1961. The group’s first single, “Surfin’,” was released that year and featured their rich harmonies.
“When we started out, one side would be surfing and the other side would be cars because, it wasn’t rocket science, we figured not everybody would have an ocean, but everybody could appreciate the great cars of the ’50s and ’60s; we sure did,” Love recalled.
“We’ve had all kinds of great cars over the years. My cousin, Dennis, had a 409. In fact, we actually tape-recorded the sound of him burning rubber on the street outside their house and that showed up on the record, ‘409,’ which was on the backside of the 45 single of ‘Surfin’ Safari.’ ”
The group’s hits include “Surfin’ U.S.A.,” “Help Me, Rhonda,” “Surfer Girl,” “God Only Knows,” “Barbara Ann,” “Good Vibrations,” “Do It Again” and “Kokomo.” In 1988, The Beach Boys were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2001, they received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys.
“I’m probably most proud of the fact that so many multiple generations of people have enjoyed the music and that it’s positive and uplifting,” Love said. “Our songs are still appreciated by so many people in so many countries of the world to this day, and it represents America, represents rock ‘n’ roll, in a really uplifting, positive way.”
Love and The Beach Boys — longtime member Bruce Johnston, keyboards and vocals; Christian Love, guitar and vocals; Randell Kirsch, bass and vocals; Tim Bonhomme, keyboards and vocals; John Cowsill, percussion and vocals; and Scott Totten, guitar and vocals — will play Centennial Terrace in Sylvania at 7:30 p.m. July 28. Tickets are $28.50 and $52.50. Gates open at 6:30 p.m. There is no opening act.
Love is happy to have his son in the group.
“Christian sounds eerily like Carl Wilson,” he said. “He’ll do the lead on ‘Good Vibrations,’ he’ll do Carl’s part on ‘Kokomo’ and it’s just absolutely great.”
Carl Wilson, lead guitarist and vocalist, died of cancer in 1998. Drummer Dennis Wilson drowned in 1983.
As the band’s golden anniversary of its first single approaches this fall, Love is working with Brian Wilson.
“[Brian’s] recorded some tracks and I’ve recorded some music; it’s kind of show and tell. We’re getting together; he’s got some songs he wants me to write the lyrics for,” Love said. “In light of the 50th anniversary, it makes a lot of sense to get together and do some new music together. I think that would be great.”

For Keith Urban, the place throughout his career where he has felt most at home has been on the concert stage.
“It’s the place where I feel most like me, musically, playing live,” he said in a late June phone interview with Toledo Free Press Star. “It’s what I’ve done more than anything, certainly way longer than I’ve been making records.”
That sort of comfort is reflected in the live show supporting his latest CD, “Get Closer.” A performer has to feel comfortable to incorporate some of the staging elements that Urban has added to his new show, which will land in the Huntington Center on July 29.

Keith Urban

“The tour we did two years ago now, we had ramps at either end of the stage that allowed me to walk down and back into the audience and back to the stage real easily, and I loved it so much, that we designed the (new) stage as sort of semicircular,” Urban said, his Australian accent still very much evident. “Basically, the whole front is just one big sloping ramp. There’s just nothing between us and the audience, which is basically what I was striving for.”
Anyone who has seen Urban on recent tours knows that he doesn’t limit his performance to the main stage. His walks out into the audience while playing guitar have become trademarks of his shows. And for this tour he’s taken the concept of playing to the entire arena to a new level, placing several small stages around the venue floor, where he can perform at various points in the show.
“I really like the experience of just walking through the audience to get to a different stage or places in the arena,” Urban said. “It’s one way to have everybody have a moment where they’re fairly close to the stage at a given time.”
All this talk of connecting and finding ways to get up close to the audience seems fitting considering Urban is touring behind a CD called “Get Closer” and he has named the tour after that album. He is creating this connection and intimacy despite playing venues that hold upwards of 20,000 people a night — a talent that has caused many critics to praise Urban as one of today’s best performers of any musical genre.
“Get Closer” fits in with the style Urban has established on recent albums, where he has fashioned an upbeat crossover sound that has country elements, but also assimilates a polished rock sound. The blend of crossover country, rock and pop makes sense when Urban discusses his roots.
“I didn’t grow up on Ernest Tubb or Hank Williams. I grew up on Ronnie Milsap and Don Williams and Glen Campbell and much more contemporary sort of records,” he said. “And then through the ’80s, it was Alabama and these kind of groups. So it was much more contemporary to begin with.”
On a thematic level, “Get Closer” (which was released in a standard eight-song version and a Target stores exclusive version with seven additional tracks) has been touted as Urban’s most personal CD yet, with romantic songs dominating the lyrical landscape of the album.
Many observers have concluded that the songs of love are a direct outgrowth of perhaps the biggest recent change in Urban’s life — his marriage to actress Nicole Kidman in June 2006. Urban confirmed the real-life connection in his most recent songs —  sort of.
“I gravitate toward songs about love, I always have, in all its various forms,” he said. “The finding it, the wanting it, the losing it, the not having it, the fear of it, the joy of it, the infinite facets of it, have always been sort of represented in my records. The difference today is I’m actually in the relationship that these songs are about. Early in my records, they were really about imagining what a relationship would be like, like that. My personal life didn’t really reflect what I was singing about. And they’re much more closely connected these days.”

Kevin Kowalski

Former Toledo offensive lineman Kevin Kowalski signed as an undrafted free agent with the Dallas Cowboys July 25.

The 6-4, 299 pound center from Macedonia, Ohio recorded 47 consecutive starts for the Rockets over his four-year career.

Kowalski is the second UT player in the last two seasons to be signed as an undrafted player by Dallas. Barry Church was signed by the Cowboys last season and made the roster, playing in 15 games recording 20 tackles and one forced fumble at safety.

Gov. John Kasich said Monday that he is interested in leasing the Ohio Turnpike to a private operator.

With the probability of a 30 percent cut in federal funds for transportation, the Ohio Department of Transportation will soon have insufficient budget to improve or even maintain the highway, said ODOT Director Jerry Wray.

“We are going to run out of highway funds, I mean unless the Congress does something,” Kasich said. “Come on, waiting for Congress is like waiting for Godot.”

Kasich said even if the state doesn’t lose the federal money, the state should be on the offensive in acquiring new resources for improvements. Should the lease go through, the state would receive both an initial payment and a percentage of tolls collected.

By leasing the turnpike, Kasich said he hopes to put the state in the position to use billions of dollars worth of resources to improve highways, bridges and waterways.

“We have an asset that is very underutilized,” Kasich said. “If we can take this asset and we can lease it, and we can of course make sure we accommodate the concerns of people who are up in this part of the state … then we have a lot of resources. Now, if we have the resources, there’s a lot of good things we can do with it.”

Kasich said he wanted Toledo to be the beneficiary of more commerce. He also encouraged looking at the big picture of economic growth for the state, rather than focusing purely on Northwest Ohio. He wants to avoid a “bidding war” over which parts of the state benefit, he said.

“We are very well aware that there is an emotional attachment, a sense that people have done more than their share up here than any other part of the state, and of course it will have to be taken into consideration,” Kasich said.

Addressing possible concerns, Kasich said revenue from the lease would all go into creating infrastructure, not into balancing the budget or running government agencies, unless an emergency made it necessary.

The state would also limit the amount of increase in the toll price and would maintain strict standards for the turnpike’s upkeep. A potential lease would last no more than 50 years, more likely about 40. Wray said there will be no non-compete clause, which would bar maintenance and improvements to parallel roads.

“When we get to the end, if it’s not a good deal for Ohio, we’ll walk away,” Wray said.

Toledo Mayor Mike Bell supported the governor’s proposal.

“I think it’s very important that people get on board with this concept and idea,” he said. “A lot of people that criticize it, they don’t have a better idea on it.”

Since its opening in 1903, Inverness Country Club has been steeped with history. Famed golf course architect Donald Ross is credited with designing Inverness, but local legend recognizes S. P. Jermain, who had designed and built Ottawa Park in 1899, for much of the original layout.

The course has a rich and storied tournament history and has hosted four U.S. Opens. The famous British golfer Ted Ray won in 1920. Billy Burke outlasted George Von Elm in the longest playoff in American golf history to win the 1931 Open. Dick Mayer overcame severe weather and high winds to take the U.S. Open title in 1957. That same 1957 U.S. Open field included a little-known amateur golfer from Columbus, Ohio – Jack Nicklaus – who shot 80-80 and missed the cut. Hale Irwin captured the title in the 1979 U.S. Open held at Inverness. That was the year the famous Hinkle tree was planted on a Thursday night before the second round teed off on Friday. Lon Hinkle had found a shortcut on the par-five eighth hole by playing his drive into the 17th fairway, leaving a shorter approach into the eighth green. The tournament committee searched for solutions and decided to plant a 25-foot-tall blue spruce just in front of the eighth tee box to protect spectators and prevent players from driving into the 17^th fairway. The greens crew worked all night and the tree planting was completed by 5:30 a.m. Friday morning.

Golf prodigy Bobby Jones made his maiden appearance in the 1920 Open. The experience affected Jones for the rest of his life. Young Bobby, just 18 at the time, had quite a temper, and in reaction to an unfavorable bounce during the tournament he walked off and quit the competition. Toledo’s “Father of Golf,” S. P. Jermain, the consummate gentleman, followed Jones into the clubhouse and offered some wise consul to the young player. Jermain understood that Jones’ true talent as a golfer could not be realized until he learned to accept adversity and control his emotions. He had to learn to accept the fact that golf was only a game and there were far more important things in life than just golf. Jones retired from competitive golf in 1930 after winning the “Grand Slam,” but returned to Toledo to play his last competitive round at Inverness in the 1931 U.S. Open. He wanted to play in the Open at Inverness to show the respect he held for S. P. Jermain, who had given Jones that sage advice so many years before that had helped him amass 14 major championships in just 11 years.

Hall of Fame golfer Byron Nelson was the Inverness Club professional from 1940-1944. “Lord Byron” was renowned as one of the finest gentlemen in the history of golf and in 1945 won 11 consecutive golf tournaments on the PGA Tour. It is a record that will stand forever.

Inverness hosted the world’s top amateur golfers in the 1973 U.S. Amateur Championship.  A relative unknown, Craig Stadler from USC defeated a stellar amateur field that included Vinnie Giles and Bill Campbell to take the trophy. Stadler later went on to have a successful PGA and Champions Tour career and became affectionately known as the “Walrus.”

The PGA Championship was held at Inverness in 1986 and again in 1993. Both times Greg Norman ended up on the short end. Bob Tway hit one of the most memorable shots in PGA history as he holed out his bunker shot from the sand on 18 for the win in 1986. Paul Azinger bested Norman in a two-hole playoff in 1993 after Norman had lipped out his birdie for the outright win on the 72^nd hole.

Bruce Lietzke outlasted Tom Watson in the 2003 U.S. Senior Open. Inverness showed its teeth that week as only three players finished under par for the tournament.

Inverness has seen some of the world’s greatest golfers compete over its fairways and greens. It is a true gem and we in Toledo are lucky to have such a historic golfing legacy right here in our backyard. As you stroll about the grounds next week, take a moment to reflect on its past and revel in its beauty while enjoying all of the fantastic golf from today’s senior golfers.