Local ‘Idol’ Contestants Audition For A Shot At Stardom
BY KRISTEN SCHWEITZER — MIRROR REPORTER
The next American Idol may be from the area, or at least that’s what Fox Toledo and 92.5 Kiss FM are hoping.
On July 25, Fox Toledo and Kiss FM sponsored Toledo Idol, their hunt for the best singer in the area to send to American Idol auditions in August.
“We’re hoping to find an amazing young singer,” said Betsy Russell of Fox Toledo.
The auditions were held in the Maumee Indoor Theater on Conant Street.
The plan was to take the first 92 qualifying people in line at 5:00 p.m. However, only about 70 people showed up to audition.
The line of contestants did wrap around the theater, some of them practicing and others socializing, meeting new people.
A lot of the contestants were confident they had what it takes to be crowned Fox Toledo Idol.
“This is what I was put on Earth to do,” said Sasha Clayborne, who came out to the auditions because she promised her father she would. Clayborne said she had her first solo when she was 5 years old at her church.
Others, such as Joe Garrido, who is studying to be a doctor at the University of Michigan, admitted to showing up “just for fun.”
Some contestants, like Clayborne, still hadn’t decided on a song while in line.
Sean Coyle said he was 90 percent sure he would sing “Desperado,” but by the time he made it on stage, he had changed his mind to “Live in Your House.”
The earliest Idol candidate to arrive at the theater was Janita Stevenson. Stevenson admitted to arriving at 5:30 a.m. and sat in her car until another contestant arrived at about 8:15 a.m.
The auditioning began much later, at about 7:00 p.m. inside the theater. Each participant spent 30 seconds singing his or her heart out for the judges.
Contestants were scored based on song selection, voice quality, volume, tone and stage presence.
“We aren’t looking for that wacky person – we want to send the best singer,” Russell said.
The qualifying contestants had to be between the ages of 16 and 28 and live within the Fox Toledo viewing area.
Andrew and Michelle Zepeda, Jimmy Hamm, Trish Hack and Julia Johnston from Kiss FM judged the competition.
The judges were not allowed to make any type of comments imitating Idol judges Simon, Paula or Randy.
By the end of the night, the judges had narrowed down their selection to five contestants.
Christopher Bingham, Sasha Clayborne, Keyiara Sallie, Darrichia Watson and Shawanda Johnson were invited to sing again on the air from the Kiss FM studio on Thursday, July 31 at 7:00 a.m. during Andrew Zepeda’s show. The judges were then to decide the final winner.
The winner will be sent to East Rutherford, N.J., to audition in front of American Idol producers. The prize package includes the audition, transportation and accommodations for two nights.
Many people who show up for American Idol auditions generally arrive early and sleep in the street, hoping to receive one of the wristbands that will allow them a chance to sing in front of the producers, according to Russell.
The winner of Fox Toledo Idol is guaranteed the wristband, arranged by Fox Toledo and American Idol, said Bacon, a Kiss FM DJ.
The winner will still have to pass through the round with the producers before he or she has a chance to audition in front of Simon, Paula and Randy.
The auditions in East Rutherford are scheduled for Tuesday, August 19.
American Idol is entering its eighth season.
Patrolling Maumee: A Typical Day On A Police Officer’s Shift
BY KRISTEN SCHWEITZER — MIRROR REPORTER
On June 23, I rode in a police car. Fortunately for me, I was in the front passenger seat, not the back.
The ride-along was encouraged as part of the Maumee Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Maumee program. I didn’t get to read anyone his or her rights, but it was still a memorable experience.
When I first got to the police station, I went to roll call. During roll call, officers choose the cars they will drive that shift and go over activity from previous shifts and any other important news or updates.
I accompanied Officer Loren Boos, who told me Mondays were not the most exciting days for officers, but then again, I wasn’t expecting any police chases.
Once we got to the car, Boos had to do an equipment check with everything officers must bring along with them on their shift. Boos also had to check the lights on the car.
Sitting in the car, it’s hard not to notice all the technology required to patrol. A large computer monitor lined with buttons next to the steering wheel gives officers navigating capabilities and information from license plates and Social Security numbers.
Sometimes, however, Boos said it’s faster to call in a number than to wait on the system in the car.
Also in the front of the car is a speed monitoring device, more buttons for lights and sirens, and a rifle attached to the car ceiling.
The first call we responded to Boos referred to as a “dog call.” Basically a dog was running loose around the neighborhood.
With the help of Officer Corey Scharer, Boos was able to snare the dog and load it into the police car. The dog was then taken to a kennel owned by the Maumee Police Division.
The owner of the dog will have to pay a fine upon claiming the dog. If the dog is not claimed, it will be given to the Lucas County dog warden. The police attempt to locate the owner of the dog first.
After the dog was placed in the kennel, Boos drove around Maumee patrolling for traffic violators.
He explained how the speed monitor in the car works. The monitor shows the speed of the police car and the speed of other cars as they pass by. The monitor also makes a humming sound. The faster the other car is driving, the higher the pitch, Boos said.
With all the traffic coming and going, officers are not always 100 percent sure which car is speeding, Boos said. If the car can’t be singled out, it can’t be pulled over.
Boos also mentioned that going five to 10 miles per hour over the speed limit is unlikely to get someone pulled over unless it’s late at night, or some other violation is obvious.
He told me newer officers are more likely to pull people over for anything and everything.
While sitting at a light in uptown Maumee, Boos caught a driver running a red light. We turned at the intersection to pull up right behind the driver and Boos turned on his overhead lights and pulled the driver over.
The driver did not have a previous record, so Boos let him go with a warning.
We drove around the area once again looking for violators and ran a license plate of a girl whom Boos said he thought looked scared when she saw the police car. Before we could pursue following her, dispatch informed Boos of a traffic accident on Dussel Drive near Speedway.
The accident involved three vehicles. According to Boos, the first vehicle, a truck, was attempting to turn into the Speedway gas station when it was struck by an SUV from behind. The SUV had been struck by a van from behind, causing it to hit the truck.
The driver of the van admitted fault for the accident.
An 11-year-old boy in the truck hit his head during the accident and was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital by the Maumee Emergency Medical Service, but no one was seriously injured.
Both the SUV and the van suffered severe damage, and the truck suffered minor damage.
Officer Jim MacDonald also arrived at the scene of the accident and helped direct traffic until the road was cleared. Boos took statements from those involved in the accident.
The owners of the truck drove away after they were finished talking to Boos. The other two vehicles had to be towed away. The men from the two towing companies helped sweep debris out of the street before taking the vehicles away.
The next and final call I went on with Boos had us driving to Perrysburg, as the Perrysburg Police Division had picked up a Maumee resident with a warrant out for her arrest.
On the ride to Perrysburg, Boos was able to pull up information for the woman, including previous offenses, age, appearance information and a photo. Boos informed me that it was possible to look up all previous license photos of people, not just the current one.
To the best of my understanding, the woman had received a DUI at a previous point in time and had her license suspended. Some time later, she was stopped by an officer for driving under a suspended license, and having never showed up for her court date, a warrant was put out for her arrest.
The Perrysburg police took her into custody and waited for Boos to arrive in at the police station. The woman was transferred from their car and handcuffs into Boos’ car and handcuffs. Boos asked her some questions about not showing up for her court date while we drove back to Maumee.
Once we were back at the Maumee police station the woman’s mother showed up and posted bail for her at $500. She would not be spending the night in the station jail.
The woman told her mother that she was pulled over “for no reason,” and Boos explained to her that any officer anywhere in the United States is allowed to run a license plate without reason. If they find something incriminating, they can pull the car over, traffic violation or not.
Her court date was set for the next day at 5:00 p.m. After the girl and her mother left the station, I asked Boos about the handcuffs. It seemed like overkill for a girl who probably did not even weigh 100 pounds.
Anybody in custody gets handcuffed, he told me. According to police procedure, the arresting officer must also search them for weapons and drugs. Boos mentioned a time when he didn’t search someone and later found out she had cocaine on her.
The ride-along, as part of Leadership Maumee, was a prequel to the program’s next event, “Keeping Our City Safe,” with the Maumee Police Division.
Leadership Maumee is a program designed to help community members “get to know the city of Maumee and discover all of its hidden treasures,” according to the Maumee Chamber of Commerce, which sponsors the Leadership Maumee program.
Participants tour local businesses, learn the city’s history and meet city officials and community leaders.
The cost to attend Leadership Maumee is $300 for the first person and $250 for a second person from the same company. For more information about the program, contact the Maumee Chamber of Commerce at (419) 893-5805.
Mirror Outdoor Editor Wins Honors For Writing, Photography
Mirror outdoor editor Art Weber dominated the 2007 awards for excellence in craft by the Outdoor Writers of Ohio.
Weber won a total of 11 awards in seven different writing and photography categories, many of them for work that appeared in The Mirror.
Two of his Mirror columns dealt with travels to Lake Superior Provincial Park in Ontario and Hueston Woods State Park in Ohio. Those won first and second, respectively, in the Best Travel Article competition.
Another column, which discussed “Holes in Habitat,” took second place in the Dan Atzenhoefer Award for Environmental Writing.
Eight awards were in the photography competitions, including a pair of first-place awards, four second-place awards and a pair of thirds in five different categories.
The Outdoor Writers of Ohio is a professional organization of outdoor communicators, including columnists, staff writers and editors for some of Ohio’s largest newspapers, magazine editors and writers, book authors, photographers and videographers, broadcasters and artists.
The awards, which recognize the best work of its members during 2007, were presented at the organization’s 2008 annual conference at Atwood Lake Conference Center and Lodge near New Philadel-phia, Ohio.
Canadian Tourism Honor
Weber also received a prestigious Northern Lights Award for excellence in travel writing from the Canadian Tourism Commission.
The first-place award in the independent newspaper journalist category was for a column he wrote describing a trip up the Dempster highway in the Yukon Territory and the surrealistic experience of standing alone at the Arctic Circle on the longest day of the year. He was there in what should have been the middle of the night but it was the time of 24 hours of daylight there.
“Weber’s descriptive prose is taut,” Lois Sweet, associate professor of journalism at Carleton University, wrote in her judge’s remarks. “The flora and fauna are vividly depicted.
“And it’s refreshing to read such a strong and intriguing piece of writing that doesn’t rely on a first-person account. The emphasis is on the place, not on the person who experiences it. That’s something many readers will appreciate.”
Weber received his award at a gathering of travel journalists in Beverly Hills, Calif.
The award puts The Mirror in the company of much larger publications including Canadian Geographic Maga-zine, The Philadelphia Sun and The Washington Times.
Weber has entered the Northern Lights competition twice and won each time, the first for a story that also appeared in The Mirror on a trip to Machias Seal Island in the Atlantic Ocean.
The Mirror’s entry was selected from over 200 entries from all over Canada and the United States.
These are a few articles that ran in The Mirror Newspaper.
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