Five things you might have missed: 12-09

Top stories from this weekend's editions of The Blade

Several MedCorp employees who worked at its sites in both Toledo and the Columbus area said they were told Friday night not to report to work.

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Several MedCorp employees who worked at its sites in both Toledo and the Columbus area said they were told Friday night not to report to work.

1. Ambulance company MedCorp shuts down

MedCorp emergency services abruptly closed its Toledo-area operations Friday evening. The extent of local job losses was not immediately known.

An operator answering MedCorp’s administration line Saturday morning said she was taking calls “and advising that we are no longer in business.” She said she would forward inquiries to a company official, but an operator who answered the phone several hours later declined to identify herself and said the company had no comment.

“At this point, I am not allowed to give ... any information,” the operator said.

MedCorp, a Toledo-based ambulance service, filed for bankruptcy protection in 2011. The same year, it was acquired by First Med EMS, based in Wilmington, N.C., according to First Med’s Web site. READ MORE

Bowling Green State University players Izaah Lunsford (50) Jerry "Boo Boo" Gates (24) Travis Greene (13) Paul Swan (33) and Ted Ouellet (93) celebrate their win over Northern Illinois.

2. BGSU Falcons are MAC-nificent: Topple NIU 47-27

Call them the heroes of BCS automatic qualifier leagues. Call them the giant-slayers. Call them Heisman killers.

Another thing you can call the Falcons: Champions.

The Bowling Green State University football team claimed the school’s first Mid-American Conference title since 1992 in convincing fashion, blasting No. 16 Northern Illinois 47-27 in the MAC championship game on Friday at Ford Field. READ MORE

Ohio State's Corey Smith reacts on the bench near the end the Big Ten Conference championship NCAA college football game against Michigan State Saturday Dec. 7, 2013, in Indianapolis. Michigan State defeated Ohio State, 34-24.

Michigan State Spartans own Big Ten, defeat OSU 34-24

Ohio State’s title dream is over.

The second-ranked Buckeyes sent a scarlet-drenched crowd at Lucas Oil Stadium home with shattered hearts in a 34-24 loss to Michigan State in Saturday night’s Big Ten championship game.

A back-and-forth thriller ultimately gave way to coach Urban Meyer’s first loss of a previously charmed two-year run in Columbus that will now fall one game short of a shot at the national title. READ MORE

From left: Toledo Symphony brass players Garth Simmons, trombone; Charles Slater, trombone; Daniel Harris, bass trombone, and David Saltzman, tuba, perform at Carnegie Hall in 2011.

3. Sounds of the Season: Wealth of music heralds the holidays

Do you hear what I hear?

(If you don’t, try removing the earbuds. We are talking live music.)

Advent is just one week old, but the Christmas music season already is in full swing. If it’s not “Silver Bells,” it’s “The Little Drummer Boy.”

Although the Toledo Symphony roams its northwest Ohio concert zone in big buses, audiences might assume they travel otherwise, so prevalent is “Sleigh Ride” on their dozens of programs.

Choirs big and small, young and old, are preparing to sing out seasons’ greetings. Brass quintets are polished and ready, as are orchestras, soloists, and organists. No other holiday has such a wealth of music to herald it in each year. No other songs have such deep and entwined historical roots. READ MORE

Ford P. Weber, chief executive of the Lucas County Economic Development Corp., left, Guy Stout, Brett Leonard, and Steve Guinan meet at the Toledo School for the Arts to discuss Mr. Leonard’s planned film, ‘Perfect Season.’ Students were given a short preview of the film about the Toledo Troopers.

4. Filmmakers pitch idea to investors of 'Perfect Season' about Toledo Troopers women's football team

About 200 students and adults were dazzled Friday in the Toledo School for the Arts auditorium by a Hollywood filmmaker's vision for Perfect Season, a docudrama he plans to make in Toledo next year about the city's highly successful professional women's football team of the 1970s, the Toledo Troopers.

But filmmaker Brett Leonard, a Toledo native who has directed Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, and Anthony Hopkins, said he was equally impressed by the charter school's commitment to the arts.

“This is the most amazing arts school I've ever seen,” Mr. Leonard said while waiting to be introduced to TSA's First Friday audience by Dave Gierke, the school's development director. “It rivals anything I've seen in New York.”

Mr. Leonard is in town pitching the film to potential investors and scouting locations. He expects to begin filming in the spring. READ MORE

French Consul Stephen Knerly, Jr., awards John Stauffer, 91, the Medal of Knight of the Legion of Honor — France’s highest award — at the Ohio Veterans Home. Mr. Stauffer was wounded at Normandy in World War II.

5. French thank Ohio WWII vets who helped liberate their nation

They fought in France to free that county from the Nazis. Some were wounded in the campaigns that led to Allied forces’ defeat of Germany in World War II.

And nearly seven decades after the war came to a close, the French government bestowed that country’s highest award Friday to the American soldiers as an expression of eternal gratitude for their efforts in liberating France from Adolf Hitler’s grip.

The French Medal of Knight of the Legion of Honor was awarded to Ohioans Charles Malachosky, 92, of Cuyahoga Falls,; John J. Turk, 89, of Novelty; Robert E. Zonneville, 88, of Mentor, and John W. Stauffer, 91, formerly of Mansfield, during a ceremony at the Ohio Veterans’ Home in Perkins Township. READ MORE