newsmakers

September 10, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

newsmakers

‘Summer Girls’ songwriter dies

NEW YORK

Rich Cronin, whose band LFO sang the breezy summer hit “Summer Girls” that name-checked Abercrombie & Fitch, has died after struggling with health setbacks including leukemia and a stroke. He was 36. Cronin — who co-wrote “Summer Girls,” LFO’s biggest hit — died in a Boston hospital Wednesday, former bandmate Brad Fischetti said. His manager, Melissa Holland, said he died of complications from the leukemia.

Despite its sophomoric lyrics — “New Kids on the Block had a bunch of hits, Chinese food makes me sick” — “Summer Girls” was an instant favorite with teens and got heavy rotation on MTV.

Bowersox files were improperly checked

COLUMBUS

“American Idol” runner-up Crystal Bowersox has learned that personal information on her was improperly checked in her home state of Ohio. The Columbus Dispatch reported Thursday that the state patrol discovered in May that more than a half-dozen people with access to confidential records looked to see what the state had on Bowersox.

The Ohio Department of Public Safety apologized for the breaches in a July 1 letter, which Bowersox’s father shared with her only recently, when she returned to the Toledo area. Bowersox told The Blade of Toledo on Wednesday that she’s “disgusted” but does not plan to sue. The snooping has led to the firing of a licensing-bureau clerk who told investigators he was just curious and the forced resignation of a northern Ohio court employee.

Vindicator wire services