ARTEMIDA, Greece (AP) — As the wall of flames swept through the heavily forested mountain toward her home, the mother of four was forced to make a life and death decision — should she flee? Athanasia Paraskevopoulou gathered her three daughters, aged 15, 12 and 10, and her 5-year-old son and headed to the village [...]

BERLIN (AP) — Skippi, a wily kangaroo on the run since early August was returned to his home at a petting zoo Monday in southern Germany, but not after a chase through the German Alps that left the animal with a strained leg. The injured marsupial was captured in a cornfield near Leutkirch im Allgaeu, [...]

ELYRIA — Fire Station No. 2 on Broad Street will be closed today to help the Elyria Fire Department deal with a budget shortfall. Elyria Firefighters Local 474 planned a press conference this morning to discuss the closing, the second time the station has closed in three years, Assistant Fire Chief Ron Brlas said. Brlas [...]

ELYRIA — A corrections officer fired from the Lorain County Jail last year after jail officials discovered he’d been fostering a years-long “inappropriate relationship” with a mentally ill inmate — including securing an early release for the man — was granted his job back last month, jail officials said. Robert Cruzado, 59, of Lorain, also [...]

WELLINGTON — The 162nd annual Lorain County Fair ended with a bang — and  a large crowd — on Sunday. Two big crowd pleasers  — the combine derby and demo derby — brought out folks on Saturday and Sunday to watch farm machines and cars crash into each other. But the crowd-pleasing demo derby wasn’t [...]

WELLINGTON — A 39-year-old carnival worker was found dead in her trailer Sunday at the Lorain County Fairgrounds after she failed to show up for work, according to the Lorain County Sheriff’s Department. Jill Stafford was fully clothed and was sitting on a couch with her legs stretched out, according to sheriff’s Sgt. Tim Gallagher. [...]

VERMILION TWP. — On a 50-acre plot of land just off state Route 60, a lot of work is taking place. The area, once densely wooded, has been cleared of hundreds of trees. A work barn has been erected and crews are getting the land ready for Vermilion Township’s next big thing. CARL SULLENBERGER / [...]

ANCIENT OLYMPIA, Greece — Firefighters backed by aircraft dropped water and foam on the birthplace of the ancient Olympics Sunday to stop wildfires from burning the 2,800-year-old ruins, one of the most revered sites of antiquity.    But the fires burning for three straight days obliterated vast swathes of the country and the death toll [...]