LORAIN — The Gathering Hope House is not your typical mental health facility. CHUCK HUMEL/CHRONICLE Tim Collins, a recovery counselor at Gathering Hope House, helps Jewell Marie Ervin, of LaGrange, decorate a Halloween wreath. Colorful characters grace its halls, but the antiseptic feel of an institution is nowhere to be found. It feels almost homey [...]

Granted, Bostonians can brag about that soiree in which they tossed a bunch of tea into the harbor, an act that helped ignite the political powder keg that would explode in the American Revolution. And yes, the city is also closely linked to the Kennedys, arguably the 20th century’s most famous political family. Although Cleveland [...]

Chief Wahoo isn’t the only costumed Indian trying to start a rally. Way back in 1773, a group of Bostonians dressed as Mohawk Indians snuck aboard a British import ship and pitched a boatload of tea into the Boston Harbor. This protest of British rule was a major stepping stone towards the inevitable Revolutionary War [...]

ELYRIA — An Elyria man who suffered severe burns over much of his body Saturday has died. Donald Secrist, 50, was pronounced dead at 1:55 p.m. Sunday at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland, according to a secretary in the Cuyahoga County Coroner’s office. The coroner had not made a determination on the cause of death. [...]

WASHINGTON — Good news on the cancer front: Death rates are dropping faster than ever, thanks to new progress against colorectal cancer. A turning point came in 2002, scientists conclude Monday in the annual “Report to the Nation” on cancer. Between 2002 and 2004, death rates dropped by an average of 2.1 percent a year. [...]