Archive for December 15th, 2007
Doug Clarke: Bill for the clear and the cream is due and baseball has to pay
For months, baseball and its fans have been lying awake in a second-floor bedroom staring at the ceiling, waiting for The Other Shoe to hit the floor. The first shoe fell long ago when it linked Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire to steroids. Bonds’ linkage was courtesy of the BALCO investigation, McGwire’s courtesy of Jose [...]
Cavaliers’ defense nowhere to be found in loss to Nets
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — His players couldn’t stop the Nets, so Mike Brown hoped Josh Boone’s free throw shooting would do it for him. That didn’t work, either. Boone scored a season-high 15 points, foiling the Hack-a-Boone strategy by making just enough when he was twice fouled intentionally in the fourth quarter, and the New [...]
Browns’ Chudzinski keeps opposing defenses guessing
BEREA — Browns offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski is making life miserable for opposing defensive coordinators. Not only does Chudzinski have the fifth-ranked scoring offense (27.7 points) and possible Pro Bowlers in receiver Braylon Edwards and tight end Kellen Winslow, he expands the playbook almost on a weekly basis. The season began with an emphasis on [...]
Man charged with murder
Police: Lorain man ambushed, shot boyfriend of his ex-wife CHUCK HUMEL / CHRONICLE Bail was set for $1 million for Frank Honaker as he appears before Lorain Municipal Judge Mark J. Mihok via video. Honaker is charged with aggravated murder in the shooting death of Christopher Betts. LORAIN — A Lorain man killed his estranged [...]
Browns notes: Planning for Sunday includes precipitation anticipation
BEREA — If there’s a game that should be played in wintry conditions, it’s Browns-Bills in December. Mother Nature looks like she will cooperate, as the weather.com forecast for Sunday calls for snow, 22 mph winds, 29 degrees and a 90-percent chance of precipitation. Linebacker Andra Davis said Friday he didn’t think weather will be [...]
Holiday displays turn on to LEDs
Lights provide a more efficient ‘green’ bulb STEVE MANHEIM / CHRONICLE The holiday light display on Ely Square in Elyria, shown here on Friday night, uses traditional and LED bulbs. What does the city of Elyria want for Christmas? A full set of LED — or light-emitting diode — bulbs might just top its list. [...]
Teens recant kidnap story
ELYRIA — Three teens who said they were kidnapped at gunpoint Monday night and forced to drive around Lorain now say they made it up. “The detective was suspicious about the lack of detail in their story,” Lt. Andy Eichenlaub said. “It all kind of snowballed on them.” The teens, ages 15, 17 and 18, [...]
Safety crews scout house contaminated by mercury
CARLISLE TWP. — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency made its first trip Friday inside a Butternut Ridge Road home contaminated by mercury. CHUCK HUMEL / CHRONICLE Decontamination workers prepare to enter a Carlisle Township house that has been contaminated by mercury. James Boddy, director of environmental health for the Lorain County General Health District, said [...]
Winter storm warning issued
ELYRIA — Come tonight, you might as well consider hanging those car keys by the door and stoking the fireplace. If weather predictions are on the money, the first real storm of the season is supposed to hit —dumping as much as 6 to 12 inches of snow and about a half-inch of ice on [...]
Police blotter: Dec. 15, 2007
Elyria police Wednesday, Dec. 12 8:35 a.m. – Police station, West Avenue, Kevin D. Dukes, 27, Elyria, contempt of court warrant. 9:47 a.m. – Elyria High School, Sixth Street, a 14-year-old boy was charged with carrying a concealed weapon after he was found with a knife at school. 9:54 a.m. – Elyria High School, Sixth [...]
Lorain correctional program gets award
GRAFTON — The Lorain Correctional Institution’s work with two Northeast Ohio schools has earned it the Gold Star award, the highest honor given by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. Warden Bennie D. Kelly and staff were honored for their collaborative commitment with Shaw High School of East Cleveland and the Lorain County Joint [...]
Three sent to hospital after wreck
ELYRIA — A four-car pile-up at 6:31 p.m. Friday on state Route 57 sent three people to the hospital with minor injuries, according to the Ohio Highway Patrol. Dispatcher Jennifer Smolka said the chain reaction crash shut down the northbound side of the highway for about 35 minutes, and traffic was reduced to one lane [...]
Wal-Mart employee accused of theft
ELYRIA — Police say an employee at the Chestnut Commons Wal-Mart stole more than $3,000 in electronic equipment since Halloween. Robert D. Thaxton, 20, of Grafton, was charged Thursday with felony grand theft. According to an Elyria police report, surveillance tapes show Thaxton taking PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 2 games, 14 DVDs, three iPods worth [...]
Hospital workers reject union
LORAIN — Only 16 of the more than 1,200 nonunion hospital employees at Community Regional Medical Center have accepted an offer to join the Service Employees International Union. The hospital agreed to allow its employees to vote Thursday on whether to join the union, which already represents nearly 600 registered nurses. Employees voted by secret [...]
Boys basketball: Elyria defense cools off Lakewood
LAKEWOOD — Baby, it was cold outside. It was Lakewood’s chilly shooting from the perimeter that played a major part in Elyria going home with a 55-49 victory Friday night in a Northeast Ohio Conference game. Kevin Knab and Josh Reagan, Lakewood’s post players, combined for 40 points. But the Rangers made only three 3-pointers [...]
Boys basketball: Clippers continue turnaround with win over Oberlin
OBERLIN — Early judgments about the Clearview Clippers were apparently premature. Have you looked at the Clippers lately? Especially in the last two weeks? After starting 0-2, the Clippers have won three of their last four, the last a 72-65 Patriot Athletic Conference victory over Oberlin on Friday night. “The last four games we’ve been [...]
Boys basketball: Defense key for Keystone in win over Buckeye
LAGRANGE — Buckeye’s high-scoring boys ran into Keystone’s focused defense Friday night. The defense and some timely foul shooting kept the Wildcats in the thick of the Patriot Athletic Conference Stars Division race. They made 13 foul shots in the fourth quarter, which was enough to boost them to a 47-36 victory over the Bucks, [...]
Prep wrestling: Lutheran West’s Malave survives grueling day with five pins
ELYRIA — Some of the wrestlers in the field at the third annual John McNulty Sr. Memorial tournament at Elyria Catholic had a pair of byes and wrestled just one match Friday night. Others received one bye or wrestled a full three matches in their weight-class pool. But a few weight classes were packed with [...]
NOACA must change, officials say
Agency discusses nixing Cuyahoga County’s weighted votes CLEVELAND — The Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency didn’t eliminate a controversial voting system that strongly favors Cuyahoga County at a Friday meeting, but they talked about it. Lorain County officials have threatened to leave NOACA if the weighted vote isn’t eliminated from the transportation planning organization’s bylaws. [...]
Off the beat: Dec. 15, 2007
This Santa delivers with claw, quarters CHUCK HUMEL / CHRONICLE Norm Wirth maneuvers the joystick that controls a claw to hook a stuffed animal. Just call Norm Wirth “Santa Claws.” Wirth, of Elyria Township, donated 420 toys to the Not-Forgotten Box that he won entirely by playing coin-operated mechanical claw games. It costs 50 cents [...]
Team Lorain County CEO resigns
ELYRIA — The president and chief executive officer of Team Lorain County will step down from his post next month. Irvine J. Martin Irvine submitted his letter of resignation to the organization’s executive board last week and plans to leave at the end of January. He said he is stepping down for personal reasons and [...]
School administrator claims discrimination
LORAIN — A former Lorain City Schools administrator has filed a civil suit, claiming that she is the victim of reverse racial discrimination after she was terminated and a less qualified and younger black candidate was hired in her place. The suit filed Friday in Lorain County Common Pleas Court said Bernadette Strykowski, who is [...]
Big spenders not always big winners in election
Avon Lake mayor-elect Karl “KC” Zuber learned just how powerful television can be in an election. The at-large councilman was outspent by incumbent Mayor Rob Berner $8,008 to $13,555 in the month leading up to the election, but Zuber defeated Berner by nearly 1,000 votes in one of the biggest upsets in the county. He [...]
Three Lorain schools have scary week
LORAIN — Several security threats made for a scary week at three schools in Lorain. A brief lockdown was ordered Wednesday morning at Palm Elementary School, 2319 E. 34th St., after a parent became enraged about her son’s bad grades. Principal Pamela Szegedy ordered a level three lockdown — the highest alert used by the [...]
Sheffield police blotter: Dec. 15, 2007
Sheffield police Monday, Dec. 3 3:30 p.m. — Abbe Road and Hoag Drive, Rashad Reed, 27, Elyria, charged with driving under suspension. Wednesday, Dec. 5 6:05 a.m. — Detroit Road, Steven Arroyo, 19, Lorain, charged with driving under suspension. 4:13 p.m. — 5000 block Abbe Road, license plates stolen off car. Thursday, Dec. 6 11:27 [...]