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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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. [...]

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 [...]