Archive for January 13th, 2008
Blotter: Jan. 14
Lorain police Saturday, Jan. 12 7:55 p.m. – 2200 block Oakdale Ave., a man said two people threw bricks at his girlfriend’s van. Elyria police Friday, Jan. 11 8:47 a.m. – 100 block Burns Road, smashed car window. 11:29 a.m. – Hilltop Academy, Gulf Road, a 14-year-old boy was cited with unruliness. 2:35 p.m. – [...]
Trainer of ‘Biggest Loser’ contestant practices what he preaches
AVON — He’s not Bob Harper or Jillian Michaels, helping overweight Americans lose weight in front of millions of viewers on NBC’s reality show “The Biggest Loser,” but EMH personal trainer Jermaine Alexander is changing lives with his own personal wellness tips. PHOTO PROVIDED Lynn Westphal uses a combination of free weights and cardio with [...]
Coroner: Accelerant used to set house afire
MASON — The burning house where a woman and her young child were found dead caught fire through the use of kerosene, gasoline or some other accelerant, a coroner said Sunday. Three other children were pulled from Friday night’s fire but died later at a hospital. Police on Saturday charged Michel Veillette, 34, with four [...]
Authorities release identities of plane crash dead
LAKESIDE — Authorities were continuing an investigation Sunday into why a small plane crashed in a rural residential area as its pilot prepared to land, killing four people. The crash killed the pilot, David Eckstein, 67, of Mansfield, and his three passengers: John McCarter, 68, and Karen Soprano, 62, both of Mansfield, and Janet Hanna, [...]
Cuyahoga vote board has scant time to prep
CLEVELAND — Ohio’s presidential primary may be seven weeks away, but the elections chief in Ohio’s largest county is busy preparing for a new voting system and finding a company to show voters how to use it. The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections also must set up vote-counting equipment in a warehouse — all under [...]
Officials question growing poverty in Appalachian Ohio
COLUMBUS — Appalachian Ohio, a region that historically has struggled compared with the rest of the state, has new worries: A dramatic increase in poverty rates in which several counties had at least 20 percent of their population living in poverty. Some local officials in Appalachian Ohio are skeptical of the U.S. Census study released [...]
Avona/ Avon Lake notebook: Jan. 14
Are you one of those people who decided this is the year to get in shape, but don’t know where to start? Well, Avon Lake High School is hoping to take away some of that uncertainty by giving you a place to workout. The high school weight room is open to residents of Avon Lake [...]
Avon/Avon Lake blotter: Jan. 14
Avon police Friday, Jan. 4 3:28 a.m. – 35000 block Chester Road, Wal-Mart, juvenile male charged with theft, released to mother. Saturday, Jan. 5 12:09 a.m. – 39000 block Colorado Ave., stolen car located in parking lot of BP gas station. William S. Sidock, 24, Lakewood, charged with receiving stolen property, possession of drug paraphernalia [...]
Browns season in review: Surprising year sets solid foundation, but guarantees nothing for 2008
The Browns won 10 games and just missed making the playoffs. For a team predicted to finish at the bottom of the league, the season can be judged nothing but a success. “The mentality of the team has changed,” general manager Phil Savage said. “I think we can safely say that we have turned the [...]
Browns 2007: A look back at a surprising season
THE OFFSEASON TO-DO LIST 1. Keep D.A. off market Quarterback Derek Anderson isn’t perfect — the four-interception game in Cincinnati proved it — but he won 10 games, directed the eighth-most prolific offense in the league and has taken 1,000 more professional snaps than Brady Quinn. So Anderson should start in 2008 and have the [...]
Tucker gets promotion: Browns defensive backs coach named defensive coordinator
BEREA — As defensive backs coach, Mel Tucker stood 50 yards downfield during passing drills. He kept an eye on the entire secondary, then followed each play with praise or instruction. Tucker took a giant step closer to the action Saturday when he was promoted to Browns defensive coordinator, a day after Todd Grantham was [...]
Dan Coughlin: Browns know change works, so Grantham had to go
The Browns’ offensive explosion was a veritable epiphany and it spelled curtains for Todd Grantham. Clearly, the schemes introduced by new offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski were singularly responsible for transforming the Browns’ offense this past season. He switched on the light. Heap credit on Derrick Anderson and the other offensive heroes, but without Chudzinski’s theories [...]
Boys basketball: Elyria slips past East Tech on Yeaples’ clutch free throws
ELYRIA — No one expected it when Elyria’s John Yeaples stepped to the foul line for a one-and-one with 14.4 seconds left Saturday night and the Pioneers down by one. After all, he hadn’t scored a point all year. “I was thinking I could blow this or not,” Yeaples said when asked about the situation. [...]
Boys basketball: Midview continues good run, downs Bay for fourth win in five games
EATON TOWNSHIP — Senior guard Kevin Allen equaled a season-high 16 points as Midview won for the fourth time in five games on Saturday night as it rolled over Bay, 60-43. The Middies shot 53 percent from the field in the first half, nailing 15 of 28 shots. The Rockets were never closer than 11 [...]
Boys basketball: North Ridgeville players know their roles, roll over Avon
AVON — Every player on the North Ridgeville team is a role player. They all know what they’re supposed to do when coach Bill Noggle puts them in the game. Some are called on to shoot. Some are called on to play tough defense. Others are sent in to spell the starters. Who scores the [...]
New ratings from state could assist schools
A new system that measures students’ annual academic progress could help some struggling school districts improve their overall academic ratings, state education officials say. The Ohio Department of Education this summer will begin using a “value-added” approach to measuring student progress — essentially a way for the state to track how far each school district [...]
Area students engage in meeting of inventive minds
CLEVELAND — For a bookworm like Hiatt Hernon, there’s nothing worse than missing your favorite novel or comic. “I let my friend borrow a book once and I got it back late,” the 11-year-old said. “I thought that if he had a timer beeping, he would have remembered to give it back.” JASON MILLER/CHRONICLE Amelia [...]
NFL playoffs: Brady nearly perfect as Patriots win again; Packers overcome early deficit, down Seahawks
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Tom Brady was almost perfect. The Patriots still are. Their poised and prolific quarterback knocked another mark out of the books in their record-breaking season, completing all but two of his 28 passes to lead New England to its second straight AFC championship game with a 31-20 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars [...]
Police: Husband killed family of five
MASON — Police charged a man Saturday with killing his wife and their four children, who were pulled from their burning home the night before. Michel Veillette, 34, was charged with four counts of aggravated murder, one count of murder and one count of aggravated arson in the Friday night fire, Officer Troy Nelson said. [...]
Warrant issued in missing Marine case
JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — Authorities issued an arrest warrant Saturday for a Marine corporal wanted in the death of a pregnant colleague, whose burnt remains were excavated from a fire pit in his backyard. Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown said investigators also recovered the remains of Lance Cpl. Maria Frances Lauterbach’s unborn child. “The fetus was [...]
Four killed in NW Ohio plane crash
LAKESIDE — A small plane crashed in a rural residential area as its pilot prepared to land Saturday, killing four people, authorities said. Jack Stables, director of the Erie-Ottawa Regional Airport, said he watched the plane fly across a nearby field to begin the landing pattern with no indication of distress. “Everything seemed normal, and [...]
Man recovering after shooting
ELYRIA — A Lorain man told police he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time about 11:45 p.m. Friday when he was shot in the rear end.Anthony Fairley, 30, was dropped off on the 500 block on Broad Street — right in the middle of a scuffle on the sidewalk, Elyria police [...]
Blotter: Jan. 13
Lorain police Friday, Jan. 11 6:30 a.m. – 500 block Colorado Ave., a suspect used a sledge hammer to break into a building and steal snack food. 8:34 a.m. – 4100 block Gary Ave., BBs shot through sliding door. 10:26 a.m. – 100 block Washington Ave., a woman said she was beaten by her boyfriend [...]
Roundup: Jan. 13
Feds allow LCCAA to keep Head Start control LORAIN — Federal investigators have decided to let a local agency continue to run the county’s Head Start Preschool program after two years of bad reviews. The Lorain County Community Action Agency says it has fixed big problems with the preschool on state Route 58 in New [...]
Mobile Meals seeks drivers
ELYRIA — During this cold, windy January, volunteers for Mobile Meals are taking time out of their daily lives to help the elderly in Elyria by delivering hot lunches during the week. “Once you meet the people, you just fall in love with them,” said Nancy Harper, head of the program for six years and [...]