Archive for February 1st, 2008
Without LeBron, Cavs fall to Seattle
SEATTLE — With LeBron James out nursing a right ankle sprain, the Seattle SuperSonics finished off a sweep of last year’s NBA Finalists. Chris Wilcox scored Seattle’s first 10 points, Kevin Durant had 12 of his 24 in the first quarter, and the SuperSonics held off a late Cleveland surge to beat the James-less Cavaliers [...]
Britney Spears taken from her home to ‘get help’
LOS ANGELES — Britney Spears was taken from her home by ambulance early Thursday and escorted to the hospital by more than a dozen police officers in cars, on motorcycles and in helicopters. The 26-year-old pop star was being taken to “get help,” said a Los Angeles police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity [...]
Wrestling: North Ridgeville undefeated in WSC duals
NORTH RIDGEVILLE — An undefeated regular-season conference schedule wasn’t enough to satisfy North Ridgeville. The Rangers (10-2) pinned a 48-21 loss on Midview on Thursday night to go 7-0 in dual meets inside the West Shore Conference. But they will have to wait until the conference tournament Feb. 9 to see if they can claim [...]
H.S. Football: OHSAA considering adding division
COLUMBUS — Ohio’s largest high schools could end up in a super-sized division for state tournaments as a way of leveling the playing field for smaller schools. Although the Ohio High School Athletic Association subcommittee will look at all sports when it meets today to discuss the idea, many fans believe it will address in [...]
Man said he`d recant, clams up before judge
ELYRIA — William Avery Jr. says Alfred Cleveland is innocent of murdering a 22-year-old Lorain woman in 1991, but he isn’t willing to risk jail himself to set Cleveland free. Avery drove from his home in Detroit to the county Justice Center on Thursday with the intention of recanting the testimony that helped to convict [...]
Super Bowl: Vrabel’s versatility is valuable
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Mike Vrabel’s hands are big, thick and scarred — and they might just be the most reliable pair on the New England Patriots. He only has 10 career catches, including two this season, but they’ve all been for touchdowns. Not too shabby for a Pro Bowl linebacker. “If you’re saying I can [...]
Boys basketball notes: EC struggling in NCL
It would be easy to explain away the woeful 4-11 record of Elyria Catholic as a product of an imbalanced schedule and the result of a program that takes a back seat to football. But in the end, these are just excuses, right? Not exactly. Elyria Catholic dropped its fourth consecutive decision Tuesday. The Panthers [...]
Stabbing victim`s family has questions
LORAIN — The family of 25-year-old Fletcher “Boomer” Windham Jr. has many questions following his stabbing death Tuesday night. They want to know how Windham, a 6-foot-2 black belt, could have been stabbed 21 times by the accused killer, Rafael Feliciano, without anyone else being involved or without Feliciano being injured himself. Feliciano is 5 [...]
Girls basketball notes: Admirals double up
It’s not uncommon for the area’s best players to turn in double-doubles once in a while. It’s newsworthy when two players on the same team do it in the same game. But we probably should have stopped the presses last Friday night when not two or three, but four Admiral King players recorded double-doubles against [...]
Given gets his seat back
LORAIN — Dan Given will return to the Council seat he vacated earlier this month when he briefly became the city’s safety service director. A majority of the city’s 41 Democratic Party Precinct Committee members voted to appoint Given over two other candidates for the at-large seat. A final tally was not available. Joel Arredondo, [...]
Election official could lose his house
ELYRIA — A mortgage lending company is seeking to foreclose on the Osborn Avenue home owned by county Board of Elections Director Jose A. Candelario Jr. The complaint, filed Monday in county Common Pleas Court, says Candelario has defaulted on a $133,100 loan. The original loan was secured in June 2003 with a monthly payment [...]
Wrestling notes: Tournament time is here
The regular-season dual meets are dwindling, the postseason tournaments are just around the corner and the next two weekends will be filled with some exciting conference tournaments. The action begins tonight in Garfield Heights as the Northeast Ohio Conference holds its inaugural tournament, and fittingly there is a three-way tie atop the Valley Division — [...]
Head of Ridgeville Chamber of Commerce resigns
NORTH RIDGEVILLE — From now on, whenever Keith Jenkins voices his opposition to Value Place Hotels, there will be no question whether he is doing so as a citizen or as chairman of the Chamber of Commerce. That’s because Jenkins resigned Jan. 25 from his leadership role. “I felt that my opposition to Value Place [...]
Elyria officials offer to fund grants
ELYRIA — It looks like community organizations might get some grant money after all, but it’ll mean cutting into the cash set aside for the city’s emergency housing rehabilitation program. With a little less than $790,000 available in Community Development Block Grant money, city officials on Thursday night recommended the rehabilitation budget be cut from [...]
Suspect’s DNA linked to 2nd attack
RENO, Nev. — DNA evidence now links the suspected abduction of a 19-year-old woman from a friend’s home to two attacks on women near a university late last year, and authorities said Thursday that they’re investigating still another attack that could be related. Already linked to a sexual assault in December, DNA evidence ties the [...]
Former OSU coach O’Brien can coach again
COLUMBUS — Jim O’Brien, fired by Ohio State and essentially banned from coaching by the NCAA for paying a recruit, can return to the college sidelines after an appeal changed his punishment. An NCAA ruling on March 10, 2006, all but prevented any colleges from hiring O’Brien until May 2009. But in a decision released [...]
Ex-cellmate: Mother said baby ‘fit right in’ the oven
James Hannah DAYTON — A woman who shared a jail cell with a mother accused of killing her baby by burning her in a microwave oven told a jury Thursday that the woman confessed to the crime, saying the month-old girl “fit right in” the oven. Linda Williams testified that she developed a sexual relationship [...]
Grocer slain by his own handgun
LORAIN — The gun that killed beloved neighborhood grocer Jose Gonzalez was his own. Lorain police Chief Cel Rivera said an intruder who entered the store at the corner of West 26th Street and Lexington Avenue on the morning of Jan. 25 did so with a weapon, but not a gun. Rivera wouldn’t say what [...]
Man indicted for forcing woman to perform oral sex
ELYRIA — A 54-year-old registered sex offender accused of abducting a Lorain bartender at gunpoint and forcing her to perform oral sex on him in November was indicted Thursday by a grand jury. Reginald Roberson, of Cleveland, was indicted on charges of rape, aggravated robbery, kidnapping, weapons under disability, gross sexual imposition, carrying concealed weapons, [...]
Judges turn North Ridgeville High into the school of law
NORTH RIDGEVILLE — Between games of volleyball and basketball, North Ridgeville High School found time to transform its back gym into a courtroom Thursday. Three judges from the 9th District Court of Appeals — Carla Moore, Donna Carr and Clair Dickinson — visited the school and heard three actual criminal cases as they sat behind [...]
Candidates: Some have cash stash, some don`t
ELYRIA — Former county Domestic Relations Judge Paulette Lilly is going to have to do some fundraising if she wants to return to the bench. According to her annual campaign finance report, which was filed Thursday to comply with state deadlines, Lilly has only $774 in her campaign war chest. Assistant Lorain Law Director James [...]
Wrena Jean Loudin
Wrena Jean Loudin (nee Butcher), 82, of Wellington, died Wednesday, January 30, 2008, at Allen Medical Center in Oberlin. She was born June 22, 1925, in Weston, W.Va. She had been a 58-year resident of Wellington. Wrena was a retired employee of Weber Healthcare and had also worked at Westwood Elementary School. She was an [...]
Grand jury mulls fate of standoff exec
ELYRIA — A county grand jury will determine whether an ousted executive who was arrested in November after a standoff at a North Ridgeville company will continue to face criminal charges Attorneys for Christopher Cole, of Elyria, decided Thursday after three hearing postponements to waive Cole’s right to a preliminary hearing and instead opted to [...]
Patrol: Smuggled pot puts woman in pen
GRAFTON — A woman who tried to smuggle pot into prison Wednesday is now behind bars, according to the Ohio Highway Patrol. Quaina Cole, 27, of Cleveland Heights, was found with six balloons filled with three grams of marijuana at the Lorain Correctional Facility, Lt. Tony Bradshaw said. She was charged with felony conveyance and [...]
Lily Marie Onderko
Lily Marie Onderko, infant daughter of James A. and Emily M. Onderko (nee Hodkey), of North Ridgeville, died Monday, January 28, 2008, at Fairview General Hospital, shortly after her birth. In addition to her parents, Lily is survived by her maternal grandparents, Gary and Kathy Hodkey of Elyria; paternal grandmother, Kim Onderko, and her companion [...]