Archive for June 5th, 2008
Wellington girls a win away from title
Melanie Conklin’s two-out triple in the bottom of the seventh inning tied the score 1-1 and Callie McConnell scored on an error with two out in the eighth to give Wellington a 2-1 victory over West Liberty-Salem in Division III state tournament semifinal play Thursday. The Dukes will meet Hebron Lakewood, a 5-0 winner over [...]
Passers-by ignore elderly man injured in hit-and-run
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A 78-year-old man is tossed like a rag doll by a hit-and-run driver and lies motionless on a busy city street as car after car goes by. Pedestrians gawk but do nothing. One driver stops briefly but then pulls back into traffic. A man on a scooter slowly circles the victim [...]
Strickland switches support to Obama
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland is joining other Democrats in supporting Barack Obama for president now that Obama is the party’s presumptive nominee. Strickland had been a strong supporter of Hillary Rodham Clinton. He said in a statement Thursday that he spoke with Clinton and thanked her for the effort she put [...]
Update: Names of teens in crash released
UPDATE: The teen-agers involved in the accident at 11:30 a.m. today at Route 301 and Parsons Road in LaGrange Township have been indentified. They are: Lauren Bigler, 17, of Columbia Station. She was the driver. Katie O’Brien, age unknown, of Columbia Station. She was a passenger who was flown to MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland [...]
Sexual predator allegedly asked girls to take off pants in Elyria
ELYRIA — A sexual predator who served 12 years in prison for kidnapping and raping a woman on the campus of the College of Wooster is accused of offering two young girls money to expose themselves. Kelly D. Snodgrass, 38, of Elyria, faces two felony counts of pandering obscenity involving a juvenile after approaching the [...]
Admiral King-Southview merger plan draws outcry
LORAIN — Outraged about a potential plan to replace Admiral King and Southview with one new high school, about 60 parents turned out to protest at a School Facilities Review Committee meeting Wednesday night. The committee was set up by the Lorain Board of Education to research how best to use $133 million in Ohio [...]
Hillary Clinton to quit race soon
WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton is ending her historic bid to become the first female president and will back rival Barack Obama on Saturday, capping a 17-month quest that began with the words “I’m in it to win it” with a more humble plea for party unity. Clinton Hours after Barack Obama sealed the nomination, Democrats [...]
Homeowners’ group: Playground must go
CHUCK HUMEL / CHRONICLE Nicholas takes a trip down his slide. NORTH RIDGEVILLE — A homeowners’ association is forcing a woman who uses a wheelchair to remove a swing set she put up for her autistic son or face a $100 per month fine. Laura Chapek lives on Overlook Way in the Meadow Lakes [...]
Just in time for sweltering weather, city pools open Friday
Temperatures expected to be near 90 for Elyria pools’ opening CHUCK HUMEL / CHRONICLE Frank Gustoff, director of the Elyria Parks and Recreation Department, holds up a thermometer at North Pool, which now has a heating system. ELYRIA — Friday’s forecasted temperatures of 80 to 90 degrees are just what city officials were hoping for [...]
Indians: Offense erupts in big win over Rangers
ARLINGTON, Texas — Cleveland started the game last in the AL with a .239 team batting average. Perfect conditions for hitting and another perfectly dreadful pitching performance by the Texas Rangers perked up the Indians offense. Ryan Garko drove in a career-high six runs, David Dellucci hit a three-run homer and the Indians held on [...]
Teenager struck by pickup undergoes surgery
Johnson ELYRIA — Amber Johnson, the 13-year-old girl who was hit and thrown into a steel beam by a pickup truck in the East Bridge Street underpass Tuesday, remained in critical condition Wednesday after having surgery to repair a wound that sliced her lower torso to the bone. Thankfully, the cut missed vital organs, according [...]
H.S. Softball: Excitement grips Wellington as Dukes prepare for Final Four
WELLINGTON — Melanie Conklin and Melissa Sawyer have been softball teammates since they were 6 or 7 years old. Neither remembers the age exactly, but they started playing at the little-kids level where the pitcher is an adult coach. So the act of warming up before a game this afternoon is scarcely new to a [...]
Lorain super looks forward to second year
Atkinson LORAIN — Lorain Schools Superintendent Cheryl Atkinson said Wednesday that she intends to make Lorain City Schools one of the county’s premier learning destinations. After a year filled with layoffs and a looming budget deficit, the first-year superintendent said she’s already looking forward to what’s on the horizon. “It’s our promise to do better,” [...]
H.S. Softball: A capsule look at Wellington’s state semifinal matchup
TODAY’S GAME WHO: Wellington Lady Dukes (22-4) vs. No. 2 West Liberty-Salem Tigers (31-1) WHAT: Division III state semifinal TIME: 3 p.m. WHERE: Firestone Stadium, 1575 N. Firestone Blvd., Akron AT STAKE: The winner will be the home team in the state championship game at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. The opponent will be either No. 3 [...]
NHL Playoffs: Red Wings hoist Stanley Cup once again
PITTSBURGH — Oil up the Winged Wheel, it’s time for another victory parade. Hockeytown is home to the Stanley Cup — again. For the fourth time in 11 seasons, the Detroit Red Wings are the Stanley Cup champions. They used experience and grit to knock out the young up-and-coming Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night with [...]
NBA Finals: Renewal of rivalry brings back memories, creates buzz
BOSTON — They’re like long, lost fraternity brothers who left college with bad haircuts and wearing those thigh-hugging short shorts that were fashionable during the Reagan years. They drifted to opposite coasts and barely kept in touch. Well, they’ve reconnected and are getting back together. The Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers are going to [...]
Horse racing: Big Brown draws No. 1 post position for Belmont
NEW YORK — Big Brown is No. 1 again before he even stampedes out of the gate at the Belmont Stakes. Big Brown will take his shot at Triple Crown history from the inside, drawing the No. 1 post for Saturday’s race. The post could be a lucky one for an undefeated colt that really [...]
H.S. Softball: Sito, Krueger, Dill named first-team All-Ohio
Three area players have been named to All-Ohio first teams by the Ohio High School Fastpitch Softball Coaches Association. Elyria junior Tess Sito, one of Northeast Ohio’s leading pitchers and hitters, and Megan Krueger, a right-hander who hurled Amherst to the Southwestern Conference championship, were named to the Division I first team. Kara Dill, Keystone’s [...]
Boxing: Kelly Pavlik can relate to foe’s background
NEW YORK — Kelly Pavlik’s story ought to sound familiar to Gary Lockett. Just like Pavlik, the hardworking son of an industrial town in decline, Lockett toiled for years in obscurity, quietly going about his business. Never complained, never took things for granted. When opportunities presented themselves, he made the most of them. Now the [...]
Roundup: June 5, 2008
Teacher charged for not ending fight LORAIN — An Irving Middle School music teacher who allegedly stood by during a May 22 fight between students has been charged with endangering children, a Lorain police report said. Cynthia Salmon, 51, of Elyria, didn’t step in when a 12-year-old boy choked a classmate, Irving Principal Leila Flores [...]
Blotter: June 5, 2008
Lorain police Tuesday, June 3 8 a.m. – 2300 block W. Erie Ave., copper pipes ripped out of a home. 9:15 a.m. – St. Peter’s Church, Oberlin Avenue, a 16-year-old boy was cited with arson, theft and criminal trespassing. Another 16-year-old boy was cited with theft and criminal trespassing. Police said they stole potato chips [...]
Lorain GOP figures want to put license plate fee on ballot
LORAIN — An effort is under way to give city voters their say on whether they want to pay $15 more for license plates. Winemiller Scherach At the referendum helm are Andy Winemiller, the former safety-service director under interim Republican Mayor John Romoser, and Mike Scherach, a Republican and former two-term law director for the [...]
Gateway Boulevard grows sinkhole
BRUCE BISHOP / CHRONICLE City employee Kevin Kirsch removes some of the loose blacktop around the sinkhole on Gateway Boulevard in Elyria on Wednesday. ELYRIA — A sinkhole was unearthed Wednesday afternoon on Gateway Boulevard after a semi rumbled over the weakened asphalt. The hole itself was only about 2.5 feet wide but it widened [...]
Screens go dark at Midway Cinemas
BRUCE BISHOP / CHRONICLE Midway Cinemas has closed. ELYRIA — Midway Cinemas has closed. A legal dispute over unpaid rent has resulted in the shuttering of the city’s only movie theater. Susan Godorov, vice president of marketing for the mall’s owner, Centro Properties Group, confirmed that the eight-screen movie house closed its doors Tuesday night. [...]
Supreme Court: Clubs can’t shirk smoking ban
COLUMBUS — The Ohio Supreme Court has rejected an appeal to exempt veterans halls and other private clubs from the state’s smoking ban. The high court said Wednesday that it declined to hear the appeal by the Ohio Department of Health, which argued that the smoking ban approved by voters in 2006 included an exemption [...]