Archive for July, 2011
Browns: T.J. Ward and Joe Haden return to Berea, meet with coaches
BEREA — Punter Reggie Hodges was the first Browns player back in Browns headquarters Tuesday morning after the NFL lockout was lifted following an agreement between owners and players Monday. Many of the Browns were still making their way back to town – they don’t have to report until Friday – but safety T.J. Ward [...]
Elyria’s Dan Poskocil strong as Ironmen get split
LORAIN — Elyria’s Dan Poskocil didn’t know it at the time, but his clutch pitching enabled Lorain County to earn a split Monday night against Butler to stay within a game of first place in the Prospect League’s second-half race. The teams squared off at The Pipe Yard in two seven-inning games to make up [...]
Browns say they’re ready, but to-do list is full and time is short
The NFL is back, and the Browns are on their way. Cleveland players will be welcomed back at team headquarters this morning, training camp opens Friday and the official public opening of training camp is set for Sunday. The NFL lockout ended Monday, so let football — and the whirlwind — begin. Perhaps no one [...]
Little League softball 10- and 11-year-olds: Elyria cruises to district title
ELYRIA — Three straight wins by a combined 49-3. Impressive. Sounds like it might be good enough to win a district softball championship. And in fact it was Monday night for Elyria East Little League’s 10- and 11-year-old all-stars. The Elyria girls run-ruled Avon 10-0 at Vic Janowicz Memorial Park for Ohio’s District 3 crown. [...]
Unemployment up, here and around the country
Area unemployment rates were up last month, according to figures released today from the state Department of Jobs and Family Services. For the county, the jobless rate for June 2011 was 8.2 percent, up from 7.5 percent a month earlier but down from 9.9 percent in June 2010. In Elyria, unemployment held steady from May [...]
Little League softball: Elyria fights back, holds on
ELYRIA — April Howser took the circle in the top of the sixth and final inning with Elyria holding a precarious one-run lead. Tallmadge was on a roll offensively after scoring five runs the previous inning, four the inning before that and two the inning before that, but its impressive 11-5 lead had vanished in [...]
Indians 3, Angels 2: Rally ends Tribe skid
CLEVELAND — The magic returned to Progressive Field in the nick of time Monday night. In the midst of a pennant race and seemingly en route to their fifth straight loss, the Indians produced a ninth-inning rally that propelled them to an improbable 3-2 victory over the Angels. Down 2-1 in their last at-bat, Cleveland [...]
Browns about to get very busy as NFL lockout ends
The NFL is back, and the Browns are on their way. Cleveland players will be welcomed back at team headquarters this morning, training camp opens Friday and the official public opening of training camp is set for Sunday. The NFL lockout ended Monday, so let football – and the whirlwind — begin. Perhaps no one [...]
Ohio health care question cleared for fall ballot
COLUMBUS — Ohioans will be able to vote this November on whether they want to participate in the national health care overhaul. Secretary of State Jon Husted said Tuesday opponents to the overhaul collected nearly 427,000 valid signatures to get a constitutional amendment on the ballot. The measure needed roughly 385,000 signatures. Supporters filed more [...]
FAA freeze hits Oberlin workers
OBERLIN — The budget crisis in Congress hit home at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, when four federal employees who work in planning and engineering at the Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center in Oberlin were furloughed. Planning for a new multimillion-dollar air traffic control tower at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport will be disrupted, according to Tony [...]
Board defends mayoral candidate’s removal from ballot
ELYRIA — In court documents filed last week, the Lorain County Board of Elections asked the Ohio Supreme Court to uphold its decision to remove would-be Elyria mayoral candidate Tim Quinn from the November ballot. Quinn sued the elections board in the Ohio Supreme Court earlier this month, accusing the board of violating his right [...]
0.25 percent sales tax hike will be on November ballot
ELYRIA — The Lorain County commissioners will ask voters in November to approve a 0.25 percent increase in the county’s sales tax. The tax hike, if passed, would bring the sales tax up to 6.5 percent and remain in place for five years. The commissioners had also considered a 0.25 percent sales tax increase for [...]
Tribe notes: Alex White will start in pen
CLEVELAND — Alex White will more than likely return to the Indians before the season is complete. When he does, it will be as a reliever. White, who is on the disabled list after undergoing surgery on his right middle finger, threw a simulated game at Progressive Field on Monday. The Indians will decide whether [...]
Fire sweeps through Elyria rental house
ELYRIA — With her right hand covering her mouth, all Tina Tompkins could do was cry. The house she and her husband owned and rented out is now just a blackened shell. A fire gutted the house at 304 Clinton Ave. on Monday afternoon, leaving the elderly tenant homeless. “We’ve never had to deal with [...]
Elyria City Council looks at hiking mowing fees
ELYRIA — City Council is debating whether it should increase the lot mowing fee charged to property owners when city workers have to cut overgrown lawns. Members of the Finance Committee discussed the matter Monday after a request from Councilman Larry Tanner, D-1st Ward. Tanner’s compliant was that the fine was not enough to act [...]
Most charges dropped in fatal ambulance crash
ELYRIA — Prosecutors dropped vehicular homicide and vehicular manslaughter charges against a Grafton Township Fire Department ambulance driver who was involved in a fatal car crash last year while he was driving a patient to the hospital. Richard Robertson, 27, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of proper operation of an emergency vehicle during [...]
Woman Tased, arrested, faces multiple charges
AMHERST — An Amherst woman was Tasered twice when she allegedly refused to stop after being chased from an apartment complex where she and two males allegedly stole numerous items from vehicles in the parking lot. Ayla Walters, 21, of Amherst, was charged with multiple offenses including criminal trespass, receiving stolen property, resisting arrest, disorderly [...]
Police log for July 26, 2011
Elyria police Sunday, July 24 10:10 a.m. – 500 block Middle Ave., neighbor reported seeing two men removing copper roofing material from nearby home. 10:45 a.m. – Denison Avenue and Sherman Street, Ivan Lopez III, 26, Grafton, charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and disorderly conduct by intoxication. 3:26 p.m. – 600 block Middle Ave., [...]
Lorain Council OKs fire levy
LORAIN — A 1-mill, four-year proposed property tax increase for Fire Department improvements will be on the ballot in November. City Council on Monday night unanimously approved the levy proposal — Council member Brian Gates, D-1st Ward, was absent — which would raise $916,739 annually. Besides borrowing costs, it would pay for about $2.92 million [...]
Lorain auditor says mayor’s accusations are payback
LORAIN — Document tampering accusations against him are Mayor Tony Krasienko playing political hardball over money for The Pipe Yard, Auditor Ronald Mantini told the City Council on Monday night. “These accusations are entirely unfounded and are merely an attempt to discredit me and my family, my staff at the Auditor’s Office, my friends and [...]
Harold West, longtime attorney and community leader, dies at 82
ELYRIA — Harold West was a man who always had a plan. Of course, as an attorney it was a necessary byproduct of his profession, but family and friends knew it was also a part of his personality that stayed with him until the day he died. To some degree, he planned for that day, [...]
Lawsuit filed in turnpike crash that killed two children
ELYRIA — One of the surviving passengers in a 2009 Ohio Turnpike crash that killed two children has sued the driver of the vehicle who told investigators that she fell asleep at the wheel. Setita Patrick, 31, is still facing criminal charges, including aggravated vehicular homicide, driving under suspension and operating a motor vehicle without [...]
Woman gets probation for stealing from dying man
ELYRIA — A Lorain woman accused of stealing money and drugs from a dying man earlier this year was sentenced Monday to three years of probation. Berdell Franklin, 40, had failed to show up for her original sentencing hearing last week and a warrant was issued for her arrest, but she appeared voluntarily Monday before [...]
Avon High to name new principal today
AVON — The longtime assistant principal at Avon High School is expected to be named principal by the board of education today. Kristina Buller, assistant principal since 1998, joined Avon Schools as a language arts teacher in 1994, according to a news release. Buller, 38, earns $83,025. Her new salary has not been set. Avon [...]
Senator Sherrod Brown seeking military applications
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown is encouraging Ohioans to seek nomination from his office to U.S. military service academies for 2011 admission. Each year, Brown, D-Avon, nominates up to 10 students for each service academy: the U.S. Air Force Academy, the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the Merchant Marine Academy. [...]