'BREAKING'
Gas leak under repair in Lorain
LORAIN – Columbia Gas is on the scene of a natural gas leak in Lorain this afternoon. The leak happened when the Water Department was digging and hit a service line going to a house in the 3900 block of Jaeger Road, forcing Jaeger to close between Kolbe and Route 58. The incident happened around [...]
Charges against former councilman dropped
ELYRIA — Prosecutors on Thursday dropped domestic violence and aggravated menacing charges against former Elyria City Councilman Herman Larkins. “We’re still talking about that case, and we reserved the right to re-file,” Elyria City Prosecutor Matt Mishak said. Mishak said he couldn’t discuss the reason the charges, which stemmed from a Sept. 8 incident in [...]
Guerra to be imprisoned for life, judge says
ELYRIA — Angel Guerra was sentenced this morning to life plus eight years in prison without the possibility of parole for the July 20 shooting death of Moises Velez. A jury convicted Guerra earlier this year of aggravated murder and other charges. Richard Alvarado, Guerra’s codefendant, testified during the trial that Guerra shot Velez outside [...]
Lorain Schools extends superintendent’s contract
LORAIN — Lorain Schools interim Superintendent Ed Branham, who had been planning to leave in July, will stay on at least through December after school board members Thursday night approved a contract extension with no pay increase. Branham cited ongoing cuts to the deficit-ridden school district and getting board members adequate time to find his [...]
No solutions offered by St. Joseph’s board today
LORAIN — The board of directors of South Shore Community Development Corp., which owns St. Joseph Community Center, left unanswered many questions surrounding the future of the facility during their monthly meeting today. Board member Joel Arredondo who also serves as Lorain City Council president, promised there would be a community forum within the next [...]
Electric blanket short circuits; causes house fire
ELYRIA — Two women escaped a fire that started when an electric blanket short-circuited Wednesday morning. Assistant Chief Ron Brlas said Althea Sloan, 56, was in bed when the blanket caught fire, but was uninjured. Firefighters were called to the home, at 347 Roosevelt Ave., at 5:09 a.m. Sloan and her mother, Mariam Anick, 78, [...]
Art Weber, longtime Elyria official, dies
ELYRIA — A man who is probably best known for being the most dedicated Democrat in the city has died. Art Weber, chairman of the Elyria Democratic Party and the city’s clerk of Council, died about 2 p.m. Tuesday at Keystone Pointe Health and Rehabilitation Center in LaGrange. Weber, 76, had been battling pneumonia for [...]
Health chief tops county pay scale
ELYRIA — Lorain County General Health District Chief Ken Pearce was surprised to learn he was the county’s top earner in 2011. Pearce, who earned $139,681.73 last year according to records provided by county Auditor Mark Stewart’s office, said he hasn’t received a raise since 2010, so he was surprised to learn his salary had [...]
Deputies hit road for Super Bowl blitz
Around the time that New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning was saying he was going to Disney World, Lorain County Sheriff’s Deputy Bryan Plemons went back on patrol Sunday night. Plemons was part of a nationwide Super Bowl blitz by police against drunken drivers. Drinking at bars and Super Bowl parties is traditionally heavy, but [...]
Top Avon municipal salaries
AVON — While rankings did not change among six of the city’s top 10 paid employees in 2011, the bottom four saw some shuffling due to factors such as amount of money paid for overtime and unused holidays, according to June F. Mitchell, the city’s assistant finance director. Mayor Jim Smith again topped the list [...]
Top Avon Lake municipal salaries
AVON LAKE — Police and fire chiefs and veteran members of each department typically top the lists of best-paid workers in most communities but that wasn’t the case in 2011 for this lakefront city. Topping last year’s list of 10 best-paid employees were Richard Kasten, the city’s superintendent of distribution and collection, and Todd Danielson, [...]
Elyria police pay ramps up with overtime
ELYRIA — Elyria police officers pulled in tens of thousands of dollars in overtime in 2011, sometimes as much as double their base salary. The city’s annual year-end gross salary report, which details the earnings of every city employee from top to bottom, shows that overtime in the department topped more than $500,000 for the [...]
The newly retired lead top 10 highest-paid Elyria employees
ELYRIA — Retirement payoffs of unused vacation and sick time pushed two city employees to the top of the list of highest-paid city employees. Both Wastewater Pollution Control Plant Supervisor Tom Skaugen and Police Capt. Dan Jaykel retired from the city in 2011. Both received large compensation checks for time off they accumulated over the [...]
With low cash, low profile, Veysey looks to go viral
Graham Veysey knows he’s facing formidable odds in his race for the U.S. Congress. The Cleveland videographer and businessman is facing off against U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo, and U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Cleveland, in his party’s March primary for the 9th Congressional District, something he compares to David against two Goliaths. But Veysey said [...]
Historical society making its home in 1857 mansion
One of Elyria’s historic homes is moving into the final phase of a grand makeover that will convert the one-time home of a local businessman into a permanent home and museum for the Lorain County Historical Society. The high-ceilinged rooms in the Starr House will become galleries spotlighting the county’s industrial, political and social history. [...]
Man gets 15 years for fatal shooting outside Lorain bar
ELYRIA — Richard Alvarado, who cut a deal with prosecutors to testify against his former friend, Angel Guerra in the killing of a Lorain man outside a bar, was sentenced to 15 years in prison Friday. In a low voice, Alvarado, 23, asked Common Pleas Judge Mark Betleski to impose a shorter sentence than the [...]
Police: Hunters wander onto Black River school property
SULLIVAN TWP. — Black River school buildings were locked down for about an hour Friday after two rabbit hunters were spotted on the property at about 12:30 p.m. Superintendent Janice Wyckoff said deputies from the Ashland County Sheriff’s Office apprehended the hunters without incident, although not before one of them discharged a gun on the [...]
Fire rips through Elyria house; no one hurt
ELYRIA — A fire that began around 9:30 p.m. in the second-floor bedroom of a two-floor, wood-frame home at 360 Furnace St. substantially damaged the home, but caused no injuries. Flames were still visible from the second floor around 9:55 p.m., but firefighters appeared to have the fire under control. The cause of the fire [...]
Fire damages South Lorain home
LORAIN — A South Lorain fire sustained heavy damage in a fire this afternoon. The fire, which was called in to the Fire Department a little after 1 p.m., was at 2929 Riverview Lane. Assistant Chief Gary Burls said crews arrived to find about 60 percent of the house fully engulfed in flames. The woman [...]
Lorain man arrested after leading police on chase to South Amherst
LORAIN — A Lorain man was arrested after leading police on a chase through Lorain, Amherst and South Amherst shortly after midnight Thursday, according to a Lorain police report. Yosmael Agosto Lopez, 28, of the 600 block of 13th St., was charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated, failure to comply with a police signal, [...]
Komen drops plan to cut Planned Parenthood grants
NEW YORK — After three days of controversy, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast-cancer charity says it is reversing its decision to cut breast-screening grants to Planned Parenthood. “We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women’s lives,” a [...]
Man arrested with more than 3,000 counterfeit baseball hats
An Illinois man is facing felony trademark counterfeiting charges after they found him with 3,116 counterfeit baseball hats during a traffic stop Wednesday. Tae Gone Park, 41, of Glenview, Ill., is being held at the Lorain County Jail. Troopers stopped a 2006 Toyota Sienna with Illinois registration for a marked lanes violation on the turnpike [...]
Murder trial witness sentenced to 15 years
ELYRIA — Richard Alvarado, who cut a deal with prosecutors to testify against his former friend, Angel “Golo” Guerra in the killing of a Lorain man, was sentenced today to 15 years in prison. In passing down the sentence, Common Pleas Judge Mark Betleski said Alvarado definitely helped prosecutors convict Guerra of aggravated murder, but [...]
Man found dead of gunshot wound to head at Elyria motel
ELYRIA — Police are investigating the death of a 21-year-old man who died Friday morning of one gunshot wound to the head. Police were called to room 22 of Motel 9 at 1724 Lorain Blvd. at about 4 a.m., according to Elyria police Lt. Andy Eichenlaub. Ronald Jackson III, whose last known address was in [...]
Man seeking photo to restore old fire engine
AVON LAKE — Stuart Warner is a man on a mission. For months, he has been seeking a historic photograph of his 1919 White Motor Co. fire engine that served as one of Elyria’s first fire trucks. For six years, Warner has been lovingly restoring the engine to its former glory at his shop on [...]