Lorain/Elyria
'Local and State'
Chase begins and ends with car crashes
AVON LAKE - A Sheffield Lake man was taken to St. John West Shore Hospital after crashing into two cars and telling police he’d been “popping pills and drinking all day,” officials said.
Frank Fusik, 47, was charged by Avon police with reckless operation, failure to stop after an accident, operating a vehicle while intoxicated and [...]
Housing renovations planned in Oberlin
OBERLIN - In the next several years, the Lorain Metropolitan Housing Authority plans a multimillion-dollar project to renovate the 42 pagoda-style subsidized housing units scattered around town.
Renovation of each unit will cost about $100,000 and include a new furnace, air conditioning, larger windows and mansard-style roofs, which are used on most modern home and condominium [...]
Roundup - Feb. 20, 2010
Woman gets 90 days for fatal 3-car crash
VERMILION - A Vermilion woman was sentenced to 90 days in jail and will lose her driver’s license for two years for causing a three-car crash that left 17-year-old David Ryan Kelm dead.
Allison Priess, 21, also was ordered to pay fines and court costs totaling $1,300 and to [...]
Attorney urges clients not to sign CRA release
LORAIN — Some residents began signing on the dotted line in order to get refunds mandated by a county court’s decision to settle the controversy between the county and the city over abatements given to residents in the city’s community re-investment areas.
But an Elyria attorney representing more than 110 CRA residents is accusing the city [...]
Developer still seeking agreement to keep Ridgeville sports park
ELYRIA — Following closed-door discussions Friday, Ohio Sports Park developer Larry Vassil and his creditors emerged without resolving problems with financing and unpaid bills at the 67-acre, $3.6 million North Ridgeville sports complex.
Friday’s receivership hearing to determine whether the facility will continue to be operated by Vassil or someone named by Lorain County Common Pleas [...]
Possible levy to fix track has life in Oberlin
OBERLIN — Voters could be asked to consider a 1-mill levy in May to renovate the high school track and tennis courts after all, according to school officials.
A special meeting to get public input is set for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in City Council chambers at 85 S. Main St.
No decision has been made to proceed [...]
Clearview superintendent to retire
LORAIN -Clearview school district Superintendent Rick Buckosh announced he intends to retire this year.
“I’ve spent 35 years in education, and 35 years is kind of the magic number when you retire in education,” Buckosh said Friday. “I’ll work out the rest of the year and retire effective Aug. 1.”
Buckosh, superintendent for the past eight years, [...]
Eaton Township trustee files ethics complaint
EATON TWP. - Eaton Township trustee Linda Morrison filed a complaint with the Ohio Ethics Commission about the hiring of former Lorain County Rural Wastewater District board member Doug Edwards as a $20-an-hour inspector overseeing the LORCO project.
Edwards was the township’s representative to the LORCO board when he was hired July 6 as a temporary [...]
Library confused by levy’s failure
AMHERST - When a technology lab bus from the state library system parked itself at the Amherst Public Library for a week to offer a variety of computer classes, library officials knew they had struck the right nerve.
“We had over 20 classes and they all had waiting lists,” library director Robin Woods said. “We had [...]
Students participate in mock trial at Elyria municipal courthouse
ELYRIA - Whether they took the roles of attorneys or witnesses, everyone agreed the case, while not real, didn’t bear much resemblance to the fiery dramatics and posturing of TV and movie courtrooms.
And that wasn’t much of a surprise to the students who filled the courtrooms at Elyria Municipal Court on Friday.
“We were told there [...]
Jury acquits drug agent
CLEVELAND - A jury in Cleveland acquitted a federal drug agent Friday of framing 17 people in a sting.
Drug Enforcement Administration agent Lee Lucas hugged his attorney and fought back tears after the verdict was announced on 18 counts, including obstruction of justice, perjury and deprivation of civil rights.
As the jury announced its verdicts on [...]
Piskura considers commissioner’s race
SHEFFIELD LAKE - Sheffield Lake Mayor John Piskura said Friday he is considering throwing his hat in the ring for county commissioner.
“I’ve not committed just yet,” Piskura said. “I think the county needs help, and I think I have enough experience that I can contribute and actually do some good.”
Piskura, also a Bay [...]
Betleski approves CRA fee refunds
ELYRIA - Lorain County Auditor Mark Stewart and Lorain Mayor Tony Krasienko said Friday they are pleased county Common Pleas Court Judge Mark Betleski approved an agreement they hope will resolve a long-running dispute over controversial tax abatements in Lorain.
“We’re extremely happy here,” Stewart said. “I was with the mayor of Lorain when we heard [...]
Witness changes testimony in Howse homicide trial
ELYRIA - A witness who told jurors earlier this week that Alverno Howse Jr. wasn’t at the Taft Avenue home where Charles “Chuckie” Howard Jr. was shot in August returned to the stand Friday and changed his testimony.
The witness, whose name Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Mark Betleski ordered the media not to report, said [...]
Robbery suspect arrested in Georgia
ELYRIA - A man wanted in Elyria on robbery, burglary and kidnapping charges was apprehended by U.S. Marshals in Stockbridge, Ga., on Friday.
Johnny Jackson III, 20, of Elyria, was captured while trying to flee a Stockton residence. The Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force had been moving in on Jackson’s location, acting on a lead from [...]
Lorain files to tear down more structures
LORAIN - The city moved Friday to get permission to demolish six more properties.
Papers were filed Friday in Lorain County Common Pleas Court seeking a declaratory judgment - the declaration of a public nuisance - to allow the city to tear down structures on the properties and seek monetary damages.
The properties are 703 [...]
Woman gets four years for hit-skip
ELYRIA - A Vermilion woman was sentenced Friday to four years in prison for causing an April car crash that left a motorcyclist dead.
Tiffany Eaton, 33, pleaded guilty in November to vehicular homicide, vehicular manslaughter, leaving the scene of an accident, failure to yield and possession of marijuana.
Eaton was turning her car east onto U.S. [...]
Man died by ‘violent means’
NORTH RIDGEVILLE - The body of a 55-year-old North Ridgeville man was found inside his home Friday morning, the victim of an apparent homicide, according to police.
Duane Hurley, 55, was discovered by officers at 8:46 a.m. after police were called about a disturbance at the home off Ronald Drive. He appeared to have died by [...]
Lorain mayor may have vetoed CRA
LORAIN - Mayor Tony Krasienko may have inadvertently vetoed legislation Thursday that established a 15-year, 100-percent property tax abatement for two westside neighborhoods when veto language was added to the letter unbeknownst to him.
Krasienko asked city Law Director Pat Riley to decide if the veto letter will have to stand despite Krasienko’s hand-written version that [...]
Former Playmate found dead
WESTLAKE - Former Playboy Playmate Jennifer Lyn Jackson-Thompson was found dead Friday at her home in a Center Ridge Road trailer park, and she may have died from a drug overdose, according to police.
An autopsy and full toxicology screening will be performed on Jackson-Thompson, 40, who had been in and out of trouble in recent [...]
Convicted priest seeks evidence hearing
TOLEDO - A Roman Catholic priest convicted of killing a nun wants a hearing to determine whether his original lawyers ignored evidence that could have helped him.
Lawyers for the Rev. Gerald Robinson said Friday that they also want to introduce new evidence and hear from witnesses who could have raised doubt about the prosecution’s case.
Robinson, [...]
Ohio unemployment rises to 10.9% in Dec.
Ohio’s unemployment rate has edged up to 10.9 percent for December, from 10.6 percent the month before.
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services said Friday that the state’s labor market weakened, led by losses in service-providing industries.
The figures were released on the same day that President Barack Obama visited Elyria to talk about rebuilding [...]
Cahill turns in resignation
ELYRIA - Tom Cahill resigned from his job as an assistant Lorain County prosecutor on Friday, nearly two weeks after county Common Pleas Judge James Burge complained that Cahill had cursed at him and threatened to fight him.
In his letter, Cahill said he was resigning “with much sadness and sincere humility.”
“For now I [...]
Taking a look at Martin Luther King Day events
Several activities are planned during the next several days to honor slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
The 2010 Lorain County King Holiday celebration gets under way today with the Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Festival at 11 a.m. at Kanisa House, 142 Cleveland St., Elyria. The event is sponsored by First Community [...]
Gfell pleads no contest
OBERLIN - A former Metro Parks treasurer accused of using a puppy to lure an 11-year-old boy into her car in September pleaded out to a lesser charge Friday.
Denise Gfell, 52, pleaded no contest to disorderly conduct in Oberlin Municipal Court. She will be sentenced in March.
Prosecutors amended the charge from attempted child enticement after [...]