Lorain County Community Guide

Oberlin College joins nationwide protest

Lauren Hoffman The Community Guide

OBERLIN — More than 130 students gathered Monday outside Wilder Hall at Oberlin College to demand an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and the college’s investment in Israel.

Student organizer Mary Ann Montgomery, a second-year sociology major at Oberlin College, said the protest is needed now more than ever.

“We are demanding Oberlin’s divestment in the Israeli occupation and that the college recognizes and names

this situation for what it is: a genocide,” Montgomery said.

“We act in steadfast solidarity with Palestine and with students across the country to demand that the administration and the board of trustees examine Oberlin’s financial link to war, oppression and exploitation. Our eyes are on Gaza and none of us are free until all of us are free.”

Oberlin is the latest college campus to see protests against the Israel-Hamas war.

Students across the country at several major universities, such as Los Angeles’ UCLA,

New York’s Columbia University and Rhode Island’s Brown University have taken to campus greens in encampments to draw attention to the conflict.

Also Monday, Case Western Reserve University students in Cleveland set up encampments demanding divestment.

“Oberlin College maintains moral and material complicity in the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people and so our demands today are simple ones,” Montgomery said. “We

CONSTRUCTION OF FAIR EXPO CENTER BEGINS

at the Lorain County

last week. The work will include multiple upgrades to the fairgrounds.

Lauren Hoffman

The Community Guide

WELLINGTON — Mounds of dirt at the Lorain County Fairgrounds in Wellington are the first steps of the fair board’s $12 million Fairs Forever renovation project.

The project, which will be built in four phases, will feature a new 55,000-square-foot expo center on the southwestern corner of the fairgrounds; a 32,500-squarefoot covered horse arena; and a 14,400-square-foot cattle barn.

The project was announced in 2022 but details have been sparse since then. The project’s co-chair and fair board member John Piwinski said the final result will be worth the wait.

“Work started yesterday on preliminary groundwork for the expo center and horse arena which is a little behind our planned schedule but we have an aggressive timeline to make

up for it,” Piwinski said. “Right now in this phase one, they are grading the ground and getting the underground infrastructure of pipes and the like done before we move on to the building phase.”

Phases two and three of the project, which are building the expo center and horse arena, are expected to happen concurrently. A tentative completion date is mid-2025.

Phase four of the project will combine two existing cattle barns into one new facility. No timeline on when construction will begin has been announced.

Instead of lavish dining halls and cushy office chairs, the center will focus on empty space, a must according to fair board member and longtime fair veterinarian Dr. William Spreng.

“You could take a semi in there and turn it around,” he said previously.

The building will also feature offices, a prep kitchen, showers, restrooms and an information technology room. It is expected to house between 2,000 and 3,000 visitors and serve as a home to horse, cattle and pig shows, volleyball and wrestling tournaments, corporate conferences, weddings, rodeos and even indoor tractor pulls during the off-season.

“Our fair only operates for one week a year, what are we to do with the other 51?” Piwinski asked. “That’s why we need this center.”

“There’s a lot of hoops you have to go through for the area that we are preparing to do work on,” Piwinski said. “There are a lot of railroads and stormwater management rules that we had to work through and follow so we are a little behind schedule. While we wanted to be further along, I also know there’s so many facets to a project this size.”

Lauren Hoffman The Community Guide

The Lorain County Drug Task Force collected 3,297.86 lbs of unwanted prescription medications during the 26th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Saturday.

“Before the DEA had their program on the national level, locally the program originated between the Westshore Enforcement Bureau in Cuyahoga and the Lorain County drug task force back in 2009,” said Maj. Rich Bosley, commander of the Drug Task Force. “It’s important just to get drugs out of people’s homes that they don’t need anymore.”

Police departments collected prescription medications, over-the-counter medications and less than 4-ounce liquid medications in their prescription drop-off boxes across 15 locations in the county on Saturday.

From there, the boxes of recovered prescriptions made their way to the Lorain County Sheriff’s Office for processing and counting before being sealed in a shipping container that the DEA will take.

This process of collecting the medications is essential, Bosley said.

“Any one of these expired medications can become unsafe and you don’t want people wandering in and grabbing them or a child or someone that doesn’t need them,” he said. “And the worst thing we can do is flush them down the toilet and get them into a water supply. I know the water filtration systems do a good job of taking care of that, but we still don’t want these getting flushed down the toilet.”

The national program was started by the DEA in 2010. Since then, the DEA has collected 17,900,351 pounds — or 8,950 tons — of prescription drugs through the program as of October 2023. Ohio collected 43,420 pounds during the last takeback and has contributed 880,226 pounds since 2010, according to data collected by the DEA. “The DEA will come pick it up and they have contracts to destroy them securely,” Bosley said. Of the 15 departments, the Amherst Police Department collected the most medications, filling 44 boxes.

“Amherst usually brings the most boxes,” Bosley said. “They are pretty good at it.” 1.5

BRUCE BISHOP / COMMUNITY GUIDE

An encampment of student protesters is shown Monday at Oberlin College near Wilder Hall. The students across the country have been protesting the Israel-Hamas war.

BRUCE BISHOP / COMMUNITY GUIDE

Construction workers strip away topsoil as they prepare the site

Fairgrounds

Funeral for a friend

Avon remembers

The Avon community gathered in the hundreds last Wednesday night to honor Paul “Luke” Allen, a senior at Avon High School who died on April 13. Allen, 18, was remembered by friends who spoke at the candlelight vigil in his honor at Avon Mark Wahlberg Chevrolet Stadium as a kind, fearless and funny person.

“Without trying, (Luke) could bring light to anything,” senior TJ Curtis said. “Whether he knew you or not, that’s just how Luke was. And he had his fiery soul. I’ve been hearing that for the last two weeks now, and that’s the perfect way to describe him and that’s how he was.”

Luke Allen died on April 13 after falling from the running board of a friend’s car during a game of tag, Avon police said.

He is survived by his parents, Paul and Jennifer Allen, and his three siblings, Hannah Allen, Courtney “Joey” Allen and William Allen.

The vigil took place immediately after an Avon High School lacrosse game, which the Eagles handily won and was dedicated to Allen and his family.

Paul Allen, Luke Allen’s father, founded the Avon boys youth lacrosse program and was the high school’s first coach. Luke was a member of the team.

“Tonight we gather not only to mourn, but to honor the memory of Luke and to lend our support to those who are grieving and reaffirm

that our commitment to stand together as a community in the face of adversity is strong,” Superintendent

Ben Hodge said. “We have some of Luke’s closest friends and family to speak about his incredible life and the impact that he’s made on others. May their memories be a source of comfort and inspiration for you.”

Memories were shared by seven of his friends, who outlined a life that was dedicated to joy, not just for Luke Allen but for those around him.

“He was always so energetic and joyful to be caring to anyone and everyone he knew,” Curtis said.

“And Luke always lived his life to the fullest and had fun doing it. Sometimes breaking things along the way.”

Max LaBianca was a teammate on the lacrosse team. He spoke as a representative of the team that Luke and the Allen family loved.

“Luke was so friendly, he fistbumped a Wadsworth attackman last year after they scored on him, something that we always made sure

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to laugh at him for,” LaBianca said.

“He was also a very caring person. When I started playing lacrosse two years ago, Luke took time out of his winter practice so he could work with me on catching and throwing.”

“It’s not easy. I’ll never forget how much he cared that I had a throwing partner in my first days.”

Several of those who spoke emphasized that Luke Allen would not want those in attendance to mourn his passing, but rather would want them to live as he did and learn from him.

“One takeaway we could all learn from Luke is to be positive no matter what the circumstances,” friend Shawn Schurch said.

“I rarely ever saw Luke upset and he always found a reason to be happy.”

The Allen family and their closest friends and loved ones sat in front of the stadium bleachers, facing the podium that was placed at midfield. His parents periodically burst into laughter about the antics and fun of their son’s short life.

OBERLIN

From A1

want the college to recognize what is going on and condemn it as well as divest from the Israeli occupation as per the divestment proposal submitted earlier this month.” In March, members of Oberlin Students for a Free Palestine met with the college’s board of trustees to discuss divestment options, stating that the college’s disclosed financial holdings had previously shown investment in companies like Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and others that the students said have produced items for the war.

“Oberlin College has put forth a $1 billion endowment and a lot of their alternative investments are put into hedge funds and companies that are funding the war,” Jonas Nelson, a senior and a political science major, said. “They have told us that in previous years when requests have been made that companies like Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and Caterpillar make up a significant amount of their portfolio. Our proposal serves more as an investment screen, meaning we’ve created a list of companies who are profiting off of genocide and recommended that the college screen their investments to make sure they aren’t giving money to these companies and supporting the Israeli occupation.”

Oberlin College told students previously that the investment office is not at liberty to disclose the financial positions of Oberlin’s endowment because it is considered the intellectual property of the fund managers supporting it.

Oberlin College released an official statement early Monday afternoon, recognizing the protest and the students’ rights to do so.

“Students held a rally on campus Monday and are camping in Wilder Bowl in solidarity with the people of Gaza. Oberlin supports the right of our students to gather and demonstrate peacefully,” the statement said. “Oberlin expects all who participate to conduct themselves in ways that are respectful of others, that do not disrupt the day-to-day activities of the school and that uphold our shared values: respect for each other and the community.”

Assistant Director of Campus Safety Tyrone Wicks said the students have been doing just that.

“We asked our students that they remain peaceful with no hate speech and to stay within policy and that’s what’s been happening,” Wicks said. “Oberlin has a history of peaceful protests and I feel we Obies do it best when it comes to that.”

Several Jewish students, including Maya Miller, also a sophomore, joined the organizational team in solidarity with the event.

“This is really inspiring and I helped organize the event because we stand in solidarity with these students and we don’t support what’s happening,” Miller said. “This campus has always been very active in allowing students to voice their opinions and that time is now.”

Miller and several other Jewish students have adopted the mantra of “never again, means never again for all people,” a reference to the Holocaust during World War II.

In an open letter written and signed by Jewish students, including Miller back in November, students discussed their feelings on the war.

“We are the grandchildren of survivors of genocide and the descendants of people held at the hands of state-sanctioned anti-Jewish violence,” the letter stated. “It is precisely because of this history that we stand in opposition to the violence that the Israeli military has been replicating in Palestine since the founding of the Israeli state in 1948 and the systematic occupation that preceded it … with the promise of `never again’ lies our responsibility to use our Jewish voices and bodies to stand up for what we believe is right.”

Two members of the Oberlin City Council, Eboni Johnson and Michael McFarlin, attended the protest.

Johnson, Council president, said that while the city holds no official stance on the protests, she is glad to see students exercising their rights.

“Our students here in Oberlin have a right to come together and exercise their rights and I am glad to see that happening,” she said.

Oberlin students said they will continue their encampment and peaceful protests until the college answers their demands. They also have teams to prevent the protest from becoming aggressive and will focus on bringing awareness.

Owen MacMillan The Community Guide

the ‘fiery soul’ of Luke Allen

KRISTIN BAUER / COMMUNITY GUIDE PHOTOS

Friends and family hold a candlelight vigil last Wednesday to remember Avon student Luke Allen, who died in an accident April 13.

Avon Mayor Bryan Jensen speaks to those gathered at the high school stadium for a remembrance ceremony for Avon student Luke Allen.

County gets nearly $500K in EPA grants

Three Lorain County cities, the county Solid Waste Authority, a Lorain business, Oberlin College and an Elyria church were the recipients of nearly $500,000 in Ohio Environmental Protection Agency recycling and litter prevention grants announced Wednesday.

The funding was among $2.69 million in total grants announced by the state agency. Recipients included:

n NEM Recycling LLC, Iowa Avenue, Lorain: $297,500 for scrap tire manufacturing and processing equipment.

n Avon Lake: $100,000 for recycling equipment.

n Lorain County Solid Waste Management District: $45,380 for recycling equipment, outreach and education.

n Oberlin College, Oberlin: $37,240 for recycling equipment.

n North Ridgeville: $10,000 for water bottle refilling stations.

n St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Third Street, Elyria: $4,000 for a water bottle refilling station.

n Elyria: $3,195 for a water bottle refilling station.

The grants to Lorain County totaled $497,315.

The state EPA is handing out more than $7.5 million this year to municipalities, groups and organizations for recycling, litter prevention, market development and scrap tire recycling programs, it said in a news release.

Local governments and other entities use these grants for litter collection, education programming and the disposal of scrap tires through amnesty collection events.

All local cleanup efforts involve the work of volunteers and take place on public property.

County allots $300,000 more to clean ditches

Dave O’Brien The Community Guide

The Lorain County Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to give an additional $300,000 to the Lorain County Soil & Water Conservation District for “necessary programs and operations” this year.

The money will be used to hire additional engineering and technical staff to help with engineering work needed before clearing out ditches, officials said.

The vote was unanimous. Commissioner David Moore, a Republican, said he hoped the money would help get ditches in the county cleaned faster.

“What I was upset about and what I’ve been upset about is how long this process takes,” he said.

Officials said some of it comes down to engineering: Soil and water conservation officials and the Lorain County Engineer’s Office have multiple projects, and the delay is often in the engineering work, Storm Water and Community Development Coordinator Don Romancak said.

County Assistant Engineer Robert Klaiber said the spending makes sense from his office’s point of view, and wouldn’t be stepping on its toes.

In other business, Commissioner Michelle Hung, a Republican, voted against paying a $5,120 requisition by the Lorain County Prosecutor’s Office for a bill for outside legal counsel done by the Avon law firm Wickens Herzer Panza. Moore and Commissioner Jeff Riddell,

also a Republican, voted to approve it.

Hung questioned the timing and process of the bill. Assistant Prosecutor Dan Petticord, the board’s legal counsel, said it was related to a legal matter in which he is a defendant — attorney James Barilla’s lawsuit against the board, Prosecutor J.D. Tomlinson and Petticord over public records.

Because of that, Petticord had no role in the matter, he said.

Hung also presented a letter she said was in her email on Tuesday, from Tomlinson’s Chief of Staff James Burge to Lorain County Sheriff Phil Stammitti.

In the letter, Burge recommended that Stammitti hire outside counsel “of your choosing” for a legal opinion in his ongoing fight with commissioners about who controls the county emergency communications system, then submit the bill to the prosecutor’s office.

Burge said his office would then submit the bill to the commissioners for payment.

Hung made, then rescinded, a motion to reconsider a March 29 vote not to hire an attorney for Stammitti. She was the only one of the three commissioners to support the sheriff’s request.

Riddell and Moore both said they hadn’t seen Burge’s letter. Hung withdrew her motion so they could review the letter, and said she hoped to discuss the matter further at the board’s meeting on Friday.

Contact Dave O’Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@ chroniclet.com.

Lorain men face additional charges

The Community Guide

Two Lorain men face additional charges stemming from an alleged drive-by shooting that took place on the 100 block of East Erie Street in Elyria on Feb. 11. Nathaniel Melendez, 23, and David Santos, 22, were each indicted by a Lorain County Common Pleas Court grand jury last Thursday on felonious as-

sault charges with a “driveby shooting” specification, along with other charges.

Melendez and Santos were both arrested Feb. 11 at a home in the 400 block of Eighth Street following a standoff with the Elyria Police Department’s Special Response Team that lasted several hours.

Police had arrived at that home after gunshots were

reported on East Erie Street just before 5 a.m. Feb. 11.

Officers arrived to find one man with a “grazing” gunshot wound to his leg and evidence that multiple gunshots had been fired into a residence.

An investigation led police to the 400 block of Eighth Street, where Melendez and Santos were eventually arrested.

The Community Guide

Oberlin Elementary is green contest winner

Lauren Hoffman

The Community Guide

OBERLIN — Oberlin Elementary School has been named among the top ecologically friendly construction projects in Northeast Ohio through the Cleveland 2030 District, a nonprofit dedicated to lowering greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2030.

Cleveland is part of more than 20 districts spread in the United States with the mission of establishing a global network of high-performance building districts and cities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change.

Oberlin has been among those reaching for this goal with its climate action plan focusing on reducing CO2 emissions across the city. One of the ways it is doing this is by focusing on high-performance infrastructure or buildings that use energy efficiency to operate with a fraction of the energy required by conventional buildings.

The Cleveland 2030 District partners with the U.S. Green Building Council

Ohio Northeast leadership team to host the annual Green Building Challenges. These challenges recognize climate-friendly construction and renovation projects.

Applicants submitted their projects for one or more of the following categories: Energy Management, Water Management, Transportation Emissions Reduction and Healthy Buildings. This year’s winners are:

Overall winner: Bendix Commercial

Vehicle Systems

Energy Management Winner: The Cleveland Foundation

Water Management Winner: Historic St. Casimir Polish Church

Transportation Emissions Winner: College of Wooster

Healthy Buildings Winner: Oberlin Elementary School

Health Building Honorable Mention: The Cleveland Foundation and NASA

“Our sincere thanks to these professionals who devoted their time to review materials submitted and thoughtfully deliber-

ated the merits of each project,” Cleveland

2030 District Executive Director Cynthia Cicigoi said. “We had many exemplary projects submitted and selecting the winning projects was a difficult task.”

Oberlin Schools Communications Director Melissa Linebrink said the schools are delighted by the honor.

“It’s rewarding to see Oberlin Elementary School being honored for promoting healthy building incentives,” she said. “Our district prides itself in creating environments that prioritize health and wellbeing that can have a profound impact on students’ academic performance, attendance and overall happiness. Recognizing and rewarding our elementary school for their efforts sends a powerful message about the importance of investing in health infrastructure.”

About 84 percent of waste materials were diverted from the landfill and many recycled materials were used in the project. Building materials for the school were extracted and manufactured within 100

miles of the school and met LEED requirements for Environmental Product Declarations and Health Product Declarations, Linebrink said.

The Cleveland 2030 District and USGBC Ohio have partnered in hosting the Green Building Challenge since 2014. Both organizations are focused on the commercial building sector’s impact on the environment and want to recognize the advancements and possibilities in green building.

This year’s panel of judges reviewed submitted materials and awarded the winning projects based not only on the project’s environmental impact but also any innovative technologies that were used, verified data that was presented and the impact the project had on its community.

For full project details, visit shorturl.at/ brV25.

Contact Lauren Hoffman at (440) 328-6902 or lhoffman@ chroniclet.com.

“I definitely put a ballet spin on it, so it’s not exactly the same as what people have seen in movies or in the musical theater production,” North Pointe Ballet Artistic Director Janet Dziak says of the dance company’s production of “Peter Pan.”

North Pointe Ballet returns to Neverland

IF YOU GO

John Benson

The Community Guide

Six years have passed since the then fledgling North Pointe Ballet staged “Peter Pan.” Now the Berea-based, Lorain County-friendly dance company returns to Neverland with the fantastical production appearing Friday through Sunday at the Lorain Palace Theatre.

“It was so much fun,” North Pointe Ballet Artistic Director Janet Dziak said. “That was the first time I attempted to take a story that’s not traditionally a ballet production and turn it into a ballet production.

“I had a great cast to work with

and had a lot of fun throughout the process. North Pointe Ballet was still kind of a baby. We were only 2 years old. Everything was new and exciting.”

Not a standard ballet, North Pointe Ballet’s “Peter Pan” presents a unique take on J.M Barrie’s 1904 story of the adventures of Peter and Wendy.

Featuring flying effects, live narration, professional ballet dancers and thrilling theatrical elements, audience members will be swept into the magic of a boy who won’t grow up.

WHAT: North Pointe Ballet presents “Peter Pan” WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday (2 p.m. May 4 sensory-friendly performance) WHERE: Lorain Palace Theatre, 617 Broadway, Lorain TICKETS: $22 to $26 INFO: (440) 452-1050 or lorainpalace.com.

pher, I realize that that experience did in fact shape how I create and really how I plan my season,” she said.

“There is a place for that type of show, but there is also a place for the classics. That kind of inspired me to try to bring both to our community.”

The upcoming show includes 120 cast members, featuring 20 professional adult dancers along with a man’s best friend.

giving back to them too, so we’ll have a canned pet food drive at all of our shows.

“This time also there will be more than one dog and it will be adoptable. The audience will be able to meet the dog before the show and during intermission.”

Last time previewing the inaugural “Peter Pan” run, the discussion was whether Wendy or Peter should have doggie poop bags and a scooper on hand just in case.

A.M.

In fact, the artistic director, who has adapted other traditionally non-ballet narratives into memorable stage productions, said the “Peter Pan” experience was transformative and empowering.

“Looking back as a more experienced director and choreogra-

“I definitely put a ballet spin on it, so it’s not exactly the same as what people have seen in movies or in the musical theater production,” she said.

Just like the first production, this “Peter Pan” includes a dog that steals the show.

“That was a highlight of our 2018 production and we wanted to bring it back,” she said. “We had a wonderful partnership with the Friendship Animal Protective League. We wanted to make sure that North Pointe Ballet was

Now we’re talking about the risk of Tinker Bell being tinkled on.

“Let’s hope not,” she said, laughing. “The dog that participated in the photo shoot loved every minute of it, so I think we’ll be fine.”

Contact John Benson at ndiffrence@att.net.

County will have 29 more 911 dispatchers when all are trained

The Chommunity Guide Faced last year with a staffing shortage, Lorain County 911 now has 20 full-time dispatchers with nine more in training. The hirings were made after the union representing the dispatchers, the Fraternal Order of Police Ohio Labor Council, called attention last April to what it called a “critical staffing crisis” at Lorain County 911, with dispatchers working an average of nearly 175 hours of overtime in less than four months.

PHOTOS PROVIDED

FROM BAGS TO A BENCH

Centennial celebration

Lauren Hoffman The Community Guide

COLUMBIA TWP.

— This month, an exceptional group of students will walk the stage at Columbia High School as the school district graduates its 100th class.

To mark the celebration, on Saturday the district welcomed back alumni and their families to Columbia High School, 14168 West River Road, look back at the past 100 years.

School campus. In 1939, a second story was added to the building, ushering in grades K-12 all under one roof.

“Columbia did not graduate seniors until 1924,” Scott said. “Before that, they had to go to Elyria or Berea to graduate.”

Students began attending classes in Copopa, then known as Columbia High School, until 1961 when a move was made once more into the current building.

ELYRIA — From bags to benches, two Lorain County Community College honor societies encouraged students to recycle to create a bench.

Jackie Moss, 39, of Elyria, is president of Psi Beta and Phi Theta Kappa at LCCC and has worked on the project since the beginning — first with Psi Beta, then inviting Phi Theta Kappa to participate once becoming president of that organization.

Phi Theta Kappa is an honor society for two-year colleges while Psi Beta is an honor society for psychology majors at two-year colleges.

“The project was started by my predecessor, but it was a very big endeavor,” Moss said. “We had to collect a minimum of 500 pounds of plastic grocery bags in the bins we set up around campus. We had flyers up and let people know through word of mouth. Every other week, we would empty the containers into large garbage bags and weigh those with a luggage scale and take them to the recycling station at Giant Eagle in Sheffield.”

The weight was recorded on the NexTrex website each week. As part of the NexTrex Community Recycling Challenge, the company awards schools and other community organizations with a Trex furniture bench for its recycling efforts.

“It was supposed to be a six-month program, but they gave us an extension,” Moss said. “We started in December 2022 and finished in December 2023.”

In addition to the actual collection and recycling of the bags, the groups also had to work with the college to

The location for the bench, at the head of Floral Trail, was chosen to give senior citizens who use the path a place to rest. A Little Library also is nearby so people can take out a book and sit and read.

determine placement of the bench and get approval.

“There was a lot of working pieces behind the scenes,” Moss said. “So many people in the community helped to make this happen. We are part of the college community and the community as a whole, and we are working to make both a better place. The community sees us working, and they want to make it better, too.”

Moss is studying psychology at LCCC in partnership with Cleveland State University. She graduates in December and is working on applying to graduate school.

In fact, that was the main reason she joined the honor societies.

“I joined these programs, first and foremost, to help with graduate school applications, but it has done more than I ever thought it would,” she said. “I wasn’t as invested in community service before. I had been gone from school for 20 years. I thought I would just get in and get out, but this has enriched me so much more. It has been a bit of a growing experience and put me in a position of leadership I never thought I would do. I found my niche to help others be the best they can be, so I can be the best I can be.”

Shiloh Gill, 20, of Grafton, is executive vice president of Phi Theta Kappa.

She joined as a way to meet people

Wellington company gets state grant

The Ohio Third Frontier Commission has awarded $150,000 to a Wellington company that is developing technology to fight cancer, the Ohio Department of Development announced Tuesday. NeoIndicate LLC was awarded the funding to commercialize a technology for diagnosing, imaging and selectively treating cancers. It was among $2.65 million in awards to 12 companies and two research institutions. The company’s biomarker technology can be used in a broad capacity by detecting different tumor types, according to a news release. Case Western Reserve

University is the licensing institute, the state Department of Development said.

The Ohio Third Frontier Technology Validation and Start-up Fund provides grants to Ohio companies aiming to license institution-owned technologies to accelerate commercialization through activities such as market research and further prototyping. These grants help companies raise funds and get licensed technology to the marketplace faster, according to the Department of Development. — from staff reports

and put herself out there more after having a difficult time adjusting to her first semester of college, she said.

When she received an invitation to join the honor society, her mom suggested it might be a good idea.

“Friendship, honesty, trust — the society has made my college experience blossom,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to give back to the community because of the people I’ve lost. I try to give back. I want to go into nursing to help people.”

Gill is working on her associate degree in nursing through LCCC and her bachelor’s degree in nursing through a partnership with Ohio University.

About 100 students are members of the Phi Theta Kappa honor society with around eight core members, Gill said. To become a member, students must have a 3.5 grade-point average and remain in good academic standing.

The location for the bench, at the head of Floral Trail, was chosen to give senior citizens who use the path a place to rest. A Little Library also is nearby so people can take out a book and sit and read.

The society waited until April to dedicate the bench so it coincided with Earth Day, Gill said. Contact Christina Jolliffe at ctnews@chroniclet.com.

“Today we have members from the Columbia Historical Society, graduating classes from the 1950s and 1960s, Leader’s Club, Tri-M which is our music students and the class of 1974 all here to celebrate,” said Cheryl Scott, Family and Consumer Sciences teacher.

“Columbia Historical Society was so on board because they provided pictures of what Columbia Schools looked like because that’s what the historical society does, they keep the history of the community.”

Scott is just one-third of the trio that made Saturday’s event happen. Becky Karl, long-term substitute teacher and science fair director, and custodian Brandon Reynoldsalso contributed to the day’s celebrations. Each says they share an immense love for history and Columbia Schools.

When Columbia High School first started in 1921, students were located in Copolpa, a one-story brick school building still on the grounds of the current Columbia High

Karl, who’s older sister was a graduate of the 1961 class, recalled that move.

“Eventually they outgrew Copopa so between the Christmas break of 1960, the Class of ’61 moved the furniture from the two story building inot this building,” Karl said. “I remember I was on a writing desk and they slid me across the parking lot in the snow; that’s when we moved in here officially and the Class of ’61 was the first to graduate from this building.”

Alumni who returned to the school for the celebration included Mary Lou Bilow, daughter of Dorothy Crocker, who was one of the five in the first graduating class in 1924.

“My mom was one of the five in the first graduating class from Columbia,” Bilow said.

“They went to Elyria for three years before they came to Columbia and they would drive back and forth in a Model T all the way out. Bilow said even after graduating in 1924, her mom’s classmates kept in touch.

PHOTO PROVIDED

Lorain County Community College students in Phi Theta Kappa and Psi Beta honor societies, along with LCCC adviser Lisa Augustine, pose with a bench made from plastic collected by the groups.

Christina Jolliffe The Community Guide

LAUREN HOFFMAN / COMMUNITY GUIDE PHOTOS

Mary Lou Bilow shows off a school newspaper from 1924 that her mom, Dorothy Crocker, helped with while she was in school.

No. 9 Amherst falls to No. 4 Walsh Jesuit

Amherst (#9 state rank) made some great defensive plays early in the game to keep it close, but could not get its offense going and it falls, 7-0, to the #4 state ranked Walsh Jesuit in the the Prebis Memorial Softball Tournament in LaGrange. Clockwise from above, Amherst’s Kristin Kelley collects a Walsh Jesuit fly ball; Amherst’s Nevaeh Sadler tracks down this Walsh Jesuit fly ball for an out; Amherst’s Allie Jackson makes the catch for an out against Walsh Jesuit; And, Walsh Jesuit’s Brianna Wise tags out Amherst’s Allie Jackson on her way to second.

In other Prebis Memorial Tournament action, Medina’s Hannah Neal tags out Avon’s Lauren Fischer at third base. The game was tied at 8 going into the seventh inning when Medina’s Sammi

for

Leann

past Columbia’s

the

into

Keystone’s Emma Corraini slides into home safely on a passed ball before Black River’s Jordan Bradford can apply the tag. Keystone hosted Black River in their second meeting of the season. The Keystone offense overwhelmed Black River, picking up a 12-2 win in five innings.

Rambo got a bases-clearing triple

the 11-8 walkoff win.

Brookside’s

Clark slides safely

third base for a steal as the ball gets

Cailyn Demagall. After scoring one run in

first inning, both teams remained scoreless until the seventh inning when Brookside scored two runs, winning 3-1.

Photos by Russ Gifford The Community Guide

BULLETIN BOARD

Contest winners announced

Billboards they designed will be on Rts. 57 &10

The Community Guide

The Lorain County Solid Waste Management District on Tuesday announced the winners of its fourth annual Billboard Contest, promoting Lorain County Beautiful Day next month.

Brandi Schnell, community outreach coordinator for the district, said 900 entries were received. The winners were Taylor Lewis, eighth grade, Holy Trinity School, Avon; Soren Beeman, second grade, Powers Elementary School, Amherst; and Kate Gorney, seventh grade, Holy Trinity School, Avon. Their names were announced at Tuesday’s Board of Commissioners meeting.

Each winner received a certificate from the board, a check for $50, and mini desktop replicas of their billboards. Taylor couldn’t attend Tuesday’s board meeting, but Soren and Kate received their awards in person and had their pictures taken with family members and the board.

The contest was open to students in grades kindergarten to 12th grade from all schools in Lorain County.

This year’s participation was “amazing, but also makes it very difficult to narrow it down to just three winners,” Schnell said.

Schnell said hundreds of volunteers come together on Lorain County Beautiful Day — May 18 this year — to clean up litter, plant flowers, spruce up playgrounds, clean graffiti and do other work to beautify the county.

THE 1960s

ACROSS

1. “Odyssey” author

6. Time in NYC

9. Pay as you earn, acr.

13. Avoid paying taxes

14. Also

15. Rolled up, on a farm

16. From distant past

17. News channel acronym

18. Very angry

19. *____ Invasion

21. *Vostok I pilot

23. Spring water resort

24. Talcum powder ingredient

25. Muted order

28. Sports award

30. Doled out, as in soup

35. Future atty.’s exam

37. Engage for service

39. In all sincerity

40. *____ Preminger, director of “Exodus”

41. Petri dish jellies

43. DDS exam

44. Gordon Gekko: “____ is good”

46. Barbershop sound

47. Bread pocket

48. Rumor

50. Whiskey straight, e.g.

52. Cubby hole

53. One-horse carriage

55. *#29 Down invasion coordinator

57. *TV’s Tony Nelson’s “dream”

61. *”8 1/2” and “La Dolce Vita” director

65. Lake scum

66. Toothpaste type

68. Baited

69. Thorny

70. Anger

71. Last eight in college basketball

72. Kill

Lamentable

74. Bob Marley, e.g.

DOWN 1. *____ Alpert & the Tijuana Brass 2. Last word over walkie-talkie 3. Algeria’s southern neighbor

Written corrections 5. Chef’s guide

*____ A Sketch toy, launched in 1960

The billboards will be near the county Collection Center on state Route 57 in Elyria, facing north, on Route 57 close to its intersection with Route 254 in Sheffield Township, and on Route 10 east of Durkee Road in Eaton Township, facing east.

The winning entries can also be seen online at loraincountyohio.gov/753/ Billboard-Contest-2024.

*Just one of “My Three ____”

Prefix with trooper or legal

Volunteers sought for a day of basketball honoring soldier

James Hunter was from South Amherst and was loved by so many. He was killed in Afghanistan in 2010 by an IED Improvised Explosive Device and was the first Army journalist killed in combat since 9/11.

He was dedicated to telling the soldier’s story and was a passionate reporter and photographer who was always trying to provide a glimpse into the lives of today’s combat soldiers.

On Saturday, May 25, 2024, the foundation run by his family and friends, will host a series of basketball games to honor James. The event will be the Saturday before Memorial Day at the Village of South Amherst Park. It will be a day of remembrance, but also a day of fun! That’s the way James would have wanted it. He was quite the avid competitor on the basketball court and loved to share that with his family and friends.

The day will be filled with 3-on-3 and 5-on-5 games as well as a free throw and 3-point contest. This is not a tournament-style event, it’s “friendly” games this year. All ages, from youth to seniors are welcome, even if you haven’t played in a while.

The foundation wanted to make the day special and accessible for as many as possible so there is no entry fee, but they’d love to have everyone order a t-shirt with a portion of the proceeds going back to the foundation. Our wish is to make this day one to remember on a weekend of fun, community and remembering James.

We are looking for registrants and volunteers to help with the day.

From pre-event promotion to check-in to game referees, we’d love to have as many participants and as many eyes on this as possible.

For more information, contact James’ sister, Kathy Thomas, at ssg.jph.memorial.foundation@gmail.com.

Kate Gorney, seventh grade, Holy Trinity School, Avon, and Soren Beeman, second grade, Powers Elementary School, Amherst, stand in front of Lorain County Commissioners David Moore, Jeff Riddell and Michelle Hung after being named two of the three winners of the 2024 Lorain County Solid Waste Management District Billboard Contest promoting Lorain County Beautiful Day. Not pictured is winner Taylor Lewis, eighth grade, Holy Trinity School, Avon.

Three replica mini billboards, each representing one of the winning entries in the 2024 Lorain County Solid Waste Management District Billboard Contest promoting Lorain County Beautiful Day, are shown.

Buddy shows us howtoreach abig goal by breaking it down into sm

breaking maller steps

Busy beavers chewed some words from this list of fun beaver facts. Replacethe wordsto nd out some amazing things about beavers

Butchopping down abig tree canseemlikean awfully big goal foralittle

Buddysees the bigjob as aseriesof smalljobs

Be Like Buddy: HowtoReach aGoal

Sometimes there arethings youwantinlife that are not possiblerightnow.For example, maybeyou want to buy something that is expensive.Ifyou are serious about that purchase,makebuyingita goal

In order to reachthat goal,belikeBuddy Makea list of small steps or small goalsthat would help you reach your biggoal.

EXAMPLE: Angie wantsto buy a new coat.The coat costs$50.

Angie decides that insteadoftrying to earn $50 allatonce, shewillmaketen goals that willhelp her reach her big goal. She makesa goal of earning $5. If she earns$5ten times, she will reach herbig goal of $50!

How can Angie earn $5? Put acheck in thebox next to each of Angie’s jobs. If you checked theright boxes, they addupto exactly $5.

MY GOAL:

Busy Builders

Beavers are builders.Look throughthe newspaper for examples of things people build. What arethe kinds of jobspeopledo to build things?

If Angie canearn$5per week and save themoney, howlonguntil she will have enough moneyto buy the coat?

Using their broad,scaly _______, beavers will forcefully slap the water as an signal to other beavers in the area that apredatorisapproaching

Beavers are_ on land but using their webbed feet they areverygood swimmers Abeavercan stayunder water forupto15minutes

Beavers are herbivores.They like to eatthe and wood of __________. They also eatpondweed and waterlilies

Adult beavers arearound three feet long and have been known to over 55 lb (25kg). Females areaslarge or larger than males of the same ______.

Beavers can liveupto24_ in the wild

Thebeaveristhe national animal of Canada, and is on the Canadian ve-cent _______.

The verb save means to keep or store something for use in the future. SAVE

Jeremy plans to save his allowance for three weeks to buya gift for his sister This week’sword:

Tryto use the word save in asentence today when talking with friends and familymembers.

Jobs that startas taking small bites of thetree, one at a time.

…the tree topples over! Buddytakes the tree to anearby stream andbuilds ahomefor his family.

He chews andchews away at thetree trunk, until nally

Buddy’scozyhome is built of trees and branches. He strips thebarko the tree and stores it to feed hisfamily. Home sweet lodge!

Beavers don’t just usetrees to build dams.When Buddylooks up at this tall tree,heseesfood and housing forhis family