Lorain County Community Guide 5-9-24

5 charged in mall break-in

The Community Guide

A Cuyahoga County man and four Lorain County boys are facing multiple criminal charges after reportedly breaking into the former JCPenney store at Midway Mall on April 26, according to Elyria police and court records.

The five allegedly stole or tried to steal from the few remain-

ing stores in the mall, smashed furnishings and caused significant water damage when they broke a sprinkler. Responding Elyria police officers chased the five teens out of the mall and arrested them, according to a police report.

Officers responded to the former JCPenney store at 10:40 p.m. Friday for a report of someone breaking into the property. The owner of the Cell Fix store saw

someone try to break into the store on his security cameras and called police, according to the report.

Once inside, two officers heard “glass and metal being destroyed.” Peeking inside, they found four juveniles breaking light bulbs and “destroying” the interior of the store, which still had some furnishings inside, according to the report.

All four teens ran when an officer announced himself, yelled at them to stop and put their hands up.

One of those who ran had a hammer, and the officer chased him into the parking lot, where he dropped the hammer and was caught, according to the report.

Police identified the hammerwielding suspect as William Toth, 19, of Rocky River. After being

read his rights, he told officers “he was just exploring with his friends,” three of whom he had picked up from North Ridgeville in his truck.

Toth, the three teens and a fourth teen from Elyria broke in, stole two exit signs from JCPenney, tried to break into the locked Cell Fix store, took two bottles of water from the cooler at Yihi Ja-

Ride reimagined as Top Thrill 2

John Benson The Community Guide

Three years after an incident forced Cedar Point to close Top Thrill Dragster, the amusement park has reinvented the ride with the brand-new Top Thrill 2.

“This is a very, very big attraction for us here at Cedar Point,” Cedar Point Director of Communications Tony Clark said.

“We’re excited to debut the world’s tallest and fastest triplelaunch roller coaster.

“What makes it unique is that everybody is used to the iconic top hat tower that was part of our skyline ever since the ride debuted in 2003.

“We’ve reimagined it now with

an extra 420-foot-tall tower.“It is a completely different experience.”

The funny thing about Cedar Point’s Top Thrill Dragster ride was during its nearly two-decade existence coaster enthusiasts desperately sought failure.

Called the rollback, that was the coveted fan-favorite moment when the train’s momentum wasn’t great enough to make it up and over the tower so it rolled back to the station to try again.

That’s why Top Thrill 2 boasts such an Easter egg of sorts to those die-hard riders.

“You launch forward first at 74 mph,” he said. “One of the key features of that first launch

is that everybody who rides gets what we call a rollback, which is something that people wanted to get on a previous ride.

“Then it goes into a reverse launch at 101 mph, which is the fastest reverse launch in the world. You go up that brand-new 420-foot tall vertical spike tower.

That’s at a 90-degree angle so you’re looking straight down at the midway and Tower Power.

“After that, you get some weightlessness and then you come back down to Earth where

you’re launched to 120 mph and then you go up and over the top hat down a 270-degree spiral twist and then into the finish line.

It is an epic race.”

The epic race is actually a 2-minute long ride — compared to the previous 17 seconds — that Clark said is unlike any of Cedar Point’s other 67 rides, including 17 coasters.

Other updates at the park include new and enhanced VIP guest experiences.

“We have what’s called the Millennium VIP Lounge for our prestige pass holders,” he said.

“This is a lounge where they can go, sit and enjoy some snacks and beverages and just take a

break throughout the day. We’re building a more permanent structure near Millennium Force.”

In addition, those with Fast Lane Passes will have updated wristbands that allow for easy access scanning. As far as programming, Cedar Point will unveil its new “Boardwalk Nights” in the summer.

“That is a little bit of a combination of what was our ‘Cedar Point Nights’ experience where we had nighttime activities on the beach,” he said.

“We’re going to activate ‘Boardwalk Nights’ as the sun goes down with circus-style performance acts, live music and specialty food items.”

PHOTOS PROVIDED

“We’re excited to debut the world’s tallest and fastest triple-launch roller coaster,” Cedar Point Director of Communications Tony Clark says. Top Thrill 2 is a 2-minute long ride — compared to the previous 17 seconds of the Top Thrill Dragster — that Clark says is unlike any of Cedar Point’s other 67 rides, including 17 coasters.

Dave O’Brien

See MALL, A2

Donald Flock

Donald Flock, a lifelong resident of Amherst, passed away peacefully Wednesday, May 1, 2024. He was born November 21, 1930, in Amherst where he had made his home until moving to Marietta, Georgia, to spend his final years with his loving daughter.

Hempel Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

pan and spilled sauce on the floor there, Toth told police.

Officers found some of the youths hiding outside Johnny K’s Powersports and took them into custody. After being read their rights, they told officers that Toth picked them up to “explore” the mall together.

In addition to what Toth told police, the boys said their trek involved destroying the interior of JCPenney and stealing two candy jars from a store. As officers talked to them, a fourth juvenile ran out of JCPenney, tripped, fell and was detained, according to the police report.

Two stolen exit signs were found in Toth’s silver Honda truck, and he admitted stealing them, according to the police report.

Midway Mall security walked an officer through the mall to record damage, and Elyria police learned there had been an unknown person going through the mall at night and destroying things inside JCPenney, police reported.

Lorain County Port Authority Director Jim Miller, whose agency owns the 58-acre mall property and whose board of directors on Wednesday chose Industrial Commercial Properties of Cleveland to redevelop it as part of a $42 million project, said the five young men did significant damage.

They broke glass display

The Community Guide

Greg White, the former Lorain County prosecutor, former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio and federal magistrate judge, was inducted into the Ohio Military Hall of Fame on Friday.

A Vietnam War veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, White also was among 17 members of the 2024 class of the Military Hall of Fame who were also awarded the Ohio Medal of

cases and light bulbs inside JCPenney and broke a sprinkler head that left “the whole area flooded,” he said at Wednesday’s Port Authority board meeting.

Taken to the Lorain County Jail, Toth was charged with breaking and entering and possession of criminal tools, both felonies, as well as four counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and one count each of theft, criminal damaging and obstructing official business, all misdemeanors.

He spent the weekend in the jail, was booked Monday morning and released Wednesday afternoon, according to jail records. He is free on bond, and Elyria Municipal Court records did not list an attorney representing him.

The four boys — one aged 16 and three aged 15 — were charged with one count each of breaking and entering, a felony; and theft, criminal damaging and obstructing official business, all misdemeanors.

The four boys were picked up from police custody by their mothers. Their charges will be heard in Lorain County Juvenile Court.

The Community Guide does not typically identify juvenile criminal suspects by name.

Contact Dave O’Brien at (440) 3297129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.

Valor in a ceremony at the Ohio Statehouse.

“We salute all of them for their service, which went above and beyond the call of duty,” said Gov. Mike DeWine, the event’s keynote speaker.

Those serving in the military represent “the best America has to offer,” he said.

White said Friday that the ceremony was “a very humbling experience.”

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Mall’s developer selected

ICP to pay $17 million for property

Dave O’Brien

The Community Guide

The Lorain County Port Authority Board of Directors voted unanimously last week to sell the Midway Mall to Industrial Commercial Properties of Cleveland for $17 million.

Director Jim Miller said the Port Authority will use that money to repay the county the $13.9 million loan it took out to buy the 58-acre property in January 2023.

ICP will invest another $25 million in the property to help attract future tenants, Elyria Mayor Kevin Brubaker said.

It is expected the project will bring in 400 jobs with $18 million to $20 million in payroll, Miller said.

Amy Richards, chairwoman of the Board of Directors, said it was a “tough choice” between ICP and The Center for Food Innovation, the other finalist up for consideration.

The Center for Food Innovation, backed by The Gateway Group that developed Cleveland’s Gateway District, Progressive Field and Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, envisioned “The Garden,” a mixed-use development of indoor vertical farms and outdoor greenhouses; cold storage, food processing and distribution businesses; residential, restaurant, educational and retail space.

Officials including Miller and Brubaker said there were many discussions about what to do with the property. Brubaker called the choice “very outstanding” and said he was

thankful and grateful that the Port Authority involved him in its discussions as a representative of the city.

Brubaker was “overboard happy” with the choice of ICP, he said following Wednesday’s meeting.

ICP has “a history of overachieving,” Brubaker said, when it comes to developing property.

“It’s their forte, it’s what they’re good at,” he said. He said the development is likely to have a positive effect on the areas surrounding the mall, including a number of storefronts and strip malls around its edges.

Brubaker said the redevelopment of the mall is among about $100 million in redevelopment happening around the mall property in the near future, including a new 96-unit hotel by the owner of the Courtyard by Marriott Cleveland bringing in $9.5 million of investment.

Then there’s the proposed 55-acre Reaser Pointe Crossing development on the city’s southeast side, featuring more than 400 homes and expected to bring $150 million to $200 million in development.

“There’s a lot to be happy about in the city of Elyria,” he said.

Among the success stories ICP touts on its website are Goodyear World Headquarters in Akron, the former American Greetings headquarters in Brooklyn, the former Randall Park Mall in North Randall that became an Amazon fulfillment center, and multiple former Ford and Chevrolet

plants in Ohio.

Miller said the next step is to work with the board’s attorneys to draft a purchase agreement with ICP.

The Port Authority received four proposals for redevelopment by its Oct. 25, 2023, deadline. The original four were ICP, The Center for Food Innovation, and developers Scannell Properties and DiGeronimo Development.

DiGeronimo dropped out of the running, and the Port Authority board chose ICP and The Center for Food Innovation as finalists in February.

The Port Authority is landlord to the few remaining stores in the mall. It also owns the portions of the mall that used to be Sears, Sears Auto Center and Dillard’s, while ICP already owns the former Best Buy building.

The initial ICP proposals included a joint venture with the Port Authority for the entire nearly 58-acre site for the creation of a multi-tenant business park within the existing mall buildings, or a $100 million investment that would have seen all the former mall buildings demolished and the area completely redeveloped from the ground up.

When it came to a joint venture, “we weren’t really looking for that,” Miller said.

Contact Dave O’Brien at (440) 3297129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.

ARTIST’S RENDERING

A map rendering shows ICP’s initial proposal for re-creating Midway Mall in Elyria. The Lorain County Port Authority approved ICP’s proposal.

White inducted into hall of fame

Amherst’s Father & Son has biz license revoked

The Community Guide

FLORENCE TWP. — Erie County’s health board agreed to revoke the business licenses issued to a local septic tank company, which allegedly dumped raw sewage in an eastern Erie County farm field.

At a recent public meeting, the board took action against Father & Son Septic Services, which is accused of dumping raw sewage — from 2021 until recently — in a farm field at 12312 Green Road.

Sewage from septic tanks is supposed to be taken to a wastewater treatment plant for processing.

Amherst-based Father & Son had prior issues in Lorain County, according to Lorain County Public Health records.

Previously, Father & Son has operated under three registrations — as the licenses from the health department are called — to do business in Erie County.

n One registration allowed the company to haul sewage from septic tanks.

n A second allowed it to provide maintenance and repairs for septic tank systems.

n A third allowed it to install new systems.

On a motion from health board member Dr. Dina Bauer, the board voted unanimously to revoke all three registrations.

This means the company is no longer allowed to do business in Erie County.

The vote followed a public hearing on the

matter, which the owner of the business, Jim Coon, had been invited to attend. Coon was present at the start of Tuesday’s meeting but left before the public hearing began. His attorney, Brent English of Cleveland, did not attend the hearing.

The board denied English’s request to delay the hearing. English did not respond Wednesday to a phone call from the Register asking for comment.

The issues

During the public hearing, a quasijudicial proceeding, the board listened to testimony from Craig Ward, the health department’s chief environmental public health officer.

Ward testified that, after a complaint, a visit found evidence of raw sewage in the farm field, and aerial photos showed the dumping has been going on since sometime in 2021.

He estimated that up to 871,000 gallons of raw sewage could have been dumped in the field.

He played a recording of a phone call to Coon in which Coon appeared to admit carrying out the dumping.

Erie County assistant prosecutor Jason Hinners, serving as the board’s attorney, noted that Coon or his attorney could have cross-examined Ward and presented their own witnesses if they had shown up during the hearing.

Dan Plumb, of Amherst, seems to be following his son Jansen’s lead, above, at the Murray Ridge School prom.

At left, Mary Board, of Elyria, shares a dance with her daughter Marra, 15,

Holocaust remembrance program shares the stories of survivors

Carissa Woytach

The Community Guide

OBERLIN — The day after Carol Wilner was born, the Nazis invaded her hometown in Poland in 1941.

Wilner, now 83, spent her early childhood in hiding until her family managed to make the trek to American-occupied Germany — and freedom.

On Sunday evening, she stood in Warner Concert Hall, joined by her grandaughter and Oberlin College alumna Emily Mandell, to share her story as part of an annual Yom Hashoah program.

Yom Hashoah, spanning Sunday and today, serves as an international time of remembrance for the victims of the Holocaust. In Lorain County, the annual program held Sunday at Oberlin College and Conservatory and today at the Lorain Palace Theatre, has seen numerous survivors share their stories in the hope that history shall never repeat itself.

Looking out at the hall, Wilner questioned what will happen when the last survivor dies — “Who is going to bear the witness to what happened?”

She said sharing her and her family’s story was not easy. It is generations of trauma, a virus passed between them.

The events leading up to and during the Holocaust did not happen in a vacuum, she said. That context was antisemitism.

“There’s a history — a past, present, and who knows about the future. ... It scares me because of what happened and what could still happen,” she said.

The context surrounding Wilner’s story was also the story of her mother, Etta Hauptmann, she said. Once the Germans invaded Boryslaw, her parents were in a labor camp while friends helped hide Carol in a small attic-like space above the barracks after smuggling the 18-month-old inside.

There Carol lived for the next three years.

She said many question how a toddler could survive, could understand what was happening and know to stay quiet.

“I believe children, even small children, somehow understand more than we realize,” she said.

Interspersed in Wilner’s story were photographs of her parents and her family; testimony from her father Ignaz Hauptmann against SS Officer Friedrich Hildebrant; and a 20-year-old video interview Wilner’s daughter Jessica did with Etta Hauptmann. Her memories of the camp are few, though her parents told her more after the war. But what Wilner did remember included her mother giving birth to her younger brother in the labor camp.

Those helping to hide Carol told her mother they could not hide a newborn. The boy was taken away. They never saw him again, Wilner said.

Her other memory, at about 3 years old, was when two German officers found her when her mother had stayed back from working — too sick to dig the ditches they required of her.

The pair were playing, Wilner said, when her mother heard the Gestapo outside with a dog but did not have enough time to get the young Wilner back up into her hideaway. Instead, she hid the toddler under the bed.

“Whatever happens, don’t make a sound,” Wilner remembered her mother telling her.

But the German shepherd smelled her, and the young girl screamed.

She was pulled out from under the bed, but after looking at her, they turned and left. She questioned, maybe she reminded the officer of his own children? Whatever the reason, he never told anyone she was there.

Once Boryslaw was liberated by the

Soviets, the family paid a smuggler to get them across the border to a displaced persons camp in Ulm, Germany, run by the U.S. military. After the lengthy trek, a mix of walking and riding in the back of trucks, they lived there from 1946-49. It was the most peaceful place Wilner had ever been, she said.

She was able to play with other children, she remembered, their playground the rubble and remnants of bombed-out buildings. It was a gift in itself to be around a group of children who had similar experiences to hers, she said.

Eventually, they made their way to the United States on a retrofitted military ship. But the family, now including another younger brother, were not greeted with open arms, she said, just like today’s refugees.

But in spite of that, she succeeded, she said. And given what is happening in the world today, felt compelled to tell her story when her granddaughter asked her if she would participate in Sunday’s program.

“It is a great thing to survive, but it is also a great burden,” she said. “... I survived

because of luck, because of Jewish and non-Jewish people who risked their lives to help us survive.

“But I grieve every day for those who didn’t survive, especially for the children … But I did survive and like my mother showed that means that you keep on dancing, no matter what.”

Violins of Hope

Alongside Wilner’s personal story, Oberlin College played host to the Violins of Hope, with three violins on display outside the Conservatory Library and one played during the program by Oberlin Conservatory violin professor Sibbi Bernhardsson.

Amnon Weinstein started Violins of Hope. After the war, Weinstein’s father bought violins from Holocaust survivors who came to Israel, unable to fix the instruments but also unable to throw them away.

Later, many of the instruments were restored and the Tel Aviv-based program has lent the instruments to orchestras across the world, with the violins’ stories shared alongside the music created.

The instrument Bernhardsson played Sunday was the Ole Dahl violin.

The Community Guide

The Wilson Bruce Evans Home Historical Society has been awarded $739,400 by the National Park Service’s “Save America’s Treasures” fund to complete the rehabilitation of the Wilson Bruce Evans home at 33 East Vine St., Oberlin.

The house was built before the

The Community Guide A Lorain County sheriff’s deputy on Tuesday was awarded the Buckeye State Sheriff’s Association Lifesaving Award for helping save the life of a stabbing victim in Columbia Township on April 23.

Deputy Craig Ali, who is assigned to the Civil Division at the sheriff’s office, was in the area when a call went out at 10:20 a.m. that day for a woman being stabbed by her boyfriend at a house in the 9900 block of Colfax Avenue, according to a commendation letter.

Seeing Columbia Township Fire Department personnel in the area, he told them to follow him to the scene.

“Upon arrival immediate aid was given to the victim of the stabbing which ultimately saved her life as she had some very serious life-threatening injuries,” according to Ali’s commendation letter.

Sheriff Phil Stammitti wrote that “credit is to be given to the Columbia Township Fire Department” and Ali “for responding so quickly and having the forethought to have the rescue squad follow him there for immediate aid.”

“As sheriff, I want to personally thank him for his actions and a job well done,” Stammitti wrote. Shawn Poe, 46, of Colfax Avenue, is accused of stabbing his girlfriend. He was arrested at the scene after another member of the household held him down until authorities arrived, the sheriff’s office said in a news release April 23.

The 42-year-old victim was taken first to Southwest General Health Center in Middleburg Heights for treatment, then by helicopter to MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland. Neither her name nor her condition were known.

Poe is charged with attempted murder and felonious assault, both felonies, as well as three counts of aggravated menacing and two counts of domestic violence, all misdemeanors.

He was being held in the Lorain County Jail on $175,000 bond, according to jail records.

The House will open to the public as a historic building and educational center telling the story of the Evans family, Oberlin’s historic African American community, and more broadly, the story of the long struggle for racial equity and justice in the United States.

The award is part of the Historic Preservation Fund’s African American Civil Rights grant program, which focuses on the preservation of sites and stories directly associated with the struggle of African Americans to gain equal rights.

This year, the National Park Service awarded

$23.4 million to 39 projects in 16 states and the District of Columbia.

“We are excited to be able to largely complete the work we must do to open to the public,” said Executive Director Carol Lasser.

“When open, the Evans House will draw visitors far and wide.

“Oberlin will become the pre-eminent destination for Black heritage tourism in our region. Telling the fuller story of American history will benefit all of us.”

For more information on the Evans House project, contact Executive Director, Carol Lasser at

STEVE MANHEIM / COMMUNITY GUIDE PHOTOS

Holocaust survivor Carol Wilner speaks at a Holocaust remembrance event at Oberlin College. Yom Hashoah serves as an international time of remembrance for the victims of the Holocaust.

Oberlin Conservatory violin professor Sibbi Bernhardsson plays the Ole Dahl violin from the Violins of Hope collection at the remembrance event. Amnon Weinstein started Violins of Hope. After the war, Weinstein’s father bought violins from Holocaust survivors who came to Israel, unable to fix the instruments but also unable to throw them away.

PHOTO PROVIDED

Lorain County sheriff’s deputy Craig Ali holds his Buckeye State Sheriff’s Association Lifesaving award and commendation certificate presented to him by from Sheriff Phil Stammitti, right, for his actions in responding to a stabbing.

Shawn Poe arrested

Four Vermilion firefighters quit; cite ‘toxic environment’

Owen MacMillan

The Community Guide

VERMILION — Four members of the Vermilion Fire Department resigned at Monday’s City Council meeting, citing a “toxic environment” at the department.

Several departing firefighters said the department had become infested with harassment and favoritism while Mayor Jim Forthofer and Fire Chief Bill Brown said that members were unhappy with the necessary changes to the department.

Firefighter Robert MacLean Jr. went before Council and read a letter addressed to Forthofer and Brown.

It included the signatures and resignation of himself, his father Capt. Robert MacLean Sr., Capt. Kirk Horton and firefighter Tyler Keith.

“I’ve been with the fire department for 40 years and I’ve never seen it this bad, I’m sorry,” Robert MacLean Sr. said. “The city has always backed us up, the citizens have always backed us up, I’ve just never seen it like this. And they (citizens) have to suffer because of our leadership. I apologize, I never thought I’d leave on these kind of terms.”

Horton retired approximately a month ago but had still been volunteering time before Monday. They told Council that their de-

partures would mark 14 firefighters lost in the two years since Brown became chief.

“Our decision to resign is a direct result of the toxic environment that has been allowed to flourish under Chief Brown’s leadership,” Robert MacLean Jr. said. “Chief Brown’s failure to address the following egregious issues within the department has left us with no choice but to terminate our affiliation.”

The issues the letter alleges include the undermining of officers, endorsed harassment and bullying, tolerance of “verbal and physical assaults” within the department, vandalism of department property and poor communication.

MacLean Jr. promised that three more resignations were forthcoming.

Tyler Keith did not appear before Council. The three departing firefighters who did appear also complained of “The Group,” which they said was a group of members of the department who are “dedicated to harassing fellow firefighters,” through alleged bullying.

Brown said that “The Group” did exist, but was an informal, nonexclusive group that had adopted a moniker. Brown said they did not orchestrate any harassment or retaliation within the department.

“They are currently our most well-

trained, our most highly motivated, our most involved employees,” Brown said in a call with The Chronicle-Telegram following the meeting.

The departures bring the department down to 22 firefighters, a number he said would not impact the department’s response times.

Forthofer, who also serves as the city’s safety service director, said that there were disagreements within the department he was aware of, but he did not believe there was targeted harassment

“If there was outright bullying, we would be addressing that,” he said.

Brown said that he was aware of one incident that was also the source of the claim of vandalism. In that case, Brown said one member of the department removed the name tag from the locker of another.

He said the perpetrator in that case was found and written up.

The resigning firefighters said they believed that the administration and Brown were downplaying the issues at the department, warning that more departures would come if things did not change.

“The lack of action and accountability in the face of such blatant misconduct is appalling and utterly unacceptable,” Robert MacLean Jr. said, reading the letter to Council.

School treasurer in Wellington going to Buckeye

The Community Guide

WELLINGTON — Wel-

lington Schools Treasurer Mark Donnelly has announced his resignation to the Board of Education.

Donnelly, who has been with the district since 2020, told the board that he accepted the position of treasurer/CFO at Buckeye Schools in Medina County. His last day with Wellington will be Aug. 1.

“I feel conflicted,” Donnelly said when addressing his resignation with the board Tuesday. “It’s an opportunity I can’t pass up, not to mention it’s 20 minutes closer to home, but I have enjoyed working with you all.”

Outgoing Superintendent Ed Weber thanked Donnelly for his work with the district, particularly on how he helped improve the school during his time there.

“He helped modernize our maintenance department, assisted with improving our heating and cooling needs at each building and was successful at facilities planning and project comple-

tion,” Weber said. “We are grateful for the past four years of his service and wish him luck at Buckeye. The school district looks a lot better and sparkles more and we’re in a much, much better place than 10 years ago both financially and academically and he’s a part of that success.”

Wellington will be accepting applications for treasurer through May 21.

Board president Ayer Ratliff said the district hopes to have the position filled by June 4.

The position requires that those interested have a treasurer’s license and it is preferred that they have prior experience with business or school finances. The salary has yet to be determined, but both Ratliff and Weber promised it will be competitive with other surrounding districts.

Donnelly’s current salary is $105,000. Applications for the position can be found on the district’s website under employment at shorturl.at/ ijzNY.

Software development scholarship to launch

The Community Guide Lorain County Community College and SherwinWilliams announced a new scholarship studying software development at LCCC or LCCC University Partnership.

The “Create Your Possible: Sherwin-Williams Career Accelerator,” scholarship will provide students with financial support as well as other resources including mentorship from Sherwin-Williams employees, “earn-to-learn” opportunities and access to a learning community.

LCCC President Marcia Ballinger said, “This program will allow more students access to education and software development, proactively building a workforce to fill software

development jobs.”

The 5,000 software development jobs open in Ohio have a median salary in the field is $103,000.

“LCCC’s mission is to prepare students for wellpaying careers close to home, and this scholarship program aligns perfectly with that goal. As a result, even more students will be able to prepare for Ohio careers in software development,” Ballinger said. The scholarship and learning community will open in the fall 2024 semester and to qualify students must have a GPA of 2.75 or higher and be new students or new to the software development program. For more information, visit www.lorainccc.edu/ sherwinwilliams.

Major promoted to Midview superintendent

Midview Schools will have a new superintendent in 2024-25 as Assistant Superintendent Frank Major has been promoted to replace departing Superintendent Bruce Willingham.

“My family’s roots are deep in Lorain County, and the experiences I have had growing up in this area my entire life have provided me with many wonderful memories and opportunities,” Major said. “I am thankful to be a part of this community and beyond

grateful to serve as Midview Local Schools’ next superintendent. I look forward to continuing to collaborate with our staff, community and students to further our achievements and work toward our shared goals.”

The Midview Board of Education voted Tuesday night at a special meeting to formally approve Major’s new contract.

“After much dialogue and deliberation, it became evident

that our own assistant superintendent, (Major), was our choice for the job,” Board President Tom Tomasheski said.

“We are confident that he has the qualities necessary to continue the positive direction of our district.

“The trust he has built with the staff and community, along with his proven track record of improving academic performance, operational efficiency and communication, has shown his ability to lead the district. This seamless transition will ensure that we can continue current operations

and initiatives without missing a beat.”

Willingham will become the new superintendent of Kenston Schools in Geauga County starting in the 2024-25 school year. His hiring was approved by the Kenston Board of Education on April 26.

“I’ve loved my time in Midview,” Willingham said Tuesday. “It’s really bittersweet because this place has meant a lot to me: the school board, the staff, the parents, the students, they have all been wonderful. But this is a great opportunity and it is a lot closer to my home.”

County HR director on sick leave

Dave O’Brien

The Community Guide

Lorain County Human Resources Director J.R. White is on paid administrative leave for what he says are health reasons.

County Commissioners David Moore, Michelle Hung and Jeff Riddell, all Republicans, all confirmed that White, who has been human resources director for the county since February 2023, was on paid leave.

Lorain County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Dan Petticord, the board’s legal counsel,

said he couldn’t add anything further.

The Chronicle-Telegram made a public records request for a copy of White’s personnel file.

An attorney specializing in employment law who represented a number of Lorain County organizations, including The Chronicle-Telegram, White left the Elyria law firm of Fauver Co. in July 2021 to pursue other interests outside of private legal practice, he later told the newspaper.

White was hired as county administrator in October 2021 after applying to be

director of County Job & Family Services two months earlier to replace the fired Tim Carrion.

He didn’t get the JFS post but commissioners picked him for their top job.

White was the third person to serve as county administrator between January and October 2021. He replaced Rob Weber, who replaced Tom Williams. Jeff Armbruster replaced White as county administrator in February 2023, the same month White was made county human resources director.

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

Willingham said he was excited because he feels Kenston shares Midview’s values of emphasizing community and putting students first. His contract with Kenston will run through 2027 and pay $162,000 per year.

“I’m really happy for Dr. Major,” Willingham said. “I brought him here to Midview, we’ve worked together for a decade and he’s really grown into the job.

“I’m as excited for him and his new opportunity as I am for myself.”

BRUCE BISHOP / COMMUNITY GUIDE

From left, Vermilion firefighter Robert MacLean Jr., Capt. Kirk Horton and Capt. Robert MacLean Sr. announce their resignation to Vermilion City Council last week. They told Council that their departures would mark 14 firefighters lost in the two years of Fire Chief Bill Brown’s tenure.

Owen MacMillan

The Community Guide

Major

J.R. White is on paid leave for ‘health reasons’

‘All I care about is that my kid comes

Active shooter drills conducted in former South Amherst school

The Community Guide

SOUTH AMHERST — Shots rang out through the hallways as the sounds of boots hit the ground running and cries for help and screams.

A woman was lying on her side, wounded, as an officer approached her calling for the ambulance as he rushed in to help.

Sounds scary, right? Except none of this was real.

Officers, firefighters and role-players assembled last week at the former South Amherst Middle School, 152 W. Main St., for the second day of a countywide Active Shooter, Hostile Event Response (ASHER) event.

The training is the brainchild of Dan Makruski of the Ohio School Safety Center, Lorain County Law Enforcement Chiefs Association and the Fire Chiefs Association.

Makruski, who retired from the Amherst Police Department in February 2023, has years of experience conducting drills and active shooter exercises. But Tuesday’s event was a first of its kind for the retired officer.

Police and firefighters from Amherst, Avon, Avon Lake, Lorain, Elyria, Grafton and Oberlin filled the spots of 10 police officers and five firefighters/dispatchers involved in the exercises.

The goal, Makruski said, is simple: Get everyone on the same page.

“The goal is to build a training cadre or a training group of law enforcement officers and firefighters to train all the other law enforcement officers and firefighters in Lorain County,” Makruski said.

“When we build our training cadre in this class it’s going to be awesome.

“We just have to figure out the right battle rhythm or the right way to do it and make sure we have enough instructors to be able to put on a class.”

The integration of police and fire is important, Dave Freeman, director of the Emergency Management Agency of Lorain County, said.

“What we’re doing is bringing everyone together and it’s something they customarily don’t do,” Freeman said. “When I first became the EMA director here about a year ago, I went to a fire chiefs meeting and they were discussing active shooters. When I looked around the room, of course, there were no police there so when I asked how they were interacting, they said, well, we don’t have that and I told them they needed to.”

Freeman said he first noted the importance of the connection when he was a fire chief in Cleveland Heights.

Having worked with Makruski before, Freeman contacted him and explained that combined training is necessary.

The next step was putting together the team and finding the training.

“We had this company ALERRT come in and they are professionals, this is what they do,” Freeman said.

“So we’re running through multiple scenarios today where we have active shooters in the building and then we walk them through the entire process.”

ALERRT, which stands for Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Train-

home safe’

approach to offer any guidance as an exercise is underway.

ing, is based in San Marcos, Texas, that is affiliated with Texas State University. The company was organized after the Columbine school shooting and operated in the Texas area until 2012 when the Sandy Hook shooting occurred.

“Then-President Obama tasked the FBI and the Department of Justice with finding an active shooter program and they settled on ALERRT since we were already up and running for 10 years,” said Will Mercado, a retired Austin police officer and instructor with ALERRT.

“Every class outside of the state of Texas is funded by the Department of Justice and FBI and we’ve been to all 50 states and Australia, Guam and all over the world putting on the training.”

Makruski said ALERRT sends instructors and $95,000 worth of training equipment like radios, vests, shot boxes, machines that mimic the sound of gunshots fired, medical supplies and more for the 16-hour course.

Makruski said Lorain County hopes to continue trainings in the future using its own materials.

He also said that in the wake of nearing the second anniversary of the Uvalde, Texas, massacre, training has changed and that this course will serve as a way to usher in the safest way to bring students home in the event of another tragedy.

“When officers responded to Columbine and nobody went in, we started training and saying “Hey, wait for two or three other officers to show up and then you’ll go in like a quad formation to find the shooter,” Makruski said.

“Well, fast forward a couple more shootings and there’s still one guy waiting for two other guys and every round is a kid or a victim dying so now we teach solo response.

“If you’re the first person there, you’re going in because the best way to stop it is to make contact and either engage the suspect or at least stop him from shooting people.’’

700-house development proposed in Vermilion

Owen MacMillan

The Community Guide

VERMILION — A mixed-use development featuring nearly 700 homes and expected to cost upward of $300 million will go before City Council after it received preliminary approval by Planning Commission last wek.

DBR Commercial Realty owner Dan Reaser presented the Vermilion Landing plan to the commission, outlining a threepart, 671-unit residential development along with a commercial strip to be built just north of state Route 2 off of Sunnyside Road.

“This is a very thought-out, engineered, input-from-everybody projectwith the purpose of being beneficial to the community,” Reaser told the commission.

Reaser is partnering with Ryan Homes to build the homes in the plan. Along with a similar development project in Elyria announced Monday, DBR and Ryan Homes have plans to invest roughly $500 million in Lorain County in the coming years.

“I think this could be fantastic for the city,” Vermilion Mayor Jim Forthofer said. “It would increase the population of the city by around 10 percent, bringing in new people and new income taxes, and that is not even to mention the commercial development.

And all of this without any burden to the city.”

Forthofer said that his police chief, fire chief and other city officials have told him the development would not necessitate any expansion of emergency response services. Vermilion Landing would consist of three housing areas: Antler Ridge, Whitetail Estates and Eagle Reserve, which would be the only section on the eastern side of Sunnyside Road.

Nick Sommer, land manager for Ryan Homes, said that the homes in Eagle Reserve would be single-story ranch houses that would cost in the “upper $200,000” range. He said they would not be designated 55-years-and-older housing, but that they would be marketed to people in that range. Whitetail estates would have larger “more stately homes” in the low- to mid-$300,000 range, Sommer said.

Reaser said that the homes in Antler Ridge would be “somewhere in the middle.”

The entire development will be in Vermilion’s city limits, but in the Firelands school district.

Reaser said the area would be designed to have a neighborhood feel and fit in with the spirit of Vermilion.

“The nice thing about this is we are very aware of what we refer to as the friendly, cottagelike atmosphere that Vermilion has,” Reaser said.

“We do not want to change that. We want to keep that — that’s an asset to everybody in the whole county.”

BRUCE BISHOP / COMMUNITY GUIDE

A police officer runs into the former South Amherst Middle School with a training pistol while a referee watches his

Wellington hosted Black River in their first meeting of the season at home. Black River controlled the game going on to win 8-0.

PHOTOS BY RUSS GIFFORD THE COMMUNITY GUIDE

Black River Coach Jake O’Connor celebrates with Alex Woolfrom as he slides safely into third base at Wellington.

Black River’s John Kray throws to first base to complete a double play at Wellington.

Wellington’s John Kinter throws to first base against Black River.

Police officers enter with training pistols.

IMAGES PROVIDED

The paintings loaned from Musée Marmottan in Paris include, from left, “Rouen Cathedral at the End of the Day, Sunlight Effect” (1892), “Water Lilies” (1907) and “Japanese Bridge” (1918). “The reason we were able to borrow these three (paintings) from the Musée Marmottan in Paris is because we lent our “Water Lilies (Agapanthus)” to them in 2022,” says Heather Lemonedes Brown, of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

John Benson

The Community Guide

Everyone loves Monet. That’s why less than a decade after presenting the large-scale “Monet to Matisse” exhibit, Cleveland Museum of Art returns with a focused attention display on the former.

The free “Monet in Focus” exhibit is running now through Aug. 11 in the Julia and Larry Pollock Focus Gallery.

“Many people find them beautiful, and very approachable,” said Heather Lemonedes Brown, Cleveland Museum of Art Paul J. and Edith Ingalls Vignos Jr. curator of Modern European Art.

Elyria police sued

“He was tremendously innovative really throughout this long career the 1860s all the way until his death in 1926.

“In his portrayal of the natural world landscapes, particularly, but he grew with the times. He was an impressionist in the 1870s and 1880s and later into the 1890s and into the 20th century, he becomes more of a symbolist. So he never ossifies. He didn’t develop one style and stay the same. He really evolved and always remained true to himself.”

Featuring five significant paintings by French impressionist

Claude Monet — three special loans from the Musée Marmottan

Cleveland

ADMISSION: free INFO: clevelandart.org

Monet in Paris and two from the CMA’s own collection, including the popular “Water Lilies (Agapanthus)” — the exhibit explores how Monet immersed himself in capturing the momentary effects

The Community Guide An Elyria man has filed a federal lawsuit seeking about $2.5 million in damages from the Elyria Police Department and three of its officers over alleged civil rights violations. Raul Ortiz, of Garvin Avenue, and his mother Debra Fusik have sued the department and the officers involved in Ortiz’s arrest on May 11, 2023. Welling-

THINGS WITH WINGS

ACROSS

1. Country alliance

5. Fish of liver oil fame

8. *Stinging pollinator

11. Prefix in levorotary

12. *Dark home to #33 Down

13. Sudden growth

15. Like certain Steven

16. Symphony member

17. Type of feather

18. *Comfy seat (2 words)

20. Don’t put these into one basket?

21. Full nelson is ____ wrestling ____

22. Santa ____, Orange County

23. Puts down

26. Et cetera (3 words)

30. Pen point

31. With signs of wear and tear

34. Beyond natural, in U.K.

35. Messes up

37. Chitchat

38. Willow twig

39. Evening purse

40. Win a race

42. Tucker of “Modern Family”

43. Army bathroom

45. Eucharist plates

47. Opposite of WSW

48. French composer Erik Alfred Leslie ____

50. “Back to the Future” antagonist

52. *Beatle with Wings

56. Poodle minus d

57. England’s medieval royal house

58. Rabbit’s cousin

59. Nymph chaser

60. Genealogist’s creation

61. Blackhearted

62. George Gershwin’s brother

63. “For ____ a jolly...” 64. It often goes with a rod

1. What the Big Bad Wolf did

First name in jeans

“Pop it in the ____!”

Cuban drums

Secret clique

Roundish

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of light and atmosphere at various times of day and under different weather conditions.

The exhibit is the byproduct of quid pro quo dealings in the art world where titan museums through temporary trades are able to create once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

“The reason we were able to borrow these three (paintings) from the Musée Marmottan in Paris is because we lent our “Water Lilies (Agapanthus)” to them in 2022 for an exhibition they did on Monet and Joan Mitchell, an abstract expressionist and American painter.

“If I had to choose a favorite

ton attorney Brett Murner, who filed the lawsuit, alleges that both Ortiz and Fusik were unlawfully arrested and detained by Elyria police in violation of their civil rights.

Gambit”

Take your pick

*Biblical Gabriel, e.g.

All plants and animals

Approximately

Shortened word, abbr.

Drink request

Home to largest mammal

Socially acceptable behaviors

one of the ones that we’ve been lent, it would probably be another water lily painting from 1907. It’s a vertical painting and it just focuses on the surface of the water, the reflections, the water lilies on the pond and the light of the sunset.”

The loaned Musée Marmottan Monet paintings include “Rouen Cathedral at the End of the Day, Sunlight Effect” (1892), “Water Lilies” (1907) and “Japanese Bridge” (1918). Brown said something to remember is many of Monet’s water lily paintings were made during World War I at his water garden at Giverny.

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