Local Dems praise Biden; look ahead
Hope ‘his legacy will guide our politics away from hate and division’
Richard Perrins
The Community Guide
After President Joe Biden announced Sunday he would withdraw from the 2024 presidential election, political leaders in Lorain County said the decision puts the Democratic Party in an uncertain position.
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, DCleveland, who is seeking reelection this November, had joined the ranks
of Democrats calling for Biden to step down on Friday. On Sunday, he expressed his thanks to Biden on X.
“I thank President Biden for his years of committed service to the country we love — as senator, as vice president and as president,” Brown wrote.
State Rep. Joe Miller, D-Amherst, said Biden has done an “amazing job” as president, and his decision to
step down gives Democrats an opportunity to pick a presidential ticket that will bring “energy and work to make sure (Democrats) preserve the democratic republic.”
“You got hints that he was debating his ability to serve the nation the way he would like to, and I think others were asking that question of him as well,” Miller said. “I believe he would continue for this next elec-
tion if he felt that it would be best for the country and best for the success of our candidate in our slate.”
Miller said he thought the decision could energize the Democratic base, which he said was needed to win the election, on the presidential ticket and down the ballot.
Miller will attend the Democratic National Convention, which starts Aug. 19 in Chicago, as a delegate.
“I think it will unite the party,” Miller said. “I truly believe that many and most Americans want to stop this trend we’re heading down under Trump … We’re going to probably have an interesting convention in August, but I think that in the end what comes out of that convention will really unify and unite us.”
Sharon Sweda, chair of the Lorain County Democratic Party, released
Elderly, poor can get help with the heat
Richard Perrins
The Community Guide
In 2021, Zach Parrish’s daughter was in second grade in Defiance Public Schools when she was offered enrollment in a LifeWise Academy class.
Parrish said he then volunteered to be a LifeWise instructor to learn about the academy’s material. He accessed LifeWise’s full curriculum and training materials and shared it with his Facebook group called Parents Against LifeWise.
On July 2, LifeWise filed a lawsuit against Parrish, claiming he infringed on the copyright of the company by publishing the materials.
“At that point, it set me on a mission to warn everybody,” Parrish said. “To tell people this is happening, they’re growing, they have intentions of spreading across the nation.”
Parrish is one of the founders of Parents Against LifeWise, which has more than 5,000 members.
Parents in the group and in Lorain County have expressed concerns over LifeWise’s lack of transparency as it pursues its goal of offering Bible education for public school students during school hours.
Joel Penton, LifeWise’s founder and CEO, said the company does not offer its full curriculum publicly because of a licensing agreement it has with its publisher, Lifeway Christian Resources.
Upon request through its website, LifeWise does provide a 27-page sample curriculum that Penton said should be able to answer parents’ questions. But Parrish said that isn’t enough.
“It’s about transparency,” Parrish said. “We need to be able to review this material.”
Sherry Clark, a teacher at Lorain High School, said her daughter is a student in
Data from LifeWise Academy website
BETZEL / CHRONICLE GRAPHIC
LifeWise is an Ohio-based religion instruction program for students to be let out of school to study the Bible off-campus with their parents’ permission during the school day. It is headquartered in Hilliard and was launched in 2019 in two Ohio school districts. In Lorain County, 10 school districts have surpassed 50 signatures for a LifeWise program, including the four that have already established a program.
the Sheffield-Sheffield Lake school district. The district is in the process of establishing a LifeWise program — per the academy’s website, SheffieldSheffield Lake has passed the 50-signature threshold from community members and has held kickoff meetings where LifeWise employees laid out the way forward.
Under current Ohio law, school districts are allowed to establish religious release programs with private organizations like LifeWise as long as parents consent to their children participating, the program takes place outside
the school and the program receives no public funds. Release programs allow students to be released from school to attend.
Clark, who said she attended Catholic schools growing up, said she wasn’t opposed to religious studies being a topic in her daughter’s education. She said she was immediately concerned with the program once she was told she couldn’t access LifeWise’s entire curriculum.
“I see a value in character development and teaching kids to be decent human beings,” Clark said. “But if
you’re not going to show me, as a parent, what you’re teaching my kids … Something doesn’t feel right. There is no transparency.”
Penton said the curriculum is based on the Gospel Project, a religious study curriculum that takes educators and students through the Bible chronologically. The Gospel Project is also published by Lifeway Christian Resources. According to Lifeway’s website, the company is “an entity of the Southern Baptist Convention,” a fellowship of
Crisis Program provides funding
The Community Guide Relief for senior citizens and those in need from the summer heat is available through Sept. 30 through the Lorain County Community Action Agency’s Summer Crisis Program.
The annual program provides eligible households with a one-time benefit to assist with electric bills, central air conditioning repairs and air conditioning unit and/or fan purchases.
The main qualification for the program is a gross annual income at or below 175 percent of the Federal Poverty Line: $54,600 for a family of four in 2024.
Residents at that poverty level qualify for help if they also meet at least one of the following criteria:
n At least one household member is age 60 or over.
n A household member has a documented medical condition worsened by extreme heat.
n Their electric service has been disconnected or they have received a disconnect notice.
n They are trying to establish new service.
n They are enrolling in Ohio’s Percentage of Income Payment Plan Plus for the first time.
n They are an existing Percentage of Income Payment Plan customer in default.
Customers of regulated utilities can receive up to $500 in assistance. Customers of unregulated utilities can receive up to $800. Eligible clients can also receive up to $1,500 for central air conditioning repairs.
Residents who have not received an air conditioner from LCCAA in the last three years can request a unit. Electric box fans will also be distributed.
Appointments are required and can be made at lccaa.net/programs/energyservices/ summer_crisis.
Limited in-person services are offered at three locations in the county:
n The Lorain County Office on Aging, 534 S. Abbe Road, Elyria
n The Second Baptist Church at 427 Chapman Lane, Elyria
n The Wellington branch of the Lorain County Office on Aging, 105 Maple St. More information is available at lccaa.net or (440) 245-1870.
Sheriff shoots, kills woman
Police say 37-year-old with history of mental illness had knife, fake gun
MEDINA — A Lafayette Township woman died in an officer-involved shooting in the Medina County Sheriff’s Office parking lot Wednesday, July 17. Victoria Carter, 37, of Lafayette Township, was identified during a news conference held by Medina Police Chief Ed Kinney on that afternoon. He recounted what had happened: At 6:04 p.m., the Medina
DEMS
a joint statement Sunday with Chris Rewak, the party’s Central Committee chair, that thanked Biden for his successes as president. The statement expressed the party’s support for the eventual nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris or otherwise. The statement also said age has become a defining issue for Biden and Trump.
“While his exit is bittersweet, he should be commended for putting the country ahead of his own wish for a second term,” the statement read. “People have expressed the desire for younger choices, and Democrats are responding.”
In an email statement, Bob Meilander, chair of the Lorain County Republican Party, said Biden’s withdrawal highlighted issues in the U.S. democratic process.
“It is regrettable that the Democrat party did not provide the American people with (a) more transparent and open election process,” Meilander said. “Our nation thrives on the principle of democracy, fairness, and the opportunity for all voices to be heard.”
Meilander said Biden’s withdrawal could bring his ability to continue serving as president into question, and said Trump is “best positioned to address the crisis facing our country.”
“The concern over (Biden’s) fitness to lead have become increasingly apparent and should promote discussions about the potential invocation of the 25th Amendment by Congress,” Meilander said. “In these challenging times, the need for strong and decisive leadership has never been more apparent.”
The former chair of the Lorain County Republican Party, David Arredondo, wrote in an email statement that Biden’s decision to withdraw “ensures that Donald Trump will be elected our next president in November.”
Arredondo said there’s a contrast between the results of the Republican National Convention last week, when the Republican ticket of Trump and his running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance
County Sheriff’s Office was notified by a man through the office’s outdoor intercom system that a woman had a weapon and was in the parking lot creating a disturbance.
Medina County Sheriff Terry Grice and Deputy Doug Clinage went outside to investigate and ordered the woman to drop the weapons in her hands.
“The female, at one point, charged toward the two,” Kinney said.
of Cincinnati, was finalized, and what he described as “chaos” within the Democratic Party.
Paul Adams, director of the Lorain County Board of Elections and chair of the Lorain City Democratic Party, said in a written statement he’s looking forward to “the work of unifying our party.” Adams supported Biden’s endorsement of Harris and said Biden made a “tough decision that put others first.
“I am personally deeply grateful for his years of leadership and particularly his ability to work across the political divide to get legislation and policies enacted,” Adams said. “At a time of great political animosity in our country, I hope his legacy will guide our politics away from hate and division.”
Ohio House of Representatives Minority Leader Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, released a statement Sunday praising Biden’s leadership.
“President Biden is and always has been a brave and selfless leader,” Russo’s statement read. “President Biden has earned the thanks of an indebted country, and we will always be grateful to call him our president.”
U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo, also released a statement Sunday praising Biden’s leadership that she says brought investment to Ohio’s infrastructure and manufacturing industry. Kaptur, the longest-serving woman in the history of the House, is running for reelection this year.
“Throughout his service, he has walked fiercely at Liberty’s side at home and abroad. He has stood tall as a steadfast champion of working men and women,” Kaptur’s statement read. “I deeply respect his selfless decision to step aside, and know he will continue to use his talents to look for allies and partnerships in our complicated world to help our region and nation thrive for the generations to come.”
Adams said the decision will be up to elected delegates at the convention, though he said he thought Biden’s endorsement of Harris would “carry significant weight in that process.”
“Deputy Clinage attempted to Tase the female. There was no effect with that Tasing attempt. The female lunged again and was shot by Sheriff Grice. He discharged his service weapon.”
The woman, identified as Victoria Carter, was killed.
Kinney said Medina police later found out through the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation that the firearm she was carrying was a replica firearm. The knife, however, was real.
“In a split second, it’s impossible for a police officer to determine whether a firearm, a replica firearm, is real or not,” Kinney
LIFEWISE
Baptist evangelical congregations in the U.S.
LifeWise’s “statement of faith” on its website says it “seek(s) to avoid discussions about denominational differences in the classroom.”
Penton said it’s standard practice for publishers to have and enforce copyright restrictions on curricula, and that LifeWise is open for parents to ask specific questions about the academy’s educational material.
Penton also emphasized that LifeWise is an optional program, and if a parent doesn’t feel comfortable enrolling their child then they can “watch and wait” to see how the program goes.
“What we want to ensure is that parents do have that option,” Penton said. “It’s OK if there are some parents that are hesitant, but we wouldn’t want that to make it the case that no parents would then have the option.”
Melody Penfound is a former English tutor in Elyria Schools, and had children who previously went through the school district. She said the lack of transparency with LifeWise makes her suspicious of the program, even though she said religious education isn’t necessarily a bad idea for students outside of school hours.
“You only want to hide something if you don’t want something seen,” Penfound said. “There’s something wrong when that level of secrecy is involved.”
In order for a school district to establish a LifeWise program, members of the community have to follow 10 steps, according to its website. The first step is to collect 50 signatures. The second step is to set up a kickoff meeting, which the website states is for community members to learn more about the organization and discuss next steps.
On Tuesday, LifeWise held two kickoff meetings via Zoom for the Sheffield-Sheffield Lake school district. Clark registered and attended both meetings — one at noon and one at 8 p.m. — but was removed by the host from both after a few minutes.
Clark posted a Google review for
said. “I think any reasonable officer would have reacted the way they did presented with the exact same facts.”
While Kinney said the department is not aware of any criminal history for Carter, “She was known to us. She has an extensive history of mental health issues.”
It appears likely she was outside the Sheriff’s office because her boyfriend is in jail in the same building.
LifeWise on Wednesday in which she outlined her experience from the kickoff meetings. LifeWise’s official page responded to the review and said the organizers of the meeting obtained screenshots of Clark posting on Facebook about her participation in the meeting.
“A similar post in this same group in which you participated made derogatory marks about our employees and made plain that the obvious purpose of attending these meetings was to overwhelm the call with disingenuous questions,” LifeWise’s anonymous response read.
Clark said she emailed LifeWise several times for clarification on her removal but hadn’t received any response as of Friday.
A Chronicle-Telegram reporter was also removed by the host from Tuesday’s 8 p.m. meeting. When asked about the removal, Penton said that since the reporter had previously registered for and attended the noon meeting, the organization was concerned the reporter was part of a group “looking to distract as opposed to contribute.”
“We had a few individuals we noticed were joining (kickoff meetings) to ask disingenuous questions,” Penton said. Penton did not clarify what constituted a “disingenuous” question.
Even though Ohio law now allows school districts to establish religious programs with private organizations like LifeWise, a bill in committee in the Ohio House of Representatives would require all schools to adopt a policy allowing religious release time when requested.
Christina Collins, the executive director of Honesty for Ohio Education, gave a presentation during a Lorain Board of Education meeting on Tuesday that outlined the bill and steps the board could take. According to LifeWise’s website, Lorain Schools is in the “planning” phase of establishing a LifeWise program.
Collins said Honesty for Ohio Education understands the potential value of religious education but disagrees with a state mandate that would allow organizations like LifeWise to operate, referencing concerns over background checks and the organization’s curriculum.
He said the Medina Police Department has responded to her Ryan Road address several times to do welfare checks regarding mental health issues.
“It highlights the need for improved mental health treatment on these folks who are having mental health struggles, mental health problems,” Kinney said. “They need resources. They need avenues that they can go to get these situations addressed, so that it doesn’t turn into a tragic situation like this. It’s very disappointing.”
The Ohio BCI is the lead agency in the investigation.
“We do support religious pluralism, and we do believe that everyone should see themselves in their educational experiences,” Collins said. “We were hearing everyone’s concerns, and the concerns were around transparency and the lack of transparency in the curriculum.”
Last week, LifeWise fired the director of its program in Firelands Schools, Renee Beck, after allegations surfaced that she exchanged sexual messages with students in a previous position in 2018. Firelands Elementary School is set to launch a LifeWise program this fall for students in first through fourth grades, according to an email sent to staff by Superintendent Mike Von Gunten.
The allegations raised concerns among Lorain County community members around the efficacy of LifeWise’s background checks. Penton said nothing appeared on Beck’s background check because no criminal charges were filed related to her allegations, but confirmed her dismissal was because she didn’t disclose details related to her prior employment.
Penton said LifeWise uses ProScreening Background Checks for its vetting process, though it previously used a company called Protect My Ministry.
While some area districts have established LifeWise programs — including Firelands, New London Schools, Mapleton Schools and Black River Schools — some districts are finding ways to prevent them.
Vermilion Schools surpassed 50 signatures for a LifeWise program, but in the fall of 2023 the board of education denied the establishment of a LifeWise program, Superintendent David Hile said.
Hile said the board requested information from LifeWise representatives on other school districts that had successfully implemented the program, but LifeWise was unreceptive. The board then decided not to move forward with the program because they didn’t have enough information.
“The board wanted to look into it more and find out what was going on with the program,” Hile said. “As they started doing that, they started to have concerns, and they asked questions that LifeWise couldn’t answer.”
Sara Crawford The Community Guide
Carter
Heroic neighbors save dog from fire
Rini Jeffers
The Community Guide
VERMILION — It was just another day, a pleasant May afternoon when Matt Green heard his wife yelling there was serious trouble.
“The neighbor’s house is on fire! The neighbor’s house is on fire!”
Two doors down, on the same side of the street on Idleview Drive, flames were coming out the windows of Willie Ann Shultz’s house.
Green, a detective with the Erie County Sheriff’s Office, didn’t know Schultz well, “but I’ve never seen her not be there.”
“I dropped what I was doing immediately and ran down to her house and met Tony on the way in,” he said, referring to Tony Budka, another neighbor, directly across the street.
Both men ran into the burning house to find Shultz, who is 84.
“I kicked the door in and we started clearing the rooms one by one,” Green said.
“We didn’t find her, but when I got to the kitchen I did find a white canine on the floor, lying there.”
The dog was lethargic, likely beginning to feel the effects of the smoke that was rapidly filling the house. The men retreated, dog in tow, and Green secured it in his garage. He realized then that the only place they hadn’t searched was the back patio — and headed back to the home.
The fire appeared to be coming from that part of the house and now the electrical wires were loudly popping. Green said he took along a fire extinguisher, though he knew it would be useless against a structure fire of that extent.
“I knew it really wouldn’t do anything but I thought it was better to have it and not need it than not have it at all, I guess,” and headed in, just to make sure, while the Vermilion Fire Department raced to the scene. He quickly got out and firefighters rushed in, made sure no one was in the building and extinguished the fire.
Shultz was out with a friend. She was very grateful her little dog — who “looked a lot like Toto from ‘The Wizard of Oz’,” Green said — was saved when she got home.
Budka, the assistant wrestling coach for the Wellington Schools, could not be reached for comment.
The little dog, a 9-year-old Shih Tzu named Miles, is Willie Ann’s “little baby,” said Margo Shultz, her daughter-in-law.
Margo and Troy Shultz, Willie Ann’s daughter-in-law and son, live four doors down but were in St. Louis, waiting for a flight home from vacation when they received a call about the fire.
“That day, she got the whole house immaculate and perfect, she turned around and said ‘My house is beautiful and I’m so happy I live here.’ She left to go see her sister and she left the TV on for her dog. That’s why they thought she was in there, because the TV was on,” she said.
Storms delayed their trip but their sons Cody and Mason were home from college at the time to help, as were Willie Ann’s other son, Tony, and daughter-in-law, Sue, and grandchildren Amy Emerik and Angie
PHOTO PROVIDED
Willie Ann Shultz holds Miles, her 9-year-old Shih Tzu who was rescued from a devastating Vermilion house fire when she wasn’t home on May 13 by neighbors Matt Green and Tony Budka. The men were recognized for their heroism by the city of Vermilion last week.
Wooten, in the aftermath.
The community immediately stepped in to help, too, Margo said.
The owners of Main Street Threads, a boutique in town, “brought clothes to her within an hour, she had clothes to go to bed in and fresh clothes for the next day; another person ran to the store and got dog food and toiletries, and my good friend came over to take care of her and everything, and people asking questions,” Margo Shultz said.
Strangers and friends stopped by for days after, dropping off clothes, food, and so many phone numbers: What can I do? Call me if you need anything?
The mayor reached out, the service director came over, the fire chief was so helpful, she said.
When the firefighters came, they managed to pull out a chest of drawers full of family photos before the house was consumed.
“Our town is blessed with the best people that are so unselfish, they come and take care of what they have to do without batting an eyelash. I don’t think we know what we have. We are very lucky,” she said.
“She was ecstatic they saved her dog. I don’t think she could have made it if she’d lost her little baby too,” Margo said.
“What they did is amazing,” Vermilion Fire Chief Bill Brown said. “I look at how society has changed and I don’t think people are as willing to help others as much as they used to be.
“These guys, they saw the fire; they didn’t know if she was home or not and they kicked down the front door and made their way into the house to find her and got her little dog out. There are still good people out there. Hopefully, good people are multiplying as time goes on. We need folks like that.”
“It’s always embedded in you,” Green said. “Something’s wrong, you gotta make it right.”
Vermilion City Council honored the two men for their heroism with a proclamation on July 16.
Where will airport land?
Carissa Woytach
The Community Guide
VERMILION — A Sunnyside Road plot could become a mixed-use development or a new county airport. With a referendum to block the development of more than 600 homes on 300 acres in southeast Vermilion potentially headed to the November ballot, discussions around a new county airport on the space came up at a Lorain County commissioners meeting earlier this week.
On July 16, Commissioners Jeff Riddell and Dave Moore discussed ongoing updates to the Lorain County Regional Airport’s 20-year master plan, including options to see an airport on Sunnyside Road. Earlier this month, the commissioners approved a $702,000 agreement with Crawford, Murphy and Tilly Inc. to update the plan, splitting the cost between $584,000 in Federal Aviation Administration grants, $32,500 in Ohio Department of Transportation funds and $85,500 from the county. On Friday, Moore said discussions of an airport in Vermilion have been in the air for about two years — with the Sunnyside Road site being one of three in the county that commissioners identified for the po-
tential development.
Other sites are in South Amherst or south of Oberlin, he said, but the Vermilion one is close to train tracks and freeways, making it the better of the three.
The county is looking to either move the airport from its New Russia Township site, or expand on that property to be able to accommodate a 7,000-foot runway — which is needed to accommodate freight traffic and compete with Cleveland Hopkins International Airport for cargo shipping from companies like Amazon, UPS and FedEx, Moore said. Costs for either option were not available.
As Cleveland mulls decommissioning Burke Lakefront Airport, Moore said it is a chance for the Lorain County Regional Airport to pick up that traffic, and with it, money from fuel and rent.
Expanding the regional airport’s capacity is also a piece in attracting a “mega site” development to the county, Moore said, which could potentially bring a company, or companies that support Intel or similar economic development.
“We’re on the map nationally,” Moore said, adding that is in part why the county is moving forward with the Baumhart Road sewer project and other infrastructure improvements.
County eyes Vermilion for relocation of regional airfield
on Saturday.
Volunteers get on board to fix up historic caboose
The Community Guide
GRAFTON — A group of volunteers picked up paint brushes and rollers on Saturday to spend their weekend beautifying and preserving a fixture of Grafton’s Main Street and a piece of its history.
That fixture is the iconic yellow caboose which has stood at the corner of Grafton’s Main Street (state Route 57) and Railroad Street since at least the early 1980s.
The repainting effort was organized by Main Street Grafton and the Grafton Railroad Historical Society, with paint provided by Sherwin Williams through a grant from the nonprofit Keep Ohio Beautiful.
“It’s a labor of love,” Historical Society member Paul Justy said. “It shows that you still care about (the caboose) and Grafton… It’s a pride thing.”
Most of the painters were volunteers with Main Street or the society but a few had come on their own or simply walked by and stopped to help.
Volunteers said that the caboose was important as a reminder of Grafton’s birth and growth as a railroad town.
“Grafton wasn’t founded on railroads, but it thrived because of them,” Main Street member Tami Mullins said.
The village was founded as “Rawsonville” in 1846 by Jonathan Rawson, after the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad company told him it would build a railroad through the area if he did.
The village later became Grafton Station and grew to regional prominence as a stopover for that railroad and another that would be built later.
Grafton’s caboose was last operated on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad by The Chessie System, a Cleveland-based holding company. Chessie merged with Seaboard Coast Line Industries in 1980 to form the modern CSX Corporation.
Even before that, cabooses had fallen out of favor and were an increasingly rare sight on the nation’s railroads.
Traditionally, cabooses served primarily housing for train crews and featured a brakeman and flagman
who would warn the conductor if air brakes failed.
Railroad Historical Society co-
Chairman Joseph Filipiak said that as forward crew cabins became more sophisticated and comfortable and electronic systems made flagmen obsolete, larger railroad companies stopped using the caboose.
Cabooses across the country were scrapped or simply sat unused in rail yards.
That was where Filipiak found the caboose that now calls Grafton home: sitting in a CSX rail yard in Willard, Ohio.
He petitioned the Village Council to take in the caboose as a marker of Grafton’s history as a rail town and organized its release by CSX.
CSX agreed to release the caboose, but Filipiak said that he learned transportation and other expenses would cost $2,000.
Filipiak began campaigning to raise the money, but then the late John Spitzer, a Grafton native who chaired Spitzer Management Inc. and operated over 25 Ford dealerships in Ohio and Florida, stepped up.
“John Spitzer, God bless his soul, he was a closet rail fan and he came up to me,” Filipiak said. “He asked how much we needed and we said, 2000. John writes a check, gives it to us and says, ‘don’t tell anybody where it came from.’”
With that, the caboose was delivered, but Filipiak and a group of fellow rail enthusiasts soon ran into
another issue.
The section of rail on which the caboose was to be left was deemed no longer fit for rail travel, so that left the group of rail enthusiasts with one option: move the 40,000-odd pound caboose themselves.
They borrowed a “creeper bar,” basically a massive lever made for inching rail cars forward by hand, from a local mill and got to work.
“We got five of the guys down here on a summer day like this, about noon,” Filipiak said. “... Now this is Grafton, you gotta understand this is farm country. We’re working and eventually this big Ford pickup truck stops. This guy gets out — big farm boy — and asks “you fellas need some help?” So he comes up and pretty soon, there’s a couple more pickup trucks that stop. More farm boys came out, and they were even bigger than the first guy.”
With the help of those men the group was able to move the caboose just shy of Main Street, where it sits to this day. The rest of that railroad track has been removed, except for the section on which the caboose sits.
Filipiak could not recall exactly when the caboose arrived; he believed it was in the early 1980s, but he estimated that it is one of only around a dozen left in existence in the eastern U.S.
The Grafton Railroad Historical Society has taken remarkable care of the car, and Saturday was the first coat of the third repainting,
Girl Scout camps get fix-up funds
The Community Guide The Girl Scouts of North East Ohio announced Monday that it has received state funding to upgrade two regional Girl Scout camps in Erie and Trumbull counties. The $900,000 in total funding for Camp Timberlane in Wakeman and Camp Sugarbush in Kinsman was included in House Bill 2, the Ohio General Assembly’s capital budget. Camp Timberlane will receive $600,000 and Camp Sugarbush, $300,000, for infrastructure and camping improvements.
Camp Timberlane is a 324acre camp the Girl Scouts said is used by 5,000 people every year. The funding will help improve security and access there, as well as access to water activities, upgrade the camp’s target range for threeseason plus use, and increase camping capacity, according to the Girl Scouts.
Bre Tischler, director of marketing and communication for the Girl Scouts of North East
Ohio, said the upgrades at Camp Timberlane will include a new entrance gate, video monitoring with remote control, a new generator for the camp mess hall to make sure food stays fresh if there is a power outage. There will also be a new watefront pavilion, boat and equipment
(Candy Crush, that is)
Madisyn Woodring The Community Guide
BRUNSWICK — Out of the 15 million players who took part in Candy Crush’s worldwide tournament, it was a Brunswick resident who took home the $500,000 grand prize and a custom championship ring.
Ben Chin is 24 years old and has been a Brunswick resident since 2005. It was his mom who introduced him to the Candy Crush online game after he was able to create a Facebook account in 2013.
“It’s always been my time-killer game. I’ve been playing that off and on for about 11 years.”
Around the end of March, Chin opened the app to play before bed and received a notification about a Candy Crush tournament with a $1 million prize pool.
the live finals in Los Angeles. Chin said he was flown out to compete against the others in the Top 10 Candy Crush players in the world on June 20, which he described as an “incredible experience.”
“Every single person that I competed against deserved to be there,” he said. “They were all incredible, and I wasn’t sure how I was going to stand against these other competitors.”
Chin said he is familiar with competitive gaming on a much smaller scale, playing games like Call of Duty, Fortnite and Overwatch.
“There wasn’t really nervousness, but it was a lot of excitement,” he said. After doing better than he expected in the first live finals round, Chin said he thought he had a chance to win it all.
“I’m about to have a major surgery in a couple of weeks, and I’m going to be stuck at home for two months,” he said. “I figured I’ll give it a shot and see how it goes.”
The procedure was to correct lifelong problems with his nose, Chin said.
During his recovery, he played in the tournament, consistently placing first in the different rounds.
“From then on, I didn’t want to make any mistakes in my own gameplay,” he said. “I just pushed out that I could win this out of my head, and I really focused against my fellow competitors.”
One strategy he employed was determining when to stay on a level and when to clear it quickly. Chin said he believes this strategy helped him win. “(It’s) for point efficiency and to maximize how many points you earn on a level.”
“About halfway through, I was like, hang on a second, this is actually going well so far,” he said. “Then I made it to the final knockouts, and that was when the challenge really increased because at that point a lot of people are really, really trying to win.”
Eventually he received a notification saying he earned a shot to compete at
When he was declared the tournament’s grand champion, Chin said, “I was just all smiles, and really, really happy and excited, but I didn’t quite process that I just won this world tournament, and half a million dollars,” he said. “I was absolutely blown away.”
Volunteers apply a fresh coat of paint to the old Chessie System caboose along Grafton’s Main Street
OWEN MACMILLAN / COMMUNITY GUIDE
Owen MacMillan
Cali Schlosser, 8, helps by painting the parts of the caboose others are too tall to reach.
Brunswick resident
Ben Chin won the Candy Crush All Stars Live Final last month in Los Angeles.
PHOTO PROVIDED
He crushed it!
Movie classics to cool you
Get out of the heat and take a seat as Cinema at the Square returns
After taking a year off, Cinema at the Square is back with these classic films:
‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’
2 p.m. Saturday
‘The Mask’
7:30 p.m. Saturday
‘The Iron Giant’
2 p.m. Sunday
‘Rebel Without a Cause’
7:30 p.m. Aug. 2
‘All About Eve’
2 p.m. Aug. 3
‘Hairspray’ (1988)
7:30 p.m. Aug. 3
‘The Parent Trap’ (1998)
2 p.m. Aug. 4
‘Ever After’
7:30 p.m. Aug. 7
‘Some Like It Hot’
7:30 p.m. Aug. 8
‘Moonstruck’
7:30 p.m. Aug. 9
‘The Philadelphia Story’
2 p.m. Aug. 10
‘Die Hard’
7:30 p.m. Aug. 10
‘Mary Poppins’
2 p.m. Aug. 11
John Benson The Community Guide
After nearly four decades of programming films at the Cleveland Institute of Art’s Cinematheque, Director John Ewing recently retired.
We caught up with him just as he was walking out the door late last month to discuss the impact of the Northeast Ohio art house theater at University Circle’s Peter B. Lewis Theater and upcoming film screenings in August, as well as the return of Playhouse Square’s beloved Cinema at the Square film series screened in the Connor Palace.
John, congratulations on your retirement. Looking back at the early days of the Cinematheque, did you think it would last?
I didn’t really think it would last, but I was determined to try to make it last because what else was I going to do with my life?
There was apparently a feasibility study done at the Case (Western Reserve University) business school in the early days when the Cinematheque was first announced about whether it would fly in the region. They concluded it wouldn’t, so I’m so happy that we defied the experts.
I was pretty determined to make it work and the public responded. I was very fortunate. I couldn’t have done it without the staff and public support. And the public did support us, so we’re still going.
Despite retirement, the Cinematheque’s summer schedule was booked under your guidance. What are a few films you’re excited about?
Charlie Korsmo, who’s now a law professor at Case, was the child star in the Warren Beatty film “Dick Tracy.” He’s going to appear in person at a
screening followed by audience questions. I remember liking the film. Visually, it’s quite stunning, It has a great cast and won Oscars. I’m generally not a huge fan of superhero movies, but this seems like a little bit of an outlier. And the fact that Korsmo is going to be here makes it very special. Also, we do show 35mm films still. We’re showing “Inception” in 35mm. That was a film that I liked a lot when I saw it. It’s one of Christopher Nolan’s most intriguing and actually successful films.
As for the return of Cinema at the Square, what are a few of the classic movies that audiences should make an effort to see?
Those are all like solid American classics. “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” and “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” are good enough that we showed them recently. I can kind of affirm those choices, but they’re all solid classics. “The Philadelphia Story.” I don’t know that we’ve ever shown that, actually. It’s a great film with Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart. You can’t go wrong with those three. And “Rebel Without a Cause” is in color and cinemascope. That should look nice at the Palace.
As for the future of the Cinematheque, that responsibility belongs to your successor Bilgesu Sisman, a cinephile and educator with a background in philosophy. What’s your message to Cinematheque lovers about the future?
Bilgesu loves films. She has the kind of Cinematheque sensibility, which is needed. So I’ll be in the audience watching these films. I’m eager to see what she does with the program, and I hope people will continue to support her. Contact John Benson at ndiffrence@att.net.
Three-car crash kills woman, shuts down Ohio Turnpike
The Chronicle-Telegram
A woman was killed in a fiery three-vehicle crash on the Ohio Turnpike Monday morning that shut down all eastbound traffic out of Toledo for about five hours.
Samantha Smith, 35, of Chardon was killed in a crash on the Turnpike east of the state Route 51 interchange in Washington Township, Sandusky County, just before 10 a.m., according to the Milan post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
The crash occurred when a Kenworth T880 tractordump trailer driven by Timothy Moulton, 58, of Toledo went off the right side of the road and struck a concrete barrier.
Moulton’s truck then went across the westbound lanes and hit the opposite concrete barrier, going over it and into the eastbound lane.
After going over the barrier, the Kenworth struck the Ford Escape driven by Smith which continued for a short distance and then
caught fire.
After hitting Smith’s Ford, the Kenworth continued across the eastbound lanes of the Turnpike, running into the guardrail and then a Kenworth T860 tractor-trailer, which was driven by Keo Thach, 43, of Countryside, Illinois. Thach was uninjured.
Smith was pronounced dead at the scene and was taken to Mercy Health St. Vincent Medical Center in Toledo, the Highway Patrol said.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: Cinematheque
WHERE: Peter B. Lewis Theater of the Cleveland Institute of Art, 11610 Euclid Ave., University Circle TICKETS: $12 ($9 for Cinematheque members, Cleveland Institute of Art or Cleveland State University students and people age 25 & under) unless noted INFO: 216-421-7450 or cia.edu/ Cinematheque WHAT: Playhouse Square presents Cinema at the Square WHEN: Through Aug. 11 (times vary) WHERE: Connor Palace, 1615 Euclid Ave., Cleveland TICKETS: $8 INFO: (216) 241-6000 or PlayhouseSquare.org/cinema
PHOTO PROVIDED
Charlie Korsmo, now a law professor at Case Western Reserve University, was the child star in the Warren Beatty film “Dick Tracy.” He will appear in person at an Aug. 11 screening followed by a Q&A.
The Community Guide
The Community Foundation of Lorain County approved more than $500,000 in grants for education and youth development.
The foundation doled out $534,988 in grants to 26 programs. The grants ranged from $4,000 to $50,000 and will fund in-school and afterschool activities, summer programming, college access and internships, mentoring and programs for students with disabilities.
Grants align with several initiatives supported by the foundation, including helping low-income students and families, enhancing access to inclusive and equitable education, and preparing students for the workforce.
Prominent donors include the William J. and Flora Hearn Durling Fund and the Julius W. Zajac Fund, which supported College Now’s efforts to provide college advising to low-income students in Clearview and Wellington schools; and the Emma C. and Rosemary Miller fund, which has awarded more than $500,000 in grants and scholarships since 1993.
Recipients include:
of
Playhouse Square’s film series returns, screening 15 classics at Connor Palace, the largest non-IMAX screen in Ohio.
5 THINGS TO WATCH AT CAMP
Cooper’s contract situation, Chubb’s knee just a couple of critical issues facing team
The Browns will hop on a plane Thursday for the short flight to The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. The training camp excursion was an experiment for the organization last year. This time around, it’s an attempt to re-create the bonding experience of a year ago that jump-started a run to the playoffs despite a mountain of in-season adversity.
“Attack it the same way but continue to try to improve on where we missed out,” Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett said during minicamp in June. “Whether it was those moments of bonding, making sure that all the guys are getting out of the rooms, talking through plays, walking through plays, going to dinner, talking about the game.
“At that moment, it’s time to lock in. We’re away for a reason. Take it as a work trip, not on vacation and we don’t need to treat it like that.”
The Browns will spend nine days and eight nights at The Greenbrier through Aug. 2 to kick off camp before returning to Berea for six practices open to the public.
Coach Kevin Stefanski is a big believer in getting away with the team after spending almost his entire coaching career with the Vikings, who left the Twin Cities for training camp.
“I think the guys recognize that it’s good to be under one roof, it’s good to be together,” he said. “It’s good that they get X number of Ping-Pong games in. All of that adds up.
“You can do team-building exercises. You could also just put everybody under one roof and organically those type of things happen.”
One change from last year is notable.
Many players weren’t thrilled a year ago with the news they’d be heading to the remote resort in the mountains of West Virginia. While the logistics still may not be appealing, the locker room was won over by the experience.
Throughout the playoff season, players up and down the roster credited the trip with creating a special team chemistry. They spent hours together dining, playing video games, table tennis and cornhole and learning about each other.
Here are five issues facing the Browns as they’re scheduled to report to Berea on Tuesday, have a walkthrough Wednesday and practice for the first time Thursday in West Virginia.
SHOWING UP?
Everyone is required to report on time. No. 1 receiver Amari Cooper may not.
Cooper skipped the offseason program, including mandatory minicamp, and it’s unclear if he’ll continue the holdout in training camp. He wants a new and improved contract as he enters the final year of his deal and has watched the receiver market skyrocket.
Cooper has been outstanding in his two years with the Browns, including making his fifth Pro Bowl last year after a career-best 1,250 yards. The Browns don’t want to commit huge money long term for a 30-year-old receiver, but there is optimism the sides will be able to reach an agreement that placates Cooper with an influx of guaranteed money.
Tampa Bay’s Mike Evans, 30, got $35 million guaranteed in March, and a two-year, $50 million extension with $30 million guaranteed could be the sweet spot for Cooper.
If either side is unwilling to compromise to that degree,
Scott Petrak
things could get tricky and sticky.
Cooper is the top option in the pass ing game and the Browns don’t have a suitable replacement. Cooper’s also close with quarterback Deshaun Watson and a respected team leader, so an extended absence could affect morale as well as production.
The same could be true if Cooper reports to avoid the mandatory $50,000-a-day fine but is openly unhappy.
The clock is ticking for the Browns to get some thing done and start camp without a giant distrac tion.
READY? OR NOT?
Despite the jaw-dropping and encouraging videos distributed on social media in recent weeks, Pro Bowl running back Nick Chubb is expected to open camp on the physically unable to perform list.
This has always been the likely scenario as Chubb tries to return from a pair of surgeries on the left knee to repair serious damage, including a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
Starting on the active PUP list means Chubb can be activated whenever he’s deemed ready to practice. The Browns don’t need to rush him, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if his first game action doesn’t come until October. In the meantime, he can continue the rehab that seems to be going swimmingly.
In June, Chubb said he was limited to running. Since then, he’s been recorded doing one-leg balance and agility drills, then squatting about 550 pounds. He’s made it a tradition to post a squatting video — bar bending under all the weight at his high school in Georgia — as he prepares to return from summer break, but this was a surprise considering the injury and surgeries.
“No one on our team ever doubted Chubb,” Watson said Wednesday at his high school seven-on-seven tournament. “If you have any doubt in Chubb, I think you’re supporting the wrong team.”
THE NEW LOOK
The organized team activities and minicamp allowed a glimpse into the influence of new coordinator Ken Dorsey on the offensive system.
Training camp and the preseason will provide an indepth study.
Dorsey has experience with quarterbacks who are threats to run — Cam Newton in Carolina, Josh Allen in Buffalo — and has used an attack with more spread elements and shotgun than the Browns have in Stefanski’s four years in charge of the offense.
The Browns won’t abandon the run but they will lean into the pass and try to capitalize on Watson’s strengths. Watson is excited for the freedom he envisions as Dorsey, Stefanski and the rest of the overhauled offensive staff continue to adjust the scheme.
“It’s beautiful,” Watson said.
“It’s fun, it’s exciting and him and Kevin are doing a heckuva job of putting a nice playbook together for all of us to go out there and execute at a high level and be one of the top teams in the NFL, and that’s the plan and we’re going to take it one day at a time and just continue to build on it.”
Another mystery remains. Stefanski has yet to announce (and possibly decide) if he will continue to call the plays or hand the responsibility to Dorsey.
Stefanski could answer the question at the start of camp or wait until he sees how the preseason games go.
Throwing
GOOD TO GO
Watson would’ve been higher on this list, but his surgically repaired right shoulder passed all the offseason tests with flying colors. He threw deep and with velocity in minicamp and should resume taking 100 percent of his normal repetitions at some point during camp.
That’s a huge relief for the Browns.
But Watson still makes the list because this is a pivotal season for his future in Cleveland and the trajectory of his career.
Watson sat out the 2021 season with the Texans then was limited to six games in each of his two years with the Browns. As he heads into Year 3 of his five-year, fully guaranteed $230 million contract, he hasn’t come close to living up to it. He’s also years removed from his most recent of three Pro Bowl appearances with the Texans. The Browns have done a lot to support Watson on and off the field and give him the best chance for success. Shoulder injuries were the main issue last year, but it’s on Watson to be available and play more consistently.
The Browns’ roster ranks among the best in the league. They just need Watson to play like one of the best quarterbacks.
HEALTH CHECK
Right tackle Jack Conklin, left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. and running back/returner Nyheim Hines join Chubb as candidates to start camp on PUP as they recover from knee surgeries last year. Others could also start camp on the sideline, whether on PUP or just slowly working their way back onto the field.
Conklin has battled injuries in recent years and sustained a torn ACL in the opener last season. He recently posted optimistic messages on social media, but he and the Browns should proceed with caution. If he can stay healthy, he’d provide valuable insurance for projected starters Wills and Dawand Jones.
Wills missed the final nine games last year and had surgery to repair a torn medial collateral ligament. He didn’t practice during the offseason and could start camp on the sideline as enters the final year of his rookie contract. Hines’ torn ACL happened in a fluke accident as he sat on a personal watercraft. He said in May he expected to return to practice early in camp if not Day 1. He was signed to improve the passing and return games and has experience with Dorsey and special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone. He’s motivated to get back on the field and make up for lost time.
Contact Scott Petrak at (440) 329-7253 or spetrak@chroniclet.com.
35-year-old Wellington High grad makes her mark at Ohio Scottish Games
The Community Guide
HUNTINGTON TWP. — With the sun beating down over an open field on a particularly hot day in June, a local woman took the field for the first time at the Ohio Scottish Games & Celtic Festival.
Months of prep went into it. But these events — stone throwing, hammer throw, caber toss, weight toss for height, sheaf toss and throwing for distance aree different than most.
And Kari Coates, of Huntington Township, placed fifth.
“When it was held at the fairgrounds in Wellington, my family and I would go because of our Scottish heritage,” Coates said. “There were guys and women picking up logs and throwing them into the air, throwing hammers into the air. It was incredible.”
A spark was ignited, but it would be several years before she was ready. She lost a daughter in 2020 and began thinking about the games again. Soon after, she got pregnant with twin daughters, now 3, and then a son, 7 months old. The idea to compete was still in the back of her mind.
“I was turning 35 this year, and I thought, it’s now or never,” she said. Coates has always been athletic, participating in marching band at Wellington High School and working out for more than a decade.
She began powerlifting in 2013. When she seriously began contemplating participating in the games, she started going to trainer Mark Valenti of Blind Dog Gym in Vermilion in January. Valenti hosted the Highland Games in Vermilion.
Her husband, Steven Garner, and dad, Jack Coates, would cut practice cabers 7 feet tall for her to toss around. She did deadlifts and squats. Everything that would get her ready for competition.
“I like having a challenge, something different,” Coates said. “Throwing big logs in the air is neat. It’s super unique.”
It’s particularly unique for women, with just 10 participating in this year’s games at the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds.
“It’s out of the norm of what we picture women doing,” Coates said.
“We’re not used to seeing women
like this. It’s just amazing and exciting.”
“The women here are so powerful,” she continued. “I’ve met some phenomenal women, amazing athletes. There were a lot of newbies like me this year, but the veterans were very helpful. It was just women supporting women, which was great to see.” Coates’ husband and family have been extremely supportive of her endeavors as well.
“They know it makes me very happy to be able to participate and they have been super supportive,” she said. A massage therapist, Coates said training and competing helps her in her job.
“It helps me to stay super focused,” she said. “I was happy to be there and be able to compete. I will keep doing this for as long as my body lets me. I definitely want to do it again next year.”
She is already gearing up for her next competition, a powerlifting event taking place the first week of October in Kentucky. She’s also interested in a strongman competition.
NICK CHUBB
BULLETIN BOARD
MLS Class of ‘74 to hold 50th reunion
The Marion L. Steele class of 1974 will be having its 50th reunion this weekend.
If you have not received your invitation or would like more information, please contact Raynelle Wasem Bozicevich at (440) 242-1283 or raynelle187@oh.rr.com.
Wellington plans 41st Harvest of the Arts
Wellington’s 41st annual Harvest of the Arts will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sept. 15.
There will be about 60 fine art and folk art vendors, a handmade quilt raffle and lunch in our Friends Cafe. Come visit us in historic Wellington at 101 Willard Memorial Square. Free parking and admission. For more information, call 440-647-2120. This is a fundraiser for community programming at Herrick Library.
Oberlin history walks continue this month
This is the last weekend to go on a Oberlin Heritage Center history walk centering on civil rights.
The tour will highlight historical events that detail the city’s progress and setbacks relating to race and civil rights and covers early Oberlin to the 21st century, according to the center’s website.
The final July tour starts at 11 a.m. Saturday on the front steps of First Church in Oberlin. The 90-minute tour is $10 for adults and free for children and college students.
Register at oberlinheritagecenter.org, email tourinfo@ oberlinheritage.org or call (440) 774-1700.
Fresh produce at Keystone-LaGrange Library
The Keystone Empowers You Collaborative will host a pop-up produce stand at the Keystone-LaGrange Library, 133 E. Commerce Drive, on the second and fourth Thursday of July, August and September from 5:30-6:30 p.m.
Reserve a bag of fresh fruits and vegetables online at bit.ly/KEYProducePickUp.
If you do not have internet access, you can leave a voicemail for your reservation at (440) 409-7460.
Bags of fresh fruits and vegetables are $12. You may pay ahead via Venmo (@Donna-Pycraft), or pay upon pickup with cash or Venmo.
Fruits and vegetables are provided by Pycraft Farm Market and availability will vary based on what is in season. For example, last July, customers received two halfpints of red raspberries, one bunch of green onions, one bunch of Swiss chard, one bunch of beets, one quart of pickles, one head of cabbage, two yellow squash and two zucchini.
Keystone Empowers You (KEY) is a community-based group funded in part by the United Way of Greater Lorain County, and facilitated by Lorain County Public Health.
WEATHER 101
Bulletin Board is published on a space-available basis and items will be edited for style, length, and clarity. Items must be submitted to news@lcnewspapers.com by 11 a.m. the Monday before publication.
WWII re-enactment in August
Camp Maxey, Texas 1944, which is a WWII 99th Infantry Division Living History Event, is on Saturday, August 3, 2024 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
This event is free to attend at Sandstone Village, 763 Milan Avenue, Amherst Ohio 44001, with free parking available at Sandstone Village.
For more info, please contact the Amherst Historical Society at 440-988-7255 or office@amhersthistoricalsociety.org
Happenings at Amherst Library
School Bus Storytime
Do you have a preschooler or kindergartener about to ride the bus for the first time? Join the Amherst Public Library at 2 p.m. Saturday for a special school bus storytime. Kids will get to meet a school bus driver, learn how to ride safely, and get a close-up look at what it’s like to ride to school with a bus ride around the block. Registration is required.
Music + Movement Storytime
Join the Amherst Public Library on Fridays, August 2, 16, and 30 at 11:15 a.m. for Music + Movement Storytime, designed for ages 2-6 and their caregivers. Stretch, sing, dance, and jump along in this fast-paced storytime.
Canine Reading Buddies
Our furry friends are back with Canine Reading Buddies at the Amherst Public Library on Aug. 3 at 11 a.m.
Amherst teacher gets Ohio district award
An Amherst Schools teacher was named State Board District Teacher of the Year for 2025.
Kimberly Haney, a high school medical health technology teacher at Marion L. Steele High School, received the honor for State Board of Education District 2, which includes Lorain, Erie, Huron, Lucas, Wood and Ottawa counties.
Haney is a graduate of Kent State University.
She worked as an athletic trainer before earning her education certification in health and physical education and a Master of Arts in education in community health.
She created Marion L. Steele’s Medical Health Technology program in 1998.
The two-year program prepares students for careers in healthcare.
Playing King of Pop
‘MJ’ depicts the making of ‘Dangerous’ World Tour
John Benson The Community Guide
Wanting to start something in the world of musical theater for more than half of his life, Jahir L. Hipps remembers people crying the day Michael Jackson died. Now it’s tears of joy as the Baldwin Wallace University 2021 graduate helps to shine a light on the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee in the first national touring production of “MJ.” The four-time Tony Award-winning musical makes its Cleveland premiere, appearing Tuesday through Aug. 11 at the KeyBank State Theatre.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: KeyBank Broadway Series presents “MJ” WHEN: Through Aug. 11 (times vary)
WHERE: KeyBank State Theatre, 1519 Euclid Ave., Cleveland TICKETS: $39 to $189 INFO: (216) 241-6000
cast, Hipps covers for the roles of Tito, Jermaine and Jackie Jackson as well as others.
“I was interested in Michael Jackson through the way he is involved in every kind of facet of the world,” said Hipps, calling from Boston. “You go to a restaurant, you’ll hear Michael Jackson. You go to a mall, you’ll hear Michael Jackson.
“I was always really inspired by the fact that he was a young Black artist, like myself. There’s hope in that, there’s inspiration.”
The production, based on the making of the 1992 Dangerous World Tour, goes beyond the singular moves and signature sound of the star, offering a rare look at the creative mind and collaborative spirit that catapulted Jackson into the King of Pop.
A swing member of the
Being prepared to cover so many roles is something he learned while studying musical theater at Baldwin Wallace University where he graduated in 2021. That’s right, the Brooklyn, New York, product had to come to Northeast Ohio to get to his second national touring Broadway show; the first being “Rent.” “What I learned at BW was just about everything,” he said.
“In addition to the core skills — like singing, dancing — there’s the professionalism and social skills.”
Baldwin Wallace University Music Theatre Director Victoria Bussert said there’s something special about “MJ.”
Not only does she have three former students currently in the Broadway production but now Hipps is touring the show.
“Jahir was such a great student — always fearless and creative,” she said.
Hipps
COURTESY MATTHEW MURPHY Roman Banks performs as Michael Jackson in the national touring production of “MJ.”
Haney
The International DayofFriendshipwas proclaimed in 2011 by the UN General Assembly withthe idea that friendship canmake theworld amorepeaceful place.
The namesofthe fourcountries wherethese postcardscame from arehidden in theletters thatformthe border at left andright.Tofind out the names,circle every third letter—starting with thestarred one in each rowofletters Look through the newspaper for names of 10 different cities. Arrange these words in alphabetical
Sports Stars of the World
Some youngtravelers have sent postcards home to familyinthe United States, but thesenders forgot to saywhich country they were visiting Can youuse thegeography cluestodetermine which country each postcardwas sent from?
