Children Services levy sought for fall
Dave O’Brien
The Community Guide
ELYRIA — Lorain County commissioners have voted to start the process for placing a 1.8-mill renewal levy for Lorain County Children Services on the Nov. 5 ballot. The board voted unanimously to send the issue to the county auditor’s office for valuation.
Children Services Executive Director Kristen Fox Berki and Board Chairman Jim Miller attended Friday’s meeting to ask for commissioners’ support in getting the five-year levy on the ballot.
Placing children in need in safe homes is getting harder and harder, county officials said.
The levy provides slightly more than 50 percent of Children Services’ budget and as a renewal will not increase taxes, Fox Berki said.
“We would really like to have this placed on the ballot for this coming November,” she said.
Placing children in need in safe homes is getting harder and harder, Assistant Lorain County Prosecutor Dan Petticord and Fox Berki said. Some children are now being placed out-of-
state, which is “a hardship on the child,” Fox Berki said.
In administrative business, the board approved a threeyear agreement worth $594,367 with NEOGOV of El Segundo, California, for web-based human resources software and programming.
Armbruster said NEOGOV’s expertise will provide assistance in employee evaluations and for time and attendance.
Employees will be able to clock
in from their desktop or laptop computer, he said.
“It’s going to be open to everyone in the county if they would like to be part of the program,” Armbruster said.
“This is taking us to the 2024 version of where we should be in the county.”
The agreement also opens up “thousands of different training applications” for employees, he said.
In other business, the board authorized the county Engineer’s Office to enter into three project agreements with ODOT for four
PHOTOS COURTESY LORAIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Damage to buildings on Broadway in the aftermath of the 1924 Lorain tornado: The Cleveland Trust Co., 383 Broadway, left, and The Metzger & Robinson Building, 385-401 Broadway.
‘We had never heard the word tornado,’ resident recalls
Carissa Woytach
The Community Guide
LORAIN — It looked like a typical summer storm rolling in off Lake Erie.
The weather was right for it — hot and muggy still around 5 p.m. June 28, 1924. Families were on the beach at Lakeview Park, or sitting out on porches trying to beat the heat as black clouds and fierce winds moved in.
Pauline Crooks, 12, remembered her mother had sent her to a dime store downtown with instructions to hurry back to her West 12th Street home before the rain hit, she said in a 1981 oral history interview.
“I started back down Broadway and it began to rain — just torrents of rain,” Crooks said in the interview. “So we stood in the doorway of a clothing store … I looked across Broadway and here was Rowley and Fischer Realtor, orange awning flapping away in the wind — it’s strange the things you remember — and then all of a sud-
A postcard shows an aerial view of Lake Erie front in the aftermath of the 1924 tornado. The postcard reads, “Lake Erie front Loraine tornado June 28, 1924.”
den it seems a great big, black cloud came down and without knowing why we ran into the store and the glass began to smash.” What looked like an angry summer sky was the state’s deadliest tornado in history.
Crooks remembered the store owner hustling patrons and staff into the rows of suits and coats on display in the store. Minutes later, glass was up to 3 inches deep on the floor and the sidewalk had been
local road projects to be done in Lorain County through 2027. All four projects will be done with 80 percent federal funding.
The projects include a $2,422,018 project to resurface Pyle-South Amherst Road in New Russia Township in 2026; a $1,076,968 project for East River Road in Carlisle Township in 2026; a $2,458,598 project to resurface Vermilion Road in Brownhelm Township in fiscal year 2027; and a $1,117,000 project for safety improvements to West Ridge Road in Elyria Township in 2027.
Rite Aid in Grafton, Wellington closing
Dave O’Brien
The Community Guide
Rite Aid has announced the closing of another 15 stores in Ohio as the company goes through bankruptcy.
Though it wasn’t on the list of closings announced Monday in a bankruptcy court filing in Toledo, the Rite Aid at 479 Main St. in Grafton is one of those that will close within the next month-and-ahalf, an employee said.
The Rite Aid at 267 N. Main St. in Wellington also is closing, a manager confirmed Thursday. The last day for the pharmacy is June 25, with prescriptions being transferred to the Grafton drugstore, and retail sales will stop July 25, he said.
A manager at the Grafton store, who did not want to give their name, confirmed Thursday that the store would be closing within six weeks.
A firm date for the closing is expected to be announced soon, the manager said, and all the employees at the location will be out of a job.
All customer prescription information was purchased by Walgreens, the manager said,
and it will be automatically sent to the Walgreens at 100 Cleveland St. in Elyria for future filling or refills.
The pharmacy corporation filed for bankruptcy protection in October, according to media reports, and is closing 200 stores nationwide as a result.
The Chronicle-Telegram also contacted other Rite Aid locations in the county.
Managers at the Rite Aid pharmacies at 2583 Grove Ave. in Lorain and 4580 Liberty Ave. in Vermilion referred a reporter to the corporate press office. An email seeking comment was left Thursday for a Rite Aid spokesperson.
The Rite Aid in Amherst closed in January. A Lakewood store recently closed, and stores in Broadview Heights, Canton, East Liverpool, Fairlawn and Willoughby were also among the closings in November.
Rite Aid’s corporate offices are in Philadelphia. The company celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2023, according to its website.
Contact Dave O’Brien at (440) 3297129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.
Grown-ups were sweating but Caden Dedek, 3, of South Amherst, was having a great time hunting for a prize at the Third Thursday Summer Series on Ely Square. Music, games, vendors and community booths filled the square as well as surrounding streets.
Dear Lorain County Community Guide,
My name is Eli Nicely.
I am a Boy Scout from Troop 427 in Amherst, Ohio, and I am 14 years old.
On Flag Day this past week, I noticed that many people had worn down flags.
Some people were also not following flag code. This law can not be enforced, but I think that it is most respectful if it is followed.
Some of these rules include that a flag should not touch the ground; a flag that is flying at night should be well lit; and that a flag should be retired if it is not in proper condition.
Some places that you can retire them are at many VFWs or even some Boy Scout troops.
This is all just a suggestion, but I think these rules should be followed for the 4th of July and the next Flag Day.
I hope this helps people fly their flags and show respect for our flag and our country.
Happy Fourth of July!
Eli Nicely Scout Troop 427
CLASSIFIEDS
SEWER NEEDED
Part time, temporary, person capable of sewing on an industrial sewing machine, measuring, cutting, understanding sewing patterns and thinking for themselves on interesting projects in a nice, casual atmosphere. $17 an hour to start. 440-775-0015.
TORNADO
From A1
ripped up to expose the water pipes and electrical wires underneath.
“When I told my father what happened, he didn’t believe me,” she said in the interview. “And then, pretty soon a man came along and told him what had happened and we all called it a hurricane. We didn’t know, we had never heard the word tornado.”
On June 30, 1924, The ChronicleTelegram’s front page declared 88 dead, $30 million in damage and 7,000 homeless. A column beside it listed the known dead from across the county.
In the end, The Sandusky-Lorain tornado of 1924 claimed more than 70 lives in the International City and caused what would be millions in damage, Lorain Historical Society Senior Collections Manager Kaitlyn Donaldson said just ahead of the event’s 100th anniversary. “We want to remember and honor the folks who died or the families who were forever impacted by this,” she said. “We really want to recognize how the city came together after to rebuild and recover. There is a lot of symbolism for today in the revitalization of our downtown.”
The International City was able to pick up the pieces and rebuild in 1924, Donaldson said, and there is something similar happening in the efforts to revitalize downtown 100 years later.
‘I thought I couldn’t live’
By today’s standards the storm would be categorized an F4, Donaldson said.
The tornado started in Sandusky, before coming across Lake Erie and hitting Lorain at the bathhouse in Lakeview Park where several were killed.
The storm moved east through the neighborhoods, cutting down churches, businesses and homes in its path, decimating the State Theater and damaging the American Shipbuilding Company.
gone — our house, our car, everything. We didn’t have a stick of clothes or a stick of furniture left.”
The couple took shelter from the rain in a chicken coop across the street, Cotton said, helping a little girl from next door in after them.
The girl, about 8 years old, Cotton said, had been home alone when the storm hit and she was blown into the lot next door while holding onto a sink.
“I thought I couldn’t live, but I’m here,” Cotton said.
The tornado tore through downtown Broadway, lopping off the tops of buildings, or decimating the structures altogether. Churches and the synagogue on Reid Avenue were destroyed. The many that exist now were built afterward or underwent extensive repairs.
The storm hit on George Myer’s 14th birthday, he said in his oral history interview. It bent the maple trees over in front of his family’s house like they were flowers, a “tremendous noise” coming with it.
He said his father and others from the neighborhood spent the night bringing the injured and dead to Fairhome Elementary School on Illinois Avenue.
Lorain High School and Longfellow Middle School were also home to a makeshift hospital and morgue, Donaldson said.
There were instances of neighbors helping one another, like what Myers remembered of his father and others shuttling fellow residents to local hospitals as St. Joseph’s was overrun. Even former Mayor Leonard Moore’s family opened their home on West Fifth Street to shelter 80 people the first night of the tornado.
The hulking steel mills on East 28th Street set up funds to help impacted staff, Donaldson said, and once the cleanup on Broadway turned from digging out those trapped by hand to removing rubble to rebuild, Thew Shovel lent equipment with its name emblazoned on the side.
how word spread so quickly in an age well before the internet. Those include a ship offshore that saw the storm make landfall and radioed to Cleveland; an amateur radio enthusiast able to get word out and bicycle messenger boys navigating the damaged streets to get to Elyria for help. The details of how word initially spread may be lost, but local newspapers spread reports of the damage and soon photographers and onlookers traveled not to help, but to sightsee, Donaldson said.
Some of those gawkers were corralled by the National Guard and turned away — or given something useful to do like help with cleanup. Soon, postcards circulated the devastation, the funds raised from those postcards’ sales helped with rebuilding costs.
Once the debris was cleared and funerals attended, the city moved forward.
“There’s trauma there, surviving something like that,” Donaldson said. She touched on the Van Duesen family, who had relatives in from out of town when the tornado hit their West Fifth Street home, killing five of them. “... There’s people alive today who never got to meet their grandparents because they were killed.”
lar sentiments.
That September, residents hosted what was akin to the International Festival, she said. Community members came dressed in traditional clothing from their respective countries, danced and played music along Broadway and West Fifth Street.
The same month, The ChronicleTelegram reported American Ship Building Co. was rebuilding after its $1 million loss, with plans to replace wooden structures with brick ones and put 600 men to work compared to the 230 employed before the storm.
In December 1924, Henry Baker, director of relief efforts for the Red Cross, said the city had come back quicker than any other community he had worked in, according to The Chronicle’s archive. A relief fund for the city, managed by the Red Cross, reached more than $1 million.
For Donaldson, who has been extensively researching the tornado since its 95th anniversary, the takeaway is not what path the storm took or the architecture the city lost, but the individuals affected. While not from Lorain herself, Donaldson connected with the families she read about, and the stories shared with her.
The State Theater was between showings when the tornado hit, Donaldson said, killing 15 people and collapsing the balcony. Its replacement, the Lorain Palace Theatre, was built a few doors down without a balcony, she said.
Neighboring cities flooded Lorain with police and firefighters, the Red Cross and the National Guard on their heels. A steamship from Cleveland ferried doctors and nurses, taking patients back to the city.
Within 24 hours the estimated 7,000 left homeless in the storm’s wake were given a tent or sheltered with a neighbor, relative or friend.
When the tornado hit, about 37 percent of Lorain’s 37,000 residents were foreign-born — meaning many had never heard of a tornado before, as the weather event is an American phenomenon, Donaldson said.
“I think it shocked a lot of people,” she said.
In another oral history from the interviews in 1981, Susan Cotton remembered her husband was working on the car in the driveway and seeing the storm coming. Cotton said he came into their G Street home while she was closing windows and told her to go to the basement — sensing how horrific the storm would be from his time on sailboats.
“He just pulled me down the stone steps … he said ‘lay down and put your arms over your face’ and in two minutes everything was
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The city was plagued with rain for days on end after the tornado dissipated, prompting the Red Cross to send a nurse to speak to every family in the city to make sure there were no disease outbreaks or lack of medical treatment.
A pharmacist from Youngstown drove through the night to deliver medical supplies, she said. And Amish came up from central and southern Ohio to lend a hand.
“Natural disasters aren’t going to stop,” Donaldson said. “But it’s really the community coming together — everyone becoming neighbors.”
Rebuilding
There are several theories on
Homeowners often rebuilt within a year or moved out of the city entirely. Businesses capped off buildings with their lower three floors — like Lorain Hardware Co. at 502 Broadway — or moved forward with new spaces like the Wagner Building — now the Ariel Hotel — built in 1926.
Churches were often slower to rebuild, having to raise funds from congregations facing their own hardships. But First Congregational Church, 423 Washington Ave., replaced its circa 1876 structure in 1926. And Church of the Redeemer continued construction after the storm — meaning the 647 Reid Ave. structure still has its original stained glass windows.
Other businesses, like the old Majestic Hotel at 742 Broadway, saw its third floor blown off and took the opportunity when rebuilding to add a 60-foot extension onto the space.
Newspaper articles in the months after the tornado noted how quickly the city rebuilt, Donaldson said. A postcard from August shared simi-
During her research in 2019, she remembered her husband asking if she needed to check on her parents in Dayton because a storm was rolling in there.
“I was like ‘Oh, they’re fine,’” she said. “Fourteen tornados ripped through Dayton in 2019. My family was fine, but there’s that feeling, that fear.”
Her husband’s family members are from Xenia, she said, and remembered the 1974 tornado there.
“I want to honor the people who went through this and I’m grateful for every chance that I can talk to people about the tornado because the stories are so powerful,” she said. “I just want to share what Lorain went through and we really are focusing on how the community rebuilt … that’s what’s most inspiring.”
Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.
A postcard shows men surveying the wreckage of buildings at Broadway and Sixth Street following the tornado.
Fligner’s celebrates its 100th birthday
Carissa Woytach
The Community Guide
LORAIN — Fligner’s Market celebrated its centennial with a party on Saturday, complete with a birthday cake.
The independently owned, Broadway grocer crossed the milestone by inviting community members to the store for a party, shutting down a portion of its parking lot to bring in face-painting and raffle off prizes.
And, it would not be Fligner’s Market without the company’s well-known catering and meats, with staff handing out free hot dogs, while other items were for sale.
Fligner’s Market started as Lorain Cut-Rate Fruit Co. in 1924. Kel Fligner purchased it from his father, Morris, and grandfather, Harry, in 1963, after working at the store since 1949. Kel Fligner’s son, Ben, now runs the storefront. But under Kel Fligner’s operation, the grocer expanded to add its meat counter.
Kel Fligner, 84, was absent from Saturday’s event.
The longtime fixture at the store died June 2. But he was absolutely not forgotten, a photo of him smiling from the store’s birthday cake while
Fligner’s Market cake decorator Megan Whitman carries the 100th anniversary cake to a celebration in the grocery store’s parking lot.
longtime shoppers shared stories of the former owner.
“I’m hearing more and more about the good things he did for people,” Ben Fligner said. “I had a gentleman come up to me today, he was here from Columbus, he mentioned to me, ‘Your dad gave so many people second chances to make it in life.’ It just feels good when you hear that stuff. … It puts a nice human touch on what people should do.”
Fligner’s Market was Kel
Fligner’s “No. 1 love in life,” Ben Fligner told The Chronicle-Telegram after his father’s death. Now, it is up to Ben Fligner to carry on the next 100 years — a milestone he joked he hoped to reach — and plans to continue his father’s legacy of giving back to the community.
Fligner’s Market, 1854 Broadway, is open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.
Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 3297245.
MLS grad headed to Olympics in BW sports managent program
Thomas Hall will volunteer at U.S. training center in Paris
The Community Guide
Baldwin Wallace University sport management major, Thomas Hall ’26 of Amherst is among five people -- three students and two faculty members -- who will spend two weeks in Paris as volunteers for Team USA at the 2024 Summer Olympics. After applying and interviewing with the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, all five were chosen and assigned to work at a high-performance training center utilized by U.S. athletes at the Paris games. On average, 600 athletes represent Team USA at the summer Olympics, with about 250 at the Paralympics, all striving to be in peak condition.
“I am intrigued to learn more about how the United States Olympic Committee helps support and empower our American athletes at the world’s highest-level competition. Volunteering in Paris allows my classmates and myself to work in the biggest competition in the world and help support our fellow countrymen,” Hall said. After spending three weeks in 12 different central and eastern European countries last year, Hall is anticipating eye-opening landscape, architecture and culture. “I am looking forward to seeing some landmarks like the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Arc de Triomphe and also trying some French cuisine.”
While Paris 2024 marks the first time the Olympics have been on the list of BW sport management experiences, the college hopes it won’t be the last. It plans to expand the program to the summer games coming to Los Angeles in 2028.
Hall
BW also has this strong connection to the Olympics. Graduate Harrison Dillard, for whom the track is named, won four Olympic Gold Medals.
Over the past 15 years, BW sport management has expanded the experiential learning that has become a hallmark of the program to include year-round opportunities at elite national and international events.
Other events include the Formula 1 Grand Prix Du Canada in Montreal, NHL Draft in Las Vegas, the St. Jude PGA Championship in Memphis, the Pro Football HOF Enshrinement in Canton and Major League Baseball’s Little League Classic in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
The Olympic Games will be held from July 26 to August 11. The BW group will depart for France on July 23.
“I hope to make memories that will last a lifetime!” Hall said.
“I am looking forward to seeing some landmarks like the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Arc de Triomphe and also trying some French cuisine.” Thomas Hall, MLS grad and BW student
AMHERST CITY LEAGUE GOLF RESULTS
June 18
Amherst City Golf League had Rick Kwarciak fire a 39 for low gross, and low net went to Tom Winterstein with 29. Most points were shared by Olan Reese and Chuck Giebel with 17. Vic Bellan, George Ferlic and Greg Huber had birdies.League prize went to Wally Cipo.
CARISSA WOYTACH / COMMUNITY GUIDE
In Oberlin, Chalk Walk makes the sidewalks sing
Carissa Woytach
The Community Guide
OBERLIN — For the 17th year, Oberlin’s sidewalks became canvases for novice and experienced artists alike.
This year’s Chalk Walk, stretching throughout the city’s downtown, invited artists young and old to grab chalk, pick a sidewalk square and make the town a more colorful place until the next rainfall.
Like years past, artists Terry Flores, Dana Juliano, Cara Lynn Romano and Jan Dregalla created a mural near the Oberlin Library. This year’s theme was “amazing women,” Flores said, showcasing Yayoi Kusama, Beyonce, Lily Gladstone and Amelia Earhart.
“Unfortunately we cannot fit any more women — there are many, many amazing women but we can only fit so many,” Flores said while working on a portrait of Kusama.
Prior years’ themes for the group included saving the coral reefs and monarch butterflies.
Amanda Manahan, Oberlin Heritage Center education and tour manager and one of this year’s Chalk Walk organizers, said this year’s event had some new feature artists, alongside more families with young kids and maybe an increased number of Bluey and Sponge Bob pieces as a result.
“That’s kind of the focus of this event,” Manahan said. “It’s not so much highlighting people who are great artists, it’s more about everybody coming together to create community art.”
She said some featured artists came out early to try to beat the heat while
working. Others took the 90-plus degree day in stride, still stretching out to fill Oberlin’s walkways with color.
Keith McGuckin and Mandy Heinebrodt spent their day in front of Ben Franklin creating a piece titled “The Robot and Miss Evelyn,” with Evelyn named after Heinebrodt’s 3-year-old daughter.
As this year’s new featured artists, but longtime contributors to the Chalk Walk, McGuckin and Heinebrodt pulled out an idea they had percolated for about nine years, bringing the concept to life in pastels and chalk.
Both Oberlin natives, McGuckin said it was nostalgic for him to be working in front of Ben Franklin, reminiscing when his mother would take him shopping with her there, or to see Santa during the holidays.
The friends are both visual artists, but until collaborating at the Chalk Walk about a decade ago, were used to working alone in a studio.
(We) had so much fun the first year, the tradition was born,” McGuckin said. “I probably would’ve never done it if I hadn’t met (Heinebrodt).”
He said the first three hours of any collaboration they’ve done are the hardest — but from there it was smooth sailing.
He doubted either of them would ever be fully satisfied with their piece by the end of the event, thinking of sneaking back in the middle of the night to put on finishing touches.
This year’s event organizers included Oberlin Heritage Center, Firelands Association for the Visual Arts, Allen Memorial Art Museum and the Oberlin Business Partnership.
Man, 25, pleads guilty to role in Oberlin slaying
Dave O’Brien
The Community Guide
A Lorain man who was one of two people involved in the shooting death of an Elyria man in Oberlin in 2021 has pleaded guilty to lesser charges in that case and felony charges in three other cases he was facing in Lorain County Common Pleas Court.
A sentencing agreement between Canaan Sullivan, 25, and the Lorain County Prosecutor’s Office is likely to see him sentenced to 18 to 23½ years in prison by Judge James Miraldi at a sentencing hearing next month.
Sullivan pleaded guilty June 14 to charges in four separate felony cases.
Assistant Prosecutor Matt Kern, who prosecuted Sullivan for his participation in 21-year-old Tray Porter’s murder in January 2021, said Sullivan pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, a felony with a threeyear firearm specification, as well as two felonious assault charges with firearm specifications and a felony tampering with evidence charge with a specification.
The involuntary manslaughter charge carries a sentence of 11 to 16½ years in prison. Two of the firearm specifications, both three years each, will run consecutive to the involuntary manslaughter sentence, consecutive to each other and consecutive to a oneyear prison term for tampering with evidence, for a total of 18 to 23½ years.
The felonious assault charge merged with the manslaughter charge for sentencing. Two murder charges were dismissed.
The plea and sentencing agreement were reached after prosecutors consulted with the victim’s mother, Kern said.
Sullivan is free on bond awaiting a July 18 sentencing hearing in Miraldi’s courtroom. A message seeking comment on the guilty plea was left for Sullivan’s attorney, Anthony Baker. With his guilty plea, Sullivan also waived his rights to withdraw his plea, apply for postconviction relief or early release, and also waived some other appeal rights, according to the prosecutor’s office.
The killing Oberlin police said more than three years ago that officers responded at about 4 p.m. Jan. 31, 2021, to the 200 block of South Park Street in the city for a report of shots fired.
Porter was found on the ground with a gunshot wound to his upper thigh, surrounded by a small group of people. Officers performed first aid and Por-
ter was taken first to Mercy Health-Allen Hospital in Oberlin, then to MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland where he died. A witness told police two people had shown up at the house to smoke with Porter.
A confrontation took place and a witness said someone shouted for Porter to “get down on the ground.” Evidence including a semi-automatic handgun and blood was found in the snow outside. A witness told police a man ran from the residence east into a wooded area. Porter was described in his obituary as a “goofy but yet kindhearted” musician with “an infectious smile and a sweet spirit” who was survived by his daughter, parents, siblings and extended family.
The suspected triggerman in Porter’s murder is unidentified and still at large. Kern said investigators “pursued information” about that person’s identity but have so far been unable to identify them.
He asked anyone with information about the shooter’s identity to call the Oberlin Police Department at (440) 774-1061.
Other cases
Sullivan also pleaded guilty June 14 to 12 felonies in a drug and weapons case filed in December 2021.
Those charges included trafficking in and possession of a fentanyl-related compound, trafficking in drugs, possession of drugs, having weapons under disability, receiving stolen property, possession of cocaine and possession of criminal tools.
According to police and prosecutors, undercover officers bought drugs from Sullivan twice, leading the Lorain Police Department to search Sullivan’s E Street residence in October 2021. There, authorities found two guns including a stolen .38-caliber revolver, more than 400 pills and fentanyl powder totaling more than 180 grams, “a little over 4.5 grams” of methamphetamine, other amounts of cocaine and marijuana, and more than $12,000 in cash, Kern said. The guns and cash will be forfeited to the state, Kern said.
Finally, in his third and fourth cases, Sullivan pleaded guilty to two felony counterfeiting charges and two misdemeanor theft charges, all filed in 2023 while he was free on bond.
The prosecutor’s office asked Miraldi to revoke Sullivan’s bond in the murder case following his arrest and indictment but Miraldi rejected the request.
with his fellow graduates, Warfield traveled to the FBI headquarters in Quantico, Virginia, for training and graduation. The graduates represented 46 states and the District of Columbia.
Local artist Terry Flores works on a chalk portrait of artist Yayoi Kusama as part of the “Amazing Women” mural Flores directed just outside of the Oberlin Public Library with other local artists.
KRISTIN BAUER / COMMUNITY GUIDE PHOTOS
Elizabeth Davis, 6, of Elyria, signs her name to her chalk depiction of a unicorn in front of the Allen Memorial Art Museum in downtown Oberlin during the annual Oberlin Chalk Walk.
Oberlin police chief graduates FBI academy Oberlin Police Chief Ryan Warfield graduated from the FBI National Academy earlier this month after a 10-week advanced training course. Warfield was one of 201 law enforcement officials from across the U.S. and beyond who graduated as a part of the academy’s 290th class earlier this month, according to a news release. Along
Mural tells downtown Wellington’s history
Richard Perrins
The Community Guide
Patricia Sumpter was walking down Herrick Avenue in Wellington on Thursday when she noticed the new mural on the side of La Troje, a Mexican restaurant.
The mural is a collage of photographs depicting historic buildings in the downtown area of the city, all in black and white on a large vinyl billboard. Labeled with numbers corresponding to a plaque next to the mural, each image has a story, stretching through the history of Wellington.
For Sumpter, it was an image of a structure from 1920 that caught her eye.
“I was very excited (to see the building),” Sumpter said. “When we first came, it was called Farmer’s Grain and Milling. My office was that last window right there.“
Sumpter started working in the building in 1971 as a secretary for her father, who managed the facility. At the time, the building was a birdseed company, for which Sumpter’s family worked for decades.
The mural was designed by Alan Leiby, a retired Wellington resident and historian. Leiby said he took inspiration from a similar mural in Elyria and discussed the idea of a mural in Wellington with Jim Jerousek, the owner of the building that is leased by La Troje.
Leiby, who had previously volunteered as an archivist for the Spirit of ’76 museum, got permission to use some of its photos for the mural. The museum houses exhibits, artifacts and paintings chronicling the history of
Wellington. When standing in front of the mural, Leiby said, visitors can look around and see many of the downtown landmarks that are on it. “People don’t often recognize or appreciate the history of downtown Wellington,” he said.
“You just never think about it,” Leiby said. “When you start looking at the history, there’s a boatload of it. People are surprised how much history this little town has.”
Leiby and Jerousek conceived the idea for the mural almost two years ago, and hope it will last for the next five to 20 years.
Jerousek thought the mural would be an opportunity to bring more interest and traffic to small businesses in downtown Wellington.
“I’ve been involved in the museum in town but I think the pictures add a little bit more than just a painting,” Jerousek said. “It’s going to help some of the businesses in town, and that’s the idea. … If you want to keep these little, smaller businesses, smaller buildings and little towns alive, that’s the way you’re going to do it.”
Contact Richard Perrins at (440) 752-5509 or email rperrins@chroniclet.com.
The mural was designed by Alan Leiby, a retired Wellington resident and historian. Leiby said he took inspiration from a similar mural in Elyria.
Man, 37, dies after ingesting ‘Neptune’s Elixir’
a dietary supplement he purchased at a Carlisle Township gas station. Karen Haggarty filed suit June 4 on behalf of her son Christopher Haggarty’s estate against Neptune Resources LLC of Sheridan, Wyoming, and RO 2091 Grafton Inc., doing business as K&B Sunoco at 2091 Grafton Road.
The lawsuit seeks at least $25,000 in compensatory and punitive damages per claim for each of four claims, including product liability and wrongful death, mental anguish and pain and suffering, and negligence.
The civil case is assigned to Judge Christopher Rothgery’s court. Karen Haggarty is represented by attorney Jordan Lebovitz, a partner of the Cleveland personal injury law firm Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy. Court records did not list attorneys representing Neptune Resources LLC or RO 2091 Grafton Inc.
The lawsuit alleges that Neptune Resources makes a “dietary supplement” called “Neptune’s Fix Elixir” that it markets as “happiness in a bottle,” which contains a substance called tianeptine. Tianeptine, according to the lawsuit and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, is used in some countries as a low-grade antidepressant but is not approved for use in the United States.
The lawsuit states that tianeptine goes by another, informal name: “Gas station heroin.”
Though it is not approved for medical use in the U.S., “some companies are illegally marketing and selling products containing tianeptine to consumers,” according to the FDA. “They are also making dangerous and unproven claims that tianeptine can improve brain function and treat anxiety, depression, pain, opioid use disorder, and other conditions.”
The FDA specifically warned consumers not to buy Neptune’s Fix in a news release dated Nov. 11. Users were experiencing seizures, loss of consciousness and in some cases being hospitalized, according to the FDA.
Retired Wellington resident, historian and archivist Alan Leiby, left, and Jim Jerousek, owner of the building leased by Mexican restaurant La Troje, stand in front of a mural on the side of the building at 116 E. Herrick Ave. in Wellington on Wednesday. The mural is a collage of photographs depicting historic buildings in the area. Leiby scanned the images and laid out the design with Jerousek who was the financial backer for the project.
BRUCE BISHOP / CHRONICLE
SPORTS
New Cavs coach is Golden
Atkinson has been Warriors’ top assistant last three years, previously coached
Koby Altman, the Cavaliers’ president of basketball operations, said in a perfect world he’d have a coach in place by the NBA Draft.
More importantly, though, he said finding the right coach is paramount for the organization.
The Cavs found their man Monday when Kenny Atkinson was selected as the 24th head coach in franchise history. The two sides worked on the parameters of a new contract Monday.
BORN: Northport, New York
COLLEGE: Richmond (averaged 18.9 points as a senior point guard) MOST RECENT JOB: Golden State Warriors
assistant (2021-2024) RECORD AS HEAD COACH: 118-190 (.383), Brooklyn Nets (2016-20)
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski was the first to report the news. It came down to a two-man race last week between Atkinson, the lead assistant to Steve Kerr in Golden State the last three years, and James Borrego, an assistant coach with the New Orleans Pelicans. In fact, some thought Borrego was the clear leader of the pack at one point.
Atkinson, 57, was formerly the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets and compiled a 118-190 record (.383), which included one playoff appearance in 2018-19 when the Nets lost 4-1 to Philadelphia in the first round.
Two players on that Brooklyn team are now Cavs — Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert.
Altman said recently it’s a “massive undertaking” to hire a coach. There are countless background checks, phone calls, meetings and sit-down interviews with the candidates.
“Look, it’s a major decision to let go of your head coach,”
Nets
Altman said. “It is after a half decade with (Bickerstaff). It’s a massive undertaking to do a coaching search and we’re going to embark on that and find the right leader to help push us forward.”
Altman said he was looking for a “fresh set of eyes” on the roster. There was also a feeling that Bickerstaff had taken the Cavs as far as they could go in the playoffs, even though he guided them from the play-in tournament to the first round of the playoffs and then the Eastern Conference semifinals over the last three seasons.
Atkinson spent four years with the Knicks, starting with the 2008-09 season under Mike D’Antoni. He then spent three years under Mike Budenholzer in Atlanta before finally getting a chance to run his own program.
In Atkinson’s third season in Brooklyn, the Nets finished 42-40 and advanced to the playoffs. Everything changed the following season when the Nets acquired Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. Things quickly soured for Atkinson, who was fired.
Atkinson also spent one year under Tyronn Lue with the Los Angeles Clippers before joining forces with Kerr in Golden State. Atkinson briefly accepted the head coaching position in Charlotte in 2022 but changed his mind and stepped down before ever coaching a game.
Borrego, who also interviewed for the Los Angeles Lakers job, has a 148-183 record (.447) as a head coach in one season in Orlando and four in Charlotte. He also spent
three seasons under Gregg Popovich in San Antonio. The Spurs won two NBA championships during his tenure.
A third coaching candidate that was seriously considered was Minnesota Timberwolves assistant coach Micah Nori. In all, about 10 candidates were interviewed for the Cleveland job that opened with the firing of J.B. Bickerstaff on May 23.
The Cavs asked for permission to interview at least four assistant coaches, including Nori, Denver’s David Adelman, New York’s Johnnie Bryant and Miami’s Chris Quinn. Dave Joerger was also reportedly interviewed. He compiled a 245-247 record (.498) in six seasons as a head coach in Memphis and Sacramento. He’s been an assistant in Philadelphia the last three seasons.
Contact Bob Finnan at rfinnan30@gmail.com
Balloon release, moment of silence held
Carissa Woytach
The Community Guide
LORAIN — A sea of black and red balloons floated up from the basketball courts at Sgt. Samuel L. Felton Jr. Central Park.
In the midst of the eighth annual Marquis McCall Stop the Violence basketball tournament, organizers held a moment of silence and balloon release for a life lost this spring.
Derrick Smith, 34, was shot and killed April 18 by members of the U.S. Marshals Violent Fugitive Task Force during a warrant service.
“Sometimes it’s not that they’re taken out (in) violence when the authority (is) doing the violence,” basketball tournament co-organizer Tabatha Watson-Brown said.
“For those of you who’ve lost loved ones, when we let the balloons up if you want to call out their names as well, do that.
“Because we’ve all lost someone to violence.”
Smith’s mother, Ericka Smith, of Columbus, stood in the center of the basketball court alongside Watson-Brown and Jaskie Lewis, whose son, Marquis McCall, 18, was killed in a drive-by shooting in 2009. Lewis organized the annual basketball tournament in her son’s memory.
“The purpose of these tournaments is to stop the violence,” Watson-Brown said.
“We need to come together as a community, join together ... and put that dumb stuff aside and teach these young kids they don’t need to put their hands up or pull a weapon out in order to get a situation taken care of. Let God handle it.”
On a count of three, Smith’s family and friends released balloons in his honor, the wind catching them sideways before taking them up and away from the court.
After the balloon release, Ericka Smith and her sister, Regina Whitfield, said his family, friends and community loved Derrick Smith. He was a familiar face at the corner store near his home and the Marathon gas station on Broadway. Derrick Smith grew up with Lewis’ kids and attended Admiral King High School.
Ericka Smith said her son struggled with his mental health. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia at 16 years old, she said, and the family had spent the past several years trying to get him help.
But through his struggles, Ericka Smith and Whitfield said Derrick Smith was well known in his community, often working at the stores he frequented.
He loved listening to music and mostly kept to himself, Ericka Smith said.
“He was loved,” Whitfield said.
“He liked to make people laugh, he was just Derrick. … He had a joke for everybody.”
Smith and Whitfield implored people, including law enforcement, to be aware of those with mental illness and take training to deal with those in crisis.
“Mental health awareness, it means something. It’s very important,” Smith said. “He struggled with that on a daily basis.”
This year’s basketball tournament winners in the youth division were the Lil Snap team; in the women’s division the Hair Love Beauty salon team; and in the men’s division, the Steel City Bar team.
This year’s tournament sponsors include: Future Generations, Gonzalez Store, Crowned Stu-
dio, UnK’s Bar, Moe’s OneWireless, Steel City Bar, Broadway Drivethru, Mayor Jack Bradley, Steel City Youth Football League, Tidy it Up Cleaning, Bre’s Unique Hair, Hair Love Beauty Salon, Back to the Moon Foundation, Pathway Enrichment Center, BeeValue, Therapeutic Solutions, Oberlin Weekday Community Meals and Lake Screen Printing.
Smith’s death remains under investigation by the
Elyria, Lorain and Amherst police departments.
Body camera footage released by U.S. Marshals Service after Smith’s death showed him refusing to come out of a second-floor bedroom and then appearing to attack officers before he was shot and killed. The U.S. Marshals Service has not released the names of the officers involved. Their faces were redacted in the released footage.
Golden State Warriors assistant coach Kenny Atkinson, PH0TO PROVIDED
Tabatha WatsonBrown holds a microphone as she hugs Ericka Smith during a balloon release for Smith’s son, Derrick Smith, at the Marquis McCall Stop the Violence basketball tournament on Sunday. Below, Smith smiles while releasing balloons in memory of her son.
Jaevon Manning, playing for the “Ben A Wopp” team, makes a layup at the Marquis McCall Stop the Violence basketball tournament on Sunday.
CARISSA WOYTACH / COMMUNITY GUIDE PHOTOS
MLS Class of ‘74 to hold 50th reunion
The Marion L. Steele class of 1974 will be having its 50th reunion the weekend of July 26.
We are looking for the following classmates: Debbie Green, David Jones, Jerry Pinson, Terry Lyman, Jerry Mattney, Frank Sabo, Patty Singleton, Brenda Smith, Craig Smith, and Tim Watson. If you have not received your invitation or know where any of the missing classmates are, please contact Raynelle Wasem Bozicevich at (440) 242-1283 or raynelle187@oh.rr.com.
Amherst library invites kids’ stories
Desperately needed: Junior scribes to go on an adventure with the staff of the Amherst Public Library as it launches the summer short story contest.
Children, tweens and teens are invited to write a short story that includes an adventure, a hot air balloon, slime, and the author’s favorite library book character. Staff will choose five favorites to be featured on social media and win a prize. Stories can be typed, handwritten or transcribed by a grown-up.
Bonus points will be awarded for illustrations.
Entries should be turned in at the second-floor information desk by 8:30 p.m. July 24. Winners will be chosen July 31.
Adventure is the theme of its summer reading program’s kickoff party from 4-6 p.m. Monday on the library’s front lawn. Drop in to run an inflatable obstacle course, spin to win fun library swag, enjoy a sweet treat and start your summer reading adventure.
The library is at 221 Spring St. For information, visit amherst.lib.oh.us or call (440) 988-4230.
EHS class of 1969 to hold reunion
The Elyria High School Class of 1969 will host its 55th class reunion at 6 p.m. Aug. 17 at Greyhawk Golf Club/ The Nest, 665 U.S. Grant St., LaGrange.
Reservations are $25 per person and are due by July 15. Make checks payable to Harry Tulk and mail to 240 Stanford Ave., Elyria, Ohio 44035.
Include name of graduate and guest. There will also be a get-together at 6 p.m. Aug. 16 at Smitty’s in Elyria. Join the class Facebook group page, Elyria High School Class of 1969.
For questions, call Sandie Toth Hamby at (440) 3665248.
Title office extends hours on Tuesdays
The Auto Title & Passport Division of the Lorain County Clerk of Courts has launched extended operating hours on Tuesday evenings in the Elyria Branch office. The extended operating hours -- the office is open until 6:30 p.m. -- began Tuesday and will continue every Tuesday unless it’s a holiday.
The rest of the week remains unchanged with the office open from 8:15 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. It is closed on weekends.
The Elyria Branch office is located on the first floor of
THINGS WITH WHEELS
ACROSS
1. Unfledged hawk
5. The ____ Gala, haute couture fundraiser
8. Ballet step
11. Sasquatch’s cousin
12. Prefix in levorotary
13. DVD player button
15. What Tylenol and xylenol have in common
16. Seaport in Yemen
17. With ample space
18. *Rumpelstiltskin’s ____ wheel
20. Viking writing symbol
21. Musical finales
22. In favor of
23. Source of tapioca
26. Smith, e.g.
30. “Stand and Deliver” singer
31. Live-in helper (2 words)
34. Et alii, abbr.
35. Nephew’s sister
37. Tire depression
38. Turkey’s southern neighbor
39. Same as ayah
40. Engage in a pursuit (2 words)
42. Bed-and-breakfast, e.g.
43. Tibetan Buddhism
45. Pinched
47. Sing like Public Enemy
48. Mother-of-pearl
50. Cripple
52. *Wheel in Vegas
55. Chocolate substitute
56. Egg on 57. Capri or Catalina
59. Olden days violin maker
60. Croaks
61. “Run Away to Mars” singer
62. Jump key 63. Corncob 64. Gaelic
*London ____, tourist attraction
Hankerings
BULLETIN BOARD
FOOD DISTRIBUTIONS
a.m. Monday through Thursday, 201 W. Main St., South Amherst. Call (440) 986-2461. Firelands school district and/or Amherst residents only.
starts Friday
Lorain residents model a collection of merchandise available at this weekend’s International Festival. The shirts are being sold by the Lorain Historical Society in its booth in the Transportation Center at Black River Landing.
The three-day bazaar takes place along the scenic Black River Landing site, and features a multitude of foods with a wide variety of ethnic cuisine to sample.
There is plenty of entertainment throughout the weekend, including on-going live performances. Stop by the different cultural booths that feature crafts and items from many homelands. There are covered dining areas, paved walkways and free parking. Find more information on the festival at https://www.loraininternational.com/festival
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. Christmas in July vendors sought Christmas in July will be held at the Lorain Community Senior Center, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. July 13, at 3361 Garfield Blvd., Lorain. Vendors wanted; $25 per table. Call (440) 288-4040 or email lorainseniorcenter@outlook.com for more information.
Oberlin Community Services drive-up service, 1:30-4:30 p.m. Wednesdays, 500 E. Lorain St., Oberlin. Indoor choice pantry 1:30-4:30 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays and 1:30-3:30 p.m. each Friday. Call (440) 774-6579. Vermilion Salvation Army, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Wednesday and Friday except the third Friday of the month, and 5-7 p.m. the first and third Tuesday at 4560 Liberty Ave., Suite H. Well-Help food pantry, 10 a.m. to noon every Monday through Friday at 127 Park Place, Wellington. Call (440) 647-2689. Ely Stadium drive-thru mobile pantry, 4-5:30 p.m. today at Ely Stadium, 1915 Middle Ave., Elyria (enter through Oberlin Road entrance). Call (440) 960-2265 for more information. Heather Campbell Reich Community Meals, 6-6:30 p.m. today at St. Andrew’s Church, 300 Third St., Elyria. St. Mary Church, Lorain CHOICE food pantry, 4:30-6 p.m. today, at 309 W. Seventh St., Lorain. Cornerstone UMC free senior lunch, starting at noon Tuesday, at Cornerstone UMC, 2949 West River Road. N, Elyria. Lunch, a special speaker, door prizes, and friendships every fourth Tuesday
has started. Meals will be provided to all children without charge and are the same for all children regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability, and there will be no discrimination in the course of the meal service. Meals will be provided at the sites and times as follows: Ely, 312 Gulf Road, Elyria; breakfast: 8:30-10 a.m.; lunch: 12:30-2 p.m. Elyria South, 1821 Middle Ave., Elyria; breakfast: 8:30-10 a.m.; lunch; noon to 1:30 p.m. Elyria Westwood, 42350 Adelbert St., Elyria; breakfast: 8:30-10 a.m.; lunch: 12:30-2 p.m. McCormick, 627 N. Main St., Wellington; breakfast: 8-9:30 a.m.; lunch: 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. LCCAA Produce Center ordering windows are open 8 a.m. Monday through 11 p.m. Sunday or until all appointments are full. Pickup is Wednesday and Thursday, 204 W. 10th St., Lorain (former LCCAA Bike Shop). Service is available weekly on a first-order, available-appointment basis to anyone in Lorain County living at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Visit www.lccaa.net/programs/ produce_center to order.
St. Agnes Table of Plenty Food Pantry, open at 9:30 a.m., food distribution is 10 a.m. to noon at 611 Lake Ave., Elyria. Distribution is the fourth Saturday of the month. Enter on Bath Street. Car trunks should be clean and empty. Only Elyria
the Lorain County Administration Building. International Festival
COURTESY LORAIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Areyou an eagle-eyed reader? Circle the five mistakes in this article. Then write it correctly on the linesora sheet of paper
Legends of the Shapes and Shadows
Phases of the Moon Experiment
When you see onlythe darkside of the apple, this is likea new moon. When the sun is directly behindthe moon and blocks the sunlight,that phase is called the new moon.
To
3 Stay in thesamespotand turnyour body slowly.Soonyou will see asmall partofthe apple (moon)lit up.This is called acrescentmoon.
First on theMoon
above your head. Have your friend on the other side shine thelight on theapple.
turningand you’ll
moreofthe apple (moon)
At one point, onewhole side of theapplewillbe in thelight. This is the full moon phase
Look at thefaceofa full moon. What do you thought the shapes andshadowslooklike?
Today, people know that the shapes and shadows on thefill moon are craters, mountains, valleysand plains.Long ago, peeple madeupstories to try and explaintheseshapes and shadows. Some people thought themon was madeof cheese.
Some ancient Greeks beleeved agoddess lived in themoon, while the French saw agiant rabbit on themoon. And some Native Americans saw the shapes as a frogweavingabasket.
Keepturning and youwill see less and less of the apple (moon) lit up.When youcan no longersee any of theapple (moon)lit up, youwillhave seen all the phasesofthe apple—er, moon!
