Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023
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Volume 10, Issue 41
Amherst teachers reach contract CARISSA WOYTACH THE COMMUNITY GUIDE
AMHERST — Charles Deremer remembers when the Amherst Teachers Association went out on strike in 1977. Deremer was 10 years old and grateful for the two weeks off school. His mom did not talk about it at the time, but he suspected she supported the teachers, who were fighting for their first contract with the district. “I don’t remember it being as contentious (as this negotiation cycle), but I was 10 and that was 46 years ago,” he said. Deremer, of Henrietta Township, is an Amherst alumnus and current teacher in the district. Donning orange shirts and buttons with the slogan “I don’t want to strike but I will,” Am-
herst educators gathered outside Marion L. Steele High School on Oct. 10 while negotiations between the union and district dragged on. After seven hours of negotiations on Oct. 10, The Amherst Teachers Association and School Board reached a tentative agreement. In a joint statement, the groups said “The Amherst Board of Education and the Amherst Teachers Association are happy to announce that we have reached a tentative agreement on all outstanding issues for a new, threeyear labor contract. Although the specific details will not be disclosed until after ratification and adoption by the parties, we believe that this agreement is fair and benefits all of our District TEACHERS PAGE A3
BRUCE BISHOP | The Community Guide
Amherst Teachers Association rally for a resolution to its contract. During the rally, Mom: Mindi Krase, Amherst music teacher at Powers Elementary; Dad: Ryan Krase, Sandusky schools teacher; son Brandon, 10 and daughter Kaitlyn, 7 pose for a picture with a “We Support Amherst Educators” frame.
Elyria hosts walk to end human trafficking CARISSA WOYTACH THE COMMUNITY GUIDE
BRUCE BISHOP | The Community Guide
Lorain County Sheriffs Deputies and Elyria Police Officers climb to the second story of the Lorain County Health Department. A large training activity based on an active shoter had the building closed to the public Friday. The actor at the base of the stairs was portraying a victim of the shooting.
LCPH active shooter drill helps train first responders, staff for emergency
DAVE O’BRIEN THE COMMUNITY GUIDE
The sounds of simulated gunfire, followed by shouts and cries for help from actors playing victims of a mass shooting echoed through the halls of Lorain County Public Health on Murray Ridge Road in Elyria during an emergency drill Oct. 13. More than 100 first responders, public health employees and officials from multiple agencies took
part in the mass casualty drill, a training exercise designed to test LCPH’s Building Emergency Action Plan, or BEAP. It was also an opportunity for police officers and emergency first responders to train for what they would do on a bad day that no one in Lorain County wants to see. An actor playing the shooter dressed all in black and holding a blue simulated munition handgun that fired blank cartridges — sounding a little louder than a toy
cap gun when it went off — entered the building shortly before 10 a.m. Two people played shooting victims just outside the front entrance, with one playing dead for more than 30 minutes. The shooter passed other victims covered in fake blood who were already in their places on the floor. Just after the first shots went off, an LCPH employee called out a code word alerting the rest of the building to an emergency. That sent some LCPH employ-
ees scrambling to the exits while others sheltered in place behind locked doors. The actors playing victims left behind in the building loudly begged responding police officers, firefighters and paramedics first to end the threat, then treat their wounds. A Lorain County sheriff’s deputy entered the building with his own simulated firearm drawn within 10 minutes of the first shots. He was followed shortly DRILL PAGE A4
About two dozen individuals walked silently in singlefile through downtown Elyria on Saturday morning. Ignoring the October chill and the threat of rain, the group snaked from Ely Square, up to St. Mary’s Church, around The Chronicle-Telegram to Broad Street before coming back to the gazebo, staring straight ahead, holding signs calling for an end to human trafficking. It was the third annual A21 Walk for Freedom, a national effort to bring awareness to human trafficking. The event comes on the heels of a large sting operation last month that netted 160 arrests, including three Lorain County residents. The operation led by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s Ohio Organized Crime Investigation Commission sought to arrest those trying to buy sex and identify survivors of human trafficking. Brae Chamberlin, 28, of Oberlin, Nicholas McMillan, 25, of Sheffield Lake, and Joshua Mull, 38, of Amherst were among the list of those arrested. WALK PAGE A2
INSIDE THIS WEEK County
Joe Firment dies at 85 ● A2
Oberlin
Wellington
Bus driver of the year ● A5
Lady Dukes conference champs ● A4
OBITUARIES A2 • CLASSIFIEDS • CROSSWORD A7 • SUDOKU A7 • KID SCOOP A8