Lorain County Community Guide - Feb. 16, 2023

Armbruster named county administrator

County” as administrator.

Longtime North Ridgeville politician and current Safety Service

Director Jeff Armbruster will take over as Lorain County administrator starting Feb. 21, the county Board of Commissioners announced Wednesday.

Armbruster has been the city’s safety service director since late 2009. He was the Republican mayor of North Ridgeville for two terms from 1989 to 1995 and a state senator from 1998 to 2006. A businessman, he also previously owned a series of gas stations in Ohio.

At the conclusion of Wednesday’s meeting, Commissioner David Moore said the board intends to officially hire Armbruster at its Feb. 21 meeting at 5 p.m. that day in the County Administration Building, 226 Middle Ave., Elyria.

Current County Administrator J.R. White will remain administrator until the board can pass a resolution hiring Armbruster, Moore said. White will then become the county’s human resources director, the board announced.

“There’s rumors, the staff is uneasy, and we want to make sure they know we’re moving forward,” Moore said.

In a statement he sent to The Chronicle-Telegram, Armbruster wrote that he is “extremely excited to begin serving Lorain

“As a longtime resident of Lorain County, I am passionate about supporting all facets of the county as it continues to grow and prosper,” he wrote.

“I bring a tremendous amount of expertise to the county with my past experience in state and local government over the past 25 years as a city councilperson, mayor, safety service director and state senator.”

“I look forward to working and collaborating with state, county, local safety forces, county, township, and local government agencies, state and federal government representatives, local school districts, (Lorain County Community College) and other higher learning institutions, to provide the residents of Lorain County with a strong leadership team that has integrity while promoting and focusing on fiscal responsibility,” Armbruster wrote.

As human resources, or HR, and special projects director, White replaces Jen Sinatra, who resigned from the job in August.

Wednesday’s news follows weeks of rumors that commissioners would be making changes to top administrative positions.

In a news release, the commissioners said the changes were announced “as we progress to build a team to service the citizens of Lorain County through a strategy based on performance and professional-

ARMBRUSTER PAGE A3

Amherst police lieutenant retires, plans to work toward school safety

AMHERST — After 26 years, Lt. Dan Makruski walked out of the Amherst Police Department for the last time Feb. 9.

“I know God’s got bigger plans for me. It’s a retirement on paper, but it’s just a change of mission in my head,” he said while sitting in his office Feb. 8 afternoon.

Left out of the plastic totes he’d used to pack files away was a picture of him and his wife; a photo from a Sept. 11, 2001, memorial in New York City they’d visited on their honey-

moon; a Humvee window propped against the window behind him. Other mementos were still on the walls of his office but would be taken with him before his end of watch the next day.

When Makruski joined the department in 1996, — a year after he’d left the Army — he told the officer interviewing him he wanted to continue to help people. In his five years of active duty before that, he’d served in Operation Desert Storm and felt like he’d helped people.

“I enjoy helping people, that’s something I think once you feel that way, it doesn’t go away,” he said.

The department he joined that spring was one far different than the one he leaves in 2023. He remembered writing reports on typewriters or the initial word processors, and when VCR dashcams were added. Guns have changed, TASERS were added to their tool belts and shields made standard for all officers, but the attitude of the public toward the department, and Makruski’s commitment to Amherst itself, has stayed.

“When I took Amherst’s test there were probably 70-80 people who took the test and there were probably 30 people on the civil service list to be hired.

Right now, we’re giving a test and I think there’s 10 people on the list … So back then I was like hey, thank God I got a job that I like in a good town and I’m going to stay here the whole time.”

The highlights were adrenaline-fueled situations, including helping a man who’d been hit by a train behind Nordson Corp. in 1998. Makruski helped get fire and EMS down to the tracks and the man ultimately survived the ordeal, he said.

Another incident some time back choked up the longtime veteran, as he recounted responding to a

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Teacher’s lawsuit pending against JVS

OWEN MACMILLAN

THE CHRONICLE-TELEGRAM

OBERLIN – A lawsuit filed by carpentry teacher Jason Rodriguez hangs over proceedings as the Lorain County Joint Vocational School Board of Education moves to fire him.

Rodriguez, who is suspended without pay, filed a complaint against the JVS

Board of Education in Lorain County Common Pleas Court on Nov. 2.

Rodriguez asked the court to force the board to either offer him the continuing teaching contract he says he is entitled to, or explain why it hadn’t offered him such a contract for the 2021-22 school year.

Rodriguez joined the JVS under a limited teaching contract in the spring of

2019 and worked as a carpentry teacher.

The lawsuit states that by January 2021, Rodriguez had met the qualifications to be offered a continuing teaching contract for the 2021-22 school year, and informed the JVS board of this.

The JVS Board voted in May 2022 to approve a one-year limited contract for Rodriguez who argued

that, under state law, he should have been awarded a continuing contract or offered an explanation why he was not.

The board did not give a reason why it was trying to fire Rodriguez when it voted to suspend him without pay and move forward with termination proceedings during a special meeting on Jan. 30.

Jeff Barnes | The Chronicle-Telegram

Lt. Dan Makruski speaks of his career with the department. Makruski retired last week after being with the Amherst Police Department for 26 years.

CARISSA WOYTACH THE CHRONICLE-TELEGRAM

Roy McClurg

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Roy McClurg, who passed away Wednesday, February 1st, 2023 in Wellington. He was born October 22nd, 1957 in Wellington, to Clarence McClurg and Marie (Youngless) McClurg.

Roy graduated from Wellington High School in 1976, where he enjoyed competing in all sports and was scouted by the Cincinnati Reds for professional baseball. He worked at Whirlaway for many years and was an avid sports fan enjoying fantasy football with his many friends.

He is survived by his siblings, Clarence ‘Bud’ McClurg (Annette) of

Nova, Sue (Dale) Braden of Ashland, Dawn McClurg (Ron Fulk) of Nova, Lyn (Joe) Becker of Elyria and Brenda McClurg of Nova.

Roy was a great man who touched the lives of everyone he met. His outgoing spirit and love for life will be deeply missed by all those who knew him. May he rest peacefully knowing that he left behind such a strong legacy.

A funeral service will be held at the Wellington Union Cemetery located on Greenwood Cemetery Road in Wellington. Norton-Eastman Funeral Home is assisting the family and expressions of sympathy may be shared online at www.nortoneastmanfuneralhome.com.

Eileen Rose Fenton

The Fenton Family is sad to announce the passing of their mother, Eileen Rose Fenton (nee Simko), 94, of Lorain on Saturday, February 11, 2023. Eileen was born September 11, 1928, in McKeesport, Pennsylvania. Hempel Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.

John Thorne, Jr.

John Thorne, Jr., 94, of Amherst, passed away Thursday, February 9, 2023 at his home surrounded by family. Hempel Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.

Commissioners changes meeting dates, times

The Lorain County Board of Commissioners voted to change its meeting times and dates on Wednesday and will meet twice per week every other week for the foreseeable future.

Instead of meeting at 9:30 a.m. every Wednesday at least 50 times per year, the board will now meet at 5 p.m. on the first and third Tuesdays each month starting Feb. 21. There will be a second weekly meeting at 10:30 a.m. the Friday immediately following — in this case, Friday, Feb. 24.

Commissioner David Moore said the change is to “get people engaged” and so that every week county administrative staff aren’t just working toward a meeting.

Commissioner Jeff Riddell said the process of working out the new meeting schedule with

Child donates stuffy to library

AVON LAKE — Anderson Stahl walked into the Avon Lake Public Library Feb. 7 to catch up with a long-lost friend.

It was a big moment. Anderson, all of 6 years old, somehow got separated from his ever-fast companion around Thanksgiving time, near as anyone can figure.

His best friend was a tiny stuffed orange and white tabby cat with green eyes named Kitty, a little worn by love and softened by adventure. The two had been constant buddies since — well, since he was 3.

“I wish there was a fun story of how she was acquired,” said Anderson’s mother, Maribeth Stahl. “It was more of a ‘Mom, I need this’ coming out of the pandemic kind of thing.”

county staff was “an amicable one,” with “differing opinions and ideas and a consensus that the commissioners have made a consensus to go forward with this particular schedule.”

“... But at no time did anyone disagree with the concept that we’re going to increase our transparency” and “make ourselves more visible and make our government more accessible,” Riddell said.

The board of commissioners last tried to adjust its meeting schedule in mid-2021 after Moore and Commissioner Michelle Hung took office.

Starting in June 2021, the commissioners moved their weekly regular business meetings to 6 p.m. Wednesdays to encourage more public participation.

That failed when “we just didn’t have the community participation we thought would happen,” Moore told The ChronicleTelegram in August 2021.

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The family, along with father Chris and older brother Parker, 9, were moving to Avon at the time from Nashville and were staying with Maribeth’s parents in Avon Lake for a while when their house was being finished.

Great fans of the Avon Lake Public Library, grandparents Debby and Geff Hill often took the boys to the library to play at Discovery Works or devour the Dog Man children’s books series.

Sometime in fall, Kitty disappeared and Anderson’s heart was broken.

For months they searched with no luck. By Christmas, a new orange tabby with green eyes — an exact replica, ordered from the same toy company — was under the Christmas tree. But then in January, an unusual thing happened: Debby Hill spotted, for the first time in months, the longlost little tabby.

“I saw the post on Facebook and I thought, ‘Could that be Kitty?’” Hill said.

The post was on the Avon Lake Library’s page, and was the idea of Communication Manager Shea Alltmont. When a children’s librarian found Kitty — whom library staff dubbed “Aurora” for the tag bearing the toy company’s name — Alltmont began posing Aurora around the

library in various shenanigans, in tiny costumes, in an effort to find its owner.

The posts took on a life of their own, speedily gaining a following online and in person. Aurora became a local celebrity.

After a column ran in the Chronicle last month, Maribeth Stahl reached out to Alltmont and sent photos of Anderson and Kitty at the beach, at a water park, sleeping together.

Plans were made for a reunion.

Alltmont made a sign and a tiny T-shirt for Aurora to wear to greet Anderson declaring Aurora a library ambassador: Anderson received a matching one.

Anderson showed up with his new Kitty and made a brave announcement: He had decided, after a lot of big thinking, that Aurora should stay

at the library.

It would be good for the library, he thinks, and he has Kitty now.

But Aurora wouldn’t be left alone.

He packed her a sparkly little pink backpack to keep her company. In it he stashed a few of her favorite miniature foods, like ice cream cones. There were some “experience bottles” — filled with sparkles and clay, “you know, so you can make experiences with them, because she likes science like I do” — and a tiny phone, “so she can call Unicorny,” her favorite fellow stuffy she left behind at home.

“I think it will be good for her to live here now,” he said, sitting Aurora in a shelf and nodding while moving on, grabbing his new Kitty. He didn’t look back.

Jeff Barnes | The Chronicle-Telegram Anderson Stahl,6, reunites with “Kitty” after losing her at the Avon Lake Library.

RINI JEFFERS THE CHRONICLE-TELEGRAM

SOLUTION TO SUDOKU ON PAGE A7

SOLUTION TO CROSSWORD ON PAGE A7

Jeff Barnes | The Chronicle-Telegram

Anderson, along with his brother Parker, 9, and his mom, Maribeth, introduce “Kitty” to “New Kitty” at the reunion at the Avon Lake Library.

ism.”

White would be filling “a critical opening in human resources,” the commissioners wrote.

“This will (ensure) that his years of experience in employment law can be utilized without interference from the other demands as county administrator,” the news release said. White’s “short but important time as administrator will allow him to integrate policy and procedure throughout the system. He is tasked with making sure the hundreds of employees of the county are served and the taxpayers assured that the laws and procedures are followed, avoiding unnecessary litigation and turmoil.”

Armbruster “will bring a lifetime of private business experience accumulated while serving the public in multiple capacities from state senator, mayor, and safety service director. He will be tasked with coordinating county daily activity to serve the needs of the county residents, and to instill consistent goals and expectations throughout the organization,” the commissioners wrote.

North Ridgeville Mayor Kevin Corcoran praised Armbruster’s service to the city.

“Jeff Armbruster has spent most of his career serving the public in some role for the city of North Ridgeville, and his contributions to the city and residents have been immeasurable,” Corcoran said Feb. 8. “Jeff is a unique man. He has brought so much to the city with his business knowledge and government knowledge, and it will certainly be missed. But I am happy to have him still serving the people of North Ridgeville, now along with the whole county.”

White to lead county HR Commissioner Jeff Riddell said White’s new role in HR is a “100 percent fit for his skill set, as well as

one of the most pressing issues that we need to do.”

“His time at the county administrator’s office will guide him well and it will give him global perspective on the HR, and allow us to move forward with a very urgent need that we have,” Riddell said.

White first applied for the job of Lorain County Job & Family Services director when it was left vacant by the firing of Tim Carrion in August 2021. He didn’t get the job, but instead was presented the opportunity to become county administrator, “an opportunity I couldn’t let slip by even if it was not a long-term thing,” he told commissioners.

There is no “How To Be An Administrator” manual, White said, and county government was “in a tumultuous state” when he took over in October 2021.

Though White didn’t specify the tumult, he was brought on board shortly after Commissioner Michelle Hung’s extramarital affair with former Lorain County 911 Director Harry Williamson was confirmed publicly for the first time.

Hung voted to hire Williamson without notifying her fellow commissioners that the two were in a sexual relationship. Moore and former Commissioner Matt Lundy voted to fire Williamson after they found out about the affair, but Hung abstained from that vote.

Williamson is suing the commissioners in Lorain County Common Pleas Court. It is one of several lawsuits by former county employees making their way through the courts.

“I understand each board has the right to pick their administrator and after lengthy discussions, both sides agreed my time had run its course,” White said, “but the problem with the mutual decision was we still wanted to work together.”

White thanked Riddell,

Hung, Moore and Lundy for their support during his tenure, and pledged his “full support” to Armbruster.

A licensed attorney, White specialized in employment law before the commissioners hired him in October 2021. He was given a salary of $149,900 for a one-year contract, at the end of which he became an at-will employee. From mid-2005 to mid2021 this year, White worked at Fauver Co. LPA in Elyria, a law firm that represented Lorain County businesses, including The Chronicle-Telegram, in legal matters.

Fourth administrator Armbruster will make the fourth county administrator since Republicans took control of the board of commissioners in January 2021.

White was hired in October 2021 to replace Rob Weber, who spent two months on the job before commissioners fired him.

Weber replaced Tom Williams, who had the job from January to August 2021, when Lundy and Hung fired him.

Moore voted “hell no” against firing Williams, his former campaign manager. When commissioners refused to pay his severance package, Williams sued them in federal court and the case was settled for $450,000. The county spent at least $150,000 in legal fees to fight Williams’ lawsuit.

Williams replaced Jim Cordes, who was fired by former Commissioners Lundy, Lori Kokoski and Sharon Sweda in December 2020 after 20 years on the job so he could collect a severance package worked out by Moore and the board of commissioners during Moore’s first term in 2000.

Political allies at the time, Moore and Hung openly discussed firing Cordes’ before being elected to the board in November 2020.

domestic situation with a man threatening to harm his family. Officers surrounded the house, Makruski and another Amherst officer at the back of the home when they heard the man say he was going to get his shotgun.

Makruski busted out the sliding glass door and officers were able to subdue the man before he was able to get his gun and harm police or his family.

“There’s been times when it’s like you know you helped somebody…

Sometimes you just get in your cruiser at the end of a call and take a deep break and just think ‘I just helped somebody and that’s a good thing,’” he said.

“That’s why you do it.”

He’s run dual careers in the Army National Guard and Amherst Police for nearly three decades. Currently, Makruski is a command sergeant major with the 1-145th Armor Regiment based out of Stow. He joined the National Guard in 1999 and has been deployed to Fort Knox, Kentucky, after Sept. 11, 2001; Iraq in 20062007; Afghanistan in 2012; Jordan in 2017; Washington, D.C., in June 2020 amid protests following the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer; and January 2021 for President Joe Biden’s inauguration after the Jan. 6 insurrection.

“I’ve been very blessed to have these dual careers and I’ve used the skills, experience and training from one career to make myself better at the other,” he said.

“I’ve testified in Baghdad Central (Criminal) Court after catching a couple of escapees … which is something you do as a police officer. Here, with SWAT I’ve worn a camouflage uniform, helmet and body armor and carried a rifle.”

Makruski’s retirement starts today, but his new job starts Monday.

Rather than park himself in the sand on some beach, Makruski is one of 16 mobile training officers for the Ohio School Safety Center. The position, created by Ohio House Bill 99, will allow Makruski to train teachers or other school staff whose districts authorize them to carry firearms for schools in Lorain, Erie and Huron counties.

It was serendipity that brought him to his state job.

After the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, last year, Makruski was traveling with his wife to Fort Campbell, Tennessee, when he had an epiphany.

“We happened to stop in a hotel in Louisville for the night and I woke up the next morning and I just had this epiphany or this feeling that ‘I don’t have to keep doing this job, I can

do something else,’” he said.

He wanted to use his military and police experience to make schools safer, and do whatever he could to prevent or prepare for a mass school shooting like that in Lorain County.

He’d done active-shooter exercises with Amherst Schools in the past, but as more reports came out about the Uvalde response, he wanted to do more.

He called several Lorain County officials and asked if there were any positions where he’d be able to help schools prepare, but was told there was nothing available.

After searching online, he came across the Ohio School Safety Center and applied for a liaison position. But while waiting for his interview, he watched as Ohio House Bill 99 passed and created the mobile training job.

“I’m so blessed, it’s amazing,” he said.

Makruski plans to continue to serve with the Army National Guard and the Lorain County SWAT team while working in his new role with the Ohio School Safety Center.

When not working — or working out in his home gym — Makruski spends time with his wife, Mariam, and children Ashley, 24, Danny, 22, and stepsons Alex Kernell, 22, and Aidan Kernell, 20.

DeWine proposes covering MARCS radios

In his proposed 202425 biennial budget, Gov. Mike DeWine is including a financial incentive to encourage local first responders and municipalities to upgrade their radios to the statewide Multi-Agency Radio Communication System, or MARCS.

The proposal comes in the midst of a controversy over emergency radios in Lorain County, with the county fire chief’s association and police agencies angered over a vote by the Lorain County Board of Commissioners to rescind a contract first responders said would modernize their aging communications systems.

State lawmakers are required to pass a biennial, or two-year, budget by June 30. The proposed budget will cover the years 2024 and 2025 and must still be presented to state lawmakers. In his State of the State address Jan. 31, DeWine proposed the state fully fund monthly subscription fees to local agencies for a MARCS upgrade.

“More than 3,000 first responder agencies in Ohio currently use MARCS to communicate with each other across jurisdictional lines,” DeWine said. “However, many others use different radio systems, often making communication difficult with officers from other jurisdictions.”

Commissioner Michelle Hung and former Commissioner Matt Lundy voted in December to accept a nearly $8 million bid from Cleveland Communica-

tions Inc. for its L3 Harris radio system, paid for with American Rescue Plan Act funds. Commissioner David Moore was ill and did not attend that meeting.

Moore and newly elected Commissioner Jeff Riddell then voted to rescind the CCI contract over Hung’s objection on Jan. 9. They said the process that awarded the bid to CCI was improper and that they are working on a way forward to provide radios to sheriff’s deputies.

The state auditor’s office is investigating whether Hung or anyone else at the county, such as her boyfriend and former Lorain County 911 Director Harry Williamson, improperly steered the radio contract. Hung has denied any wrongdoing.

CCI has since sued the county for breach of contract, and the Lorain County Deputies Association filed a grievance over alleged violations of the health and safety clauses in its contract with the Lorain County Sheriff’s Office.

The Lorain County Fire Chief’s Association, the deputies association and Lorain County Sheriff Phil Stammitti have said the L3 Harris radios are the best option, work in conjunction with existing Wi-Fi technology and will require fewer upfront costs.

The State Highway Patrol and Ohio prisons in Lorain County use MARCS, as do several police departments.

At least 75 out of 88 counties in the state also use MARCS.

The state currently subsidizes some of the cost of MARCS equipment for local govern-

ments, which can include monthly charges of more than $400 for equipment and applications, according to documents on the Ohio Department of Administrative Services MARCS subscriber website.

Lorain County fire chiefs who applauded the commissioners’ decision to accept CCI’s bid in December, and criticized commissioners when they rescinded the contract on Jan. 9, said a MARCS radio system has other costs.

Fire chiefs respond According to the fire chiefs, MARCS radios require expensive antennas to work indoors. Installing bidirectional antennas, or BDAs, would be required for property owners under Ohio Fire Code and probably would cost thousands of dollars — all so firefighters could hear MARCS radio signals indoors, the chiefs have said.

“It’s not just as simple as, ‘Here’s your radios and here’s your system, Joe,’” Elyria Fire Chief Joe Pronesti said.

He said the fire chiefs have to have an open mind, but the Harris radios are “head and shoulders above MARCS” and use existing Wi-Fi signals without a large upfront cost for new equipment or BDAs.

Wellington Fire District Chief Mike Wetherbee said he has a great deal of respect for DeWine, but wondered if the governor was fully educated on the communication issues facing local fire departments like his.

“The fees are nothing compared to the five or six tower sites” MARCS will require to be built in Lorain County to boost the radios’

signal.

That cost, which Wetherbee said was estimated at $4.8 million, would be shouldered by Lorain County taxpayers. The equipment would then be turned over to the state for maintenance. Fire departments would also have to buy mobile signal repeaters and install them in fire trucks or command vehicles, also at an unknown cost. The cost to local schools, churches, hospitals and other private businesses that would have to install BDAs at their cost to comply with Ohio Fire Code is unknown, but would be in the many thousands of dollars, Wetherbee said.

And Wellington doesn’t have the money to pay to install BDAs in its school buildings and other businesses, he said. CCI, on the other hand, was willing to financially guarantee its equipment and take on the cost in exchange for monthly subscription fees, Wetherbee said.

The Avon, Avon Lake, North Ridgeville, Sheffield and Sheffield Lake fire departments use the L3 Harris system, “and what’s right for Lorain County is CCI building up the L3 Harris system,” Avon Lake Fire Chief Jeremy Betsa told the board of commissioners on Jan. 9.

“It’s not that we don’t like MARCS, but it’s not designed for interior firefighting and policing” of buildings, Wetherbee said. “It’s designed for highway patrol.”

“We want the better radio system to begin with,” Wetherbee said, adding that he has faith that the fire chiefs and the commissioners can work out a plan that satisfies everyone.

“It’s irritating because we know the bid process was done properly, transparently, and this is just more setback.”

Rochester to keep 35 mph zone on Route 511

DAVE O’BRIEN THE CHRONICLE-TELEGRAM

The village of Rochester will be allowed to keep portions of state Route 511 in the village at a 35 mph speed limit as long as it agrees to maintain the speed limit signs, Mayor Cindy Kurpely said.

The village and the Ohio Department of Transportation, which Kurpely said reached an agreement on the matter, have been at odds since late 2020, with village leaders and residents asking ODOT to keep the speed limit at 35 mph. ODOT had said the 35 mph limit signs did not conform to state law. It would be up to state lawmakers to change the law but “there was no appetite at the state level” to do so, Kurpely said Friday.

“What really needs to happen is that lawmakers and ODOT need to review and change their policies on the 35 mph, how they apply that 35 mph zone through municipalities and populated areas,” she said.

ODOT spokeswoman Amanda McFarland said the speed limit in that section of roadway always been 50 mph and that it was the village that posted signs that didn’t reflect the legal speed limit.

Village officials and residents said a higher speed limit endangers the safety of residents, passing motorists, and school buses. Several wrote to the Chronicle in late 2020 to complain about speeding motorists and the dangers of crashes on the curvy, hill roadways in and out of town.

A 50 mph limit is the legal limit from Griggs Road East to the village limits and south of South Street to the village limits, including a hill and a curve, according to ODOT. Those are the sections that concern the village and its residents.

ODOT “can only maintain and replace the signs that are legal and regulatory,” she explained in an email to the Chronicle-Telegram in February 2021. McFarland wrote that it was the village that posted signs “incorrectly indicating the speed limit was 35 mph.”

“By law, ODOT cannot install and maintain signs that do not reflect the legal speed limit of a roadway,” she wrote.

There is a legal process to lower speed limits on Ohio roads, but McFarland wrote that the village never made such a request.

A speed study can be done by the village or Village Council could pass a resolution asking ODOT to do one.

According to ODOT, a “speed zone” is “a section of roadway with a different posted speed limit than the statutory speed limit.” There is a page on ODOT’s website dedicated to speed zone rules and regulations.

Kurpely maintains that state law doesn’t appear to take into account the village’s school bus stops, “blind hills, curves, all of which we have in Rochester.”

For now, “the village will maintain the signs and do what we need to do to keep our residents safe,” she said.

“It’d be nice if the state would maintain things as they’ve always done, but if that’s what it takes to keep people safe, that’s what Rochester will do,” Kurpely said.

Lease between College, nonprofit to expire

OBERLIN — On July 1, 2023, a lease between Oberlin Collegeowned property George Jones Memorial Farm and a nonprofit called City Fresh, formerly the New Agrarian Center, will expire.

The lease began on July 1, 2018, and is a five-year lease renegotiated every five years. The college decided not to renew the lease this summer. City Fresh and college officials are now discussing a future for the farm.

In the Oberlin Review, Oberlin College Chief Facilities Officer Kevin Brown said potential options are being considered.

“As a lease naturally expires, the college is reviewing the most effective uses of the properties to support the college’s mission,’’ Brown said.

Anna Mauser-Martinez, executive director of City Fresh, is hoping to keep the farm going in some manner.

“Our collaboration with faculty, staff and students has been important and impactful, and we are in ongoing discussions with the college regarding our continued partnership,’’ Mauser-Martinez said.

Since 2018, Oberlin College has been leasing George Jones Farm to the 17-year-old nonprofit. The 70-acre property straddles Oberlin and New Russia Township, and City Fresh grows annual row crops, perennial systems and rotational systems.

Fruits and vegetables produced at George Jones Memorial Farm are sold affordably throughout Northeast Ohio from June to November or

December.

City Fresh also uses George Jones Farm as a central packaging hub. The organization packages and prepares produce from another 10 to 12 farms at George Jones. City Fresh distributes shares — a box of items — at affordable prices in Lorain, Elyria, Oberlin, Lakewood, Westlake and Cleveland. Single shares for one to two people include eight to 10 items for $22 with an option for a subsidized cost. Family shares for three to five people include 11-15 items for $35 and also have an option for a subsidized cost. Since City Fresh’s sales are largely based upon shares, the nonprofit needs to have a central packaging hub.

“We are working hard in the offseason to ensure we have appropriate space to operate come spring,” Mauser-Martinez said.

Due to COVID-19, George Jones farm was reduced to one staff member, making operations difficult.

Oberlin College student Antonina

Divalentin worked for City Fresh last summer through early November as a farmhand and produce transporter.

“It was hard to bring the farm back from COVID. It was almost all overgrown, and we really cleaned the place up,” Divalentin said.

City Fresh worked to make a comeback despite the COVID-19 disruptions. In February 2022, it was awarded $50,000 from the Community Foundation of Lorain County and the Nord Family Foundation.

Mauser-Martinez remains optimistic about the future of City Fresh and its relations with Oberlin College: “We appreciate the long-standing relationship with Oberlin College and the opportunity we have had to steward George Jones Farm. We are enthusiastic about the possibilities for a fruitful relationship and grateful for the enduring support the college has provided.”

Amnesty International report slams Oberlin professor Mahallati

OBERLIN – A new report by Amnesty International is the latest in a series questioning an Oberlin College professor’s alleged role in covering up a nearly 35-year-old massacre of political and religious dissidents in Iran.

The human rights organization released a 17-page statement Monday questioning the role former Iranian diplomats, including Oberlin College professor Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, played in the 1988 prison massacres.

Family members of the slain prisoners have demanded the college fire Mahallati. The college has refused to do so.

Mahallati has frequently and publicly denied the allegations.

Amnesty and family members of the slain dissidents said former Iranian diplomats, including Mahallati in his former job as Iran’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, “played a critical role in denying and disseminating misinformation about the prison massacres of 1988, as part of a global cover-up of the mass killings orchestrated by the Iranian authorities,” according to the statement released Monday.

“This cover-up not only robbed those directly affected and society at large of the right to truth, but also contributed to entrenching impunity, compounding the suffering of survivors and relatives, and facilitating the ongoing commission of the crime against humanity of enforced disappearance and other crimes under international law,” the organization wrote.

As Iran’s U.N. representative from 1987 to 1989, Mahallati “played a particularly active role in seeking to undermine credible reports by the then UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, and Amnesty International, and to weaken the UN’s response. For instance, he undertook efforts in late November and early December 1988 to block the adoption of a resolution by the UN General Assembly that expressed concern about the mass executions,” according to Amnesty International.

The full Amnesty International report can be read online.

The Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists, or AAIRIA — a group of relatives of the prison massacre victims, some Iranian-Americans, Oberlin College students and alumni, and others — also released a statement in response to the Amnesty International report Monday.

“… we conclude with certainty that Mr. Mahallati was aware of the executions and was in a position to stop them from happening. We find him negligent and complicit for failing to use his position at the UN to draw public attention to the Islamic Regime or Iran’s crimes against humanity, prevent further executions, and mislead the UN,” the group wrote.

The group’s statement further demanded Mahallati be removed from his post and condemned the college “for continually defending a known human rights abuser and failing to meet with the victims’ families, look at their evidence and listen to their stories.” AAIRIA also has conducted numerous protests in Oberlin and elsewhere calling for Mahallati’s firing.

Oberlin College spokesperson Andrea Simakis said she would not be able to get a reply to the Amnesty International report for The Chronicle-Telegram by its deadline Monday.

Mahallati has taught at Oberlin College since 2007, and is the Nancy Schrom Dye Chair in Middle East and North African Studies at Oberlin College. He also taught at Princeton, Georgetown, Yale and Columbia universities.

Carlisle Visitor Center Art Gallery displaying Ken Long photo exhibit

with last year’s “Limbs and Leaves I” exhibit, which was deemed a success.

Considering Northeast Ohio photographer and digital artist Ken Long loves capturing the beauty of the natural world, there are no better surroundings than Lorain County’s Carlisle Reservation.

After a successful debut solo exhibit last year at the Carlisle Visitor Center Art Gallery, Long returns to the LaGrange venue for another show.

“Considering it’s a nature center, I thought the work I’ve done with trees and leaves would be ideal for that kind of setting for artwork,” said Long, of Rocky River, who previously exhibited his work at Creative Space Avon.

After a peer suggested Long reach out to the gallery, the artist did just that

“It was fairly well received based on comments,” Long said. “Also, I sold three pieces.”

Currently, Long’s “Limbs and Leaves II” appears now through Feb. 28 in the Carlisle Visitor Center Art Gallery.

“There are a couple of pieces from last year that had a lot of comments and people liked,” Long said. “So this year there’s a total of 20 pieces — 18 of which are new.”

The exhibit features images of trees and leaves processed using neural net software to give them a painting-like quality.

“I describe it as digital art, but it starts with a photograph,” Long said. “For most of the artwork, I use something called neural net software, which basically takes the image that you

input and combines it with another image.

“They call it a style image so the textures and some of the colors of the style image are transferred over to the original image.”

An active photographer for roughly a decade, Long started experimenting with neural net software about five years ago. He instantly liked the results.

“It kind of takes your work to a different level,” Long said. “It makes it different and new from things that have been out there before. Hopefully it helps them appreciate it more and it brings out the beauty of whatever it is they’re looking at when they see the image.”

At the very least, Long hopes “Limbs and Leaves II” has viewers thinking spring.

“There’s one winter photograph in this year’s exhibit but everything

else is spring, summer or fall,” Long said. “That will hopefully cheer people up during the cold month of February.”

More than 600 people signed on to a letter to Oberlin College President Carmen Twillie Ambar calling for Mahallati to be fired in late 2020. The college then hired a law firm to investigate the allegations.

The college’s investigation concluded that the allegations were unproven. Iranian lawyer and 2003 Nobel Prize winner Shirin Ebadi and other critics later accused the college of “whitewashing” Mahallati’s alleged crimes in a letter in December.

The results of the investigation are detailed on the college’s website on a page titled “Fact Sheet: Professor Mohammad Jafar Mahallati.”

FILE | The Chronicle-Telegram

George Jones Memorial Farm sign in Oberlin.

DAVE O’BRIEN THE CHRONICLE-TELEGRAM

JAFAR MAHALLATI

Falcons fall short

Dukes best Clippers

Elyria beats Amherst

Oberlin keeps

Russ Gifford |Oberlin News-Tribune

Firelands’ Bella Simmons gets past pressure by Keystone’s Rylee Jedrzejek. The Falcons lost to the Wildcats 38-33.

Russ Gifford |Wellington

Wellington’s Gabby Miller gets two points against Clearview. The Dukes bested the Clippers 50-49.

Jeff Barnes |Amherst News-Times Cole Norris (4) of Amherst powers his way toward the basket as Xavier Church (12) of Elyria defends on Friday, Feb. 10, 2023 at Elyria High School. The Pioneers won 84-29 in Southwestern Conference play.

Knights of Columbus

“Knights at the Races”

Event Takes Place on March25th Doors open at 5 PM & Races at 7PM in the Knights of Columbus

Father Ragan Hall at 1783 Moore Rd. Avon. Win Big!

Buy a Horse or a Race, Relax with friends. Cash Bar, Side Boards, Big Prizes & Chinese Raffle. Tickets are $25/person for Dinner & Access to Betting. Mail Checks to Father Ragan Hall, PO Box 224, Avon, OH 44011and Make Payable to Fr. Ragan Council #3269. For Reservations/ Information Call Pete Catanese at (440) 465-4946 RSVP by March 7th for Ads with Your Name(s), the Number Attending, Your Phone Number, email Address and Check.

Avon Democratic Club

Join the Avon Democratic Club for our meeting on Thursday, April 13, at 6:30 p.m. at the Avon Senior Center at 36784 Detroit Road in Avon. All are welcome.

Candidates Geoffrey Smith and Wayne R. Nicol will discuss their campaigns for Municipal Judge of the Avon Lake Courts. The Avon Lake Municipal Court serves Avon Lake, Avon and Sheffield Village. To learn more about the ADC, visit our website at www.avonohdems.com. To make a donation to ADC’s Act Blue account, visit: https://secure.actblue.com/ donate/avon-democratic -club-1

BULLETIN BOARD

Personal Finance.”

Club

Lorain County Democratic Women’s

The Lorain County Democratic Women’s (LCDW’s) Club will meet on March 7 at 5:30 p.m. at Royal Grill Sushi Buffet at 5234 Cobblestone Road, Sheffield, OH 44035

To learn more about the LCDW, visit our website at www.LCDWOhio.com or our Facebook site.

To make a donation to LCDW’s Act Blue account, visit: https://secure.actblue. com/donate/lorain-county -democratic-women-sclub-1

Black River

Audubon Society

● The Black River Audubon Society is pleased to welcome Chad and Chris Saladin and their program “Cleveland Peregrines” at 7 p.m. March 7 at Carlisle Reservation Visitor Center, 12882 Diagonal Rd., LaGrange. Chad and Chris Saladin are a husband and wife team with an obsessive passion for peregrine falcons. They were official peregrine falcon nest site monitors in the Cleveland area for the Ohio Division of Wildlife from the 1990s until the monitoring project ended in 2015 as peregrines recovered adequately enough to no longer be considered as “threatened” in Ohio. Their program will highlight the many adventures they have experienced with peregrines as well as address

THEME: ON YOUR FEET

events. Items are published on a space-available basis and will be edited for style, length, and clarity. Send your items to news@lcnewspapers.com

their future.

This program is free to the public. For more information about programs, volunteering or becoming a member, please visit www. blackriveraudubon.org and remember to like us on Facebook.

● The Black River Audubon 65 Year Anniversary Outstanding Speaker program will feature wellknown naturalist, author and birder Scott Weidensaul and his program “A World on the Wing: The Global Odyssey of Migratory Birds” on March 25 at 3pm at the Carlisle Reservation Visitor Center, 12882 Diagonal Road, LaGrange.

Weidensaul will take you around the globe to learn how people are fighting to understand and save the world’s great bird migrations.

This program is free for members, $10 for nonmembers. Pre-registration for attendees is required and tickets can be purchased by following the link at www.blackriver audubon.org

Connecting for Kids

Connecting for Kids will host a resource fair 6-8 p.m. March 14 at Lorain County Community College, 1005 N. Abbe Rd.,

Elyria.

The organization hopes to bring awareness to providers in the community offering help to those struggling with ADHD, learning issues, autism spectrum disorder and other developmental delays.

The free event will feature more than 70 local providers including therapists, mental health professionals, funding sources, transition services, adapted summer camps and more for children birth through 22-years-old.

Families who pre-register and attend in-person will be entered to win a $100 VISA gift care. Pre-registration is available at connectingforkids.org/lorainresource-fair or by calling or texting (440) 570-5908.

Amherst

Public Library

● Kanopy is now available at the Amherst Public Library. Those with an Amherst Public Library Card can now borrow streaming films, documentaries and television series. The free Kanopy app is available for Apply TV, iPhone, Android, Amazon Fire Tables and Fire TV, Roku and some smart TVs.

Services can be accessed by downloading the free Kanopy app on a device or visiting amherstpub-

liclibrary.kanopy.com to create a free account with an Amherst Public Library card number and pin.

● An Oscars Trivia Contest is now underway at the Amherst Public Library.

Entry forms are available in the first floor Adult Services area through March 13, with statuettes throughout the first floor to find answers.

Correct and completed forms will be placed in a grant prize drawing for a Movie Night Pack, and bonus entries are available to those who find and check out a specially selected item. The contest is for those 16-and-older.

● Learn all about the Iditarod Trail sled dog race with local enthusiast Eleanor Csizmadia at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 23. Csizmadia will share photos, videos, facts, race history and her own experiences braving the sub-zero temperatures to experience the race firsthand, as well as updates and predictions for this year’s race.

● Amherst Library’s first adapted storytime is 10:15 a.m. Feb. 25. Children with varying learning styles and abilities are invited to the event. The program will last 15 to 20 minutes, followed by social time.

Content is designed for ages 3-7, but all ages are welcome. Parents and siblings are also welcome to attend.

Registration is required for each child planning to attend. Visit AmherstPublicLibrary.org or call (440) 988-4230 to register or for more information.

● A creative storytime will be 11:30 a.m. Feb. 25. The session will feature a story, music and movement, followed by an art project. It is designed for ages 2-5 and their caregivers. Dress of a mess.

Oberlin Community Services

A free, entry-level class on personal finance will be at 2 p.m. Feb. 25 at Oberlin Community Services, 500 E. Lorain St. Shae Mitchell of Northwest Bank will teach the basics of checking and savings accounts, budgeting and building credit. She will also answer questions during this one-hour session sponsored by OCS.

Light refreshments and all materials will be provided, including a kit with a 127-page book titled “The Infographic Guide to

NAMI of Lorain County

The National Alliance on Mental Illness of Lorain County will host its family to family educational class from 6-8:30 p.m. Tuesdays from March 7 to April 25.

The free, eight-session program is designed for family, significant others and friends of people with mental health conditions. Each session is taught by NAMI trained family members. To register, or for more information, call (440) 2408477 or email office@namilc.org

On February 23rd, NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness)of Lorain County will host their first Health and Wellness event at the Amy Levin Conference Center, located at 1165 North Ridge Road, Lorain from 6-8 p.m. The event will feature Seed Yoga, who will provide a free yoga session to all attendees. The goal is to provide an example of how physical health and mental health are connected. In addition to yoga, those in attendance will have the opportunity to learn more about NAMI services and volunteer opportunities. There will also be a free raffle and other activities with a Mardi Gras theme. Refreshments will be provided. Registration is not required but suggested, to register call 440-240-8477

Fish fry

There will be a fish fry dinner 5-7 p.m. Feb. 24 at the Pittsfield Community Church (corner of state route 58 and 303). All dinners are $15.00. All are welcome!

League of Women Voters Oberlin Area

Emerging from the women’s suffrage movement, the League of Women Voters turns 103 on February 14, 2023. To mark those many years of empowering voters and defending democracy, the League of Women Voters of the Oberlin Area (LWVOA) is hosting a celebration on Thursday, February 16th from 5 to 7 pm at Mill on Main, 95 S Main St, Oberlin. Following refreshments, those attending will engage in discussion about League priorities and decide on advocacy issues and actions going forward.

Overly preoccoupied with

47. Motion of assent 48. Louisiana swamp 50. Like list of chores 52. *Animated movie about a dancing penguin (2 words) 56. “All About Eve” star 57. Biblical birthright seller 58. Generic dog name

Are not

What snob puts on

Cogito, ____ sum

Mountain, in Germany

Trinitrotoluene, for short 64. Movie tape

DOWN 1. Yarn defect

2. 100 centavos in Mexico

3. A long time ago 4. Somewhat (2 words) 5. City on the Seine

9. Can of worms 10. Deciduous tree 11. *Percussion with one’s feet 13. Piano adjusters 14. Scrawny one 19. Caribbean religious and healing practice 22. Noble title 23. Apple TV+ coach 24. Acrylic fiber 25. Amortization root 26. *0.3048 meters 27. Web mag 28. Domains 29. Agricultural enterprises 32. Narc’s unit 33. Contagious bug

The Lorain County Community Guide Bulletin Board is for local nonprofit and not-for-profit

Rabbits love cabbag Help this rabbit n the cabbagepatch

About howmanydi erenttypesofcabbage aregrown throughout theworld? Do themathto nd out!

Nearly3,000 years ago, wild cabbage from Asia and the Mediterranean was_ _toNorthern Europe by the Celtsand laterthe Romans

Able to be stored forlong of time, cabbage wasastapleitem of Europeans in the Middle Ages. Itsjuice wascommonly usedto heal wounds and as a_ remedy

In 1541,French ______________, Jacques Cartier,introducedcabbage to North America

Since cabbage contains lots of vitamin C, otherexplorers, includingCaptain James Cook, with it in order to prevent scurvy Scurvyisaterrible_ causedbya diet lacking in vitaminC.Cabbage rapidly spread across the North American

Gather the ingredients fora healthy dish.

Work with an adult to make this refreshing,crunchy, sweet treat!

Chop cabbages into thin strips.

Drainpineapple, reserving 1/4cup of juice.

Crunchycabbage is full of good things your body needs.It has vitamin Cand vitamin K. It’sa cruciferous (crew-si-fur-us) vegetable.

Cruciferous vegetables areplants that contain phytochemicals with possible anti-cancer properties.Other cruciferous vegetables arebok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts,cauli ower, collard greens,kale,Swiss chardand turnips

ARUGULA BOK CHOY BROCCOLI CABBAGE CAULIFLOWER DAIKON

HardC and Soft C

Mixcabbage strips with pineapple andjuice

Addsaltand pepper to taste,toss and chill for i t

30 minutes.

Cooling with Cabbage RDBC JA TM BWDEGPRN BUAST VWH

Oneofthe greatest baseball players in thehistory of thegame hadanunusual trick forkeeping cool.Hewould place achilled cabbage leaf under his hatonhot days to beatthe heat! He wouldreplace thecabbage leaf with anew oneevery two innings Circle everythirdlettertoreveal thisfamous baseball player’s name.

HealthyMealtime

Look at thegrocery adsinthe newspaper Select items and make a healthymeal menu. Cutout thepictures andnames of the foods in your meal,and paste themonasheet of paper to displayon your refrigerator Standards Link: Reading Comprehension.

written directions.

This week’sword:

CRUCIFEROUS

The adjective cruciferous describesa plant or vegetable thatisa memberofthe cabbage family

Cabbage,broccoli,kale, cauliflower and turnips are cruciferous vegetables.

Trytouse theword cruciferous in asentence todaywhentalking withyour friends and familymembers.

What’sthe best way to eatcabbage?

In coleslaw? As sauerkraut? Roasted? Or?Giveother kids ideas on howto best enjoy eatingcabbage!

Replacethe missing wordsinthis article

I’mone of thehealthiest veggiesaround!