Lorain County Community Guide - Sept. 29, 2022

Preparing for 2024 solar eclipse

JASON HAWK EDITOR

ELYRIA — When a solar eclipse darkened skies across America in 2017, students in Missouri were just being dis missed from school.

It was a disaster. Buses there were stuck for hours in gridlock caused by tourists who flocked to see the rare astronomical event, said Hope Bonos, operations manager at the Lorain County Emergency Management Agency.

The same problems can’t be allowed to happen here on April 8, 2024, when Avon Lake

will be the best place in Ohio to view the next solar eclipse, Bonos told county commission ers in a briefing last Wednesday morning.

“I think we’re really trying to put an emphasis on working with community partners to predetermine viewing locations so people aren’t viewing the eclipse in unsafe areas — like going on top of a building,” she said. “We just want to make sure everyone’s safe.”

The best place in the United States to see the “Great Ameri can eclipse” will be the TexasMexico border, where the moon will completely blot out the sun for about 4 minutes 23

seconds starting just after noon, Central Daylight Time.

The moon’s shadow will move northeast across the na tion throughout the afternoon, making it to Ohio at Greenville around 3 p.m.

It will only take about 10 minutes for the shadow to move across the state. Avon Lake will be the best place in Ohio to see the “totality” — the fullest eclipse, according to a task force formed by the state.

It’s expected to be “a big deal,” said Lorain County EMA Director Jessica Fetter. Offi cials predict the county’s

Habitat thrift store, parcels transferring

JASON HAWK EDITOR

AMHERST — Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore, which quietly closed earlier this year amid rumors that money was used inappropriately, will reopen in November.

The Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity is ex panding its service area west, and will acquire about $2 million in assets in Lorain County.

That includes the thrift store at 300 Rice Industrial Parkway off Route 58, where home furnishings and building supplies were sold.

The building is valued at $1.2 million to $1.3 mil lion, but comes with a mortgage of about $500,000, according to John Habat, president and CEO of Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity.

The transfer also includes about $350,000 in cash and equivalents, such as money markets, and more than 30 parcels of land across the county — some vacant and others where Habitat houses have already been built.

Michael Owendoff, chair of Cleveland’s Habitat board, said he believes the organization can expand without

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FLOATING INTO FALL

Doggie Doo isn’t doggie done after all

MICHELE MURPHY FOR THE NEWS-TRIBUNE

Get ready to get set and go to the New Oberlin Doggie Doo on Saturday, Oct. 1.

The popular event is returning to Tappan Square after a seven-year hiatus and promises to have fun

things that leashed dogs and their humans can enjoy from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Organizing the event is Oberlin resident Margo Fox, who takes the leash from Michelle Andrews, who ran the event for years.

Fox is a relatively new transplant to Oberlin from Lakewood, moving to

the city after she became engaged in 2019. Fox was searching for a community project to get involved with.

“I'm someone who likes to get involved and meet new people,” she said, add ing, “I thought this would be a really cool way to meet people in my home town and align with my

passion for animals.” Prior to moving to Ober lin, Fox had never heard of Doggie Doo, but after a meeting with Andrews, who had decided to step away from the event, the lifelong animal lover decid ed to bring the event back, and she is grateful for

NASA

During a total solar eclipse like the one expected to draw hundreds of thousands of visitors to Lorain County in 2024, the sun’s corona can be seen as a crown of white flares.

Photos by Angelo Angel | Community Guide

The floats were a-flowing Saturday afternoon at the Oberlin Heritage Center’s Root Beer and Yesteryear event on West Vine Street. The downtown party signaled an end to summer with root beer floats provided by IGA and popcorn from the Oberlin Athletic Boosters Club and Bethany Hobbs. ABOVE: The band Parsh provides acoustic music.

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population of 309,000 could triple with visitors eager to see the 3 minute 52 seconds of darkness.

The last total solar eclipse visible in Ohio was in 1806. The next won’t happen until Sept. 14, 2099.

Fetter has already started talking about the 2024 eclipse with EMA directors in neighboring counties, and with Lorain County police and fire chiefs.

She and Bonos are concerned about the mass exodus that could happen immediately after the eclipse ends. Some 600,000 to 700,000 visitors could flood the roadways at once, bringing Northeast Ohio to its knees.

Fetter said she is worried about people in traffic jams running out of gas, food and water or having medical emergencies.

“We have to anticipate things going wrong at some point,” she said.

Commissioner David Moore, a Republican, said prob lems will likely start earlier. He believes traffic could slow to a crawl as eclipse tourists seek out the best viewing spots, and when the time comes they may stop on the roads wherever they are to watch.

Moore said he suspects a lot of Avon Lake residents will sell parking spots in their front yards. That could place a big burden the city’s two-lane residential streets in the late afternoon of April 8.

“What I’m concerned about is our first responders getting around,” Moore said. “I don’t know how you’re going to do it. I really don’t.”

In early April, there may be ice or snow still on the roads, complicating the situation further, said Bonos.

The Ohio task force plans to encourage visitors to arrive at eclipse viewing areas early and consider staying for a while before leaving.

Commissioner Matt Lundy, a Democrat, said the county may want to promote its restaurants and hotels, encourag ing people to stay the night after the eclipse.

He also suggested reaching out to state and federal representatives to request funding for Lorain County’s emergency response.

“Even the best laid plans, it’s difficult to prepare for something as big as this event,” Lundy said.

LETTERS

LCCC helps safety, economy

To the editor:

One of the best investments we can make in the safety of our community is to continue to support Lorain County Community College and its University Partnership pro gram by voting for Issue 10. It is a renewal levy and does not increase your taxes.

Issue 10 will help keep education for our residents af fordable so more will participate. As a local judge, I see how LCCC’s programs bolster safety in our community as LCCC is the number one training location for first responders — police, firefighters, paramedics, nurses, etc. LCCC and the University Partnership provide our resi dents with the skills for higher paying jobs and careers with more than 90 percent of our LCCC grads working and living here in Northeast Ohio.

Safety and a stronger economy go hand in hand. We cannot take these things for granted. Please join me and encourage your family and friends to vote for Issue 10.

James L. Miraldi

Judge Lorain County Court of Common Pleas

Support Costilow in 2023

To the editor:

Amherst Mayor Mark Costilow's record speaks for itself. On Thursday, he highlighted some of his adminis tration's accomplishments during a fundraiser, when he announced he would run for another term as mayor.

Mayor Costilow's event was a large gathering, espe cially for a small town such as Amherst. The Eagles hall was full of supporters of Mayor Costilow and his efforts to continue to move Amherst forward. Seeing the packed parking lot, anyone driving past Mayor Costilow's event could easily see our community's support for the way he has led Amherst's government.

Having worked with him, I am confident that he has Amherst's best interests in mind. Let's re-elect Mayor Costilow in 2023.

Matthew W. Nahorn

Fire cripples water treatment plant

JASON HAWK EDITOR

WELLINGTON — Fire swept through the Wellington water plant Monday night, destroying its labora tory, offices and kitchen.

There was remarkably little dam age to the filtration equipment itself, said Wellington Assistant Fire Chief Troy Pitts, though the fire knocked out power to the site at 23687 Pitts Rd., leaving the village to depend on its water reserves.

“We’re going to be able to produce water. We need to reestablish power to the plant,” Mayor Hans Schneider said early Tuesday morning while waiting for an insurance adjuster and the state fire marshal to arrive.

He confirmed that the plant’s key operational pieces, including filtra tion chains and electronic control systems, were spared.

There were also no issues with hazardous chemicals, which are stored in a different building on the grounds, Schneider said.

“It could have been a lot worse. Thank god there’s no life lost,” he said.

Due to a project, there had been around-the-clock staffing at the facil ity for the prior 15 days, he said. It was cleared about 40 minutes before the fire started, so the plant was empty.

The fire started around 7:40 p.m. Monday in the filtration plant’s base ment garage.

Pitts said the likely source was a village vehicle parked there, though the cause had yet to be determined.

The building is older and has been added onto several times over the years, Pitts said. Flames found

plenty of voids in which to hide — firefighters had to use an excavator on the damaged portion closest to Pitts Road to find and extinguish all hot spots.

“By design, it was hard to find it and extinguish it,” Pitts said.

Crews were there until about 3:30 a.m. doing salvage and overhaul, he said.

An emergency notice issued late Monday asked Wellington residents to conserve water until further notice.

That request was likely to remain in place until power is restored to the plant, Schneider said. He estimated that would happen after press time, either yesterday or today.

Village workers were on site early Tuesday trying to determine the

best course of action. They quickly forged an agreement to have water testing done in neighboring Oberlin, and the Lorain County Rural Water Authority helped pressurize lines, Schneider said.

“The Wellington water is still good, safe water,” he said. “We certainly avoided a disaster situation, thanks to the fire department and all those people who were there over night to put the fire out.”

The good news — “There is al ways light in the darkness,” Schnei der said — is that the plant will be operable even though offices and the lab will have to be totally rebuilt.

That’s a process that will take months, said Schneider. A temporary office will be set up in the interim.

Beatles or Stones? See both and decide

ELYRIA — The Beatles and The Rolling Stones have each left indelible marks on music history, scoring hit after hit.

But only one can be the best.

The most infamous rivalry in rock and roll will play out in “Beatles vs. Stones – A Musical Showdown” at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 6 at Lo rain County Community College’s Stocker Arts Center.

Will the Stones be yell ing for “Help” to fight the songwriting prowess of Lennon and McCartney? Or will the Beatles cry “Gimme Shelter” from the relentless sonic barrage of Jagger and Richards classics?

Members of tribute bands Abbey Road and Satisfaction have taken great care to recreate the experience of seeing these incredible bands live.

The Oberlin High School string quartet will join the touring show. Seniors Iliana Bennett, Zenobia

Calhoun, Sasha Chen and junior Ruby HarrisonStubbs will join the bands for the songs "Eleanor Rigby," "A Day in the Life," "Hello Goodbye," "Hey Jude," "Gimme Shel ter" and "Ruby Tuesday." Quartet members have performed with the

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(440) 329-7000 during business hours.

Northern Ohio Youth Or chestras and the Cleve land Orchestra Youth Orchestra. Members have competed at Ohio Music Education Associ ation Solo and ensemble festivals.

Tickets are $30 to $50 and may be purchased by phone at (440) 366-4040, in person at the Stocker Box Office or online at www.stockerartscenter. com.

The Stocker Arts Center is located at 1005 N. Abbe Rd., Elyria. The show is billed as appropriate for all ages.

POSTMASTER:

Provided image

Tribute bands Abbey Road and Satisfaction will recreate the experience of seeing The Beatles and The Rolling Stones on Thursday, Oct. 6 at Lorain County Community College.

Bruce Bishop | Wellington Enterprise

The Wellington water treatment plant offices, lab and kitchen were deemed a total loss after a fire Monday night.

Ambulance service gets $10K grant from LMRE

WELLINGTON TWP. — Lorain-Medina Rural Electric Cooperative, in partnership with CoBank, has awarded a $10,324 grant to Wakeman-based Citizens Ambulance Service.

It will help secure and outfit a vehicle capable of transport ing non-emergency patients to and from medical services that are unable to be transported normally due to injury or medi cal condition. The service will also respond to emergency and

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non-emergency calls for local residents.

“Access to safe and reliable transportation to and from medi cal appointments is essential for the wellbeing of our local com munity,” said EMS Coordinator Lucas Palm. “As an EMS provider, we often act as a com munity safety net. With the dona tion from LMRE and CoBank, we have been able to branch out to fill the need of the community and brocade this critical service

reducing its existing services in Cuyahoga County.

“We also believe that we can offer a more robust affordable homeownership program than previously offered to Lorain County residents,” he said.

The nonprofit organization is committing to build at least one house a year in Lorain County, Habat said.

“My guess (is) it will be more than that because I think there’s a lot of interest and potential support and need, for sure need, in Lorain County,” he said.

The hope is to start accepting applications for home ownership here by early spring, said Habat.

Assets are expected to transfer in the next couple of weeks, said Chief Development Officer Peggy Sobul.

“Once the transfer takes place, we’ll be going in and cleaning up, getting it ready to open,” she said.

A grand opening is being planned for Sat urday, Nov. 5. Habat said the ReStore will likely have a soft opening a couple of days in advance.

Net proceeds from the store go to support construction of affordable housing.

Habat declined to answer questions on the

DOGGIE DOO

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the support Andrews has given, including being an event sponsor this year.

“We clicked over our mu tual passion,” Fox said.

She said Andrews “gifted” her with boxes and boxes of materials to help her get her brain around the project she wanted to pursue. Andrews also con nected Fox to Lorie Wilber, whose Partners with Paws of Lorain County Inc. has provided volunteers, publicity assistance and logistical support for Dog gie Doo in the past and has been critically vital help this year, too.

“I couldn't have done this without Lorie,” Fox said.

Discussion about hold ing the event in 2021 were scuttled as COVID-19 persisted and the enormity of planning for a successful relaunch settled in. For the past year, Fox has planned out every detail from vendors to food, contests, raffles, and, perhaps closest to her heart, making sure local rescues were well represented.

“This is a rebuilding year,” said Fox, who wants to make sure that those who attended Doggie Doo in the past understand this year's event was deliberate ly kept a bit smaller to en sure its successful relaunch. Among the three-dozen booths will be vendors sell ing a range of items, more than a dozen pet rescues and food vendors.

As the event opens at 10 a.m., a poem in re membrance of dogs that have crossed the Rain bow Bridge will be read. Those in attendance will be allowed to write their pet's name onto a Rainbow Bridge that Fox's mom constructed just for Doggie Doo. A $5 donation will be put toward saving the lives of Lorain County's pets in need, as will all the pro ceeds from the day includ ing baskets and a 50/50 raffle, Fox said.

Fox is excited to bring back a pet and human costume contest. Anyone can participate but must register by 11 a.m. with

to our community.”

LMRE General Manager Ed VanHoose said the cooperative is happy to make worthwhile donations that benefit both its members and the community.

LMRE continues to partner with CoBank to assist schools, organizations, and the com munity with funding. In 2021, the cooperative awarded $10,000 with an additional $10,000 in matching funds from CoBank to organizations in its territory.

record about the circumstances that led to the closure of the ReStore and the departure of former Director Kelly La Rosa.

A former volunteer filed a complaint with the Ohio Attorney General’s office in late 2021, accusing an executive there of using money and influence to procure Habitat homes for friends.

No related charges or civil lawsuits have been filed.

Habitat for Humanity International discon tinued its affiliation with the Lorain County nonprofit this spring.

“By the time I got in the door, most of the answers were there and now it was just a matter of, ‘Let’s figure out how to move forward,’” said Habat.

All organizations need to have “the right controls” to ensure accountability, he said.

Habat said members of the former Lorain County Habitat board were cooperative and wanted to make sure the organization contin ued to have a presence.

“… Such cooperation has facilitated as smooth a transition as possible under the circumstances,” he said.

According to Habat, the Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity doesn’t intend to have any association with La Rosa in the future.

the contest beginning at 11:30 a.m. Prizes will be awarded.

Another feature will be a demonstration by the Lo rain County Sheriff's Office canine unit.

While acknowledging the enormity of taking on the task, Fox said she is continually bolstered by the enthusiastic response of community members who are thrilled Doggie Doo is back. She said she has great volunteers to help at the event, but, for this first year, decided to handle many planning tasks herself to become familiar with the myriad details involved to give her a sense of how to recruit future volunteers to take on those tasks.

What's even more re markable about Fox taking on such a big job is the fact she joined Oberlin's Langston Middle School as an English teacher this year after spending the last six with Lorain Schools, was married in late June,

and has her own menagerie at home with AJ, the Great Dane, and two cats, all of whom she and her husband rescued.

Despite the nonstop schedule, Fox says she is happy to be “bringing back to Oberlin an event that they loved and feeling like I'm doing something that people have longed for.”

She's also hoping some of the adoptable pets that res cues bring to Doggie Doo find permanent homes as her own pets are constant reminders of the impor tance of adopting from a rescue or shelter.

“Come out, support the vendors, the rescues, but mostly come. It will be a beautiful afternoon to enjoy the park and support the cause. Every dollar you spend at the event helps homeless animals in Lorain County.”

For more information about The New Oberlin Doggie Doo, visit face book.com/theoberlindog giedoo.

Provided photo Margo Fox, pictured with her rescue Great Dane, AJ, has organized the New Oberlin Doggie Doo to be held Saturday, Oct. 1, in Oberlin's Tappan Square.

Record enrollment this fall at LC JVS

PITTSFIELD TWP. — The fall semester is underway at the Lorain County JVS with record enrollment of just over 1,500 students.

“The word is out,” said Principal Tina Pelto. “LCJVS offers amazing opportunities for students across the county.”

This year, the vocational school added two ninth- and 10th-grade programs to get students off a waiting list and into classrooms, she said.

As freshmen, students are placed in a structured lab setting and use all kinds of equipment, work on projects, learn safety procedures and obtain a variety of career skills.

Sophomores rotate through labs en route to a two-year career tech program during their junior year.

Kloey Helms, a freshman from Wellington, said she’s loved her experience at the JVS so far.

“I’ve made a lot of friends. I love how it is so diverse and there are so many different types of people here, and there is really something for everyone,” she said.

Biden says pandemic is ‘over,’ local data shows it’s heading that way

JASON HAWK EDITOR

The COVID-19 pandemic is over, President Joe Biden declared Sun day, Sept. 18 in an interview with “60 Minutes.”

"We still have a problem with CO VID. We're still doing a lot of work on it. But the pandemic is over," he said. "If you notice, no one's wear ing masks. Everybody seems to be in pretty good shape. And so I think it's changing."

There are certainly good signs, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Tracking shows fewer than 70,000 new cases of the disease are reported each day in the United States and falling.

Fewer than 35,000 people were in the nation’s hospitals with the coro navirus last week, showing a sharp drop since the start of September.

Yet the nation officially remains in a state of emergency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention haven’t downgraded the situation from a pandemic to endemic.

There are still about 400 deaths each day due to COVID, according to the federal health agency.

Lorain County Health Commis sioner Mark Adams said Biden’s announcement that the pandemic has ended is probably an attempt to push policy, a nudge to get the CDC to reclassify COVID-19 as endemic alongside season influenza.

Until that happens, COVID is still a disease of concern, Adams said.

He told the Lorain County Com munity Protection Team last week that the amount of the virus found in wastewater samples is declining rapidly, and local cases are “starting to dwindle down.”

Spread in Lorain County has remained “high,” for four weeks longer than Adams had predicted, according to CDC tracking.

Demand for vaccines also remains steady at the county health depart ment, he said. Lorain County Public Health is still giving 80 or so CO VID shots per day.

Adams said he’s not worried that Biden’s announcement will cause

From COVID to flu season

With cases of COVID-19 wan ing in Lorain County, local health experts are turning their attention to flu season.

It typically starts in late October or early November and peaks in December and January.

Lorain County Public Health will begin holding flu clinics Monday, Oct. 17.

Residents can get COVID and flu shots at the same time, with no need for a gap between them, according to Lorain County Health Commissioner Mark Adams.

vaccine-seekers to vanish. They’re going to rely more on the advice of their physicians, local leaders and civic groups, he feels.

Todd Harford, chief operating of ficer of University Hospitals Elyria Medical Center, said COVID-19 ad missions there have fallen off steep ly. Patients are still tested if they’re admitted for other other reasons, and sometimes come up positive. COVID restrictions for visitors remain in place, he said. Otherwise it’s “back to normal for business as much as possible from a hospital standpoint.”

Rebecca Starck, president of Cleveland Clinic Avon Hospital, said severe hospitalizations due to the disease have fallen into the single digits. Her facility is returning to regular visitation hours, though masks are still required indoors.

People are more comfortable going back to hospitals, Starck said. Emer gency department visits are returning to pre-pandemic volumes, and a lot of people who held off on screen ings such as mammograms are now catching up.

Schools are also embracing a return to normalcy this fall, said Franco Gallo, superintendent of the Educational Service Center of Lorain County.

He said local superintendents tell him they are relieved not to have to fight battles over masking. Their fo cus now is on getting students back on track academically.

“It’s more like a normal year,” Gallo said.

Business is also back in swing, said Tony Gallo, president of the Lo rain County Chamber of Commerce.

Big events — Elyria’s Apple Festival and the FireFish Festival in Lorain, for example — are back in a big way, and the calendar is full through the end of 2022, he said.

At the same time, there is anecdot al evidence that COVID hasn’t faded away, Gallo said.

“I know more people who seem to have come down with COVID for a second time,” he said. Businesses are wrestling with employee calloffs after being exposed to or testing positive for the virus.

The Lorain County Emergency Management Agency is “standing by at the ready” in case there is a resur gence, said Director Jessica Fetter.

It’s started stockpiling personal protective gear again from sources that are inundated but no longer are experiencing high need. For ex ample, Fetter said Mercy Health just donated 26,000 masks.

Adams said it’s possible COVID will “bloom” again this winter, but he doesn’t believe November and December will see a surge like it did in 2020 and 2021.

COVID is still there, “but it’s just not causing the harm in the com munity” that it has for two years, he said.

In the meantime, spread of mon keypox — a much less communica ble virus — has “pretty much stalled out,” Adams said.

Lorain County has seven cases, Erie County has two, Medina County has 1 and none have been found in Huron or Ashland coun ties. Cuyahoga County, how ever, has been a hot spot with 123 confirmed cases of monkeypox, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

Adams told the Community Protection Team that his office has stopped getting regular phone calls about the disease, and very little test ing is being requested.

Lorain County Public Health only has 25 doses of the monkeypox vac cine. Adams said he is working with area colleges to plan a clinic if one is desired.

Safety/Service Director to pur chase w/o competitive bid, a valve turner for Water Distribu tion Dept. 135-22* Auth Safety/ Service Director to enter into contract for professional ser vices related to the construc tion of new waterline infra structure related to the East Lorain Waterline project. 13622* Auth Safety/Service Di rector to auth the purchase of services for concrete improve ments at the Sewer Depart ment. 137-22* Auth the Safety/ Service Director to enter into an amendment to the con tract previously entered into w/ HDR Engineering for the Lorain Water Treatment Facil ity Phase1 Environmental Site Assessment and general plan. 138-22*

Auth the S/S Director to accept and enter into an agrmt w/ the Dept. of the Army for construction assistance for Section 549 City of Lorain Environmental Infrastructure Project. 139-22* Amending Ord 41-22, auth the S/S Di rector to enter into a 1-year software maintenance agrmt w/ Tyler Technologies for Lo gos Software System. 140-22 Auth S/S Director to apply for, accept & enter into an agrmt w/ ODOT for reconstruction of right turn lane & traffic signal at Henderson Drive & Colorado Avenue. 141-22 Auth Safety/ Service Director to enter into a Memorandum of Understand ing between the City of Lorain and the International Associa tion of Firefighters Local 267 to approve payment of expenses for an on-duty claim. 142-22* Auth the purchase of a new Sutphen Pumper for the fire department through the State of Ohio Cooperative Purchas ing Program for an amount not to exceed $633,000.00. 14322 Auth the Mayor & S/S Direc tor to enter into a cooperative agrmt w/ the City of Amherst for the preliminary engineering for the Leavitt Road Traffic Im provement Study. 144-22 Auth S/S Director to accept the do nation of $1,299 for purchase of 1 bench for South Lakeview Park from Pansy Dixon. 145-

the S/S Dir to accept the donation of $3453 for the purchase of 2 swing benches and 1 bench for Marie Bona minio Memorial Garden Park from Jim & Joan Bonaminio. 146-22

workers, Local 6621 to create the position of Environmental Landscape Crew Lead for the City’s Engineering De partment. 132-22* Amending Ord. 145-21, Section 1, auth the S/S Director to enter into contract for the purchase of 7 Ford Explorers & applicable backroom system components with all emergency equipment installed through State Pur chasing w/o bid not to exceed $511,619. 133-22*

Auth the Safety/Service Director to en ter into a contract w/ the high est rated/ranked Engineering firm for professional services related to the preliminary en gineering and planning of im provements to the Jaeger Rd. pump station. 134-22 Auth the

the S/S Director to accept the donation of $734.13 for purchase of concrete for the “Lorain” sign at the NE Corner of Broadway & West Erie Avenues from Andrea Neal. 147-22 Auth the Trea surer to enter into a contract w/ the Ohio Attorney General for the collection of delinquent debt owed to the City. 14822*Auth the S/S Director

enter

for

transfer

149-22* Auth the Auditor

pay invoices submitted by

Clerk of Council & Safety/Ser vice Departments that invokes the Then & Now Certification Exception Process and to pay for said invoices. 150-22

151-22*

TECH OF YESTERYEAR

Thomas Fetcenko | Wellington Enterprise The 51st annual LaGrange Engine Show was held Sunday, Sept. 18 at the Lorain County Fairgrounds in Wellington. Enthusiasts from all over Ohio came together to share a love for antique machinery, including steam engines and tractors.

Provided photo Emmah Cristarella, a ninth-grader from Clearview, learns basic knife skills in her career-tech lab.

Methane cleaning plant is big business for Oberlin

JASON HAWK EDITOR

OBERLIN — An agreement to provide electricity to Bio Energy LLC’s $80 mil lion renewal natural gas plant was passed by City Council on last week in an emer gency vote.

Located on Hill Creek Drive, off Oberlin Road, it is expected to start powering up in November, according to Doug McMillan, director of the Oberlin Municipal Light and Power System.

“It’s quite a facility and going to use a lot of power,” he said.

Parent company EDL has used methane produced at the Lorain County Landfill in New Russia Township to generate electric ity for the past 22 years.

That plant will close in 2023 as the new one comes online, McMillan said.

He’s spent two years working to attract EDL to the city limits, where the finished plant will be by far Oberlin’s largest en ergy customer.

Part of the process has been negotiating a whole new utility rate class for large in dustrial customers. Council approved it in April 2021, then in December inked a deal for EDL to built a 69-kilovolt transmission substation for the city across the street.

That substation, which McMillan said is valued at $1.5 million to $2 million, will become city property but will primarily service EDL.

Council was asked last week to final ize the city’s agreement with the energy company. McMillan said it now includes a key provision for what will happen when the plant closes at some point in the future, “say it’s in 20 or 30 years,” he said.

There will be public costs involved in

powering down the plant, he said — es pecially if the closure comes suddenly, leaving Oberlin on the hook electricity purchases that will be negotiated years in advance. The final agreement insulates the city and its taxpayers from those costs.

Council approved the deal in an emer gency vote “to facilitate the creation of economic and environmental benefits” to the city.

In a follow-up interview, Council Vice President Kelley Singleton said the new plant will reclaim methane from the nearby landfill and transform it into natural gas, which will be exported to states such as California, where there is a demand for cleaner energy.

With EDL, the alternative is to vent the methane — a greenhouse gas — directly into the atmosphere “where it would sit right overhead of Oberlin,” Singleton said.

“This way it’s going to be cleaned and used somewhere else,” he said, and “it’s going to provide a lot of revenue for us.”

McMillan said he plans to ask Council again next month for a temporary rate adjustment as EDL gets ready to begin operations.

The new large industrial rate has a 7,500-kilowatt minimum monthly charge for electricity purchased from the city. But for the first three months, EDL will just be commissioning the plant and doesn’t anticipate going over 1,000 kilowatts, Mc Millan said. He plans to ask to lower the minimum for that window only.

“For them, it’s about a savings of $80,000, and they’ve said they’ve had so many cost overruns with COVID and hold-ups they’re trying to do some eco nomic offsets where they can,” he told Council. “And it won’t cost us anything, really.”

Arabica and Your Deli closing, both on Park

JASON HAWK EDITOR

AMHERST — Arabica Coffee and Your Deli, both on Park Avenue in down town Amherst, are closing — but not for the reasons you might suspect.

Neither is being squeezed out of busi ness by bigger competitors or a lack of customers. Business at both is booming.

Coffee shop owner Jerry Perch said his “hobby” running Arabica is ending because of rising prices.

Landlord Pete de la Porte gave him an eight-year break on rent, keeping it locked at a low 2014 rate. That deal is at an end, and the cost is ballooning all at once to 2022’s rate.

Yet Perch isn’t bitter.

“People think it’s a terrible thing, that it’s price gouging. That’s not the case,” he said. “I was blessed with rent for eight years, with no increase.”

After a long career as an Admiral King High School teacher and coach, Perch got into the coffee game in retirement and said he didn’t “take any money out of it.”

Instead, his goal was to hire mothers with special scheduling needs, people who have difficulty finding jobs because life is complicated and a small army of high school athletes, band musicians and choir members.

Sunday was the last day for Arabica. The band Decades, which has become a staple at the venue, played one last set before the lights went off.

Stephanie and Sean Miller, who own coffee shops in Valley City and Wad sworth, are already planning to move in, Perch said — longtime Arabica employ ees had interviews scheduled in hopes of being hired on.

Just down the street, Your Deli owner Debbie Dixon said her commercial kitch en is expanding, now providing chicken paprikash to 116 stores.

Dixon said she’s never been busier. But there’s a drawback.

“We just are not able to staff both the commercial kitchen and the deli at the same time,” she said.

After 33 years, the restaurant portion of the building will close tomorrow.

Dixon, who is semi-retired in Florida, returned to work through the summer due to a staffing shortage. Now she’s planning to head south once again, but will still own and operate the business from afar.

She said Your Deli has been flooded this week with longtime customers buy ing a “last” pint of paprikash, though they’ll still be able to buy it in stores.

She’s thankful for their support: “Not one person has to walk in here and not one person has to buy a pint of paprikash – but they do. We’ve been so lucky.”

Bruce Bishop | Oberlin News-Tribune Workers at the Bio Energy LLC natural gas plant in Oberlin work on the facility last week.

Angelo Angel | Amherst News-Times Patrons enjoy the dining area of Arabica Coffee shop in Amherst last week as it prepared to close.

Photos by Angelo Angel | Amherst News-Times Sleeping Beauty, Belle, Rapunzel, Mulan and the Little Mermaid greeted kids to a princess party Saturday at the Amherst Public Library. ABOVE: A group of prin cesses introduce themselves. LEFT: Meghan Krieger as Rapunzel speaks to girls about her princess life.

Relive Browns history

Learn about the accomplishments of one of the most storied franchises in the NFL at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 29 at the Amherst Public Library.

Author and veteran sports writer Marty Gitlin will discuss and show videos of the greatest and most interesting players, teams, events and moments since the Browns were born in 1946, including the years of perennial championships in the AAFC and NFL through the 1960s. Watch the exploits of such superstars as Otto Graham, Marion Motley, Jim Brown, Leroy Kelly and Paul Warfield. Relive the Kardiac Kids and Dawgs of the 1980s. Lament and learn more about the loss of the fran chise when Art Modell hijacked the club to Baltimore, as well as the struggles after their return throughout the twenty-first century.

There will be a question time following the program.

Superhero Saturday

Calling all superheroes! Create your own super cape, perform fantastic feats of strength and enjoy fun music and activities from 1-3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 1 at the Amherst Public Library.

This event is recommended for ages 10 and under. Registration is required for this program; kids must each be reg istered separately at www.amherstpubliclibrary.org.

A Special Wish car show

Byrider and A Special Wish of Northeast Ohio will hold the charity’s annual car show from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 2 at 7550 Leavitt Rd., Amherst.

Byrider’s involvement with A Special Wish is personal. Brianna Gornek, daughter of the store’s operations manager, Christina Allen, is a childhood cancer survivor and recipient of several wishes during her victory over cancer.

There is a $10 per vehicle entrance fee for the car show, pay able on-site. All vehicle makes, and models are welcome, with a 150-vehicle cap. Prizes will be awarded for various catego ries, including Best of Show, Best Classic, Best Hot Rod, Best Truck, Kids’ Choice and more. The first 100 vehicles entered will receive a dash plaque.

The event itself is free to attend. Attendee parking is available at Federated Auto Parts next to Byrider.

There will also be a 50/50 raffle, raffle baskets, door prizes and a dunk tank.

Historical cemetery tours

The Brownhelm Historical Association’s 8th Annual Cemetery Walk will be held from 3-6 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 2 at 3025 North Ridge Rd.

Meet eight early Brownhelm residents in costume that will share their life stories from the 1800s. This year’s walk features six new people.

Parking is on the road and in the lot on the north side of Brownhelm Cemetery using the north drive. Enter on Sunnyside Road and exit on North Ridge Road.

The walk is family-friendly and free. Tours run every 10-15 minutes starting at 3 p.m. The last tour leaves at 5:15 p.m.

Explore college options

A college fair will be held from 4:30-7 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 3 at Keystone High School, 580 Opportunity Way, LaGrange. Meet college representatives and learn about programs and scholarships. This College Now Greater Cleveland event is open to students and families from Clearview, Columbia, Elyria, Firelands, Keystone, Midview, North Ridgeville, Oberlin and Wellington school districts.

Explore Korean culture

Learn about Korea’s beauty and culture at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 4 at the Herrick Memorial Library.

The Rev. Hyeran Yu of First United Methodist Church in Wellington will speak and teach the audience one of her favorite songs. Registration is requested by calling (440) 647-2120.

Oberlin library Friends sale

The Friends of the Oberlin Public Library will hold a fall sale with books, CDs, DVDs, puzzles and sheet music, with most items priced from 50 cents to $1.

A pre-sale for Friends members only will be held from 5-8 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 5. Memberships will be sold at the door. Hours for the general public are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 6; 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 7, with every item half price; 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 8, with a pay-what-you-want model; and 1-3 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 9, with a pay-what-you-want model. Proceeds support library programs and services.

BULLETIN BOARD

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

Join Brownhelm historians

The Brownhelm Historical Association will meet at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 5 at the Historic Brownhelm School and Museum, 1950 North Ridge Rd.

Doors open at 6 p.m. A business meeting will start at 6:30 p.m. with a social time at 7 p.m. A historical program on the history of Swift’ Hollow and the legend of Gore Orphanage will begin at 7:30 p.m. Grant Thompson will speak.

The meeting is open to the public.

Herrick library meeting

The Herrick Memorial Library board will meet at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 6 at the library in Wellington. The meeting is open to the public.

Help fill empty bowls at LCCC

Seize the Clay and Stock the Cupboard” will be held from 4-6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 6 at Lorain County Community College’s Norton Culinary Arts Center in Elyria.

What started as a grassroots campaign to enlighten people about world hunger has evolved into an effort to remind folks there are always “empty bowls” in the world. With a $20 dona tion, guests can select one handmade bowl of their choice craft ed by LCCC students and instructors, as well as local potters.

Guests can also enjoy a variety of soups made by the LCCC culinary arts department. Additional pottery will also be available for sale with all proceeds benefiting LCCC’s on-campus food pantry, the Commodore Cupboard.

Guests are asked to register at www.lorainccc.edu/emptybowls.

Moving locations

Seated flow yoga will move from South Amherst Community Park to Village Hall beginning Thursday, Oct. 6. Sessions are held at 6 p.m. each Thursday. All levels are welcome.

Hear paranormal researchers

Spend a spine-tingling afternoon with members of Ohio Researchers of Banded Spirits at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 8 at the Amherst Public Library.

Learn about paranormal research and “haunted” locations in Ohio. A question-and-answer session will follow the ORBS presentation.

Registration is requested at www.amherstpubliclibrary.org.

Show off Lego creations

Spend the afternoon playing with Lego blocks starting at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 8 at the Herrick Memorial Library. All ages are invited to a fun, non-competitive day of creating using the library’s Legos.

Swiss steak in Pittsfield

A Swiss steak dinner will be held from 5-7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 8 at Pittsfield Community Church, 17026 State Route 58. All dinners are $13, and the public is welcome to attend.

Solve Dr. Pepper’s death

A murder mystery dinner will be presented at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 8 and Sunday, Oct. 9 at the Amherst Historical Society’s Sandstone Hall, 113 S. Lake St.

In this play directed by Valerie Farschman, try to solve “The Death of Dr. Pepper,” the famed plastic surgeon whose one weakness is women.

The cost is $30 for members and $35 for non-members.

LCCC: How to transfer

The Lorain County Community College Transfer Fair will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 10 at College Center in Elyria.

This event is intended for current LCCC students interested in transferring to four-year universities, including those in LCCC’s University Partnership. More than 40 public and private institu tions will be in attendance to answer transfer questions.

Learn more about starting at LCCC and transferring to a fouryear university at www.lorainccc.edu/transfer.

Amherst library meeting

The Amherst Public Library board will meet at 6 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 10 at the library. The meeting is open to the public.

Democrat club meeting

The Rural Lorain County Democrats Club will meet at 6 p.m. Oct. 10 at the Historic Grafton School House, 1111 Elm St. in Grafton.

There will be Democratic candidate’s signs and light refresh ments. For more information, call (440) 387-3790, email rurallo raincounty@gmail.com or visit www.ruralloraincountydems.com.

One-stop shopping for colleges

The 34th Annual Lorain County College Fair will be held from 6-7:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 10 at Lorain County Community College’s Ewing Activities Center, 1005 N. Abbe Rd.

This is a one-stop opportunity to learn about more than 100 colleges and universities all under the same roof. See the full list of colleges at www.lorainccc.edu/collegefair.

An optional breakout session on financial aid will be held at 6:30 p.m. Experts will answer questions about enrollment, classes, financing and more.

This college fair is ideal for high school juniors and seniors and their parents.

Show off board game skills

The new Tabletop Game Time club for teens and adults will meet at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 11 at the Amherst Public Library.

Everyone is welcome. The club is recommended for ages 12 and up. Drop in to play games. A variety of 2-6 player card, strategy and party games will be available at meetings, includ ing Settlers of Catan, Bohnanza, Sagrada, Splendor, Azul, For Sale and more.

Lewis book group returns

The C.S. Lewis and Friends Book Group will resume meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 11 at the Amherst Public Library.

It will discuss the “Introduction to Athansius’ On the Incarnation” by CS Lewis, concentrating on ideas about read ing. Find this by googling the title or by making a copy from an original found at the library’s first floor information desk.

For more information, contact Marcia Geary at mgeary@ gearylawllc.com or (440) 988-9803. All are welcome.

Learn Greenwood’s secrets

Did you know there are Confederate soldiers buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Wellington? Did you know what a “rup tured duck” insignia means?

Teens ages 11 and up can learn more during an after-school cemetery walk at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 13. Registration is required by calling (440) 647-2120. Attendees will meet at the entrance of Greenwood Cemetery.

Oberlin library meeting

The Oberlin Public Library board will meet at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 13 at the library. The meeting is open to the public.

Republican club meeting

“Charter School and Voter Integrity Night” will be held Thursday, Oct. 13 at the Father Ragan Knights of Columbus Hall, 1783 Moore Rd., Avon.

Speakers will be available at 5 p.m. and include Liz Griffiths on a new Hillsdale College-affiliated charter school with teacherled classrooms and American classical educational curriculum that emphasizes virtue, moral character, responsible citizenship and study content that is rich and balanced. Marilyn Jacobcik, Lorain County Board of Elections chair, will discuss voter integ rity topics in Lorain County. The cost is $5 for guests.

Dinner and Civil War talk

The Southern Lorain County Historical Society’s annual din ner meeting will be held Thursday, Oct. 13 at the Wellington Eagles, 631 S. Main St., Wellington.

Doors open at 6 p.m. and dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m. The menu includes beef tips with noodles, turkey breast with dressing, green beans with almonds, whipped potatoes and dessert. John Perry will speak on the life of a Civil War soldier in the Pennsylvania Bucktail Brigade.

The cost is $20 per person. Payment must be received by Monday, Oct. 3 at Spirit of ‘76 Museum, P.O. Box 76, Wellington, OH 44090.

Membership dues for 2022-2023 must also be paid by Friday, Oct. 14.

Costilow to seek third term as Amherst mayor

JASON HAWK EDITOR

AMHERST — Speeches in front of big crowds make Mark Costilow anxious.

But his nerves were steady last Thursday as he prepared to make an important one, announcing he would run for a third term as mayor of Amherst.

“I like helping people. I like organizing things. I like doing more for less,” he said, getting ready for a party at the Amherst Eagles Aerie, where he would

launch his re-election campaign.

Costilow, a Republican, has invested 20 years in local poli tics, first as a city councilman, then safety-service director. He defeated Democratic opponent David Kukucka for the job of mayor in 2015, and was unchal lenged in 2019.

Now, with his term expiring at the end of 2023, Costilow said he will file again as a Republican but hopes to come across as a centrist.

City politics shouldn’t be about extreme positions and divides, he said — “I’m here to work for

everybody, even if we disagree.”

Costilow said he hopes vot ers judge him by what he’s accomplished — large street paving proj ects, replacing old sewer and water lines, steady economic development and efforts to eradi cate traffic jams.

Selling Amherst’s high-voltage transmission lines in return for

And they’re off!

a second source of power to the city is his greatest accomplish ment, Costilow said. Construc tion of a substation on the west side of town, aimed at vastly reducing power outages, is ex pected to begin soon and finish at the end of next year.

Costilow said he’s helped put several other long-range projects in motion, and wants to be in of fice to see them through.

They include a massive over haul planned for Oak Point Road at the Route 2 interchange, which will involve at least one round about. A traffic study is also be

ing done on Route 58 at Cooper Foster Park Road, the city’s busi est commercial area, to determine whether reconfiguration should be done to make travel easier.

University Hospitals an nounced plans under Costilow’s watch to build an orthopedic sur gery center on North Lake Street — he wants to be mayor when the ribbon is cut. And he’s proud of making strides to improve relationships with neighboring township trustees and the Am herst Schools.

Nonprofits get $160,000 boost from county commissioners

JASON HAWK EDITOR

ELYRIA — Lorain County commissioners gave $160,000 last week to help nonprofits recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and expand services.

The grants come from the American Rescue Plan Act passed by Congress last year.

Funding will be used to provide access to health care, emergency housing and rent and food relief, just making sure residents can survive. But a big chunk will ensure that children get the care they need, and exposure to fine arts, summer camps, education and sports mentoring.

The MAD Factory, based in Oberlin and Lorain, re ceived $15,000. The theater company stages four fulllength productions each year, evening drama classes and both in-school and after-school programming.

Director Amber Michalak said The MAD Factory steep ly dropped its prices to make sure that families struggling with inflation could still be involved. The organization is working with children, teenagers and adult dementia patients, providing an emotional outlet after the hardships of the past two years.

“We are trying to reach as many people as possible,” she said.

With a budget of $200,000 it’s just making ends meet, Michalak said. During the depths of the pandemic, The MAD Factory took a huge financial hit as ticket sales plummeted and shows were canceled.

It’s also struggling to afford renovations for a building pur chased in Lorain in 2019, right before the pandemic began.

The situation is starting to turn around, but is far from being back to normal: “People are still very scared. They’re still afraid to go out, or they don’t have money because of gas prices to go see shows,” Michalak said.

The Northern Ohio Youth Orchestra, based in Oberlin, received $10,000 to retain its conducting staff.

According to Director Colin Holter, most conductors and coaches are educators who give their off-time to keep five ensembles and two summer camps going.

He said the ARPA grant would supplement the NOYO annual budget of $250,000 to prevent losing those con ductors, since there has been significant turnover in public school jobs that could woo some away.

“For the kids today, so much is lost on the music front, getting them engaged and getting them into music,” said Commissioner Michelle Hung, throwing her support be hind Holter’s nonprofit.

Next Level Images Athletic Academy, based in Lorain, received $5,000 to mentor the city’s youth.

Director Douglas Taylor said the money will offset the cost of equipment and gymnasium rentals. His organiza tion provides sports training, keeps kids in shape and teaches them about the power of positive decisions.

“I am a firm believer that sports are a magnet to a lot of the children in our area,” Taylor said.

Place to Recover Training & Resource Center of Elyria received $25,000. The community center helps residents apply for rent and utility assistance, prepare for jobs and provides transportation to government offices, said Direc tor Wendy Caldwell.

Her focus is on former prisoners re-entering society, displaced workers and those struggling with mental illness or recovering from substance abuse.

The county’s ARPA grant will specifically be used to help people who are homeless. Caldwell said she put more than $8,000 into hotel room rentals for 12 people who had nowhere to live.

“I eventually leased a house because the homeless situ ation is so bad. I’m putting individuals from the re-entry population in that workforce house and connecting them to employment,” she said.

People can live in the house for 90 days to get back on their feet and find permanent housing, she said.

Safety Service Fundraising Inc. of Wellington received $15,000 to provide backpacks, suitcases and hygienic supplies to children who are removed from their homes through no fault of their own.

Mark Costilow

Photos by Angelo Angel | Amherst News-Times

Kids dash off in the first race of the season for the Little Comets Running Club in Amherst. The club is open to students in kindergarten through sixth grade. The next race will be Monday, Oct. 10 at the Cooley Mile at the Marion L. Steele High School track.

Night vision robbers fire before fleeing homeowner

PITTSFIELD TWP. — Two men wearing night vision glasses reportedly fired at least one shot into the air after a property owner discovered them last Wednesday night in his barn on State Route 303, according to the Lorain County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies were called to a home near the intersection with West Road around 9 p.m. The homeowners there have been robbed multiple times in the past, according to Capt. Richard Bosley.

A woman who lives there told deputies the suspects were wearing black hoods when they were discovered on the prop erty, Bosley said. Her husband went outside to investigate, and one of the men, standing about 20 feet away, fired what may have been a warning shot from a pistol before they both ran off, he said, citing a report.

Register to vote

The voter registration deadline for Ohio’s fall general elec tion is Tuesday, Oct. 11.

Registration can be done in person at the Lorain County Board of Elections office, 1985 North Ridge Road E., Sheffield Township; at olvr.ohiosos.gov; or by mail, so long as it’s postmarked by Oct. 11. In-person absentee voting will begin Wednesday, Oct. 12 at the Board of Elections office.

S. Amherst switches to RITA

The Regional Income Tax Authority will begin collecting municipal income taxes on behalf of the village of South Amherst effective Oct. 1.

A nonprofit governmental agency, RITA is the largest munic ipal income tax collection agency in Ohio. After Oct. 1, all South Amherst tax payments and forms for current and prior tax years will be sent to RITA, which has an electronic filing and payment option.

COSTILOW

FROM B1

“Thinking outside the box is what I’m proud of, doing more with less,” he said.

Costilow said he’s made some mistakes in the past 7 years, and worked hard to change. That’s not flip-flop ping, he said — it’s learning.

During his second term, Costilow’s confidence has grown. But he said that with the daily demands of keep ing the city running during the COVID-19 pandemic, he didn’t give much thought to re-election until this spring.

“I didn’t really think about it earlier. That’s not my style,” he said. “… I come to the office and work. I’m not always in campaign mode, and my decisions aren’t about winning votes or losing votes. I’ve just tried to do the right thing.”

So far, no challenger has stepped forward to announce candidacy for the 2023 race.

NONPROFITS

FROM B1

President Steve Neff, a retired first responder, said he works with police, firefighters and paramedics to pro vide supply bags to kids taken from homes where there are extreme problems.

“It’s kind of heartbreaking to see that a lot of these kids have nothing. We’ve seen that children don’t even have toothbrushes or understand what toothbrushes are,” he said.

Harrison Cultural Community Centre in Lorain re ceived $25,000 for youth programming.

Director Vonisha Isom-Massey said ARPA funding will allow the organization to offer family engagement services and expand programs. She is the sole paid staff of the nonprofit, which has an annual budget of $85,000.

Elyria-based Hearts of Patriots received $10,000 to provide services to Lorain County veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.

The money will help support caregivers “in the trenches” holding families together, said Director De nise Weller.

“The caregiver is at the heart of our name and is at the heart of the family,” she said. “We recognize that in order for these families to stay together, that caregiver has to be supported, reinforced and validated or they do not have the energy to stay in the game.”

Veterans living with mental health challenges often have erratic employment, said Weller. Their spouses are often unable to work when there are children to care for at home.

Heart of Patriots helps them make home repairs, replace old appliances and get kids into athletics and the arts.

There are roughly 8,000 disabled veterans in Lorain County, Weller said, “in many ways a hidden popula tion” that tends to keep its difficulties a secret.

“But they’re here. We know they’re here,” she said.

The Lorain County Free Clinic received $10,000 to provide medical services to people in need.

Director Paul Baumgartner said patients who have lost medical insurance or can’t maintain it live in anxiety and fear.

“We all know that one trip to the hospital, whether it be the ER or perhaps an overnight stay, can set people back a very long time,” he said. “That’s what we want to try to help prevent.”

Free clinic patients range from age 19 to 65, too young for Medicare and not impoverished enough for qualify for Medicaid, siad Baumgartner.

Many have chronic health conditions, such as diabe tes. Life-saving insulin to treat diabetes is expensive in the United States, easily running $1,000 per month without insurance.

Baumgartner said the ARPA grant will help pay for medications and to upgrade exam rooms and reception areas to be more hygienic, welcoming and safer.

The Lorain County Free Clinic is also preparing for a flood of patients in 2023, when pandemic-related government benefits expire. Many people are expected to exit the Medicaid rolls, which Baumgartner said is bound to place stress on the clinic and local emergency departments.

Catholic Charities Diocese of Cleveland received $5,000 in ARPA funds from commissioners.

Erica Lasion, who runs prevention services for the nonprofit, said it offers a family center for shelter and hot meals in Lorain and mental health services and prevention services in Elyria. Catholic Charities’ main mentoring service is for children ages 8-18 — the orga nization works with the juvenile court, Elyria Schools, Lorain County Children Services and other agencies to introduce kids to art and music, martial arts and horse back riding.

Lasion said the ARPA grant will be used to expose youth to opportunities they might not otherwise have.

“The isolation (from the COVID-19 pandemic) really has taken a toll on youth,” she said. “… What we’ve run into is children who are displaying behaviors toward their peers that we haven’t seen before, not really under standing how to connect.”

The Firelands Association for the Visual Arts, head quartered in Oberlin, received $15,000 to rebuild pro gramming and update equipment.

Director Kathleen Jackson said FAVA galleries get about 1,800 visits and provide education for 350 people per year. It teaches about jewelry making, fiber arts, drawing, painting, sculpting and other mediums through classes and summer camps.

FAVA also gives out about $4,000 each year in schol arships to help people attend despite financial hardships.

But earned income has dropped by 74 percent since the pandemic started, Jackson said.

Healing Companions Inc. of Oberlin was awarded $5,000 to provide psychiatric service dogs to patients.

Founder Jane Miller is a psychotherapist who has trained dogs her entire life.

“We’re not only saving the lives of shelter dogs, we’re transforming the lives of people with mental illness, which is really amazing when you think about it,” she told commissioners.

Miller said all the therapy in the world might not get a person out of bed in the morning, but a dog will — she trains them to care for patients’ specific symptoms.

For example, a therapy dog may learn to wake up their owner from a nightmare, provide food to their person with an eating disorder or lead someone having a panic attack out of a busy grocery store.

FireFish Arts Inc. of Lorain was granted $10,000 to support free access to the arts. It provides year-round youth and community programming.

“COVID impacted us greatly. We lost our major spon sors. We lost about $50,000 to $60,000 of revenue each year that it happened,” said Director Joan Perch.

The organization’s annual budget is about $150,000, she said, with the bulk going to artists and educators.

“We really do look at artists as business people. We look at them as worthy of being paid for their work,” and their impact on the economy, Perch said.

The FireFish Festival, held this past Saturday, gave an estimated $91,000 infusion into downtown Lorain’s economy, she said — artist vendors generated another $84,000 in income.

Common Ground in Camden Township received $10,000 to offset pandemic-related losses, keep pro grams rolling and make repairs on its 30-acre property.

Director Kenneth Fraelich said it took a $120,000 hit to earned revenue in 2020 due to COVID-19 restric tions. Revenue has started to rebound, but he said it will take 3-5 years for finances to stabilize.

Common Ground runs summer camps, takes social and emotional programs into Lorain County schools, hosts team-building retreats, operates ziplines and holds an annual firewalk.

Fraelich said it has five full-time and two part-time staff and hires 30-40 seasonal workers each year who welcome 5,550 to 6,000 visitors.

Hung, a Republican and fellow Commissioner Matt Lundy, a Democrat, voted in favor of each ARPA grant.

Commissioner David Moore, a Republican, voted “pres ent” on all but one. He supported the Lorain County Free Clinic request, immediately saying he made a mistake but made no attempt to retract his vote.

Unstoppable Strader

URBANSKY’S GOES INTO OVERDRIVE

FOOTBALL

Dukes football gets their much-needed first win

WELLINGTON — It took just 73 seconds for the Dukes to grab the win Friday night — a welcome change of pace for a Wellington team that was searching for its first victory of the season.

After recovering an onside kick attempt, the Dukes smashed through the Oberlin offense for a 51-yard scoring drive, with Nolan Sasack taking a 7-yard pass from quarterback Landon Wright into the end zone.

CJ Polen made short work of the Phoenix on defense, picking off a dump over the middle on quarterback Julian Anderson’s first pass and run ning it back 40 yards for another touchdown.

Oberlin couldn’t recover on the next drive, going four and out and then being brutalized by Connor Sheppard, who blocked the punt and scooped up the ball for yet another TD return.

Nathan Patfield made the next two forays across the goal line, first on a 12-yard run and then a 68-yard reception from Wright. Wright took one in, Polen scored a second time and Baron Turner Jr. carried the ball in from 7 yards out to wrap up Wellington’s scor ing in the third quarter.

As the Dukes eased off with an insurmountable lead — one it desperately needed for morale after opening the season 0-5 — the Phoenix finally had a chance. Julian Anderson hit the end zone on a 27-yard run for 6 points, but a 2-point conversion run attempt fell flat.

Anderson finished with 73 yards on nine carries, while Patfield led the Dukes with 96 yards on 10 car ries.

Anderson also racked up 92 passing yards to Wright’s 120. Roman Robinson had 44 yards receiving for Oberlin, while Polen picked up 45 for Wellington and Patfield grabbed 68.

Hopkins springs to action for 29-14 Pirates win

SULLIVAN TWP. — Blake Hopkins found his open ing. Several of them, actually.

The Black River junior crossed the goal line four times Friday night, pushing and pulling the Pirates to a 29-14 win over Brookside in Lorain County League varsity football action.

Leading a team beset by injury, Hopkins had the advantage of simply being given the ball more often, and made it work. He struck in the first quarter on a 4-yard run in the red zone, then in the third quarter from 45 yards out.

In the fourth quarter, up 3 more points thanks to an Eric Groesser field goal, Hopkins bulled the ball over the line twice more on runs of 10 and 36 yards.

Brookside had its own star in Ben Montgomery, who hit paydirt twice — both times in the third quarter — taking a 20-yard pass from quarterback Nick Arra and then sprinting 80 yards to the end zone.

But Black River, hurting as it’s been, was not to be denied a win. With 317 rushing yards padding its 398 total offensive yards, the team posted season-high numbers with Hopkins at the fore.

Winless Comets get stomped hard by Titans

BEREA — Cole Norris gave Amherst its lone touch down on a 3-yard push across the goal line to end the first quarter Friday night.

Berea-Midpark held all the cards in this Southwestern Conference game as the Comets were crushed 48-7. Hudson Devins scored three touch downs for the Titans.

Amherst is winless going into Week 7. Never say never, but that’s unlikely to shift this week in the Comets homecoming game at Mercy Health Stadium, where they’ll host 5-1 Avon Lake in another SWC battle.

The Eagles are coming off a 56-7 win over Midview, in which quarterback Jeremy Szik, receiver Isaac Richardson and running back Wade Nelson picked apart the Middies defensive line with ease.

Photos by Russ Gifford | Amherst News-Times Alec Urbansky’s hat trick lifted the Falcons to a 5-1 win over the Wildcats in Lorain County League play Saturday, and Garrett Yakunovich’s two goals were no small help. Dylan Sackett scored for Keystone in the second half. Firelands goalie Nathaniel Duke and Keystone keeper Zach Longacre each had six saves.

ABOVE: Firelands’ Gar rett Yakunovich gets past Keystone’s Luke Skala. LEFT: Firelands' Alec Urbansky celebrates after one of his goals.

Photos by Russ Gifford | Amherst News-Times

Weston Strader ensured the win for Firelands on Friday night with a 53-yard run to the goal line after a high-scoring, high-intensity Lorain County League face-off with Keystone. The Falcons won 46-42 on Strader’s back, as he marched into the end zone six times, scoring in every quarter but the third. Zach Shackelford was nearly as dangerous on the other side, putting up Wildcats touchdowns on receptions of 61, 48 and 11 yards from quarterback Konner Rodick. Ryne Shackelford had two TDs on short-yardage runs. Josh Kovach picked up one from 15 yards out on the ground for the Falcons. Make no mistake, this was a big numbers game, maybe the biggest the LCL will see this year. Strader picked up 377 rushing yards while Rodick and Ryne Shackelford combined for 143. Firelands QB Jim Aunspaw was virtually shut down in the passing game, but Rodick completed 31 for 363 yards. Zach Shackelford totaled 210 yards on 11 receptions. Firelands won with 442 total yards on offense, even though Keystone far surpassed that mark at 562 total offensive yards and suffered zero turnovers. ABOVE: Firelands' Weston Strader pulls away from Keystone's Ryne Shackelford.

HONORING OBERLIN SENIORS

Brookside strikes back

ERIK ANDREWS CORRESPONDENT

After topping the Cardinals on the road earlier in the season, Brookside returned the favor on Oberlin's home turf, defeating the hosts, 3-1.

The Phoenix celebrated their seven seniors prior to the game, recognizing their contributions to the program during their careers.

In Saturday's contest, Oberlin opened the scoring with a Jackson Schaeffer header finding the back of the Brookside

net giving the Phoenix the early 1-0 lead. Brookside evened the score just before the break.

In the second half, the Cardinals largely controlled the run of play with the pos session being primarily in their offensive third of the pitch. It did take long before Brookside took a 2-1 lead, and scored a third goal just before the final whistle.

Oberlin (2-7, 2-3 in the Lorain County League) will step out of conference play to host Maumee Valley Country Day School on Saturday with junior varsity action beginning at noon followed by the varsity at 2 p.m.

BATTLED TO A DRAW

ALL-AROUND WIN

In a battle of the birds, the Phoenix sent the Cardinals packing 4-2 after showing a tremendous levle of teamwork Saturday. Mercy Shuck, Lydia Chambers, Karen Regalado Martinez and Emily Musgrave each claimed a goal on Brookside goalie Aubrie Stafford, who made 14 saves on the day. Michaela Streator stopped five to keep Oberlin safe. RIGHT: Senior Audrey Halstead.

JANICEK

Photos by Erik Andrews | Oberlin News-Tribune

ABOVE: Nine Phoenix players were recognized on Oberlin boys soccer Senior Day. Pictured are coach Yvan Thornhill, Nate Malakar, Grant Martz, Silas Jenkins, Jackson Schaeffer, Kaden Thornhill, Muhammadrope Yusupov, Clement Claus, Roman Bynam-Robinson and Asa Rosen-Jones.

RIGHT: Phoenix girls soccer team members Pippa Brandt, Audrey Halstead and Alhana Rucker pose with coaches Alyssa Watson and Ben Eiskamp on Senior Day.

Erik Andrews | Oberlin News-Tribune

Oberlin’s Daylon Mayson fights for the ball in a rough-and-tumble Lorain County League battle with Brookside.

Russ Gifford | Wellington Enterprise The Dukes fought to a 6-6 tie early last week in a nonconference match-up against the Central Catholic Crusaders of Canton.

LEFT: Wellington's Gabe Horoschak makes a run.

Erik Andrews | Oberlin News-Tribune

Photos by Russ Gifford | Amherst News-Times

The Falcons blanked the Wildcats 8-0 on Saturday as Morgan Janicek had an outstanding four-goal game and Bella Simmons racked up yet another hat trick. Mia Sutorius chipped in the remaining goal. Firelands kept Keystone net-minder Caitlyn Minney busy, with 11 saves. Kenzie Janosik picked up four on the other end of the field.

ABOVE: Firelands' Bella Simmons battles for the ball with Keystone's Morgan Marsh.

HAT TRICK FOR SIMMONS

KAROLAK LEADS FALCONS

Photos by Russ Gifford | Wellington Enterprise Luke Snyder of Rittman took the top spot in the boys race with a time of 16:06.00 Saturday at the JB Firestone Cross Country Invitational at Black River. Michael Couture of Open Door placed second in 16:08.10 and the Pirates’ own Wyatt Royster took bronze with a 16:37.60 finish. In the girls race, Kaitlyn Carr of Smithville was first with an 18:51.00 finish, followed by Rittman’s Pyper Gibson in 19:16.50 and Brookside’s Madison Palmer in 19:54.20. Olivia Szmania was the top Black River Pirates finisher with a time of 21:45.50. Wellington’s top racers — Joe Fox and Bella Watters — did not run due to injuries. The Dukes’ Hope Dudziak placed 32nd at 24:18.70 for the girls and Zachary Barnes placed 43rd for the Dukes boys with a time of 20:04.40. TOP LEFT: Szmania takes sixth place in the girls high school race. TOP RIGHT: Royster finishes third in the boys race. BOTTOM LEFT: Wellington's Taylor Morris was the highest placing Dukes girls finisher in 19th place. BOTTOM RIGHT: Oberlin's Olivia Hudson finished 30th in the girls race.

VICTORY IN FOUR SETS

button at

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Photos by Russ Gifford | Wellington Enterprise

The Dukes celebrated a 3-1 win over the Wildcats in Lorain County League action last Thursday. Wellington went 25-21, 19-25, 25-21, 25-15 to seal the deal. ABOVE: Wellington’s Brooke Lehmkuhl puts the ball down at the net past Keystone’s Olivia Sprague. BELOW: Wellington's Morgan Lehmkuhl hits the ball for a point.

Russ Gifford | Wellington Enterprise Savannah Gundert’s second half goal wasn’t enough to lift Wellington from a deep hole last Wednesday, as the Falcons soared to an 8-1 vic tory in Lorain County League play. Bella Simmons had a hat trick, while Mia Sutorius and Kylie Sutorius each contributed two more goals to the Firelands tally. Lauren Phillips put one past Dukes goalie Whitney Kis chner to round out the scoring — under fire all night, Kirschner came up with 26 saves. Kenzie Janosik had two saves for the Falcons. ABOVE: Firelands' Bella Simmons gets past Wellington's Tess McDonnel.

Photos by Russ Gifford | Wellington Enterprise Firelands kept a steady, deadly pace last Wednesday for a 6-0 win over Wellington. Trace Karolak led the way for the Falcons with two goals. With one apiece were Lucas Lowe, Ty Griebe, Alec Urbansky and Will Frederick. Dukes goalie Robert Barnes was inundated, making 18 saves to just four by Nathaniel Duke on the opposite end of the field. RIGHT: The Dukes’ Dustin Andolsek clears the ball out of the box at Firelands.

orn January 30, 1866, Gelett Burgess is remembered as a nonsense expert. In fact, he may be one of your favorite authors, even though you have probably never heard of him.

He invented such great words as and Goop comes from the many tales he told of the boneless, ill-mannered and sort-of-human characters he named “goops.”

Gelett Burgess wrote a series of goop books to teach children manners.

One book of goop tales has verses about 52 children, two for each letter of the alphabet. Each child’s name describes a fault.

Asleepnogo Inkafinga

Standards Link: Reading Comprehension: Follow simple directions.

The most quoted poem of the 1890s was a little ditty by Gelett Burgess called “The Purple Cow.”

Oops! The goops have dropped the lines of the poem and got them scrambled. Can you put the poem together?

A B C D

ANSWER:ThecorrectorderisD,C,A,B.

Standards Link: Reading Comprehension: Follow simple written directions.

What faults are described by these names?

Askalotte Xcitabelle Badinskool Fibius

Standards Link: Vocabulary: Understand word meaning from context clues.

Make up names for children with these faults:

She would not brush her teeth. He liked to sing too loud. He pinched his baby sister She ate with her fingers.

Standards Link: Vocabulary: Create words from context clues.

Well, this is udder nonsense!

Draw big, simple shapes for your cow’s body with a pencil Draw very lightly A cow’s body is a rectangle. Cows have short legs and a long tail. Draw ovals for the head and feet.

Still drawing with a pencil, start adding details like eyes, hooves, udders, and horns. Remember to draw lightly with the pencil because you’ll be erasing the pencil lines.

Standards Link: Reading Comprehension: Follow simple written directions.

Draw over the pencil lines in ink. Make sure the ink is dry, then erase all the pencil lines Color your cow and add spots, stripes, or wild & wacky patterns.

NONSENSE PURPLE EXPERT GOOPS BLURB ALPHABET POEM VERSES BROTH NEVER WORDS COW LOUD TEETH LICK

Opposite Ads

Find an ad in the newspaper. Rewrite the ad so that it says just the opposite of the original.

Here are some limericks written by Kid Scoop readers. Use the words in the Word List to make each limerick rhyme.

There once was a clever young lad

But sometimes he gets really _____

He found a big clover It ipped him right ________ In the end he was very glad.

– by Sam G.

Hey, it’s free pizza day

All the towns people cheered, “Horray” But the fools didn’t

‘Cause they went with the ow That I was going to yell April Fools Day!

– by John D.

I was sitting in my comfy

Eating like a big grizzly bear I just couldn’t ___________

I thought I would pop!

Now I’m fat, but I really don’t _____!

– by Cece D.

I love playing in the bright Oh my it is so much good fun

To play in a ___________

But always stay ____________

It is so sad when the day is done.

– by Audra P.

Standards

Select one page of the newspaper and find all of the letters that spell the word NONSENSE. Circle each letter. Draw a line from the ‘N’ to the ‘O’ and so forth until you have connected all the letters. What kind of picture can you make from the design created by these dots and lines?

Standards Link: ReadingComprehension: Follow multiple-step directions

ANSWER:Wrong.

This week’s word:

NONSENSE

The noun nonsense means words or actions that have no meaning, are silly or that don’t make sense.

A limerick is a silly poem that sometimes is nonsense

Try to use the word nonsense in a sentence today when talking with your friends and family.

Sticky Situation

What is a time you found yourself in a “sticky” or difficult situation? How did you solve your problem?

2022 by Vicki Whiting, Editor Je Schinkel, Graphics Vol. 38, No.

Link: Visual discrimination: Recognize objects that match.

Complete the grid by using all the letters in the word RHYME in each vertical and horizontal row. Each letter should only be used once in each row. Some spaces have been filled in for you.

Standards Link: Vocabulary: Identify words that rhyme.

Draw a line from each goopname to that child’s fault.

Nevashair Teeza would not sharethings didn’t want to go to bed hadhandsdirty onpickedothers