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LORAIN COUNTY
AMHERST NEWS-TIMES • OBERLIN NEWS-TRIBUNE • WELLINGTON ENTERPRISE Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021
Submit items to news@LCnewspapers.com
Volume 8, Issue 39
Comets homecoming royalty High school sports PAGES B3-B5
Absences soar, but Wellington Schools reject mask mandate JASON HAWK EDITOR
WELLINGTON — Absences are out of control in the Wellington Schools as COVID cases multiply. But with 1 in 6 kids out last week — some ill, some quarantined and others for mundane reasons — the Board of Education voted down a proposal that would have once more required students to wear masks under certain circumstances. A long line of angry parents waited to tell the board masking was their choice, not the school district’s. “I’m here to tell you not to mask our children against our wishes,” said Christopher McClain, who has five kids in the school system. Every fall there is a flu or cold that goes around and sidelines kids, he Ed Weber told the board — and with 516 deaths among children ages 0 to 18, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, he doesn’t see COVID as a threat that looms large. Yet there is clearly an issue, said Superintendent Ed Weber. After starting out the year with slow but steady cases, the dams have now broken open. There were 14 coronavirus cases identified in the third week of the fall semester. Six more were added to the tally last Monday, and another five last Tuesday, the day the school board met. Weber said the Wellington Schools recorded 47
Joe Colon | Amherst News-Times
Estella Woodworth was crowned Amherst’s homecoming queen and Xander DeValle was crowned king Friday night just before kickoff of the Comets varsity football game. What a great looking couple!
Kristin Bauer | Amherst News-Times
◄ Amherst hosted the annual Marion L. Steele High School homecoming parade Friday afternoon, with a horde of students marching through the old downtown. Thousands lined the sidewalks to head the Amherst Marching Comets play and see floats made by kids to celebrate school spirit.
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Classifieds, legals, display advertising, and subscriptions Deadline: 1 p.m. each Monday Phone: 440-329-7000 Hours: 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday News staff Jason Hawk news@LCnewspapers.com Phone: 440-329-7122 Submit news to news@lcnewspapers.com Deadline: 10 a.m. Tuesday Send obituaries to obits@chroniclet.com
Police bust Wellington Athletic Boosters bingo, seize its assets STAFF REPORT
WELLINGTON — Thousands of dollars have been seized by Wellington police following an undercover investigation into alleged gambling and illegal bingo. Officers John Ball and Kayla Chrosniak were sent
to pose as players at a Wellington Athletic Boosters bingo event Sunday, Sept. 19 at the Fraternal Order of Eagles 2051 hall on South Main Street, according to an affidavit filed with the Lorain County Court of Common Pleas. They were working off a tip that boosters Treasurer James Farago operated an illegal bingo game, and
Copyright 2021 Lorain County Printing & Publishing Company
ing, there was no record of criminal charges being brought against Farago. The undercover officers each paid $25 to enter and played 20 bingo cards each. They paid another $100 together for instant bingo, according to police. Under Ohio law, nonprofit groups can run charitable BINGO PAGE A3
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was allegedly embezzling funds meant to benefit the Dukes sports teams, according to Detective Robert Aviles. “Rather than donate the proceeds of charitable gaming he was conducting, the anonymous individual wrote that Farago was keeping the funds for himself,” Aviles’ affidavit said. As of Thursday morn-
Amherst
Oberlin
Wellington
10 alumni inducted into Gallery of Success • B1
City will miss deadline to take over Prospect building • B1
Police ask Council for help with labor shortage • B1
OBITUARIES A2 • CLASSIFIEDS A4 • KID SCOOP A6 • CROSSWORD B2 • SUDOKU B2