BEFORE & AFTER Lot in Conestoga area gets new look OTTAWA COUNTY 5A On sale this week:
Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
1
$ 69 FREE
lb.
Volume 28 Number 49
www.thebeacon.net
Thursday, Jan. 20, 2011
Standard Mail U.S. Postage Paid Port Clinton, Ohio Permit #80
Leone to enter PC mayor’s race BY ANGIE ADAIR ZAM Editor Ward One City Councilman Vince Leone has taken out a petition for the Port Clinton mayor’s race. Leone must now return that petition, complete with voters’ signatures, by Feb. 2 to get on the ballot. “Being mayor is definitely a challenge, but I think it’s something I’m ready for,” Leone said. The Democrat, who has served on
Council for one year, says the city needs to be rebuilt and points to his background as a contractor and service as chairman of the infrastructure committee as experience necessary to move the area forward. “I think the city needs some help for sure. It needs to get back to where it was and even better,” he said. Leone and his family — wife Suzi and three sons ages 12 to 16 — moved to town 12 years ago after falling in
love with the area. “I think we need to concentrate on retention of jobs and expansion of what we already have. For years now people have been worried about the waterfront. We need to look at the city as a whole,” he said. “We can’t keep doing the same things.” Incumbent Mayor Debbie HymoreTester filed her petition seeking reelection earlier this month. The mayor said she learned of Leone’s plan to
challenge her in a voicemail from the councilman. “I look forward to debating the issues Port Clinton has,” the mayor said. “We’ll take it to the voters and hopefully they will see the progress we’ve made. I look forward to serving for the next four years.” According to JonAnn Friar, director of the Ottwa County Board of Elections, no other candidates had taken out petitions as of Tuesday afternoon.
LEONE
B-C-S SCHOOLS
Emergency crews face off Board OKs closure of Rocky Ridge
PHOTOS BY ANGIE ADAIR ZAM
Fire/EMS Team Olympian Lisa Wildman goes for a strike Saturday during the bowling event at Harbor Lanes in Port Clinton.
Law enforcement up in PC’s inaugural Olympic games The Olympics are under way in Port Clinton and as of now, the police are winning 2-0. The Port Clinton Fire Department, North Central EMS, PC Police Department, Ottawa County Sheriff ’s Office, Ohio Highway Patrol and U.S. Customs & Border Protection are competing as two teams for bragging rights and a traveling trophy in the first-ever Emergency Services Olympics. Events include English darts singles and doubles, billiards singles and doubles, basketball shooting, chess, euchre, bowling and the paper airplane toss. The law enforcement team won the
bowling event Saturday at Harbor Lanes 1,600 pins to 1,504 giving the officers a 2-0 lead but the city’s Emergency Services Committee Chairman and City Councilman Mike Snider is quick to point out their advantage. “There are three events that the Fire/ EMS team have participants and the Law Enforcement Team do not … darts (singles and doubles), Paper Airplane Toss,” he said in an email update on the games. Upcoming events include the second euchre match at 7 p.m. Monday at the fire station and billiards at 6 p.m. Friday at the Eagles Lodge. With assistance
from the Port Clinton High School Athletic Director Carey Clum, the basketball event, which features Firefighter Jay “Slammer Jammer” Edwards versus Officer Ralph “Above the Rim” Edmonds, will take place at halftime of the Port Clinton girls varsity basketball game on Saturday, Jan. 22. The pair will each shoot 10 foul shots, three 3-point shots and one half-court shot during the competition. Anyone interested in getting more information on the date, time and location of the specific events can contact Snider at 419-732-1111 or buckeyesnider@yahoo.com.
Rocky Ridge Elementary school will close after this school year. The BentonCarroll-Salem school board approved a resolution to shutter the school — and ask for a levy — at its last regular meeting Jan. 11. Because of the school’s closure, the district’s fifth-graders will move to the Middle School for the 2011-2012 school year. The same day as the regular meeting, the board’s organizational meeting was held. Rick Bast and Jamie Tooman were elected president and vice president, respectively, and the board voted on its regular meeting time: 6 p.m. the fourth Tuesday of every month. Meetings will be held at the board office. The organizational meeting authorizes the superintendent and treasurer to do their duties as voted on by the board. It also authorizes the approval of the legal law firms of Bricker & Eckler and Chester L. Sumpter & Associates, LLC, as the district’s legal counsel. A full accounting of this agenda can be found on the district website. At the regular meeting, Neal Barrett, the district’s technology director, presented the a report on the growth of student computing devices and network that supports it. BCS currently supports 400 machines in its computer labs, which are comprised of Apple and Windows machines. The district also has approximately 400 Windowsbased Acer netbooks in its 1:1 computing classrooms. In the past three years, the district has gone from 260 lab computers to 800 student computers. The district has also increased the number of classroom
See B-C-S 2A
By JOHN SCHAFFNER
Tell Tales
Thoughts, prayers go out to Loeffler family
I was sorry to learn of the passing of Dr. Don Loeffler. Don was a prominent and highly successful radiologist whose family has lived on Catawba for many years. His wife Joan has been very active with the Ida Rupp Library, and his kids Bo, Sue and Molly are all proud graduates of Port Clinton High School. Our heartfelt sympathy to the Loeffler family. nnn
Ironically, I attended a newspaper association board of directors meeting this past weekend in Harrisburg, Pa. I learned from some of my fellow publishers there that, yes indeed, the pass-
ing of Major Dick Winters was a “big deal” in that part of the country. nnn
Pam Justi is our winner this week in our Find Wylie contest. Pam, along with 75 other folks, successfully found Wylie hiding in the ad for Bassett’s Market on page 5A in last week’s Beacon. Pam wins a $20 gift/gas card from Friendship Convenience Stores. We’ll be hiding Wylie again this week, if you find him, just drop us a note at our office at Beacon Place on Southeast Catawba Road or click on the Find Wylie icon at www. thebeacon.net.
INSIDE RECORDS A2 Various Sizes Available
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BEACON BITS A4
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Tonight is the monthly Business After Hours hosted by the Marblehead-Peninsula Chamber of Commerce and Bayside Comfort. The networking, refreshments and raffles start at 5 p.m. for Chamber members. RSVP by calling 419-798-9777. nnn
Playmakers Civic Theatre’s production of the original play “Momma’s Boys” was rewarded with four standing ovations in its first week run. There are still openings for the play. This weekend is the last run for the show
See TELL TALES 2A
CALENDAR/BRIDAL A6
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Playmaker production, “Momma’s Boy’s” is going into its final weekend. The cast of Ohio’s U.S. Presidents includes Jeff Bugbee (left), Matt Parker, Dan Jadwisiak, Roger Long, Kyle Kunard, Steve Heineman, Karl Kessler and Larry Palmerton.
SPORTS B1
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BUSINESS B3 n CLASSIFIED B4
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