tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76367669303185728322024-03-18T21:08:20.531-07:00Laura Kessel's blogLaura Kessel is managing editor of The News-Herald in Willoughby. She writes a weekly column and shares her thoughts here.News-Herald Blogshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10992850793901999785noreply@blogger.comBlogger153125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7636766930318572832.post-1453593765080055942014-02-07T09:20:00.004-08:002014-02-07T09:20:59.947-08:00As I say goodbye, many thanks for so much goodnessWhen I look back at the woman who reported for work at The News-Herald on June 16, 1997, I barely recognize her.<br />
<br />
Oh, I look much the same as I did 16 years, seven months and 25 days ago. Hair’s still mostly dark brown, weight’s again crept up to that level at which something should be done about it, and I’m still most comfortable in a pair of dress pants and a sweater.<br />
<br />
But, after 16-plus years, so much is different.<br />
<br />
I lost my father to cancer. I met and married a guy named Will. I became an aunt. I bought a house in my hometown.<br />
<br />
Through each of those moments in time, one thing remained constant — I was lucky enough to work at The News-Herald.<br />
<br />
People here care about each other. What one suffers, we all feel.<br />
<br />
And, as I’ve changed, so, too, has my work. What started as designing pages and writing headlines morphed into a responsibility for the paper’s editorial page content. The copy editor occasionally writes. And, who better to do restaurant reviews than the woman who runs a weight loss contest?<br />
<br />
I’ve been incredibly lucky: Taking chances is a part of life. If you don’t succeed, learn something from your mistake.<br />
That’s one of the things I’ll most miss when I leave The News-Herald at the end of this week. Next week, I start a new job with The Repository in Canton.<br />
<br />
My job here has changed me, in much the same way my life has undergone big changes.<br />
<br />
When I walk out the door for the final time on Friday, I’ll carry in my heart those who’ve touched me over the years.<br />
<br />
Their words, actions and stories are part of me. I’m better for the pleasure of knowing them.<br />
<br />
Andre and Vicki Parhamovich: I never met their late daughter Andrea, but, through them sharing their love for Andi, I know how special she was.<br />
<br />
Barbara Lorek: I often look at a photo of a bouquet of flowers Mrs. Lorek brought over to the paper after I mentioned in a column in 2008 the gorgeous garden she and her husband planted in their back yard in honor of their late son Joe.<br />
<br />
Denis and Sheila Nowacki: Out of concern that people might someday forget their Andy, this dynamic pair made it impossible to think of him as anything other than a hero. I never knew their son, but he’s the reason so many of Northeast Ohio’s safety forces got the right start.<br />
<br />
Michael Rae: The Mentor resident who took part in Police Unity Tour bike rides in honor of fallen police officers not only gave me a really interesting story to cover the past two years, he helped me reconnect with a good friend from college, Barb Apanites. Barb and her mom, Jacqueline Hlivak, have treated my husband and me like family.<br />
<br />
Steven C. LaTourette and David Joyce: Thanks to them, I got a yearly reminder that kids today are full of drive, hopeful and worth our trust as the future leaders of the country. Sitting on these U.S. representatives’ panels that pick the nominees for the U.S. service academies has been one of the true joys of my life. That leads me to ...<br />
<br />
Abraham Hribar: The Fairport Harding graduate completed his work at the U.S. Naval Academy last year, and is moving into his career with the Navy and now starting training to become a naval flight officer. Following him through his Induction Day on July 1, 2009, in Annapolis ranks among the greatest thrills of my career. Yes, sir!<br />
<br />
Jaime Brenkus: The owner of Concord Township’s LEAN Living has been a partner in Lighten Up for the past four years, and, alongside Brenkus, I’ve seen people learn about themselves and their bodies as they work hard to change their lives and lose weight. More than 100 area residents have passed through the program, and we’ve had a lot of fun, shed a few tears and enjoyed some real success.<br />
<br />
Mike Cicconetti: The judge forgave me when I told him I wasn’t always a big fan of his creative sentences, and has made helping to judge the Fairport Mardi Gras Parade a real joy for the past few years. He’s doing good work at Painesville Municipal Court, and I’ll remain in awe of his massive court garden that helps feed the needy of Eastern Lake County.<br />
<br />
United Way of Lake County: They’re vigilant in providing for the unfortunate, and work incredibly hard to make sure they have a meal every day. As I learned taking part in the fund allocation process, your money is going to quality, worthwhile places.<br />
<br />
David S. Glasier: My partner on in-depth packages for The News-Herald over the past five years has shown me that it’s OK to mix silly humor with fearlessness to make a mark in your career. In his role covering the Captains, he helps ease young, newly professional baseball players into a wild world of sports.<br />
<br />
Scott Roller: Who would have thought that by signing up for his Euclid Citizen Police Academy course, I’d gain a brother? He’s not blood, but I’ve started to think of him that way, because there are precious few people whose advice, counsel and conversation mean more.<br />
<br />
Tricia Ambrose: The executive editor believed in me, let me take some chances and rarely said no. I’ll miss the boss who gave me the courage to try.<br />
<br />
It’s impossible to name everyone who left their mark on me over these past few years. Know that I won’t forget any of you.<br />
<br />
Thank you all for your time, your patience and the way you opened yourselves to me. It means more than I can say.<br />
<br />
I wish you the best.<br />
<br />
<b>LKessel@News-Herald.com</b><br />
<b>Twitter: @Lauranh</b><br />
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7636766930318572832.post-44719478401377033942014-01-24T11:54:00.001-08:002014-01-24T11:54:37.480-08:00I had a few things on my mind last weekA couple of things caught my attention this week:<br />
<br />
First was the United States Postal Service’s move to open retail centers in Staples stores around the country.<br />
The centers will allow customers to buy stamps and ship packages using the USPS.<br />
<br />
I admire USPS’s chutzpah in going out on its own to find a way to serve its customers.<br />
<br />
For years, it’s been trying to get Congress to agree to changes it says will save money. But, as happens with pretty much every single issue that comes up these days, politics gets in the way.<br />
<br />
Lawmakers from small, rural areas grouped together to block a move to eliminate Saturday delivery.<br />
<br />
But USPS is working around Congress in ways that benefit the consumer. This one puts postal service in stores on weekends and in the evenings, when post offices are closed.<br />
<br />
The problem is that the Staples sites likely won’t be staffed by USPS personnel.<br />
<br />
Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe was matter-of-fact about the issue.<br />
<br />
“That’s Staples’ business,” he said. “They make their own business decisions and it has nothing to do with us.”<br />
<br />
Staples’ spokeswoman Carrie McElwee referred questions about the 200,000-member union to USPS.<br />
The only one that’s really speaking is the union itself.<br />
<br />
It’s calling for boycotts and protests at pilot locations in California, Georgia, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. Union officials also are about to call on company shareholders to intercede.<br />
<br />
I’m not sure why USPS and Staples can’t make this deal meet in the middle. The retail centers are a good idea, but I’d rather hand my mail and packages over to a trained postal employee. There are tons of regulations and limits associated with the movement of U.S. mail, and I’d rather handle it right the first time than find out too late, down the line, that an unskilled employee handled my parcels improperly.<br />
<br />
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<b>* * *</b></div>
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<br /></div>
Warren Buffett, Dan Gilbert and their billion-dollar offer for a perfect NCAA tournament bracket got under my skin this week.<br />
<br />
I’ll admit, this point was far down on my list of reasons this bothered me: It’s just not going to happen. So, why not offer $10 billion, since you’re just wasting our time.<br />
<br />
But my real problem is I’m troubled about why they’re focusing on something so trivial.<br />
<br />
Is it because they know it’s just words, that they’ll never have to pay a dime anyway?<br />
<br />
If they’ve got a billion dollars just lying around not doing anything (and, really, who doesn’t?), I wonder why they don’t offer it, instead, to the person who cures cancer.<br />
<br />
The stories I’ve read about the prize have given high praise for the feat of working out a perfect bracket. I’ve done brackets before. Lots of us have. We know how difficult it is to even get a perfect round, or region, let alone get the whole thing right.<br />
<br />
But, those of us who’ve lost someone to cancer surely consider that horrible disease to be a bit more important than a bunch of college basketball picks.<br />
<br />
Gilbert’s involvement makes it a lot less tasteless for me. The Cavaliers owner has consistently been a donor to causes around the Cleveland area, including a scholarship program in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.<br />
<br />
In addition to the main prize offer with Buffett, Gilbert’s company announced it will split $2 million among the 20 most accurate predictions submitted to the contest. At the same time, Gilbert announced that he will donate $1 million to educational charities in Detroit and Cleveland.<br />
<br />
This last part seems much more acceptable, because it’s money that’ll actually be awarded. And, he’s taking care of the cities where his company concentrates its business.<br />
<br />
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<b>LKessel@News-Herald.com</b></div>
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<b>@Lauranh</b></div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7636766930318572832.post-68378682275688184692014-01-17T13:55:00.002-08:002014-01-17T13:55:12.304-08:00With a little help, language puts me on the right trackI’ll consider it a little victory.<br />
<br />
It’s not often my thoughts match those of Euclid Police Capt. Scott Roller. At least not at the start of the conversation.<br />
<br />
So, when it happened last week, I silently did a little happy dance in my chair in the basement of the Euclid Police Station.<br />
<br />
We were there for what was my first meeting of the Euclid Citizen Police Academy Alumni Association. I graduated in November as part of Class 27.<br />
<br />
The group serves many functions, but one of my favorites is that it raises funds to purchase body armor for the city’s police officers.<br />
<br />
The discussion turned to an inquiry from an officer who wondered if the group would provide funds for a type of vest that far exceeded what other officers wear. It consists of heavier-duty panels, and it’s designed to be worn over the vest that most officers wear regularly. It’s not worn all the time.<br />
<br />
My initial thought was “is that really necessary?”<br />
<br />
Then, from the back of the room, Roller said he wanted to ask a question: “If someone asked for an armored personnel carrier, would you buy that, too?”<br />
<br />
Yes! Let’s dance.<br />
<br />
During the discussion it was decided that, yes, the group could probably buy the vest. But that’s not why the program was started.<br />
<br />
You see, the purpose of the funding program is to encourage officers to wear up-to-date body armor all the time. This other vest? Yes, it is armor worn on the body, but it’s not the type of “body armor” that the program was envisioned to subsidize.<br />
<br />
I’m resisting the urge to call what most police officers wear “bullet-proof vests.” That’s mostly because they’re really not “bullet-proof.” They have open sides where the arms come through, and, well, they only cover the chest and most of the officer’s back. Head’s open. Legs are open. Arms are open.<br />
<br />
The words matter. And, thankfully, Roller is helping to keep me focused on them.<br />
<br />
I’ve written about Roller before, in a column after an early class as part of the ECPA in which I realized how important asking questions is to police work.<br />
<br />
In five months of knowing Roller, I’ve become well-versed in the art of his conversation. He works in questions as other artists work in clay or watercolor.<br />
<br />
He’s a tricky guy, because as he asks, I find my own way to the answer.<br />
<br />
I’m also learning to look at a subject in a different way. To look at underlying issues; to consider that things might not be a simple as they seem, or as I might like them to be.<br />
<br />
It’s rare that I don’t take notes when we talk. A conversation Monday ended with two pages of notes and the topic of this column.<br />
<br />
We got into a discussion about an incident that occurred late last year in Mentor.<br />
<br />
A 56-year-old man was arrested when police responded to his apartment after reports that a man was threatening his neighbors with a knife. Mentor Police said the suspect had barricaded himself in his residence and refused to speak to police. Police made entry, and said the suspect charged at them with an object in his hands. Mentor Police said one of the officers fired a shot inside the residence that didn’t strike the suspect or anyone else.<br />
<br />
The incident, which occurred on Dec. 14, remains under investigation.<br />
<br />
The conversation took off when I asked why a shooting that involved one bullet, fired by someone Mentor Police willingly admit fired it, would take so long to investigate. As it turn out, there are some really good reasons that I hadn’t considered.<br />
<br />
That conversation covered a lot of territory.<br />
<br />
Some dealt with why it’s so important to me to know what happened that day. He understood my feelings that if we tell the public the investigation would be ongoing that we should tell them its results.<br />
<br />
Some dealt with how the investigation has to protect the rights of both the suspect and the officer involved.<br />
<br />
The law gives criminal suspects certain rights, but what about the officer?<br />
<br />
“The suspect has rights in court. Doesn’t the officer have a reasonable expectation that he will be treated fairly, too?”<br />
<br />
Then, there was the big one.<br />
<br />
And, as a writer and editor, it’s this one that, to me, might be the most important.<br />
<br />
I discussed the shooting using the word “accidental.”<br />
<br />
Roller corrected me and used the word “unintentional.” Actually, it could be either, because we don’t know yet what happened.<br />
<br />
Some might say he’s playing a game of semantics. I disagree.<br />
<br />
I once had an editor who forbade the word “accident” in our coverage. His explanation was that it applied a legal definition that we’re in no place to make. We’d say wreck or crash.<br />
<br />
For police, a shooting is either “unintentional” or “intentional.” Simplifying that, it becomes “he didn’t mean to fire” or “he meant to fire.” It widens slightly, though, when a shooting is deemed “intentional, but justified.”<br />
<br />
Accidents do happen. Guns are machines, and machine parts break. But when someone pulls a trigger at a bad time, it might be unintentional, but it’s no accident the gun goes off.<br />
<br />
This all started because I asked who’d be responsible for the damage done to the apartment from the bullet that was fired inside.<br />
<br />
I admitted that I was trying to find another way to get at the outcome of the investigation. And, above, you see the progression of our conversation.<br />
<br />
Once again, I found myself looking at the issue from another side. If we call it an “accident,” we tend to think, “accidents happen” and move on. When we call it “unintentional,” we accept the possibility that it might have been preventable. But it might not be preventable, too.<br />
<br />
It’s an angle I hadn’t considered, and it’s an important technique that I need to master.<br />
<br />
The language you use can force you to think about issues from angles you might not have considered, and change the nature of the discussion.<br />
<br />
You should try it.<br />
<br />
Intentionally.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>LKessel@News-Herald.com</b><br />
<b>Twitter: @Lauranh</b>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7636766930318572832.post-84149910374802705502014-01-02T11:02:00.002-08:002014-01-02T11:02:49.891-08:00Getting the facts straight on Lighten Up in 2014It stinks when the first thing you do in the new year involves a screw-up.<br />
<br />
Welcome to 2014, Laura style.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, it seems a lot like 2013.<br />
<br />
Sigh.<br />
<br />
New Year’s Day has, for the past six years, involved making a plea for participants in our annual weight-loss contest, called Lighten Up.<br />
<br />
The name actually includes the year of the contest, so this year, it’s Lighten Up in 2014.<br />
<br />
Last Wednesday was no different, as we included on the front page a little story explaining the rules of the contest and how to enter.<br />
<br />
Only I forgot two of the more important facts involved in Lighten Up.<br />
<br />
The first was I forgot to mention that those who sign up should include an estimate of their current weight.<br />
It’s not a big deal, really. I’ll find out how much they actually weigh soon enough.<br />
<br />
And so will you, when it’s listed in The News-Herald on the first Sunday of February, along with the contestants’ pictures.<br />
<br />
Honestly, the only reason I ask is so I’m prepared in case we ever get a contestant who needs to be weighed on a different scale that can handle more weight than the one we use at LEAN Living in Concord Township.<br />
<br />
The personal training and fitness studio on Crile Road has been our home for the past five years. Owner Jaime Brenkus’ scale goes up to about 450 pounds.<br />
<br />
We’ve never had a contestant who weighs more than that, so we haven’t had to find our Plan B.<br />
<br />
Here’s hoping this isn’t the year.<br />
<br />
My second whoops involves leaving out a key fact about the contest.<br />
<br />
I mentioned how you sign up: Email me at LKessel@News-Herald.com before 5 p.m. Wednesday, and include your name, complete address, a daytime phone number and a 100-word essay about why you’re interested in signing up.<br />
<br />
I mentioned the basic rules: Contestants agree to a monthly weigh-in at LEAN Living, and to a monthly personal health assessment with an official with the Lake County General Health District. They agree to have their weight listed in the paper every month, and to blog once a week on our website about their progress throughout the contest.<br />
<br />
Then there’s that other other item I forgot.<br />
<br />
I am trying not to be hard on myself, because this is only the second year we’ve done it.<br />
<br />
I forgot to mention that those who sign up are subject to a cutdown after three months. Those who don’t lose 5 percent of their initial weight will be dropped from Lighten Up.<br />
<br />
Last year, it cost us about 15 people.<br />
<br />
So, if you’ve signed up already, know that is part of the Lighten Up process, too. If you haven’t, and are still interested, read up a few paragraphs and get cracking, because time’s running short.<br />
<br />
The program has been pretty successful so far, with contestants over the first five years losing 1,468.05 pounds.<br />
<br />
I won’t lie: Keeping it off has been a struggle for many of the contestants involved.<br />
<br />
Some have put a lot back on. Some have put all of it back on and more.<br />
<br />
They all stress one thing when they talk about Lighten Up, though. There’s a lot of motivation there when you know your name and how much you weigh will be listed in the paper and on the website every month.<br />
<br />
In the first five years, only a couple of people have walked away when they realized that was a fact.<br />
<br />
Many have stayed because of that fact.<br />
<br />
I just need to find that black magic to keep them motivated after the contest.<br />
<br />
I’m sure it involves meetings and weigh-ins and some form of public display, just like is offered via Lighten Up.<br />
<br />
I have a few months to work on that.<br />
<br />
In the meantime, I’d better get cracking on this year’s contest.<br />
<br />
And, if you’re interested, we’d love to have you join us.<br />
<br />
<b>LKessel@News-Herald.com</b><br />
<b>Twitter: @Lauranh</b>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7636766930318572832.post-30300540667634931812013-12-27T07:04:00.004-08:002013-12-27T07:04:53.440-08:00Amazed by sudden discovery of a dog fearMost people find this fact shocking:<br />
<br />
I’ve never had a pet of any kind.<br />
<br />
No dogs, no cats, no fish. No birds, no lizards, no fireflies.<br />
<br />
The closest I come is an out-of-control collection of Boyd’s Bears that has taken up just about all the wall space in my bedroom.<br />
<br />
But, I don’t have to walk them, or feed them or even talk to them the keep them among the living.<br />
Because, well, they’re teddy bears.<br />
<br />
What’s really odd about the placement of the collection is I’m one of those people who takes seriously the advice to treat your bedroom as a sleep zone.<br />
<br />
There’s no TV, no books or board games.<br />
<br />
So, unless I buy myself a pair of night vision goggles, I’ll never be able to check out Adora or Jeb sitting on the shelf in the dark.<br />
<br />
During this no-pet existence, I’ve successfully dodged most of my friends’ tales of pet ownership, which usually seem to involve cleaning up things that have exited a body cavity and landed on their most expensive piece of furniture or clothing.<br />
<br />
But, in this modern age, I’ve found myself enamored with all of the cute stuff our furry friends find themselves getting into.<br />
<br />
Yes, Keyboard Cat has caught my eye.<br />
<br />
So, too, has that bitter-looking feline named Grumpy Cat.<br />
<br />
Oh, the messes these rascals are getting into.<br />
<br />
Because it’s not my Christmas tree they’re knocking over, or my toilet paper roll they’re unfurling throughout the entire house, I can just sit back and laugh and laugh and laugh.<br />
<br />
My lack of pet knowledge recently attracted me to my new obsession — a video showing dogs that are afraid to walk past cats.<br />
<br />
I never knew this was a thing until someone linked to it on Facebook.<br />
<br />
Now, every time someone links to this video, I have to click on it.<br />
<br />
The poor pups.<br />
<br />
The menacing cats.<br />
<br />
The owners struggling to get their pets to get along.<br />
<br />
And failing.<br />
<br />
The three-minute-plus video depicts dogs of all sizes frozen in place by kitty cats they assume will pounce as they put a paw in their path.<br />
<br />
Some howl. Some scratch the door, in a plea for help. Some just sit down on the spot and make it clear they’re not budging until the cat high-tails it.<br />
<br />
That never happens.<br />
<br />
Toward the end of the video (bit.ly/dogscared), some of the pups finally give in and walk past. I’m guessing they needed to go outside, if you know what I mean.<br />
<br />
In nearly every case, the cat picks up a paw and swipes at the dog moving by.<br />
<br />
One cat punches a beagle right in the face!<br />
<br />
One owner objects, and tells the cat, “You’re so mean!”<br />
<br />
Indeed!<br />
<br />
I never realized I was missing out on this incredible phenomenon.<br />
<br />
I’m not alone, apparently.<br />
<br />
In my unscientific poll of people I’ve shown the video, they didn’t know it, either.<br />
Did you?<br />
<br />
I find it remarkable!<br />
<br />
I mean, I guess I always just thought they were chasing each other around the house, a more civilized version of cat and mouse.<br />
<br />
I’ve always been a little bit untrusting of cats, with their inquisitive looks and devil-may-care perches atop anything they darn well please.<br />
<br />
But I didn’t know dogs were with me on that one!<br />
<br />
I just have to hope my friends tire of posting the video, because every time I see it, I’m clicking and there goes another three minutes of my life.<br />
<br />
But, what a three minutes!<br />
<br />
<b>LKessel@News-Herald.com</b><br />
<b>Twitter: @Lauranh</b>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7636766930318572832.post-31869355450519982152013-12-11T15:02:00.001-08:002013-12-11T15:02:23.319-08:00Full lives, full of promise in military academy interviewsWhen the big white envelope shows up in my mailbox at work, it’s like Christmas morning.<br />
<br />
I pull it out, knowing full well what’s in it, but I still check the return address to make sure it’s the gift I’m expecting.<br />
<br />
Sure enough, two weeks ago when I turned it over after pulling it from the cubbyhole, the name “David Joyce” stared back at me. Then, just like 5-year-old me did with the presents my mom had hidden around the house all those years ago, I hustled out of sight and got out the scissors, cutting off the top just so, making sure not to make a slice into any of the contents.<br />
<br />
A peek inside found the greatest gift of all — information packets from the 14 young men and women I’d be meeting Dec. 7 as part of their process to secure a nomination to one of the United States military academies.<br />
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The students are seniors at high schools in the 14th Congressional District, which Joyce serves in the U.S. House of Representatives. Joyce is in the first year of his first term, after replacing Steve LaTourette.<br />
<br />
LaTourette did these events just about every year, inviting everyday citizens from his district to form a panel that gets to quiz the youngsters hoping to score an appointment to attend either the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.; U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y.; U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.; or Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y.<br />
<br />
The Coast Guard Academy does not require a nomination from a member of Congress, the vice president or the president.<br />
<br />
As with most years in recent time, the Naval Academy got the most action on interview day. What is regarded as one of the top engineering schools in the country is highly popular among seniors seeking appointments, both for those studies and for its reputation as one of the toughest schools around.<br />
<br />
So, no, these are not young adults looking to just get by.<br />
<br />
Once I receive my packets, I carve out time in the evening to sit and read them over. I look for the tiniest facts about the students — why did this one take up the tuba; what does the one who’s volunteered more than 1,100 hours get out of that much time serving the underprivileged; and when’s the last time the girl with all As in high school actually got a B?<br />
<br />
I enjoy reading about them and then meeting them, trying to figure out just how accurate were those who wrote letters on their behalf.<br />
<br />
A St. Ignatius senior from Sagamore Hills had what I consider the greatest comment in any packet I’ve read during my five years of sitting on this panel:<br />
<br />
“His papers were almost completely free from the annoying grammatical errors that plague the writings of most people his age.”<br />
<br />
It’s a statement only an editor could love. Going in to the interviews, I knew I had to find out how he got so good at it.<br />
<br />
A little more background on him, before I share his answer: He scored a 32 on the ACT and a 2280 on the SAT. Perfect scores are 36 and 2400.<br />
<br />
He said in his personal essay that he’s long known the military was for him.<br />
<br />
“From my earliest days, I’ve been inculcated with the importance of our nation’s armed forces…”<br />
<br />
If you’re wondering, “inculcated” means, according to Dictionary.com, “to implant by repeated statement or admonition; or teach persistently and earnestly.”<br />
<br />
When it was my turn to address him, I honed in on the writing.<br />
<br />
His response: “I just like it.”<br />
<br />
Sigh. And let’s move on.<br />
<br />
We met a young man from Perry High who wants to be a Marine, “because of the way they carry themselves.”<br />
<br />
He pointed us to his transcript and took head-on a few Cs in his early high school years.<br />
<br />
“I’m not the smartest guy in this room, but I’ll work harder than most.”<br />
<br />
He said he had to learn something basic when he got into high school.<br />
<br />
“I did not know how to study, at all,” he said, explaining the special value in taking advanced placement courses. “AP classes taught me how to study.”<br />
<br />
Every year, one candidate stands out at the end for me. It’s usually not the academics, or athletic skill, or even the military dream.<br />
<br />
This year, it was a senior at Jefferson High School in Ashtabula County.<br />
<br />
She caught the attention of all of us with a transcript that showed off straight As from eighth grade.<br />
<br />
“When is the last time you got a B?”<br />
<br />
“I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a B,” she said, looking off in the distance, clearly wracking her brain to remember the wayback of her education.<br />
<br />
When asked to list a leadership failure from her recent past and what she learned from it, she focused on the lost potential of having her favorite extracurricular activity, Model United Nations, dropped due to budget cuts.<br />
<br />
What did she do about it? She became the adviser herself and kept the team going and scoring victories at meets.<br />
<br />
But when I asked about her decision to quit softball after earning a letter as a freshman, she left me in tears.<br />
<br />
She said it was incredibly hard, but that she knew she needed to get a job, in order to help her family make ends meet and pay for things she needed. She said, though, that when she went to sign up again, after having to get a second job, her coach said she’d have to pick between work and sports to be able to take part.<br />
<br />
This 17-year-old described how hurt she was by the coach’s demands, and failure to understand the situation. She said she was easily able to walk away.<br />
<br />
Anyone want to talk about the maturity level of today’s teenagers? <br />
<br />
Then there’s the senior at Kenston, who’s a first-generation American. He said his father emigrated to America from Austria.<br />
<br />
He’s a volunteer, a decorated athlete, and a member of the National Honor Society.<br />
<br />
But, he said what sets him apart is a level of patience he’s gained from a significant number of tragedies that have occurred in his 17 years. Among them was the death of his uncle, Geauga County Juvenile/Probate Court Judge Charles “Chip” Henry, the victim of a drunken driver.<br />
<br />
He said he thinks constantly of how far he and his father have come in their lives.<br />
<br />
“He started from nothing,” he said. “To go from that to be considered for acceptance to one of the finest institutions, means more than I can put into words.”<br />
<br />
I’ll give it a try.<br />
<br />
Regardless of what happens in this process, my friend, you and the others I met on Dec. 7 are superstars.<br />
<br />
As happens every year when I leave Lakeland Community College, I’m resting easier knowing that you and so many more like you are the leaders of the future.<br />
<br />
We’re in good hands.<br />
<br />
<b>LKessel@News-Herald.com</b><br />
<b>@Lauranh</b>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7636766930318572832.post-60121499850844071952013-12-06T07:04:00.003-08:002013-12-06T07:04:55.758-08:00Look, up in the sky: That's no bird, it's my purchase!Bad Laura!<br />
<br />
I’m a little angry with myself for missing the biggest shopping news since the first store opened.<br />
<br />
On Sunday night during CBS’ broadcast of “60 Minutes,” I was wasting time watching some lame holiday special on a channel I normally don’t watch.<br />
<br />
I should have been tuned in to see Amazon.com unveil its plan for shipping its many goods around the world.<br />
<br />
Yes, CEO Jeff Bezos announced that the company intends to employ drones to make its deliveries.<br />
<br />
But don’t get too excited. They’ll only be able to deliver within a 10-mile radius of Amazon’s distribution centers.<br />
<br />
Where’s the closest one to us here in the Cleveland area? It appears to be Indiana or Pennsylvania.<br />
<br />
So, no dice.<br />
<br />
For now.<br />
<br />
But, as “60 Minutes” was still airing, Twitter and Facebook were giving a real-time look at how quickly people’s brains were processing the many other applications for the technology.<br />
<br />
A firefighter friend pointed to a discussion of delivery of relief supplies in an emergency.<br />
<br />
A newspaper friend suggested drones might be able to deliver the paper in the morning. And, since Bezos just recently bought The Washington Post, I’ll be looking for this idea in the next few weeks.<br />
<br />
Other friends focused on more conveniences it could provide — fast food delivery, prescriptions called in by the doctor arriving on the doorstep of the sick person, and the elimination of tedious trips around the grocery store.<br />
<br />
My concerns lie not only with the lack of participation for those of us in Ohio.<br />
<br />
Both Indiana and Pennsylvania have the weather flux we endure here, so I wonder if rain or freezing rain or sleet or snow or wind or lightning or tornadoes or hurricanes cause grounding that will delay the arrival of goods?<br />
<br />
If they just slow down in these everyday occurrences, how does a five-day drone wait beat six-day standard shipping?<br />
<br />
I know what you’re thinking — one day better. The worth in that case would depend on the cost, I’m afraid.<br />
<br />
How many people are going to lose their jobs because of the drones?<br />
<br />
If we follow the logic of my friends and their invented uses, it could be a whole lot of them.<br />
<br />
If the drones catch on like, well, Amazon did, then we’ll be dodging boxes all day long as we’re moving about town.<br />
<br />
What’s in them will be anyone’s guess, but the thing they’ll have in common is that a human being used to handle them.<br />
<br />
How much information do they have about me?<br />
<br />
It’s Amazon, so they already have my credit card number saved from a purchase I made in 2010. Even though I’m pretty sure I told them not to.<br />
<br />
But are they collecting data on me and storing it along with pictures of my neighborhood?<br />
<br />
Guess it doesn’t really matter that much because Amazon isn’t alone in the drone dream-world. Turns out UPS and Google also are studying the idea.<br />
<br />
If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.<br />
<br />
The drones would certainly eliminate an annoying issue with deliveries — drivers’ habit of parking wherever they feel like it while delivering a package. Blocking walkways, or parking in turning lanes on busy city streets is nothing to them.<br />
<br />
A fly-in and drop-off by a drone would definitely clear up traffic.<br />
<br />
So, as this technology takes shape, I’ll be anxious to see how soon I’ll turn from looking up information on my delivery via computer to looking up in the sky for my package.<br />
<br />
Check us out, one step closer to that world the Jetsons promised us so long ago.<br />
<br />
<b>LKessel@News-Herald.com</b><br />
<b>@Lauranh</b>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7636766930318572832.post-82954218266061811892013-11-27T08:34:00.000-08:002013-11-27T08:39:02.128-08:00Newtown report's arrival a blessing for what's missingIt was a long time coming.<br />
<br />
Eleven months and 11 days, to be exact.<br />
<br />
I could probably break it down to the hours, too, but there’s no need to be quite that precise.<br />
<br />
When the report on the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre was released Nov. 25, there was a certain sense of relief that it was out at all.<br />
<br />
Many around the country had been awaiting its release for months, complaining that it was taking quite that long to share the details of the incident that left 20 elementary school kids and six educators dead. At a second crime scene, the shooter’s mother also was slain in her bed.<br />
<br />
The report’s 48 pages were finally shared on a day that was much like Dec. 14, 2012, when it was cold with a light snow falling.<br />
<br />
It was the kind of day that makes you think about the holidays and all the things you have to accomplish before you get there.<br />
<br />
Then, just like that ... tragedy, front and center.<br />
<br />
The longer it took for the report to be released, the more I worried that it would come out in the days close to the anniversary.<br />
<br />
“They wouldn’t be that cruel?” I’d think to myself.<br />
<br />
They weren’t.<br />
<br />
Officials said the parents of the young victims were shown the report before it was released and approved its contents.<br />
<br />
That made me feel better as I paged through the detailed analysis of when things happened, how officials think they unfolded and some background on those involved.<br />
<br />
Bits of information caught my attention:<br />
<br />
Six feet tall and 112 pounds.<br />
<br />
30.47 pounds of weapons and ammunition.<br />
<br />
Five weapons involved at two crime scenes.<br />
<br />
Twelve students survived in the two classrooms where the shootings occurred.<br />
<br />
Asperger’s Syndrome.<br />
<br />
What stood out in the report was how troubled shooter Adam Lanza was, and how his mother had gone out of her way to remove him from the world.<br />
<br />
According to the report, it seems she didn’t do much to secure treatment for Lanza, only moving him from situation to situation until he couldn’t fit in any longer.<br />
<br />
He was prescribed pills to deal with mental issues. He didn’t take them.<br />
<br />
He moved from school to school to home-school.<br />
<br />
He wouldn’t use door knobs, he wouldn’t stay in hotels. He only ate certain foods, he changed his clothes constantly.<br />
<br />
He didn’t speak to his mother the last three months of their lives, communicating only by email to someone with whom he was sharing a home. Oh, and during that time, he never left the house.<br />
As troubling as were those details, I was comforted by what wasn’t in the report.<br />
<br />
No photos of the victims: For months, there was ongoing discussion about whether images of the youngsters would be released to the public. In interviews, victims’ family members said they championed their release, as a means to show what gun violence can do. I never believed they’d make a difference and was happy they weren’t in the packet. A photo of a 6-year-old with a bullet in his forehead won’t stop someone who wants to kill another human being. And, I’d rather think of the victims as they were in the photos families released — smiling and happy. After all, that’s what they’re doing in heaven.<br />
<br />
No 9-1-1 tapes: There’s still a fight over this one, but I for one was glad they weren’t included. A judge last Tuesday ordered their release, but it still remains to be seen whether they'll actually be in the public domain. We know from the report that it took four minutes, 39 seconds for the first officer to arrive on the scene. Lanza killed himself within a minute of that officer’s arrival, 30 seconds after encountering an officer while running through a hallway in the school. I don't need to hear more than that.<br />
<br />
The report makes clear several times that despite months of investigation, officials were not able to find a motive for the massacre.<br />
<br />
And, for that, I’m grateful.<br />
<br />
Knowing why Lanza drove to Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012, and opened fire on dozens of innocent people will not bring them back or make the pain go away.<br />
<br />
I, for one, think having it end this way leaves the focus right where it should be — on celebrating the lives of those who were lost that horrible day.<br />
<br />
<b>LKessel@News-Herald.com</b><br />
<b>@Lauranh</b>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7636766930318572832.post-70745542358360057902013-11-21T09:57:00.000-08:002013-11-22T12:42:41.618-08:00Not quite on target during class' visit to the firing rangeI guess I should be happy my big paper guy didn’t have a face.<br />
<br />
Had he been able to form expressions, he’d have indicated pain and the sense he’d been violated.<br />
<br />
And, really, he was.<br />
<br />
But, it was an accident.<br />
<br />
I wasn’t aiming for his crotch with my first shot on range night during my Citizen Police Academy class at the Euclid Police Station.<br />
<br />
No, I was aiming for the oval in the center of paper man’s chest.<br />
<br />
So much for my career as a markswoman.<br />
<br />
I could easily blame the temperature in the range. Located in the basement of the station, with concrete walls, floor and ceiling, it’s got that bitter cold you feel when you head to the lower levels of a house that’s not insulated.<br />
<br />
When we first walked in, to an outer room with a window into the firing range, there was a lot of dancing around as we tried to warm up. Feet shifted, hands rubbed, teeth might even have chattered.<br />
<br />
We picked up eye and ear protection in the control room and then headed into the range, where the shots were to be fired.<br />
<br />
I sensed it was even a little colder when our class instructor, Euclid Police Capt. Scott Roller, began speaking and you could see his breath as he laid out our instructions.<br />
<br />
He’d spent about an hour beforehand in the warmth of our classroom down the hall giving us an overview of the different types of weapons Euclid’s force uses. After ensuring they were ammo-free, Roller passed around an AR-15 and a shotgun, similar to the ones carried in the city’s police cars.<br />
<br />
I’ve shot an AR-15 before, on a trip to an Ashtabula County range with now-retired News-Herald outdoors writer Jeffrey L. Frischkorn. During that New Year’s Day 2011 excursion, Korn also had let me try out his Bersa .380-caliber pistol.<br />
<br />
The Glock, model 27, .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol that Roller dropped on the table in front of me was a different creature.<br />
<br />
He said he gave me that one because I have “small hands.” He obviously has vision problems. But that’s another column for another day.<br />
<br />
The weapons we used in the classroom weren’t necessarily Euclid’s service weapons. Mine was a smaller version of that handgun, a Glock, model 23, .40-semiautomatic pistol.<br />
<br />
Before he handed them out, though, he showed us how to load them.<br />
<br />
That requires a magazine.<br />
<br />
The magazine holds the bullets and is inserted into the weapon.<br />
<br />
The magazines we used had a capacity of 13 bullets.<br />
<br />
In the classroom setting, which involved close quarters with others in the group, we loaded the magazines with plastic bullets.<br />
<br />
Once we mastered loading the magazine, it was time to load Mr. Glock.<br />
<br />
Roller didn’t accept a little tap of the magazine into the weapon. He wanted a forceful shove. Of course, it took me a few times to remember to shove rather than just try to make it click.<br />
<br />
Then the trouble started.<br />
<br />
Once the magazine’s in place, shooters need to pull back the slide (it sits on top; think every single police show or movie you’ve seen in recent years) to get a bullet into the chamber and ready for firing.<br />
<br />
Remember how Roller gave me a specific weapon because of my dainty hands? Well, he later said my weapon also had a different spring in the slide mechanism than many the others were using. I couldn’t pull it back. I even tried to put my legs into it, hoping to generate enough force to get it moving.<br />
<br />
“I obviously am not strong enough to shoot a handgun.”<br />
<br />
Roller stepped over and pulled it back while laughing.<br />
<br />
We then pulled the trigger, nothing happened (plastic bullet, remember?) and we all now knew a fraction of the basics of firing a weapon.<br />
<br />
Next thing you know, we’re freezing while holding the real deal on the range.<br />
<br />
“Shooters, with your shooting hand, pick up the gun and point it down range, with your finger off the trigger. With your non-shooting hand, insert the magazine. With your non-shooting hand, pull the slide slightly to the rear. You’ve got a live bullet in that gun. Get your fingers off the trigger.”<br />
<br />
Standing there, hearing Roller shouting those instructions from inside our ear protection, it suddenly became rather serious.<br />
<br />
I can’t quite duplicate the amount of space he left between the words “Get your fingers off the trigger.” But, keep stopping hard every time you say it to yourself. That’ll come close.<br />
<br />
Real bullets. Inside guns held by people I’ve only known for a few weeks. Here’s that moment when you hope you haven’t really annoyed anyone in the class.<br />
<br />
We go through various exercises to first see what it’s like to fire the weapon, to learn how it moves after it’s fired; then we’re to fire two shots into the big paper target guy’s chest and one into his head. Then, finally, we’re treated to targets that move, as though target guy is turning from side to side and around to face us, intending to simulate the reaction time police face in real-life situations.These last shots are supposed to go into his chest and head, too.<br />
<br />
In about 35 rounds, I never got one shot into my guy’s head. But don’t forget I did get his crotch. So, at least he knows I care.<br />
<br />
On my last shot, though, I managed something that I also pulled off when I was out on the range with Korn. I injured a part of my left thumb.<br />
<br />
Mind you, I’m a righty. My left hand is there only for support.<br />
<br />
But two years ago, I cut my thumb when I put it in the wrong place and the slide on the Bersa pistol came back and struck it.<br />
<br />
This time, I somehow managed to break my thumb nail.<br />
<br />
I figured it was time to go out on a low note, matching the one I’d started on.<br />
<br />
So to speak.<br />
<br />
<b>LKessel@News-Herald.com</b><br />
<b>@Lauranh</b><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7636766930318572832.post-90534721779402213712013-11-14T07:19:00.003-08:002013-11-14T07:19:49.826-08:00In the pink as charity shopping season begins anewIt’s to the point that I should know the answer.<br />
<br />
“What’s your favorite color?”<br />
<br />
“Pink!”<br />
<br />
If it’s Clothe-A-Child, it’s gotta be pink.<br />
<br />
Well, if you’re 8 years old and a girl.<br />
<br />
And, when that’s the case, you just stand back, adjust your eyes and absorb all the shades of pink that exist in the world.<br />
<br />
Or, in this case, Sears’ children’s department.<br />
<br />
Ashley and I became fast friends when we went shopping recently at Great Lakes Mall, bonding over our hunt for the perfect snow boots and shoes at Payless ShoeSource.<br />
<br />
She was still a little iffy on her lefts and her rights, so once in a while I’d have to point to the leg she needed to use.<br />
<br />
At one point, she declared that a pair of shoes that was a half-size larger than her mom’s indicated size was a little too tight. I looked at the shoe in my hand and realized she had the other one on the wrong foot.<br />
<br />
“Oh. I didn’t know that.”<br />
<br />
“It’s OK. You’ll get it eventually. Sometimes I still get confused.”<br />
<br />
For 8-year-olds, there’s a big shoe question — Velcro or laces.<br />
<br />
If I could, I’d take the Velcro route every time.<br />
<br />
First, you get to annoy those around you with a noise that, for some, is akin to fingernails on a chalk board. Second, it’s a lot easier than making those loops and feeding them through other loops, then tying things.<br />
<br />
Ashley decided on Velcro for both her snow boots and her dress shoes. I pity those who will be nearby when she puts on those snow boots, though. Those big pink jobs with the fuzzy pink interior have the biggest strips of Velcro I’ve ever seen, and make the longest scraping noise you’ve ever heard when you’re trying to open them up for foot insertion.<br />
<br />
When it came time to pick out clothes, I was surprised to hear Ashley didn’t want any jeans.<br />
<br />
“I don’t really like jeans,” she said.<br />
<br />
She did, however, like the skinny pants that youngsters today have adopted as their personal style. You know the kind — it shows off their tiny little legs under big, roomy tops and sweatshirts.<br />
<br />
Of course, the pink ones were the first in the shopping cart for trying on. I talked her into a spotted purple pair and a solid black pair, too.<br />
<br />
They were all winners.<br />
<br />
I pointed out that she could wear the black pants with any of the pink shirts she picked out. She also could wear the black sweater with the kitten on it with the purple pants or even the pink ones.<br />
<br />
It’s all about the ensemble.<br />
<br />
While she was doing her marathon try-on session, Ashley saw another young lady who was trying on clothing come out of her fitting room to show off a gorgeous white dress she planned to wear to an upcoming father-daughter dance.<br />
<br />
That set us off to find the perfect holiday dress.<br />
<br />
It wasn’t difficult. A tour around the dresses led us to a rack with pink dresses overlaid with black lace.<br />
When we got back into the fitting room, I helped Ashley take it off the hanger, prepping it to try on.<br />
“Ohhhh, I didn’t see that it had a belt, too. That’s so pretty!”<br />
<br />
A few minutes later, Ashley opened the door and stepped out with a big smile on her face. Even though it hadn’t been zipped or tied in the back, she knew it was “THE ONE.”<br />
<br />
It’s funny, each time I head out shopping with Clothe-A-Child, there’s a moment when the young one finds that special piece of clothing that makes it all worthwhile.<br />
<br />
With the boys, sometimes it’s a hoodie with a neat design or a pair of pajamas with their favorite cartoon character. For the girls, though, inevitably it’s a dress.<br />
<br />
It’s that princess, party, royalty thing that just makes a girl’s head spin. And, if she can do it in a puffy dress that spins just right as she twirls around, all the world becomes a fairy tale.<br />
<br />
And, really, that’s how it should be for the kids we’re taking shopping through Clothe-A-Child.<br />
<br />
<i>Clothe-A-Child, in its 33rd year, operates year-round. The program provides warm clothes and shoes to needy children in Lake and Geauga counties. All money raised goes to serve the children helped by the program. The News-Herald covers all administrative costs. Through its first 32 years, Clothe-A-Child has raised $3,733,325.70 from area residents and friends who believe in this crucial program. To donate, send a check to The News-Herald, c/o Kim Tompkins, 7085 Mentor Ave., Willoughby OH 44095. Indicate how you’d like your name listed in the donor list printed in The News-Herald. Gifts received after Dec. 24 will be counted toward the 2014 campaign.</i><br />
<br />
<b>LKessel@News-Herald.com</b><br />
<b>@Lauranh</b>News-Herald Blogshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10992850793901999785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7636766930318572832.post-81632065941872608542013-11-08T08:40:00.001-08:002013-11-08T08:40:34.983-08:00To shop, or not to shop: Lately, it's a big questionGet ready for some whining.<br />
<br />
We’re starting today with a trip to my apartment in suburban Pittsburgh. I’ve awakened in the late morning after working the night before and realized that I’m pretty much stuck there for the day.<br />
<br />
I can’t go shopping. I can’t really call anyone to do anything, because there’s nothing going on.<br />
<br />
The good news is that I know I’ll get busy later when I head to work.<br />
<br />
In the meantime, I figure it’s as good a time as any to do some cleaning, and even some laundry.<br />
<br />
About this time I start feeling sorry for myself, because as I’m toiling away I realize I’m cleaning my toilet on Christmas Day 1995.<br />
<br />
That was just one of many holidays I’ve worked over the years. Weekends and holidays come with the territory when you work in media.<br />
<br />
I’m pretty sure I also worked Thanksgiving Day that year, because I remember the yearly meals the bosses would supply. I was single then, and there was no way I was going to cook a turkey for one, so it was nice to come in and dig into a traditional holiday dinner.<br />
<br />
I’ve been thinking about those days a lot lately, as the topic of work on holidays has moved into the forefront with national retailers’ announcements of their store hours for Black Friday shopping.<br />
<br />
The outrage began last year, when a slew of stores opened their doors at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving night.<br />
It’s hard to call it Black Friday if it’s actually early Thursday evening.<br />
<br />
This year, though, that ante’s been upped by Kmart, which announced this week its plans to open at 6 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning and then remain open for 41 consecutive hours.<br />
<br />
So, shoppers, you, too, can head out shopping in Mentor as Mom or Aunt Sue are loading the turkey in the oven. Then, when Uncle Joe or Pop are fading into their tryptophan coma, you can run back as the regret sets in and you realize you really do need that $4 coffeemaker.<br />
<br />
What? You’re not a Jet Black Thursday believer?<br />
<br />
Apparently a lot of folks aren’t.<br />
<br />
I’ve seen it all over Twitter and in countless Facebook posts.<br />
<br />
Boycott! It’s crap! I’ll never shop at your stores again!<br />
<br />
The outrage centers on store workers missing the special holiday moments with their families.<br />
<br />
How funny that no one said a thing when I had to head in to work year after year, putting together the paper that got tossed on your doorstep on what’s now called Black Friday.<br />
<br />
(I told you there’d be whining.)<br />
<br />
The current sentiment seems to be that no matter how much we like sales, store clerks should be able to enjoy their family time, too.<br />
<br />
But something we discussed here in the office this week is that no one’s defending the restaurant workers who are heading to work on the holiday to cook and deliver food to the tables of those who are heading out to eat for the holiday.<br />
<br />
I worked in retail for a long time, and have eaten in a lot of restaurants, so I feel like it’s OK for me to say this — restaurant workers have a difficult job. They deserve some of that sympathy, too.<br />
<br />
Those meals are heavy to carry around. I’m guessing that on the day when we’re supposed to be giving thanks, they’ll take a lot of abuse from customers. And, yes, they’d rather be at home, too.<br />
<br />
But, they know, just like those who work in stores do, that the sales are important to their companies.<br />
<br />
The unstable U.S. economy depends on moments in time like Black Friday, and its sister, Cyber Monday. (How much of your work time will you waste that day as you do your holiday shopping from your cubicle?)<br />
<br />
Billions are spent at these stores over the course of the Thursday and Friday night of Thanksgiving.<br />
<br />
The best advice I’ve seen handed out is that if these early-bird sales really bother you, just stay home. Stay off the stores’ websites. Don’t make those purchases they want you to make.<br />
<br />
It’s much like the “Just Say No” of the anti-drug movement.<br />
<br />
If you want to make a point, just don’t shop.<br />
<br />
As many people are thrilled by the existence of Black Friday as those who dislike it.<br />
<br />
We all know someone — the groups of friends bonding for a night of bargain hunting; or families heading out and then having breakfast the next morning once all the early-birds are over.<br />
<br />
So, what are you going to do?<br />
<br />
Is a good night’s sleep in the cards, or is that trinket you’ve been dreaming about just too good to pass up?<br />
<br />
It’s up to you.<br />
<br />
Either way you do it, I hope it’s enjoyable Thanksgiving.<br />
<br />
<b>LKessel@News-Herald.com</b><br />
<b>@Lauranh</b>News-Herald Blogshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10992850793901999785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7636766930318572832.post-34196080365247909592013-10-31T08:54:00.000-07:002013-10-31T08:54:12.080-07:00Making a difference and cleaning up a really big problemI’ve learned a lot about Eva over the past eight weeks.<br />
<br />
She reads a lot. She travels a lot. She loves her friend, who sits between us every Tuesday night at the Euclid Citizen Police Academy.<br />
<br />
But, what I’ve come to know best about her is that she wants the world to be a heck of a lot different than it is.<br />
<br />
Really, we all do.<br />
<br />
Euclid Police wouldn’t be offering this class if they didn’t understand that.<br />
<br />
They need our help to make some changes in what too many view from the outside as a crime-riddled inner-ring suburb with significant problems.<br />
<br />
As I wrote a few weeks ago, the 11-week class we’re moving through allows us up-close encounters with personnel from many of the areas within the department.<br />
<br />
We’ve met a patrolman; someone who works traffic enforcement; a member of the SWAT team; and two of the folks who work in the city’s jail.<br />
<br />
The message is always the same — we need your help.<br />
<br />
It’s one that makes sense.<br />
<br />
To me.<br />
<br />
My neighbor, on the other hand, isn’t too sure about that.<br />
<br />
To her, we shouldn’t have to do anything.<br />
<br />
Follow the law.<br />
<br />
If you don’t, there should be punishment.<br />
<br />
Strong punishment. She’ll tell anyone who’ll listen that she thinks most criminals should receive the ultimate punishment.<br />
<br />
I’m definitely not alone in thinking that she doesn’t have a working relationship with the word leniency.<br />
<br />
At the end of the Oct. 22 class, which featured a meeting with the head of the narcotics division, Lt. Scott Meyer, she asked what’s become a very Eva question.<br />
<br />
“Do you ever think that you’re just wasting your time?”<br />
<br />
Meyer laughed and said no, that in fact the narcotics officers know they’re making a difference.<br />
<br />
Just how big a difference would become clear the next day.<br />
<br />
First, let me take a step back.<br />
<br />
During the narcotics talk, we discussed how big a problem heroin is in Northeast Ohio.<br />
<br />
It’s a cheap drug that’s now easily accessible.<br />
<br />
Just how accessible, though, falls a little too close to home.<br />
<br />
Because home for me is Euclid.<br />
<br />
And, as we learned last week, Euclid and its neighboring Collinwood neighborhood in Cleveland have become a sort of Ground Zero for heroin trafficking in Northeast Ohio.<br />
<br />
You can blame Interstate 90.<br />
<br />
When I was learning to drive, the easy-on and easy-off of the highway was convenient.<br />
<br />
It’s far too convenient for those dealing heroin and those who, according to federal, Cuyahoga County and local police officials, are coming in from Lake, Geauga and other nearby counties to purchase their drugs.<br />
<br />
One of the favorite spots is a large retail area at East 200th Street and Lakeland Boulevard. Exit the highway, into the store lot. When the exchange is complete, hop back on the highway — in either direction.<br />
<br />
Quick and way too dirty.<br />
<br />
But, just as popular, we heard in class Oct. 22, are neighborhood side streets that allow quick, easy-on, easy-off access to the freeway and just a few seconds for an exchange.<br />
<br />
One of the other women in my class described to Meyer what she thinks might have been drug deals in her neighborhood.<br />
<br />
He nodded and said she’s probably right. He also reminded her that calls to police with a description of a car, or a license plate number or even patterns of such traffic are helpful in their battle against trafficking.<br />
<br />
No doubt such information proved invaluable in the raid and bust that netted 32 members of the so-called Lakeshore Boyz drug gang that patrols Euclid and Collinwood.<br />
<br />
During a news conference held about 14 hours after Eva asked her question of Meyer, officials from the U.S Attorney’s Office, FBI, Cuyahoga County, Cleveland Police and Euclid Police stood up to announce the arrests and that they’re taking back their streets.<br />
<br />
“To those people who think they can come into our neighborhoods and not be held accountable to try and purchase heroin and any other drugs and perpetuate violence, we’re coming for you, too,” said Euclid Mayor Bill Cervenik. “Stay in your own neighborhood. Stay out of our town. Find somewhere else to do your business. The next time it’s going to be you.”<br />
<br />
Cervenik spoke after Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Tim McGinty, who’s becoming a bit of a legend for his refusal to hold back, calling those whom he’s indicted thugs or even worse as he details how their lives are about to change in the justice system.<br />
<br />
“Nothing is lower than a heroin dealer,” said McGinty, who formerly served as a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas judge. “Heroin is going to cause more deaths in Cuyahoga County this year than gun-related homicides.”<br />
<br />
Not long after McGinty spoke, Cervenik tackled Eva’s topic from the night before.<br />
<br />
“To those who are indicted and arrested today, good riddance, don’t come back,” he said. “Our message to our residents that was sent today is that we do care. We will clean up your neighborhoods. But we need your help. When our residents see something that they don’t think is right in their neighborhoods, call the police department. We’ll take them out; we’ll chase them away.”<br />
<br />
He’s not kidding, either.<br />
<br />
Credit came at the news conference to a combined effort between the two cities’ police departments and their federal and county brethren.<br />
<br />
I can only hope Eva got this message that no, they’re not just wasting their time.<br />
<br />
They’re out there every day, working to clean up the streets we call home.<br />
<br />
Editor’s note: Eva’s name was altered to protect her anonymity.<br />
<br />
<b>LKessel@News-Herald.com</b><br />
<b>@Lauranh</b>News-Herald Blogshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10992850793901999785noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7636766930318572832.post-9442248698239680352013-10-18T08:23:00.002-07:002013-10-18T12:06:01.395-07:00Pair of old friends offer a big-screen birthday saluteAbout a third of the way in, the enormity of my problem became clear.<br />
<br />
George Clooney was talking to Sandra Bullock, who was diligently working on her repair project in space.<br />
<br />
You could say he was flirting, but you might also say he was trying to help her relax.<br />
<br />
After pointing out that she obviously thinks he’s attractive, he asks her about his beautiful blue eyes.<br />
<br />
I quickly leaned over to whisper to my husband, knocking both of our 3-D glasses out of place as I bared the depth of the useless knowledge at my disposal.<br />
<br />
“He has brown eyes.”<br />
<br />
About two seconds later, Bullock responded by reminding Clooney that his eyes are brown.<br />
<br />
No, I can’t tell you the license plate number for my car, but I know that Clooney is 6 feet tall and that his late pot-bellied pig was named Max.<br />
<br />
But, that’ll happen to a gal when she’s been watching an actor since he first showed up with Elliott Gould in a little-remembered comedy series set in an emergency room.<br />
<br />
Ahh, the good old days.<br />
<br />
Thinking back like that reminds me of another series I loved back in 1980.<br />
<br />
This time, it was a comedy that featured two guys who moved to New York City to pursue their advertising careers, only to find out how expensive apartments are. Their first place gets torn down by a wrecking ball as they’re sleeping, and they’re forced to take a room in a hotel that rents only to women.<br />
<br />
Cross-dressing and its attendant hilarity ensue.<br />
<br />
Oh, that Tom Hanks. He certainly looks good in a dress.<br />
<br />
“Bosom Buddies” was only on the air for three seasons, but it’s the ship that launched, uhhhhh, a few Oscars.<br />
<br />
Yes, it was silly. Sure, it was improbable.<br />
<br />
But, it is to Hanks what “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” is to Sean Penn. It’s what Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch is to Mark Wahlberg.<br />
<br />
It’s what “The Electric Company” is to Morgan Freeman, or “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse” is to Laurence Fishburne.<br />
<br />
As they say, you have to start someplace.<br />
<br />
In doing so, you always hope you’ll end up somewhere.<br />
<br />
This pair, with their two Oscars apiece, ended up opening highly anticipated films on consecutive weekends.<br />
I’ll accept it as a birthday present. Thank you, Hollywood.<br />
<br />
“Gravity” opened on my birthday, Oct. 4. So, as my gift, I got George Clooney hurtling toward me on the big screen in 3-D.<br />
<br />
When Bullock accidentally let a bolt drift off into space, Clooney reached out to retrieve it, and it’s quite possible my chin moved as his hand came out in the 3-D in a move that, to me, seemed as though he knew I was there in the darkness.<br />
<br />
“Happy birthday, Laura,” he probably said to himself.<br />
<br />
A week later, Hanks drove an entirely different vehicle into theaters.<br />
<br />
He and his not-really-cheery band of sailors gathered for a trip around the Horn of Africa, which is home to about 100 million people and a slew of priates that terrorize ships transporting goods to countries such as Djibouti, Ethiopia and Somalia.<br />
<br />
I won’t give away anything that you haven’t seen in the previews on TV and in theaters, but as thrilled as I was to have my two guys back-to-back on the big screen, I really struggled with their situations in the movies.<br />
<br />
Clooney was flying through space, bouncing off of Bullock (not in that way!) and various pieces of NASA equipment. Hanks spent just about the entire movie with either guns or fists smashed into his face.<br />
<br />
I struggled the most with “Captain Phillips,” and at one point almost walked out.<br />
<br />
Most reviews I’ve seen have pointed out that there’s really no need for spoiler alerts here, because Hanks’ character in the true story wrote the book on which the movie is based.<br />
<br />
But, even though I knew Hanks’ life wasn’t really being threatened, the attacks his character consistently underwent in the movie left me more uncomfortable than I’ve been at the movies in a long time.<br />
<br />
In fact, I haven’t come that close to walking out since I saw “American History X” in 1998. Midway through, there’s a scene that even today gives me nightmares. Yes, that’s 15 years later.<br />
<br />
There wasn’t any one moment in “Captain Phillips” that led me to that decision-making moment. No, it was thoughts of my buddy Kip in “Bosom Buddies,” and Josh in “Big,” or Joe Fox in “You’ve Got Mail” or, well, Forrest.<br />
<br />
I’m glad I stayed, though, for near the end, there was that moment that I’ve had in a few Hanks movies, where I said to myself, “Oh, God, that’s Tom Hanks.”<br />
<br />
I’ve done it in “Forrest Gump” and “Cast Away.”<br />
<br />
And in his final moments as Capt. Rich Phillips, Hanks again takes us to places so many of today’s actors seem unable to go.<br />
<br />
I have a feeling that come Oscar time, we’ll see both of my boys getting their just rewards for a job well done. (Clooney almost assuredly wasn’t in “Gravity” long enough for that honor, but he’s got some material coming down the road that seems really likely to get him there.)<br />
<br />
In the meantime, though, I’m going to enjoy the fruits of this pretty special birthday gift from some special old friends.<br />
<br />
<b>LKessel@News-Herald.com</b><br />
<b>@Lauranh</b>News-Herald Blogshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10992850793901999785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7636766930318572832.post-13469108129174738362013-10-10T10:27:00.000-07:002013-10-10T10:27:03.111-07:00Precious little funny about stowaway's vegas adventureI’m trying hard not to treat this like a joke, but it’s really, really, really difficult.<br />
<br />In more than one way, the 9-year-old deserves a pat on the back.<br />
<br />I mean, come on — who among us wouldn’t want to accomplish what he did?<br />
<br />A 9-year-old Minneapolis boy got on a plane and flew to Las Vegas on Sunday without a ticket.<br />Think about the many breakdowns in this scenario.<br />
<br />He’s a runaway, so there’s the ability to sneak away from home undetected.<br />
<br />He was able to get to the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.<br />
<br />He got past security and through the X-ray machines.<br />
<br />Then, after he made it into the clear, he was able to put away his ID — oh wait ...<br />
<br />Finally, he got on an airplane by walking past a gate check that on the countless times I’ve flown has required a scan of a ticket and a beep of permission to proceed to the battle for the armrest.<br />
<br />Luckily, the flight crew realized the problem when the young man didn’t show up on its “unattended fliers” list.<br />
<br />Thank goodness for paperwork.<br />
<br />The problems in this boy’s life seemingly go very deep. <br />
<br />His father told a Minneapolis radio station that he doesn’t understand how the boy was able to accomplish what he did. <br />
<br />“How can you let a 9-year-old sneak past security, get on the plane without anyone stopping him, questioning him or anything?” asked the father, who wished to remain anonymous.<br />
<br />He told the station that the boy left to take the trash out on Oct. 2 and never returned. His flight occurred Oct. 6.<br />
<br />Apparently, he disappears a lot, according to an interview with the father. He said the boy usually goes to stay at a friend’s house.<br />
<br />According to The Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the boy has had numerous run-ins with the law, including an incident in which he stole a car and went on a highway joyride.<br />
<br />“We didn’t know our son went up to the airport, got past security check, got on that plane — we didn’t know,” the father said. “We’re not mind readers.”<br />
<br />You’re not supposed to be, sir. You’re simply supposed to know where your minor child is.<br />
<br />In another interview, the boy’s father responded to one of the concerns a lot of those who heard about the story have expressed. <br />
<br />Count me among this group. <br />
<br />“My son is not a terrorist — he’s a 9-year-old,” the dad told WCCO-TV in Minneapolis.<br />
<br />Yes, what the father says is true. He’s not a terrorist. He’s a pain in the rump who obviously gets to do what he wants, and that apparently includes running around the country.<br />
<br />But, this little guy proved something very serious — completely by accident. <br />
<br />If you’re traveling through Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, you might not be able to really trust those security screeners and that gate check personnel.<br />
<br />As we’ve seen numerous times around the world, actual terrorists aren’t above using children to complete their dastardly deeds. Thus, it’s important that they get at least a cursory scan to ensure nothing untoward is happening.<br />
<br />My first thought in hearing about this little scoundrel’s trip to Vegas was to laugh and give him credit for being so creative.<br />
<br />But, the more I thought about it, the more the weaknesses became clear and then painful.<br />
<br />This story teaches a lesson to both parents and the travel industry.<br />
<br />It’s important to learn what we can from this youngster.<br />
<br />In this case, what happens in Vegas shouldn’t stay in Vegas.<br /><br /><b>LKessel@News-Herald.com<br />@Lauranh</b>News-Herald Blogshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10992850793901999785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7636766930318572832.post-28893784987819077332013-10-02T11:40:00.000-07:002013-10-02T11:40:20.189-07:00This little piece of piggy went to Laura's plateI guess you can say I’m making my way through the animal.<br />
<br />During a trip last November to Ann Arbor, I sampled goat jowl. <br />
<br />On Sunday, I devoured a pork cheek confit. <br />
<br />These aren’t cuts that normally find their way onto a plate. At least not in my house. <br />
<br />The two examples above are way, way, way out there for me. <br />
<br />I had the jowl at Grange Kitchen and Bar, a restaurant whose owner is devoted to serving up the entire animal. Brandon Johns wasn’t kidding over coffee in the morning when he said that he hoped our group was in the mood for goat later that night.<br />
<br />Silly me, I first thought of a gyro. I was quickly reminded that gyro meat usually involves lamb.<br />
<br />Oops.<br />
<br />Johns’ menu has had what I’d call an exotic staple on the appetizer list since Grange opened — fried pigs head. Yes, it’s what you think. <br />
<br />During my visit, Johns lamented the fact that he’d love to take it off the menu when he does routine changes, but it’s so popular he wouldn’t dare. <br />
<br />While I admire his insistence on using the majority of the animals he purchases, he could have skipped the jowl.<br />
<br />What showed up on our plates amounted to a big pile of greasy goo.<br />
<br />But, I can say I tried it. I guess I wear it as a badge.<br />
<br />I added another last weekend with the cheek.<br />
<br />The fact that I knew pigs had cheeks before Sunday was based on the way they’re drawn in comic strips, with big round bumps that show up when they smile.<br />
<br />Who knew those bumps were a delicious cut of meat? <br />
<br />OK, the delicious part is probably due in part to a restaurant in Vermilion called The Blind Perch. <br />
<br />The restaurant, which just opened to the public this week, was the “critic’s choice” winner at Sunday’s Generous Helpings fundraiser for Second Harvest Food Bank, which covers four northwest Ohio counties. <br />
<br />I’m proud to say that as one of those “critics,” I gave them a perfect score for their dish, which featured a fork-tender pork medallion atop a roasted cauliflower risotto.<br />
<br />Those who know me should be rather surprised I dug into either of the dishes I just mentioned.<br />
<br />Especially when you consider the fact that there are so many foods whose presence I just try to ignore.<br />
<br />Like onions.<br />
<br />Like peppers.<br />
<br />Like garlic.<br />
<br />The childhood “no” moved into young adult “no, thank you” and has merged easily into “oh, no way.”<br />
<br />I like to explain it thusly:<br />
<br />“I can pick out a tiny sliver of an (insert onion, pepper, garlic) in any dish.”<br />
<br />When I’m done eating, you’ll often see little piles on the edges of the plate, ready for the trash can. <br />
<br />Yes, at 47 years old, I still spit out onions and make a little disapproving face. <br />
<br />At this point in life, it’s just not worth the fight. <br />
<br />“It adds so much to the flavor.”<br />
<br />That might be, but it also tastes disgusting and has an odd texture.<br />
<br />Luckily for me, Blind Perch’s dish on Sunday wasn’t laden with onions or peppers. <br />
<br />I’m sure it would have vastly cut down on the joy.<br />
<br />But, for now, I’ll just be happy to sit back and wait for the next chance to venture in to uncharted animal territory. <br />
<br />Who knows, maybe there’s some marrow someplace with my name on it. <br /><br /><b>LKessel@News-Herald.com<br />@Lauranh</b>News-Herald Blogshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10992850793901999785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7636766930318572832.post-86710967781720822382013-09-26T14:27:00.001-07:002013-09-26T14:27:23.714-07:00 So many depend on good work of LaketranI’m worried about Laketran.<br />
<br />Lake County’s transportation service has a tough job on its hands as we move toward the election in November.<br />
<br />Laketran’s Board of Trustees fell victim to timing when it put the agency’s 0.25 percent sales tax on the ballot. The issue is a renewal, and for the fourth time aims to collect the bulk of its funding from purchases made in Lake County.<br />
<br />The only change this time is that the Board put the issue on the ballot as a “continuing levy,” which means that it’ll be a permanent 0.25 percent collection. <br />
<br />You hear a lot of talk about voter fatigue these days. <br />
<br />School districts and municipalities routinely go to the ballot for levy renewals, and these days asking for new money to fund various aspects of the operation. It’s easy to see this “fatigue” among voters, who are constantly being asked for more, more, more.<br />
<br />Laketran’s move is a direct reaction to this feeling among voters.<br />
<br />Of course, timing, as they say, is everything. <br />
<br />The recent hike in the state sales tax of 0.25 percent has left Laketran with the prospect of selling what now seems like a tax increase.<br />
<br />That’s a shame. <br />
<br />But it’s important that voters remember the truth — Laketran isn’t asking for an increase. The increase came from the state level. <br />
<br />It’s crucial to watch for spin when you’re discussing levies with friends or reading any mailings that might come out.<br />
<br />While it’s true that the sales tax you pay when purchasing goods and services is higher than it was before, it’s not Laketran’s fault. <br />
<br />I see it as just as important, though, that voters not punish Laketran.<br />
<br />Laketran offers three types of services to its riders — Commuter Express to Downtown Cleveland; fixed-route service around the county; and Dial-A-Ride.<br />
<br />With each each option, you’ll find buses filled with people who can’t get to work or to school or to the doctor any other way.<br />
<br />A few years ago, when state and federal budget cuts left the agency in a position to radically cut its service, I remember listening to bus patrons passionately sharing their needs to get around with Laketran’s management. <br />
<br />The words of a young woman who said the elimination of service after 7 p.m. would spell the end of her college education at Lakeland have stuck with me.<br />
<br />As someone who started her college education at Lakeland, I felt her pain.<br />
<br />If the bus can’t get you there, and you can’t find a ride from friends or any family members, you’re just out of luck.<br />
<br />In the three years since, Laketran has been able to add an hour back to the end of its schedule, which is a boost for those who need night classes at either Lakeland or Lake Erie.<br />
<br />Admittedly, Laketran does have some limitations. <br />
<br />No fixed routes go to TriPoint Hospital in Concord Township, and the Commuter Service doesn’t take buses past Cleveland Clinic or University Hospitals in Cleveland. Plenty of nurses or other hospital personnel would be thrilled for the chance to leave the driving to someone else.<br />
<br />Kevin Malecek, president of Laketran’s Board of Trustees, said while they’d love to add these services, this levy is about maintaining current services for the bus service.<br />
<br />One complaint we hear consistently, too, is that Laketran’s buses are empty a lot.<br />
<br />The answer to that one is an easy one — it depends when you’re looking. <br />
<br />I asked Laketran General Manager Ray Jurkowski to answer the critics during a recent meeting. He didn’t hold back.<br />
<br />“A transit service buys its vehicles for maximum capacity,” he said on a recent morning. “If we were to stand in Downtown Willoughby right now, you’d see most of the cars would pass you with only one passenger in the car. Are you going to stop them and say, ‘you should have four people in your car because you have four seats.’ If you go to Molinari’s at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, and see most of the tables are empty, are you going to ask why they opened a restaurant? The other night, I went to the theater in Cleveland, and on the way home, I had an entire lane to myself from Cleveland to Madison. Are you going to ask why we need highways? Of course not.<br />
<br />“People apply a different kind of standard to the ebb and flow of business, and why they would hold public transit to that standard is beyond me.”<br />
<br />Laketran is fighting for its life with this levy.<br />
<br />And, in essence, so are those who rely on the service. <br />
<br />If the levy isn’t renewed ... well, I’ll let Malecek explain it. <br />
<br />“If this does not pass, Laketran will not exist,” he said.<br />
<br />This sales tax makes up 60 percent of Laketran’s budget. Most of the rest is federal and state funding that requires a local match.<br />
<br />If the sales tax doesn’t pass, well, you saw what Malecek said. <br />
<br />Voters should remember that this levy is one that’s been in existence for 25 years, since the agency first was born. <br />
<br />It’s not an increase. <br />
<br />To let it fail would drive away a public service that has helped thousands over the years. <br /><br /><b>LKessel@News-Herald.com<br />Twitter: @Lauranh</b>News-Herald Blogshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10992850793901999785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7636766930318572832.post-70086485942677911782013-09-18T11:03:00.002-07:002013-09-20T06:40:35.357-07:00Questions show these police officials are really on a roll“You know you’re good people. We don’t know you.”<br />
<br />
I’ve learned a lot already. But this might be the most important thing so far.<br />
<br />
Capt. Scott Roller of the Euclid Police Department has said it twice in class so far.<br />
<br />
Each time, he’s said it really slowly.<br />
<br />
The instructor of the Euclid Citizen Police Academy has a distinct speech pattern. <br />
<br />
When he’s being serious, he slows down. When he’s making a point, he slows down.<br />
<br />
Roller’s point in the statement at the top applies to anyone, in any city, in any state, in any country.<br />
<br />
What it means is that if you stumble across a police officer, they’re going to treat you with respect, but with a suspicion that comes with a job that puts them in danger every time they report for work.<br />
<br />
Don’t take that the wrong way.<br />
<br />
They don’t assume you’re a criminal. They just don’t assume they can trust you until you show them that they can.<br />
<br />
When you consider it that way, it really does make sense. <br />
<br />
To find that trust, though, requires communication. That’s where the questions come in.<br />
<br />
Roller’s great with a question. If he wants a second career, he should consider English teacher, because of his skill dissecting a sentence. <br />
<br />
I’m only two weeks into this 11-week course offered to Euclid residents and the families of Euclid police personnel and I’ve already found myself churning around in Roller’s meat-grinder a few times. <br />
<br />
You can see why he’s been around 24 years and moved up the ranks from a patrol officer. He’s all business when he wants to understand what you’re saying.<br />
<br />
I knew I was in trouble during a phone conversation when he followed a statement about a recent issue involving police work with a stern, “Laura!”<br />
<br />
Parental. Authoritative. And, requiring explanation.<br />
<br />
That clarifying only gets him going. <br />
<br />
“OK, let me ask you this ...”<br />
<br />
If he wasn’t physically the exact opposite of Perry Mason, I’d consider that comparison. <br />
<br />
On Tuesday, the class met someone who I was sure had been one of his pupils. <br />
<br />
Roller has overseen many aspects of the training of new officers since 2002.<br />
<br />
When a classmate asked Patrolman Brian Collins a question about a specific police procedure, Collins responded with a question.<br />
<br />
I laughed out loud. It was like Junior Roller was standing before the class.<br />
<br />
I whispered my belief to Roller, who assured me that Collins had been trained by someone else, only because he was on another assignment when Collins started on the force. He laughed as he admitted, though, that others have noticed the similarities in the past.<br />
<br />
A little while later, Dispatcher Karen Cassese walked up and made it clear that questions are her game, too. <br />
<br />
She needs information when calls come in, and sometimes those reporting what they think is a crime need a little coaxing to get the information out.<br />
<br />
“I can’t do my job without your help,” Cassese said. “I really, really, really, really can’t. I can’t make this city a better place without your help.”<br />
<br />
She discussed how important it is for callers to know their address — sounds simple, doesn’t it? They often offer cross streets, or neighborhood names, because they’re new to the area or maybe not even a resident in the home. Occasionally, they’ll try to tell her the color of the home and its awnings.<br />
<br />
Cassese and Roller discussed their concern, too, that the reason for the reluctance to share their address is that they fear reprisals from those they’re attempting to turn in to police. <br />
<br />
Roller said it’s incredibly rare, and said the only times he recalls it on his cases is when the parties involved knew each other and had regular involvement in each others’ lives.<br />
<br />
“I’m worried that what might happen keeps people from doing what they should do,” Roller said. “I’m really worried.”<br />
<br />
The pair pointed out that callers can remain anonymous, which should help residents feel comfortable calling about things they might believe to be a crime. <br />
<br />
A tour of the dispatch center a few minutes later left little doubt that anonymity doesn’t signal freedom from the third degree, as we listened to a dispatcher question someone calling in a report of a possible drug deal. <br />
<br />
“Did you see any money change hands?”<br />
<br />
“What did you see them do?”<br />
<br />
“What are they wearing?”<br />
<br />
“They’re behind the building?”<br />
<br />
Your willingness to answer questions like these goes a long way to letting a police officer know that he can trust you, and the information you’re providing.<br />
<br />
Remember: “You know you’re good people. We don’t know you.”<br />
<br />
It’s up to you to change that second part.<br />
<br />
<b>LKessel@News-Herald.com<br />@Lauranh</b>News-Herald Blogshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10992850793901999785noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7636766930318572832.post-20649598155042891072013-09-06T08:45:00.002-07:002013-09-06T08:45:53.218-07:00Itching to know why I suddenly am scratching so muchI can tell you where I purchased every single piece of clothing and pair of shoes I own.<br />
<br />I probably can even tell you how much I paid for it. <br />
<br />I know the name of the first 45 rpm record I purchased (“Dancing Queen” by ABBA). <br />
<br />I can remember the color number for the various makeup I purchase (Classic Ivory foundation, 510).<br />
<br />When it comes to produce, I know that the navel oranges marked 4012 are the big, juicier ones. The ones marked 3107 are the cheaper imposters. <br />
<br />With that much knowledge of me and my supplies and history at my fingertips, it’s shocking that I have absolutely no clue where I contracted the skin condition that has left my legs looking like I need the surgical ward.<br />
<br />I’ve mentioned my hate/hate relationship with bugs before.<br />
<br />When I get stung by a mosquito or some of their bug brethren, I’m left with huge, swollen welts. <br />
<br />It wasn’t always that way. No, I was like most of you. When I’d get stung it would be an irritating little dot that itched for a few days and then faded away.<br />
<br />Something happened, though. <br />
<br />It’s possible that it’s just that I got older. Now when I get a bug bite, it nearly consumes the appendage where it shows up.<br />
<br />But what happened over Labor Day weekend has left me in a quandary.<br />
<br />And, in pain. <br />
<br />And, itching like I’m about to go insane.<br />
<br />My co-workers were so grossed out by Wednesday, they told me to go to the doctor.<br />
<br />I’m not an alarmist. If I get sick, I usually just accept the fact and go about my business. <br />
<br />But my co-workers’ freaking out and screaming the words “infection” and “staph” made me a little concerned, so off I went.<br />
<br />When I said that it first appeared late Sunday night, the doctor asked where I’d been over the weekend.<br />
<br />I detailed my trip to the Great Geauga County Fair (nowhere near the animal barns, and no walks through grassy areas); a party at a friend’s house (standing in the kitchen and sitting out on a pretty great brick deck in the dark); and scratching my legs on Monday during an excursion for groceries. <br />
<br />I told her I figured I got eaten alive at my friend’s house. <br />
<br />“This doesn’t look like bug bites. This is poison ivy.”<br />
<br />“I didn’t walk through any grass or rub up against any plants all weekend.”<br />
<br />“I like to think I’m right.”<br />
<br />Me too. I mean, you have way more medical knowledge than me, after all. I just watched “ER” a lot.<br />It didn’t really matter, anyway. <br />
<br />She told me it was too localized for her to give me a shot or steroids, and that I should take an allergy pill. She said she’d only go those routes if it continued to spread and went near my eyes or mouth.<br />
<br />I’ve gotten a lot of advice from friends over the past few days. <br />
<br />Some seems like wives-tale stuff. <br />
<br />Meat tenderizer. Fels Naptha soap. Witch hazel. <br />
<br />Some just sound like pure torture. <br />
<br />I found out just how tough Laketran General Manager Ray Jurkowski is when he told me during a phone call that he once scrubbed poison ivy on his leg with a rough washcloth, then poured bleach on it. <br />
<br />“I thought my head was going to pop off,” Jurkowski said.<br />
<br />As I sit here and type this, the itching has subsided. You wouldn’t know by looking at it that I haven’t really scratched my legs since Monday. I figured it would only make it worse. Trust me, it was a test.<br />
<br />
I passed, but just barely. <br />
<br />But what really bugs me is I have no clue how to avoid getting it again, because I don’t know where I contracted it. <br />
<br />Someone told me they contracted it from a bonfire. Something burning in the fire had the oil from the poison ivy on it, and it spread on the ashes. She had it in her eyes and other places she said I “didn’t want to know.” <br />
<br />Probably so. <br />
<br />Again, I wasn’t anywhere near a fire.<br />
<br />I remember the old adage “leaves of three, let it be.”<br />
<br />But again, just where were those three? Who knows. <br />
<br />This week I discovered Poison-Ivy.org, and its stash of truly disgusting photos depicting examples of poison ivy. Luckily, I’m not there yet. <br />
<br />I did find some advice for what to do once you have it — don’t wash it with hot water, because it will irritate it and also open the pores to absorb more of the oils we discussed earlier. One expert also said to throw away the clothes you were wearing when you think you contracted it. <br />
<br />It doesn’t say what to do if you were wearing the same skirt as you wore the night you think you did to the doctor’s office where it was diagnosed. <br />
<br />Oops.<br />
<br />So far no more has sprouted. But, there’s a three-week incubation period. I’m not sure if I’m at the beginning or end. <br />
<br />So, if you see me and notice a little issue on my legs, now you know why. <br />
<br />I’m going to excuse myself now so I can concentrate on not scratching.<br /><br /><b>LKessel@News-Herald.com<br />@LauraNH</b>News-Herald Blogshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10992850793901999785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7636766930318572832.post-14576781036981990262013-09-03T14:32:00.002-07:002013-09-03T14:32:59.075-07:00Abuzz about a nasty encounter with some sort of bugBugs like me.<br />
<br />
And, when I say "like," I mean they really, really like me.<br />
<br />
I'm not sure if it's my candy-consistency blood or that my ankles just look like a classy place to land, but they've been showing me the love over the summer.<br />
<br />
Most people aren't crazy about mosquito bites. Who can blame them? They itch. You scratch and scratch and scratch.<br />
<br />
Trouble is, as the process continues, the bite gets worse and worse.<br />
<br />
Sure, there are things you can put on the bites -- calamine lotion or hydrocortisone cream have topped most lists I've checked the past few days as I've been dealing with the latest love fest from Bugville.<br />
<br />
Trouble is, this one's on a scale that dwarfs any bug bite I've ever encountered. You're probably wondering if I rank them.<br />
<br />
I do now.<br />
<br />
For years, the highest on the charts was one that occurred in the summer of 1991 when I was a senior at Kent State and living off campus in an apartment that apparently was home to a clutter of spiders. No that's not misspelled. A group of spiders is called a clutter.<br />
<br />
I never saw the spider(s) that bit me, but I prefer to think that such damage could only have been done by a huge stinking load of spiders. The day after the attack, my legs bore three wounds about the size of a large coffee can. They hurt. And, because it was about 95 degrees outside, I didn't really feel like I could just throw on a pair of jeans to cover them.<br />
<br />
So, I just said the heck with it and probably grossed out half of Kent with those lesions on my legs. <br />
<br />
Fast forward to Tuesday, and here I sit once again, grossing out my coworkers with the massive lesions on my legs from unknown origins. I know I acquired them Sunday night at a party. I was sitting in a friend's back yard, in the dark, and didn't feel anything as I apparently was becoming some vermin's late-night snack.<br />
<br />
I noticed the itching early Sunday, but then it was just a little bump on my toe. Today, when I woke up I looked down and found a 2-inch red blotch mid-shin followed downward by about 15 more.<br />
<br />
As the day's gone on, they've become more itchy and even painful. As I write this I'm planning a trip to the drug store for some relief.<br />
<br />
But I take with me the knowledge that I must have some pretty tasty blood for some creature to have wanted to dig in quite this much.<br />
<br />
I'm not sure what to do to keep from becoming a snack at the next outdoor outing -- which is Friday night at my nephew's high school football game at Hawken. He plays for Lutheran West and we'll get to see the game close to home.<br />
<br />
Perhaps if I wrap mesh cages around my legs, I'll be able to keep the bugs out.<br />
<br />
And, I know I have to do something.<br />
<br />
Because bugs love me.<br />
<br />
<b>LKessel@News-Herald.com</b><br />
<b>Twitter: @Lauranh</b><br />
News-Herald Blogshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10992850793901999785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7636766930318572832.post-70779033485277528692013-08-23T10:09:00.001-07:002013-08-23T10:09:01.695-07:00Nightmare! Topic slips away after a great dreamJim Collins was right. <br />
<br />If only I remembered that about 4 a.m. Thursday, when I awoke from a dream and said to myself, “that would make a great column.”<br />
<br />When I first started writing this column about five years ago, Collins gave me some great advice. <br />“When you get an idea, be sure to write it down.”<br />
<br />He said that if I was ever stumped for something to write about, I could turn to the list of ideas and pick one. Or, if I came up with one in the middle of the night, I’d be able to remember it. <br />
<br />As I said — right again, Jim. <br />
<br />Since then, I’ve been wracking my brain trying to remember what I could have dreamed about that was so interesting.<br />
<br />I tend to have dreams that draw elements from a variety of areas of my life together.<br />
<br />Earlier in the week, I dreamed I was on death row and set for execution the next day. I have no idea what put me there, but the guards were very sad that I was going to be dying the next day. I must have been a fun inmate.<br />
<br />I unfortunately woke up before I had the chance to pick my final meal.<br />
<br />That dream might have been sparked by a recent poll we listed on our editorial page, asking how readers wanted the state to change its execution protocol later this summer. The state is forced to do so because the drug it’s been using for lethal injections is no longer available.<br />
<br />Pentobarbital has been the drug of choice since the state abandoned its three-drug cocktail because it was deemed cruel.<br />
<br />I think Thursday’s dream was about a much lighter topic, though.<br />
<br />I know it wasn’t the royal baby.<br />
<br />While I’ve been as fascinated as anyone about the birth of Prince William’s first child, I don’t understand the brouhaha that seems to have accompanied the arrival of the first official photos of the little bundle of joy. <br />
<br />Apprently, some in British circles are outraged that the first photos came from the parents of the Duchess of Cornwall and not from a professional photographer. They complained that the pictures didn’t give a clear view of the baby’s face and that they weren’t lit properly. <br />
<br />What’s the big deal? You folks are going to be following this poor kid around for 70, 80, maybe 90 years. You’ll get your shot of his face. Let the kid grow into his newborn diapers before you start running his life with ridiculous expectations. <br />
<br />I don’t think my dream was about back-to-school, either.<br />
<br />While I’ve been remarking as much as anyone about how fast this summer has gone by, I don’t mind the move of area kids back to class very much. It means I can go back to the mall and shop again. It means sales on clothing at said mall. And, it means Friday night football is that much closer!<br />
<br />The only downer for back to school this year is that the first days of school coincided with the release of the state’s report cards for last year.<br />
<br />Talk about pressure for the new year. <br />
<br />I doubt I dreamed about the upheaval over the change of dates for area festivals this summer. <br />
<br />I had the pleasure last weekend of attending Concord Township’s new Uncorked event, which sort of served as a kickoff to its popular Community Days event that for years had been on Labor Day Weekend.<br />
<br />I heard some grousing over the move, which officials said was due to competition from the Great Geauga County Fair and other huge events taking place that weekend every year.<br />
<br />The pressure eased when the Cleveland National Air Show was canceled as a result of the sequester cuts, but Geauga’s fair is an unstoppable force as it approaches its 191st year of continuous operation.<br />
<br />Concord Township found success with its new dates. The weather was beautiful, and it attracted great food and entertainment to its Town Hall setup. <br />
<br />Mentor didn’t have as much luck with its Beach Fest on July 27 at Headlands Beach State Park. Heavy rain early in the day kept quite a few people away, but later on attendance picked up. <br />
<br />This weekend marks CityFest and a classic car cruise-in at Civic Center Park, which are a celebration of the city’s 50th birthday. <br />
<br />These festivals combined to replace the city’s It’s Better in Mentor Days that took place in September.<br />
<br />We’ll have to wait a while for a true report card on the changes. (How’s that for keeping a theme?) <br />But, it seems that officials might be on to something.<br />
<br />The new elements — the beer-and-wine tasting in Concord Township and the beach theme in Mentor — draw a different clientele than the older festivals did, and seemed to create a lot of excitement. <br />
<br />Here’s hoping they catch on and the crowds keep coming. <br />
<br />After all this, I still don’t know what I dreamed about. If I figure it out, I’ll let you know. <br />
<br />I’m pretty sure it was a good idea.<br /><br /><b>LKessel@News-Herald.com<br />Twitter: @Lauranh</b>News-Herald Blogshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10992850793901999785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7636766930318572832.post-5279597439247959212013-08-17T05:51:00.000-07:002013-08-17T05:51:57.523-07:00Concord Township uncorks a terrific summer eventConcord Township officials got it right.<br />
<br />
Oh, so right.<br />
<br />
Their first "Concord Uncorked" event, which took place Friday, Aug. 16, at the Town Hall complex at Ravenna Road and Route 608, was pitch perfect all night long.<br />
<br />
I'm not sure how early they put in their order for perfect weather, but the sunshine, cool temperatures and no wind were a great backdrop for an event that should become a summer staple.<br />
<br />
Billed as a sampling party for area wines and craft beers, the event gave neighbors the chance to catch up and for visitors to sample the hospitality found in one of Lake County's gems.<br />
<br />
Under the sampling tent were wines from such producers as Ferrante, and beers that ranged from the light, fruity Shock Top Shandy to the Roo Brew Litigation Lager.<br />
<br />
To go along with the drinks were some of Northeast Ohio's most popular food trucks, which serve up meals all around the Cleveland area.<br />
<br />
I headed straight for Zydeco Bistro, and was floored by the jambalaya. Some serious flavor was packed in that bowl loaded with shredded pork and sausage. The flavor wasn't melt-the-roof-off-your-mouth heat. Rather, it was a terrific blend of spices that rose up slowly. As a cole slaw connoisseur, I had to try the hot pink Zydeco Slaw, which blended red and white cabbage with carrots in a vinegar-based dressing. I'm a fan of dry cole slaw, and this was outstanding. If you don't like vinegar, though, you might want to beg off, because this one has intense flavor.<br />
<br />
In the background throughout the night was music from steel drum band The Raybans. Another perfect touch. Everyone's been to an event that's pretty much ended when the band that's a little too loud and a little too electric begins to play. They were spot-on for a gorgeous summer night.<br />
<br />
The evening ended with a little show by Concord Township Trustee Christopher Galloway as he handled a prize ceremony that included a 50/50 drawing and a large auction. He knew he had a trapped audience, because winners had to be present to collect their prizes, but he kept what could have become a paint-drying moment light and quickly paced.<br />
<br />
It was fun to see Galloway and his fellow trustees, Paul Malchesky and Connie Luhta, working the crowd. I'm just hopeful that they heard as much praise as pitches for work within the township.<br />
<br />
They certainly deserved it for this event. I wasn't sure what to expect when it was first announced, because how many people really want to stand around in a parking lot all night?<br />
<br />
Turns out that a lot of them do, and they had a great time doing it.<br />
<br />
Here's hoping that Concord Uncorked 2, in Summer 2014, will be as much fun as this debut edition.<br />
<br />
<b>LKessel@News-Herald.com</b><br />
<b>Twitter: @Lauranh</b>News-Herald Blogshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10992850793901999785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7636766930318572832.post-86674034153012815542013-08-16T09:50:00.002-07:002013-08-16T09:50:19.125-07:00A few new friends made this a royally great weekThis was one of those weeks when I realize how lucky I am to have the job I do. <br />
<br />Sure, there are the normal headaches that come with working in an office or with the pressures of deadline. <br />
<br />But, when you get to sit down with three ladies who love their jobs, and whose bosses and customers love them back, it offers quite a boost. <br />
<br />I was lucky enough to do so in preparation for the crowning of The News-Herald/Lake County Fair Commerce Queen at the fairgrounds in Painesville Township.<br />
<br />We took the stage Thursday night and introduced the crowd of friends and family to these wonder women, and I wanted to share their stories with you. <br />
<br />As I said then, this honor is a special one, because it celebrates a woman who goes out every day and does her job with a smile. She is courteous to those with whom she comes into contact and does her job with skill. This honor pays tribute to those who go out of their way to provide good customer service.<br />
<br />So, now sit back and meet customer service at its best in Lake County. <br />
<br /><br /><b>Jackie Pshock</b><br /><i>2013 Commerce Queen</i><br />It’s clear Jackie Pshock feels the same way about her customers at Yours Truly in Mentor as they do about her.<br />
<br />I got to talk to Pshock this week while she was on vacation with her husband, John, in Gatlinburg, Tenn., and during our chat, she admitted that the discussion about her job and history at the restaurant was making her wish she was working. <br />
<br />The Madison native who now lives in Kirtland said she joined Yours Truly about a month after it opened in 1997, earning a job after an interview with Jeff Shibley, a partner in Yours Truly.<br />
<br />Pshock, who works full-time at the restaurant, is usually on the early-morning breakfast shift. <br />
<br />“I love my customers,” she said. “I think of them more as my friends now. We start a conversation before I even have a chance to ask them what they want to drink.”<br />
<br />She said the long list of regulars makes it a comfortable place.<br />
<br />“It’s not like work. It’s like going to see family,” she said. <br />
<br />Pshock was nominated by her boss, Jeff Shibley.<br />
<br />“Jackie is server perfection,” he said in his nomination letter. “She makes a personal connection with each and every guest at Yours Truly. On her first day of work many guests came in and requested her station. When I asked her how they knew where she was working, Jackie stated that she called all her regulars and told them where she was working. Jackie amazed me on her first day in 1997 and has not stopped amazing everyone since.”<br />
<br />A customer posted this comment to the online contest site.<br />
<br />“Jackie is the type of person that goes above and beyond for all her customers. She truly loves her work and the people she meets. How many people can say that? If the title of Commerce Queen means an outgoing, caring, genuine, and all together real person then Jackie deserves this title!”<br /><br /><b>Tammy Weglicki</b><br /><i>Runner-up</i><br />If you have the chance to meet Weglicki, you’re definitely going to have a DYNAMIC day. <br />
<br />The partner in a 3½-year-old convenience store named Dynamic Duo on Chardon Road in Willoughby Hills is a bundle of energy who greets all her customers by name or with a familiarity that comes with good customer service.<br />
<br />Weglicki and her husband, Rodney, opened the store after losing their jobs in the closure of another, similar store. They decided to parlay their experience in the business with Tammy’s bourgeoning knowledge of wine and spirits into a neighborhood place that’s really taken off. <br />
<br />The pair are consistently broadening their menu, and Weglicki boasts that they’re just about ready to serve their 17,000th corned beef sandwich. <br />
<br />The operation is a true family affair, with Tammy’s sister also on staff.<br />
<br />The Mentor resident said the business is booming, with sales of 30-plus cases of wine a week. <br />
<br />“People enjoy coming out, because they’re just not a customer,” Weglicki said. “We’ve built friendships here. A lot of the comments I’ve read on the Internet, people called us family, and you know what, we are family. We treat everybody the same, with the highest respect, and people keep coming back.”<br />
<br />And her customers notice it. Here’s a comment from one who voted for Weglicki online:<br />
<br />“Tammy goes above and beyond to service all customers, she is so friendly and positive, and it shows when you meet her, she wants to know you and demonstrates it every time you come in the store. The store offers more than value and this does not come easy these days.”<br /><br /><b>Laura Corrigan</b><br /><i>Second runner-up</i><br />“Do you remember Radar O’Reilly?” Spence Klein, the CEO of Beacon Health, asked me when I stopped by his office early this week. He then pointed at Laura Corrigan and said, “he’s got nothing on her.”<br />
<br />Corrigan serves as an administrative assistant at the agency that was created when Neighboring and Pathways combined in July 2012.<br />
<br />She’s in charge of many office functions and works with the board of directors as it makes plans for the agency. <br />
<br />Corrigan had a mix of emotions when she found out she was nominated.<br />
<br />“It was a combination of ‘what?,’ and I’m bashful, so it was like, ‘who did that!?!’ One fun thing with this is that it gives people something to laugh about and joke about.”<br />
<br />Corrigan has a lengthy history working with social service agencies in Lake County, working for 10 years at Crossroads before joining Neighboring in 2008.<br />
<br />“Beacon Health does so much wonderful work for people,” she said. “... This place has so many wonderful employees working for it who give so much.”<br />
<br />Corrigan said she’s thrilled to see how much her coworkers think of her and her work with them.<br />
<br />“It makes me feel good, but I also have to struggle with embarrassment with the attention, because I don’t look for attention, to be the center of attention,” she said. “But then I also feel good to hear the things that people appreciate.”<br />
<br />She said she’s a good fit for the type of office work she does.<br />
<br />“I’m very organized,” Corrigan said. “I think one of my gifts is I remain calm. There can be a lot of things going on, but I remain calm, but you do what you have to do, and if you want to collapse later, you do that.”<br />
<br />Corrigan said she lives by a very simple adage in her dealings with her coworkers and the public. <br />
<br />“I care about people, and I think the Golden Rule is important, it’s how I live. I like to think of what things are like for other people.”<br /><b>LKessel@News-Herald.com<br />Twitter: @Lauranh</b>News-Herald Blogshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10992850793901999785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7636766930318572832.post-81633647467112346242013-08-09T14:29:00.000-07:002013-08-09T14:29:05.467-07:00Mentor company's good work rolls into a sixth year of big rewardsIt was easy to excuse Tim Eippert.<br />
<br />The president of MC Sign in Mentor had stood before the group assembled in his company’s cafeteria, speaking about what MC Sign does, where its work takes place and about an initiative that’s very special to members of his staff.<br />
<br />Then, he started handing out scholarships.<br />
<br />Suddenly, just after reading the third name, Eippert stopped.<br />
<br />He looked out at the group and laughed. <br />
<br />“I just forgot one of the most important things,” he said. “Does everyone know you won $2,500 tonight?”<br />
<br />“No!” came from one of the moms sitting in the audience just as everyone assembled broke into the loudest cheer of the night.<br />
<br />Eippert makes no secret of the fact that he has the best job of those involved in the company’s annual Drive for Knowledge golf tournament. <br />
<br />About two months after the tournament at StoneWater Golf Club in Highland Heights, he gets to stand up and hand out a lot of money to a lot of deserving high school students.<br />
<br />MC Sign’s been in business since 1994, moving to Mentor in 2002. <br />
<br />Eippert, an Ashtabula County native, said the company employs 160 people, and 125 work in Mentor. The rest work in a manufacturing facility in Bluefield, Va. <br />
<br />The company is international, and Eippert points out that only 3 percent of business is conducted within 100 miles of Mentor.<br />
<br />He said 40 percent of the business involves the call center for the company.<br />
<br />With their focus so far outside this area, it’s even more impressive that employees at MC Sign devote so much effort to helping local residents.<br />
<br />Eippert lists a lot of charitable work that regularly occurs at the office, including a weekly jeans day that requires a $2 fee for participation. The boss doesn’t seem like he’s much of a participant, though, as he pointed out Wednesday night that his outfit of dress slacks and a button-down shirt was as casual as he gets on the job.<br />
<br />But, that’s OK, because it’s clear his employees have it covered.<br />
<br />This year marks the sixth time MC Sign has awarded scholarships to graduated seniors from Mentor High School and Lake Catholic High School.<br />
<br />The funds come directly from that annual golf outing. <br />
<br />Eippert proudly lists the totals from the previous years’ outings as he explains the event that involves the company’s clients and vendors. <br />
<br />In 2008, $20,000 was raised. In 2009, it was $15,000. In 2010, they raised $25,000. In 2011, $27,000 was collected. Last year, it was $37,800.<br />
<br />This year was a showstopper. <br />
<br />$42,500.<br />
<br />And, because the committee that manages the scholarship program wants to keep growing, they decided on more scholarships, rather than bigger awards. <br />
<br />Thus, this year 17 graduates received funds for their educations. Last year, it was 14.<br />
<br />Eippert and committee members say every dime raised at the golf outing goes into the scholarship fund. Any overhead is handled by the company.<br />
<br />This year’s recipients were much like those from years past. Lots of technology careers, including a few types of engineering. Two young ladies are headed to speech pathology studies. There’s a guy who’s going into nursing, a young man who plans to study criminology, a woman who wants to study political science, and a few who plan to enter education. Physical therapy and exercise science also were represented. And I put my fist in the air to celebrate the journalism major.<br />
<br />The one who got the biggest set of ooohs and ahhhs was a Lake Catholic grad who will be attending Johnson and Wales University to study baking and pastry arts.<br />
<br />The biggest laugh of the event was reserved for the moment Eippert realized a young lady from Mentor was planning to attend his alma mater, Kent State. <br />
<br />Earlier, he’d joked that anyone going to his college would get double.<br />
<br />The pair shared a high-five and then Eippert, ever the company man, said, “just kidding.”<br />
<br />After the event concluded, as families talked and their children discussed their impending departures for school, I teased Eippert that I, too, had attended Kent State. <br />
<br />We shared a laugh, and discussed how impossible it would have been for us, at their age, to get up and introduce ourselves to a crowd.<br />
<br />Here’s hoping that confidence will just keep on growing as they move to this next phase of their lives.<br />
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<br /><b>The winners</b><br />The following students from Lake Catholic High School and Mentor High School received scholarships from MC Sign in Mentor: Rachel Baucco, Mentor High; Molly Brown; Mentor High; Frederick Buse, Mentor High; Andrew Denton, Mentor High; Caelyn Eppler, Mentor High; Albert Giebel, Mentor High; Leila Mansour, Mentor High; Maureen Mierke, Lake Catholic; Hanna Mikulandra, Lake Catholic; Sarah Noviski, Mentor High; Cullen O’Donnell, Mentor High; Allison Pfeifle, Mentor High; Matthew Schaefer, Mentor High; Ryan Smerke, Lake Catholic; Justin Smith, Mentor High; Ashlyn Woods, Mentor High; and Amanda Wynne, Lake Catholic.<br /><br /><b> </b><br />
<b>LKessel@News-Herald.com<br />Twitter: @Lauranh</b>News-Herald Blogshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10992850793901999785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7636766930318572832.post-58664906146011661572013-08-02T10:20:00.004-07:002013-08-02T10:20:45.734-07:00Fair's royalty anxious for crowning momentsWhen you’re at the Lake County Fair in a few weeks, you might have to look really quickly to see them.<br />
<br />They’ll probably seem like blurs darting around the fairgrounds in Painesville Township.<br />
<br />But, as busy as they’ll be, there’s no doubt Meradith Voegtler and Natalie Pachinger will be smiling ear to ear both as they’re competing and waving to the crowds.<br />
<br />The two 4-Hers are showing animals in the fair and serving as the 2013 Lake County Fair queen and court.<br />
<br />Voegtler, of Perry, was crowned as the 2013 queen after serving last year as second runner-up. Pachinger, of Mentor, will be her first runner-up.<br />
<br />Both girls have long histories in 4-H in Lake County but have taken different paths. <br />
<br />Voegtler said she has been a member for seven years, joining with her brother after seeing her friends in the group. She said she was leery of the market experience, which requires sale of animals after you’ve raised them, and instead started with crafts and photography projects. <br />
<br />Later on, she went into the animal fields, starting with rabbits, then pigs, and is involved with chickens and horses at this year’s fair.<br />
<br />She said she, like last year’s queen Megan Muzic, plans to pursue a career in veterinary medicine. Muzic just completed her first year at University of Findlay.<br />
<br />“It’s something we’ve been around for so long,” Voegtler said. “Not only is it something we like, but we’ve learned from it. It’s a responsibility. I mean, you learn how to deal with money, you have to have your animals taken care of. Your vet comes out, and you learn from that. It’s something you’re proud of, so why not go into something you love.”<br />
<br />Voegtler has a unique reason to be thrilled to have won this year’s crown.<br />
<br />“I always wanted to be somebody someone could look up to,” she said. “Last year, I had second runner-up, and there were all these little kids, and they thought it was really cool. And I think it’s more of a reason for them to look up to me and makes me more of a role model.”<br />
<br />She’s going to be spending a good deal of time with Pachinger this year.<br />
<br />“I am very thankful for this opportunity,” Voegtler said. “Last year, I came in second runner-up, which was awesome, because I got to meet a whole lot of new people. And this year, I thought there were going to be more people, but I’m glad I can do this with Natalie.”<br />
<br />Pachinger also will be involved in the fair’s horse shows. <br />
<br />She’s been riding since she was very young, taking after her mom, who also rode most of her life. She said she’s never had formal lessons in riding, instead having direction from her mom. <br />She now teaches youngsters just learning to ride.<br />
<br />She’ll be enjoying her final 4-H year at the fair, before heading off to Ursuline College in a few weeks to study nursing. <br />
<br />The 2013 Mentor High graduate will play lacrosse at Ursuline, stretching a career that started in eighth grade. She also played basketball for the Cardinals.<br />
<br />Pachinger said she plans to stay involved in 4-H after she completes her activities later this month.<br />
<br />“Lake County has given me awesome opportunities,” she said before the queen was crowned Thursday night. “Growing up here is awesome. We’re very fortunate to grow up here. We have many options and I would like to see more kids getting involved with community service, and kids getting healthy, active.”<br />
<br />Pachinger said she hasn’t completely ruled out veterinary medicine. She said she deliberately picked nursing studies, because so much of that curriculum is what she’d need in veterinary studies, if she decides to make the switch.<br />
<br />Don’t miss a chance to say hello to this dynamic duo if you see them at the fair, which runs Aug. 13-18 in Painesville Township. One place you’ll almost certainly see them is at the crowning of the 2013 News-Herald Lake County Fair Commerce Queen on Aug. 15. <br />
<br />They’ll join us on stage as we place a crown atop the head of this year’s winner.<br />
<br />Take a minute to talk to them, and enjoy the enthusiasm for their hometown, for the Lake County Fair and for working and living in an environment that strives to mold good citizens and stewards of our future. <br /><br /><b>LKessel@News-Herald.com<br />Twitter: @Lauranh</b>News-Herald Blogshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10992850793901999785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7636766930318572832.post-29009551767382752612013-07-26T10:14:00.004-07:002013-07-26T10:14:55.453-07:00Almost time for the big reveal for Lighten Up heroesI really should be treating this weekend like most people do New Year’s Eve.<br />
<br />No, not with drinking and carrying on.<br />
<br />I was thinking more along the lines of singing “Auld Lang Syne” as I head into the final weigh-in of our annual weight-loss contest, Lighten Up.<br />
<br />It sometimes feels like it takes a year to finish, because we move through three seasons during the process, starting in winter, moving into spring and finishing in the heat of summer.<br />
<br />This year was our fifth, and it was the biggest one we’ve had.<br />
<br />It’s the biggest in terms of participation, with 26 of your brave neighbors finishing up today with a final weigh-in at LEAN Living in Concord Township. <br />
<br />When we kicked off in January, we had 54 competitors. <br />
<br />Frustration, stress, family situations and just plain life getting in the way caused us to lose a slew of folks. <br />
<br />A requirement to lose 5 percent of their original body weight forced out the rest after the first three months.<br />
<br />I mentioned earlier that these men and women are brave. I can’t overstate that at all. <br />
<br />How many of you want your weight listed in the paper once a month? <br />
<br />Even though in most cases it’s dropping, it still isn’t an easy thing to open the Sunday paper and see those three numbers right there in black and white. <br />
<br />It’s even worse when you realize that the guy at the gym sees it. So does the minister at church. And the guy at the grocery store. Don’t forget the lady sitting across the room at work. <br />
<br />Yes, they all know. <br />
<br />And, well, for a good bunch of them, what they all know is that there’s been some significant change going on with these 26 people. <br />
<br />And I get to see most of this change unfold every month.<br />
<br />I have missed some of it, because a few of the participants have showed up at LEAN Living to weigh in with owner Jaime Brenkus when I’m not there. <br />
<br />Darn them! <br />
<br />I’ll get the last laugh this weekend, though, because in some cases, it’s been a few months since I’ve seen some of the bigger “losers” in the group. <br />
<br />And, for a lot of you, it’s been six months. <br />
<br />Wait ’til you you see some of the changes we have in store for you!<br />
<br />Going into today’s last weigh-in, the top five in Lighten Up have a combined weight loss of 217.4 pounds.<br />
<br />That’s a person. <br />
<br />Our contest is decided by percentage of weight loss, so this year is one of those funny ones where the person who lost the most won’t be the winner. <br />
<br />Don’t feel bad for him, though, because he’s said countless times how much better he feels and how much easier it is for him to get around.<br />
<br />Sounds like a winner to me.<br />
<br />Those in the contest this year have had a large support staff. <br />
<br />That’s one of the other ways this is our biggest contest to date.<br />
<br />Participants had monthly meetings at the Lake County General Health District to go over their diets and any lifestyle issues that might get in the way. <br />
<br />Those who moved on to the second part of the contest were rewarded with a three-month membership to the Lake County YMCA. A bunch of them were thrilled to get into the Zumba classes and to try out the pool. <br />
<br />They also had the pleasure of dining out once a week at Cabana’s Island Restaurant in Mentor, courtesy of owner Mike Good. <br />
<br />Good’s staff created a special menu for the contest, and it was popular among his regular clientele, too. <br />
<br />The staff there for the Tuesday night meals was gracious and worked hard to keep the Lighten Up participants on plan and eating right. <br />
<br />I can’t forget Brenkus, either. I wish I had half his energy.<br />
<br />He consistently stands next to the scale and knows what to say to both those who are fighting back tears and those who are pumping their fists in the air. <br />
<br />I’ve learned a lot from him over the years.<br />
<br />It still feels a little odd to ask someone “how’s your eating?,” but it’s always the right question. <br />As the sign on his wall says, “your fork and spook are your best pieces of fitness equipment."<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />And, it’s important to remember it. <br />
<br />Every year at the first weigh-in, as we’re standing in a personal training studio among all these big weight machines and this exercise equipment, we tell those present that you don’t have to do a second’s worth of exercise to lose weight. <br />
<br />The looks we get combine confusion with doubt. <br />
<br />But it’s true.<br />
<br />If you’re losing a lot of weight, you’ll want to start some weight training to tone up, but that first burst of loss isn’t dependent on becoming a body builder or signing up for P90X.<br />
<br />This year’s group was about middle of the pack as far as commitment to exercise. We’ve had years where the participants have become athletes by the end of the contest. And there’ve been others where only a few people even started walking regularly.<br />
<br />So, as I gear up for the final steps in the contest, I urge you to check back in with the 26 survivors on Aug. 4 for the big reveal. <br />
<br />Prepare to be amazed. And, prepare to be very proud. <br />
<br />Just like me.<br /><br /><b>LKessel@News-Herald.com<br />Twitter: @Lauranh</b>News-Herald Blogshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10992850793901999785noreply@blogger.com0