'Top Stories'
A YEAR LATER: Recalling the General Industries inferno
ELYRIA — It had everything that makes a fire dangerous, volatile and, yet in a strange way, beautiful.
It was early on the morning of July 3, 2008, when the Elyria Fire Department was called to the corner of Olive and Taylor streets and discovered an inferno ripping its way through the former General Industries building,.
No [...]
A YEAR LATER: Neighbors sick of seeing debris
ELYRIA — Living just a few houses from a pile of rubble, residents near the site of last year’s massive factory fire do not need a calendar to tell them more than 365 days have passed since the first flicker of flame engulfed the former General Industries site.
Each day since, residents including Debbie Songer of [...]
A YEAR LATER: Site owner says work will begin later this month
ELYRIA — Getting John Peshek to open up about his plans for the former General Industries site is not easy.
In the year since a massive fire ripped through the buildings that filled three city blocks, Peshek has stayed mostly under the radar.
And even when he does decide to talk, he chooses his words carefully — [...]
A YEAR LATER: Blaze tested departments’ communication capabilities
ELYRIA — The only major stumbling block to take place the night of last year’s fire at the former General Industries factory was not the heat, smoke or flames shooting 200 feet into the air.
With more than 120 firefighters from 24 different fire departments on scene, getting everyone communicating on the same wavelength almost was [...]
She’s resigning? You betcha
Lucrative book deal, possible 2012 run in Sarah Palin’s future
Approval of gambling measure would kill Strickland’s video plan
COLUMBUS — Multimillion-dollar downpayments on racetrack slots proposed by Gov. Ted Strickland are at risk if Ohio voters approve a competing casino plan in November, the chief executive of a major racing company said Friday.
MTR Gaming Group Inc. CEO Robert Griffin told a special state Senate committee that a provision in the governor’s plan allowing [...]
Deal saves Lorain police jobs
LORAIN — Eleven police officers who were facing layoffs had their jobs saved Thursday when the city and the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3 reached an agreement to pay their salaries and benefits with money generated by the police levy rather than from the general fund, Safety Director Phil Dore said.
In 1995, the FOP [...]
Smith, Allen off sex offender registry
ELYRIA — Nancy Smith and Joseph Allen will soon be off the list of registered sex offenders.
Lorain County Common Pleas Judge James Burge last month acquitted the pair of charges they molested 4- and 5-year-old children on Smith’s Head Start bus route in the early 1990s. And on Thursday he issued an order to remove [...]
Fourth of July fireworks listings
It’s a grand old flag.
And a pretty grand country, too, as attested to by the number of Fourth of July celebrations going on around the county this holiday weekend. While the city of Elyria won’t be having its annual fireworks show, you can see the nighttime sky lit up elsewhere. Here’s a look:
Friday, July 3
North [...]
Transit cuts less painful, but $330,000 still must be cut
ELYRIA — This year’s unexpected one-time cash infusion into Lorain County Transit isn’t going to stave off cuts like the extra funds the county managed to obtain last year.
County commissioners, who say they need to deal with an $880,000 shortfall in LCT’s budget, have already made some cuts and will make more next Thursday.
But a [...]