CHAMPAIGN COUNTY (TNS) — Champaign County deputies are investigating a New Year's Eve incident that left one man dead and one woman critically injured as an attempted murder and suicide.
Joe Hooper, 51, allegedly shot his wife, Pamelia Hooper, 48, in the right forehead before shooting himself in what is believed to be a suicide, according to an incident report from the Champaign County Sheriff's Office.
Pamelia Hooper was taken by medical helicopter to Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton.
Larkmond Freeze, a Mechanicsburg resident and a friend of the Hoopers, called 9-1-1 around 1:40 p.m. Sunday to report that Pamelia Hooper had been shot in her home in the 9800 block of Loveless Road, according to a copy of the recording obtained by the Springfield News-Sun.
Joe Hooper wasn't injured when Freeze called 9-1-1 or throughout the nearly 10-minute call as Freeze waited for medics to arrive.
"Her husband was with her. He had the gun at the table and somehow or another, it's gone off," Freeze told the 9-1-1 dispatcher. "He's crying and all upset."
Pamelia Hooper was breathing at the time, Freeze said, but unresponsive.
Champaign County Sheriff Matt Melvin declined to release further details Tuesday, citing an ongoing investigation.
The Montgomery County Coroner's Office, which was set to perform Joe Hooper's autopsy Tuesday, referred the News-Sun to the Champaign County Coroner for the autopsy's results. But Champaign County Coroner Josh Richards said he hadn't received the report yet.
Pamelia Hooper remained in Miami Valley Hospital on Tuesday afternoon but her condition couldn't be released, hospital hospital officials said.
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(c)2018 Springfield News-Sun, Ohio
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WASHINGTON, Mo. (TNS) — A man sexually assaulted an 8-year-old girl in a motel room in Missouri and forced her to eat methamphetamine and smoke pot, authorities said Wednesday.
Franklin County prosecutors on Tuesday charged Brett Pendleton, 48, of Union, with sodomy and endangering the welfare of a child. He is being held in the Franklin County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail.
The abuse was discovered after the girl told her mother what had happened and was taken to a hospital, police said. Workers there called police. Washington Police Detective Sgt. Steve Sitzes said the girl was treated and released.
Sitzes said the girl was a relative of Pendleton who had permission from her mother to visit with him. He took the girl at first to his girlfriend's home in Union, then left for the motel. Sitzes said the girl had been in contact with her mom through text messages, but when the communication stopped the mother grew worried and went to find the girl. She found Pendleton's vehicle outside the motel and went to the door.
The girl motioned to her mother to go into the bathroom to talk privately, police say. The girl then showed her body to her mother and said she was afraid Pendleton had hurt her, police say. She told her mom that Pendleton made her engage in sexual acts and made her eat methamphetamine, smoke marijuana and smoke cigarettes. Police say Pendleton rolled the methamphetamine in toilet paper and fed it to the girl.
"As you can imagine an 8-year-old on meth, not a sight you see every day," Sitzes said. "She was very fidgety, very amped up."
Pendleton had been alone with the girl about six or eight hours, police say.
Police went to the motel after speaking to the mother and encountered Pendleton as he drove away. They stopped his vehicle and arrested him for driving with a suspended license, police say. Police got a search warrant for his car and the motel room. They say they found evidence that corroborates the girl's account. During an interrogation, police say, Pendleton confessed to sexual acts with the child.
Pendleton was on parole for manufacturing meth.
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(c)2018 St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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BARBARA J. PERENIC/COLUMBUS DISPATCH -- Ohio State's Micah Potter fights for a rebound with Miami's Bam Bowman and Rod Mills Jr. during the first half of a Dec. 30 game at Value City Arena in Columbus. Ohio State won, 72-59.
By ADAM JARDY
COLUMBUS — With a 9-4 record in non-conference games, the Ohio State men's basketball team actually fared one game worse than it did in 2016-17. In a season that ended without postseason play last year, the Buckeyes took a 10-3 record into the start of Big Ten play before things started to turn south.
But unlike last year's team, and in stark contrast to the one from two years ago, it's more about what this team doesn't have than what it does. For the first time in three years, Ohio State's resume isn't carrying the albatross of a bad loss -- or multiple bad losses -- into conference play.
As a result, the Buckeyes find themselves mostly without signature wins but also not already outside NCAA Tournament talk. Still more than half a season's worth of games will ultimately decide Ohio State's postseason fate, but the Buckeyes at least know they haven't already crippled their season goals.
"We're obviously glad we put a nice little win on the end of the non-conference, but we know we have a big task at hand and that's to handle the Big Ten," fifth-year senior Kam Williams said after the Buckeyes closed that portion of their schedule with a 72-59 win Saturday against Miami University. "We've got Iowa on Thursday, and we know that's a tough team."
The early start to Big Ten play afforded the Buckeyes two top-70 wins according to the KenPom.com rankings, which obviously help their resume. Ohio State's four losses are all to top-40 teams: Butler (38), Clemson (21), North Carolina (12) and Gonzaga (9). Otherwise, the best Buckeyes win in the non-conference schedule is against No. 124 Northeastern. Overall, Ohio State's non-conference schedule is actually ranked the best in the Big Ten, according to the RPI ratings posted to ESPN.
So while that doesn't move the national needle much, it's better than last year's home overtime loss to Florida Atlantic (No. 271 at the time) or the back-to-back losses to Texas-Arlington (No. 102) and Louisiana Tech (154) two seasons ago.
"Right now, I don't put a whole lot of stock or read a whole lot into that," coach Chris Holtmann said. "Obviously, you'd rather have more signature wins than bad losses, but I don't put a whole lot into that. I think as you're creating a schedule, you want to try to provide as many opportunities as you can for a significant win."
It has Ohio State in the early bubble conversation. ESPN's Joe Lunardi had the Buckeyes among his first four out in his most-recent bracket projection.
So while Williams agreed that this year feels different than the last two, he wasn't overreacting, either.
"Yeah for sure, definitely when (tournament) time rolls around, but we're just focused on the Big Ten," he said. "We can't be looking at what we did previously."
ARMANDO SANCHEZ/CHICAGO TRIBUNE -- Browns quarterback DeShone Kizer hands the ball off to running back Isaiah Crowell during the first half of a Dec. 24 game at Soldier Field in Chicago. The Bears won, 20-3.
By MARY KAY CABOT
BEREA — Browns coach Hue Jackson knows that 0-16 will be a hard sell for college prospects such as UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen, top free agents and even fans who've jumped off the bandwagon in droves.
What's more, the Browns now have the NFL's worst two-season record ever at 1-31, and worst three-season mark at 4-44.
It's why we've already seen one report, by ESPN, that Rosen would prefer the Giants over the Browns, and even Rosen himself said last week at the Cactus Bowl that he'd rather go to the right team at a lower pick than the wrong team at a higher pick.
He didn't specifically mention the Browns, but he also didn't come out and deny the Giants-over-Browns report. Cleveland has the No. 1 and No. 4 picks in the draft and the Giants have the No. 2.
"I don't really want to comment about the young quarterbacks who may be coming out," he said. "In general, being 0-16, the stigma that comes with that is that we're going to have to do some recruiting everywhere. First of all, not just players, we have to re-recruit our fans. We have to re-recruit everybody who is associated with the Cleveland Browns first and foremost."
Granted, most rookies don't have any choice where they go, but Rosen could pull an Eli Manning and finagle his way to New York, and before the Rosen report there was a rumor that USC's Sam Darnold might not come out to avoid coming to the Browns.
It didn't go so well here for former USC quarterback Cody Kessler, who went 0-8 last year and was inactive much of this season. Kessler, the Browns' third-round pick in 2016 and a product of the short-lived Sashi Brown era, will likely be gone.
Last year's No. 1 overall pick Myles Garrett said before the draft that he didn't want to play in the cold, and Deshaun Watson begged Jerry Jones to draft him in a video interview.
Garrett has since come around, and even had some advice for the 2018 No. 1 overall pick after the Bears game.
"Don't be fearful, be grateful," he said. "No matter where you're picked, if you're part of the Browns, or you're part of Chicago, whoever you are, be grateful of the opportunity. There's no curse, there's no problem here. You got to be able to execute and finish games."
Jackson knows he'll have to rely on the Garretts and Christian Kirkseys of his team to carry the banner.
"We have to go out and do a better job with the players and get them to understand really what's here and what we're trying to accomplish and what we're trying to do," Jackson said. "Is there some convincing we're going to have to do? Absolutely. We're in a war for talent on every level right now."
In addition to the college prospects, the Browns will be vying for the top free agents in March, and have the cap space to pay the very best. They'll undoubtedly try to land a veteran quarterback, and will have to promise that good times are just around the bend.
"To re-recruit, I like to tell guys this team is so close," said Kirksey. "The chemistry has grown. We became closer as an organization, as a team, and I always tell guys if they do want to come to Cleveland, the fans, this and that. If you look at other organizations like the Cavaliers, the Indians, those teams weren't always winning. But it takes time to build something great, and that's what we're doing.”
Jackson's message to players and fans will be the same one he's been delivering since the day he blew the doors of the Browns facility after the 2015 season.
"Just get to winning," he said.
The Browns not only have 12 draft picks, including four in the first 35, they have more than $100 million in cap space to spend on their own free agents and others'. Instead of letting top talent get away, they'll be aggressive this time around to get out of the gate quickly in 2018 and put 1-31 in the rearview mirror as fast as possible.
"I do believe without question that this organization needs to get to winning as fast as it can and Hue Jackson needs to get winning as fast as he can because you can't continue to go down this road of 1-31 and losing," Jackson said. "That's unfair to all involved. Like I said, I'm here because I truly believe we're going to win, I truly believe we are going to do the things that support the coach in giving him an opportunity to win."
You may have heard or read about a storm undergoing "bombogenesis." What exactly does that weather term mean?
In simple terms, bombogenesis is a storm that undergoes rapid strengthening. The vast majority of such storms occur over the ocean. The storm can be tropical or non-tropical in nature.
Other common phrases for bombogenesis include weather bomb, or simply bomb.
This image shows a storm over the Bering Sea in March 2015 that underwent bombogenesis. (NOAA/University of Wisconsin-Madison/Satellite)
The term bombogenesis comes from the merging of two words: bomb and cyclogenesis. All storms are cyclones, and genesis means the creation or beginning. In this case, bomb refers to explosive development. Altogether the term means explosive storm strengthening.
A cyclone (non-tropical storm or hurricane) is essentially a giant rising column of air that spins counterclockwise over the Northern Hemisphere.
When air rises, it produces a vacuum effect that results in lower atmospheric pressure.
When a storm strengthens, the column of air rises at a faster and faster rate and the pressure within the storm lowers.
Meteorologists use a barometer to measure the atmospheric pressure. Atmospheric pressure is often called barometric pressure.
Average storms in the winter have a low barometric pressure reading of 29.53 inches of mercury.
Some of the most intense storms may have the barometric pressure below 29.00 inches.
However, it is not the lowest pressure that defines bombogenisis but rather how quickly the pressure within the storm plummets.
When the barometric pressure falls at least 0.71 of an inch (24 millibars) in 24 hours, a storm has undergone bombogenesis.
For example, a weak storm that began with a barometric pressure of 29.98 inches and ended up with a barometric pressure of 29.27 inches in 24 hours underwent bombogenesis.
The Superstorm of 1993 (Storm of the Century) from March 12-13 is a prime example of a storm that underwent bombogenesis. The storm strengthened from 29.41 inches (996 mb) to 28.45 inches (963 mb), or nearly 1.00 inch (33 mb), in 24 hours. Much of this strengthening occurred over land.
Other examples of storms that underwent bombogenesis are Hurricane Charley in 2004 and Hurricane Wilma in 2005. The Blizzard of 2015 (Jan. 26-27), the Bering Sea storm of December 2015 and the northeastern United States storm of late-October 2017 experienced bombogenesis.
Storms that undergo bombogenesis are among the most violent weather systems that affect a broad area. This is because the rapidly ascending air near the center of the storm must be replaced by air surrounding the storm. As these winds move toward the center of the storm at high speed, property damage can occur, trees may fall and the power may go out.
The western North Atlantic is one favored area for storms to undergo bombogenesis. This is a region where cold air from North America collides with warm air over the Atlantic Ocean. Warm waters of the Gulf Stream may also provide a boost in a festering storm.
As a result, some, but not all nor'easters may undergo bombogenesis.
The intense winds often create massive seas and may cause significant beach erosion.
In terms of precipitation, very heavy rain and/or snow may fall in the path of the storm undergoing bombogenesis.
Precipitation rate is produced from the rising column of air. When air rises, it cools and moisture condenses to form clouds and rain or snow. The faster the air rises and cools, the heavier the precipitation.
AccuWeather reports a major storm will track close enough to the East Coast of the United States to bring everything from snow and ice to blizzard conditions and frigid winds on Thursday.
The storm is projected to undergo rapid strengthening, referred to as bombogenesis.
The storm will affect areas from Florida to Maine and Atlantic Canada.
Snow and a wintry mix are set to continue along the southeastern coast of the U.S. through Wednesday night.
Storm impact to be significant in mid-Atlantic, severe in New England
In the Northeast, impact from snow and wind will increase dramatically from Wednesday night through Thursday night.
AccuWeather meteorologists believe the heaviest snow and strongest winds from the storm will occur in eastern New England and part of Atlantic Canada.
Road conditions will range from slippery and snow-covered along the mid-Atlantic coast to completely blocked with snow and massive drifts in eastern New England, New Brunswick and part of eastern Quebec.
All flight operations may cease for a time at Boston Logan International Airport during the height of the storm.
Airline delays and cancellations will mount. Ripple-effect delays may occur across the nation. Some aircraft and crews are likely to be displaced by the severe storm in New England. Deicing activity, slippery runways, poor visibility and gusty winds will lead to flight delays in New York City and Philadelphia.
From eastern New England to Atlantic Canada, there is a risk of widespread power outages. Tremendous blowing and drifting snow is likely, and some communities may be isolated for several days in the wake of the storm in the bitter cold.
Increasing winds along the New England and upper mid-Atlantic coast will cause overwash, which will freeze, in addition to causing shoreline flooding.
New England to be hit with formidable blizzard
Blizzard conditions are likely from portions of Long Island, New York, through eastern Connecticut and Massachusetts to northeastern Maine, New Brunswick and western Nova Scotia.
A blizzard is a storm that produces snow or blowing snow with winds in excess of 35 mph and a visibility of less than one-quarter of a mile for at least three consecutive hours, according to the American Meteorological Society.
There is the potential for 12-24 inches (30-60 cm) or more of snow to fall in Maine and New Brunswick. At the same time, the risk of hurricane-force gusts and frigid air will pound these areas.
Heavy snow, blowing and drifting in store for mid-Atlantic coast
The storm is expected to track close enough to the coast to throw snow on the area from eastern Virginia and the Delmarva Peninsula to New Jersey, eastern New York and western New England. Blustery conditions will develop during the snowfall or shortly thereafter.
Whether a few flakes of snow or a debilitating snowstorm occurs in this western fringe will depend on the exact track of the storm and how quickly moisture is thrown westward as the storm strengthens.
In the coastal states from Virginia to New York, areas farthest east are likely to have the greatest amount of snow from the storm.
Little to no snow may fall in Albany, New York, Washington, D.C., and communities west of Philadelphia. However, the amount of snow will increase substantially a few miles farther east.
Coastal communities that usually receive wet snow or a rain/snow mix from storms can expect dry, powdery snow from this storm that will be subject to blowing and drifting.
Cold blast, gusty winds to follow the storm
Snow showers may occur from the mountains of central New York to the southern Appalachians and parts of the Midwest. However, these will be more of a product of a fresh injection of cold air, rather than from the storm at the coast.
Minor airline delays from snow showers may occur in the Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati airports.
Lake-effect snow is forecast to ramp up once again near the Great Lakes.
As the storm strengthens, winds will increase hundreds of miles away from the center of the circulation beginning Wednesday night.
Winds alone are likely to become strong enough to trigger airline delays in the major hubs of the Northeast, from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia, New York City and Boston from Thursday to Friday.
Strong offshore winds may lead to blowout tides along the mid-Atlantic and New England coasts.
Blustery and cold conditions are in store as far south as Florida, the Bahamas and Cuba.
The strong winds and arctic air will add to the frigid weather pattern.
Seas will build to dangerous levels for small craft off the mid-Atlantic, New England and southeastern Canada coasts.
School already has been canceled for area schools because of the bone-chilling weather.
Schools off Thursday are Norwalk public and Catholic schools, EHOVE, New London, Bellevue, South Central, Willard, Edison, Western Reserve and Monroeville,
Keep posted for further cancellations.
FREMONT — The St. Paul girls basketball team ran into a powerful St. Joseph Central Catholic on Wednesday, falling behind big early in an 81-54 loss to the Crimson Streaks in Fremont.
St. Paul (6-4) fell behind 28-12 after one quarter and 47-23 at halftime to the Streaks, who improved to 10-2 with the win.
For the Lady Flyers, freshman Danielle Smith did most of the damage with a game-high 23 points, including four 3-pointers. Morgan Baxter added eight points, and Meredith Dilger scored seven for St. Paul — which visits South Central in a Firelands Conference game on Saturday.
Plymouth 53, Danbury 42
PLYMOUTH — Down by a basket at halftime, the Big Red stormed back in the second half to pick up their first win of the season in Tuesday’s non-league game against visiting Danbury.
Plymouth (1-11) trailed 9-5 after one quarter and 19-17 at halftime. It then used a 19-11 third quarter and a 17-12 scoring edge in the final eight minutes to pull away.
For the Big Red, Emily Blanton finished with a game-high 18 points, which included a 13-of-18 shooting effort at the free-throw line. Also for Plymouth, Tristen Wiley had 16 points and Chloe Mack added eight.
The Big Red travels to Mapleton (3-8, 0-5) on Saturday in a Firelands Conference matchup.
BOWLING
Norwalk sweeps Ross
FREMONT — The Norwalk bowling teams swept past host Fremont Ross in a non-conference match Wednesday night.
The boys team won by a 2,752-1,958 score. The Truckers (8-3) were led by Cameron Nickoli (236-215—451). Zach Thrash (232), Jacob Seitz (202), Noah Scheel (199) and Matt Sickinger (201) rolled key games.
Zac Thrash 232, Jacob Seitz 202 and Noah Scheel 199,. The second game was led by Cameron Nickoli 215 and Matt Sickinger 201 winning the match
In girl action, Norwalk beat Ross 2,012-1,703. It was led by Madison Hainline, Makenna Hipp, Megan Sage and Emily Berry.
Norwalk is scheduled to host Sandusky at Kenilee Lanes tonight, and travel to Cedar Lanes in Sandusky on Saturday for the Sandusky Bay Conference tournament.
WRESTLING
Truckers fare well at Kenston
The Norwalk wrestling team has competed twice recently.
In a tri-meet against St. Paul and Huron on Dec. 20, the Truckers won by scores of 78-0 vs. the Flyers and 60-9 against the Tigers.
At the 35-team Kenston Holiday tournament on Dec. 29-30, Norwalk placed four of seven wrestlers to finish sixth as a team.
Three sophomores — Ethan Hernandez, Gabe Phillips and Alec Maloney — each won their weight class for the Truckers, while Darion Smith placed eighth.
Norwalk is back in action on Friday and Saturday at the annual JC Gorman Invitational at Mansfield Senior.
JILLY BURNS/REGISTER -- Western Reserve's Cora Wyers shoots for the basket over Margaretta's Grace Bias during Wednesday's game in Castalia.
By JOSH MORGRET
CASTALIA — Empty possessions late proved costly for the Western Reserve girls basketball team.
In a non-league matchup of quality area teams, Margaretta was nearly out-rebounded by a 2-to-1 margin. The Polar Bears missed all seven 3-pointers they took while Western Reserve nailed eight treys.
But through a renewed defensive effort, Margaretta was able to top the Roughriders, 43-40, in non-league action on Wednesday at Margaretta High School in Castalia.
Western Reserve had 18 points in the first 5:10 of the game, but only scored 22 points over the final 26:50. The Polar Bears (9-2) also helped force the 'Riders (8-2) into 24 turnovers.
"At the end of the day, it comes down to defense," Margaretta coach Eric Kochendoerfer said. "Defensively, we sat down and got some stops when we needed to. We went small and we had a bunch of chihuahuas out there that get after it. I can not be prouder of the girls on this team."
Jayden Moore missed a shot as the clock ticked under 30 seconds to play. Katie Hipp grabbed the rebound for Western Reserve, but Moore stole the ball back and laid it in as she was fouled with 22.1 seconds left.
After missing two of her previous three free throws, Moore was good on the attempt for a 42-40 lead. The 'Riders committed their 23rd turnover with 13.7 seconds left and Western Reserve coach Laura Pierson called timeout.
Kennedi Hilton, who was scoreless to that point, was fouled. She made the first, but missed the second, leaving a window of opportunity open for the 'Riders.
Cora Wyers, who registered a big double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds, grabbed the rebound and Western Reserve pushed the ball up court, only to commit its 24th turnover without even getting a shot off, ending the game.
"The thing that stood out the most is how our girls persevered," Kochendoerfer said. "Western Reserve is a well-coached team and they have a big, physical team. They really play hard and that is a testament to their coach and to their program."
Earlier, Wyers scored off of an offensive rebound to give the 'Riders a 35-28 lead with 2:08 left in the third quarter. Elliana Schaefer got the final bucket of the quarter for the Polar Bears and also opened the fourth quarter scoring with a jumper, drawing Margaretta within 35-32.
Empty possessions haunted the Western Reserve offense. Jennah Yost scored with five minutes left to cut the lead to one. Moore split two free throws to tie the game and Schaefer scored again after a steal at midcourt, giving Margaretta its first lead — 37-35 with 3:58 left.
Wyers and Schaefer exchanged scores before Hipp hit her third 3-pointer of the night, putting the 'Riders up 40-39 with 2:30 left. Moore missed the front end of a one-and-one before coming through in the clutch later.
"We are trying to figure out how to manage runs," Pierson said. "Not only our runs and adrenaline, but other teams' runs. The unforced turnovers got the best of us at times. I thought Margaretta did a good job of doubling down on our post players."
It was Western Reserve that came out hot from the field. Andrea Robson hit consecutive treys on the 'Riders end of the floor to start the game. Brooke Ommert and Emma Blankenship's baskets pushed the lead to 10-4. Later, treys from Hipp and Ommert opened a 18-6 lead for Western Reserve.
"They knocked down four 3-pointers in that first quarter and it caught us off guard," Kochendoerfer said. "It shell-shocked us, but we told the girls that we had taken their best punch and that it was time to get back after it."
Moore scored back-to-back buckets for the Polar Bears, but Ommert hit her second trey. Later, seven straight points by the Polar Bears cut the lead to 21-17, but Robson connected on Western Reserve's sixth 3-pointer on 11 first-half attempts for a seven-point cushion at halftime.
The 'Riders opened their lead back up to as many as nine points at 30-21 when Wyers made the only two free throws that Western Reserve attempted on the evening. Hipp hit a 3 for a 33-26 lead before Moore picked a steal and scored to cut the lead to five points with 2:36 left in the third quarter.
"Margaretta switched to a zone after starting out in man-to-man defense," Pierson said. "We thrive playing against man-to-man and it works well for us. We were able to get shots off, but in a zone, Margaretta slowed down and so did we. We had to find a better flow for our offense."
Moore topped the Polar Bears with 20 points while Grace Bias had six points and four rebounds off of the bench.
The 'Riders, who outrebounded Margaretta, 34-18, were led by Hipp's 11 points. She also grabbed seven rebounds while Robson had nine points and five rebounds.
"The intensity was like a tournament-style game," Pierson said. "We will hopefully see them again if everything goes well. That is a potential district final game that we had at midseason. What a great experience for both teams."
The deep freeze continues through Monday, when temperatures could hit a high of 37.
Until then, bundle up.
It will be sunny and cold today with a high near 8 and wind chill values as low as -12. It will drop to -4 tonight with wind chill values as low as -19. The low Friday night could reach -7.
The sun will rise at 7:56:08 a.m. today and will set at 5:15:31 p.m. The sun will rise at 7:56:04 a.m. Friday and will set at 5:16:28.
Local forecast:
Here is the Norwalk-area forecast from the National Weather Service:
Today — Mostly sunny and cold, with a high near 8. Wind chill values as low as -12. Northwest wind 9 to 15 mph.
Tonight — Partly cloudy, with a low about -4. Wind chill values as low as -19. West wind 8 to 10 mph.
Friday — A chance of flurries. Partly sunny and cold, with a high near 8. West wind 8 to 10 mph.
Friday night — Partly cloudy, with a low about -7.
Saturday — Mostly sunny and cold, with a high near 8.
Saturday night — Mostly cloudy, with a low around 0.
Sunday — A chance of snow showers after 1 p.m. Cloudy, with a high near 30. Chance of precipitation is 50 percent.
Sunday night — Snow likely. Cloudy, with a low about 27. Chance of precipitation is 70 percent.
Monday — Rain and snow showers likely. Cloudy, with a high near 37. Chance of precipitation is 70 percent.
Monday night — A chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low about 24. Chance of precipitation is 40 percent.
Tuesday — A chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 27. Chance of precipitation is 30 percent.
The top stories in the Norwalk Reflector-Herald on this date in 1943:
Name O.K. Austin chairman of county commissioners
Huron County Commissioners organized this morning by electing O.K. Austin, chairman.
Don Kirkton of New London was re-elected clerk of the board. The following other re-appointments were made: Clair D. Church, county dog warden; court house janitors, Messrs Butler and Mitchell and Mrs. Mary Deutsch, custodian of the woman’s rest room in the court house basement.
Roy Gathergood, of Monroeville, who was elected last fall to succeed Eben Lawrence, was sworn in by Probate Judge Luther Van Horn and put up the required $5,000 bond in probate court. The other member of the board is David A. Berry. All are Republicans.
Harry Bilton member of crew aboard U.S. Battleship that gagged 32 Jap planes
Harry E. Bilton, son of Mr. and Mrs. A.J. Bilton, Hartland twp., is enjoying his first leave since enlisting in the U.S. Navy a year ago. The young man is a fireman, second class, aboard a U.S. battleship.
The battleship on which Fireman Bilton serves was the ship which destroyed a total of 32 Japanese planes, according to the U.S. Navy department, and sank four enemy ships.
A graduate of New London High School, Bilton was employed at the Norwalk Truck Line company here for several years, resigning his position last February to enlist in the service.
Celebrates anniversary
Mr. and Mrs. Bert Shupe celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary at their home on Route 18 with a dinner on New Year’s Day.
Their guests were as follows: Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Webster and daughter Sarah of Sandusky; Mr. and Mrs. Donald Bittner, and two daughters, Ruth and Margaret, and son Clarman, of Berlinville; Mr. and Mrs. Charles Smith of Berlin Heights; Mrs. Sam Lee and Mr. M.C. Young of Milan, and Mrs. Malinda Flagg of Norwalk.
Carrier pigeon takes shine to P.H. Jamison
Four days ago a carrier pigeon in good condition came to the home of P.H. Jamison of 77 N. Prospect St. He liberated the bird but it seemed to like the shleter of the Jamison home and returned. Police Chief Frank Kromer has taken the pigeon and if the owner does not claim it, he will give it to some local pigeon fancier. It has been the experience of local authorities that it is very difficult to find the owner of a stray carrier pigeon.
Reports purse containing $57 has been lost
William Lorcher of R.D. Norwalk reports to the police that Saturday night at the Roberts Gardens on Townsend Ave. he lost his pocketbook containing $57 and his gasoline ration book.
Harry Mitchell of 40 E. Main St. found on Monroe Street a pocketbook that had been lost by H.E. Sanders. The purse contained the owner’s gasoline ration card and drivers’ license.
Coming Friday — Jan. 5, 1943: Traffic arrest is regarded as much important
ZOE GRESZLER/REFLECTOR -- Willard Mayor Todd Shininger stepped down as mayor Tuesday night and was replaced by councilman Joe Daniel.Zoe Greszler
WILLARD — Mayor Todd Shininger is retiring from his job as the Willard’s leader after more than 20 years of service.
A proclamation was read at Tuesday night’s council meeting and he was recognized for his many years of service as mayor, as a member of council and many other ways in the city.
Newly elected as president of council, James Johnson said Shininger made a difference in the community and said that council and the city were “honored” to have his service. Johnson said Shininger just felt it was time to let someone else take the seat.
“He’s been doing it for a long time and I think he’s just looking to do some other stuff,” he said.
Councilman Joe Daniel was nominated and elected by council as new mayor.
Johnson said he was the man for the job.
“He’s been in Willard for pretty much his whole life,” he said. “He has a great passion about creating a positive image for the city that we need going forward. He epitomizes ‘Proud to call Willard home’ slogan.”
Sworn in at the meeting were: Ward I — Charles Danhoff; Ward II — Joseph Daniel; Ward III — David Sattig; and Ward IV — Michael Elmlinger.
Elmlinger was nominated as president pro tem and Danhoff as vice mayor.
Diana Olson and Josh Gerber remain as at-large council members.
Johnson said he hopes to emulate that same values as Daniel as president.
“It’s going to be right along the same lines of improving the image of the community and being proud to call Willard home,” he said of what he hopes to accomplish.
He said he feels the community’s image is on the up and up, but there’s always room for improvement.
“I think what is going to continue to help the city is not only to help the government, but the and individual departments in the city to build a stronger relationship throughout the city. ... We’ve seen improvement since the changes in the police department. There’s certainly a lot more positive things coming from them and the fire department is more involved in the community too.”
On his list of things he believes the community is looking forward to is the road work scheduled to be done this year.
“We’re certainly looking forward to continuing to build the infrastructure with the road projects,” Johnson said. “Road work seems (minor) but that’s helping to build on the other things, bigger things. When you you have the core stuff, like infrastructure, the overall impression improves. People like to have good roads.”
TNS -- A widely used sugar additive called trehalose may have contributed to the emergence of two hyper-virulent strains of the bacterium Clostridium difficile, above. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
By Amina Khan
Two bacterial strains that have plagued hospitals around the country may have been at least partly fueled by a sugar additive in our food products, scientists say. Trehalose, a sugar that is added to a wide range of food products, could have allowed certain strains of Clostridium difficile to become far more virulent than they were before, a new study finds.
The results, described in the journal Nature, highlight the unintended consequences of introducing otherwise harmless additives to the food supply.
C. difficile is a nasty bacterium — infection can result in severe diarrhea and death — and numbers among the most prevalent hospital-acquired infections in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly half a million people were sickened by the bug in 2011. Some 29,000 of those patients died within 30 days of being diagnosed with C. difficile, and about 15,000 of those deaths were directly linked to the infection.
The disease wasn't always such a scourge of the sick and hospitalized, and scientists have long been trying to figure out why certain strains have become so successful in recent years. The misuse and overuse of antibiotics has long been thought to be responsible for the rise of many kinds of antibiotic-resistant "superbugs."
To probe the mystery, a team of scientists led out of Baylor College of Medicine in Texas examined two particularly successful lineages of C. difficile, RT027 and RT078, examining what kind of carbon-rich molecules they ate. Both types, they noticed, seemed very good at using low concentrations of the sugar trehalose as a sole carbon source.
The researchers analyzed the genomes of both RT027 and RT078. While both had RNA sequences that allowed each type to take advantage of trehalose in low doses, they did so in very different ways.
C. difficile bacteria have genes that can break trehalose into glucose (a simpler, more useful sugar) and its derivatives. But a special protein called TreR blocks the microbes from metabolizing trehalose unless the concentration of trehalose in the environment is very high.
In RT027, the TreR protein is modified in a way that lowers the bar, allowing the bacteria to metabolize trehalose even in quite low concentrations.
RT078, however, is using a different mechanism to do the same thing, having picked up four genes that are used in taking up and metabolizing trehalose. (Just one of them, it turns out, was responsible for its powered-up ability to grow in small amounts of trehalose.)
"Unexpectedly, RT078 does not share the genetic alteration in TreR that is found in RT027," Jimmy D. Ballard of the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, who was not involved in the study, wrote in a commentary. Thus, "it therefore seems that two epidemic strains of C. difficile have optimized trehalose metabolism in unrelated ways."
The researchers tested their findings in mice. If they removed a gene for trehalose metabolism in RT027, then the strain became far less virulent. And if they added trehalose to the diets of animals affected with an unaltered RT027, the mice's risk of death shot up.
So, was the trehalose causing a bacterial population boom? Not really. The scientists found the RT027 bacterial load in the mice to be roughly the same regardless of whether they were fed this sugar. Instead, scientists think the microbes' improved ability to metabolize the sugar meant that they also produced more C. difficile toxins — making the bacteria far more virulent.
The researchers also took fluids from the small intestines of three human study participants who were fed a typical diet and tried to grow different strains of C. difficile in it. Sure enough, RT027 responded to the trehalose in the bodily fluid, while other strains did not.
There's another reason scientists suspect trehalose is feeding the growth of these C. difficile superbugs: Both started making their big breaks roughly around the same time, researchers said.
"Although considered an ideal sugar for use in the food industry, the use of trehalose in the United States and Europe was limited before 2000 owing to the high cost of production (approximately U.S. $700 per kilogram)," the authors pointed out. "The innovation of a novel enzymatic method for low-cost production from starch made it commercially viable as a food supplement (approximately U.S. $3 per kilogram)."
For now, this evidence doesn't definitively prove whether trehalose helped fuel the C. difficile strains. But the findings are pretty telling and worthy of more study, Ballard said.
"Despite these concerns, the correlative findings of Collins and colleagues' study are compelling," he added. "It is impossible to know all the details of events surrounding the recent C. difficile epidemics, but the circumstantial and experimental evidence points to trehalose as an unexpected culprit."
Clark County is one of eight Ohio counties hard hit by the opioid crisis that have been chosen to participate in a pilot program to recruit more relatives and foster families to care for children in need.
The program is part of a $1 million statewide grant announced by the Ohio Attorney General’s Office in August, designed to lessen the strain placed on children’s service agencies in Ohio. The money will pay for one full-time staff member in each county who will be responsible for finding and recruiting relatives or foster families to care for children in need. It will be administered by the Waiting Child Fund, a nonprofit with expertise in foster care family search and engagement.
Allen, Cuyahoga, Fairfield, Highland, Montgomery, Summit and Stark counties also were selected for the program.
Clark County currently has more than 210 children in its foster care program, said Pam Meermans, deputy director of the Family & Children Services Division for Clark County Department of Job & Family Services, including 118 in kinship care and 94 children in foster care.
“Ohio still has a great need for families to help children in foster care. These can be biological family members or those who feel called to serve children in need,” Attorney General Mike DeWine said.
The project’s model, 30 Days to Family, originated in Missouri and has been replicated elsewhere, Meermans said. It targets child who are just entering or re-entering foster care, she said.
“The projects identifies children we couldn’t find kin for and are now in foster care,” Meermans said.
The Clark County division is expected to be trained for the program later this month, she said. The dedicated staff member will have a small number of cases but will dig deep into a child’s extended family to identify someone who might be able to care for them — either within or outside of the community — to remove the child from foster care, Meermans said.
“It’s a really high level of review,” she said. “There’s a lot more detail about it. We’re really excited to be a part of this.”
About 1,000 more children are currently in foster care statewide compared to 2016, according to an analysis by the Public Children Services Association of Ohio. On July 1, 2013, 12,654 children were in agency custody statewide. That number surpassed 15,000 in September of 2017, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
“Many of these kids watched their parents overdose or die,” said Angela Sausser, PCSAO executive director. “They are missing milestones with their families such as birthday parties and ringing in the New Year, and many are staying in care longer due to their parents’ relapsing.”
Parents of half of all children taken into custody in 2015 used drugs, the study found.
“It’s a statewide need,” Meermans said.
If the drug epidemic continues at its current rate, the number of Ohio children in foster care could reach more than 20,000 by 2020 and increase costs dramatically, requiring an additional $175 million within three years for child placement costs, according to state and PCSAO calculations.
New Carlisle resident Janet Woosley, 46, currently has custody of her 14-month-old granddaughter and is also caring for newborn granddaughter. Both children tested positive for drugs at birth, Woosley said.
“They come with some challenges,” she said. “Each day is a very challenging experience at times.”
Without kinship care in place, Child Protective Services was going to place both of the children with foster parents, she said. Woosley and her husband — who operate a restaurant in Hilton Head, N.C. — have 10 children, she said. At 46, Woosley wasn’t expecting to take care of her young grandchildren.
“At least the kids are safe, that’s what’s most important,” Woosley said. “In this situation, it was so much better for them to be in the care of family.”
For some families, the cycle can last for years as parents make strides toward reunification with children and then have a setback, Woosley said. She wants lawmakers to take a look at the laws currently in place, she said, but understands it can be difficult.
“(Parents) will make one step toward reunification and then the amount of time they have to re-unify with their child just gets expanded,” Woosley said. “At some point, we have to say, ‘This is what’s best for the kids.’ It’s a fine line.”
Look out, McDonald’s. Taco Bell is getting into the french fry business.
The taco chain restaurant announced its adding Nacho Fries to its menu in restaurants nationwide later this month. The new menu item will be available in restaurants for $1 starting on Jan. 25. The fries feature “bold Mexican seasoning and served with a dippable side of warm nacho cheese.”
Nacho Fries come off the heels of Taco Bell’s shared plans to introduce 20 $1 items on menus nationwide and in test markets this year, on top of 20 mainstay menu items for $1. The fries will also be served Supreme for $2.49 or Bell Grande for $3.49, topped with beloved Taco Bell add-ons, including beef, Pico de Gallo, nacho cheese and sour cream.
Bonus features will include a $5 box with fries, a Doritos Locos Taco, a Cheesy Gordita Crunch and medium drink.
Founder Dr. Cali Estes of The Addictions Academy said it is offering two scholarships for their Nationally Certified Recovery Coach and Interventionist training and certification courses to F I Community Housing in Ohio's Summit County.
F I Community Housing will hold its first “Recovery Raffle” on Feb. 24 to raise funds for its newest facility located in Norwalk.
The Huron County Peer Recovery Community Center, which officially opened Dec. 1, has been a beacon of hope for a four-county area. The center offers a variety of services all designed to meet the needs of anyone experiencing the effects of drug and alcohol addiction.
Estes said his academy is providing free tuition for a Nationally Certified Recovery Coach (NCRC) and a Nationally Certified Intervention Professional (NCIP) training as a donation to F I Community Housing of Akron. The Interventionist training provides the step-by-step strategies and methods to successfully help people get into rehab or detox, allowing them the opportunity to turn their lives around. The Recovery Coach training focuses on strategies to help those who are on a path to addiction recovery, stay on that path and find success.
“Our current system of addiction and substance-abuse treatment does not always work and professional coaches and interventionists are needed more than ever,” Estes said.
“The rate of drug overdoses is astonishing, and the alcoholism rate continues to climb as well. A carefully executed Intervention followed by effective Coaching has been proven to work where traditional methods often fail.”
Established in 1995, F I Community Housing is Ohio’s oldest and largest long-term treatment provider. Since inception, F I has partnered with many individuals and agencies to provide Recovery Support Services to over 18,000 men, women, and children, and helped to establish similar organizations across the country.
F I Community Housing hopes to use funds earned from Dr. Estes’ donation of the two course scholarships to aid in this important fundraising event.
The nation’s opioid crisis reached new proportions in 2017, with provisional data revealing that there were 17 percent more deaths from drug overdoses between May 2016 and May 2017, compared to the previous year.
The U.S. News & World Report recently posted, “Though the epidemic has grown over the past few years, it reached new heights this year, forcing federal and state governments to take immediate action. In October, President Donald Trump declared a public health emergency over the crisis. Earlier in 2017, the governors of Alaska, Arizona, Florida, and Maryland issued a public health emergency. Massachusetts was the first state to declare the epidemic an emergency in 2014, followed by Virginia in 2016.”
With the government’s proposed tax cuts and an unclear future for Obamacare, many are wondering how the crisis will look in the coming year, and whether Trump will reveal a more detailed plan to combat it.
As Trump and the states who declared a public health emergency work on coming up with a plan, Dr. Estes is trying to do her part by giving those on the front lines of this crisis valuable skills to help prevent and reduce the chances of overdose or repeat overdose, which is often the case.
Nearly 150 people are succumbing to overdose every day in the United States right now, with some areas of the country seeing hundreds of calls daily for heroin overdose.
Dr. Estes has a goal: to get as many professionally trained recovery coaches and interventionists out there as possible. Structured, professional help from trained and certified addiction recovery coaches and interventionists can often be the difference between life and death.
When asked why she was offering the two scholarships for the F I Community Housing staff, Dr. Estes asserted, “These are the people who are right in the thick of it, the folks who see this, live in the middle of this drug epidemic. They have the power to instantly save someone’s life and change the course of history by tapping into some basic, but powerful skills.”
The Addictions Academy has been offering a wide-ranging assortment of advanced training for years in an on-going effort to counteract the growing addiction problem. The Academy has program graduates in 22 countries helping address the addiction problem worldwide.
Find out more about the Nationally Certified Recovery Coach and Nationally Certified Professional Interventionist courses at http://theaddictionsacademy.com.
To learn more about F I Community Housing and their resources, go to http://www.ficommunityhousing.org.
It was a sad day to learn that Norwalk Police Chief Dave Light would soon be retiring. In my opinion, Dave was an outstanding law-enforcement officer, always trying to improve the enforcement of law and the protection of our citizens.
I followed Dave’s career and found him to be very professional. Having been a law-enforcement officer more than 30 years has given me a lot of insight into what makes a successful leader in our field. Dave Light is a successful law-enforcement leader. I recall before Chief Light entered the law-enforcement field when he operated a health club. Many of my deputies took advantage of his instruction and willingness to give free help to men and women in the law-enforcement field.
And last, but not least, thanks for all the help he received from his wife, Kim, who is an outstanding Norwalk Municipal Court administrator. I know this as I worked with her for over four years as a deputy bailiff.
Kim also is retiring.
Good luck, Dave. I predict we will hear more good things from Chief Light in the future.
EDITOR’S NOTE: John Borgia of Norwalk is a retired sheriff, having served from 1961 to 1985.
Let me start by saying that it is amazing that an airplane can transport a person thousands of miles in just a few hours. Since I have made many car trips to visit relatives, often with four small children, I know how difficult and long traveling by car can be.
It is incredible to me that a huge, heavy aircraft can leave the ground and fly above the clouds. This is a feat of science and engineering, far above my ability as an English teacher to understand. When I sit by the airplane’s window and look down — look down — at tiny highways and cars and later on look down at the tops of mountains, I am in awe.
Since I work full time during the school year, you are my lifeline to my children and grandchildren — the only way I can travel to see most of them without spending most of the time in transit. I love your airline for several reasons — especially your “no change fee” policy. If I buy a ticket and then realize I can’t go, I can use that money for another flight.
And then there’s the “two bags fly free” policy — that’s what I’m writing to you about. I don’t want to criticize too much, because I love the miracle of air travel. But: I was especially attracted to your airline because I was traveling last month from Columbus to Dallas to Oakland, Calif., and then back to Ohio, and I had clothing and holiday presents to take along. So I thought I’d take advantage of your “two bags fly free” policy and load one suitcase with presents and the other with clothes.
But one of those suitcases did not arrive in Dallas. A survey you later sent me about my experience referred to this as a “baggage irregularity,” which I found humorous, because what really happened was that my bag was not there. I guess you could call that pretty irregular, since I waited while everyone else’s suitcase arrived on the “carousel” (a merry-go-round for luggage), but when the carousel ride was over, my suitcase did not appear.
So I waited on a line to report it missing. It was the suitcase with the clothes, not the presents. When I got to the front of the line, a very kind customer service person asked me a few questions and we filled out the “baggage incident” form. One of the questions on the form was to name three items in my suitcase that would help identify it as mine. Here is what we came up with (I am quoting from my copy of the form): Hamlet the book, October Sky, PJ’s purple with flowers. Can you tell I’m an English teacher?
So it was evening and we went to my son’s home in Dallas, without the suitcase. But the report had been filed and they said they would try to locate it. When they located it, they would either deliver it right to me or I could pick it up at the airport and receive a $50 credit.
Later that evening, I called the airport but it still had not been located. They referred me to a website called “wheresmysuitcase.com” — where I could click on my airline (among many airlines using this website) and track the progress of my missing suitcase — quite an interesting website concept. However, my suitcase had not been located yet.
I went to sleep in the T shirt I had worn on the plane, using the extra toothbrush, toothpaste, soap and shampoo my daughter-in-law thoughtfully kept just for such occasions. I planned to make a Target trip the following day if the suitcase didn’t appear.
But it did. And, judging from the yellow sticker stuck on top of the original luggage tag, it had made its way back to Dallas by way of Atlanta, which is odd because I had been on a direct flight from Columbus to Dallas. Apparently my suitcase had another travel plan.
Oh well, at least the suitcase with the presents took the direct flight. But when I opened it, I found a “Notice of Baggage Inspection” from the Transportation Security Administration. It informed me that “to protect you and your fellow passengers,” some bags are opened and physically inspected, and that my bag (the suitcase that arrived with the presents) “was among those selected for physical inspection.”
To the TSA’s credit, not every present was opened. But some were. I suppose those gifts wrapped with lovely snowflake wrapping paper could have contained something dangerous, instead of children’s toys and stuffed animals. But really, TSA, did you have to open the presents?
Here’s to keeping plane travel safe and sending suitcases for an extra ride,
Debbie Leffler
P.S. I was really glad to get my clothes back, and the copy of Hamlet and October Sky. And I had a wonderful time on my trip, although the temperatures here are quite a bit colder than in Oakland.
Debbie Leffler is a free-lance writer who lives in Norwalk. She can be reached at rleffler@neo.rr.com.
U.S. Coast Guard photo -- The Indiana Harbor sits stuck in ice in the St. Clair River awaiting to be freed, January 2, 2018. The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Neah Bay broke the vessel free later that day.
CLEVELAND — U.S. Coast Guard cutters Neah Bay and Morro Bay, 140-foot bay class ice-breaking tugs home-ported in Cleveland, freed multiple vessels beset by ice in western Lake Erie and the St. Clair River, Tuesday and Wednesday.
The cold temperatures over Lake Erie caused ice to form rapidly over the lake leading to the motor vessels John J. Boland, Hon Paul J. Martin, Indiana Harbor and James R. Barker to become stuck in ice.
Coast Guard cutters stationed on the Great Lakes support the service’s domestic ice-breaking mission through annual operations Taconite and Coal Shovel.
Commerce across Lake Erie is kept moving by U.S. and Canadian Coast Guard cutters providing ice-breaking assistance in support of Operation Coal Shovel. Operation Coal Shovel encompasses not only Lake Erie, but also supports waterways in southern Lake Huron, Lake St. Clair, the St. Clair/Detroit River system, Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence Seaway and is coordinated out of Coast Guard Sector Detroit.
The John J. Boland first became stuck in ice in western Lake Erie late Monday, and was broken out of the ice by the Morro Bay at approximately 8:45 a.m., Wednesday.
The Indiana Harbor was beset by ice in the Middle Channel, St. Clair River, Tuesday, and was broken out of ice by the Neah Bay.
The Hon Paul J. Martin became beset by ice in western Lake Erie, Tuesday, and was broken out by the Morro Bay.
The James R. Barker was first beset by ice in western Lake Erie and broken out by the tug Calusa Coast, Tuesday, but it subsequently became beset again and was freed of the ice by the Morro Bay.
Lake Erie is the shallowest of the Great Lakes and as a result, the fastest to freeze.
Currently, ice coverage on Lake Erie is more than 20 percent, well above the seasonal norm of 5 percent for this time of year. Weather reports indicate that Lake Erie will build up more ice over the next week. With the shipping season set to end on Jan. 15, Coast Guard cutters will continue to break ice to ensure that waterways stay navigable for cargo ships on the Great Lakes.
The Coast Guard's ice-breaking mission includes not only facilitation of commercial navigation, but also the provision of ice-breaking services for search and rescue, emergency operations and flood mitigation.
