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Volume 54, No. 25
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CHESTERLAND NEWS Wednesday, April 26, 2023
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Morrissette Held Without Bail, Hearing Set for May 3
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By Brian Doering brian@karlovecmedia.com The 18-year-old student charged with bringing a handgun to West Geauga High School with plans to shoot multiple students appeared before Chardon Municipal Court Judge Terri Stupica on April 12. Stupica ordered Brandon Michael Morrissette be held without bail. The Lyndhurst resident faces two felony charges and one misdemeanor stemming from the April 3 incident. Morrissette Attorneys representing Morrissette, who earlier in the day was released from a mental health facility, pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor offense by reason of insanity. Morrissette appeared in court via jail video. He attempted to speak but was quickly silenced by Stupica. “You have very competent counsel,” Stupica said. “The court does not want to violate any of your rights.” Geauga County Prosecutor Jim Flaiz, in his motion to have Morrissette held without bail, argued he poses a risk to the community. “He took a substantial step toward the commission of aggravated murder in that he planned out his crime and brought a firearm to school,” Flaiz wrote. “But for school administration and law enforcement involvement, the defendant would have carried out his crime to its conclusion.” Flaiz noted that Morrissette “has demonstrated the ability to gain access to firearms and ammunition and has the desire to commit murder.” Court records show that when interviewed by Chester Township Police Chief Craig Young and Captain Jeff Sherwood, Morrissette See Morrissette • Page 6
Police Blotter page 5
Classifieds page 8 ALAN KORNSPAN/KMG
West Geauga runners Nicholas Swisher and David Fofana compete as West Geauga High School hosted the Kurt Frankel Invitational on April 22. Teams from throughout Northeast Ohio traveled to Geauga County to compete in track and field events.
West Geauga Hosts Kurt Frankel Invitational Track Meet
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As West Geauga High School hosted the Kurt Frankel Invitational on April 22, teams from throughout Northeast Ohio traveled to Geauga County to compete in track and field events. “We got some nice sunny skies for the second half of the day,” West Geauga Girls Coach Mike Taurasi said. “All in all, we think things went pretty well. We ended up canceling prelims (due to weather) the day before, and just going straight to the finals. “Pretty happy with the day’s events, great timing crew, great officiating crew, so we want to thank them. We got this in — in about three and a half hours with 11 teams.” In addition to West Geauga, other Geauga County students participating came from Kenston and Chagrin Falls. Overall, Geauga athletes performed well, tallying six first-place finishes and placing in the top three in 16 events. Coach Taurasi was happy with the Wolverines performance. “We had pretty successful competition on both sides,” he said. “Our boys ended up runners-up, which was pretty fantastic. The girls were kind of middle of the pack, 6 out of 11.”
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The Wolverines boys finished first in the 3200m (Daniel Kerns) and the 4x800m relay (Matthew Dienes, Grant Congdon, John Mikes and Christopher Whiting). Kearns, a senior and Walsh University track and field commit, discussed his school record in the 1600m and his victory in the 3200m. “I just came off of doing the 1600 and I got the school record in that,” he said. “I wasn’t really trying to go all out on that one (3200m). I was just going for first place and seeing how it would go.” Dienes discussed West G’s victory in the 4x800m relay. “I started off in the first leg, I just wanted to stay behind the guys, keep them in range and not get too far,” Dienes said. “Then this last 300, right here, I gave it all I had and passed them at the end, got us the lead and started off with a 2:03.” Added Whiting, a senior John Carroll University track and field commit, “For my leg, I just wanted to continue what Matthew did. I was the third leg, so after our
teammate John Mikes ran, I just wanted to further the gap and make it easier for our anchor leg to just get the win.” Megan McGinnis won the high jump for the West Geauga girls. Kenston and Chagrin Falls also had first-place finishes at the invitational. Finishing in first for Kenston was the boys 4x100m relay team (Daniel Eibler, Josh Koltas, Sam Koltas, Dylan Ringness), and Ringness also won the boys long jump. “I won the long jump, 19 feet one inch — not a PR,” Ringness said. “It was a little cold and rainy today, but I think moving forward I can definitely improve on that.” Finishing in first for Chagrin Falls was Mila Gresh, who won the girls 1600m. The Wolverines would be back on the track on for a tri-meet on April 25 with NDCL and Padua Franciscan, Chagrin Falls would compete in a dual meet the same day with Berkshire, and Kenston would next compete in a dual meet with Eastlake North on April 26.
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