Leaf Thursday, April 13, 2023 Vol. 29 No. 15 • Chardon, Ohio www.geaugamapleleaf.com $1.00
Bainbridge Fire Dept. Asks for 4.75-Mill Levy By Brian Doering brian@karlovecmedia.com Bainbridge Township voters may be surprised to see an additional 4.75-mill ambulance and EMS levy on the May 2 ballot, as officials have been cautious in their approach on levy communications after recent changes to Ohio law. The state auditor has not yet put out guidance on the law changes — which pertain to House Bill 140 — so Fire Chief Lou Ann Metz and Bainbridge Township Trustees have taken a conservative approach in their discussions about it, Metz said in a recent statement. “People have questioned why little has been said about the levy,” she said. “Recent changes in Ohio law have posed challenges. All information distributed by the fire department or township must be informative, verifiable and neutral. Public officials must refrain from giving opinions or making statements aimed at influencing voters.” See Levy • Page 5
WEST GEAUGA SCHOOLS
BRIAN DOERING/KMG
From left, Geauga County Prosecutor Jim Flaiz, Chester Township Police Chief Craig Young and West Geauga Schools Superintendent Richard Markwardt address the public April 5 regarding the student who brought a gun to the high school April 3.
Student With Gun Being Held Under Psychiatric Care Officials Say Morrissette Had Plans to Shoot Several Students By Cassandra Shofar and Brian Doering Brandon Michael Morrissette, the student who brought a handgun to West Geauga High School on April 3 with plans to shoot multiple students, is currently being held under psychiatric care, officials said during a 1 p.m. press conference April 5 at the school district’s board of education office. Morrissette, 18, of Lyndhurst, has been charged with attempted aggravated murder, a first-degree felony; illegal possession of a deadly weapon in a school safety zone,
a fifth-degree felony; and inducing will be taken into custody on the panic, a first-degree misdemeanor, warrant, taken immediately to the according to court reGeauga County jail and cords. an initial appearance “He is not in the will be set in Charjail, yet. He must be don Municipal Court, medically cleared and where he will be prepsychologically cleared sented formally with before the jail will take the charges.” him,” said Geauga Flaiz said MorrisCounty Prosecutor Jim sette would have the Morrissette Flaiz, adding later Moroption to have a prelimrissette would likely be arraigned inary hearing or waive it and the in the near future. matter would be bound over to the “The court has issued a war- Geauga County Court of Common rant on the charges,” Flaiz said Pleas. during the press conference. “He See Student • Page 6
D.S. Cakes Opens New Café, Party Room in Newbury By Ann Wishart ann@karlovecmedia.com When Diane Schneider moved her bakery from her Newbury Township basement to a unit in Newbury Center nine years ago, she didn’t know what to expect. For 25 years, she was known to area residents as “the cake lady.” Weddings, birthdays, graduations, bar mitzvahs — her cakes graced all kinds of celebrations. As her children grew, so did demand for her baked goods. Her market outpaced her kitchen’s capacity, she said in a recent interview. “It was too much. It wasn’t a See D.S. Cakes • Page 7
Single Edition $1.00 ANN WISHART/KMG
Diane Schneider and some of her staff at D.S. Cakes and Sweet Café have weathered the pandemic and various delays to move into a much larger space. Customers are re-discovering the café at its new location across the parking lot at Newbury Center.