Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025
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Volume 12, Issue 01
Judge: Head Start case dismissal stands DAVE O’BRIEN THE COMMUNITY GUIDE
ELYRIA — Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Chris Cook has denied requests by the city of Lorain and several of its former employees, as well as former assistant county prosecutor Jonathan Rosenbaum, to overturn his rulings in 2022 dismissing the charges in the 1990s Head Start child abuse case. The city also was acting on behalf of several former Lorain police officers when both it and Rosenbaum filed motions Dec. 9 seeking “relief from judgment.” The parties had asked Cook to vacate both an order he handed down Dec. 29, 2021, granting Nancy Smith and Joseph Allen permission to seek a new trial,
as well as his order dated Feb. 25, 2022, dismissing the charges against both defendants. He refused, ruling that the city and Rosenbaum “lack standing to be heard in this matter and have not sought leave” to intervene in the case, nor had they given any reason why they should be permitted to intervene. “These motions seek relief from certain rulings and entries made by this court a number of years ago in this criminal case,” Cook wrote. “The basis for the filing of these motions is not entirely clear as none of the movants are parties to this action.” “Should they wish, the city movants and attorney Rosenbaum may seek leave to intervene as outlined above. But for now, cased closed,” he wrote, ordering the city’s motion and
Rosenbaum’s motion both stricken from the record. Cook also wrote that he was concerned the victims in the case, who have a right to be heard, weren’t aware of the filings. He further speculated that the case had to do with a pending wrongful conviction lawsuit against the city, some of its former police officers, Lorain County, Rosenbaum and the mother of one of the victims that Smith filed in February in U.S. District Court. That case remains in front of U.S. District Judge David Ruiz. That speculation “may, or may not, be accurate,” Cook wrote. Message seeking comment on Cook’s ruling were left for Rosenbaum and Lorain Law Director Pat Riley.
Background
A jury convicted Smith in 1994 on felony charges of rape, attempted rape and gross sexual imposition. Common Pleas Judge Lynette McGough sentenced Smith to 30 to 90 years in prison, while Allen got five consecutive life sentences on his charges. All their appeals were denied until 2009, when then-Common Pleas Judge James Burge found Smith was entitled to a new sentencing hearing on technical grounds. Allen also was freed at that time, on bond pending further rulings. Burge threw out the case against Allen and Smith in June that year, but in 2011 The Ohio Supreme Court ruled Burge had overstepped his authority and reversed his order. Further appellate courts rulings upheld Allen
and Smith’s convictions, and the Ohio Supreme Court declined to hear the case. Having served 14½ years behind bars, Smith eventually reached an agreement with the Prosecutor’s Office in 2013 that granted her freedom but didn’t eliminate her felony conviction. She never went back to prison. Free for more than four years from 2009 to 2013, Allen also struck a plea deal with the Prosecutor’s Office that sent him back to prison for 10 to 25 years but left him eligible for parole. In January 2021, Burge became chief of staff at the Prosecutor’s Office when J.D. Tomlinson was elected prosecutor. Later that same year, Tomlinson said the Head Start convictions were unjust, and that he was looking to HEAD START PAGE A3
Elyria suing A chance encounter at Midway Mall made everyone’s heart grow three sizes insulin producers
for ‘price gouging’
RINI JEFFERS FOR THE COMMUNITY GUIDE
ELYRIA — The Grinch was just walking across the food court inside Midway Mall on Sunday, looking to steal his way into some children’s holiday photos, when he spotted her. Across the way stood a tiny little white-haired lady near the Giving Tree, dotted with the Christmas wishes of underprivileged children in the county. “This woman’s eyes locked on him and his on hers and it was kind of like this corny slow motion movie where they started to sort of walk to each other with their arms open wide,” said the Grinch’s mom, Amanda Rundle. “He’s 6-foot-4 and she is so tiny and he was just so gentle with her, and she’s telling him ‘I love you so much’ and I was like ‘What is happening here? What is this, a made-for-TV movie?’” The big green Grinch and the little woman pulled apart, while she was still gazing up into his crooked smile. “You don’t know how much you’ve made my day. I’ve been crying all day but God blessed me when I saw you coming in, you just changed my whole day around.” Sheffield-Sheffield Lake Schools ends centennial celebration with dedication of time capsule, and other top stories from December 29, 2024. They chatted a minute, sorting out this unusual
OWEN MACMILLAN THE COMMUNITY GUIDE
Elyria is pursuing a lawsuit against six major drug manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers over an alleged decadeslong insulin “price gouging scheme.” Late last month, City Council voted to approve the city entering into an agreement with Avon Lake attorney Brian Balser to represent the city’s claim that it was intentionally overcharged for insulin over more than a decade. Law Director Amanda Deery told The Chronicle that Balser would work on contingency, so the city would only pay him if it
is awarded some kind of recovery from the claim. Balser told The Chronicle that the lawsuit, which he plans to file in the next 10 days, accuses three major insulin producers and three pharmacy benefit companies (PBCs) of working together to raise the price of insulin charged to entities that self-fund their insurance. Self-funded entities pay for employee health care and benefits out of a fund they set aside, rather than relying on a third-party insurance company. Elyria, along with many other entities, may have overpaid for insulin by more than 75 percent over INSULIN PAGE A2
State Highway Patrol: Two dead in two crashes during Christmas holiday
PHOTO PROVIDED
Donna McKinney and Jordan Newson met by coincidence at Midway Mall on Sunday, then found each other through social media to make friends. meeting of The Granny and The Grinch, in the middle of a mostly empty mall dressed for holiday cheer. The Grinch is Jordan Newson, 20, Rundle’s son. Rundle is an Elyria photographer and during the holiday season she often takes photos of Newson, dressed as the Grinch, with families or at events. They
had come to the mall Sunday to do a photo shoot that included Newson “photobombing” or stealing into photos with little girls, acquaintances of Rundle’s. Rundle said the “Grinching” season was her idea to help her and her son during Christmas, a particularly hard time of year for them after losing her grandmoth-
er in December, 11 years ago. “She was our hero, our superman. When she passed away right before Christmas, it just wasn’t the same. We felt very Grinch-like on Christmas because it’s hard to celebrate when the glue of your family isn’t there GRINCH PAGE A2
Two people were killed in crashes on Ohio roadways this Christmas holiday, the State Highway Patrol said Thursday in a news release. The two-day Christmas reporting period began at midnight Dec. 24 and ended at 11:59 p.m. Dec. 25. Of the two people killed, one was not wearing a safety belt, and neither were in Lorain County. Troopers working in Lorain County responded to 110 incidents, the third most statewide over the holiday, the Highway Patrol said. Statewide, troopers arrested 44 people for DUI and 11 for illegal drugs. Troopers also issued citations for 84 safety belt and 31 distracted driving violations and assisted 434 motorists. During last year’s four-day Christmas holiday reporting period, from Dec. 22-25, 2023, 12 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes on Ohio roads. The public may dial #677 to report dangerous or impaired drivers, as well as drug activity, on Ohio roads.
INSIDE THIS WEEK County
New officials sworn in. A3
Top 10
The top 10 stories of 2024 A4
Wellington
JVS students help others. A6
CLASSIFIEDS A4 • CROSSWORD A7 • SUDOKU A7 • KID SCOOP A8