Thursday, Jan. 30,2025
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Ross Expo on target to open at fair Garrett Looker The Community Guide
The new Ross Exposition Center at the Lorain County Fairgrounds is nearing completion, officials said, as they met Wednesday night at Main Street Wellington’s annual meeting. Judy Key, Lorain County fairgrounds facility manager, said they are on schedule to have the building finished when the Lorain County Fair starts. “There’s been a lot of planning to make this new structure as versatile as possible,” she said. The next step in construction of
the 67,000-square-foot exposition center is to pour the concrete, Bill Spreng, a volunteer that has helped with the project, said at the meeting. Ground was broken for the project in June. Key said $11.9 million has already been raised for the $12 million project. “As soon as we have the $12 million covered, they will start going into the other buildings,” Key said. “The beef barn will be the first one.” Funding for the new exposition center at the fairgrounds
has come from several different sources, Spreng said. “County commissioners pledged $1.5 million to match what the senior fair board had pledged. So now we’re off to the races,” Spreng said, adding that Ross Environmental Services — a local hazardous and industrial waste management company — has committed $4 million over 10 years. To Key, building the exposition center creates an opportunity to open up the fairgrounds to more opportunities. Outside of the small amount
of time each year that the space would be used for the fair, she said that it will be open for the public to rent. “The goal is to create a place for all to join in on the events being held at the fairgrounds, and to come together to give them the opportunity to celebrate their hobbies and interests,” Key said. Community members will be able to start submitting bookings to rent the space next month, she said. “I really think it’s going to bring growth,” Key said. “The other part of this project,
it is truly kids and community,” Spreng said. “Those are the two driving forces. This is why we’re doing it. This will be here for the next 75 years.” Building the exposition center expands the possibility of not only children in Wellington but in the entire county, she said. “We stand on the shoulders of giants, that’s how we got where we are today,” Spreng said. “We need to build on that legacy.” Contact Garrett Looker at glooker@chroniclet. com.
Two from here among freed for Jan. 6 riot Garrett Looker The Community Guide
RICHARD PERRINS / COMMUNITY GUIDE
Wellington residents b-b-brave the cold for luminaria hike
About 50 Wellington residents braved the cold for a 2-mile hike along a trail lit by luminaries on Saturday. The hike, which wound around the Wellington Reservation to its observation point, was lit by small paper lanterns across the trail. For more information on activities at Wellington Reservation or other parks in Lorain County, visit loraincountymetroparks.com/programs.
Man arrested with 12 fake credit cards Owen MacMillan The Community Guide
A New York man arrested in Avon is charged with allegedly using fake or stolen credit cards at a number of businesses across Northeast Ohio. Daniel Diaz, 30, of Brooklyn, is charged with theft and possession of criminal tools after he was arrested at Walmart in Avon earlier this month. According to a search warrant acquired by The Chronicle-Telegram, Avon police were alerted on
Jan. 7 to a suspect and vehicle that were allegedly involved in a number of fraudulent credit card transactions in North Olmsted and in Solon earlier that day. Avon Lake police alerted Avon that the suspect vehicle, a silver Toyota, had been spotted in Avon Lake heading toward Avon. Using traffic cameras, Avon police determined that the vehicle was in the area of the Avon Commons shopping center in the city. The vehicle was found
in the Walmart parking lot and officers watched the suspect, later identified as Diaz, returning to his vehicle with a number of items in Walmart bags. Avon police pulled the vehicle over for an improper turning violation and took Diaz into custody. Police said that upon his arrest Diaz had a credit card writer and reader, 14 credit cards with the name “Daniel Diaz” printed on the front and merchandise and a receipt matching an alleged false transaction at
a Tractor Supply in Solon. He also had receipts from other stores in Avon as well as from Rocky River, Mentor, Painesville and New York state. The warrant said that Avon police later determined that only two of the 14 credit cards that Diaz had in his possession came back as a match for his personal information. An employee of Walmart also told police that Diaz had attempted to purchase several items with a card that was declined.
Four years ago on the grounds of the United States Capitol, Michael and Clifford Mackrell — father and son, then of Wellington — assaulted law enforcement by striking and pushing officers as they joined the front line of rioters, authorities said. In one instance, Clifford Mackrell “reached under an officer’s riot shield and grabbed at the officer’s face and eyes. The officer can be heard screaming in agony on a body-worn camera during the assault,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. In March 2024, both Mackrells pleaded guilty to counts of assaulting and resisting certain law enforcement officers, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. They both were sentenced to 27 months in prison with differing additional time of supervised release. On Monday, President Donald Trump issued pardons and commutations for the roughly 1,500 defendants involved in the Jan. 6 insurrection, including Clifford and Michael Mackrell. “These people have already served years in prison, and they’ve served them viciously,” Trump said of the hundreds of defendants. “It’s a disgusting prison. “It’s been horrible. It’s inhumane. It’s been a terrible, terrible thing.” Trump’s action grants “a full, complete and unconditional pardon to all other
individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021,” according to White House’s proclamation. At an address listed for Clifford Mackrell, a message seeking comment was left for both individuals early Wednesday afternoon. An individual who answered the door did not identify himself, but he said he knew both Mackrells and that he would pass along the message. Bob Meilander, committee chairman for the Lorain County Republican Party, said they deserved pardons. “I think it’s completely right,” Meilander said. Meilander justified the Jan. 6 pardons and commutations by comparing them to some of the last official acts of former President Joe Biden, who preemptively pardoned family members with minutes remaining in his presidency. “This is assault charges,” Meilander said. “He pardoned people that were murderers. He pardoned people that weren’t even convicted of anything yet, because they’re guilty.” On his final full day as president, Biden issued full and unconditional pardons for members of Congress who served on the Select Committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the United States Capitol, including former GOP Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, and Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California.
INSIDE THIS WEEK Amherst
Fur farm shut down
Dream Lab opens
Find out what the post office was once called. A3
Hundreds of wild animals rescued. A4
Girl Scout facility first in Ohio. A5
SPORTS A6 • CROSSWORD A7 • SUDOKU A7 • KID SCOOP A8