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Thursday, April 14, 2024
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Volume 10, Issue YY
Amherst rejects 174 new houses Lauren Hoffman The Community Guide
AMHERST — Amherst City Council defeated the controversial Quarry Creek neighborhood in a 4-3 decision, leaving the mayor and much of the administration frustrated with the decision. “That’s our whole economic future,” Amherst Mayor Mark Costilow said. “The city was depending on that, the parks were depending on that, that $330 per house that was going to park economics pays wages for the park for the entire year.” Residents and Council have raised concerns about Quarry
Creek, the 174-unit neighborhood that was to be located at the end of North Dewey Road, since it was introduced in February. The proposed development area lies in the southeast quadrant of the intersection of State Routes 2 and 58. North Dewey Road is located off North Ridge Road. Residents like Megan DuBois shared concerns about the safety of the one entrance and exit and asked Council and the developer Richard Sommers, of Sommers Development Group, to consider options. “We are concerned about there not being a second en-
age other developers from The proposed development area lies in in, especially when the southeast quadrant of the intersection coming they are treated like this,” of State Routes 2 and 58. North Dewey he said. “They worked hard and did everything Council Road is located off North Ridge Road. asked and respected every single thing Council and trance and exit on that roadway “We are now committed and the potential loss of life that to putting that road in and it residents asked and Councould come if something were will have a locked gate that cil still turned around and denied them.” to happen,” DuBois said at an only the people who have Amherst Council Presiearlier meeting. keys will be able to access,” dent Jennifer Wasilk said, During a March Council Sommers said. “There was a lot of mismeeting, Sommers asked the The rejection, Costilow information going around city to hold the decision on the said, sets a bad precedent about the safety of the area. new development as he exfor future developers. “The biggest thing is the plored the possibility of putting “There’s no other develaccident that occurred at in an emergency access road to opments currently proposed that intersection and the Route 58 would have to be built for the next three years and misinformation that came this is going to discourover a creek. from that.”
Contact Lauren Hoffman at (440) 3286902 or lhoffman@chroniclet.com.
Now, what to do with those glasses?
Former Chronicle art director Bob Lynch is pictured with country music stars Dale Evans and Roy Rogers. The stars, who performed at the 1968 Lorain County Fair, signed a poster Lynch drew of them promoting their appearance, which the Lynch family has held onto ever since.
Carissa Woytach The Community Guide
PHOTO PROVIDED
Bob Lynch, artist, Petey creator, dies Dave O’Brien The Community Guide
Award-winning former Chronicle-Telegram art director and editorial cartoonist Robert “Bob” Lynch, whose artwork appeared on the newspaper’s pages for decades and hangs everywhere from Elyria High School to restaurants in the Florida town where he retired, died Saturday at home. A U.S. Army veteran of the Korean War, Lynch was 90 and living in Tavares, Florida, when he died, his daughter Patty Meldrum said. Not just an artist, Lynch was a civic booster and leader with a knack for making friends and known for his love of travel and being a great family man, Meldrum said. Hired by The Chronicle in the mid-1960s, Lynch started as a staff artist and ended with the title of art director. He illustrated stories and drew political and editorial cartoons for nearly 30 years until he retired in 1994, although he continued making cartoon contributions until 2020. He did courtroom sketches
In 2022, a serious crash occurred between a car and a motorcyclist at the intersection of North Ridge Road and North Dewey roads. There were serious injuries, but no fatalities. “That accident was not caused by the intersection being dangerous, it was caused by a drunk driver,” Costilow said. Sommers said he is looking at options and Costilow urged Council to reconsider the decision.
in Lorain and Cuyahoga county courts, and received several commendations from local police departments for doing composite sketches of criminal suspects that resulted in arrests, Meldrum said. Over time, he collected multiple Associated Press and Cleveland Press Club awards. Multiple former co-workers recalled him fondly for his kindness, his smile and sense of humor. Several Chronicle employees whom Lynch hired still work in the newspaper’s art department. “Bob was a gentleman with a keen eye for the foibles of local politics and politicians,” Chronicle-Telegram Editorial
Page Editor Brad Dicken said. “Even those he chided in his cartoons often asked for the original prints so that they could hang them up in their offices or at home. Bob also took the time to honor local achievements in his cartoons, something that also won him the appreciation of readers.” “People felt honored” to be the subject of a Bob Lynch portrait or cartoon, Meldrum said. You might not know Lynch by name, but if you went to Elyria High School you’ve seen his work: Mascot Petey Pioneer is a Lynch original, and Lynch drew portraits of inductees for the Elyria Sports Hall of Fame for the first 20 of its existence, Chronicle sportswriter and Hall of Fame trustee Tim Gebhardt said. Born in Rochester, New York, in April 1933, Lynch settled with his family in Grafton in 1938. Early family life was hard, as his mother was chronically ill, but Lynch would later say he and his siblings were “raised by the women of Grafton” who helped them survive See LYNCH, A2
Now that the solar eclipse has passed, several places are collecting used viewing glasses for redistribution. The Lorain, Avon Lake and Amherst libraries all have collection boxes that will be sent to Astronomers Without Borders. The nonprofit organization collects the glasses to distribute for solar eclipses in parts of Africa, Asia and South America. Lorain Public Library System Director Anastasia Diamond-Ortiz heard about the program at a Cleveland library and wanted to bring it to Lorain County. Marketing and Public
PHOTO PROVIDED
Bob hangs out safely with his family, including Chronicle staffer Linda Seabold, for the eclipse.
Relations Director Jennifer Black said the library system had looked at recycling the glasses, but it was too labor-intensive to separate the recyclable cardboard frames from the nonrecyclable viewing film. The LPLS alone distrib-
uted more than 9,000 pairs of glasses, she said, and did not want to receive even a fraction back and have to ask staff to disassemble them before they could be recycled. “It’s such a great use of the glasses by paying it forward,” Black said. If you want to recycle the glasses yourself, remove the lenses first. They are not recyclable. Too much work? Take them to the Lorain County Collection Center, 540 S. Abbe Road, Elyria, where the Solid Waste Management District will take care of it for you. Or, you can alway save them for the next eclipse.
Teen in crash had loaded gun Lauren Hoffman The Community Guide
ELYRIA — Elyria police said the driver who struck two homes in the 300 block of West River Road Saturday was a 16-year-old in a stolen Chevy Impala who had a loaded Taurus 9mm handgun. The teenage suspect was treated and released from the hospital but no one else was injured, police said. He is facing several felony charges, including auto theft, vandalism and multiple weapons offenses. No other injuries were reported, but Fire Chief Joe Pronesti said the second home was heavily damaged and was “unlivable.” COURTESY KENNETH WALKER Kenneth Walker, who When police responded lives in the first house hit by the driver, said he was to this call Saturday, they found the driver making dinner when the was a teen, the car was crash occurred. stolen and he had a gun. “I was in the middle
of making dinner when I heard a sound, so I go to open up my front porch and I see my porch is gone, and about seven police officers running to a car in the side of my neighbor’s house,” he said. “The neighbors were in the backyard, and my family was in the back of the house in the kitchen.” Walker said the car hit his front porch and a metal pole before colliding with his neighbor’s house. Despite the damage done to his property, Walker said it is just another bump in the road and can be replaced. “The first thing I said when an officer came up to us was the meatloaf survived, so all is all right,” Walker said. “It’s just a bump in the road of life, we can come back.”
INSIDE THIS WEEK Amherst
Pool opening is in jeopardy. A3
Oberlin
Design-a-billboard winner named. A5
Wellington
Gas odor deemed harmless. A4
SPORTS A6 • CROSSWORD A7 • SUDOKU A7 • KID SCOOP A8