“Three Deaths and a Fire: Recap of Major Stories in Lake County 2023”

Accident – Death – Obituary News : A shooting at a trailer park in Mentor resulting in three deaths and a fire that damaged a popular Euclid restaurant were among the subjects of major stories in The News-Herald during 2023. Here is a month-by-month recap of some of this year’s top local stories:

January
• Demarco Jones pleaded guilty Jan. 10 to aggravated murder in the death of Painesville resident Timothy Meola. Jones was arrested on July 28, 2022, for the 2019 murder of Meola, a 65-year-old Painesville resident and Ashtabula business owner who was found dead in his Mentor Avenue residence. Meola was killed on either Sept. 6 or 7, 2019. On March 2, Jones was sentenced to life in prison with the eligibility of parole after 25 years for murdering Meola.
• Lake County commissioners voted unanimously to rescind a one-half of 1 percent sales tax increase which was passed with a two-thirds majority earlier in the month. The increase was originally supported on Jan. 12 by Commissioners Richard Regovich and John Hamercheck and opposed by Commissioner John Plecnik. Had no further action been taken, the increase would have bumped the current 7.25 percent rate to 7.75 percent April 1, and tied Lake County with several others for the third-highest sales tax rate among Ohio’s 88 counties.

February
• After previously canceling the Cardinal High School spring musical performance of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” the School Board reversed itself at its Feb. 8 meeting. The production initially was canceled due to what the board described in a statement as “vulgarity” and because it was not “family friendly.” The intervention of playwright Rachel Sheinkin and publisher Music Theatre International allowed 23 separate revisions to be made for the school board to deem the script acceptable enough to reverse its decision.
• Authorities identified the man killed in a garage explosion in Wickliffe on Feb. 26 as 18-year-old Nathan Greger. According to a news release from the Wickliffe Police Department, Greger died in the detached garage of a residence in the 1700 block of Ridgeview Drive. According to the police department, when officers arrived not only was the structure actively burning, but there also were apparent fireworks shooting off from inside the garage.

March
• A fire at a large manufacturing facility in Middlefield Township required assistance from numerous area departments. Middlefield Fire Department and crews from surrounding communities were dispatched to Station Road in Middlefield Township for a fire March 9 shortly after 8 p.m. Crews arrived and determined that the blaze had broken out at Mouldings One, 13851 Station Road — a custom wood moulding manufacturer.
• The Geauga County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that the body of a missing Thompson Township woman was found in a wooded area on March 22. Susan G. Taylor, 76, went missing from her home at 7454 Sidley Road on March 17. Taylor was not in possession of her vehicle, cellular phone or other personal effects at that time, officials reported.

April
• Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced the appointment of Jeffrey W. Ruple as a judge in Lake County Common Pleas Court. The Kirtland resident assumed office on April 24 and took over the seat formerly held by Judge Eugene Lucci, who was elected to the Eleventh District Court of Appeals. According to a news release from the governor’s office, Ruple will need to run for election in November 2024 to retain the seat.
• The Willoughby-Eastlake School Board selected Patrick Ward to be the district’s new superintendent. The Willoughby-Eastlake School Board Superintendent Patrick Ward. (Submitted) The board accepted Steve Thompson’s resignation on Aug. 11, 2022. Thompson came to the district in 2011 and left to become chief operations officer in Akron Public Schools. A search process, facilitated by the search firm Finding Leaders, immediately followed. Ward had been serving as curriculum director for Mayfield City Schools and brought more than two decades of experience in education to the superintendent’s position at all levels.

May
• Two people died following a crash on Jackson Street in Painesville Township. According to an Ohio Highway Patrol news release, at approximately 3:30 p.m. May 7, the department was notified of a serious injury crash involving a vehicle that stuck a tree and a house on Jackson Street in Painesville Township. The driver of the car was identified as 91-year-old Donald Kalman. According to the release, Kalman, of Painesville Township. was taken to University Hospitals TriPoint Medical Center, where he later died. The passenger of the vehicle, 84-year-old Jean Kalman, also was taken to TriPoint, where she was pronounced dead.
• Fairport Harbor residents gathered May 26 to witness the groundbreaking for a new school set to replace Harding Middle and High School at 329 Vine St. Around 200 people attended the ceremony for the new $50.4 million pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade school. The building, which will replace McKinley Elementary and Harding High school, is being built by C.T. Taylor Construction.

June
• On June 6, Laketran recognized passenger Tammy Brooks by honoring the Willoughby Hills resident as the 25 millionth rider in the transit agency’s history. Brooks was presented with gifts and escorted home from Papillion Enrichment Center in Willoughby Hills, where she works as a toddler teacher, by driver Lynn Fatica and Laketran CEO Ben Capelle.
• The Lake Erie College Board of Directors appointed Jennifer Schuller to be the institution’s next president, a role that she started July 1. The school announced the decision in a June 15 news release. Schuller had served as the institution’s vice president of advancement since late 2021. Schuller succeeded Brian Posler, who announced in May that he would step down effective June 30. Posler had served as the college’s president since 2016.

July
• Officials with the Fine Arts Association announced that new locations will open in Euclid and Painesville Aug. 21. According to the school, the locations will serve existing and new students and clients from the respective communities and surrounding areas. The addition of the locations “reflects the desire of the Fine Arts Association to increase access to quality arts programming while recognizing its need to increase capacity” beyond its current Willoughby footprint.
• On July 5, Eastlake City Council President John Meyers withdrew his not-guilty plea of soliciting and received a 60-day jail sentence that was suspended, according to Willoughby Municipal Court documents. After entering the guilty plea, the Eastlake resident also was fined $500 and ordered to stay away from motels and hotels in the court’s jurisdiction by Judge Michael Cicconetti. Earlier in 2023, the Northeast Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force, in conjunction with Wickliffe Police Department and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, arrested six men for allegedly attempting to buy sex. Meyers, 57, was among those arrested.

August
• Willowick authorities announced that they were continuing their investigation into the Aug. 23 collapse of the parking deck for the East Tower of Shoregate Towers. In an interview with cleveland19.com, Willowick Fire Chief Bill Malovrh said two people were rescued from a vehicle inside the garage and taken to an area hospital with minor injuries. He added cadaver dogs were used to look for any other victims. None was found, and the department is confident nobody else was injured.
• Areas of Lake County were still recovering Aug. 25 after a tornado touched down in Mentor and brought down numerous tree limbs and disrupted power. The National Weather Service’s Cleveland Office reported that an EF1 tornado touched down in Mentor approximately 1/4-mile west of Great Lakes Mall and continued on a path to Chillicothe Road.

September
• A fire caused an estimated $250,000 in damage to a popular restaurant in Euclid. According to a Euclid Fire Department news release, on arrival at 12:45 a.m. Sept. 11 the first-arriving crews found heavy black smoke and fire coming from between 21920 and 21930 Lakeshore Blvd. involving Paragon, a well-known and popular restaurant in downtown Euclid. Euclid Fire Department ruled that the blaze was caused by arson, according to Cleveland 19 News.
• A man was killed and two EMTs were taken to the hospital.