ORCHID: To Joel Ratner, president of the Raymond John Wean Foundation, who is resigning his position to take over as president of Neighborhood Progress Inc. in Cleveland. Ratner has been president of the Wean Foundation for more than three years and will remain on board until the end of the year to help with the transition of his replacement. It is generally known that under Ratner's leadership, the Wean Foundation made strides in helping grassroots efforts to improve education, fight crime, reduce poverty and control blight in the Valley. We wish him well.
ORCHID: To the city of Warren for installing security cameras at the city-owned parking deck downtown. In all, 16 of the devices have been installed. The cameras have night-vision capability, and the cost was about $14,500. The money comes from the city's redevelopment fund, which is money earmarked specifically for downtown. The cameras are the first of several improvement projects planned for the deck in the next 30 days. Good.
ONION: To people who keep trespassing on the mansion property in Southington formerly owned by one-time heavyweight champion Mike Tyson. Recently, six people were arraigned in Newton Falls Municipal Court after police say they were caught Sunday inside the mansion taking pictures. All six were from the Akron and Cuyahoga Falls area. In August, deputies found three people, also from out of town, inside the mansion and arrested them on criminal trespassing charges.
ORCHID: To an off-duty Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper who may have saved the life of a woman who was being attacked and pulled from her bicycle during an attempted abduction and sexual assault. Off-duty state trooper Jason Bonar, out for a motorcycle ride, saw the attack along Custer Orangeville Road near Sharon Motor Speedway. He stopped and tried to catch the guy, but the attacker got away.
ORCHID: To about 20 Trumbull Career and Technical Center adult education students who are building a home on Palmyra Road using skills they learned in their industrial training classes. Part of the Habitat for Humanity program in Trumbull County, the home was one of a few the organization has built from the ground up. It is a three-bedroom, one-story home with a two-car garage. Groundbreaking was held in September, and plans are to complete the home by spring.
ORCHID: To Warren Township Police Chief Thomas Rush, who announced he will retire Oct. 31 after almost 28 years of service to the department. Now 48, Rush began his law enforcement career in 1980 as a part-time dispatcher in Newton Falls and a part-time officer in neighboring Braceville Township. He was among the first four officers hired when Warren Township started its police department in May 1983. He was promoted to sergeant in January 1985 and has been chief since 1991.