Kudos to budding Elyria entrepreneur

BOUQUETS >> To Sydney Taylor, the 12-year-old Elyria girl who is the president of her own company, G.O. Fresh Brands, which produces healthy maple tree water. When Sydney was 10 years old, she visited a local farmers market and had her first taste of mapl

Sydney tried others, but couldn’t find the right taste she craved.

Knowing that other maple tree waters contained large doses of sugar that took away the potential health benefits prompted Sydney to create her own natural maple tree water.

Sydney and her parents, Bob and Kandis Taylor, searched for a way to use an all-natural maple tree water and found an Amish family in southern Lorain County that used their maple tree water for syrup.

The family agreed to help Sydney and tap the water for her all-natural water, which comes from 100 percent pure sap filtered naturally by sugar maple trees.

We commend Sydney, a budding entrepreneur.

BOUQUETS » To Horizon Science Academy of Lorain, 760 Tower Blvd., for receiving the Governor’s Thomas Edison Award for Excellence in STEM Education for the 201718 school year.

Horizon was one of 61 Ohio schools selected.

The Ohio Academy of Science selected Horizon to receive the award for a third consecutive year.

The award for STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — education is given to institutions that stimulate student scientific research and technological design which extend beyond traditional classroom activities.

In the last five years, Horizon’s students have made incredible progress in science and engineering fairs, as well as innovation programs.

Horizon teachers Hasan Savas and Serdar Muhammetberdiyev also were selected for the award for their excellence in STEM education and student research.

Michael E. Woytek, the Academy’s CEO, said, “These schools and teachers clearly promote and encourage student-focused, inquiry-based, science research. Each of the awardees demonstrate a commitment to providing handson learning experiences beyond the traditional classroom setting, and they value the rigor of competing at District and State Science Day.”

We congratulate Horizon for this prestigious award.

BRICKBATS » To Gregory A. Kimbrough, the 31-year-old Lorain who man was sentenced to six years in prison Aug. 26 for his role in an April 2017 assault in Elyria.

Kimbrough pleaded guilty to burglary, assault, discharging a firearm into a habitation and having weapons under disability.

At 12:40 a.m., April 13, Elyria police responded to a Crehore Court house for shots fired with a subject down.

Several individuals told police a male entered the residence from a rear door and pointed a handgun at a male and three females asking, “where is my dope?”

The gunman ordered the occupants to empty the contents of their pockets onto a table at which point a 50-year-old male got into a verbal altercation and was shot by Kimbrough.

Kimbrough, who was caught a few days later, is a dangerous man.

Prison is where he belongs — and for a long time.

BRICKBATS » To Richard J. Schwan, the 79-year-old Monroeville man who will serve four years behind bars for stealing more than $3 million in grain from nearly three dozen Ohio farmers between 2012 and 2014.

As part of his sentence, Schwan, who operated Schwan Grain Inc., was ordered to pay $3,222,209 in restitution, which he did.

The money will reimburse farmers from Lorain, Erie, Huron, Richland and Seneca counties, the Ohio Department of Agriculture and the Ohio Grain Indemnity Fund.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said, “This defendant sold grain for 35 hardworking farmers, but deliberately failed to pay them their share of the profits. He then essentially stole from every grain farmer in the state when the Ohio Grain Indemnity Fund was used to pay for the majority of the farmers’ losses.”

Schwan filed several financial reports and other documents with the Ohio Department of Agriculture which falsely reported and concealed his liabilities and the money he owed the victims.

Schwan, who pleaded guilty in July to two felony counts of aggravated theft, and one felony count each of attempted aggravated theft, falsification in a theft offense, insolvent handler and delayed price agreement, knew he was wrong. But he didn’t care. Maybe, now he will.