Willoughby girl making splash as swimmer

BOUQUETS >> To Tori Culotta, a 14-yearold swimmer from Willoughby, on earning the No. 1 ranking in the nation in her age group for the 1,650-yard women’s freestyle event.

At the Dec. 6-9 Speedo Winter Junior Championships East in Knoxville, Tennessee, Tori finished in 16 minutes, 39.47 seconds in the 66-lap race. It placed her 12th overall, but most important, it elevated her to No. 1 nationally in the event among 14-year-olds.

“It’s nice to know your hard work pays off. It was a cool feeling,” Tori said about her No. 1 ranking.

She’s been a distance swimmer since joining the Lake Erie Silver Dolphins club team when she was 9.

Her rise as an elite swimmer has been the result of a lot of hard work.

According to her coach Rick Stacy, who’s in charge of the distance team and gradeschool members, Tori swims nine to 10 times a week. That includes three times in the morning before heading to classes as an eighth-grader at Andrews Osborne Academy, then six to seven times in the evening.

In all, Tori’s coach said she logs up to 70,000 yards each week.

She’s less than a year from competing in high school. Although she’s yet to decide what school she will attend next fall, Tori already has set big goals.

“I definitely want to compete (for) or win a state championship in high school and I want to swim in college,” she said. “It would be really fun to go to the Olympic Trials and see what happens.”

We’re excited to see what Tori will achieve as a competitive swimmer in the years to come.

BOUQUETS » To Charles Rauch and Donald Ashba Sr., on their decision to open the new Easy Stop Mini Mart at 9570 Diamond Centre Drive.

Rauch and Ashba both previously worked at Classic Auto Group.

“Out of the blue, we just decided to leave the car business for a little while and start a convenience store,” Rauch said. “We saw a little need for it.”

According to Rauch, Ashba’s family owns a couple of convenience stores, so they were able to get a little inside information on running one.

They both feel that the high-traffic location is an ideal place for a mini mart and decided to open one.

Ashba said he saw a forlease sign on the Diamond Centre Drive site and called about it.

“Next thing you know, six months later here we are,” he said.

We commend Ashba and Rauch for their entrepreneurial spirit and wish them the best with their new store.

BRICKBATS » To Mark Rafter of the Cleveland suburb of Brooklyn, after he was sentenced to life in prison for causing a fatal crash in his hometown while trying to kill himself.

Cleveland.com reported that Rafter, 50, was sentenced Jan. 11, a day after jurors convicted him of aggravated murder.

Prosecutors say Rafter was driving nearly 100 mph down the wrong side of a highway in 2016 when he collided with a car driven by Kayla Coates. Coates, a 20-year-old college student, was killed instantly. Rafter was seriously injured.

The defense acknowledged that Rafter was trying to kill himself, but argued that he had intended to drive into a barrier on Interstate 480 in Brooklyn. They say he caromed off of it and back into traffic.

During his sentencing, Rafter stood from his wheelchair and apologized to Coates’ family for taking her life instead of his.

He said he never meant to hurt anybody else.

In our opinion, the key issue here is personal responsibility. Rafter wanted to take his own life, but his plan backfired and he ended up killing an innocent person. For committing that horrific crime, he deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison.

BRICKBATS » To Abdirahman Sheik Mohamud of Columbus, as he awaits sentencing for plotting to kill military members in the U.S.

Mohamud pleaded guilty in August 2015 to supporting terrorism and making false statements to authorities. He is slated to be sentenced on Jan. 19.

Federal prosecutors say he received training in 2014 on weapons, combat and tactics in Syria, and then returned to the U.S. with a plan to kill military officers or others in uniform. They say he also researched places to carry out attacks.

Prosecutors are seeking a prison sentence of 23 years.

Mohamud’s attorney is asking for leniency, saying he abandoned his attack plans.

We favor the prosecutors’ proposal for a lengthy prison sentence.

Because of the steps Mohamud took to plan acts of terrorism, he deserves to be severely punished.