Best of luck to new OHP Chardon leader

BOUQUETS >> To Sgt. Lawrence Roberts, on his upcoming promotion and being appointed as the new commander of the Ohio Highway Patrol Chardon Post.

Roberts, currently assigned to the OHP Cleveland Post, will be promoted to lieutenant on April 16, and then transfer to his new assignment as OHP Chardon Post commander.

Lt. Charles Gullett, former OHP Chardon Post commander, transferred to the Norwalk Post effective April 1.

Roberts, who joined the Ohio Highway Patrol in February 1999 as a member of the 133rd academy class, earned his commission that same year and started his career with the OHP at the Sandusky Post.

During his OHP career, Roberts also has served as a trooper at the Chardon Canton, and Cleveland posts

According to an OHP news release, Roberts has been selected as Post Trooper of the Year four times and District Trooper of the Year in 2003.

Roberts, who previously served at the Chardon Post from 1999 to 2006 and received a Trooper of the Year award while assigned there, looks forward to returning.

“I’m excited,” Roberts said. “I used to work there, so I’m coming back to an area I’m familiar with, a community I’m familiar with, so it’s just good to come back to the area where I started.”

We wish him well as he prepares to take charge of the OHP Chardon Post.

BOUQUETS » To Cleveland Catholic Diocese Bishop Nelson J. Perez, for visiting St. Mary of the Assumption School in Mentor on April 9.

Perez celebrated Mass and met with students during lunch at the conclusion of the service.

Engaging students of all grades, Perez told them one of his favorite parts of the job is meeting great people like them.

“It’s obvious that this is a wonderful school, its plant, its people and its teachers,” he said.

“It teaches not just the essentials of the academic world, but a values-driven education rooted in our faith, which is a wonderful gift for these kids and for society at large.

“Any time the school possesses a sense of community and family, it appeals to one of our most basic human needs, that is the need to belong. As they say, a place where everybody knows your name. It’s a joy to be here.”

St. Mary Principal Mary Benns believes Perez to be genuine and inviting, and, encouraged by his message of unity, said it felt like the prelate, indeed, “belonged with the school.”

“He’s such a people person, so down to earth. Anyone would be comfortable to have him at their table,” she said.

We’re sure that the bishop made a positive and lasting impression on St. Mary’s students, faculty and administrators.

BRICKBATS » To Darlene Baldwin, of Clarington, Ohio, after she was sentenced for a financial scam in which she bilked more than $600,000 from residents of two states.

Baldwin, 67, was ordered to repay $640,000 that prosecutors said she defrauded from people in Ohio and West Virginia to get money to send to a man she met online.

The Ohio Attorney General’s Office said Baldwin also was sentenced on April 9 to prison. She pleaded guilty to theft, attempted fraud and attempted money laundering.

Investigators said Baldwin scammed the money from people by using various false stories, including that she was sick or about to lose her home.

She promised to repay them, but instead directed the money overseas to her online acquaintance.

We’re glad to see that Baldwin will pay a price for taking advantage of people who placed their trust in her.

BRICKBATS » To former South Korean President Lee Myungbak, after he was formally charged and jailed in connection with a range of corruption charges on April 9, making him the country’s fourth leader to face a criminal trial in about two decades.

On April 6, Lee’s conservative successor, Park Geun-hye, was sentenced to 24 years in prison in a separate corruption scandal for which she was removed from office following months of huge anti-government rallies.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office said it charged Lee with taking a total of $10 million in bribes from the country’s spy agency, Samsung and others.

Before Park and Lee, two other ex-presidents, Chun Doohwan and Roh Tae-woo, both former army generals, were convicted of bribery, mutiny and treason and spent time in prison.

Lee is certainly entitled to his day in court, but one has to wonder if he’ll end up as the latest in a line of South Korean presidents to become a convicted criminal.

Online: Read more about the fallout in South Korea following these charges: WWW.NEWS-HERALD.COM/NATION-WORLD