LEC team on frontlines of hurricane help

BOUQUETS>> To students and teachers from Lake Erie College who contributed to search and rescue efforts on the Bahamas after the devastation left by Hurricane Dorian.

Partnering with Miami University of Ohio’s Department of Geography and Geospatial Analysis Center and the University of the Bahamas, approximately 30 LEC faculty, students, and other volunteers took part in a “Bahamas Mapathon for Hurricane Dorian Relief.”

LEC Professor of Biology Steven Reynolds served as coordinator of the mapping project.

Reynolds said student exposure to the mapping project and its real-world applications offered them “the opportunity to find jobs they didn’t know previously existed.”

Volunteers pooled their time and attention toward digital maps of the affected region. People used satellite imagery of the island and demarcated any visible buildings before highlighting them. These modified maps, now incorporating highlighted structures, were then compared to post-hurricane terrain maps. Search and rescue teams were then able to use the maps to compare to the devastation on ground level in order to search for potentially trapped victims.

It is hoped the thorough mapping of the island will limit excess time and guesswork that could mean the difference between life and death to those struggling to survive.

It’s exciting to see Lake Erie College students putting their skills to use in a very real — potentially life-saving — way. We applaud all who took part in the effort.

BOUQUETS >> To the folks at De Nora Tech in Mentor on their new 107,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Mentor.

But the manufacturer had more good news to share at the ribbon-cutting for the facility.

The company is planning a 17,000-square-foot expansion adjacent to the main building to house one of its operations currently in Italy. The addition would provide for manufacturing PMX, a material used as an asbestos substitute to separate liquids in electrochemical cells.

“We’re excited about the growth opportunity,” said President and Chief Regional Officer Frank Tomaselli, adding that it would entail 14 new technician jobs.

De Nora Tech is one of several companies within Milan, Italy-based De Nora and is the service provider for North America. Its local base is in Concord Township.

The business relocated most of its electrode technologies operations from Chardon to the Mentor site, with a total of 210 jobs.

“It’s really a great emotion to see what we accomplished here,” said De Nora CEO Paolo Dellacha. “It took a little bit longer than expected, but I think what we’ve accomplished is really amazing.”

We congratulate De Nora Tech and look forward to their further expansion here.

BRICKBATS>> To Charles T. Dickerhoof of Columbus who is accused of soliciting a suspected minor for sex in Wickliffe.

The 50-year-old Columbus man was arraigned Sept. 3 in Willoughby Municipal Court, records show. He is charged with a fifth-degree felony for importuning and a fifth-degree felony for disseminating matter harmful to juveniles.

Both offenses occurred in June 2017. The importuning charge involved a law enforcement officer posing as a minor between ages 13 and 16, according to Ohio Revised Code.

Dickerhoof is innocent unless proven guilty, but these charges are troubling.

When will people learn?

BRICKBATS>> To Lacynthia Tidmore who again was sentenced to the maximum eight years in prison in the death of a 9-yearold Euclid girl.

The 25-year-old Tidmore had pleaded guilty and was previously sentenced on thirddegree felony charges of aggravated vehicular homicide and failure to stop.

Her charges stem from a Nov. 9, 2017, incident on Babbitt Road where Tidmore struck De’Zyer Mays, who was crossing the road. Tidmore fled the scene.

De’Zyer died as a result of her injuries.

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Peter J. Corrigan handed down the maximum, consecutive sentences on the two charges in May 2018.

She appealed, with the higher court determining that Corrigan failed to find that consecutive sentences are “not disproportionate to the danger” Tidmore poses the public.

Tidmore said at her original sentencing hearing that she didn’t stop because she didn’t think she hit a child. And prior to her Sept. 4 resentencing, Tidmore sought to have her guilty plea withdrawn, saying she received bad legal advice from her original attorney.

Tidmore needs to accept responsibility for her actions that cost De’Zyer her life. Prison is where she belongs.