Mentor airman deserving of national honor

BOUQUETS>> To U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Christopher Stuebbe who recently was awarded the Outstanding Airman of the Year award.

The 2011 Mentor High graduate was one of only 12 airmen chosen for the annual honor, Stuebbe, 26, was recognized for his display of superior leadership, job performance, community involvement and personal achievement.

As a Forward Area Refueling Point project manager, Stuebbe’s outstanding leadership and job performance are revealed through the management of a crew of men who refuel helicopters directly outside the battlefield along with maintaining more than $1 million of special operations equipment.

Stuebbe “flew 35 combat missions totaling 133 hours, and transferred 283,000 pounds of fuel that were vital to the mission. Additionally, he expedited emergency repairs on Air Force Special Operation Command equipment valued at $500,000, enabling joint force teams to be mission ready in under 12 hours,” according to the Air Force.

He also has helped wounded warriors by volunteering in a hospital’s critical care section and organized United Service Organizations’ events for 19,000 personnel.

Said Stuebbe: “Knowing that people who laid their lives before me are the reason I can have a life and freedom… it’s my time to give back.”

We salute Stuebbe on a job well done and thank him for his dedicated service.

BOUQUETS>> To those behind the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing voucher program.

Sen. Sherrod Brown announced the Lake Metropolitan Housing Authority will receive $49,042 in federal funding to provide rental assistance paired with health services for homeless veterans.

It is part of a larger package of $161,340 being split among Akron, Mansfield, Painesville, and Warren as part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing voucher program.

“Even one homeless veteran is one too many,” Brown said. “Our veterans have earned our gratitude and we cannot stand by while some of them face life on the street. The housing assistance provided through HUD-VASH is an important investment in ensuring that all northeast Ohio veterans have a place to call home.”

We couldn’t agree more. The assistance is the least we can do for those who have sacrificed to preserve our freedoms.

BOUQUETS>> To Joy Severa, the new new executive director of the Downtown Painesville Organization.

Severa has experience within the DPO with its Economic Vitality Committee.

“Painesville has had my heart for more than a decade and I am excited to be an intricate part of the many impressive things that are happening,” said Severa. “I look forward to working with the community; to preserve the past and to grow our downtown area for a vibrant future.”

Severa was named to the post after Stephanie Evans dropped out of the role only days after her initial appointment.

We wish Severa well in her new role.

BRICKBATS>> To those who get behind the wheel of a vehicle without giving their full attention to the road.

More than 65,900 distracted driving crashes were reported in Ohio between 2013 and 2017.

That figure comes from the Ohio Distracted Driving Task Force, which released a report earlier this year. The group, created in 2018 by the Ohio Department of Transportation and Ohio Department of Public Safety, was tasked with “making recommendations to the agencies and Ohio’s new governor on how to reduce the growing number of traffic deaths, injuries and crashes caused by distracted driving in Ohio.

“No one leaves the house with the intent of killing or injuring someone while driving and using a smartphone – yet increasingly they do.”

Ohio saw 216 distracted driving-related deaths between 2013 and 2017 and more than 2,500 serious injuries, according to the report.

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office for years has asked drivers to “flick the switch” (turning off phones and other devices) when they get behind the wheel.

“Distracted driving is a major cause of accidents today, and actions such as texting and talking are creating more accidents, and larger accidents,” the Sheriff’s Office stated in a post on its website. “When people who already follow vehicles in front of them too closely on our roadways look up from the text/message/posting/music channel there is not enough time to stop before a collision. The result is at a minimum serious car damage, and at worse significant injury and death.”

Please, pay attention; lives may depend on it.