Congratulations to top speller in tri-county area

BOUQUETS>> To West Geauga Middle School student Parker Pacifico on working his way to s-u-c-c-e-s-s at the Tri-County Spelling Bee.

Now Parker is getting his bags packed for a trip to Washington, D.C., to compete at the Scripps National Spelling Bee at the end of May.

His hard work paid off as he bested Riverside Schools’ Alicia Elyassi and Matthew Dufour from the Ashtabula School District Parker at the tri-county contest.

The event followed a series of district level competitions across multiple counties that saw the best three take the stage on March 10.

All three student competitors faced down a panel of judges and rows of seated spectators while spelling a litany of prompted words.

Parker explained that he trained before the event with lists from previous years as well as computer applications.

“Languages of origin can be really evil because French has so many silent words, German has unusual spelling like ‘sch’ or ‘aud,’” he joked after his victory.

Congratulations to all three students on their achievement and best of luck to Parker as he moves forward.

BOUQUETS» To those who championed legislation signed by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine that renames a stretch of Route 2 in Mentor after fallen police officer Mathew Mazany and the Fairport Road Bridge over the Grand River after local World War II hero Col. Donald James Matthew Blakeslee.

The stretch of state Route 2 in Mentor between Routes 306 and 615 in Mentor will be named after Mazany. Mazany, 41, was struck and killed by a vehicle around 1 a.m., June 24, 2018, while he was providing backup to another officer for a traffic stop on Route 2 just east of Route 306.

“Officer Mazany served with the Mentor Police Department for 14 years before making the ultimate sacrifice,” Rep. John Rogers, D-Mentor-on-the-Lake, said in a statement. “Those travelling through Mentor will be greeted with a reminder of his service and sacrifice as our first responders form the protective backbone of Ohio’s cities and towns.”

Rogers said the renaming of the Fairport Road Bridge after Blakeslee will serve as a enduring reminder to his bravery and service to the country.

Blakeslee served 30 years in the Air Force during a span that included World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. He was one of America’s most decorated fighter pilots during World War II.

Barrett Tillman, a former executive secretary of the

American Fighter Aces Association, told the New York Times in 2008 that Blakeslee flew nearly 500 missions and had about 1,000 combat hours to his credit, during his four years in the European theater. He died in 2008 at age 90. We honor these men for their service and salute these reminders of their sacrifice.

BRICKBATS» To those Fifth Third employees who opened fake accounts for customers in order to meet aggressive sales targets.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has filed a lawsuit against Fifth Third Bank.

The federal regulator alleged that the bank knew its employees were opening fake accounts since at least 2008 and up until 2016, the same year that Wells Fargo admitted its own employees had opened fake accounts to meet aggressive sales goals.

In a statement, Cincinnatibased Fifth Third said the CFPB’s lawsuit was unnecessary. The bank said it had already investigated the allegations and found 1,100 accounts were opened fraudulently out of 10 million existing accounts and the amount of financial damage caused by these employees was less than $30,000.

Fraud on a small scale is no less troubling.

We hope regulators take necessary steps to ensure the integrity of banking institutions.

BRICKBATS» To the Cleveland police officer accused of stealing roughly $1,800 from two people during two different incidents last year.

Lorenzo Brazzell Jr., 32, faces two counts of theft in office in an indictment handed up by a Cuyahoga County grand jury.

Brazzell, who joined the force in March 2017, has been suspended without pay.

The first incident happened June 16, during the arrest of a 31-year-old man. Brazzell searched the man and took $2,100 in cash from his pockets, authorities say, then took some larger bills.

On Aug. 14, another police officer stopped a vehicle following reports of shots fired. Brazzell was not initially part of the traffic stop but soon drove up to the scene, authorities said. He entered the woman’s car under the guise of shutting it off so the car could be towed, but authorities say he found $360 in the vehicle and stole it.

We need to be able to trust those whose job is to protect us.