Lisa Hlavinka | The Gazette GLORIA GLENS — Robert and Linda Friedel have to move out of their Twilight Trail home by the end of the month, but the couple isn’t crying the blues. In fact, the Friedels are singing in the rain. The couple’s home was bought by the Medina County Emergency Management Agency in February through [...]

ELYRIA — His brain is as big as his feet. And that’s big. Drew McGhee wears a size 18 shoe. He also carries a 4.2 grade-point average at North Ridgeville High School. The largeness of his feet didn’t get him the 2009 Lorain County Mr. Basketball award Sunday night, but the heftiness [...]

CLEVELAND — LeBron James never saw it coming. In a much different way, neither did the Dallas Mavericks. James was blindsided in a collision with official Derek Richardson late in the third period, but by that time the Cavaliers had already totally pancaked the even more defenseless Mavs, who fell 102-74 Sunday afternoon at [...]

DETROIT — General Motors Corp. Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner will step down immediately at the request of the White House, and new directors will make up the majority of GM’s board in a major management shake-up of the country’s largest automaker, GM confirmed today. The sweeping changes come just hours before President Barack [...]

BOSTON — It was physical. It was defensive. It was just the way they like it in the Big East. With bodies clogging the lane and 3-pointers clanging off the rim, Scottie Reynolds made a half-court dash for a last-second basket to give Villanova 78-76 victory over Pittsburgh and [...]

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Connecticut often overwhelms opponents with its size and strength. Harried by the fighting Missouri Tigers, UConn needed something else: speed. Enter 6-foot-1 freshman Kemba Walker, who matched a career high with 23 points as the top-seeded Huskies held off Missouri [...]

Allison Wood | The Gazette MEDINA — Just how tall were the “Giants of Seville”? It was the students’ job to find out. A life-size reproduction of a photo of Capt. Martin Van Buren Bates, who was 7-feet-9 inches tall, and his wife, Anna Swain Bates, who stood at 7-11, hung in the lobby of Heritage Elementary [...]

ELYRIA — The Elyria Schools will close two elementary schools, layoff 18 teachers as well as support staff and make other cuts to deal with anticipated budget deficits in the coming years, Superintendent Paul Rigda said. Rigda on Friday refused to name the schools that have been selected for closing. But the staff at [...]

ELYRIA — Miscommunication between Lorain County officials and Elyria’s Economic Development Department appears to have sunk the city’s efforts to win the chance to compete for a $650,000 state grant that would help ARNCO Corp. stay in Elyria. But Elyria Mayor Bill Grace said Friday he’s hopeful the county commissioners will reconsider their [...]

At least two Lorain churches plan to appeal their proposed fates under the massive restructuring plan announced March 14 by the Cleveland Catholic Diocese, which calls for the closing of nearly 30 churches and the merger of 41 more parishes with neighboring churches by June 2010. Friday was the deadline for Catholic parishes [...]