INDEPENDENCE - The Cavaliers now have had both Graham twins under contract. Cleveland signed swingman Joey Graham to a two-year, $2.1 million contract Friday, with the team holding the option for the second year of the deal. Graham, 28, is the twin brother of Stephen Graham, who played for the Cavaliers in 2005-06. Joey Graham was signed with [...]

MEDINA — A judge refused Friday to lower the $1 million bond set for a Medina man accused of poisoning and killing his wife in February 2009. Dennis Auerswald, 60, was the subject of a 1½-year investigation into the death of his wife, Maureen Auerswald, who was 60 when she died. Dennis Auerswald was arrested June [...]

By Kristen Jordan Shamus, Detroit Free Press

DETROIT — If Annelise Woitulewicz doesn’t inspire you to get off the couch and get moving, who could?

The 43-year-old Taylor, Mich., mom competed in her first triathlon, the Trek Women’s Triathlon in Monroe. She swum half a mile in Lake Erie, biked 12 miles through Sterling State Park and then ran 3.6 miles.

Impressive enough. But what makes it incredible is that just six months ago, Woitulewicz was 90 pounds heavier and couldn’t run for five minutes on a treadmill.

And only nine years ago, she was fighting breast cancer, which was followed by a cascade of other medical problems including a suspicious mass on her ovaries that led to a full hysterectomy, and another along her cranial nerve that resulted in a loss of hearing in her right ear as well as vertigo and balance problems. Woitulewicz also had surgery on both her feet because of nerve problems.

With each diagnosis, she became less active and, as the years passed, the weight piled on until she realized how unhealthy she’d become.

“I think a lot of people, we have this all-or-nothing attitude,” said Woitulewicz, whose kids are 16, 19 and 20. “We say, ‘If I’m not doing anything, I might as well just eat.’

“Balance has been a huge issue for me. I let it get in the way of doing things because I’m afraid of falling, and I started using it as an excuse. I didn’t see myself as heavy; I was in denial.”

Woitulewicz, who works as the technology director for Summit Academy Schools in Flat Rock and Romulus, finally saw herself for the person she’d become: out of shape and uncomfortable in her own skin.

“I started working out with a trainer at the YMCA in Southgate. My goal was to be able to walk in and do any class and not feel uncomfortable. I wanted to take yoga and kickboxing and not feel like I was too big or didn’t know what I was doing. I got really active.”

But getting in shape was slow at first. She accomplished it by creating small goals for herself.
The first one was to run for five minutes.

“I watch ‘The Biggest Loser’ and they all got on the treadmill and ran for five minutes, and I said, ‘If they can do it, why can’t I do it?’ I don’t understand why I can’t do it. I did three minutes, and my lungs were whistling. I did three minutes, and we stopped and I was disappointed.

“My trainer said, ‘Annelise, you ran today,’ ” reminding her that being able to run at all—even if only for three minutes—was an accomplishment.

By the end of March, she met her five-minute goal. And then, she discovered she could go even longer.

“One day, I was out with my timer, and … I thought I’ve gone this far, I’m just going to keep going. When I looked at my watch and it was 18 minutes. I was pretty proud.”

She ran her first 5k in May; her first triathlon in July; and Woitulewicz is signed up to run a half marathon Oct. 17 in the Detroit Free Press event.

“I can do anything I put my mind to do,” she said. “I know that and I preach that and I tell everyone I won’t ever let myself say I can’t do anything.”

She’s incorporated healthy eating habits into her regimen as well.

“I just make it count,” she said. “I eat whole real foods, and stay away from processed. It’s portion control.”

Woitulewicz says that she’d like to drop another 40 pounds, but that she’s trying not to make this lifestyle change only about the numbers on the scale.

“My goal is to be fit and healthy and strong. I may not be able to run fast, but I can run. And I can wear a tank top and I can feel proud because I have muscles.”

The clothes, that’s an added perk.

“I went shopping and I bought a cute little dress, and it’s a size I haven’t worn in a long time. I was darned proud to be wearing a 14. My wedding dress was a size 16.”

What girl can’t relate to that? A healthy body as well as a new wardrobe. Time to lace up my sneakers.

McClatchy-Tribune

Got a kid who’s turning up his nose at everything except chicken nuggets and plain noodles? Well, those food, and lots more healthy items, will be played with and consumed when you serve lunch on the food face plate.

The plate from Worldwide Fred has a bald, plain, pink face on it. On it, noodles become hair, pickles are noses, and broccoli becomes a beard. It’s a great way to get your picky eater to enjoy his dinner. Whatever you’re eating, he can use it to make a funny (and appetizing!) face.

The plate is ceramic, so if you kid is very young (or training for the discus toss), you might want to hold off.

Only one per box, $9.99. Check it out at www.worldwidefred.com.

GRAFTON TWP. — A 12-year-old Grafton boy is in good condition after being transported to a Cleveland hospital Thursday night following a go-cart accident, according to a Medina General Hospital spokeswoman. According to the Ohio Highway Patrol, James Mulkey, 12, was pulling his go cart out of a field and attempting to go south on Neff [...]

Recipe courtesy Guy Fieri of the Food Network

Prep Time:

25 min

Inactive Prep Time:

–

Cook Time:

5 min

Level:

Easy

Serves:

24 taquitos

 

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 large red onion, diced

• 1 red bell pepper, julienned

• 2 jalapenos, diced and seeded

• 2 medium red potatoes, diced into 1/2-inch cubes

• 2 tablespoons minced garlic

• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch strips

• 1 tablespoon dried oregano

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

• Salt and pepper

• 3 ounces your favorite tequila

• 1 lime, juiced

• 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro leaves

• 24 corn tortillas

Directions

Guacamole, recipe follows

Tomatillo Salsa, recipe follows

In medium saute pan over medium to high heat, add oil, onions, red bell peppers, jalapeno pepper, potatoes, garlic and chicken. Saute until chicken is cooked and vegetables are soft. Add the oregano and cumin and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Deglaze with tequila and the lime juice and let simmer until liquid is almost evaporated.

Remove from heat. Shred the chicken with 2 forks and let cool. Stir in the cilantro.

Wrap tortillas in paper towels and microwave for 2 minutes to make tortillas pliable. Place about 4 tablespoons of chicken mixture on 1 tortilla, roll tightly and close with a toothpick.

In large cast iron skillet, heat 1/2-inch of canola oil to 350 degrees F.

Add rolls to hot oil, placing toothpick seam down. Cook for 2 minutes or until golden brown and turn to other side.

Remove and drain on paper towel. Remove toothpicks and serve with guacamole and salsa.

Guacamole:

3 ripe avocados, peeled and seeded

1 jalapeno, seeded, minced

1/4 cup diced red onion

1/4 cup diced tomato

1/2 bottle of your favorite beer

4 tablespoons sour cream

1 lime, juiced

Small handful cilantro leaves, about 1/4 cup

Salt and pepper

Place all ingredients in a blender and puree.

Tomatillo Salsa:

8 fresh tomatillos

Olive oil

1/2 cup diced red onion

1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons diced tomato

1/4 cup water

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon chopped cilantro leaves

1 tablespoon white vinegar

2 tablespoons hot sauce

Salt and pepper

2 tablespoons sour cream

Rub tomatillos with oil; grill until browned all over.

Place the tomatillos in a blender with remaining ingredients and puree. Season with salt and pepper. Top with sour cream and chopped tomatoes and serve.

Yield: about 3 cups

 

To say motocross is Mario Testa’s life would be an understatement. The Lodi resident has turned what was once a recreational activity in his backyard into nothing short of a career. “It used to be recreation and just riding around the backyard,” Testa said. “It’s a hobby sport, but it’s a kind of a job. I [...]

By ALAN FRAM and CHRISTINE ARMARIO

 Associated Press 

MIAMI - For Hispanics in America, the ravaged economy has been a personal nightmare. While the stubborn downturn has rocked the country, an extensive Associated Press-Univision poll of the nation’s Hispanics fleshes out the disproportionate toll on the fastest-growing minority group.

Nearly half or more express intense worry over losing their jobs, paying bills or saving for college, and similar numbers say they or a relative were unemployed recently - all of it worse than the general population’s experience.

“There’s nothing stable,” said Alberto Alvarez, 49, a Cuban immigrant and construction worker in Miami. “Today there’s a job. Tomorrow there’s another. And the next, there’s nothing.”

More than 1,500 Latinos were interviewed for the poll, which was conducted as the nation’s unemployment rate hovered near 10 percent and the economy struggled to recover from the worst recession since the Great Depression.

Hispanics are particularly vulnerable because they are less educated, have lower incomes and are likelier to be new to the United States than other groups.

The AP-Univision survey, also sponsored by The Nielsen Company and Stanford University, underscores how the those forces have combined to hit home for many Latinos. Six in 10 said it’s hard for them to get ahead financially these days, including over one-quarter who said it’s very tough.

Forty-five percent said they or a relative have lost a job since September, compared with 30 percent of the overall population who said yes to a similar question in an AP-GfK Poll in May.

In addition, 39 percent of Latinos, many facing financial woes, said someone in their family had skipped a doctor’s visit recently despite thinking they needed attention. Thirty-one percent of the general population said they had foregone care when asked that same question last fall in an AP poll.

As a group, Hispanics seem more intensely shaken than others by the economic problems they face.

According to the survey, 57 percent worry a lot about being unable to pay bills - well above the 34 percent of the entire population who said that in the May AP-GfK Poll. Forty-eight percent of Hispanics said they worry greatly about becoming unemployed - double the overall population’s concern.

And more than 4 in 10 Hispanics express extreme worry over medical expenses, being unable to afford college and missing credit card and mortgage payments - in each case exceeding the general population’s angst.

“We’d have to get rid of our home, our car” to afford major medical expenses, said Teresa Quintero, 59, of South Gate, Calif., who sells real estate and says she has no health coverage. “How else are you going to pay a medical bill?”

Hispanics have been hit hard economically because they tend to be heavily represented in blue-collar jobs such as manufacturing and construction, which saw bigger job losses during the recession, said Rakesh Kochhar, associate director for research at the Pew Hispanic Center. Fewer Hispanics work in industries such as health, education or the government, which have fared better during the downturn.

“They are now being disproportionately hurt due to the crash in the construction and housing sector,” Kochhar said, noting that Hispanics also benefited from the housing boom earlier in the decade. “They’ve ridden the roller coaster more than others.”

About 1 in 3 Hispanics said they have to cover their own health expenses, without insurance. As if they need another burden, about 1 in 6 said they send money to someone in another country nearly every month or more frequently.

“The personal experience really shoots that fear level higher than it might be for the average American” who doesn’t directly face financial hardship, said Gabriel R. Sanchez, a political science professor at the University of New Mexico who focuses on Hispanics.

Despite all the economic gloom, Hispanics are remarkably positive about their own situations. A majority say it has been easier for them to find jobs than it was for their parents. When it comes to raising a family and buying a home, on balance Hispanics say things are better now than they were for previous generations.

Half of the respondents said they owned their own home. And most Hispanics say they believe it will be easier for their children when it’s time for them to get jobs and buy homes.

Just under half of those surveyed said they were born in the U.S., and the poll showed they are faring better than Hispanic immigrants. Those from abroad expressed far more worry about jobs, bills, college savings and other expenses, with similar gaps between predominantly Spanish- and English-speaking Latinos, and between non-citizens and citizens.

Those same divisions exist when it comes to borrowing money. Hispanics born in the U.S., and those who speak mostly English with their families, expressed more comfort with long-term debt like mortgages than did those born abroad or who usually speak Spanish.

The AP-Univision Poll was conducted from March 11 to June 3 by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. Using a sample of Hispanic households provided by The Nielsen Company, 1,521 Hispanics were interviewed in English and Spanish, mostly by mail but also by telephone and the Internet. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Stanford University’s participation in the study was made possible by a grant from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Associated Press Polling Director Trevor Tompson and AP News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius contributed to this report. Alan Fram reported from Washington.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

Mario Testa won’t be the only Medina County resident racing this upcoming week at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch in Tennessee. Brunswick’s Josh Lord will be making the trip to Hurricane Mills, beating out over 2,000 hopefuls to earn one of the 1,386 qualifying spots for the 29th Annual AMA Amateur National Motocross Championships. The event will run [...]

WADSWORTH — What once was an area staple for Medina County cross country teams now is just a distant memory. Directors of the Medina County Meet decided Thursday to cancel this year’s meet for financial reasons, ending a 33-year run for the invitational. The meet, which was scheduled for Aug. 28 at Memorial Park, had been losing [...]