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Our town endures the same problems that are reflective of our society on whole. However, what happened yesterday and the responsive actions of our safety forces, concerned citizens, citizen groups, and community leaders proved once again that Lakewood is a town with enormous heart and soul. I'm proud to say that I live in Lakewood, Ohio.
I just want to compliment the great job performed by all involved individuals and great coverage from all of those Lakewood Observers! You provided spellbinding, highly visual reporting throughout the entire ordeal.
Wow, LO is really coming of age after such humble beginnings.
Awesome job! It is comforting to know that I live in a community where there is so much concern for public safety.
However...
Jim O'Bryan wrote:After being placed behind lines, David and I took to some alleys I knew from the Alley Rally(August 16th this year). Crawling under some wires, and cutting through some bushes we found ourselves one house away from the hostage house.
I want to assure you what we did not do this without much thought and planning. Our thought was, if we do it, others can stay home. David and I both ave some history covering events, and understand what is foolish and not. When we realized we we in front of SWAT we fell back.
One amazing thing is, we have reached a number, where Observers are everywhere. When we started we couldn't get one to a meeting. Now we have 5 or more. Some meetings are nothing but members. This is not bad as we do not ask for mindless following of ideas. But it does give us amazing coverage of news and events that no one else can keep up with. The last three hostage situations had at least one Observer within a house or two. Last night while walking around, David and I ran into at least 10 other Observers.
Last night I was speaking with tech people and I think we have found a way to broadcast to the net live from these situations. This is really some groundbreaking stuff.
Thanks for the kind words, without people like you, it would not be as much fun.
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Jim O'Bryan
Lakewood Resident
"The very act of observing disturbs the system." Werner Heisenberg
"If anything I've said seems useful to you, I'm glad.
If not, don't worry. Just forget about it." His Holiness The Dalai Lama
Congrats to Lakewood's Finest, the SWAT and CERT for a job well done. Also, great reporting by the LO folks, as always.
On a professional note, a co-worker of mine in our CCBMRDD office this AM noted that someone from the city called her number because a client with a disability on her caseload was one of the folks evacuated and was concerned because he had a seizure disorder and would not be able to access his medications.
I am not sure how things worked out but I wonder if there is someone I can talk to in CERT or in City Hall to give some information on what to do if an emergency involves someone with a disability and no caregiver or assistance is available for them. CCBMRDD has 24 hour on-call person that is available to assist in these types of situations. I should get this number to someone in Lakewood Dept. of Human Services, or CERT or whomever. Any ideas who I should talk to about this? We were very impressed that someone took the time to call for this gent and would like to offer all the assistance we can for any similar situation that might arise in the future.
One of the first things the CERT volunteers asked was that people take their medications with them. It wasn't perfect and it's something we need to further examine.
I would suggest that this is information that needs to be provided to the Red Cross, Dept. of Human Services, Chief Mroz and info@certlakewood.com.
A couple of ladies didn't take their meds with them because they take them once a day and assumed that they would be back home before they needed to take the next dose. Obviously, most people were trying to get out of their homes in as swift a manner as possible.
But thanks for the information - and yes, thanks to the gentleman for providing feedback.
“One of they key problems today is that politics is such a disgrace. Good people don’t go into government.”- 45
I just happened to read the articles in the Observer about this incident. Kudos to all who handled the situation without anyone being harmed. That being said I have to moan about a couple of things.
I may be getting picky but when I was raised it was pounded into me that people get angry, animals go mad. A headline on page three says "Mad Avon Lake man...." Two things pop out. Obviously I disagree with referring to a human being as a mad man. Secondly, if a paper is going to print a headline that a person has mental problems, shouldn't they have a medical diagnosis first?
That and the front page headline both implied that it was an Avon Lake man that caused the problem. The article then goes on to say that this took place in the man's home. If it was his home, then he is not an Avon Lake man, he is a Lakewood resident. This strikes me as the paper being ashamed of our city. Hey, a Lakewood resident with problems caused a stand-off and Lakewood safety forces handled things well. Some people may say that the sky is falling because of this and other incidents but you will never convince them of anything different. This type of reporting only says that we don't want to present the facts as they occurred, we want to make it look like it was something other than it was.
Once credibilty as a newspaper goes it becomes extremely difficult to ever convince people that what is being reported is factual. Read the articles printed as if you were a casual Lakewood resident and ask yourself where the reporter's came up with the man being from Avon Lake. The headline made me think that a guy from Avon Lake drove into Lakewood and caused this situation.
PLEASE NOTE: Huge difference between Mad man and Madman. We also mad it clear the man did not drive in to Lakewood, that he had been "stashed" here in a home owned by his mother.
Let me answer a couple things you have brought up. Our original headlines were struck down by Advisers Steve Davis and Adviser/Lawyer Jeff Endress as being too inflammatory.
The paper usually goes to press at 4:00pm. This night we went until 4:00am working on the paper. The burning question... What is the proper and legal way to describe a person that causes 200 people to be removed from their home and lifestyle for twelve hours on a peaceful Saturday night? The call came in when the man was supposed to go to Lakewood Hospital for something to do with his "state" at the time. Refusing, the mother called the police to please help with her son, she was worried about what could happen if he did not get evaluated and his medicine.
Her son was "mad" at his mother and got even "madder" when police arrived. So the glass blowing son, opens a tank of propane, with tanks of oxygen in the room and threatens to blow up himself and police. Now we can argue if he thought he would take the block with him or not. But that is a pretty overt act from a person that understand extremely well what happens when propane and oxygen mixes. I would think both murder and suicide, and the possible harm to others would get a clinical revue and be referred to as something much tougher than "Mad." Then the man was finally brought out with gas, rubber bullets, then wood bullets then a tazzer which he ripped from his body, clawing, punching, and spitting at police officers. In the end we did not have education to call him insane, though it might have applied, crazy, or anything else. But his mother and police established "MAD" as his emotional state. So we felt very comfortable using it. He was a male, so Mad man was used. Please note you are reading it wrong, it was not Madman, it was Mad man, very, very different from what you are implying.
Through the ordeal was one burning question, "Why did a mother have to come from Avon Lake to open the house" It was then we learned that there had been trouble in her home with her son and he was moved to Lakewood, to be given, er ah, er space. Also he would be close to the hospital. I do not know about you, but Ken and I have worked on a number of stories about "troubled" people being housed here, by schools(not Lakewood's), family members and the military. I personally want it known and realized that some Lakewood's residents do not appreciate us being the dumping ground for anyone or anything that causes chaos. The last three of four standoffs no were all from people outside the city coming in. I think this is very important for Lakewoodites to understand. That these acts could happen anywhere.
As I worked each standoff, high tension, possible danger, and the police and SWAT risking their lives to end these peacefully, the neighbors all huddle around speaking of time to move, this is crazy, our little street. I feel it is important to let neighbors and residents understand. This can happen anywhere and for some reason, most happen are from outsiders. Two from Avon Lake in the last 12 months.
While it is very easy to sit around and second guess, as we all do. I have to say once again the Observer kicked these stories around as much as any others would in the press, probably more.
When the call went out it was her son was that was now living her in Lakewood home was mad about going to see the doctor."
Ken's article that used the term "madmen" he was referring to the other standoffs, where the one Avon Laker, threatened a neighborhood, and committed suicide via police, or the man that grabbed a baby, left it in a running car in the middle of the street with doors open and running, went back in to kill mother and himself. I think Ken's description was accurate.
I hold our facts to be correct. Certainly much more correct than other media in the city. We know how accurate they get stories, Jeff Endress is writing a story about that, based on one long running news story that most never got right.
To save money and get the paper turned around in a timely fashion we book our time at the printer's a year in advance. This is a contract that makes us not only commit to 25 issues, but what time they appear at the printer. The Observer's meter was turning at a rate of about $1.66 a minute as we mulled over the stories to make sure they were as correct as we could get them. Not only money but the effort took away from the very things the Observer was hoping to launch.
While the Observer is volunteer, it is hardly amatuer. While it is not a daily, we take "the news" very seriously. We also take Lakewood very seriously, our past, future and current events.
Now a simple question for you. As a retired policeman, and a damn good cop when on the force, and fine Lakewoodite. What happens to a person that attmepts suicide? What about when they threaten to kill others? Where do they go? Where do they stay?
Thanks for the note.
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Jim O'Bryan
Lakewood Resident
"The very act of observing disturbs the system." Werner Heisenberg
"If anything I've said seems useful to you, I'm glad.
If not, don't worry. Just forget about it." His Holiness The Dalai Lama
As a retired special education teacher, I can tell you that some of the same laws that helped our special-needs population also limited the time that many needful people were able to spend in institutions.
After P.L. 94-142 passed in 1975, there were many changes regarding the rights of challenged people. The thought was that they would no longer be warehoused in those institutions, but would have the right to reintegrate into society, with the degree of productivity that they were able to achieve, and to do so without fear of recrimination or prejudice.
A by-product of this thinking was that- financially, the support for institutionalized people dried up like figs on a vine. Thousands were put out on the street without medical or social safety nets; with the resultant social problems immediately being evident. Add to that, the drugs and alcohol issues springing from the '60's, and you begin to see where the homeless and societal situations began to spiral out of control.
A well-intended concept meant to bring people back to the mainstream, ended up falling well short of its goals.
Many of these people indeed, became productive citizens; particularly when they were given access to proper medical care and social services.
Unfortunately, all of this became a political issue, and therefore, the problems continue. As usual, it is the poor, alienated and suffering who bear the brunt of our societally intransigent inconsistancies.
Thanks for the note. It always makes me think. If we had not spent a half of trillion bombing Afghanistan back to the stone age, all Americans could have proper health care. This also underlines that "health care" for all, only makes sense. What was the cost to the city for these three/four SWAT calls?
As you know from the last discussion over Kenny. It is nearly impossible to know or understand what is going through someone else's mind. All we can do is try. This could have been a number of things. It could be as simple as a man tired of his mother telling him what to do. In this day and age, maybe he wanted to see the world and feel the world again, instead of the dulling of being medicated. It might have been white coat fever, where he suffers anxiety while in a doctor's office, who knows.
I remember a Chinese meal I shared with a mentally handicapped man I had the pleasure of going to school with since 2nd grade. My fellow Alum like many used to stop by my porch for lemonades or ice tea, and just talk. The conversation would go from dancing with sally at square dancing, to the lack of courtesy from other drivers while driving. From washing dishes to politics. This night while we ate, he kept staring at something under the table. Finally at the end of the meal I asked him what had him so preoccupied. From under the table he pulled out one grain of white rice. He had been rolling it in his fingers the whole time and looking at it. He asked, "Do you ever think of rice?" I had to admit that I almost never thought of rice. His answer was, "I do."
As we left I started to wonder. What was he thinking of that rice. That it is little? That it was white? That it could feed the world? That he had a plan to feed the world? Or that it had been delivered to him through String theory dynamics or Membrane Theory from the outer reaches of physics. In the end we will never know, I have asked since and he told me he does not remember the incident, but he likes rice. That night my friend was very happy. The other night the glass blowing artist was very mad. This I know for a fact.
Thanks again for everything you bring to this.
.
Jim O'Bryan
Lakewood Resident
"The very act of observing disturbs the system." Werner Heisenberg
"If anything I've said seems useful to you, I'm glad.
If not, don't worry. Just forget about it." His Holiness The Dalai Lama
