Lorain County appears poised to see a shift in its congressional representation under a Republican-backed redistricting plan set to be introduced to the Ohio House of Representatives today.

Sutton

As of Monday none of the area’s legislators — including state Rep. Matt Lundy, D-Elyria, who sits on the committee that will have to review the plan before it goes to the full House — had seen the plan.

But Lundy and others said the talk of Columbus has U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton, D-Copley Township, being pushed out of Lorain County and into a district that would pit her against U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci, R-Wadsworth, in the 2012 election.

Sutton’s current district runs from northeastern Lorain County through parts of Cuyahoga and Medina counties and into Summit County. Renacci’s District includes parts of Medina and Ashland counties and all of Stark and Wayne counties.

“While we haven’t seen a map, Betty Sutton is running because the stakes are at an all time high for the hard-working, middle-class people she has been fighting for and representing from Northeast Ohio,” Sutton’s spokesman, Anthony DeAngelo, said in a prepared statement. “She’s prepared for whatever lies ahead.”

U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo, who represents the remainder of Lorain County as well as Erie, Ottawa and part of Lucas counties, would see her current district pushed farther east into regions of Cuyahoga County now represented by U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Cleveland.

“If the idea is to put as many Democrats in one district as you can, this is how you do it,” Kaptur spokesman Steve Fought said.

Population shifts noted in the 2010 U.S. Census have required Ohio to trim its current 18-member congressional delegation down to 16 members. With Republicans in control of the state Legislature and all of the state’s executive offices the GOP has had full control over the process of redrawing districts.

“It will be bipartisan in that Democrats will be there,” said state Rep. Dan Ramos, D-Lorain. “We’ll be voting, but we won’t be drawing the lines. That will be done by the Republican leadership.”

No matter whose district Lorain County falls in, Ramos said he hopes the county will have a single representative in Washington.

“I would like to see our county more unified because we’ll have a better voice,” Ramos said.

Kaptur has said previously that she too believes Lorain County should be part of a single congressional district and Fought echoed that sentiment Monday.

The problem, he said, is that Republicans are looking to create solidly Republican and Democratic districts that effectively take the question of who will win in a November election out of the hands of voters.

“That’s what gerrymandering does, it cuts the middle out and draws districts to the extremes, to the left or right,” Fought said.

The conventional wisdom in Columbus and Washington is that Ohio will end up with 12 of its 16 congressional districts being in Republican hands.

Those are numbers that don’t sit well with Ramos, who is quick to point out that Ohio has a long history of being a presidential battleground because Republicans and Democrats are roughly equal in numbers in the state.

“I don’t think that we should be 75 percent of either party,” Ramos said.

State Rep. Terry Boose, R-Norwalk, and state Sen. Gayle Manning, R-North Ridgeville, said they haven’t seen the map of what the state’s new congressional districts will look like either.

Boose said he’d like to see the plan approved by the end of the week, although Lundy said he doesn’t think that will be long enough for the public to have a say in the new districts.

The idea, Lundy said, is to create the best possible districts for voters, not political parties. More discussion, he said, could lead to a better redistricting plan.

“I just think it’s a real disservice to the voters when we don’t provide competitive district,” he said.

Contact Brad Dicken at 329-7147 or bdicken@chroniclet.com.

ELYRIA — Former Elyria Councilman Herman Larkins allegedly pointed a shotgun at his 42-year-old stepson early Thursday evening, according to an Elyria police report.

Larkins was arrested and charged with aggravated menacing, a first-degree misdemeanor, and domestic violence, a fourth-degree misdemeanor, in connection with the incident.

Larkins made an initial appearance Friday morning at Elyria Municipal Court. He pleaded not guilty to both charges and was freed on personal recognizance.

As a condition of his bond, Larkins is to have no contact with the alleged victim, Joseph Wisher Jr., and he’s not allowed to possess a firearm. Larkins’ bond may be reduced if he undergoes a medical and psychological evaluation, according to court records.

Wisher, an Oberlin resident, told police he went over to the Larkins house on Middle Avenue for dinner. He said that when he tried to sit down at the table, Herman Larkins, 79, asked him why he was going to move his things on the table without permission and “that he better ask permission to sit down,” according to the report.

Wisher is the son of Larkins’ wife, June Larkins, from a previous relationship, the report said.

Wisher told police he asked Larkins if he could sit down, then Larkins said, “Sit down and shut up.” After a few minutes, Wisher said he was leaving and told Larkins, “You can’t talk to me like that.”

Larkins then got up from the table and got what Wisher said appeared to be a rifle from a closet, then pointed the weapon at Wisher’s head and told him to get out, Wisher told police.

Wisher told police he thought Larkins was going to kill him.

“I was already walking out of the house anyway,” Wisher said in an interview. “No one deserves to have a gun pointed in their face.”
Wisher said he had not been threatening Larkins before Larkins pulled out the gun.

“His life wasn’t on the line,” he said. “I didn’t threaten him. I didn’t curse at him.”

A family friend who witnessed the incident first told police Larkins pointed the gun at Wisher, but then later said Larkins only pulled the gun out of the closet but did not point it at his stepson, according to the police report.

June Larkins, 77, said she didn’t see anything, but Herman Larkins said she had been in the room at the time of the incident, according to the report.

Herman Larkins told police he and Wisher had been “kidding around” about items on the table, but it turned into a “serious exchange.” Larkins said Wisher said, “Let me tell you something!” He then asked Wisher to leave, and when Wisher would not, Larkins said he got out the gun and asked him to leave again. Larkins said he never pointed the gun directly at Wisher.

In a phone interview Friday, Larkins said he was defending himself from “a smart-mouthed man who I told to leave.”

“And I never pointed the gun at him,” he said. “I was going to use the gun to hit him if he came at me.”

According to the police report, Larkins said the gun was loaded but the safety was on. Police confiscated two guns from Larkins’ residence: a .22-caliber rifle taken from the closet next to the dining room, and a .410-caliber unloaded shotgun, taken from upstairs.

Larkins does not have a recent criminal record, and Elyria police Lt. Andy Eichenlaub said Larkins has never been a suspect in a previous crime.

“The only time he’s been a suspect is this week,” Eichenlaub said.

Larkins, who represented Elyria’s 5th Ward from 1996 to 2007, has a pretrial hearing scheduled for Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. in Elyria Municipal Court.

Contact Kiera Manion-Fischer at 329-7123 or kfischer@chroniclet.com.

LORAIN — A robbery of the First Federal Savings Bank of Lorain at East 42nd Street and state Route 57 is under investigation.

If you know this man, please contact Lorain police at 204-2105.

No one was injured in the robbery, which occurred at 3:35 p.m. Thursday.

Police Detective Steyven Curry said the robber was a white man who didn’t display a weapon.

Curry provided bank surveillance photos of the suspect, a white man in his 20s with a chin-length brown wig and a beard wearing a black shirt. Curry declined to give additional details on the heist.

“We don’t want to put too much out until we get leads,” he said.

This is not the first time the bank has been robbed.

On June 2, Lorain resident Robert Cruz was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for robbing the bank on Nov. 2 and for the Nov. 10 robbery of the First Place Bank near the Midway Mall in Elyria.

While detectives interviewed tellers inside the building, frustrated customer Betty Coleman of Lorain, who arrived after the robbery, said she was unable to cash a money order.

She said she usually banks at the Oberlin Avenue branch, and the last time she visited the East 42nd Street branch was just hours before it was robbed that day, too.

“I don’t know what made me come here today,” she said. “I was just in a hurry.”

Anyone with info on the robbery can contact Lorain police at 204-2105.

Contact Evan Goodenow at 329-7129 or egoodenow@chroniclet.com.

CLEVELAND — For all intents and purposes, the American League Central Division race is over.

Shelley Duncan, left, and Grady Sizemore can only watch from the dugout in the ninth inning Tuesday as the Tigers put the finishing touches on a 10-1 romp. The loss dropped the Indians 81⁄2 games behind the Tigers in the AL Central. (AP photo.)

The Detroit Tigers scored eight runs in the first two innings Tuesday night, then coasted home to a 10-1 destruction of the Indians.

With the loss, the Tribe fell 8½ games behind the division-leading Tigers with 23 left to play — meaning Motor City fans should immediately start saving their money for playoff tickets.

“As a team, we feel great right now. I’m not gonna lie to you,” said Detroit designated hitter Victor Martinez, who played for Cleveland from 2002-09. “Still, this is baseball, so you never take anything for granted. We have an 8½-game lead with 20-some games left, but we have to make sure we show up and keep playing the game the right way every day.”

Martinez had two hits, two runs and three RBIs as the Tigers won for the second straight day at Progressive Field. They have beaten the Indians six times in a row, dating back to Aug. 11, to take command of the Central.

Detroit shortstop Jhonny Peralta added two hits, one run and two RBIs despite being booed every time he came to the plate. Tribe fans never warmed to him during his 2003-10 stay in Cleveland, which included time at short and third base.

Martinez, however, was a fan favorite on the North Coast en route to making three AL All-Star teams. He memorably wept after being traded to Boston by the Indians on July 31, 2009, in exchange for Justin Masterson, Nick Hagadone and Bryan Price.

“The Indians have definitely earned a lot of respect around baseball this year,” said Martinez, who is hitting .325 with nine home runs and 85 RBIs in his first season with the Tigers. “They’ve been playing their butts off and have been battling the whole season. They’ve opened a lot of eyes, believe me.”

The 32-year-old Venezuelan remains close friends with Tribe shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera, but doesn’t talk baseball with him during the season because they are competitors. He said they keep their conversations focused on their families and off-field topics.

The other current Cleveland player Martinez is familiar with is pitcher Fausto Carmona, who was the victim of Detroit’s early onslaught. The right-hander gave up seven runs and eight hits in just 1 1/3 innings, allowing eight of the Tigers’ nine starters to reach base.

“I caught Fausto for a long time, but I didn’t have an idea what to expect,” Martinez said. “He seemed to leave some balls over the plate in the first inning.

“The thing about Fausto is he can come right back with a pitch to end the inning. He’s got very good pitches to use, but it just wasn’t there for him tonight.”

The Tigers, who trailed the Indians by eight games on May 3, now hold the largest division lead in the AL. That advantage could swell even more this afternoon when Detroit sends Cy Young Award favorite Justin Verlander to the mound against Masterson in the finale of the three-game series.

“This game is hard enough, so putting any pressure on yourself only makes it harder,” Martinez said, dismissing a suggestion the Tigers should be anxious to put the final nail in the Tribe’s coffin. “We’re just going to keep thinking about our next game. People can congratulate us at the end of the regular season if we deserve it, but not now.”

Contact Brian Dulik at brisports@hotmail.com.