The Elyria Little League Junior softball all-stars defeated the team from the Philippines 13-1 today in a mercy-rule shortened five-inning game to advance to the semi-finals on Friday as No. 1 in the pool.

That game will play at 4:45 p.m. in the Junior World Series in Kirland, Wash.

WELLINGTON — For the last 30 years, Boy Scouts Troop 414 out of Wellington has parked cars outside of the county fair’s main gate to help fund summer camps and other activities.

This year, don’t be surprised if their familiar brown uniforms are nowhere to be seen when you pull in.

That’s because the company that owns the parking lot, T.A.P.E. Inc., has handed most of the parking duties for fair week over to its employees.

“This year they’re letting employees park cars because of the economy,” Scout Master Darrell French said. “My understanding is they’re letting them keep the money to supplement their income because of all the cuts they’ve made. The 4-H club the owner’s son belongs to is also parking one day.”

The Boy Scouts will only park cars Friday, Saturday and Sunday of fair week for $3 per vehicle. In years past the group has made between $4,000 and $5,000 from the venture, using the money to send kids to Boy Scout camp, which costs $210 per kid, as well as toward the general operating budget.

“This year it will be substantially less, but we’ll make do,” French said.

The Wellington troop will also be helping Troop 307 out of Lorain pick up garbage around the fair all week. The Lorain scouts are one of a handful of groups the fair board provides with dona-tions in exchange for services during fair week, which board Director Brian Twining said helps everyone.

“We have very special relationships with a lot of these groups so it’s great that we can all help each other out,” he said.
A few weeks ago ,the board was considering cancelling the morning parking services it typically offers in its own parking lots, a service currently performed by people who work for the fair, until the Wellington Cross Country team asked if they could park the cars for a donation.

“We’ll test this out and see how it works,” Twining said. “Instead of hiring individuals in the parking lot maybe we’ll get groups in to do it.”

Other civic groups that receive donations from the fair in exchange for services include the Black River Fullbackers Club, a group out of Sullivan, Ohio, that helps the Black River schools football programs and run the shuttle services at the parking lots; Kiwanis, which takes tickets in the grandstand; the women’s friendship sorority, Beta Sigma Phi, which seats people in the grand-stand; and a woman from Elms Retirement Village, who provides people with wheelchairs as they come into the fair.

Contact Adam Wright at 329-7129 or awright@chroniclet.com.

LORAIN — Several dozen members of the media and politicians from Lorain and around Lorain County were aboard this morning for the maiden voyage of Jet Express IV.

U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton, who helped cut the ribbon for the new boat, said it was “a day of great potential here in Lorain.”

The Jet Express is one more answer to a question our region has been asking for a while, she said: “What can we do to better take advantage of this great asset we have here in Lake Erie?”

Lorain Mayor Tony Krasienko stressed that the arrival of the Jet Express is part of a waterfront effort that began two decades ago if not longer with the removal of the pellet terminal, the creation of Black River Landing, cleanup of the Black River and revitalization of Broadway.

He said the Jet Express is not just for Lorain but will be “a regional draw” and thanked mayors and city managers in attendance from cities around the county.

Lorain Port Authority Executive Director Rick Novak has worked for more than a year to bring the Jet Express.

“This is a day of accomplishment and also a day of opportunity for all of us on Lorain’s north coast,” he said.

U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton and Lorain Mayor Tony Krasienko are among those who helped cut the ribbon this morning as Jet Express IV was launched. (Photo by Rona Proudfoot, The Chronicle-Telegram.)

Jet Express IV’s maiden voyage wasn’t to the islands, where it will head Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays starting tomorrow, but out Lorain harbor and down the coast of Lake Erie on the city’s East Side. The boat turned around near the Avon Lake power plant and returned.

Read Friday’s Chronicle for more on the Jet Express, and check back at Chroniclet.com for a video of the boat ride once it becomes available.

According to the Jet Express Web site:

The Jet Express will offer a narrated day-trip cruise to Kelleys Island and Put-in-Bay Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The boat will depart Lorain at 9:45 a.m. and depart Put-in-Bay at 7:30 p.m. and Kelleys Island at 7:50 p.m. each day.

The cruise to Kelleys Island is approximately 29 miles long, will take around 45 minutes, feature a narrated cruise and cost $26 each way for adults, $5 each way for kids 6 to 12 and will be free for kids 5 and under.

The cruise to Put-in-Bay is approximately 37 miles long, will take around an hour, feature a narrated cruise and cost $29 each way for adults, $6 each way for kids 6 to 12 and will be free for kids 5 and under.

Tickets are available onboard the Jet Express IV at the Black River Landing in Lorain or at any Jet Express ticket office (Port Clinton, Sandusky, Kelleys Island & Put-in-Bay). More information can be found on the Jet Express Web site or by calling 1-800-245-1538.

Contact Rona Proudfoot at 329-7124 or rproudfoot@chroniclet.com.

The Jet Expresss IV. (Photo by Rona Proudfoot, The Chronicle-Telegram.)

ELYRIA — A fire last night damaged three empty construction trailers in Elyria.

The call about the fire came in at 10:57 p.m., according to Elyria Assistant Fire Chief Bob Dempsey.

The three trailers, which were owned by Sommers Mobile Leasing, were being stored in the rear of a business at 200 Warden Ave.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, Dempsey said. He estimated damage to all three trailers as $35,000.

Sommers, which owns Pikewood Manor near Midway Mall, specializes in modular buildings, mobile offices and storage containers, according the the business’ Web site.