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📢 Local Events from Mentor & the Area: MentorLocalBuzz.com/Events!

📰 Local News: 🎤 Deepwood Idol Returns to Mentor Cityfest Next Weekend

🖼️ Chalkfest Brings Sidewalk Art and an All-Ages Workshop to Downtown Willoughby Today

🦟 Lake County Mosquito Treatments Scheduled for Aug. 10–13

🍽️ Dinner Rescue: What’s for Dinner Tonight

🏈 Mentor Cardinals Get Early Test Against St. Edward

⚾ Sports: ⚾ Martínez Grand Slam Helps Guardians Close Gap in AL Central

⚾ Captains’ Slide Continues as Roster Turnover Reshapes Lake County

🤔 Trivia Question

🤣 Something Funny

Contact Mentor Local Buzz - [email protected] - 440-256-6115

Deepwood Idol returns to Mentor Cityfest on Saturday, Aug. 15, bringing 13 performers to the main stage for an afternoon of singing, dancing, comedy and music.

The free event runs from 1 to 2:30 p.m. at the Mentor Cityfest amphitheater. This marks the 14th year for Deepwood Idol and its fifth year as part of Cityfest.

The competition gives individuals eligible for services through the Lake County Board of Developmental Disabilities/Deepwood an opportunity to perform before a large community audience. About half of this year’s finalists are participating for the first time, according to Community Relations Director Ashley Cozzens.

Returning performers include 2025 Deepwood Idol winner Charlotte Daprano, who earned last year’s title with a performance of “True Colors.”

Matt “The Voice” Herman and two-time Deepwood Idol champion Tanisha Carlgren will serve as co-emcees. Students from Broadmoor School’s Early Intervention and Preschool Programs will help open the event with the National Anthem, while the Special Olympics Deepwood Dance Team will perform as judges tally the contestants’ scores.

For Cityfest visitors, the show offers a free chance to support local performers while experiencing one of Lake County’s longest-running celebrations of talent and inclusion.

👉🏻 Want to know who’s performing and what to expect during the show? We’ve got the full finalist lineup, event schedule and Deepwood Idol background on the website.

Downtown Willoughby becomes an outdoor art gallery today, Saturday, Aug. 8, for the 6th Annual Willoughby Chalkfest, hosted by the Willoughby Arts Collaborative.

Chalkfest begins at 10 a.m. and gives visitors a chance to watch artists create colorful works directly on downtown sidewalks and mural spaces. This year's theme is “Texture,” and featured artist Madyson Sinkovic, a Cleveland-based illustrator, will be part of the day's festivities.

Visitors who want to try chalk art themselves can attend Sinkovic's Chalk Workshop: Exploring Color Theory from 3:30–5 p.m. next to the Masonic Temple at 40 Public Square. The workshop costs $10, is open to all ages and skill levels, and covers color theory, layering and creative chalk techniques. WAC says participants can register in advance or at its booth today.

One planning note: official listings currently disagree on whether the main Chalkfest activities end at 3 or 4 p.m. Visitors arriving later in the afternoon may want to confirm with WAC.

Chalkfest also coincides with Last Stop Willoughby, with a market, Kid Zone, nonprofit displays, library activities and a 2 p.m. parade scheduled downtown today.

Heading downtown? Our full guide has the workshop details, today's Last Stop Willoughby schedule and the key timing note to know before you go.

Several Lake County communities are on the mosquito-treatment schedule this week, although weather and mosquito activity could change those plans.

Weather permitting, the Lake County General Health District plans to treat Concord 15A on Monday, Aug. 10, as a makeup from an earlier rainout. Concord 15B and Willoughby Hills are scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 11. No treatment is currently listed for Wednesday, and Madison 10A is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 13.

The Health District uses mosquito trap counts, resident complaints and an area's past history to determine where treatment is warranted. The program is intended to reduce mosquito populations and the risk of mosquito-borne illnesses, including West Nile virus.

A scheduled treatment is not guaranteed to happen. Spraying can be delayed or canceled because of winds above 15 mph, at least a 50% chance of rain, temperatures below 55 degrees, mosquito counts below treatment thresholds, mechanical problems or air-quality conditions.

Because the schedule can change daily, residents can confirm the latest plans through the Health District's 24-hour treatment hotline at 440-350-2088 or 440-918-2088.

👉🏻 Want to know whether your neighborhood is inside a treatment area, why a scheduled spray might be skipped and what the Health District recommends for reducing mosquito bites? We have those details on the Local Buzz website.

When the house already feels warm, dinner can become one more problem nobody wants to solve.

Turning on the oven is out. Standing over the stove is not much better. Takeout is tempting, but it gets expensive fast.

This week’s Dinner Rescue starts with a shortcut worth embracing: store-bought rotisserie chicken.

Rotisserie Chicken Caprese Pasta Salad turns that ready-to-eat chicken into a fresh, substantial dinner with pasta, tomatoes, mozzarella and basil. The only real cooking is boiling the pasta, and that can happen earlier in the day when the kitchen is cooler. Make it ahead, chill it until dinner and adjust portions easily for people who prefer fewer tomatoes, less basil or extra chicken.

For an evening when even a pot of pasta feels like too much, Turkey, Avocado and Bacon Ranch Wraps are the easier call. Layer sliced turkey, avocado, cooked bacon, crisp vegetables and ranch in tortillas, then roll and serve. If everyone likes something different, set out the fillings and let each person build a wrap.

Trying to choose? Make the pasta salad when everyone is eating around the same time and you want dinner already waiting in the refrigerator. Choose the wraps when schedules are staggered, appetites vary or nobody wants a sit-down production.

To lower the cost, shredded everyday cheese can replace fresh mozzarella in the pasta salad, while leftover cooked chicken can stand in for deli turkey in the wraps.

And think beyond tonight: extra pasta salad makes an easy cold lunch, while leftover wrap fillings can become tomorrow’s sandwich, salad or another wrap.

Dinner does not have to be hot to feel complete. Sometimes the smartest summer meal is the one that keeps the kitchen—and the evening—cool.

Mentor’s football team got its first live preseason test Aug. 7 against St. Edward, using the scrimmage to evaluate a young roster rather than focus on the score.

The teams traded 10-play series before playing a half of game-style action, which St. Edward won, 28-14. Mentor coach Matt Gray said the goal is steady improvement as the Cardinals replace several key players from last season, including all five starting offensive linemen.

After a slow start, Mentor settled in. Senior quarterback Brogan Jones connected with Logan Berwald for a 26-yard touchdown and later found Jeremiah Claridy for an 8-yard score. Ryan Orsog and Braylon Callahan shared carries, while Paddy Coyne and Cameron Deitrick contributed in the passing game.

Defensively, Kenny Hamilton helped anchor a young unit facing a strong early test. Gray said the experience should help the Cardinals improve in practice.

Mentor scrimmages Chardon next before opening the regular season Aug. 21 against Olmsted Falls.

Source: The News-Herald, reporting by John Kampf.

Angel Martínez delivered the biggest night of his career Friday, helping the Cleveland Guardians snap a three-game losing streak and gain ground in the AL Central.

Martínez drove in a career-high six runs, including a grand slam in the fifth inning, as Cleveland beat the first-place Chicago White Sox 8-2. The win moved the Guardians within two games of Chicago in the division race.

Martínez put Cleveland ahead with a two-run single in the first and then broke the game open four innings later. With the bases loaded, he drove the first pitch he saw to center field for his third career grand slam.

Steven Kwan added a solo homer, while Austin Hedges contributed an RBI single.

Parker Messick gave the Guardians exactly what they needed after being swept by the Mets. The All-Star left-hander worked seven innings, allowing four hits and two solo home runs while striking out eight and walking one. It was his first victory since July 10.

Chicago has now lost four straight and five of six, giving Cleveland an opportunity to keep applying pressure in the division.

The series continues Saturday with Joey Cantillo scheduled to face Davis Martin.

Source: See the highlights at espn.com

The Lake County Captains’ recent slide continued Friday night as Lansing erupted for eight runs in the fifth inning and rolled to a 13-2 victory.

Lake County actually started well. Jace LaViolette hit his 18th home run in the first inning, and starter Harrison Bodendorf kept the Lugnuts scoreless through four.

Then the game changed quickly.

Lansing scored eight times in the fifth, including a three-run homer by Pedro Pineda. Bodendorf finished after 4⅔ innings and was charged with five runs on five hits, while the bullpen was unable to stop Lansing from adding on.

Welbyn Francisca homered in the ninth for Lake County’s other run.

The loss was the Captains’ fourth straight and eighth in their last 10 games, dropping them to 17-21 in the second half and 4½ games behind East-leading Great Lakes.

But this is also a much different Captains team from the one that was rolling a few weeks ago.

A wave of promotions has moved several of Lake County’s top performers to Double-A Akron, including Nolan Schubart, Aaron Walton and Dean Curley — three hitters who each produced an OPS above .900 with the Captains. Other key players have moved up as well as Cleveland continues advancing prospects through its system.

That roster turnover helps explain why Lake County has less margin for error, although pitching problems and damaging innings have also contributed to the recent skid.

The Captains get another opportunity Saturday night in Lansing.

👉🏻 Why has the season changed so quickly? On the Local Buzz website, we look at the major roster turnover, the production Lake County lost, the pitching issues that remain and what the recent slide means for the playoff race.

🐝 Buzz Fact: Some vegetables actually become brighter and more appealing after a very brief cooking step followed by rapid cooling. Basically, vegetables figured out the secret to looking refreshed: get hot, panic briefly, then lie down somewhere cold.
Answer: Google

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