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

📰 Local News: 🚧 Overnight Sewer Work Begins at Center Street and Johnnycake Ridge Road

🐷 Lake County 4-H Auction Sets $606,000 Record

📰 Lake Humane Society Expands Support for Dogs at County Shelter

🏠 The Home Front: The Small Home Changes That Give You Time Back

⚾ Sports: ⚾ Captains Need Near-Perfect Final Week Against Great Lakes

🏐🏃🏻‍♂️ Mentor Runners Take Second at HOKA; Volleyball Sweeps Kenston

🤔 Trivia Question

🤣 Something Funny

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

Drivers using Center Street and Johnnycake Ridge Road should prepare for overnight lane closures which actually started last night, August 31, as utility work gets underway at the Mentor intersection.

According to the City of Mentor, construction is scheduled from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. During those hours, the traffic signals will flash red in all directions and a police officer will direct vehicles through the intersection.

The city says normal daytime traffic patterns will be restored each morning after the overnight work concludes.

The project is expected to take approximately two weeks, including pavement restoration. Mentor has not provided an exact completion date or details on which lanes will be affected on individual nights.

The work comes less than two weeks after Lake County commissioners approved plans and an estimated $412,357 cost for a 3,247-foot sanitary sewer extension along Center Street/SR 615 intended to serve the Bolton development — a project Local Buzz reported on earlier this month.

However, Mentor’s August 31 construction notice does not specifically identify the overnight work at Center Street and Johnnycake Ridge Road as that Bolton sewer extension, so Local Buzz is not treating the connection as confirmed.

Drivers traveling through the intersection overnight should allow extra time, watch for changing lane conditions and follow the officer directing traffic.

👉🏻 We’ve taken a closer look at what drivers can expect over the next two weeks — along with how this work fits into the recent sewer activity along Center Street and what remains unconfirmed.

Sources: City of Mentor; Lake County Board of Commissioners records; previous Mentor Local Buzz reporting.

Months of work by young Lake County exhibitors turned into a record-setting afternoon at this summer’s Lake County Fair.

The Aug. 1 4-H Livestock Auction generated about $606,000, an all-time high and a roughly 41% increase from the $430,000 raised in 2025, according to Lake County officials.

Among this year’s standouts was Ariana Hansen, whose 258-pound hog earned Grand Champion honors. Commissioner Morris Beverage III purchased the animal for $51 per pound. County officials said Hansen had been communicating about her project since early March — a glimpse of how much work takes place before an animal ever reaches the fair.

Other Grand Champion exhibitors included Kiera DeFranco with chickens, Mason VanPelt with ducks, Marc Ball with turkeys, Quinn Doles with beef and a goat, and Grayson Bezdek with a lamb. Detailed auction results put the final sale total at $605,934.

For these young exhibitors, fair week is the finish line of a much longer project. Ohio 4-H says animal projects can involve daily care, record keeping, managing expenses, decision-making and preparing an animal for showmanship — skills that stretch well beyond the livestock arena.

There’s more behind that $606,000 than the winning bids — click over to see what goes into a 4-H livestock project, where auction proceeds go and why this year’s record says something special about Lake County’s support for its young people.

Dogs staying at the Lake County Dog Shelter are getting additional health, behavioral and enrichment support through an expanded partnership with the Lake Humane Society.

Under the arrangement announced by Lake County commissioners, a Lake Humane Society team began making weekly visits to the county shelter in July. The team is helping shelter staff identify general health concerns, signs of anxiety or stress, and behavioral needs in dogs that can be safely handled.

Dogs may also receive heartworm testing when appropriate, while Humane Society staff are helping with enrichment and shelter conditions aimed at keeping animals more comfortable and stimulated during their stay.

The partnership also adds support for dogs preparing for adoption. Lake County said adoptable dogs will be spayed or neutered through the Humane Society or other partners.

For residents, the changes mean another layer of care for dogs that may arrive at the shelter lost, frightened or waiting for a new home. The added health checks, behavioral observations and enrichment can also give shelter staff and prospective adopters a better understanding of an individual dog’s needs.

👉🏻 On the website, we take a closer look at what this partnership actually changes for shelter dogs — including the added health care, behavioral support and steps that can help prepare a dog for a successful move into a new home.

Attribution: Lake County Board of Commissioners, Lake County Dog Shelter and Lake Humane Society.

The most useful improvement in your home may be the one that eliminates a few minutes of searching, carrying, setting up or cleaning every single day.

Some home improvements earn their keep in compliments. Others quietly give you back ten minutes here, five minutes there—and those may be the changes you appreciate most.

The useful question is not always, “What would make this room look better?” Sometimes it is, “What do I keep doing over and over that this room could make easier?”

Start with cleaning. If the spray, cloths and trash bags used in one bathroom live on another floor, every cleanup begins with a supply run. Keeping a small set of basics where they are actually used can turn a postponed chore into a two-minute reset.

The same idea applies to everyday setup. If phone chargers migrate from room to room, create one dependable charging spot. If shoes, bags and mail pile up near the door, give each item an obvious landing place. If the coffee maker requires clearing a counter every morning, rethink what permanently occupies that work area.

Good changes also remove steps. A hook where a jacket naturally comes off works better than a storage solution people have to remember. A basket at the bottom of the stairs can collect items headed up. Frequently used tools deserve the easiest-to-reach spaces.

None of this requires a renovation. The goal is to notice friction: the repeated reaching, carrying, searching, clearing and putting-away that happens so often you stop seeing it.

Pick one recurring annoyance this week. Follow the task from start to finish and notice every extra step. Then ask: What could I change once so I would not have to keep doing this?

A thoughtful home improvement does not have to transform a room. If it removes one small task you were doing again and again, it may already be paying you back.

The website edition includes a simple five-minute “time-back audit” to help you spot the repeated steps, searches and setup that your home could eliminate.

The Lake County Captains will need a near-perfect finish to keep their postseason hopes alive.

Sunday’s 5-2 loss to the Cedar Rapids Kernels left Lake County 4½ games behind first-place Great Lakes in the Midwest League East second-half standings. The Captains caught one break: the Loons also lost, preventing the deficit from growing with only the final week remaining.

Now the two teams will settle things head-to-head.

After Monday’s off day, Lake County returns to Eastlake for seven games against Great Lakes from Tuesday through Sunday. The unusual seven-game set includes a makeup game from a June postponement.

Based on the current records and the Midwest League’s winning-percentage format, the Captains need to win at least six of those seven games to finish ahead of Great Lakes.

Lake County struck first Sunday when José Pirela drove home Dauri Fernandez in the opening inning, but Cedar Rapids answered with three runs over the first four innings. Anthony Martinez’s seventh home run pulled the Captains within 3-2 in the sixth before the Kernels added two late insurance runs.

Starter Aidan Major took the loss, allowing three runs on six hits over 3⅓ innings while walking two and striking out six.

The challenge is substantial. Great Lakes enters the final series having won eight of its last 10 games.

But Lake County does have one important advantage: every remaining opportunity comes against the team it needs to catch.

👉🏻 Want to see exactly why six wins could be enough — and why five likely won’t be? We break down the playoff math and what the Captains need to pull off this week in Eastlake.

Mentor athletes delivered a strong Saturday beyond the football field, led by a runner-up cross-country finish and a straight-set volleyball victory.

The Mentor boys placed second among 48 teams in the elite Showcase race at the HOKA Night XC Showcase at SPIRE Institute. Senior Carter Schaubert led the Cardinals, placing seventh overall in 15:53.27.

Gabe Tulenson finished 22nd in 16:11.22, followed closely by Vinny Klima in 25th at 16:12.52. Corbin Ott placed 40th in 16:36.57, and freshman Isaac Bogner completed Mentor’s five scoring positions in 45th at 16:38.77.

Mentor’s girls finished 15th among 43 scored teams in their Showcase race. Carmella Curtis led the Cardinals in 30th at 19:35.44, followed by BriAnn Carroll in 70th and Alaina Gvora in 98th.

On the volleyball court, Mentor swept Kenston 25-14, 25-22 and 25-21. Sophomore Ashlyn McKinney led the Cardinals with 13 kills, while Samantha Daugherty added 11 kills and 10 digs.

Vaiva Apanavicius recorded 16 assists and 12 digs, Addi Keeper contributed 13 assists and four aces, and Ava Garrett collected 14 digs and nine assists. Mentor finished with 47 kills, eight aces and 51 digs as a team.

👉🏻 See more Mentor finishers and the complete list of Cardinals who contributed to Saturday’s cross-country and volleyball performances on our website.

Sources: HOKA Night XC Showcase results published by the Chagrin Valley Conference; Mentor–Kenston statistics supplied through MaxPreps and Hudl.

🐝 Buzz Fact: Homeownership has a funny way of turning ordinary adults into amateur detectives: one mysterious stain, odd noise, or crooked line and suddenly you’re conducting a full investigation with a flashlight and absolutely no qualifications.
Answer: Google

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