🌤️ Weather: Mixture of Sun & Clouds - Temps 68-70°

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

📰 Local News: 🐴 Horsepower Weekend Brings Horses, Tractors & Classic Cars to Farmpark

🌊 Erosion Has Claimed 12 Acres at Mentor Lagoons — What Comes Next

🍂 Mentor Fall Reminders 1: Yard Waste, Open Burning and Road Debris

🍽️ Dinner RESCUE: Cozy Dinners Are Back—Without the All-Day Cooking

⚾ Sports: ⚾ Guardians Win Wild One, Hold AL Central Lead by One Game

🏈 Callahan’s Three TDs Power Mentor Past Cleveland Heights, 49-14

🏈 Lake Catholic Starts Fast, Knocks Off CVCA 27-13

🤔 Trivia Question

🤣 Something Funny

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

Looking for something different this weekend? Lake Metroparks Farmpark in nearby Kirtland is combining horsepower of two kinds — draft horses and classic engines.

Horsepower Weekend runs today and Sunday, Sept. 26–27, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., featuring horse demonstrations, agricultural activities, antique machinery and vehicle displays.

Families can watch jumping, driving and vaulting demonstrations, meet breeds from miniature horses to draft teams, and try hands-on activities including grooming and roping.

Saturday highlights the evolution of farming with draft horses, antique equipment and modern tractors. On Sunday from noon to 3 p.m., the annual Car & Truck Show features classic and modified cars, trucks and motorcycles, weather permitting.

Visitors can also enjoy farm animals, food vendors, fall activities, apple cider slushies and the three-acre Paul Revere’s Ride corn maze.

📍 Lake Metroparks Farmpark: 8800 Euclid Chardon Road, Kirtland
🕘 Hours: 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
🎟️ Admission: Regular Farmpark admission or membership applies
🐾 Good to know: Pets are not permitted inside Farmpark.

Link to our event on mentorlocalbuzz.com

Lake Erie has dramatically changed the shoreline at one of Mentor’s best-known natural areas.

The City of Mentor says an estimated 12 acres of the Mentor Lagoons Nature Preserve have been lost to erosion over roughly the past three decades, while most of the preserve’s original 1.5-mile natural beach has disappeared.

The effects are becoming increasingly visible. Portions of historic Headlands Road have been lost to the lake, and the preserve’s lakefront trail has been relocated twice in the past 10 years.

Now the city is looking at a longer-term solution.

Mentor City Council approved the first phase of a $3.5 million study and engineering plan in June. The work will examine ways to stabilize the shoreline, improve nearshore habitat and wetlands, and maintain or improve public access.

A $1.75 million federal grant is helping support the planning and design work.

One important distinction: the $3.5 million is for study and engineering — it is not approval of a $3.5 million shoreline construction project. The city says Mentor voters will have an opportunity to decide whether to proceed after the planning work is completed.

Mentor has already installed about 1,200 feet of protective revetment near the marina harbor entrance after erosion threatened the area.

Meanwhile, improvements at the Lagoons continue. A new observation tower is under construction and is expected to open this fall.

The big question now is how Mentor protects a shoreline that Lake Erie continues to reshape — without losing what makes the Lagoons special.

👉🏻 How much of the Lagoons has already disappeared — and what could Mentor do about it? We took a closer look at the erosion, the $3.5 million planning effort and what residents should expect next. Read More Here

As fall cleanup season gets underway, the City of Mentor is reminding residents about several rules and services worth keeping handy.

🔥 Leaves and brush cannot be burned. Burning trash, brush or leaves is prohibited within the city. Small, attended campfires used for cooking are permitted during favorable weather, while bonfires require prior approval from the Mentor Fire Prevention Bureau at (440) 974-5768.

🍁 More yard waste can go out beginning Oct. 26. The weekly limit increases from 12 to 25 units per household. One bag, bundle or container counts as one unit. Regular yard waste collection for the season ends Dec. 11, giving residents several weeks to tackle leaves and final yard cleanup.

🚧 See something in the road? Residents who spot a dead animal or other debris creating a roadway problem can contact Mentor Public Works at (440) 974-5781 between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. Outside those hours, call the Mentor Police Department at (440) 255-1234.

A little fall cleanup is inevitable around Northeast Ohio — but knowing the rules before the rake comes out can save some aggravation.

Source: cityofmentor.com

Chicken pot pie gets a biscuit-topped skillet shortcut, while creamy sausage and spinach gnocchi brings cozy comfort to the table even faster.

There comes a point in September when dinner starts asking for something warmer.

Not necessarily a bubbling casserole that takes all afternoon. Just something creamy, savory and comforting enough to match a cooler evening.

This week’s Dinner Rescue is our preview of that season, with two skillet meals that deliver fall comfort without committing you to heavy winter cooking.

Chicken Pot Pie Biscuit Skillet is the more traditional choice. Chicken and vegetables come together in a creamy filling, but instead of making pie crust, refrigerated biscuits go right on top. It keeps the familiar pot-pie feeling while removing one of the steps that can turn a weeknight dinner into a project. Add a simple green salad or crisp fruit on the side and the meal stays nicely balanced.

Creamy Sausage and Spinach Gnocchi is the faster option. Italian sausage gives the skillet plenty of flavor, packaged gnocchi keeps the preparation simple, and spinach adds color and freshness to the creamy sauce. Everything comes together in one pan, making it especially useful for a night when comfort sounds good but time is short.

Both dinners leave room for substitutions. Turkey sausage can replace pork sausage, kale can stand in for spinach, and leftover cooked chicken works beautifully in the pot pie. Frozen mixed vegetables are another shortcut worth keeping.

And both are good candidates for leftovers. Refrigerate promptly in covered containers and reheat gently; the gnocchi may need a splash of broth or milk to loosen the sauce, while the pot-pie filling reheats best separately from any biscuits you want to keep from becoming soft.

Consider this the opening night of comfort-food season: warmer dinners, practical shortcuts and no all-day cooking required.

👉🏻 Ready to bring cozy dinners back? See both recipes, compare which one fits tonight, and get the shortcuts, substitutions and leftover tips in this week’s complete Dinner Rescue article.

The Guardians are two games away from an AL Central championship — and Friday night they found a wild way to keep control of the race.

Cleveland scored five runs in the ninth inning, taking advantage of six walks to outlast the Kansas City Royals 12-9 at Kauffman Stadium.

The victory improved the Guardians to 84-76, keeping them one game ahead of the Chicago White Sox with only two regular-season games remaining. Both teams have secured playoff spots, but Chicago owns the division tiebreaker, so Cleveland must finish with the better record to win the Central.

Kansas City had erased a 7-5 Cleveland lead in the eighth, but the Guardians answered immediately.

José Ramírez, Chase DeLauter and Petey Halpin drew consecutive bases-loaded walks in the ninth before Angel Martínez delivered a two-run double, stretching Cleveland’s lead to 12-7. Austin Hedges and David Fry also homered for the Guardians.

And this race is about more than a division banner.

Winning the AL Central would give Cleveland the No. 2 seed in the American League and a first-round bye, allowing the Guardians to skip the best-of-three Wild Card Series and advance directly to the AL Division Series.

With a one-game lead and two to play, Cleveland controls its position: match Chicago’s results over the final weekend, and the Central belongs to the Guardians.

Up next: Tanner Bibee is scheduled to start Saturday night for Cleveland against Kansas City’s Michael Wacha. See highlights at espn.com

Mentor showed Friday night that opponents may have more than its passing game to worry about.

Braylon Callahan rushed for 135 yards and scored three first-half touchdowns as the Cardinals rolled past Cleveland Heights, 49-14, at Jerome T. Osborne Stadium. The win improved Mentor to 5-1 and extended its winning streak to three games.

Callahan set the tone immediately, breaking a 70-yard run on Mentor’s first offensive play. According to game reporting by Ben Hercik of The News-Herald, he had 89 yards by the end of the first quarter and later added touchdown runs of 3 and 10 yards.

Cleveland Heights briefly answered with Julian Wise’s 80-yard kickoff return, but Mentor’s defense responded. The Tigers managed only 45 additional yards before halftime, according to The News-Herald, and Marcus Cvetichan added a pick-six — his third interception of the season.

Quarterback Brogan Jones connected with Logan Berwald for an 8-yard touchdown as Mentor built a 35-7 halftime lead. Ryan Orsog and Corbin Bissett added second-half scores.

The victory came with Mentor entering Week 6 ranked No. 1 in OHSAA Division I, Region 1.

Next up: another GCC test on the road at Strongsville, Friday, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m.

Lake Catholic made an early statement Friday night and never let Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy take control, earning a 27-13 road victory in the North Coast Conference opener.

The Cougars struck quickly when quarterback Max Pisano connected with Ben Mitchell, who broke tackles and turned the play into a 40-yard touchdown, putting Lake Catholic ahead 7-0.

That fast start helped spark what became the Cougars' best offensive performance of the season. Lake Catholic entered Friday having scored no more than 14 points in any game, but broke through for a season-high 27 against the defending North Coast Conference champions.

The win improved Lake Catholic to 3-3 and snapped CVCA's seven-game home winning streak, which dated back to last season. The Royals also fell to 3-3.

For a Lake Catholic team coming off a 6-0 loss to Benedictine, Friday's road win provided an important rebound and a strong start to conference play.

The Cougars return home Friday, Oct. 2, at 7 p.m. against Elyria Catholic during Lake Catholic's Homecoming weekend.

🐝 Buzz Fact: Ground spices lose their punch faster than whole spices because more of their surface is exposed to air. So if your paprika has been in the cabinet since DVDs were a big deal, congratulations — you may own a very tiny jar of reddish-brown nostalgia.
Answer: Google

This is really funny… a standoff: mom vs. son! Hilarious.