Michael K. McIntyre
Elaine Terrell moved to Lakewood with her family from a Houston suburb a week ago. Her husband, Eddie Terrell, an engineer, had taken a job with the NASA Glenn Research Center. Saturday seemed like a good day to explore Cleveland with their daughter Katie, 8. Which would it be first, the Great Lakes Science Center or the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum?
They chose the Rock Hall.
It was like knock, knock, knocking on heaven’s door.
Terrell was pulled out of line as balloons dropped and Ian Hunter’s “Cleveland Rocks” blared. She’s the Rock Hall’s 8 millionth visitor.
For that distinction, the Rock Hall showed her a whole lotta love: There was a private tour, including the museum vault, with Chief Curator Jim Henke, a lifetime membership to the facility, a Gibson Epiphone guitar, dinner for the family at the Hard Rock and an XM radio package.
“It was so much fun. So incredible. They grabbed my hand and I thought, ‘Oh my God, what happened?'” said Terrell.
Saturday afternoon, she still couldn’t believe the newcomer’s welcome to town she got, and couldn’t believe she’d won.
“I’m one of these people that doesn’t win anything. Even at a ballgame, when they say the first 5,000 get a hat, I’m never one of those 5,000,” she said.
This is not a commercial: The old saying goes that doctors make lousy patients. Personal injury lawyers, it seems, make lousy witnesses for the defense, too.
Arthur Elk, he of the ubiquitous Elk and Elk television ads, found himself on the stand last week as he was sued by a man who claimed Elk was negligent in 2002 – when the plaintiff was 13 — for allowing the teen to drive an all terrain vehicle through the woods on Elk’s property.
Justin Grischkan had been a friend at the time of Arthur Elk’s son, Ryan Elk. He lost control of the Honda ATV on a bump in the path where the vehicle would leave the ground, smacked into a tree and broke a bone in his arm and dislocated his wrist. When he became an adult, he filed the suit on his own because of lingering pain and the need for further treatment. He said at that young age, he did not comprehend the dangers.
Elk, according to courtroom observers, didn’t make a convincing argument when he testified that he allowed kids to ride ATVs often despite warnings on the user’s manual that no one under 16 should ever operate one.
In a deposition before trial, Elk testified “I have chosen not to follow their instruction.”
He was not represented by his firm, which is usually on the other side of such cases, but by his insurance company’s lawyer, Roger Williams.
The jury did not take long to find in Grischkan’s favor, awarding him $154,000 for medical bills and damages.
Setting sail: A neon flier posted around the Cuyahoga County administration building asks: “Are you tired of feeling stressed? Do you need peace of mind? Come ease your stress on the county employee happy hour cruise on the Goodtime III.”
For those tired of keeping the county afloat while it continues to take on water with the federal corruption probe and revelations of other mismanagement, a cruise in a seaworthy ship sounds like a great idea.
Quick break: Cleveland City Hall was emptied Friday morning. Employees stood around chatting across Lakeside Avenue for about ten minutes before filing back in.
It wasn’t an attempt to implement unpaid furlough in easy-to-weather increments. Turns out it was the fire alarm had gone off, a false alarm.
Log off: LakeHealth, the hospital system in Lake County, is using social media to tout quick service in its emergency room. The system’s feed on the Twitter Web site lists ER “wait times” at its TriPoint Medical Center in Concord and West Medical Center in Willoughby.
“Need to go to the ER but don’t have the time to wait? LakeHealth is now posting our ER Wait Times on Twitter,” reads one post.
But if someone needs to go to the ER, should they be logging on to the Internet first?
Not-so-easy commute: Tony Thomas, executive director of Welcome House – an organization that runs assisted living facilities for people with developmental disabilities in the western suburbs — ran to work Thursday.
No big deal, until you consider that he lives in Cleveland Heights and work is the Welcome House office in Rocky River 17.4 miles away.
The agency began a health kick in May, encouraging employees to come up with goals or challenges, such as losing weight or quitting smoking. If they achieve the goal by the end of the year, they can win paid days off and other gifts.
Story Compliments Of The Plain Dealer
