Share on FacebookShare on X (formerly Twitter)Share on PinterestShare on LinkedInBROADVIEW HEIGHTS Ohio (WOIO) - The East Wallings Road bridge over I-77 is scheduled to close on April 7 for about one year It is well overdue for a replacement,” says Gene Esser Broadview Heights Police said there will be no access to the I-77 South exit and entrance ramps to Wallings Road will also be closed “We are going to widen it to a three lane section to minimize traffic congestion on that bridge,” says Esser “We have a nice bypass around the bridge by heading south on East Mill to West Mill that will allow for traffic flow to utilize the ramps on the North side,” says Esser Police will be increasing patrols in the area to monitor traffic Anyone with questions is invited to attend the informational meeting with the Broadview Heights Engineering Department on March 31 from 5-7 p.m by October 2026 we should be completely done with the project,” says Esser The meeting will be held in city council chambers at 9543 Broadview Rd Ohio — Let's get the obvious joke out of the way: We're not sure if a "Nigerian prince" was behind it police are warning against increasingly convincing attempts to steal people's property in Northeast Ohio two different property owners reported to Broadview Heights police that they learned their vacant lots were up for sale The problem was — they didn't list them for sale police were able to link the fraudulent seller and their online profile to the same phone number "That number was an international phone number that came back to Nigeria," Detective Sergeant Ryan Fewell with Broadview Heights police said "Also the IP address information for the logins also were linked to Nigeria You can use a VPN to spoof the information as well that doesn’t necessarily mean someone is sitting in Nigeria and is responsible but a lot of times these will come from out of state or out of the country." the police report details how a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker listed a vacant piece of land along Diana Drive in early March The homeowner discovered the sign and explained he had no intention of selling the property That lot was vacant after the homeowner's house burned down in 2017 That real estate agent told police that someone had called him claiming to be the homeowner "We haven’t experienced it much here," Fewell said but a couple weeks later we did experience a very similar case." police received another call about a vacant piece of property along Broadview Road involving a different owner and a different real estate agent That agent told police all his correspondence with the "seller" was done through phone calls and emails "All the added technology that has made our lives easier has also made it easier for scammers to get our stuff," Fewell said Police were able to intervene and shut down the listings for both properties before a sale could be completed News 5 spoke with one of the real estate agents involved He said he received an email and then spoke on the phone with the “seller.” The agent said he even ran a background check on the seller adding that people need to stay on top of their property "Don’t let things go unnoticed for months on end," Fewell said "Don’t let a piece of property sit without driving past it News 5 tried calling that number tied to Nigeria Fewell said the actual property owners spotted the for-sale listings quickly and police were able to remove them before the properties could be sold These two cases mark the latest instances in Northeast Ohio where a criminal tried to steal someone’s property Boston Heights police began investigating a similar situation News 5 reported throughout the year on three different property owners who saw their vacant land and rental homes transferred out of their name from fraudulent deed transfer documents: lengthy court battles were required to reclaim the property How can you protect yourself from deed theft and fraudulent listings Experts told News 5 that time is crucial in cases like this The more time a criminal has to sell your property and run off with the money That’s why many Ohio counties offer free property alerts a way to notify you if any properties of yours have transferred on the day it happens To sign up for a free property alert provided by your county of residence click on your county where your property is located below: property alerts are unable to protect against property theft until it has already happened a property alert to the homeowner would not have been sent (unless the criminal was able to successfully sell the home before the homeowners and police noticed) Clay LePard is a special projects reporter at News 5 Cleveland on Facebook Clay LePard News 5 or email him at Clay.LePard@WEWS.com Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV Learn more about our streaming options here opening a new shop that focuses on pet health and wellness was a natural progression “I’ve been doing this for two-and-a-half years,” said DiCillo “I started mobile services with the farmer markets and slowly built up my base to the point to where I could open a retail business I was previously working for a facility that got into fresh food for animals I decided my passion was to work with animals and their owners you’ll get a consultation on the different foods offered because there are pet allergies all across the board.” DiCillo decided to open a franchise in Broadview Heights after researching area pet owner demographics North Royalton and Parma – the registration for pets is two-to-one versus one-to-one in most parts of the state where a lot of people have two or three animals since they have bigger properties out here,” he explained “People will stop in to buy treats while out walking their dogs This is a hybrid pet store where we focus on the health and wellness of the animal.” A variety of fresh kibble mixes made in Northeast Ohio has been one of the most popular products so far we slow cook it with no byproducts,” explained DiCillo so it’s not sitting on the shelves like the big box store kibbles The nice thing is that you can buy it by the pound; so people like to come in once a week and get five pounds because they know it’s fresh.” A wide selection of all-natural treats is another top seller where it’s fat and muscle,” explained DiCillo “We also offer cod skins from Iceland that contain Omegas 3s and 6s that also helps clean their teeth.” DiCillo enjoys getting to know pet owners and their pets and he provides individualized service that best suits a dog or cat.  “I know the product lines and what the benefit to the animal is you may get a part-time worker who doesn’t know much about the products,” he said “If you tell us your dog is on a certain diet – going back to our kibble – we can flip to another brand if they get tired of a certain line.” The business also offers full-service grooming and pet food deliveries DiCillo’s three teen-aged children often help out in the shop Customer response has been all positive so far with much of it by word of mouth,” he said “I give out sample kibble all the time for customers to try out I want to build that relationship slowly and make steady progress I just want people to stop in and see how much different this is here as compared with the big box experience.” His soft-sell approach has worked well so far.“Customers will find this to be a very approachable place where we don’t push products on them It’s more of how the items are working for the pets,” said DiCillo “We can try a variety of treats and kibble and we want to pamper your dog when we do their grooming We’re here to provide the best experience possible for your pets.”  Photo caption: Pet Wants owner Todd DiCillo offers customers a variety of fresh kibble mixes made in Northeast Ohio Subscribe to the FREE monthly Newsletter The Brecksville-Broadview Heights gymnastics team extended its national-leading state title streak to 22 on Saturday winning the Ohio State meet with a total of 148.700 The Bees broke the national streak record six years ago “I wasn’t even born when this legacy started,” senior captain Gianna Ravagnani told Cleveland.com’s Noah Weiskopf “I think it’s so cool to continue [the win streak].” It’s the 26th state title in program history Magnificat finished as the tournament’s runner-up has taken over the powerhouse program and is yet to see her team lose a state title The win marks the 26th state championship overall in the program’s history With immense pressure on the girls going in and competing for Brecksville to continue its historical run Schneider’s message to the team was simple “Have fun and also go in with no regrets,” Brecksville-Broadview coach Maria Schneider told Weiskopf leave it all out on the floor and whatever happens happens from there but that they’re capable of doing it if they hit and stay healthy.” Ohio — A battle over the 2025 budget could create a government shutdown in a Cuyahoga County suburb Broadview Heights may be without critical services The Broadview Heights City Council voted to pass the city's 2025 last week Four council members voted to pass the budget If at least one additional council member voted in favor of the budget because the budget was only passed with a 4-3 vote it won't take effect for 30 days or until Jan Ward 2 Councilman Brian Wolf said residents should be "slightly concerned" about a shutdown Wolf said the city would be unable to pay for critical services "The city would not have the funds allocated to function," he said So why did three city council members vote against the city's 2025 budget News 5 reached out to each Broadview Heights city council member who voted against the budget News 5 was unable to reach Councilman Joe Price on Monday Councilman Glenn Goodwin said there were several items in the budget he was unhappy with Councilman Brian Dunlap told us he hoped his concern about the city's pay structure for top officials and safety workers would be addressed in the budget "Nobody wants to shut down city services," he said "Nobody wants to shut it down for two minutes." Dunlap said he is confident city council will resolve the budget issue before the year ends "Everybody's worried about nothing," he said City officials have introduced a temporary budget as a stopgap that only requires a four to three vote to take effect which would mean city services would not be halted Council will vote on that plan during a meeting at 7:30 p.m Ohio (WOIO) - The Broadview Heights Fire Department responded to a house fire early Friday morning crews were dispatched to a house fire around 6:45 a.m Firefighters arrived to find heavy fire conditions Firefighters rescued the occupant of the home and they were transported to the hospital The occupant’s dog was also rescued by firefighters Brecksville and Seven Hill fire departments assisted with this fire The cause of the fire is now under investigation by the Southwest Emergency Response Team Fire Investigation Unit toothpaste and laundry detergent are a few items many may take for granted But some students go without these essential items they’re kids and shouldn’t have to face such challenges That’s precisely why two educators fought to bring a resource closet to Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School "We work with students on their academics… but first and foremost we're here to help them with their social-emotional learning,” said Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School Counselor Bridget Milano it’s a journey that brings about ups and downs which is why Milano said it’s important for adults to build a strong foundation with youth built on trust "When they come to us with a need or a concern responding to it as quickly as possible so that they are able to see this person does care about me so I can kind of talk to them about things that may feel embarrassing,” Milano said the school’s behavioral and wellness specialist said the COVID-19 pandemic sparked an awareness about students lacking certain necessities at home there have been more revelations and an openness on the part of students to talk about struggles on the home front (and) health problems that have impacted financial resources for families,” Boulton said Situations Boulton stressed can create financial burdens which force families to go without items like shampoo These items aren’t typically offered through food pantries and aren’t covered by SNAP benefits or WIC which Boulton and Milano said can leave kids feeling vulnerable "Which was then translating into them having a difficult time staying focused during the school day… feeling comfortable being here.” Milano said The educators said they were moved to start the Colony Cupboard after repeatedly hearing of teachers reaching into their pockets to provide such items to their students "It's made me feel extremely grateful for the community and support that we've had,” Boulton said An unmarked room is where donated items are stored "Since August we've served over 25 families which we are very happy about,” Milano said “But we think there's much more work to be done." Students and families can ask for help confidentially and receive items in the same manner Bouton and Milano said respect and maintaining privacy is critical "Our hope is that that makes them feel not only more comfortable in the classroom but more comfortable seeking help and guidance from different people in the building,” Milano said Two churches in the community partnered with the high school to increase donations for the Colony Cupboard "We take for granted what we have,” junior Caitlin Mihalek Mihalek and Sophia Venesile both play on the girls’ varsity volleyball team which has held donation drives at recent games “These are real problems that a lot of people don't think about,” Venesile said “And I think that it's great that we're going to be helping more and more people." Boulton and Milano said they’re thankful to be trusted with this mission and are looking at ways to support it even more “Most all of us have gone through a time in our lives where we needed in one form or another,” Boulton said the less the stigma is about needing help and needing resources.” If you’d like to learn more about the Colony Cupboard or donate contact Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School at 440-740-4700 You can also email Bridget Milano at MilanoB@bbhcsd.org or Megan Boulton at BoultonM@bbhcsd.org Fox 8 Cleveland WJW One person and a pet dog are OK after being rescued from a blazing house fire on Friday morning Akron police said they arrested a 31-year-old man who crashed his car into an apartment building striking a gas meter and prompting an evacuation then rammed a police cruiser multiple times hey're invisible invaders found in the air Tears of joy over a positive pregnancy test quickly turned to tears of fear for a Conneaut woman The National Weather Service has issued Severe Thunderstorm Warnings for Coshocton A major dredging project is now underway along the Cuyahoga River and Cleveland Harbor Army Corps of Engineers and its contractor beginning work to clear out the vital shipping lanes this would have been a very impressive and very important building The same area of low pressure that brought the rain into Northeast Ohio over the weekend will bring in more rain on Monday and Tuesday Scattered to numerous rain showers and storms will develop Monday afternoon/evening A few stronger storms will impact areas mainly for places along and east of I-77 Kenny Crumpton is a guest on the Tales and Trails Metroparks Podcast A Dense Fog Advisory is in effect Monday morning for several Northeast Ohio Counties until 10 a.m Kent State University held its annual commemoration ceremony Sunday to honor the memory of May 4 1970 and the victims who died and were injured during the tragic event Ohio — It’s a quiet part of Northeast Ohio Josette “Jossi” Rivera owns Jossi’s Bakery and Shop The business first opened about a year ago Rivera said it took her 18 years to land in the shop she’s in now Rivera is originally from Honduras but said she had the opportunity to live in West Trinidad and Trinbago where she took professional pastry-making classes “I was always with that in mind – to one day have my bakery because I believe in sharing food with your family that means to give love,” Rivera told News 5 She then moved to Ohio because her family lived in the state especially for growing families,” Rivera added Jossi’s Bakery and Shop is run solely by Rivera and her family Rivera said that while she doesn’t sell any goods that are derived from Honduras food from home often has the same ingredients as Mexican food The shop offers a wide range of cultured flavors from Italian and European to Hispanic Rivera has a case displaying a big selection of goods She said the empanadas are likely one of the easier dishes to make at home especially because my English is not the best,” Rivera explained “But when I display my love of the ingredients to my customers but this business is run on feelings from people A lot of people will be happy because of a wedding maybe sad because of a funeral or a celebration of life or a graduation It’s beautiful to share that.”Rivera said she has learned much over the last year from managing a team and social media to finances “Thank goodness we have a beautiful community and a lot of resources for small businesses,” she stated “Do you feel like you and your business have been accepted in Ohio with open arms?” I asked 15 marks the end of Hispanic Heritage Month Rivera said the month gives her more of an opportunity to educate and celebrate her culture with others “This beautiful country can celebrate that because we have a big community You can feel our roots here and the culture and the food and the music And I'm very proud to give a little piece of me and my family to here I [am] the best person to make everything with love for my customers,” Rivera explained “I just want to say thank you to the people here in the area because they give me a lot of support Rivera told me that the next step in owning her business that she’s trying to achieve is getting a permit to sell wine at the bakery Broadview Heights resident Jonathan Walter has many memories of The Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail and Cuyahoga Valley National Park Including these northeast Ohio gems in his newly released time travel suspense thriller, The Towpath “I have fond memories riding on the trail as a teenager,” said Walter whose novel was released Nov “There are certain elements in the book where I had to move things around geographically to make the plot make sense I write directly to the residents of Northeast Ohio explaining how I wanted to pay homage to the beauty of our green spaces and a bit of an apology that I had to change things up a bit.”  The protagonist of the novel is teenager Aaron Porter “Aaron comes across an artifact and kind of becomes entranced by it,” Walter said “Little does he know there is a woman who has gone back in time and will remove anything that stands in her way so she can use the artifact to prevent the death of her teenage daughter It is a high-stakes situation of cat and mouse.” Walter explained that parts of the novel take the reader back to as early as the 17thcentury.  “It is actually pretty sinister because this woman is willing to kill and do some pretty awful things,” he said “I like characters who are antagonists and justify their actions for a certain reason.”  Walter said the urge to write a novel had been lingering with him for many years He said he loves to read everything from Anne Rice to Stephen King and added that a story his dad told him about an incident that happened in Cuyahoga Valley National Park also served as inspiration for the novel.  “I started by writing a couple of short stories and learning how to work with an editor and a publisher and then went from there,” he said.  With a full-time job as director of the global UX design software team at Rockwell Automation Walter had to carve out time to write.  “At first it felt like pushing a rock uphill,” he said “But I started getting myself into a good routine where I would get up early in the morning and give myself time to write You have to find a system that works for you It’s not your motivation that will carry you Walter said that the time between writing his first word of the novel and the book being published was roughly eight years.  the time it took to finish the writing was more like five years,” he said.  The Towpath can be purchased through multiple sources including Amazon and Barnes and Noble More information can also be found on Walter’s website “It is also available at some local bookstores,” he said “The Cuyahoga County Public Library has only three copies and currently there are about 40 holds for it so I’m trying to see if I can get more copies for the library.”  Walter will be at multiple book-signing events this year including The Jenks Building in Cuyahoga Falls on Saturday at 5 p.m.; Lakewood Public Library on Wednesday at 7 p.m.; Cuyahoga County Library Brecksville Branch on Wednesday at 7 p.m.; and Akron-Summit County Library Richfield Branch on Wednesday Walter is currently working on a second novel that also takes place in the area of the Cuyahoga Valley.  “This is a follow up to the first novel with some really bone-chilling stories taking place,” he said “This story will build on some new characters but some characters from the first novel will appear I would like to make this a trilogy.” While he doesn’t have a timeline for the completion of his second novel Walter said he does not expect the process to take eight years as it did the first time.  Photo caption: Author Jonathan Walter’s new novel including the Cuyahoga Valley National Park While many Northeast Ohioans were ringing in the new year at any number of area parties and galas one Broadview Heights couple ended up celebrating the new year with a much more personal and special celebration Peter and Grace Sokol welcomed their second daughter 1 at Southwest General Health Center in Middleburg Heights making her the first baby born in Northeast Ohio in 2025 Hailey’s arrival came a bit earlier than planned but we had a feeling she would come early since our first daughter came early as well,” explained Peter Sokol who is a firefighter/paramedic for the city of Brooklyn and they told us that we would have the baby pretty soon but Grace wasn’t watching the clock at all I did look up a couple of times at a clock and finally saw that we made it just into the new year.” who will celebrate their sixth wedding anniversary in February first met during their sophomore years at Normandy High School in Parma 15 years ago They have been residents of Broadview Heights since summer 2021 the couple was not barraged by a flood of local media outlets But they have since heard from a multitude of family “I think some of the staff at the hospital knew that there might be a story in it so they took some photos and got some quotes from us,” said Peter.  “We’ve had a lot of friends and family reach out to us saying that they saw us on one of the local news channels,” said Grace Sokol “We didn’t tell people outside of family and our close circle of friends that we were having a second baby so it wasn’t posted ahead of time on social media It ended up catching a lot of people by surprise.” Two-year-old sister Emma stepped right into her new role immediately “We tried to prep our daughter ahead of time asking her if she was excited to be a big sister with baby sister Hailey on the way and she’s been really excited about it,” said Peter “She’s been really involved since the birth and wants to help us out with the baby can be shy at times when new people come around,” he continued but it can take a minute for her to warm up she got a big smile on her face and was very happy We could tell how genuinely pleased she was to have a little sister She warmed up much quicker than we could have ever imagined.”“Of course with everyone reaching out to us so filled with love,” said Grace “Everything went so well during the birth; the baby is healthy and there were no complications or anything like that complete and whole right now with us being a family of four.”  say they are adjusting well to being a family of four which has been headquartered at 6900 Granger Rd. opened its new main location July 29 at 7955 Broadview Rd Strong Style has produced a number of well-known professional mixed martial arts fighters who have had great success in the Ultimate Fighting Championship including former two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion Stipe Miocic Dan “The Bull” Bobish and Jessica “Evil” Eye The 34,000-square-foot facility provides approximately double the space of the Independence location a portion of which will still be maintained for training and classes according to general manager Andrew Stenger The new location also offers training in fitness jiu jitsu and an overall MMA program for our combat sports,” explained Stenger “We are also building up more on our fitness side of things – we call it ‘athletics,’ which is an all-encompassing fitness-based class We also recently began a powerlifting program to add to our competition programs.” Strong Style Broadview Heights has a full-time staff of 15-20 employees in addition to dozens of instructors many of whom competed at a professional level More than 20 professional and amateur fighters make up the club’s current fight team “We have a lot of coaches who have been with Strong Style for decades that still come into coach a class here and there,” said Stenger “Even some of our retired UFC fighters will jump in and teach a class and that’s what makes the culture here so fun; that we have people who have competed under the Strong Style name who come back and coach the younger generation.” Stenger stressed that the club is not a combat sports-only facility “We’re a place where anyone can come in and take himself or herself to the next level,” he said “Whether they’re trying to get on the fight team or if they’re just here to try to lose weight; it’s all about bettering their health We’ve seen many stories of people here just completely turning their lives around for the better.” Strong Style owner Marcus Marinelli and his team faced a number of challenges in renovating the 40-year-old building over a two-and-a-half-year period including a water main break that flooded the lower level on Christmas Day in 2022 “Our basement area was flooded up to the ceiling and the pool area was completely refilled,” Stenger recalled we also had a leak at our Independence building that destroyed all of our jiu jitsu mats we had a flood at both facilities on the same day.” The happenstance pushed backed an opening planned for early 2023 “There were also no light switches anywhere in the building so we had to redo all the electrical and plumbing underneath we replaced everything with tankless water heaters there is a desire among the staff to continue building on the culture begun at the Independence location but we’re very big on culture here,” he said “We see a lot of people come in here and not want to leave because they love the people so much It’s a place where people collectively come to leave the outside world behind and come here to train and work hard.” ∞ Photo (above): General Manager Andrew Stenger and his wife Strong Style MMA and Training Center offerspowerlifting and competition programs as well as several combat sports programs.Photo by Dan Holland CLEVELAND — An overnight pursuit involving Broadview Heights police and a pickup truck ended with a crash in Downtown Bedford News 5's overnight news tracker was on the scene Tuesday night and reported that police chased the pickup on Interstate 77 and Grant Ave The pursuit headed South on I-77 and ended in a crash between the pickup and a Broadview Heights cruiser in Cuyahoga County There is no further information on whether anyone was injured Authorities are still investigating the situation Vicky Perrino has always had an eye for fashion Perrino traveled to Chicago and spent time at shows where she could meet with designers and see clothing and accessories in person so she could decide what would be the best fit for her shop “It was better to be able to actually see and touch and feel the pieces instead of just ordering them on a computer,” Perrino said Victoria Marie’s Boutique carries a variety of lines of women’s clothing “They are all unique which gives you a variety,” she said I want to have items that will last longer for my customers And the items all intermix so you don’t have to stay with one specific designer.” Perrino said she has been happy with the reception she has received since opening the shop May 30 “I’ve received a lot of great feedback and we get customers from Broadview Heights Perrino had a grand opening June 8 and said she is coordinating with the city to do a ribbon cutting later in the summer Perrino said she started preparing to open the business at the beginning of the year so this just seemed like the perfect time,” said Perrino Perrino said she knew she wanted to open the business in her hometown especially since she knew her boutique could offer fashions women wouldn’t find nearby She said she and her husband were driving past the space on Broadview Road that used to be Petros Home Design Center and she saw the space was available “My husband said ‘Why don’t you go in and see if they will rent it to you,’” she said Perrino said preparing the space was a family affair with help from her husband “Victoria and Marie are actually the middle names of my granddaughters,” she said “It was a lot of days and nights in here getting ready Perrino said new items will be available in the store every two weeks Customers can check out the shop on Facebook will be available later this summer and customers will have the option to order items online While the store carries styles from a variety of different places Perrino said customers can also expect a local flair including items like candles from Ohio and customers Brecksville-Broadview Heights City Schools spirit wear Victoria Marie’s Boutique is open Tuesday through Thursday from 11 a.m Photo: Vicky Perrino opened Victoria Marie’s Boutique May 30