I was saddened when I first talked to William "Willie" Rosario, chief cook and co-owner of Borinquen Restaurant in Painesville. I stopped in the restaurant with my boyfriend a couple of weeks ago because he (my beau) noticed the Puerto Rican flag in the window and was hoping the place served food (he is of Puerto Rican descent). The restaurant is in a small part of a large, residential-looking building and there is no professional sign that can be seen from a distance to reveal what type of business it is. Borinquen is written in the window, but it's merely a common reference among Puerto Ricans to the island nation.

As we talked with him, we mentioned the difficulty distinguishing what the place - opened last year - was about. He said he had a sign designed but the designer took his money and was never heard from again. It was one of those, "Pay me half now and the rest when the work is finished" deals. The man had appeared to come to the restaurant as a customer and offered his services. Willie says he can't afford to pay for a sign right now. Business has slowed a lot during the winter. It gets a lot of customers from foot traffic.

I asked my business editor if he wanted a straight business feature about the relatively new restaurant and included info about the sign woes. I asked local economic development folks what they could do for Willie. I learned they had no grant programs specifically for signs. Now why is that? From my personal experience, signs can majorly hinder or help curb appeal. They can serve to invite or repel. For example, when I see a makeshift one, I question whether the owner cares.

Well, I'm making kind of a long story out of this, but I am happy to report that today, the same day the story ran, a sales manager from Mentor Signs & Graphics, on Tyler Blvd., called to say his company wants to donate Willie a sign. I admit I had hoped the story would get him some help, but that's more than I had hoped for. The sales manager, Josh McDaniel, said it was because the company has also seen some hard times, is under new management and wants to help.

Sure, Mentor Signs could be getting involved in hopes of some good PR. But I'm still happy to hear about the prospect. I was just doing my job, but if it helps somebody, all the better.

-- Betsy Scott, BScott@News-Herald.com

Steel delivery for the State Route 2 bridge over Route 615 in Mentor has been rescheduled and beams are now estimated to be assembled and installed on March 2 and 3, Mentor officials say. During the placement of the steel beams, there will be brief stoppages of both northbound and southbound traffic along the Route 615 corridor. The stoppages will last about 10 minutes while beams are set in place by cranes. It is anticipated that this work will occur between the hours of 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.

-- Betsy Scott, BScott@News-Herald.com

Bear with it pilgrims, after the bitterly cold weather forecasted for this week, much nicer conditions are coming. Really, they are.

Both the National Weather Service and State College, Pennsylvania-based AccuWeather says that much, much more decent weather is due to arrive. A slow build up will begin this weekend as warmer air slides east out of the Great Plains.

Temperatures will rise into the upper 20s and lower 30s for the weekend and by next Monday they'll climb into the lower 40s.

In fact, so warm is it expected that Dallas may see 80s by the end of the month and 70s for the Washington, DC area.

The reason is that the Jet Stream will (FINALLY!) slide further north, ushering in warmer air.

Fewer severe storms are anticipated, too.

Thus, the worst of winter should be over after we shiver under bitterly cold conditions Tuesday through Friday.

There is just one little fly in the soup, however.

A rapid warm-up very likely will lead to an increased chance of flooding. Such streams as the Chagrin and Grand rivers may experience this condition and thus require an appropriate response.

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischkorn@News-Herald.com

The short time I've been with The News-Herald, I reported on many stories that haven't related to my personal life.
At "Give Kids a Smile" event at Lakeland Community College Dental Hygiene Clinic in Kirtland, I thought of my preschooler who I hope hasn't picked up my bad dental habits.
I have always been afraid of the dentist due to a bad experience when I was younger involving a "big" needle or so I thought it was.
The event today put on by Northeastern Ohio Dental Society and hosted at Lakeland's Dental Hygiene Clinic provided free dental services for children.
The first time in the event's history, they had preschoolers from Lake-Geauga Head Start programs. Most of the kids sat bravely in the dental chair to get their teeth examined and cleaned.
The hygienists and dentists reminded the preschoolers of proper brushing techniques.
I thought of my son during those moments and wondered, as a mom, if my fear of the dentist was affecting him.
He brushes his teeth twice a day, but I haven't put an emphasis on good dental practices.
Is he brushing properly or just going through the motions? What if he goes for his checkup and his teeth are in poor condition?
So tonight, when he brushes his teeth, I will tell him of those kids in the dentist chair and review proper brushing techniques I learned. The event reminded me how important this practice is.
Read next Thursday's edition when staff writer Janet Podolak gives a more in-depth look at dental health and the consequences of bad dental hygiene.

--Angela Gartner
AGartner@News-Herald.com

This, from State College-based AccuWeather, the world's largest private weather forecaster:

In the Northern Hemisphere, the darkest quarter of the year runs from the first week in November through the first week of February.

This period is referred to as Solar Winter. Long-term averages show the coldest quarter of the year as being from early December through early March.

This is what we call Meteorological Winter. Astronomical winter (approx. June 21 until March 21) is determined by the Earth's position with respect to the sun and only loosely correlates with temperature normals (averages).

Of course this doesn't mean much today and will mean less tonight and tomorrow. Wind chill values are expected to fall to minus-10 degrees and lower tonight and Friday.

Worse, even colder air is being forecasted for the middle of next week.

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischkorn@News-Herald.com

We could hear some freezing rain outside and were wondering how bad the weather was getting, so copy editor Robin Palmer and I stepped outside with my Flipcam to get a better look at the weather we would be facing on our drives home. Below, you can watch what we saw.




-- Cheryl Sadler
CSadler@News-Herald.com