Mentor responds to its first big winter storm of the season, the Fire Department takes care of a burning tree, and Kronheim’s is coming back. Those items and more in the latest, weekly report to City Council:

Manager Comments 
• The Fire Department responded to multiple motor vehicle accidents, which occurred during the snow storm. Most were on Route 2 and Interstate 90. No significant injuries were reported. Many other non-accident related EMS treatment and transports occurred during the storm.

• During the snow event the city experienced on Dec. 26, the Police Department had no major incidents. The department received over 30 calls of accidents throughout the city that resulted in the officers taking at least 18 accident reports with the majority of them occurring between 11:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.

• I thought the Public Works Department did a very good job with the storm. Several residents reported to me that they felt Mentor streets were in the best shape for the evening commute when compared with our neighboring communities.

Fire Department
• On Dec. 20 at 10:08 a.m., the Fire Department responded to Bellflower Park for a tree fire reported by someone exercising at the park.  The tree was hollow and was burning inside and employees from Public Works/Parks Department had to cut the tree down so it could be extinguished.

• On Dec. 22/23rd, the Fire Department responded to three reported structure fires. The first was at 5:12 p.m. on Villa Marina and was reported by neighbors across the street who saw flames through the front window. The homeowner was lighting a charcoal grill on his back deck. The flames could be seen through the front and rear windows from across the street. By arrival, the flames had decreased. At 5:52 p.m., a fire was reported on Maple Street in an attached garage.

On arrival, smoke was coming from the garage. An overheated refrigerator motor in the garage caught wood stairs and the end plate of the wood I-beam floor joist on fire. Insulation on the basement walls prevented the fire from extending into the basement. The fire was reported by two teenage boys that were home at the time and smelled smoke. Their detection and early call saved extensive damages. On Dec. 23 at 1 a.m., the Fire Department responded to an apartment complex on Mentor Avenue for a possible fire. They located a faulty furnace that had seized causing smoke and an odor.

• On Dec. 25, the Bariatric Squad was used twice to transport large patients, each with various medical problems.

• On Dec. 26, the Fire Department treated and transported an elderly patient who fell down some stairs. She suffered significant injuries and was transported to TriPoint, the closest hospital because of the weather. She was then transported to the Trauma Center at Metro by ground ambulance since the weather prevented helicopter transport.

Police Department
• On Dec. 21, at 6 p.m., a 25-year-old female was arrested for felonious assault and domestic violence. The female got into an argument with her 25-year-old boyfriend and was hitting and punching him while he was driving. When they returned to the residence on Edgewood where they were staying, she obtained a large kitchen knife and began waving it at the boyfriend threatening to stab him. No injuries resulted to any of the parties.

• On Dec. 25 at 9:55 p.m., a resident at the trailer park at 9151 Mentor Ave. called police after hearing a woman outside yelling for help.  Upon arrival, the caller directed the officers to the trailer from where the disturbance was originating. Investigation revealed that a boyfriend/girlfriend argument escalated with the 27-year-old male striking the girlfriend in the face with a flashlight. The male then took the girlfriend’s cell phone so she could not call the police.

When the girlfriend got the opportunity, she fled the residence on foot. The male chased her down and forcibly dragged her back into the residence. Based on the investigation, the boyfriend was charged with felonious assault, abduction for dragging her back into the residence and holding her there, disrupting public service for taking her phone so she could not call for help and tampering with evidence since he hid the flashlight outside. The female was transported to TriPoint for treatment of her facial injuries.

• Over the four-day Christmas weekend, the Police Department made 6 OVI arrests and 10 shoplifting arrests.

Engineering
• Heisley Road Bridge — ODOT held a preconstruction meeting to discuss the Heisley Road Bridge deck replacement over SR 2. The project is scheduled to begin the week of Jan. 7 and continue through October 2013. During construction, southbound Heisley Road traffic will be detoured via SR 2 WB, Center Street and SR 2 EB. Two lanes of traffic will be maintained in the northbound direction to minimize impact to the Heisley Road and Diamond Centre businesses. Further updates will be provided as information becomes available.

Public Works Department
• There were several calls concerning snow removal, but all-in-all very few complaints.

Economic and Community Development
• Realty Trac, a national foreclosure reporting service, released its November 2012 report that indicated the State of Ohio ranked 7th in the nation in foreclosures at one in every 458 housing units. In Lake County, one in every 649 housing units was in foreclosure and in Mentor the ratio was one in every 789 housing units. The report shows one in every 728 U.S. housing units with a foreclosure filing in November.

• Kronheim’s Furniture is returning to its former location at 7590 Mentor Ave. most likely in the first quarter 2013. This site had been proposed to be redeveloped for a gas station several months ago.

BScott@News-Herald.com, @ReporterBetsy