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Volume 52, No. 5
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CHESTERLAND NEWS Wednesday, July 22, 2020
Your Community Newspaper Since 1967
WG Junior Organizes BLM Protests By Emily Crebs editor@geaugamapleleaf.com
It was noon on July 5, under an angry summer sun, when Anna Weiss took to the side of a road in Chester Township with a sign that read “Black Lives Matter.” Weiss, a rising senior at West Geauga High School, stood alone as she began her fourth Black Lives Matter protest this summer at the corner of Mayfield and Chillicothe roads. Throughout the next hour, more protestors began to join Weiss. Some spilled over to the other side of the road by a CVS. In total, about 17 people participated, the smallest turnout for the protests Weiss said typically draw 40 people. For COVID-19 safety, Weiss requested each protestor wear a mask. They also brought snacks and water. For many, it was a friend and family affair. “We’re for police reform. We’re for people of color and we support them,” Weiss said. “We don’t want a sort of very conservative voice speaking over all the other people
Serial Woman Beater Gets Prison Time page 3
Town Crier page 2
Campus Chatter page 8
Classifieds start on page 9 EMILY CREBS/KMG
Anna Weiss, a rising senior at West Geauga High School, organized four protests at the corner of Mayfield and Chillicothe Road. She’s also engaged in conversation with Chester Township Police Chief Mark Purchase.
because that’s what (Geauga County) is sort of known as.” Some passersby honked support and gave thumbs up; others rolled down their windows to voice their dissenting opinion.
Of the interactions with protestors that day, the majority were supportive. With each honk, the protestors would cheer, wave, give a thumbs up or raise a fist. Hollers of dissent were also typ-
ically met with some sort of shout back. “Get out of here!” One driver yelled and a protestor called back, “Old white man says what?” See Protests • Page 6
Health Commissioner Calls for Masks in Public after County Risk Level Raised By Amy Patterson amy@geaugamapleleaf.com Geauga Public Health issued a press release July 10 strongly encouraging Geauga County residents to wear a mask whenever they are in the presence of others outside of their own households, after the county was moved to level two on the state’s Public Health Advisory System. The call for action is not a local public health order, nor is it a state
mandate, Geauga County Health Commissioner Tom Quade said. However, a level three rating would carry with it a state-mandated mask requirement. Both Cuyahoga and Trumbull counties, which border Geauga, are at level three. “It is far better for the public to understand the value of prevention and to make the decision on their own to protect one another than to rely on the government to step in and attempt to order com-
mon sense, mutual respect and simple human compassion for other people with whom we share our space,” Quade said. “When people make personal decisions which put the health and safety of the general public in jeopardy, we do have a responsibility to act. That is why health departments exist.” Geauga County was raised to level two on July 9, due to two indicators, Quade said in a GPH Facebook post. The county was flagged for hav-
ing over 50 percent of cases not in a congregate setting — such as a long-term care facility or prison — in at least one of the previous three weeks, indicating a greater risk of community spread. The second indicator flagged was in response to an increase in the number of people going to a health care provider with COVID symptoms who then receive a COVID confirmed or suspected diagnosis. See Masks • Page 5
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