Happy Reunions, Deer Culling & Singing Your Gratitude: A Week In Review

1. I like to start out with something pleasant; and this week we had some good news for a family who have had a difficult time of it lately.

Remember the Lukasiewicz and Blare family? A .

Well, on Thursday, they got to meet some of the Mentor firefighters who helped save their lives.

It was a big moment for the family and the firefighters.

You can watch video from it here.

2. The city of Mentor received permission from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to begin culling deer this week.

And the city -- using Mentor SWAT officers as sharpshooters -- started culling this week in Morton Park.

They killed more than two dozen deer already.

The city has permission to cull 150 deer between now and March 31. It intends to focus its efforts on five specific properties within Mentor: Morton Park, Mentor Lagoons, Veterans Park, Black Brook Golf Course and the city-owned property around City Hall.

3. Michael Yeckley -- a man accused of sexually victimizing teenagers in both  Eastlake and Mentor -- was sentenced to nine years in prison this week.

4. January is Board Recognition Month and the students of Brentmoor Elementary found a special way to thank the Mentor Public Schools Board of Education during their meeting Tuesday.

First, they serenaded them with a pair of songs. Then they gave the Board members, as well as Superintendent Matt Miller and district CFO Daniel Wilson, "emergency kits."

The kits included rubber bands "to stretch the budget," sticky notes "to help (them) remember everything," tissues "for parents with issues," band-aids, Tums and Aspirin "for the bad days" and more.

Watch video of their song here.

5. In case you didn't know, drivers are getting a week-long reprieve from the construction on Heisley Road Bridge.

Construction on Heisley Road over State Route 2 was scheduled to close Heisley's southbound lanes from Wednesday until October 15.

However, the lane closure has been postponed to January 15, as crews complete necessary signalization operations.

Two lanes of northbound traffic on the Heisley Road bridge will be maintained throughout construction.

But Heisley Road over Route 2 will be closed to southbound traffic through October. Traffic will be detoured via Route 2's westbound lanes to Center Steet to Route 2 eastbound to Heisley Road during that time.