Sabo Lawsuit Settlement Reached, Teacher Remembered, New Business Opened: A Week in Review

This week there was a mix of Mentor news about schools, business, police and courts. But it wasn't until Friday when the biggest news story of the week broke:

1. between Dian Sabo and Mentor Police Sgt. Scott Tkach. Sabo filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Tkach who fatally shot her husband, Richard, during a brief standoff on Feb. 5, 2009.

"I am very happy it is over," Sabo said in an interview with Mentor Patch. "There has been a lot of suffering going on for three years, an awful lot."

Sabo said a confidential settlement had been reached Friday just two days before the lawsuit was scheduled to go to a jury trial Dec. 19 in the Northern District of Ohio's U.S. Federal Court in Cleveland.

2. A 28-year-old mother was sentenced to 360 days in Lake County Jail by Mentor Municipal Judge John Trebets on Monday for being under the influence of drugs while driving a vehicle with her infant child in October.

had pleaded guilty to child endangerment and operating a vehicle under the influence (OVI) of drugs last month.

Korb's boyfriend, and the father of their infant child , also had been arrested and convicted earlier for operating a vehicle under the influence and child endangerment. He, too, was under the influence of heroin while driving a vehicle with his infant child. Judge Trebets sentenced him to 173 days in Lake County Jail earlier this month.

3. When members of the Mentor School Board met for their regular meeting Tuesday, they held a moment of silence for Kim Coolbaugh, a teacher in the Mentor School District  for 14 years, who died in November.

In her obituary, her family requested that donations in Kim's name be made to Science Explorer's Club. Nearly 50 families and individuals donated more than $3,000 to the club in member of Kim.

4. Jeni Lange, Mentor Schools food service supervisor, said she is in the planning stages of participating in the Cleveland Clinic's "Eat Right At School" program.

"To participate in this program, we would be required to meet the additional benchmarks for fat, sodium fiber, sugar and (serving) more fruits and vegetables," said Lange at Mentor School Board Tuesday. "With this distinction, our district will be able to have the Cleveland Clinic's seal of approval and we would also be able to use their signage. I believe we can move forward with that and I will be looking to do that in the coming year."

As part of the Mentor Schools nutrition and wellness policy, less healthy snack options and high fat foods such as french fries have been removed from cafeteria menus.

And what has been the student reaction? asked Mentor School Board Member Mary Bryner.

"We've had very successful feedback as we've moved into more nutritious food," Lange said. She also said since removing less healthy snack options, she is seeing "more (nutritious) meals being actually purchased and consumed."

5 It's not all very common when an entrepreneur has the opportunity to combine two life-long passions into a new business.

But Matt Craggs, founder of The Golden Barkery, figured out a way to do it.

After graduating from Mentor High School in 2000, he almost went to a culinary school to become a pastry chef. But he decided to work in the catering industry and pursue his college degree in business and marketing.

Craggs also became involved in animal rescue operations. He is director of Golden Retrievers in Need, a volunteer rescue operation that finds new homes for displaced, abused and neglected Golden Retrievers.

"With that, I combined my two passions for baking and animal rescue and created this business (in 2008)," said Craggs. He set out to leverage his culinary talents and knowledge to manufacture and sell nutritious dog treats and donate 10 percent of the profits to support animal rescue organizations.

His Web-based business went live in April. His sites sells items such as "pup cakes" --- or oversized cupcakes ---- in flavors such as apple cinnamon crunch, beef "N" cheddar, peanut butter carrot and pumpkin carob chip. The business also offers dog treats in flavors such as Italian Pizza, Holiday Dinner, Southern Turkey Bacon and Chicken Ginger Cheesy.