Kevin Rhomberg teaches life skills at baseball school
BY MICHAEL CREDICO
STAFF
Ten year old Michael Abate, III holds his aluminum bat behind his head. He looks hard at the little orange ball that is placed upon a tee and takes a mighty swing. The ball hits the net of the batting cage sending ripples in every direction.
“Very good,” says Kevin Rhomberg, owner and instructor at Painesville’s Super Joe’s Baseball and Softball Academy, quick to reiterate the importance of extending the arms when swinging at a baseball. Michael’s father nods in half agreement and half pride.
Kevin Rhomberg has seen a lot of baseball, and a lot of other things for that matter.
Growing up in Dubuque, Iowa in the 1960’s and 1970’s far away from any Major League Baseball team, Rhomberg and friends were able to catch Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Braves games over the radio, listening to greats like Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews and many others. His roots were modest, sneaking peaks of the ballgames broadcasted over cable television at friends’ houses, a luxury his family could not afford.
“We were glued more to the radio. We listened to all the games,” he says sitting at his computer in the lobby area of Super Joe’s, located at 1721 Mentor Avenue.
Several years later, Rhomberg would find himself playing in the major leagues as a Cleveland Indian. He would hit his first major league home run against the Boston Red Sox in September of 1982. Click here for the whole story
Huge explosion at Connecticut power plant kills five
BY ANDRES PEREZ-CHARNECO
STAFF
A large explosion at a Connecticut power plant killed five people and attracted nation attention this past Sunday. The explosion was a headline news item on an otherwise sleepy day before kickoff at the Super Bowl.
Investigators believe those killed the blast were most likely workers inspecting underground gas pipes at the nearly complete Kleen Energy Systems plant on the Connecticut River. Witnesses report seeing a large fireball around 11:19 AM Eastern time and feeling the shockwave from up to twenty miles away. The Mayor of Middletown, Sebastian Giuliano, where the plant was located, indicated that workers were purging a gas pipe when the plant blew. The local fire marshal estimated that 50 to 60 workers may have been in the blast, but that it was difficult to get a full headcount to the fact that most workers were sub-contractors working on their own timetables. According to intakes from local hospitals, at least 26 people were injured in the explosion.
Initial images from the site, following the blast, showed a plume of smoke rising from the river. The heat from the blast had peeled off paint from building sidings, so that the fell as large sheets from the walls. The main building and smoke stacks were still standing, but scorched, while debris littered the ground around the blast crater.
Investigators are on the scene today hoping to determine a cause. Cadaver sniffing dogs have been brought on site, in hopes to find survivors. Click here for the whole story
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