A Don McCormack column: Seuffert’s talents have expanded

DON McCORMACK

Paying another visit to the variety store...



Have a seat

The first coach to lead an Ashtabula Area City Schools team to a Northeastern Conference volleyball championship has come a long way, baby.

Chris Seuffert, who guided the Ashtabula Panthers to the NEC championship in 1979, received quite an honor at the beginning of the month.

On Nov. 3, voters in the city elected her to a seat on the Ashtabula Area City Schools Board of Education and in the process, gave the woman who taught for 36 years in the district a ringing endorsement by receiving the most votes (an unofficial total of 3,437) for the three open seats.

Voters tabbed incumbents James Hudson Jr. and Janine Trebuchon-Wertz to maintain their seats on the board.

For leading the Panthers to their first — and only — NEC volleyball championship, Seuffert also earned a milestone honor — she was the first Star Beacon Ashtabula County Volleyball Coach of the Year.

From my dealings with her, this corner believes Seuffert will make an outstanding BOE member. Always active in many aspects of the district, she has never backed down from a challenge, is always willing to put the time and effort in to get something accomplished and is always pleasant to deal with.

Sounds like a winning situation for everyone involved, most notably, the students of the Ashtabula Area City Schools.



Ashtabula ties

The last name Hummer is familiar to many in the area for the exploits of Mike Hummer, a 1979 Harbor High School graduate.

For the past 20-plus years, Hummer has been an assistant football coach at Napoleon High School, located in Henry County in northwest Ohio. He has been at Napoleon since 1985.

His younger son, Brandon, had a monster season for the Wildcats this fall, rushing for 1,176 yards and scoring 13 touchdowns. He was named Outstanding Offensive Back of the Greater Buckeye Conference, which Napoleon won this season, and earned a top-10 ranking in Division III and a berth in the playoffs.

Hummer, a captain, and his teammates defeated 2009 state finalist Columbus Eastmoor in a first-round game before being defeated in the second round by Columbus Bishop Watterson, 6-3.

Brandon was named first-team all-district and was the Region 1 winner of the Art Teynor Award, given to the most outstanding player for the region. His top single-game performance was a 185-yard, three-touchdown performance against perennial power Fremont Ross.

The son of Mike and Linda, Brandon’s older brother, Brian, is a junior linebacker at Kent State University.

His grandfather, the late Norman Hummer, like his son, played football at Harbor and then also at Ohio Northern University.

Brandon’s grandmother, Katherine, still lives in the Harbor, residing on Walnut Boulevard.



A cut above

Those who know me a bit are more than likely aware of my two infamous stories regarding riding lawn mowers — one involved Bigfoot and the other involved potassium counts. If you’re not aware, don’t ask.

Annnnyway...

A riding lawn mower may have four wheels, a powerful engine and can cost as much as a used car. If it’s stolen, however, the Georgia Supreme Court concluded Monday that it’s not a motor vehicle.

The 4-3 decision overturned the conviction of Franklin Lloyd Harris, who was convicted of felony motor vehicle theft after he loaded a Toro riding mower in 2006 from a Home Depot in Dalton into his van and sped away. Because Harris was a repeat offender, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Public defender Michael McCarthy told the justices that while Harris should still be charged with theft, he shouldn’t be punished as if he had stolen a car. A riding mower is many things, a modern mechanical marvel among them, but McCarthy said it’s not a motor vehicle under state law.

Prosecutors countered that the state defines a “motor vehicle” as a “self-propelled” device, and there’s no doubt a riding mower meets that standard.

The state’s top court agreed, concluding in an 18-page decision that the sentence should be overturned because the purpose of a riding mower is to cut grass, not transport people.

“To be sure, a riding lawn mower is capable of transporting people or property and of driving on the street for short stretches,” Justice David Nahmias wrote in the opinion. “But that is not what the machine is designed for or how it is normally used.”

In a dissent, Justice Harold Melton argued that Georgia lawmakers specifically defined “motor vehicle” broadly enough to include riding mowers. It warned that the ruling “has interpreted the statute in a manner that creates conflict and leads to an absurd result.”

The case, which lawyers said set a precedent in Georgia, comes as other courts around the country grapple with similar concerns about whether riding lawnmowers and similar devices should be classified as vehicles.

There was no discussion in the ruling over how the state defines motor vehicles for the purpose of alcohol-related arrests.

That’s still a blurry issue in Georgia, where it’s a criminal offense to operate a car, truck or other “motor vehicle” while under the influence of alcohol. Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling, prosecutors might still pursue charges against those driving under the influence on mowers, too.

That issue also has drawn headlines across the country, as prosecutors from West Virginia to Oregon have charged suspects with driving under the influence after catching them prowling the streets on lawnmowers, golf carts and even a tricycle.



The Associated Press contributed to this report. McCormack is the sports editor of the Star Beacon. Reach him at donmac@suite224.net.

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