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Kings High School Seniors where volunteering to do landscaping around the grounds of the high school as part of a National Day of Service and Remembrance of 9/11. (Tony Tribble for the Enquirer)

Sue Kiesewetter reports:

Kings High School student Luke McLelland started his senior year with all 75 hours of his required community service hours finished.

But it didn’t stop the teen from joining his school’s Community Service Club, where he lines up service projects for classmates.

And that willingness to keep giving, said Superintendent Valerie Browning, is what the goal of the service requirement is all about.

“When I first came here I was really surprised – you don’t see that too often in public education,” Browning said. “As I became more and more exposed to it I realized how important service is for the kids, their growth and development.”

It also allows the community to see teenagers in a positive light.

“All too often we get into that mode of ‘Kids these days …” Browning said. “This allows people to see the positive side of our students.”

McLelland lined up three Habitat for Humanity houses his classmates could volunteer at during the senior class’ participation in the National Day of Service and Remembrance in September.

His was one of nine projects planned by seniors for seniors, who began the school day with a brief assembly before leaving for their work sites.

“The goal of community service is teaching kids the value of being active members of the community, not passive,” said Tim Guilfoyle, service club adviser. “I want kids to have the opportunity to lead other kids.”

Another service day – this one open to students in all grades – is being planned for spring by the service club.

“We spent the day building walls – hammering nails. We had 10 kids in each of three houses in Hamilton,” McLelland said.

“I love it. It’s super fun. I would much rather be outside spending time with my friends working than inside the classroom learning.”

(more…)

Posted in: Schools, Student achievements |

Tags: Tags: 9/11, brady vanover, community service, habitat for humanity, jake caito, kings, kings high school, luke mclelland, national day of service and remembrance, nick handorf, tim guilfoyle, valerie browning, volunteer

Sue Kiesewetter reports:

Paul Caito won’t ever forget the 9/11 terrorist attacks 11 years ago.

And he doesn’t want his son to, either.

It’s one reason why the Kings High School parent volunteered Tuesday to spend his day overseeing a group of teenagers as they planted 10 trees and 60 bushes and did other landscaping chores at their school.

Sharon Nursery partnered with the district to provide the materials even as the owner’s son worked alongside 19 classmates planting, weeding and spreading 24 yards of mulch on school landscaping beds.

It was one of nine projects the seniors could sign up for as the school’s participation in the National Day of Service and Remembrance.

After attending a morning ceremony at the school that included a moment of silence and a history lesson, the students were sent to their destinations for four to five hours of work.

The daylong projects included framing the inside of three Habitat for Humanity homes in Hamilton, packing eyeglasses in Mason and repackaging donated goods for Mathew 25: Ministries in Blue Ash.

“I think it’s extremely important to remember. These seniors were in the first grade when the attacks happened,” Caito said. “While they heard about it and have studied it, they did not experience it the way we did. This brings focus to that day and what it means.”

The Kings project was one of several remembrances or projects across the region marking the anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York City, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.

In Lebanon, a monument was dedicated at 9:58 a.m., the precise moment the south tower of the World Trade Center began crumbling in New York after being attacked by a plane 11 years ago.

In West Chester Township, the day was remembered at Chesterwood Village with a display, ceremony and patriotic songs.

At Fairfield South Elementary School, police and firefighters joined children as a new flag was raised and patriotic songs were sung.

And in Newport, the names of those who perished at the World Trade Center were memorialized in a ceremony at the World Peace Bell.

“I’ve lived in Kings all my life,’’ said senior Brady Vanover. “It feels good giving back something bigger than me.’’

Posted in: Schools |

Tags: Tags: 9/11, brady vanover, kings high school, matthew: 25 ministry, national day of service and remembrance, paul caito, seniors, sharon nursery, terrorist attacks

Warren County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy John Newsom announced last year that Warren County planned to build a 9-11 memorial. The memorial will include a piece from one of the fallen towers of the World Trade Center. Enquirer file/Cara Owsley

Paul McKibben reports:

Warren County will dedicate its memorial to 9/11 on Tuesday, the 11th anniversary of the terrorist attacks in the United States.

The memorial includes two 9-foot tall piece of granite and a piece of an I-beam from the World Trade Center in New York City.

It also has benches, a flag pole, lighting and a sidewalk that connects it to a fire memorial at the county government complex.

The memorial recognizes two victims with Warren County ties with their names on a bench. Another bench remembers United Airlines flight 93, which crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after being hijacked.

Wendy Faulkner of Mason and Robert Peraza of New York City died in the World Trade Center attack.

Faulkner, 47, worked as an executive at Aon Insurance Group and was at a meeting in the south tower.

Peraza, 30, worked at Cantor Fitzgerald as a bond trader. The firm had offices in the north tower. His parents lived in Mason at the time.

• 9/11 photo of grieving father becomes symbol for nation
• Mason family finds justice in bin Laden’s death

The program begins 9:45 a.m. Tuesday at 500 Justice Drive, Lebanon.

Former Cincinnati Bengal and current Warren County resident Anthony Munoz will be the program’s keynote speaker.

The granite memorial will be revealed at 9:58 a.m., the time when the south tower of the World Trade Center started to collapse.

The memorial, which cost about $100,000, was paid for with private dollars.

Posted in: News, Warren County |

Tags: Tags: 9/11, anthony munoz, aon insurance group, cantor fitzgerald, lebanon, memorial, pentagon, robert peraza, terrorist attacks, warren county, wendy faulkner, world trade center

Sept. 11, 2001 – a day that, more than 10 years later, still affects our lives and our nation.

Two wars followed; one in Iraq is only now winding down, and another in Afghanistan continues. The War on Terror still goes on.

From our politics to our travel to our sense of security, 9/11 has touched our lives personally and collectively.

The Enquirer is preparing a special Forum report on the impact of 9/11, and we would like to hear from you.

How has 9/11 affected your life?

How has it changed the way we see ourselves as a nation and a community?

How has it changed our public conversation and our priorities?

Please send us your personal stories and thoughts. Include a photo and a sentence about yourself and email to letters@enquirer.com or mail to Enquirer Opinions Page, 312 Elm St., Cincinnati, OH 45202.  You can also submit stories on Masonbuzz using our Send us a Story link.

Posted in: Community, News |

Tags: Tags: 9/11, afghanistan, al qaeda, memorial, pentagon, politics, sept. 11, september 11, stories, talibam, terrorist attacks, victims, war, war on terror, world trade center

A combination of “human and procedural errors” following a massive windstorm caused Warren County’s 911 system to go down for 15 hours in late June, representatives from the county’s 911 phone company told Warren County commissioners Tuesday.

Warren County Commissioner Dave Young has another term for it: “a comedy of errors.”

A late afternoon “derecho” caused the county’s 911 system to go down on June 29, according to Warren County Telecommunications Director Paul Kindell.  A derecho is an intense and long-lived series of straight-line winds often associated with fast-moving thunderstorms or rain.

Residents were unable to reach 911 operators for more than an hour.  For an hour after that, callers found themselves talking to dispatchers in distant Geauga County, near Cleveland.

Geauga County dispatchers gave callers Warren County’s seven-digit number or they relayed the caller’s information to Warren County.

Calls were later rerouted back to Warren County, but 911 service remained in “disaster mode” until the next morning.  Dispatchers could only receive calls on regular business lines, which lack many of the identifying features of 911 calls, such as callers’ names, phone numbers or locations, said Kindell.

While officials have no way of knowing how many calls were not answered, Kindell said he was not aware of any cases in which lives or property were lost.

“Unfortunately, we had some human and procedural errors that occurred on June 29 as a result of that storm.  We take full accountability for those errors and apologize for the disruption,” said Mike Conaghan, director of network operations for CenturyLink, the La.-based company that provides 911 service to Warren County.

The county’s 911 system is operated through two T1 circuit-houses located in Mansfield and Lima.  Both of those lines went down during the June 29 storm that saw winds of more than 88 mph and severe thunderstorms across Ohio.

When those lines failed, it automatically generated critical alarms and three help tickets at CenturyLink.  A single employee received all three tickets within minutes, but failed to act on them, said Andrea Gassman, process engineer for CenturyLink.

“That individual should have picked up the phone and contacted our [Warren County] point of contact and said, ‘You’ve got a problem,’” said Gassman.  “She did not follow that process.  We have coached and taken disciplinary action against that employee.”

Kindell said that when the 911 system went down, he called CenturyLink but spoke to a different operator who was unfamiliar with the system and the rerouting process.

“That individual essentially abandoned the call and told him to call again and press a different option,” said Gassman.  “She made a mistake; she screwed up.  She was the second person to let (Kindell) down.”

Kindell eventually reached an operator who rerouted calls.  However, because a CenturyLink programmer had transposed digits in the rerouting number months earlier, those calls were mistaken routed to Geauga County

That error might have been discovered sooner had the county and CenturyLink tested the rerouting system as the company recommends, said Nancy Serafino, a public safety engineer at CenturyLink.

Kindell said testing is disruptive to the system and can result in missed calls, but says his office has since developed procedures for future testing every quarter.

“We’re changing our policy because that’s not acceptable,” said Young.  “That’s on us.”

CenturyLink technicians reestablished full 911 service by 8:30 a.m. June 30, but failed to notify Kindell that service had been restored.

“We didn’t call him,” said Gassman.  “That was a disappointment to me.”

As a result of this incident, Gassman said the company has enacted new procedures to improve communications and ensure service outages are addressed in a more timely manner.

Young however, says he’s not convinced and issued stern words to CenturyLink for their handling of the incident.

“I don’t have a warm and fuzzy feeling… that if folks are going to dial 911 that it will be there.  It’s almost a comedy of errors.  Almost every interaction, your procedures failed and almost every employee has made the wrong choice,” he said.

“This is not the service we expect of any vendor,” he added.  “What is most disheartening to me is that we’re kind of stuck.  That’s not exactly making me have a lot of confidence that the next major event that comes down the pike that the system is going to work.”

Posted in: News, Warren County |

Tags: Tags: 9/11, andrea gassman, century link, dave young, derecho, down, failed, geauga county, mike conaghan, nancy serafino, paul kindell, storm, telecommunications, warren county, warren county commissioners, weather

Paul McKibben reports:

Warren County’s 911 system went down for an hour-and-a-half in late June, forcing calls during part of that time to be diverted to Geauga County in Northeast Ohio.

The incident began around 5:18 p.m. June 29 and wasn’t officially concluded until 8:30 a.m. June 30, according to a preliminary report by Warren County’s telecommunications chief. The Enquirer obtained the report Monday.

• Video: Ring of Fire Derecho

For a 27-minute period, calls went entirely unanswered; for an hour after that, callers found themselves talking to dispatchers in Geauga County, near Cleveland.

Geauga County dispatchers gave callers Warren County’s seven-digit number or they relayed the caller’s information to Warren County.

Warren County experienced a “derecho” around 4:40 p.m. June 29, with winds gusting up to 88 mph. A derecho is an intense and long-lived series of straight-line winds often associated with fast-moving thunderstorms or rain.

Warren County Telecommunications Director Paul Kindell said the storm caused the system to go down. He said officials have no way of knowing how many calls were not answered; he said he was not aware of any cases where lives or property were lost.

“Thirty minutes is a long time if you have a medical emergency or something’s on fire,” Kindell said.

The county blames the disruption on phone company CenturyLink, based in Monroe, La.

CenturyLink has been invited to an Aug. 14 Warren County commissioners meeting. Spokeswoman Joanette Romero said CenturyLink “welcomes the opportunity to conduct a thorough investigation.”

Kindell said the delay in restoring services required Warren County to stay in “disaster mode” for 15 hours. Disaster mode is when a dispatcher can’t differentiate between emergency calls and general calls.

Clermont County’s and Norwood’s 911 emergency telephone systems were disabled during the June 29 storm as well, but both were quickly restored. Norwood Police Lt. Tom Williams said calls came in but dispatchers could not answer them. Instead, dispatchers had to write phone numbers down and attempt to call citizens back.

Reporter Janice Morse contributed.

Posted in: News, Warren County |

Tags: Tags: 9/11, century link, derecho, down, failed, paul kindell, storm, telecommunications, warren county, weather

Paul McKibben reports:

Warren County’s 911 system failed to operate for a 15-hour period in late June, forcing calls to be diverted to Geauga County in northeast Ohio, The Enquirer has learned.

The incident occurred from 5:18 p.m. June 29 until 8:30 a.m. June 30, according to a report by Warren County’s telecommunications chief. For a 27-minute period, calls were not answered. It is not known how many calls, if any, were missed during that period, or why service was disrupted.

Warren County Telecommunications Director Paul Kindell said the delay in restoring services required Warren County to stay in “disaster mode” for 15 hours. During that time, he said, dispatchers received 911 calls on regular business lines but could not differentiate between emergency calls and general calls.

Kindell blamed the disruption on its vendor, Century Link

“CenturyLink acknowledges they had power problems but does not conclude they were related to the 911 outage,” he said.

The Enquirer will update this story.

Posted in: News, Warren County |

Tags: Tags: 9/11, century link, failed, paul kindell, telecommunications, warren county

Gabrielle Pathrose, 11, of Mason, was named the third place winner in the Gee Whiz Kids Award program by the Heart of America Foundation. Photo provided/Mason Schools

At just 11 years of age, Gabrielle Pathrose has already dedicated countless hours to helping others.  Now the Mason sixth-grader is being recognized for those efforts.

The Heart of America Foundation named Gabrielle the third-place winner in its annual Gee Whiz Kids Award program.

The award honors students ages 12 and under who exemplify the value of service in America.

Gabrielle and her older brother, Joshua, 13, teamed up this past year to raise thousands to benefit families of 9/11 victims and international disaster relief efforts.  The pair performed concerts — Josh plays guitar and Gabrielle plays violin — at local grocery stores and collected donations.

The siblings raised $600 more for Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center by selling cold water to spectators at local soccer games.  They then collected more than 200 stuffed animals and toys to donate to patients at Shriner’s Hospitals for Children.

Gabrielle is an active junior volunteer at the Cedar Village retirement community in Mason, where she volunteers three hours each week after school helping residents with physical therapy, assisting nurses and playing her violin.

She also volunteers at the Chesterwood Village nursing home in West Chester at Christmas and Easter.

Gabrielle will receive a certificate and $100 scholarship donated by Marilyn and Amanda Perlyn, the mother-daughter author and illustrator of the book, “The Biggest and Brightest Light,” a children’s book that teaches the importance of giving.

Posted in: Community, News |

Tags: Tags: 9/11, cincinnati children's hospital medical center, community service, donations, gabrielle pathrose, gee whiz kids award, giving, heart of america foundation, international disaster relief, joshua pathrose, scholarship, shriner's hospital, the biggest and brightest light

Robert Peraza kneels by his son's name at the north pool of the 9/11 memorial on Sept. 11, 2011. Peraza, a former Mason resident and Procter & Gamble retiree, is the father of Robert David Peraza, who was working on the 104th floor of 1 World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. The photograph has become among the most viral photographs of the year, according to media sites. (Getty Images / Justin Lane)

A photograph of a father’s private moment mourning the son he lost on 9/11 is among the most viral photographs of the year.

The photo of Robert Peraza in prayer by his son's name at the north pool of the 9/11 memorial was published on the front covers of several U.S. newspapers. The photo is now being counted among the most viral of the year.

When former Mason resident Robert Peraza knelt to say a prayer at his son’s name on the 9/11 Memorial in New York City on Sept. 11, photographer Justin Lane caught the moment.

The photograph quickly became, as many have described it, an iconic symbol of a nation’s grief.

The Enquirer was among numerous media outlets to publish the picture, which appeared on the cover of the Washington Post, the New York Daily News and the New York Post to name a few.

The grieving father’s moment has since become one of the most viral photographs of the year, according to Buzzfeed.com, a website that aggregates news stories that have gone “viral” or are widely distributed online.

Peraza, a Procter & Gamble retiree, is the father of Robert David Peraza, 30, who was working as a bond trader for Cantor Fitzgerald on the 104th floor of 1 World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

• Photos: Remembering Robert D. Peraza

He had been selected as a reader at the tenth anniversary ceremony, but took a moment to walk near the memorial’s North Pool before the memorial opened to family members.

“I was just honoring Rob… I was saying a prayer for his soul,” Peraza, 68, told ABC News. “It was very, very emotional.”

Peraza, a former president of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Cincinnati, and his wife, Suzanne, lived in Mason at the time of the attacks but have since moved to Clermont, Fla.  His son lived in the Mason area in the late 1990s.

It’s been a tough road for the Perazas since the day when two hijacked jets crashed into the twin towers, a third plunged into the Pentagon, and a fourth went down in a Pennsylvania field before reaching its target.

Robert D. Peraza. Photo credit/St. Bonaventure University

“Closure, in my opinion, is a very overstated term,” Peraza told The Enquirer in September as the tenth anniversary of the attacks approached.

“Rob was murdered on that day, and every year we are reminded of that.  The wounds, in a sense, never healed.”

The family established a scholarship fund in Rob’s memory at St. Bonaventure University in western New York State, where he earned his undergraduate and masters degrees.  So far, about $250,000 has been raised.

They still talk about Rob frequently, said Robert’s younger brother, Neil Peraza, 38, of Orlando, Fla.  His three children all know who “Uncle Rob” was.

“After 9/11 my wife and I realized that life continues and you have two children you have to live for,” Robert Peraza told ABC. “Rob was the kind of young man who would have been very upset if my wife and I wilted.”

After the photograph was taken, Robert Peraza, who wore a t-shirt bearing his son’s face,  joined family members of other victims to read the names of the dead and pay tribute to his son.

“Dearest Robert we love you and pray for you every day,” he said.  ”We are with you all the time and we’ll never forget, we’ll never forget, we’ll never forget.”

Posted in: Community, News |

Tags: Tags: 10th anniversary, 9/11, buzzfeed.com, cantor fitzgerald, mason, memorial, north tower, photograph, pool, robert david peraza, robert peraza, sept. 11, tenth anniversary, terrorist attacks, the enquirer, viral, world trade center

Fourth-grade students in Mason Intermediate’s gift program paid tribute last week to local rescue personnel  in observance of the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Students in the Ability ACT program shared notes and poems and created medals of appreciation to present to visiting first responders, including representatives from the City of Mason Police and Fire departments.

“You have some of the most important jobs in the world. You stop disasters. You stop deaths. You stop fires. Thanks for keeping us safe. You guys are awesome,” said Lisa Li, who addressed rescue personnel on behalf of her peers.

Students shared stories of personal heroes, such as that of student Tyler Holley’s cousin, Lt. Austin McNaul, who’s serving in Afghanistan.

“We are lucky to have such a strong man included in the defense against the terrorists,” said Tyler.  “I know you’ve been through a lost of difficult, even treacherous times, and I want you to know we are thinking of you and praying for you every night.”

“I think it’s spectacular what you’ve done,” said Mason City Schools DARE Officer Ryan Tanner, who addressed students about the changes in the years following the events of that fateful September morning.

“With the Mason Police Department and the Mason Fire Department,  we’re more vigilant and more innovative than we were before 9/11,” he explained.  “But most importantly, since 9/11 the number of people who have gone into the millitary has dramatically increased and I’m glad to see the increase in patriotism of today’s young men and women.”

Mason Intermediate ACT teacher Jerri Wright organized the event.

“Teaching about 9/11 and the country’s history is important,” she said.  “This recognition is a positive tribute to our country’s resilience, and it is important for our students to have tangible opportunities to honor those who serve our country.”

Posted in: Schools |

Tags: Tags: 9/11, ability act, afghanistan, austin mcnaul, city of mason, first responders, gifted program, iraq, mason, mason fire department, mason intermediate, mason police department, memorial, rescue personnel, september 11, soldiers, tribute