Lessons learned.

The Monsters were decisive in front of goalie Jet Greaves on Jan. 19. They scored twice on the power play and went 4-for-4 killing penalties to knock off the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, 4-2, in front of 9,287 fans at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

“They (the Phantoms) are top-five in minors against and they have a top-five power play,” Vogelhuber said. “Four or below is the amount of times we want to be in the penalty box. And then you have to win the special teams battle. That won the game for us tonight.”

The Monsters, first in the AHL North, are 24-10-1-1. They lost three of four games before beating the Phantoms, and even in the game they won, they gave up five goals before beating the Toronto Marlies, 6-5, in overtime.

“I thought defensively we were pretty good,” Vogelhuber said. “We worked a lot on that. I thought we had gotten loose over the last five or six games defensively.

“I thought we were a little bit rusty with the puck on our stick as far as execution goes. That went for both teams. That could be some ice conditions after not having the ice in for a while. So there’s room for us to improve. But overall it was solid and obviously we got the two points, which was great.”

The Phantoms scored first when the puck bounced off the end wall right to the blade of forward Samu Tuamaala, who flicked it past Greaves for his 12th goal of the season with 2:29 left in the first period.

Twelve seconds later, Luca Del Bel Belluz of the Monsters jumped on a loose puck in front of the net and beat Lehigh goalie Cal Peterson stickside to tie the game.

The Monsters took control with three goals in the second period — two of them on the power play.

James Malatesta broke toward the left post and took a perfect feed from defenseman Stanislav Svozil from the right circle. Malatesta took the puck on the forehand side of his blade, went to his backhand, back to his forehand and then tucked the puck behind Peterson’s right pad and inside the left post 1:33 into the second period for a power=play goal. When Malatesta went to his backhand, Peterson started to slide to his left as though he expected Malatesta to pass the puck back to Svozil.

“It was a great play, a really good move,” Vogelhuber said. “We talked this morning. (Malatesta) has been getting a lot of chances. He just hasn’t capitalized.

“But when you’re getting chances, you can’t focus too much on the end result. Just keep doing what he’s doing. He’s going to find the back of the net eventually.”

Malatesta made it 3-1 less than two minutes later. Jake Christiansen scored on the power play with 1:49 left in the middle period to finish off the Monsters’ scoring.

Brown, who was born Sept. 7, 1908, at 7 W. Elm St. in Norwalk, was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967, according to a news release from Mark Hazelwood, media coordinator for the Paul Brown Birthplace Committee.

The fundraising efforts began in 2022, and the statue as well as a new Ohio Historical Marker commemorating his birth in Norwalk, were unveiled Oct. 21 at Suhr Park, 29 W. Main St. across from the Norwalk Public Library.

The event, hosted by the committee, included Brown’s family members in addition to a large number of citizens.

“The statue is just amazing,” said Norwalk Mayor Dave Light. “I’m just astounded at what a good likeness it is of Paul Brown.

“It’s remarkable, and the whole thing will be a great addition to uptown Norwalk.”

Fundraising by the committee kicked off in September 2022, with a campaign that included corporate sponsorships along with engraved paving bricks and granite blocks.

“I’m pleasantly surprised by how quickly it all happened,” Light said. “I really didn’t think it would go this fast, and a big thank-you to everyone who participated.

“It’s just great.”

Approximately 200 individual donations were collected toward the $100,000 goal to commission the statue and pay for other elements, including the granite wall that lists information about Brown’s career in football, the release noted.

“That, too, is a good-looking addition to the streetscape,” said Kathy Root, chair of the Paul Brown Birthplace Committee. “It provides context and information about Paul Brown that is perhaps not so widely known by everyone.”

Sponsors who donated $1,000, $2,500 or $5,000 have their business or name engraved on the front of the stadium wall.

Three of the 23 benefactors wished to remain anonymous for their combined total of $105,000.

Dozens of donors bought a brick paver or a granite square, the release noted.

“We’re so grateful to every single donor for their generosity,” Root said.

The life-size likeness of Brown stands nearly 7 feet tall.

The design was approved by Mike Brown, owner and general manager of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Mike Brown is the only surviving son of Paul Eugene and Ida Belle Brown, who lived on West Elm Street.

The likeness of Brown is based on an artist’s rendering created by Norwalk business owners Kevin Hipp of Franklin Monument and Trevor Rood of Foghorn Designs, the release stated.

The granite wall behind the statue lists the coach’s notable accomplishments and innovations to the game of football.

The back side of the wall is etched to look like the façade of a football stadium.

“I think people will really enjoy having this here,” Light said. “I hope that visitors to Norwalk take advantage of the opportunity to see the statue, read about Paul Brown and his impact on pro football, and learn something.

“We want people to come here and see this.”

First coach of the namesake Cleveland NFL team, and a co-founder and first coach of the Cincinnati Bengals, Brown began his Ohio coaching career at Massillon High School before moving on to Ohio State University.

Brown led the Buckeyes to the first of their eight national championships in 1942.

With the Cleveland Browns, Brown was the team’s general manager, head coach and part owner from 1946 until 1962.

During that time, the Browns won four All-America Football Conference championships and three National Football League championships, the release stated.

With the Bengals, he retired from coaching in 1975, but remained as president of that organization until his death in 1991.

The Bengals reached two Super Bowls during his time with the team.

Brown’s all-time coaching record in the NFL stands at 167-53-8 over 17 seasons, with eight league championships.

The Olmsted Falls senior is a three-sport athlete in football, basketball and baseball, but there was a time it was all taken away from him.

“I think it has definitely matured me as a person,” DeLisio said. “That’s a lot at a young age, but I put my head down with the mindset that no matter what, the grass is greener on the other side. Just trying to work and be really focused on your goal at the end of the day. One step at a time.”

In the beginning of 2018, DeLisio was limping around playing basketball and it was thought to be a knee issue. Later on in May, he was diagnosed with a hip lesion after getting an MRI. It’s a rare condition where an area of the bone was withered away. The lesion was fortunately found on accident, and he had surgery two weeks later.

Fast forward to the following April at a baseball practice at T3 Performance in Avon. DeLisio was back and ready to go playing sports, and his team was working on bunting drills. He collided with one of his teammates, fractured his skull and had to get emergency surgery. That included brain surgery to make sure there wasn’t any further damage.

He missed the rest of the baseball season and his eighth-grade football season, but he was able to return to basketball in the winter of 2019-20. The rehab process was difficult, and DeLisio said the mental aspect was much tougher than the physical. He made it back to playing sports despite a hard path.

“For me, it was trying to wake up every day and find a reason to keep pushing,” DeLisio said. “My reason was to make sure that my siblings knew that no matter what, everything is going to get better. They were a big motivator for me. Obviously, as a middle-school kid, it was hard. It made me mentally tougher, and I matured physically and mentally.”

Olmsted Falls boys basketball coach Chris DeLisio has seen many athletes over the years come up from his time going to school and coaching here. He has seen the different challenges teenagers face, but this time it was up close and personal with his own son facing a traumatic injury.

“As a family, I think we’ve always tried to do a good job of finding the positives and the next. This definitely tested our ability to do that,” Chris said. “… As much as Peyton went through, I’m just really proud of him. Obviously there’s a pride as a dad, but there’s a pride as a coach.

“When you watch the kids that you coach and what they do and go through, every kid is trying to overcome some obstacle. To watch Peyton play with the effort that he plays with after everything that happened, I’m just so proud of him.”

Peyton plays basketball. He still plays catcher in baseball. He played safety in football. He hasn’t shied away from contact and like his father mentioned, he plays hard with full effort. If there’s a loose ball, he’s on the floor. There’s no hesitation despite the injuries he has been through.

Being a leader means something to Peyton. He hasn’t felt sorry for himself once through this journey, and he hopes others follow in his footsteps by working hard.

“I’ve never really played sports scared,” Peyton said. “I’ve always been a big believer in if you’re going to do it, you should do it to the best ability and as hard as you can. … Finally after all of those years, just getting to be with the guys and creating relationships (was great).

“At the end of the day, it’s not an individual legacy that you want to leave, it’s a great team legacy. As a team, we’ve built those relationships and tried to set an example for a lot of people younger than us.”

Peyton and Chris spoke highly of the support system in their corner. Peyton said he couldn’t have done any of this without them. Chris couldn’t thank the Olmsted Falls community enough for its support during those hard times.

Chris is proud of how his son has overcome all of these obstacles, and he really wanted to have this story out there for perhaps another kid who is trying to find their reason to keep pushing to get back into sports.

“One of the reason you love sports is the life connections of the lessons that you learn as an athlete that help you go into life,” Chris said. “When you see young kids thrown into that, it’s reversed. How can I life situation guide them through sports in that moment? Usually, it’s vice versa.

“It was no different for Peyton. He had to find a way to be a productive member of the teams he was on despite not being able to play. (We thought about) how he can find a role as a leader and be an extra set of eyes for his coaches.”

Despite the circumstances, Peyton pushed through and has taken the best from it. He’s currently playing a big role on the basketball team as a starter, averaging 5.9 points per game and leading the team in 3-pointers.

With the rest of the basketball season and baseball season coming up this spring, he’s on track to finish his career on a good note. Looking back to over five years ago, he had to overcome a lot to get there.

“At this point in my life, it’s almost something that I’m grateful for,” Peyton said. “In all honesty looking back at it, you hate it in the moment and it’s really terrible, but I’ve overcome it and grown from it. It gave me a fearless mindset of no matter what happens, everything’s going to work out just fine.”

After a closed executive session that lasted nearly 40 minutes, the regular meeting began starting with election of board officers.

Benjamin Fligner was re-elected board chairman and Don Ortner was re-elected to his spot as board vice chairman.

The board then ratified the recent hiring of five new faculty and staff members: Helen Tagliaferro as the professional practice clinician; Brenda Bergman as assistant professor of health and wellness sciences; Annalise Gatautis as coordinator for the University Partnership Ridge Campus Outreach Learning Center; Bradley Ball as director of the culinary program; and Ariel Powell as program developer for the Engineering Business and Information Technologies department.

The board then voted to approve a policy change regarding rank, tenure and promotion.

The update to the policy permits faculty to provide alternative qualifications when applying for promotion to the rank of assistant professor.

Tracy Green, vice president of Strategic and Institutional Development at LCCC, said this change specifically is for faculty in fields that are not common in the highest levels of education.

“Typically, to move up in rank, a faculty member has to have a doctorate or other academic credentials in their field,” Green said. “We have some fields where there is not advanced education in such as our EMT and paramedic program.”

Green said there are no specifics to what kind of alternative application materials faculty can provide, but they will have to prove how their education or work experience has provided them the necessary qualifications.

The board approved bank depository agreements for nine different banks for the next five years.

It also approved a resolution that will allow for the college’s finances to be received electronically.

The meeting finished with a report from LCCC President Marcia Ballinger.

One of the highlights of the report was a presentation on a program that LCCC has partnered with Midview High School.

The program gives Midview High students experience learning about micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), which is an area of study that has taken off at LCCC after receiving funding through a program by Intel.

Ballinger also highlighted U.S. Congressman Bob Latta’s visit to LCCC to learn about the MEMS program.

She also noted that the college’s practical nursing program was named as the No. 2 program in Ohio by Practicalnursing.org for 2024.

Ballinger concluded the meeting by announcing the creation of the LCCC Hall of Fame.

Nominations can be made until Feb. 28 for the June inauguration.

To be eligible for induction, a nominee must have a degree or certificate from LCCC, have completed one year at the school before earning a bachelor’s degree from another institution or completed 30 credit hours at the college.

“The other part of the application is about how have they have exemplified our mission and values in their community by making extraordinary contributions through their professional career or volunteer work,” Ballinger said.

Browns linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah is replacing injured Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt in the Pro Bowl set for Feb. 4 at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Fla.

This will be the first Pro Bowl appearance for JOK, a third-year linebacker from Notre Dame who led the Browns with 98 tackles. The 2023 season was his best by far. He credited his coaches and teammates for his success.

“I think it was a combination of a lot of things,” JOK said Jan. 14 as the players cleaned out their lockers in Berea. “First and foremost, you put it in a scheme that allows the player to get vertical. You have the players in front. I know the defensive line didn’t necessarily get any sacks or anything, but if you look, they did keep those double teams pretty well for us to get vertical. So I give credit to them.

“Coach (Jason) Tarver (linebackers coach) did a great job preparing us as linebackers to be able to do those things, specifically in those positions that I was in. So, it’s credit to the coaches, my teammates, but also a lot of the stuff that they keyed in on and some of the patience things that you can see from the position that I was in.”

Teller is headed to his third Pro Bowl. He was an alternate on the Pro Bowl team announced last month. Bitonio was voted to the Pro Bowl for a sixth straight time in 2023. He battled a knee injury, back injury, oblique injury and finger injury during the season. His ankle was sprained in the second quarter against the Texans when another player rolled on the back of his leg. He missed a few plays and then was back at left guard. The next day he wore a walking boot in the locker room.

“He’s unbelievable,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said Jan. 14 in his wrap-up news conference. “He’s unbelievable. He didn’t have to go back in that game with a high ankle sprain, and most people couldn’t and most people wouldn’t. And he was not going to let his guys down. He battled to the end.

“He’ll rest up and heal up, but he’s a quintessential teammate. That’s what we’re talking about. When you talk about the Cleveland Browns, you talk about guys that will do anything and everything they can for their teammate.”

Wide receiver Amari Cooper, defensive end Myles Garrett, tight end David Njoku and cornerback Denzel Ward from the Browns also made the Pro Bowl this season.

Mark Adams, commissioner of Lorain County Public Health, told the commissioners during their meeting that the state’s plan to begin inspections of residential septic tank systems has been in the works for years.

The primary concern of not inspecting the septic tank systems can result in negative impacts on local watersheds with the addition of harmful bacteria and pollution, Adams said.

In fact, several counties adopted the new unfunded mandate in 2019 that was handed down by Ohio Department of Health in 2015, but Adams said he decided to hold off due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The county has drafted a map of the residences with septic tanks, he said.

A significant number of properties contain the tanks which haven’t been registered with the county, and subsequently, officials have no knowledge of the condition of the septic systems, which is the goal of the new program, Adams said.

The health department has been tasked with verifying each septic tank system in the county, whether it’s contacting the homeowner personally, or via telephone, he said.

“We have to do that,” he said as part of the new mandate.

Homeowners now are required to purchase permits for their septic tank systems, which has brought criticism from several residents.

A handful of residents spoke at the county commission meeting Jan. 16 regarding their opposition and concerns about the new program.

Lorain County Public Health has received about 2,600 voicemails since residents began receiving notice of the new fees.

A one-year fee costs the homeowner $40 and a three-year permit can be obtained for $120, due by April 30.

Adams maintains that the new mandate is not a plan to force people to replace their septic tank systems.

However, if a problem is discovered, it’s the homeowner’s responsibility to correct the problem, he said.

Those homeowners who have abandoned septic tank systems on their property are legally responsible to report them to the health department.

The health department’s goal is to have each system inspected and catalogued, Adams said.

Additionally, the health department will test waterways around the individual septic systems as part of another phase of the project, he said.

While financial assistance is available for those who qualify, the health department thus far only has $100,000 to work with, Adams said.

The health department estimates there are 20,000 home sewage treatment systems throughout the county.

The health board meets at 6 p.m., every second Wednesday of the month, at Lorain County Public Health, 9880 Murray Ridge Road in Elyria.

Lorain County Public Health also can be contacted via email at EH@loraincountyhealth.com or by phone at 440-322-6367.

3-pointers:

Rebounds:

Assists:

Steals:

Blocks:

Enter Grace Kingery from North Ridgeville, whose exceptional performance on both ends of the court game after game.

The question has to be asked. Could she contend for Ohio Ms. Basketball?

After the Ball State signee recorded a 27-point, five-block, three-steal and seven-rebound performance in a 52-49 win over Avon Lake, she averages 28.4 points per game, 11.5 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 2.4 blocks.

Avon Lake vs. North Ridgeville girls basketball: Rangers win completes season sweep

Time and time again, she has showcased her limitless seemingly limitless range. Combine that she stands at 6-foot-1 and has guard skills, she becomes a mismatch for nearly every opponent.

She has the third highest point per game average in Ohio, according to MaxPreps.

"I think regardless, if she is in (the Ohio Ms. Basketball conversation) there or not, we all know that she is one of the best players to ever come through this and in the state," North Ridgeville coach Amy Esser said. "She is going to have an amazing end of her (North Ridgeville) career and go to Ball State."

In the Rocky River Travel Basketball Girls Hoops Classic, Pirates coach Jamey Pfahl assigned 5-11 Mackenzie Russell on Kingery.

She was an All-Ohio midfielder on the soccer pitch. Russell transitions her length and athleticism to the basketball court. Despite that, Kingery scored 25 points in the first half, 32 total, for North Ridgeville to win, 44-39.

“What made (Kingery’s) performance so great was that I thought we were playing great defense. Mackenzie (Russell) was all over her, and she kept hitting shots and she was playing great,” Pfahl said after the game.

Avon Lake coach Paul Appel had to think outside the box to guard her, even with Shoregals defense stalwart Izzie Polinko guarding her. Yet, he still felt compelled to double-team Kingery.

“We never ran girls at people to double team and tonight we did that for the first time. … You also have to give a lot of credit to North Ridgeville,” Appel said. “I thought they shot really well. There are not a lot of girls you can double off of because they have a lot of capable players. It makes (playing defense) hard.”

Over 14 games played her highest scoring performance was 45 points against Elyria in an 80-51 win. Ten days later, she scored 38 in a 63-47 victory against Lakewood.

North Ridgeville girls basketball: Rangers prepare for Avon Lake with dominant win against Lakewood, Grace Kingery scores 38 points

Kingery showcased herself as more than just a scorer. Against Avon Lake, she recorded five blocks, three steals and seven rebounds. The latest performance put her average to 11.5 rebounds per game, 1.9 steals and 2.4 blocks.

"What (Kingery) puts on the floor every day doesn't necessarily have to be points, even though most times we need that from her. It's whatever the team needs for us to win," Esser said. "That is all that kids care about. She could care less about records and awards. All she wants to do is win. You can see it in every aspect of her game."

With Kingery leading the charge, North Ridgeville (12-3, 6-1 in SWC) has a chance to win its first conference championship since 1995. However, it plans to take the season one game at a time.

"I take it one game at a time. I worry about the future when it comes, so I take it step-by-step," Kingery said.

The Rangers will travel to square off against Amherst (7-6, 4-4 in SWC) on Jan. 20. The Comets lost to Avon, 51-47, but played North Ridgeville tough, for the Rangers to scrape by with a 59-51 victory.

The Morning Journal coverage area has yet to produce a Ms. Basketball winner. Northeast Ohio has had 16 winners.

Canton McKinley's Kierstan Bell was the last winner from Northeast Ohio. She won the award three years in a row (2017-19).

In comparison to last year's Ms. Basketball winner, Dee Alexander (Cincinnati Purcell Marian), she averaged 26.2 points per game, 10.1 rebounds, 2.6 steals and 2.6 assists en route to a Division II state championship.

Alexander was a sophomore in the 2022-23 season. Among the seven finalists, four of them were underclassmen.

Other 2022-23 Ohio Ms. Basketball Finalists

Sinai Douglas, Toledo Start, 5-4, Jr.: 16.8 points per game, 6.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 5.3 steals.

Madison Greene, Pickerington Central, 5-7, Sr.: 15.2 points per game, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals, Division I regional champion.

Saniyah Hall, Laurel, 6-0, Fr.: Amherst native, 20.8 points per game, 9.1 rebounds, 4.2 steals, 2.6 assists, 1.6 blocks.

Rylee Sagester, New Madison Tri-Village, 5-6, Sr.: 21.7 points per game, 4.2 assists, 2.4 steals, 41.9% 3-point shooter, Division IV state champion.

Corri Vermilya, Loudonville, 5-9, Jr.: 29.5 points per game, 12.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 6.5 steals.

Reagan Vinskovich, Belmont Union Local, 6-2, Sr.: 22 points per game, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 2.5 assists.

The thought drives athletes of the past and present up a wall. It’s ingrained into psyche and also frowned upon by others. Losing simply doesn’t feel good.

What people tend to overlook is how losing doesn’t have to be all negative. The lessons learned from losing are often more numerous than what is gained from winning. Athletes learn to improve upon their deficiencies and are better off going forward.

Take Keystone defending Division III 157-pound state champion and two-time state qualifier Tristin Greene as an example.

Entering the 2022 Division II state wrestling tournament with a 46-3 record as a sophomore at 138 pounds, Greene scored a tech fall and a decision on his way to the championship semifinals the night of March 12. A win would put him in the title match.

When an exhausted Greene fell to Columbian’s Bret Minnick by decision, 7-2, he was visibly upset. While he’d win another match, he’d lose out on third place via a 3-1 decision. That left him even more frustrated coming off the mat during the third day’s morning session.

Once he got over those sophomore year shortcomings, all Greene has done is win and learn from those experiences. He became a Fargo National Champion in 16-Under Greco Roman that same summer before taking home the state crown last year, going 47-2.

On Jan. 13, Greene kept rolling and at Northwestern’s Husky Invitational, he reached a significant milestone – 150 career wins.

I spoke to @klsd_wrestling state champ Tristin Greene the other day. He just picked up his 150th win Jan. 13 at a tournament out in Northwestern. He's now at 153.

He needed 20 wins coming into the year to reach the marker. He knew it was coming for a while. @MJournalSports pic.twitter.com/yPlJeIG6iN

— Sean Fitzgerald (@fitzonsportsbsr) January 18, 2024

“I knew this was coming for a while now,” Greene said. “Last year, I ended the season with about 130 – maybe a little more – wins. But I knew it was coming, knew it was going to be any day now. It happened last weekend, and it was kind of cool.”

Following two conference quad dual wins Jan. 18, Greene sits at 155 career wins to 12 career losses. He has lost only four total OHSAA matches since his junior year began – two losses each in 2022 and 2023 at the Walsh Iron Man, considered to be one of – if not the – toughest tournaments in the nation.

While those losses have built Greene up, they don’t define him. The past is the past, and he’s looking forward to bigger and better things.

“I try not to look back on losses in a negative light,” he said. “Like I said before, I look at them for guidance and how to get better.”

Greene has a pathway to take over the top spot on the Wildcats’ career wins leaderboard by the end of the year. William Spangler (173-23 record) and Brian Spangler (157-22) stand in Greene’s way – with the current senior having an outside shot at 175 career victories. What would Greene say to himself back two years ago after all he’s accomplished since then?

“Just keep working hard,” Greene answered.

“Push yourself, go with the best guys you can. Don’t think about trying to win state anymore – try thinking about winning nationals. Try to prepare yourself to beat the best guy in the nation instead of the best guy in the state because the best guy in the state will come naturally if you can beat the best guy in the nation. Always look for that next step.”

Greene has done exactly that. He keeps his focus on the moment and never looks too far ahead in a bracket trying to gameplan a path to the finals. That’s where many wrestlers will trip themselves up mentally by ignoring the opponent in front of them.

“That’s always been… kind of pushed in my skull,” Greene noted. “Just don’t look at the brackets too much, don’t really worry about who you’re going to face. Just wrestle your next match.”

Greene seeks out the best competition and continually works on addressing his flaws, many of which are hard to find nowadays.

“You can ask my coach (Chris Vondruska), I always ask for film,” he said. “I always look for what my guy does – I love planning against my guys.”

Greene cracked a smile, as a memory bubbled to the surface.

“Coach (Vondruska) once made a joke that if I could know what (my opponents) had for breakfast that day, I’d want to know.” The defending state champ chuckled before wrapping up his point.

“I’m just a very competitive person. I love to win. And if I can do almost anything to get a better chance at that, I would.”

PORTLAND, Ore. — Two weeks of storms that have turned roads into icy death traps, frozen people to death from Oregon to Tennessee and caused power outages that could take weeks to fix continued to sock both coasts with another round of weather chaos on Friday.

The rain, snow, wind and bitterly cold temperatures have been blamed for at least 50 deaths in the U.S. over the past two weeks as a series of storms moved across the country. Schools and roads have closed and air traffic has been snarled

There is hope. The forecast for next week calls for above average temperatures across almost the whole country, according to the National Weather Service.

Snow was falling in New York City, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., on Friday. But the biggest problems remained in places hit hard by storms earlier in the week.

On the West Coast, Oregon’s governor declared a statewide emergency Thursday night, nearly a week after the start of a crippling ice storm.

Thousands of residents have been without power since last weekend in parts of Oregon’s Willamette Valley because of the freezing rain.

“We lost power on Saturday, and we were told yesterday that it would be over two weeks before it’s back on,” said Jamie Kenworthy, a real estate broker in Jasper in Lane County.

More than 100,000 customers remained without electricity Friday morning in the state after back-to-back storms, according to poweroutage.us.

Portland Public Schools canceled classes for the fourth straight day amid concerns about icy roads and water damage to buildings, and state offices in Portland were also ordered closed Friday.

Ice was also a problem in the South. Snow and freezing rain added another coat of ice in Tennessee on Thursday. More than 9 inches of snow has fallen around Nashville since Sunday, nearly twice the yearly average.

Authorities blamed at least 17 deaths on the weather in Tennessee. Several were from traffic wrecks. In Washington County, a patient in an ambulance and someone in a pickup were killed in a head-on crash when the truck lost control on a snowy road.

Exposure to cold was deadly, too. A 25-year-old man was found dead in a mobile home in Lewisburg after a space heater fell over and turned off.

“There was ice on the walls in there,” Marshall County Chief Deputy Bob Johnson said.

The cold broke so many water mains in Memphis that the entire city was placed on a boil water notice because the water pressure was so low, Memphis, Light, Gas and Water said.

Bottled water was being given out in at least two locations in the city Friday.

A significant drop in blood donations led Chattanooga, Tennessee-based Blood Assurance to recommend that more than 70 hospitals in five states halt elective surgeries until Wednesday to let the organization rebuild its inventory. In a news release Thursday, the group cited the weather and several massive blood transfusions in the previous 24 hours in its plea to the hospitals in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina and Tennessee.

The cold in Washington state was blamed for five deaths. The people — most of them presumed homeless — died from exposure to cold in just four days last week in Seattle as temperatures plummeted to well below freezing, the medical examiner’s office said.

Two people died from exposure as far south as Louisiana, where temperatures in part of the state stayed below freezing for more than two days.

On Thursday, Will Compton of the nonprofit Open Table Nashville, which helps homeless people, stopped his SUV outside the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum to hand out warm hats, blankets, protein drinks and socks as icy rain fell.

“People who are poor and people who are homeless are getting hit the hardest,” Compton said.

Aaron Robison, 62, has been staying at one of Nashville’s warming centers and said the cold wouldn’t have bothered him when he was younger. But now with arthritis in his hip and having to rely on two canes, he needed to get out of the cold.

“Thank God for people helping people on the streets. That’s a blessing,” he said.

On Friday, more bitterly cold air was spilling into the Midwest from Canada. Several states were under an advisory as forecasters warned wind chills dipping to minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit could be common through Sunday morning.

Since extreme cold weather set in last week, more than 60 oil spills and other environmental incidents have been reported in North Dakota’s Bakken oil fields. Wind chills dipped as low as minus-70 degrees F have strained workers and equipment and regulators said the extreme weather strained workers and made accidents more likely.

Lake-enhanced snow finally moved out of Buffalo, New York, late Thursday after burying parts of the city and some suburbs in five feet of snow in five days. The Buffalo Bills renewed their call for snow shovelers Friday, offering $20 an hour for help digging out Highmark Stadium before this Sunday’s divisional playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

The West Virginia Legislature left after a brief session Friday because not enough lawmakers could get through snow-covered highways to the Capitol to vote on bills.

In Washington, D.C., snow fell softly and the streets around the U.S. Capitol were silent. Schools closed again for the second time in a week and the government was on a two-hour delay. President Joe Biden still planned to host mayors from around the country on Friday, though, and was still heading to his Delaware beach home for the weekend.

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Associated Press journalists Jonathan Mattise and Kristin M. Hall in Nashville; Adrian Sainz in Memphis; Carolyn Thompson in Buffalo, New York; Colleen Long in Washington, D.C.; and Jeffrey Collins in Columbia South Carolina, contributed.