Middle Aged And Creeped Out podcast Talks with Rob about Paranormal Stuff

Middle Aged And Creeped Out podcast Talks with Rob about Paranormal Stuff in this 1 hour and 52 minute podcast about all things Paranormal, and there's a big focus on pets in the middle of it. The guys talk amongst themselves for the first 16 minutes before Rob comes on.

The guys have a very heartwarming, special and excitingly spooky guest chat with…Rob Gutro (Paranormal Investigator, Medium and Author)!!!

LINK: https://audioboom.com/posts/8898235-guest-chat-with-rob-gutro-paranormal-investigator-medium-author

Idiot of the Week: Drunk Man Driving Over 100 mph in Neighborhood Crashes, Killing Passenger

This week's idiot is a drunk 25 year old man driving a BMW SUV at 103 miles per hour in a residential neighborhood in Maine. Of course he lost control and crashed. He killed his passenger. How does a 25 year old afford a BMW SUV, and even drunk, how do you drive 103 mph in a neighborhood?  

(Image: Blaze Small, Lewiston crash into home SOURCE: WMTW)

Driver sentenced after crashing into a Lewiston, Maine, home, killing one person  

 WMTW logoUpdated: 2:32 PM EDT Apr 23, 2026 Adam Bartow, Executive Producer 

LEWISTON, Maine — A Lewiston man will spend five and a half years in prison after crashing into a home in Lewiston last year, killing a passenger in his car and injuring two others.

Blaze Small, who was 25 at the time, lost control of his BMW SUV on May 21, 2025 and crashed into a home on Webster Road, causing extensive damage to the home. Investigators say he was going 103 miles per hour in an area with a posted speed limit of 35 mph.

Several people were trapped inside the vehicle and needed to be removed by first responders. A front-seat passenger, Natasha Thoits, 28, of Lewiston, was pronounced dead at the scene after she was removed from the vehicle.

Small was arrested on an arrest warrant as part of a crime suppression enforcement detail on July 3, 2025 and charged with manslaughter.

Small was convicted of manslaughter, aggravated operating under the influence resulting in death, aggravated OUI causing serious bodily injury, aggravated driving to endanger, criminal speed, and reckless conduct.

He was sentenced on Tuesday to 21 years in prison, with all but five and a half years suspended. When he gets out, he will be on probation for four years.

Heroes of the Week: Firefighters and Dog Boarding Business Help with Shelter Dogs from Fire

 One of the scariest things that can happen in a pet shelter is a fire. Fortunately, this week's heroes are the firefighters of Dover, NH and k9 Kaos, a nearby dog boarding business, who both stepped in to rescue dogs from a shelter fire and temporarily house them! 

(Photo: Dover firefighters Sierra Rodenhuis, left, and Trevor Smith comfort Flower, one of the rescue dogs at Pope Memorial Humane Society - Cocheco Valley, after responding to a fire at the shelter on May 5, 2026)

Fire stopped fast at Pope Memorial animal shelter in Dover, NH

Karen Dandurant, Foster's Daily Democrat, May 6, 2026, 1:07 p.m. ET

DOVER — Firefighters quickly responded to a fire at at Pope Memorial Humane Society - Cocheco Valley on the night of May 5, taking mere minutes to prevent it from spreading with no injuries to animal or humans, officials said.

Dover Fire Chief Brendan Driscoll said the cause of the May 5 fire has not yet been determined, but it appears to have started in a laundry cart at the rear of the building, in the area where the dogs are housed. He said it was knocked down quickly.

Driscoll said the department received a general fire alarm for the 221 County Farm Road shelter at 8:20 p.m.

"As crews made entry they noted a large amount smoke, so we sent the rest of the crew," Driscoll said. "A small fire was located in the rear of the building, in a laundry cart. We pushed it outside and continued to work. The laundry cart is the only thing that burnt, so damage is minimal. They will have some smoke and odor mitigation to do."

Driscoll said all the animals are safe. This includes Flower, one of two pups that remained up for adoption from among 26 dogs rescued by the shelter working in tandem with Mary's Dogs Rescue & Adoption of Northwood.

"Once the cart was removed and extinguished, we ventilated to remove smoke," Driscoll said. "(Pope Memorial) crews and volunteers were on site. We cleared the scene at 8:28 p.m., after making sure there was no more smoke and/or toxic gases."

The chief added, "I want to stress the importance of a properly functioning smoke alarms and fire alarm systems. The system worked as it should and alerted the department before the fire was able to grow in size. Crews were able to quickly handle the issue without loss to the animals or structure itself."

Driscoll said mutual aid came from Newington, Somersworth, Rochester and Stewart's Ambulance.

Pope Memorial staff responds, too, with assist from K9 Kaos "We had a very long night," said Molly Shanahan, development and marketing director for Pope Memorial. "All the dogs were safely removed. Some were taken to foster homes and many were taken to K9 Kaos, located down the street from the shelter."

Shanahan said Pope Memorial's team jumped into immediate action when they received word of the fire.

"A few of our management team gets notified when the alarm goes off," Shanahan said. "Caryn Fugatt, our executive director, lives on County Farm Road so she and her fiancé got there really fast. The fire department shut down the road but were letting us in. Our police and fire personnel were fantastic, so helpful, so quick."

Shanahan said K9 Kaos staff showed up, offering to take as many dogs as needed. K9 Kaos is a boarding, day care, grooming and training center located at 432 Sixth St. in Dover. 

"It blew my mind how quickly they came to help," Shanahan said. "All the dogs are happily having sleepovers with friends right now until we can clean out the area and make sure it's safe for their return."

Book of the Week: Kilrone by Louis L'Amour

I like westerns, and I've read a few of them by Louis L'Amour and I've enjoyed them. The latest book I enjoyed was "Kilrone." This was a good story and had some interesting characters, especially the main character, Barnes Kilrone, former Army officer who left the army. He wound up defending a fort from Indian attacks that were orchestrated by an insider, who turned out to be the villain of the story. It kept me reading and I finished the book within a week! Really enjoyable characters and story!

ABOUT THE BOOK: Kilrone by Louis L'Amour

When Major Frank Paddock and Barnes Kilrone were dashing young officers in Paris, they both fell in love with the same woman. But now they are men in exile in one of the harshest territories of the American West. It is against this inhospitable backdrop, where survival itself is a day-to-day struggle, that Paddock makes a fateful decision that will plunge both men into a headlong battle for their lives and the lives they’re sworn to protect. As Paddock leads his company of soldiers in pursuit of a Bannock war party, Kilrone is left behind to guard the post’s women and children. And before the day is over, one of them, outnumbered and outgunned, will be trapped in a fight to the finish.…

Kraken octopus from the Cretaceous Period was 62-feet-long

 Today's blog is about another prehistoric creature, but this one was an ocean dweller. Paleontologists discovered a gian octopus measuring 62 feet in length that lived during the time of the dinosaurs.

(IMAGE:  N. haggarti could have been one of the largest species in Cretaceous oceans. (Image credit: Hokkaido University))

Kraken octopus from the Cretaceous Period was 62-feet-long

A close inspection of 27 fossil jaws from finned octopuses challenge the longstanding belief that the apex oceanic predators of the Cretaceous were all vertebrates.

By Sophie Berdugo, LIVE SCIENCE, April 2026

Scientists have identified enormous finned "kraken" octopuses that may have reached up to 62 feet (19 meters) long. The behemoths prowled the oceans during the Cretaceous and could be the largest invertebrates ever discovered.

Fossil jaws revealed distinctive markings that suggest these kraken-like octopuses used their powerful jaws to crush hard-shelled prey. That, combined with their gigantic size and evidence of intelligence, put them top of the marine food chain, according to a study published Thursday (April 23) in the journal Science.

This finding suggests scientists need to rethink the oceanic pecking order during the Cretaceous period (145 million years to 66 million years ago).

"These findings revise the view of the Cretaceous ocean as a world dominated only by large vertebrate predators," study co-author Yasuhiro Iba, a paleontologist at Hokkaido University in Japan, told Live Science in an email. "They show that giant invertebrates — octopuses — also occupied the top of the food web."

Other experts say these size estimates are the upper end of a large possible range. Even so, the discovery raises questions about the oceanic landscape of the Cretaceous, such as how these species could grow so large, and whether even larger marine species existed after the Cretaceous period, they said.

For the study, the researchers reassessed 15 fossilized octopus jaws previously unearthed in Japan and Vancouver Island. They also discovered 12 new Cretaceous fossil octopus jaws in Japan using state-of-the-art digital fossil-mining technology. Combined, these revealed two species of extinct finned octopuses: Nanaimoteuthis jeletzkyi and Nanaimoteuthis haggarti.

The N. jeletzkyi fossils were unearthed in rocks dating to between 100 million and 72 million years ago, pushing back the oldest known octopuses by around 5 million years, and finned octopuses by 15 million years, the authors wrote in the study.

Pennhurst Asylum Paracon, PA welcomes Rob the Pet Medium 5/16 and 5/17

 

 Pennhurst Asylum Paracon, PA welcomes Rob the Pet Medium 5/16 and 5/17

 

THIS WEEKEND! Meet Pet Medium Rob Gutro & Many Famous Paranormal Folks at the PENNHURST PARACON:  Paracon & Oddities Expo – May 16th & 17th  DETAILS/TICKETS: https://pennhurstasylum.com/

Join us at the famous former Pennhurst State School campus for a 2 day Paranormal Enthusiast & Oddities Expo event featuring vendors, psychics, special Guests, historical tours, & Paranormal Investigations.  Meet in person special guests like Ghost Hunters, Destination Fear, Kindred Spirits and more!

 

 Paracon & Horror Expo Weekend Pass!
$60.00

Two full days of paranormal, pop culture, and the unexplained at Pennhurst.
Meet stars from your favorite paranormal investigations and cult-favorite films and series — all in one legendary location. 

WHAT'S INCLUDED:
• Access to Paranormal & Oddities Vendors
• Guest Panels & Celebrity Appearances
• Access to explore the Mayflower & Devon Buildings during Expo hours
• Expo Admission for both days
• 10:30 AM – 5:00 PM each dayWhether you’re here for investigations, fandom, collectibles, or the energy of the paranormal community — this is the weekend to be at Pennhurst. 

TICKET: https://secure.interactiveticketing.com/1.43/ec53d5/

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Key Atlantic ocean current is much closer to collapse than scientists thought

 Here's a very concerning finding- that the Gulf stream current that transports warmth from the Gulf of Mexico north along the U.S. East coast and over to Eastern Europe is weakening at a faster rate than suspected. That current is what keeps the U.S. East coast and eastern Europe temperate in the winter, and keeps sea levels down along the U.S. East Coast. Today's blog shares the new findings.. 

(Ocean flows colored with sea surface temperature data, yellow is the warmer waters of the Gulf stream. Credit: NASA Goddard/SVS) 

'Nations need to prepare now': Key Atlantic ocean current is much closer to collapse than scientists thought

LIVE SCIENCE, April 2026 

Atlantic Ocean currents that are vital for keeping Earth's climate in check will halve in strength by 2100 and may be closer to collapse than first thought, a new study finds.

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) acts as an oceanic conveyor belt, circulating warm water north from the tropics and cold water south. This regulates climates across Europe, Africa and America while also sustaining aquatic life.

Now, a study estimates the AMOC will slow down between 43% and 59% by 2100 — a 60% stronger weakening than past models predicted. The research corrects for biases in previous estimates by including the temperature and saltiness of the Atlantic Ocean's surface, according to the study published Wednesday (April 15) in the journal Science Advances.

This "more substantial AMOC weakening" means that a critical planetary system is closer to a tipping point — an irreversible "point of no return" for the climate — than many past models suggest, the authors wrote in the study.

However, other experts note that the predicted magnitude and speed of an AMOC slowdown varies greatly from study to study.

"In my opinion there is a need to interpret new results for each study into a wider context," María Paz Chidichimo, an expert on ocean circulation at the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) and National University of San Martín in Buenos Aires, Argentina, told Live Science in an email.

"Studies predict AMOC decline on a range from small decline to large decline, but I think the magnitude and timing of AMOC decline are still uncertain given the large spread in model projections," she added.

Laura Jackson, an expert in North Atlantic ocean currents at the Met Office in the U.K., agreed. "It is still an open question as to which model AMOC projections are most likely," she told Live Science in an email.

(Animation: Ocean flows colored with sea surface temperature data, the yellow indicates the warm waters of the Gulf stream and how they flow up the U.S. East coast and over to eastern Europe. Credit: NASA Goddard / SVS) 

Catastrophic collapse 

An AMOC collapse would last for hundreds to thousands of years and have catastrophic consequences. It would send temperatures in northern Europe plummeting while southern Europe experiences extreme droughts. The sea level would rise along the northeast coast of North America. Disruption would spread across food webs and ecosystems in the ocean and on land — for example, the amount of land available for growing wheat and maize, which supply two-fifths of global calories, would be cut by more than half.

Modeling the AMOC slowdown 

Observations reveal that the AMOC has weakened compared with its 1850 to 1900 baseline. Previous research has attempted to estimate the strength and pace of the AMOC slowdown, with some studies finding minimal weakening by the end of the century while others predict an imminent collapse.

The predicted AMOC is "so weak that it is then very likely on the way to full shutdown," Stefan Rahmstorf, a professor of ocean physics who heads the Earth system analysis department at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, told Live Science in an email.

Even so, experts told Live Science that AMOC model estimates are largely driven by which variables are included in the analyses, so results can vary. And although the new study corrects for previous biases, there "remains uncertainty in how well models can simulate and predict changes in the AMOC," Thornalley said.

Focusing too heavily on an AMOC collapse may not be the most helpful path forward, Chidichimo said. "We have enough scientific evidence of AMOC variability and slowdown, and we are already experiencing environmental changes associated with AMOC change which have important socioeconomic impacts worldwide," she said. "Nations need to prepare now."

SCIENCE: The fluffy fossil that finally showed the world that birds are dinosaurs

In the 1970s there was a theory that birds evolved from dinosaurs, and recently there have been a lot of findings that some dinosaurs had feathers, confirming that theory. That's today's blog.

(Images: model of an Archaeopteryx. The bird was discovered in the 1860s and provided the first hint that birds and dinosaurs may be related. Fossil of the bird to the right)

The fluffy fossil that finally showed the world that birds are dinosaurs 

In this excerpt from "The Story of Birds", author Steve Brusatte explores the moment where paleontologists realized they had critical evidence to show birds came from dinosaurs — a fluffy fossil from China. 

 By Steve Brusatte , April 29, 2026, Live Science

In the 1970s, paleontologist John Ostrom revived the theory that modern birds are evolved from theropod dinosaurs, a group that includes Tyrannosaurus rex. But a key piece of evidence was missing: feathered fossils. Then, a chance discovery in China upended our understanding of bird evolution.

In this excerpt from "The Story of Birds: An Evolutionary History of the Dinosaurs That Live Among Us" (Mariner Books, 2026), author and paleontologist Steve Brusatte looks at the monumental shift in dinosaur research after the first feathered dinosaur was discovered.

For well over a century, since its discovery in the Bavarian lithographic mines in 1861, the fossil bird Archaeopteryx was the oldest and most primitive creature known to have feathers. Then, in the autumn of 1996, this understanding was upended. Some revolutions start with a single shot; this one began with a chance encounter and a handful of photographs.

FOUND IN A BEIJING MUSEUM

Canadian dinosaur hunter Phil Currie had been in China, leading a group of tourists to dinosaur dig sites. While there, he spied something peculiar in the backroom of a Beijing museum, discovered by a farmer named Yumin Li two months prior. It was the skeleton of a small dinosaur, about the size of a chicken, fossilized as if frozen in time, in a muddy rock imbued with volcanic ash, a sign it was overcome by a sudden cataclysm.

Rapid burial had locked in the dainty details of the skeleton, but it was the stuff surrounding the bones that caught Currie's attention. The dinosaur's body was encircled by a halo of fluff. Thin, tufty, delicate strands ran along the dinosaur's back, from the top of its head to the tip of its tail. Some of the strands looked like they branched at their base. For all the world, the fuzz looked like the downfeathers of a bird.

But this wasn't a bird; it didn’t have wings, and obviously couldn't fly. It was a bona fide dinosaur — a small coelurosaur theropod, very similar to the German Compsognathus, which Huxley had held up in the 1860s as the type of transitional reptilian species birds might have evolved from.

Currie and his Chinese colleague Pei-ji Chen snapped photographs, which they printed out at the size of index cards and brought to the conference in New York. Once there, word spread fast; the rumors of a fluffy dinosaur billowed through the hallways and meeting rooms. Somebody tracked down John Ostrom, then in the twilight of his career, three decades after his discovery of the raptor Deinonychus had reignited the theory that birds evolved from dinosaurs. Currie and Chen handed him the photos. Ostrom looked shell-shocked. He began to cry, and almost fell to the floor. "I need to sit down," he stuttered, delirium taking hold.

Here it was, finally: a dinosaur with feathers. Just as Ostrom had predicted. Just as the doubters had demanded. The final piece of the puzzle, the strongest evidence that birds have dinosaur ancestry.

This was the key to the fine preservation: Normally soft bits like skin and feathers decay before a skeleton can harden into a fossil, but in this one remarkable place, feathers could easily fossilize. It was a dinosaurian Pompeii. As the new millennium dawned, the mounting Chinese discoveries transformed our image of dinosaurs.

One feathered dinosaur became ten, then hundreds, then thousands of skeletons, belonging to several dozen distinct species. Some, like the ostrich-size Beipiaosaurus, were adorned with simple filaments that looked like oversize versions of the bristle feathers of modern birds. Others, like the original Sinosauropteryx, had more complex feathers that resembled little paintbrushes, with many individual bristles branching from a root in an untidy tuft.

MORE DINOSAURS DISCOVERED WITH FEATHER-LIKE FEATURES  

Much more extravagant were the feathers of the turkey-size Caudipteryx and dromaeosaurid "raptors" like Sinornithosaurus, which had true quill pens with a central shaft and many barbs extending off the sides to form vanes. Sometimes, these pennaceous feathers lined up along the hand and arm, making what could only be described as a wing, like in the crow-size Microraptor.

The roster of feathered dinosaurs got richer and richer. Even tyrannosaurs were in on the makeover: two early cousins of T. rex called Dilong and Yutyrannus were found coated in bristle and tufty feathers. Most of these plumose dinosaurs were theropods, members of the great group of meat-eaters on the family tree, but a few plant-eaters like Psittacosaurus, a primitive cousin of Triceratops with tiny horns on its head, had mohawks of bristles along their tails. 

Initially, there was some skepticism that these wispy fossilized structures on the backs, tails, and arms of dinosaurs were true feathers. It was a legitimate question when Sinosauropteryx was first unveiled: Could its little strands and bristles have been something else, like degraded skin, or a freak by-product of decay and fossilization?

The discovery of full-on pennaceous quills — with shafts, barbs, and vanes — in species like Caudipteryx and Microraptor proved that many of these were genuine feathers. But what of those simpler filaments in other dinosaurs? We can be confident they are real. They not only look like the bristles and down feathers of birds today, but they share the same structure: They are hollow, chemical analysis shows they are formed of those rare CBP proteins, and when you look at them under powerful microscopes, you see they are full of melanosomes, the minuscule bubbles that hold pigments and give modern feathers their colors.

(Image: The species to which the tail belonged is uncertain but researchers say it was most likely a non-avian theropod – a group of dinosaurs including velociraptors and tyrannosaurs. Photograph: Royal Saskatchewan Museum/R.C. McKellar) 

DINOSAUR FEATHERS PRESERVED IN AMBER

Still doubt it? Then gander at one of the most improbable fossils ever discovered, from Myanmar, announced in 2016. It's a tail of a juvenile theropod embedded in amber, shrouded in feathers, their details preserved in stunning 3D. Suspended in yellow resin, like a bug frozen into an ice cube, the feathers seem almost alive.

They may as well be bundles of down that slipped out of a pillow and stuck onto your sofa. They have a small central shaft, which branches into barbs, which further branch into barbules. And they are clearly observed growing from follicles in the skin. They are absolutely feathers, and fulfill every definition we use to characterize feathers in modern birds — but they are plastered to a dinosaur.

This bounty of feathered dinosaurs, fundamentally, was that final piece of evidence to verify what has now become paleontological consensus: Today's birds evolved from dinosaurs.

Joey and Jimmy get a Dog Manner Training Class!

May 1st, 2026 marked the day that our recently adopted 4 year-3 month our Dachshund/Chihuahua mixed brothers Joey and Jimmy went to school for the first time ever (we know this because they knew nothing when we adopted them). They (and we) needed schooling to keep them from being aggressive against bigger dogs and there is a potty problem with one of them. They are the joy of our lives and we want them to be happy and loved. Today's blog explains. 

(Photo: Joey in the process of sitting down while looking up at Tom during class) 

OUR OBSERVATIONS -These 2 brothers lived their lives together since puppies, as they were with the same family for 4 of their 4 years 3 months. We quickly realized the family never taught them any commands, so I've worked hard with them for our first month together and they now know, "stop," "walk," "sit," "stay," and "come."  We also realized the family likely abused them because Jimmy, the more Chihuahua looking and smaller one cowers when you ask him to do something. Also, Joey would not look us in the eye until today when we took him to school with Jimmy. 

IT'S A COMMITMENT - If you want to adopt a dog, TRAIN THEM. To not train them is detrimental to them and to you. They are children who need instructions. People who don't train them are lazy and selfish. Dogs are living, breathing, loving things, they are not "cute objects" and they are our 100% responsibility. 

(Photo: Jimmy was very well behaved. He only acts up when his brother Joey does.) 

BEHAVIOR #1 NEEDING CORRECTION - We adopted Joey and Jimmy on March 28, 2026. They came from the Lovable Paws Rescue in South Carolina, which is a fantastic rescue. When we adopted them we quickly learned they were okay with small dogs, as our friend Jeff's Beagle/Chihuahua mix, Myrtle was visiting the weekend we adopted the boys. They had no issues with her. But when our neighbor brough their calm, well-behaved 60 pound dog over, Joey went ballistic trying to bite her. **That told us he was previously attacked by a larger dog in his past. Little Jimmy followed Joey's behavior and did the same.** So, thanks to our friends Naomi and Wayne, we found the best place. 

BEHAVIOR #2 NEEDING CORRECTION  - Oddly, only Joey likes to poop in the house whenever we go out of the house. Jimmy does all his business outside. Joey is also consistent in his "poop spot." THE FIX: We were instructed to put a pee pad in that location. After some time (days/weeks) we move it to the door to the outside so he can start going there. Then we move it into the garage or outside so Joey learns the proper place.  Since we have about 30 washable pee pads (from Dash's senior years) we were well-equipped.

HOW THE FIRST CLASS WENT - Tom worked with Jimmy and I (Rob) worked with Joey. They were leashed of course and we were armed with treats. Both boys are great with people and okay with small dogs. So the instructor brought in her calm, well-behaved Border Collie (about 70 pounds) who sat next to the instructor (Merrillynn). Her dog, Dani, did not react as Joey squeaked and squealed and lunged. **We were instructed to pick up Joey (and Jimmy if he squeaked) , turn him away from the dog, hold the scruff of their neck (like a mother dog does) and give them a shake and say out loud "Uh-uh!"  After about 5 or 6 times of putting Joey down, it worked better each time. '  

    By the end of the hour, we were able to put Joey and Jimmy on the floor and they ignored the Border Collie. WOW. We need to continue this training daily. 

     Also, it's important to maintain a 6 foot distance between Joey & Jimmy with other local dogs. 

SOME AGILITY WHILE THERE - Fortunately, the school had orange cones set up in a line, so we took advantage of that to get Joey and Jimmy to do some basic agility of weaving through the cones, and they did a fantastic job!

BOTTOM LINE- Dogs do better in life with instruction, just as people do. Take and make the time to train them for their benefit and for your benefit. 

WHERE WE WENT - ​Piscataqua Obedience Club (POC) is a non-profit dog training club dedicated to fostering and deepening the relationship between dogs and their owners. Based in Berwick, Maine we offer Manners and competition level classes. We welcome purebreds, mixed breeds, rescue dogs, puppies, seniors, and everyone in between to our classes. Our certified instructors use motivational training techniques that emphasize kind, positive treatment.     

Idiot of the Week: MAGA Pastor pleaded guilty to sex crimes against minors ages 13–15

This week's idiot is another MAGA guy who committed sex crimes with young teenagers. He was a pastor at a church in Ohio, who demanded an LGBTQ book be removed from a school because it "made him sick."  ✅ Not a drag queen ✅ Not an immigrant ✅ Not a Muslim .   Almost every week these Maggots who preach hatred aganist LGBTQ and immigrants are the ones commiting vile crimes. It says that anyone who spews that hatred against others is HIDING their OWN CRIMES. Here's the story.

(Image: WLWT-TV, Channel 5, Ohio)

Former Blanchester pastor pleads guilty to sexual conduct with a minor

News Journal, April 20, 2026 

Silas Shelton, former pastor of Blanchester Community Ministries (OH), pleaded guilty today to sex crimes against minors ages 13–15, dating to 2019. In 2023 he showed up at a school meeting demanding Scholastic pull “Heartstopper” from the book fair — said the gay teen romance made him “sick.”

WILMINGTON, Ohio — The former pastor of Blanchester Community Church pleaded guilty Monday in Clinton County Common Pleas Court to three counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor as part of a negotiated plea agreement reached April 17.

Silas Shelton, 49, of Morrow, changed his plea from not guilty to guilty on the three third-degree felony counts, and a menacing by stalking charge was reduced from a fourth-degree felony to a first-degree misdemeanor, Clinton County Prosecutor Brian Shidaker said in court.

As part of the agreement, prosecutors dismissed the remaining charges in the 12-count indictment, which originally included charges of rape, gross sexual imposition, sexual battery and arson.

The case had been scheduled for a five-day jury trial beginning Monday before the plea agreement was reached late last week.

Prosecutors said the charges involve three separate incidents and qualify as third-degree felonies because Shelton was at least 10 years older than the victim.

Each of the three felony counts carries a potential prison term from 12 months to 60 months. Shelton could face a maximum of 15 years in prison if the sentences are imposed consecutively.

The amended misdemeanor charge carries a potential jail term of up to 180 days.

If the court imposes a prison sentence, Shelton would be subject to up to five years of post-release supervision after his release.

Shelton would also be classified as a Tier II sex offender, requiring him to register in person every 180 days for 25 years.

Assistant Prosecutor Andrew Sievers said Shelton knew the victim and her family through their church and his son. Shelton later became a pastor at the church in 2020.

During the summer of 2019, the victim lived in Wilmington with her parents, and Shelton later asked the victim to start working for his construction business.

“He would pick her up most weekdays and return her home on days that typically no one was present,” Sievers said.

Sievers said Shelton engaged in sexual conduct with the victim, who was 14 at the time, beginning in September 2019. The conduct included incidents while returning from a work site, as well as at Cowan Lake and the Holiday Inn at the Roberts Centre, and continued through December 2019, according to the indictment.

NOW AVAILABLE ON KINDLE PREORDER!! Haunting of Wilson Castle by Rob Gutro and Monique Toosoon

NOW AVAILABLE ON KINDLE PREORDER!!

Haunting of Wilson Castle

by Rob Gutro (Author), Monique Toosoon (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

Part of: Haunting Of Series of 3 books

-#1 New Release in Vermont Travel Guides (kindle)

- #5 in Ghosts and Hauntings (kindle)

- #6 in Vermont Travel Guides (Books)

- #7 in LGBTQ+ Travel (Kindle Store)

on May 9, 2026

CLICK LINK TO PRE-ORDER THE KINDLE BOOK: https://tinyurl.com/mwjhfep7

****Investigation Uncovers Ghostly Mystery of Wilson Castle! A 100-Year old Secret!

Wilson Castle is an architectural masterpiece built in the middle of the 19th Century in the heart of Vermont’s Green Mountains. It has housed several families and many people have stayed behind as earthbound ghosts who haunt it for various reasons. Monique Toosoon, paranormal tech wizard and drag queen, generated a lot of activity and in her investigation with mediums Rob Gutro and Lexi Duquette and The Digital Séance Experience. They uncovered a family secret, a man with a darker side, a child seeking truth, and other ghosts as the team worked to bring a happy haunted reunion!

Come explore Wilson Castle and book your own tour for your own experience and meet the many ghosts who inhabit the castle in death.

Heroes of the Week: Ohio Firemen Rescue Man Buried in a Corn Grain Silo

Here's a rescue you don't hear about very often... a man apparently fell into a grain silo filled with corn and couldn't get out. It took a large group of rescuers to pull the man free before he suffocated in the grain. The heroes include the Medina Ohio Fire Department and firefighters from Brunswick Hills, the Medina Township Police Department, the Medina County Sheriff’s Office and several regional fire departments and emergency management teams.

(Photo:  Medina Ohio Fire Department using a sling to rescue a man buried in grain: Credit: Medina Fire Department) 

Firefighters rescue man buried in corn inside Medina Township silo

By Cory Shaffer, cleveland.com, Apr. 30, 2026

MEDINA TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- Emergency crews rescued a man who was buried up to his chest in corn inside a grain silo at a Medina Township farm on Tuesday afternoon, April 28, 2026.

The Medina Fire Department first responded to the farm around 2:12 p.m.

Given the complexity of the situation, specialized rope and confined space crews from the Medina County All-Hazards Team were also called to the scene.

When crews arrived, they found the man alert but unable to move, buried in corn up to his chest. Officials said grain entrapments can quickly become dangerous because the weight of the material prevents movement, and attempts to remove it often cause more grain to shift back into place.

Firefighters from Engine 2 entered the bin through a side door and secured the man with a rescue sling to keep him from sinking deeper. Paramedics from the Medina Life Support Team began treating him at the same time.

Rescue crews then assembled a grain rescue sleeve — a specialized device used to contain the grain and allow it to be removed from around a victim. Once the corn was cleared below the man’s waist, crews were able to free him, place him on a stretcher and lift him safely out of the bin.

The man was transferred to a medical helicopter operated by Cleveland Clinic Critical Care Air Medical and flown to a trauma center. Officials said he has since been released from the hospital. No other injuries were reported.

Multiple agencies assisted in the rescue, including firefighters from Brunswick Hills, the Medina Township Police Department, the Medina County Sheriff’s Office and several regional fire departments and emergency management teams.