The red-bearded assistant principal at Robinson Elementary School in Akron came home Monday to show his children, 3 and 5, his bare face for the first time in their lives.

After students raised $500 for the PTA, which is heavily staffed by teachers and administrators, Walter Noland agreed to let Robyn Rooker shave his beard, which had covered his face for eight years.

Rooker’s fifth-grade class raised the most, giving her the honor of wielding the clippers.

The shave was part of a series of fundraising efforts brainstormed by the PTA.

“My boss, the principal, is bald,” the now clean-cut Noland said, laughing. “He didn’t have anything to offer, so I took the plunge and just went with it.”

Doug Livingston can be reached at 330-996-3792 or dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com.

With bipartisan support, Summit County Council unanimously approved a resolution Monday night endorsing Issue 1, a renewal of the State Capital Improvements Program, on the May 6 ballot.

Before the vote, Summit County Executive Russ Pry addressed council members asking for their support of the State Capital Improvements Program and Issue 1. He said it was not a tax increase and outlined some of its advantages. They are:

• In the program’s 27-year existence it has assisted in Summit County projects through $185 million in grants, loans and credit enhancements.

• More than $30 million has been dispersed throughout the county in the past three years.

• 11,500 projects throughout the state have been affected — roads, bridges, water supply systems, wastewater treatment and collection systems, storm water collection systems or solid waste disposal facilities.

• Issue 1 funds will pay up to 90 percent of the cost of repair and replacement projects and up to 50 percent of new projects.

• If reauthorized, an estimated 3,500 jobs will be created throughout the state in the next cycle of the program.

• It would allow for the sale of $1.8 billion in bonds over 10 years for community road, bridge, sewer, water and other infrastructure projects.

“It’s a great program and we need to make sure people know about it and how it has successfully helped Summit County get the infrastructure we need,” Pry said. “It was put on the ballot with bipartisan support with 31-0 in the Ohio Senate and 90-2 in the Ohio House.”

In other action, council approved the county executive to enter into two lease agreements with Akron Phoenix Development Co. at 1200 Firestone Parkway, the Triangle Building of the former Bridgestone/Firestone tire manufacturing campus. The leased space is to house the Department of Job and Family Services under one roof. It is currently in four locations. The second lease will house the Department of Environmental Services, the Board of Revision, the Department of Administrative Services-Physical Plants, Summit Soil and Water, the Ohio State University Extension and the County Records Center.

Council also approved advertising for bids for Phase 2 of the Riverview Road Improvement Project in Boston Township.

All three phases of the project are for resurfacing the road and widening the shoulders to make it easier and safer for cyclists and pedestrians. Eighty percent of the project is federally funded. Phase 1 was from the Cuyahoga Falls corporate line to the village of Peninsula. The 1.45-mile project was completed last summer for $812,000. Phase 2 will be from Peninsula’s north corporate line to Boston Mills Road, which is nearly a mile. The estimated cost is $635,000.

County Engineer spokeswoman Heidi Swindell said the engineer’s office also plans on completing Phase 3 this year. The last phase is 1.2 miles long and runs from Boston Mills Road to the southern Cuyahoga County line at a cost of $784,000.

“A lot of cyclists and hikers access the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Boston Township off that road,” Swindell said. “It’s part of our larger program to improve the roads in the national park and for other modes of transportation to the park.”

Council also approved leasing the garage (1,300 square feet) of the former Veterans Service Commission headquarters on Park Street in downtown Akron to the Haven of Rest Ministries Inc. at $1 per year for a five-year-lease. The house on the property was demolished and only the garage remains. The building was demolished in July because of safety issues.

Marilyn Miller can be reached at 330-996-3098 or mmiller@thebeaconjournal.com.

STARK

Benincasa, John, 87, of Alliance. Died Sunday. Cassaday-Turkle-Christian.

Boren, Lester L. “Bud”, 95, of Alliance. Died Saturday. Sharer-Stirling-Skivolocke.

Hoyle, Nancy A., 82, of Alliance. Died Thursday. Cassaday-Turkle-Christian.

Isbell, Ann G. Langos, 87, of Massillon. Died Wednesday. Paquelet.

Jacobs, Donald C., 88, of Massillon. Died Wednesday. Paquelet.

McGirr, Robert T., 87, of Alliance. Died Monday. Cassaday-Turkle-Christian.

Miller, Ralph, 85, of Alliance. Died Sunday. Cassaday-Turkle-Christian.

Minor, Leah, 36, of Alliance, Died Monday, Cassaday-Turkle-Christian.

Ripple, Michael Lee, 51, of Massillon. Died Wednesday. Paquelet & Arnold-Lynch.

Sand, Mary Jo, 71, of Massillon. Died Thursday. Paquelet.

Seibert, Adam J., 30, of Jackson Township. Died Thursday. Paquelet & Arnold-Lynch, Massillon.

WAYNE

Alexander, Jones C., 82, of Wooster. Died Sunday. McIntire, Bradham & Sleek.

Bishop, Marjorie, 96, of Orrville. Died Sunday. Auble.

Fuller, Grant L. 61, of Bolivar, formerly of Wooster. Died Sunday. Gresser, Orrville.

Nickles, Ruth Nussbaum, 91, of Apple Creek. Died Sunday. Auble, Orrville.

Zacour, Alexander, 90, of Wooster. Died Monday. Gresser, Orrville.

AKRON

Man robbed of wallet

AKRON: A 22-year-old man was assaulted and robbed of his wallet while walking near the intersection of Sumner and Power streets in Akron about 2:30 a.m. Sunday, according to a police report.

Four men, described as 19 or 20 years old, attacked the man and punched him in the face several times. They took his wallet and fled.

Paramedics treated the man at the scene for injuries above his right eye. He then was transported to Summa Akron City Hospital for additional treatment.

A more detailed description of the assailants was not provided.

Anyone with information is asked to call Akron detectives at 330-375-2490.

Ward 9 meeting

AKRON: Councilman Mike Freeman will host a ward meeting at 7 p.m. today at the Kenmore Senior Community Center, 880 Kenmore Blvd.

Funding for Oriana

AKRON: City Council on Monday approved a $3.5 million, one-year contract with Oriana House Inc. to provide alternative sentencing programs for the city.

The contract is the same amount as last year, officials said.

The agency provides drunken-driving, drug rehab, work release and other programs.

FIELD SCHOOLS

School locked down

BRIMFIELD TWP.: Field Middle School was placed on lockdown for about 30 minutes Monday morning after a threatening word was found written on a girls bathroom wall.

Brimfield police Chief David Oliver said the building was swept for explosives after the word “bomb” was discovered along with several other words about 7:30 a.m.

Oliver said he believes the word was written before students went on spring break last week.

“It looked to me to be a bit old. I think it was written earlier,” he said.

K-9 officer Nitro cleared the building with the help of officers and school staff.

The school was declared safe shortly after 8 a.m., Oliver said.

STATE NEWS

Voting starts

Early voting for the May 6 primary begins today.

Voters may cast ballots in person at elections boards or request a ballot by mail.

Hours for early voting are: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays starting today and running through May 2, and 8 a.m. to noon May 3. Elections boards will be open until 9 p.m. Monday because that is the deadline to register or update registrations for the May 6 primary.

The primary includes county, state and federal candidates, local ballot issues and one statewide ballot issue.

SUMMIT COUNTY

No criminal charges

AKRON: The Summit County Prosecutor’s Office said Monday that it won’t pursue criminal charges against three political candidates accused of filling out circulator statements after handing out their petitions.

Linda Ferreira and Victoria Pascu-Godwin, who wanted to run for precinct committee seats next month, and David Higgins, who was a Libertarian candidate for the 36th Ohio House District, faced scrutiny from the county elections board over the issue.

State law says statements must be completed before petitions are circulated.

Assistant Prosecutor John Galonski said in a letter to the board that the matter has “been reviewed and no criminal charges will be forthcoming.”

The candidates still are barred from running in the May 6 primary.

WAYNE COUNTY

Hit-skip crash

WOOSTER: Ohio Highway Patrol troopers are seeking the public’s help in gathering information following a hit-skip crash that occurred about 10:25 a.m. Saturday in Wayne County’s Green Township.

The patrol said a vehicle northbound on Applecreek Road failed to yield the right-of-way to a vehicle westbound on Smucker Road. That vehicle was struck, spun and went off the roadway and into a field.

The fleeing vehicle — possibly a Honda Pilot or Honda CR-V — was teal in color. It should show damage to its left side and a deployed airbag, the patrol said.

Anyone with information about the vehicle or its driver is asked to call the Wooster Post of the patrol at 330-264-0575.

If a thief hadn’t slipped his hand into a tip jar while a Nervous Dog employee in Stow had her back turned, the coffee shop might never have affiliated with the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank.

Instead of turning over footage of the crime to the authorities, Nervous Dog owner Michael Litt launched a food drive for the alleged thief.

The first person to clean out her cupboards for the cause was the barista who had her tips taken.

Hundreds of pounds in donations piled up and a larger conversation about compassion and altruism peppered national and social media.

Litt decided to give the man a chance to claim his nonperishable items.

“If by December he hasn’t picked it up, we’re going to drive it over to the food bank instead,” Litt said in a recent interview.

The man never showed up. And that first donation to the food bank has grown into a viable collaboration. The coffee shop, through school fundraisers and specialty sales, donates enough proceeds from each sale of selected coffee bags to provide between five and eight meals to the needy.

“In circumstances like this, there is a temptation to respond with our lower nature,” Dan Flowers, president and CEO of the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank, said in a statement. “Making the choice to convert this situation into compassion, love and generosity is representative of the goodness that is always evident in our region.”

— Doug Livingston

CLEVELAND: Back in 1941, a sensitive soul was made to feel like a complete social outcast by those around him. He was mocked, ridiculed and humiliated because of the shape of his body.

As with many victims of bullying, he suffered from debilitating depression.

Even his nickname was less than flattering: Dumbo.

In the original Disney animated film, peers tease the young elephant because of unusually large ears, but he learns to overcome his body issues, bests the bullies who have tormented him and in the end becomes a hero to all. (Not to mention an iconic ride at Walt Disney Parks.)

But not every bullied child has a mouse with a heart of gold to help him triumph like Dumbo.

That’s why Mary Verdi-Fletcher, founder of Dancing Wheels Company & School, conceived of retelling Dumbo, first as a live dance performance, then as a documentary film, and ultimately as an ongoing educational program for schools, prisons and other institutions with bullying problems.

The made-for-television documentary, Daring to Be Dumbo, airs on Cleveland’s Channel 3 (WKYC) at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Narrated by TV host and weatherman Al Roker, who says he was bullied for his weight issues as a young man, the film features the personal stories of several people involved with the project who have emerged strengthened from past encounters with bullying.

One of the people viewers will meet is Justin Bachman, a high school student with Tourette syndrome who was barred from a cross country meet because of his vocal ticks. He responded by starting a program called Tolerance Fair. Its purpose is to draw awareness to the plight of those perceived to be different and help them achieve their goals.

Another person featured is Elec Simon, a former member of the touring dance show Stomp. He quit the show to head up an anti-bullying program that uses rhythm and music to educate and build greater empathy for victims.

To fund the Dumbo project, Verdi-Fletcher received the Creative Culture Grant offered by the Cuyahoga Arts and Culture organization last year.

The organization has been a significant force in supporting the arts in Northeast Ohio and is among the entities funded by the so-called sin tax from tobacco sales.

Verdi-Fletcher said the project “brings to fruition a yearlong campaign to bring a vision of hope and possibility to those who have struggled with the indignities of bullying and other social injustices.”

The original stage performance of Daring to Be Dumbo premiered last May at the Breen Center in Cleveland under the direction of choreographer David Rousseve. The retelling of the Dumbo story was set in a modern junior high school, incorporating on-stage video and life-sized puppets.

The role of Timothy, the helpful mouse, was played by Jen Sikora, a wheelchair dancer and a graduate of the Dancing Wheels School.

For viewers who enjoy the joyous integration of wheelchair dancers and traditional dancers made popular by Dancing Wheels, the company presents its annual benefit gala and show Rock That Rolls! on April 11 atCleveland’s Public Auditorium and Conference Center.

For more information, visit www.dancingwheels.org.

Daryl Rowland can be reached at darylvrowland@gmail.com.

The 8-year-old entrepreneurs of the Lippman School in West Akron have percolated, from concept to creation, a self-branded product to raise funds for their private school, and even some cash to feed the needy.

On a recent Friday, third-graders held for the first time in their little hands the bags of coffee that have taken them an entire year to design, market and now sell to the public.

With no coffee drinkers in the crowd, the dozen students dangled their legs, crinkling bags of the freshly roasted beans in their laps and explained in business terms why they chose coffee.

“Because most people drink coffee,” Sonja Roy said.

“Like she said,” classmate Allison Shkolnik echoed.

The students produced their fundraising product, to be sold instead of the usual candy bars or wrapping paper, as part of a yearlong class assignment in second grade, when teacher John Bennett asked them to find a problem and work toward a “real-world” solution.

“In my mind, what makes problem-based learning work is bringing in the professionals,” said Bennett, a retired Akron schools teacher who has worked at Lippman for two years.

The project started with students identifying an unrelated issue: Students and their feelings often get hurt while horsing around or playing during recess.

They brainstormed solutions, produced videos on proper playground etiquette and eventually decided that new equipment might minimize the falls and scrapes.

Seeking funding, they used iPads to present their business plan to the school’s board of trustees.

Michael Litt, a trustee and owner of the Nervous Dog Coffee Bar & Roaster, saw an opportunity to develop the students’ altruistic fervor by bridging private business, charitable giving and education.

Elementary business

“We live here. Our kids go to local schools. What can we do to combine our existing for-profit company with the larger community,” Litt said of a similar program with Our Lady of the Elms, which also has branded and sells coffee produced by “Nervous Dog Coffee, too”, the shop’s charitable arm.

“When it opened in 2006, the coffee shop was trumpeted as ‘for the community by the community,’ ” Litt said. “This is an actual opportunity to put our money where our mouth is.”

Litt suggested to the students that they sell coffee. If they designed the product, his company would roast the beans, package the coffee and even help sell the bags in his store — keeping a smaller portion of the proceeds for himself. The bulk of the profits, 15 percent for the school and 10 percent for the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank, go to charity.

Litt hopes sales offset the hit in profits he is taking on each bag. But he can’t put a price on what the students have taught him.

The kids gravitated toward making something they could call their own, and even helping the community in the process.

“Some people don’t have enough to eat. Or they don’t have money to buy food,” said Sonja, who is as tall as she is kind for her age. “Instead of just thinking about yourself, you should think about others.”

Each bag provides five meals through the food bank, she and classmates explained.

Learning the ropes

The students agreed on the concept then began the deliberation process, sifting through colors for the packaging, various logo designs and eventually agreeing on a slogan: “Enjoy Our Blend With A Smile”.

Bennett led his students through the art of business, from marketing to product placement. He turned to family for help, setting up a Skype interview between the students and his daughter, then in marketing at Politico in Washington, D.C., and her husband, who specializes in customer and client surveys.

The students settled on an earth-tone for the bags — purple just wasn’t “very coffee-ish,” one girl said — and launched a community survey to identify the top-selling flavors.

The Lippman Blend is available in various flavors infused with beans from Costa Rica, Central America and Indonesia. Bennett plans to take the lesson further by incorporating the geography and agriculture of the bean-growing countries into curricula in other grades.

The coffee can be purchased for $12.95 online at http://shop.nervousdogtoo.org/category-s/1846.htm, or at the Nervous Dog shop at 1530 W. Market St. in Akron’s Highland Square neighborhood.

Doug Livingston can be reached at 330-996-3792 or dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com.

Iraq war veteran Zack Gillespie had 274 dog tags made recently — one for every Ohioan who has died in Afghanistan and Iraq since the wars started in 2001 and 2003.

Gillespie, 28, and veteran activists Cassie Schumacher and Billy Volchko now hope to use the dog tags, flags and other memorabilia to create a memorial called “Fallen but not Forgotten.” They would like to put it inside an existing building somewhere in South Akron, near organizations and agencies that serve veterans.

They also have plans to create a bike co-op for veterans at the same place, providing bikes in exchange for volunteer hours.

Last June, Schumacher, 41, won her age category in the Race Across America, a 3,000-mile solo bike race from California to Maryland to raise awareness for veterans’ issues. She finished the course in about 13 days.

She founded a nonprofit group called Wheels 4 Change that has raised money for a variety of veterans’ causes, including $13,000 for a Vietnam veterans trip back to Vietnam through the Tallmadge-based group Warriors’ Journey Home.

The group has three events scheduled: Ride for the 23 on Aug. 17 to raise awareness of suicide among active-duty military personnel and veterans; the 500-mile Patriotic Race bike race Aug. 30 to Sept. 1; and a still-undetermined event for Veterans Day.

In February, the group raised about $10,000 during Pedal for Heroes: Remembrance Ride.

The Army recruiting office in Kent and the Kent State University ROTC program helped with production of the dog tags, said Gillespie, a Marine veteran and Kent resident who did two tours in Iraq and suffered a traumatic brain injury.

He’s in the process of also making a flag for each of the 274 fallen, and is seeking photographs of each to include in the memorial.

A lot of people tend to forget about the war casualties, Gillespie said, so it’s important to create visual memorials as a reminder.

Schumacher, Gillespie and Volchko, 23, chief operating officer of the group, said they want to raise $150,000 through fundraisers and grants, and hope someone might donate building space, perhaps close to the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail.

The Fairlawn VFW is among groups trying to make it happen.

“We need people who give a crap about veterans,” said Schumacher, appealing for volunteers, including “people who are doers and not sayers and that want to stand with us.”

The parent name for the group is Wheels4change.org

The nonprofit organization operating the events is Pedalforheroesusa.
org. For more information, email info@pedalforheroesusa.org or call 330-272-3825.

Jim Carney can be reached at 330-996-3576 or jcarney@thebeaconjournal.com.

Publicly funded, privately run charter schools consume more than $900 million in state and local tax dollars. A comprehensive evaluation has been difficult. Today’s story is the last in a three-day series. It is a part of a multiyear project to create a database and authoritative stories so parents can make informed choices and the public can understand this form of government privatization.

Sunday: Many charter schools lack transparency.

Monday: Close ties between for-profit management companies and the boards raise questions about tax-free, nonprofit status.

Black children in Ohio are among the least prepared for future success in the country, according to a new study that shows there’s a large racial gap among kids nationwide.

The “Race for Results” report — released Tuesday by the Annie E. Casey Foundation — concludes that in every region of America, white and Asian children are far better positioned for success than black, Latino and American Indian children.

The disparity is especially great in Ohio.

Black children in the state had one of the lowest composite scores in the nation at 274 out of 1,000. Only five states had lower results: Wisconsin, Mississippi, Michigan, Louisiana and Arkansas.

The U.S. average for black children was 345.

“It is alarming. Appalling,” said Malcolm Costa, president and chief executive officer of Akron Summit County Community Action Inc., which includes the Head Start program. “It’s catastrophic for society and for Ohio.”

He called it a wake-up call for public officials and community leaders.

“It challenges those in the early education field to really redouble our efforts and make a stronger commitment,” Costa said.

Sarah Biehl, policy director at the Children’s Defense Fund-Ohio, said the report confirms that “many of our most vulnerable children are falling further and further behind.

“We hope that Ohioans will use this data to re-examine policies and practices at both the state and local levels and address racial disparities head on.”

White children in Ohio also had an overall score that was lower than the national average: 674 to 704.

Both Latinos and Asian and Pacific Islanders in Ohio had higher scores than the national average: 432 to 404, and 860 to 776, respectively.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation, which has worked for decades to improve child well-being in the U.S., produces annual “Kids Count” reports, with reams of state-specific data, but these generally have not focused on race. The new report tackles the topic head-on, with charts and ratings that convey dramatic racial discrepancies.

At the core of the report is a newly devised index based on 12 indicators measuring a child’s success from birth to adulthood, including reading and math proficiency, high school graduation data, teen birthrates and employment prospects.

Using a single composite score with a scale of one to 1,000, Asian children have the highest index score at 776, followed by white children at 704.

“Scores for Latino (404), American-Indian (387) and African-American (345) children are distressingly lower, and this pattern holds true in nearly every state,” said the report.

Patrick McCarthy, the Casey Foundation’s president, said the findings are “a call to action that requires serious and sustained attention from the private, nonprofit, philanthropic and government sectors to create equitable opportunities for children of color.”

The report, based on data from 2012, described the challenges facing African-American children as “a national crisis.”

For black children, the states with the lowest scores were in the South and upper Midwest. The highest scores were in states with relatively small black populations — Hawaii, New Hampshire, Utah and Alaska.

Outcomes varied for different subgroups of Asian and Latino children. For example, in terms of family income levels, children of Southeast Asian descent — Burmese, Hmong, Laotian, Cambodian and Vietnamese — faced greater hurdles than children whose families came from India, Japan, the Philippines and China.

Among Latinos, children of Mexican and Central American descent faced the biggest barriers to success; those of Cuban and South American descent fared better in the index.

Among its recommendations, the report urged concerted efforts to collect and analyze race-specific data on child well-being that could be used to develop programs capable of bridging the racial gap. It said special emphasis should be placed on expanding job opportunities as children in the disadvantaged groups enter adulthood.

“Regardless of our own racial background or socio-economic position, we are inextricably interconnected as a society,” the report concluded. “We must view all children in America as our own — and as key contributors to our nation’s future.”

To read the full report, go online to tinyurl.com/mwj3juv.

Includes reporting by Beacon Journal staff writer Rick Armon and the Associated Press.

A faculty panel at the University of Akron would jettison geography and urban studies and keep family and consumer science and guitar.

Those are four recommendations in a UA Faculty Senate report released Monday that looks at administration proposals to shelve 55 academic programs.

The full Faculty Senate will consider the committee recommendations Thursday.

“There may be some changes to it, but I think it overwhelmingly will pass,” said Bill Rich, Faculty Senate president and a law professor.

Provost Mike Sherman brought the administration’s proposal to eliminate 55 academic programs at all levels to faculty in February.

Sherman said the programs have low enrollments or job placement rates after graduation. He said any money saved would be redeployed into growth areas — nursing, integrated biology and speech language pathology and audiology.

About 600 students now in the programs would be allowed to complete their studies and graduate. So the programs could continue for as long as six years, the typical timeline to earn a bachelor’s degree, Sherman has said.

On Monday he said he looked forward to the faculty committee’s review of his office’s work.

“These recommendations will help to inform decisions on academic program review anticipated later this month from our Board of Trustees,” he said in an email.

The Faculty Senate’s Academic Policies Committee took a more complicated view than the administration on how to streamline the university’s academic offerings.

For example, the panel agreed to the elimination of 22 programs, to halt admissions to 20 programs temporarily in the hope that they could be revitalized, to suspend seven that were not originally on the list and to retain 13 that the provost sought to eliminate.

The panel agreed with the administration to halt admission to the bachelor’s and master’s programs in theater arts — but only temporarily.

That would give faculty time to strengthen the programs and “demonstrate that the resumption of admissions is warranted,” according to the panel.

The faculty committee also would keep some programs in the College of Education that the administration would ax. These included the doctoral degree programs in elementary and secondary education, which made their way to the elimination pile through miscommunication with the administration, the faculty panel suggested.

The master’s degree program in physics also should get a reprieve, although the focus should change to a “specialized master’s degree program in materials physics.”

The physics faculty has “made a commitment” to propose such a program, which would need to be approved by UA’s trustees and the Ohio Board of Regents.

Meanwhile, the faculty panel would suspend the bachelor’s degree programs in the piano harpsichord and organ, neither of which were originally on the list. The organ program has to go “because of the unavailability of funds to repair the necessary equipment.”

Meanwhile, the faculty panel would reverse the recommendation to scuttle the bachelor’s degree program in guitar performance.

“Although small, this program has achieved national recognition for its excellent quality, thanks to the acclaimed work of Professor Stephen Aron,” according to the faculty panel.

He was the only faculty member named in the faculty recommendations and is the only guitarist on the faculty at the UA School of Music.

The UA trustees are expected to take action on the program suspensions at their next meeting on April 23.

Carol Biliczky can be reached at cbiliczky@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3729.

Akron General Health System has pulled out of its joint venture with Signet Enterprises to develop health and wellness centers nationwide.

The health system launched Integrated Wellness Partners with the Akron-based developer in 2011 to help hospitals, cities and other customers create their own versions of Akron General’s Health & Wellness centers.

But Akron General ended the partnership earlier this year “due to a difference in mission and values as it pertains to business direction,” health system spokesman Jim Armstrong said on Tuesday.

In a prepared statement, Signet indicated the decision to terminate the joint venture was Akron General’s.

“Integrated Wellness Partners will continue its goal of expanding the outreach of medical fitness on a global basis,” the firm said in an email.

Both partners are moving forward with separate plans to continue in the health and wellness business.

Signet’s Integrated Wellness Partners is continuing to develop medical fitness centers under the brand name Sequoia Wellness, including a facility scheduled to open in August on the Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED) campus in Rootstown Township.

Signet recently hired Mike Stoops, a former athletic trainer for the Cleveland Indians and New York Mets, to serve as general manager of the Sequoia Wellness Center at NEOMED.

The firm also named Jim Ellis executive vice president and managing director of Integrated Wellness Partners.

Akron General, under the trade name Health and Wellness Innovations, “is currently engaged in meaningful consultative discussions specific to its model with multiple major organizations across the country,” Armstrong said.

The health system operates three Health & Wellness centers in Bath Township, Green and Stow.

“Akron General believes in the health and wellness mission and model that we developed two decades ago,” Armstrong said. “Akron General’s pioneering experience in the unique delivery model is nationally recognized and highly sought after.”

Akron General leaders previously said the for-profit venture with Signet gave the health system the potential to capitalize on a niche it has developed in designing and operating outpatient centers and medically supervised fitness programs.

Through the venture, Signet was responsible for helping clients with construction oversight, financing and legal issues, while Akron General provided planning and consultation.

In a separate move, Akron General is continuing to search for a larger partner as it contends with industry changes and growing competition in the region.

Cheryl Powell can be reached at 330-996-3902 or cpowell@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow Powell on Twitter at twitter.com/CherylPowellABJ.

The Ohio Supreme Court has agreed to hear the appeal of a case involving Akron-based charter school operator White Hat Management.

The case, known as Hope Academy Broadway Campus v. White Hat Mgt., L.L.C., involves 10 charter school boards that came into conflict with White Hat. As the boards began an effort to part ways, they and White Hat came into dispute over who owned the assets of the schools.

White Hat won at the appeals level, arguing that as the fiduciary agent of the boards it was paid to make all business decisions, including the purchase or leasing of curriculum, equipment and buildings.

The schools appealed.

In the court’s vote whether to hear the case, Justices Terrence O’Donnell and Judith French dissented.

The memorandum in support of the appeal can be found at www.sconet.state.oh.us/pdf_viewer/pdf_viewer.aspx?pdf=739006.pdf.

A local doctor wants to challenge area teens to help save lives by playing a game on their smartphones.

Dr. Terry A. Gordon is meeting with dozens of school superintendents, fire chiefs and police chiefs Wednesday at the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron to unveil plans to find all the automated external defibrillators, or AEDs, in Summit County.

The idea is to urge high school students to compete for prizes by using a smartphone game app under development to report the locations of AEDs throughout the community, Gordon said.

The information then could be loaded into a database, which emergency medical dispatchers could access to determine whether there’s an AED nearby when they receive a call about a potential cardiac crisis.

“Hopefully, it makes our community an even safer community,” Gordon said.

In recent years, the medical community has pushed for AEDs to be placed in a variety of public places, including schools. These “smart machines” assess a person’s heart rhythm and only administer a shock if needed to restore a normal heartbeat.

But no master list exists in the region to let emergency medical responders or well-intentioned citizens know exactly where those AEDs are located.

Gordon, a retired Akron cardiologist who championed the push to get AEDs in public places nationwide, has been leading the local effort to make sure people know the devices are available in emergency situations.

Gordon and the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron (ABIA) are working with Akron-based software development firm Rubber City Wizards to develop an AED locator game app targeted at teens.

“The idea came out of a brainstorming session at ABIA when we were trying to figure out the problem of not knowing where these AEDs are,” said Dr. Vivek Narayan, director of program management and entrepreneurial education at the BioInnovation Institute.

The BioInnovation Institute is an effort by Akron’s three hospital systems, the Northeast Ohio Medical University and the University of Akron to work together to boost medical-related research and economic development and education while improving health care in the region.

Schools would be asked to encourage students to join the competition by downloading the free app, which would also include educational content about cardiac arrest, CRP and AEDs, Narayan said. Students would compete to capture the most territory in the game by reporting AED locations.

“If they find an AED, they basically take a selfie and note the position of the AED,” Narayan said.

Once confirmed, the AED locations could be shared with Atrus, a Florida-based company that provides registered AED locations to participating 911 dispatching systems through its AED Link system, Gordon said.

Atrus has contracts with 27 emergency medical systems in California, Florida, Minnesota, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Indiana, Canada and the Cayman Islands to provide real-time information about unit locations that dispatchers can share with callers on the scene, said Elliot R. Fisch, the company’s cofounder, president and chief executive.

“When they go through their protocol, if that algorithm leads them to suspect there is a cardiac arrest, then our system will be notified and it will instantly query our registry if there is an AED within 1,200 feet,” he said. “If we find out, it will instantly pop up on their screen and they will be able to say, ‘I see there’s an AED.’ ”

The system also allows AED owners to register responders who are willing to receive a text message if there’s a potential cardiac arrest reported near their unit.

Summit County’s annual cost for the software license would be about $16,000, Fisch said.

The BioInnovation Institute plans to help Gordon secure grants and other funding for the project, which Narayan estimates would cost $100,000 to $150,000.

The program could be rolled out at high schools throughout the county as early as the 2014-15 school year, Gordon said.

Cheryl Powell can be reached at 330-996-3902 or cpowell@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow Powell on Twitter at twitter.com/CherylPowellABJ.2.

MOGADORE: Parents got a taste of what it would be like if a 5.9-mill levy fails in May and the district follows through with a promise to cut busing, among other reductions.

About 170 students, those who routinely ride a bus but live close enough to a school in a village not much larger than 2 square miles, would be forced to walk should busing be cut to the state minimum. The 24 students who live beyond the 2-mile walking distance would not lose busing, nor would special education, vocational or preschool pupils.

Other cost-saving or revenue-generating measures the levy’s failure would trigger include a $100 pay-to-play fee (capped at $250 per family) in a place where most students play sports and football is cherished, closing school gymnasiums and fields to the public during the summer to avoid maintenance costs, eliminating free athletic event passes for school employees and senior citizens, and discontinuing the print version of a school newsletter.

“The campaign is designed so that each part of the community shoulders a piece of this,” said Superintendent Christina Dinklocker, who greeted parents in a bright yellow vest Monday morning.

To prepare for the surge in drivers, and to raise awareness for the upcoming levy, the school is holding a “rehearsal” this week, during which all parents must find a way to get their children to school.

Some parents understood the need to practice safety. Many were upset.

“It friggin’ sucks,” said David Adkins, a single father with two girls at O.H. Somers Elementary.

Adkins and other residents stood near Lions Park on Tuesday morning as they dropped off their children there, about 100 yards from the school, and watched them walk up a hill to the school’s side entrance.

By the time Adkins dropped off his daughters at 8:15 a.m., he already was more than an hour late for work. In the afternoon, he’ll miss even more work when he picks them up.

“We’re going to do a dry run this week,” Adkins said sarcastically. “Well the dry run cost me $300.”

“I feel bad for the ones that have tight work hours,” said April Kroah, who walked with her husband, Brian, after dropping off their son and daughter Tuesday morning.

The Kroahs know that even the short walk up the park’s hill could be dangerous, especially when the weather isn’t so nice. They’ve also heard concerns about children walking more than a mile to get to school, avoiding traffic and strangers.

April Kroah said most folks are “very upset,” but she and her husband advocate for the levy, which would cost the owner of a $100,000 home about $180 in additional taxes per year. “If us local folks get together, we could fix this,” she said.

Unlike the Kroahs, most parents who typically make the daily commute with their kids don’t live in Mogadore. They account for the roughly 1-in-3 students who have forfeited school transportation by open-enrolling from a nearby district.

If Mogadore’s levy fails, open enrollment might be the only alternative to raise funding, officials said. The state has cut income tax revenue and has promised to phase out the collection of taxes on business equipment, which Mogadore heavily relies on. And open enrollment brings in more state dollars than Ohio gives Mogadore to educate its own students.

“Open enrollment for us is a lifeline,” Treasurer Chris Adams said.

As is the case in Coventry, each open-enrolled student in Mogadore raises more state funding than Ohio gives the local district to teach a local student but not enough to fully fund their education.

“A lot of people in town don’t like it, but it keeps the doors open,” Adams said of open enrollment, adding that the district will continue to fill empty seats and raise class sizes to offset other revenue reductions. “It’s not ideal. It’s not what we want. But what’s the alternative?”

Adams said the budget has operated at a deficit for the past three years. He continues to trim, but stressed that additional revenue is needed.

“What we continue to do is when teachers retire, we don’t replace them,” said Adams, who has a goal of limiting deficit spending to $300,000 this year.

There are two ways to do that: raise taxes or implement cuts that would lay off two bus drivers, reduce transportation costs by a third and force the majority of students to walk or find a ride.

Doug Livingston can be reached at 330-996-3792 or dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com.

Board members of the East Akron Community House and several East Akron residents asked the City Council on Monday to help keep the longtime agency alive.

John Nelson, a board member and the temporary interim director of EACH, along with board President George Baker told the council they have taken steps to clean house, including removing former Executive Director Tiffany Edwards.

“Yes, Miss Edwards is gone and the board has taken over and assumed a leadership role in the community,” Nelson said. “If we try very hard, we can save this 103-year-old institution. We don’t want to see the agency go down the drain over a few bad apples. We will bring on some new board members. Be patient with us and we will get it right.”

Nelson said that while funding has dried up, there is money that some agencies owe EACH. He specifically said one of the agencies formerly was housed at EACH and owes $60,000.

In a telephone call with the Beacon Journal on Tuesday, the executive director of the East Akron Neighborhood Development Corp. responded to that assertion.

“We never received an invoice, and we don’t owe them any money,” Grady Appleton said.

Baker suggested a meeting with a committee of council.

“There have been mistakes, and in all forms of government, mistakes are made,” he said. “It’s not about the members of the board but the constituents in the community; these are the people in dire straits. At the end of the day, it’s how do we make it work for them.”

Baker acknowledged the East Akron Community House is at risk. He said he wants the council to get involved and take a look at how the agency got in trouble and how to rescue it because it provides valuable services to the community.

A pastor in the community, Mark A. Ward of Zion Temple Baptist Church on Arlington Street, offered help as well.

“Did Miss Edwards do everything right? No. Did she do everything wrong? No,” Ward said. “Hearing the heartbeat of this community, it would be a travesty to just let this institution die, and so I’m here on behalf of that community to try to partner with this council to help this agency out.”

Edwards has been criticized by employees and vendors for her leadership style and for failing to secure the funding needed to keep the agency afloat.

Some residents also spoke to the council but from a different viewpoint.

Jennifer Walker said she grew up in East Akron. She said East Akron Community House, in its heyday, offered her day camp, Girl Scouts, preschool and later a student exchange program called Friendlytown that placed an urban youth in the home of an affluent family in the suburbs. She spent two weeks with the Smucker family.

She said the programs at EACH encouraged her to become a college graduate, get married, be employed and be a taxpayer.

Councilwoman Tara Samples, who represents East Akron, said that EACH board members have asked her to submit their proposal to council, which she will do this week.

Marilyn Miller can be reached at 330-996-3098 or mmiller@thebeaconjournal.com.

If he needed a kidney they would be there, lining up to be tested. No hesitation at all.

If he needed a liver they would be lined up too, ready to donate a lobe at the drop of a hat.

But the problem is Donte Moore’s heart.

The 28-year-old Akron man’s health trauma is complicated and urgent. It got that way so fast that it has left those close to him stunned.

While they feel helpless, they are not hopeless.

After the initial shock, Donte’s dedicated cadre of friends have been mobilized to help, while Donte has been on life support for nearly three weeks at University Hospitals in Cleveland.

Longtime friend Matt Coleman, an Akron firefighter, said Donte — who grew up in Kenmore and is part of a regular basketball-playing posse at Kenmore Church of the Nazarene — thought he had a cold at first.

Coleman said his friend downplayed the brief episode of chest pains during a pick-up game. But he got sick overnight and wasn’t able to report to work the next day at the Basement restaurant in North Canton. He’s also a student at Stark State College studying computer technology.

“When he woke up he was having a hard time breathing,” Coleman said.

He initially went to Summa Barberton Hospital, but within a few hours was sent to Akron City Hospital where he was diagnosed with myocarditis, inflammation of the heart muscle. When his breathing became more labored, he was transferred to University Hospitals. “The situation was so bad that doctors there were talking about a possible heart transplant,” Coleman relayed, adding that Donte was placed in an induced coma.

Complicating matters was that like so many Americans, Donte didn’t have health insurance, and his medical bills began to soar in a hurry.

If he needs a heart transplant, that will mean even more money that neither he nor his family has.

Holding vigil

Proof positive of the high esteem Donte Moore is held in, his friends hold vigil individually and collectively at the hospital, making the drive to Cleveland after jobs and other commitments in Akron. They’re working like there’s no tomorrow raising money to help with Donte’s medical bills now and in the future.

While it may be difficult to find the time to do all that they’re doing, they’re buoyed in the knowledge that Donte — described as a volunteer who has worked on all sorts of projects with community groups — surely would do the same for any of them.

Two weekends ago, Coleman and other friends of Donte, like Shawn Steiner, hurriedly organized a spaghetti dinner benefit at the VFW on Waterloo Road and raised thousands of dollars. A crowd that easily numbered between 500 and 600 folks, hungry to help Donte, showed up.

“I was humbled by the outpouring of support,” Coleman said.

In addition to the dinner, T-shirts and “Prayers for Donte” wristbands also were sold.

“We just knew we had to do something,” Coleman said. “You just can’t put a dollar amount on your best friend’s life!

“We played football together at Kenmore High School and have been good friends ever since … He’s close to my family, too … He’s just a genuinely good person. We hate to see something so bad happen to someone so good! … So, we’re fighting for him.”

Waiting and praying

Even though Donte has no way of knowing, some 100 folks traveled to the hospital in a middle of a snowstorm for a vigil to show their support. Sources have said even the nurses began crying at the sight.

Donte’s mother, Stacy Moore, and his girlfriend, Barb Bradley, are always at the hospital waiting and praying.

“We’ve all taken to Facebook because every one of us knows some people,” Coleman said. “Every one of us is playing a role.”

Tim Adkins and daughter Melissa DeGuia co-own the Basement Sports Bar & Grill where Donte has been the head cook for 2½ years.

“When I see him in the hospital, it’s the first time I’ve been around him when he didn’t make me laugh,” Adkins said, his words weighed with emotion. “He was always smiling, always so helpful.”

“We have 100 employees,” Adkins continued. “We put a letter in everybody’s paycheck saying that one of the Basement family members is ill. Most knew the story already. We said, ‘If one of you were ill, Donte would be first guy at your fundraiser. So let’s show up, do what we can and sell tickets.’ The Basement sold 300 tickets alone [for the VFW fundraiser] at 10 bucks each … There were so many volunteers there that it renewed my faith in humanity,” Adkins said.

“It was a day when everyone came together in love! I’m sure when Donte gets out he will give everybody a big hug!”

Nothing definite is known about a treatment plan for Donte Moore, as it’s still day to day.

As news spread about Donte’s condition, Mark Richards, assistant news director at WNIR radio, took to the airwaves.

“I do not know Donte personally,” Richards acknowledged in an email. “His issues were brought to my attention by my daughters, both graduates of Kenmore High School (where my wife and I graduated in 1976). Both of the girls played in the high school band and orchestra …

“I saw a post on (Donte’s friend) Marty Micale’s page yesterday which sounded promising, but also points to a long road ahead for this young man as he is not out of the woods yet.”

Adkins called it amazing that every time he’s at the hospital, 30 or more people are there: “And that’s in Cleveland, not local. We sit around in the waiting room sharing stories about Donte.”

Adkins, who served as the emcee at the fundraiser, introduced Donte’s girlfriend “as the strongest woman I know because she’s always comforting everyone else, telling us ‘he’s going to be OK.’ ”

Indeed, everyone is praying for a positive outcome.

“It’s rare when I see a young man who has had such an impact and influence on so many people,” Richards continued. “And what’s most heartwarming is the fact they have rallied around him as they have. The more information I obtained, the more I felt the story must be told.”

Let’s all take to heart the message of these friendships and the wristbands, and pray for Donte Moore.

Jewell Cardwell can be reached at 330-996-3567 or jcardwell@thebeaconjournal.com

The Ohio Senate on Tuesday signed off on a $2.38 billion statewide construction budget that includes plenty of cash for Akron-area projects.

Lawmakers in the House already have approved the bill. Gov. John Kasich was expected to sign it late Tuesday.

The two-year capital budget provides money for everything from parks to state infrastructure to colleges to entertainment venues.

The Magical Theatre Company in Barberton is slated to receive $159,078.

“It’s huge for us,” Dennis O’Connell, co-producing director, said this week.

The nonprofit has proposed a $1.7 million renovation to its Park Theatre home, a movie house built in 1919. The Barberton Community Foundation has pledged up to $750,000 worth of matching funds, so the state money will be doubled.

“The timing couldn’t be better,” O’Connell said. “The project is so needed.”

Work will include enlarging the restrooms, renovating the lobby, adding a catwalk and replacing carpeting, electrical and plumbing.

The capital budget includes $33.4 million for Summit County projects.

Other Akron-area counties are slated to receive money: Cuyahoga, $64.7 million; Medina, $230,000; Portage, $20.8 million; Stark, $14.8 million; and Wayne, $9.3 million.

In the Akron area, some of the more expensive projects are:

• $18.5 million to renovate science labs at Kent State University.

• $10 million for the Pro Football Hall of Fame to renovate the 22,000-seat Fawcett Stadium in Canton.

• $5 million to renovate the law building at the University of Akron.

• $1.5 million for restoration work at Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens in Akron.

• $4.6 million for work at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center’s Thorne Hall in Wooster.

“This legislation is about investing in our communities and creating jobs across Ohio,” Sen. Scott Oelslager, R-North Canton, said in a news release. “One great example is the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which contributes heavily to our community and spearheads state and local tourism.”

Overall, the spending plan provides $675 million for local schools; $454.5 million for Ohio’s 37 public colleges and universities; $369 million for local infrastructure projects; $100 million for the Clean Ohio program; and $574.3 million for maintenance and renovations at state-owned facilities.

State leaders say the capital budget will create about 31,000 jobs over the next two years.

A full list of projects is available online at: http://obm.ohio.gov/SectionPages/Budget/FY1516/.

Rick Armon can be reached at 330-996-3569 or rarmon@thebeaconjournal.com.

Akron police were looking for the person who punched an 84-year-old man and robbed him of $70 as he walked away from an ATM in the 700 block of North Main Street.

The robbery occurred shortly after 10 a.m. Monday near a FirstMerit Bank branch on North Hill.

Police Lt. Rick Edwards said the robber approached the man and asked for 75 cents to get something to eat. As the man was reaching into his pocket for change, the robber punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground.

While the man was down, the robber took the man’s wallet, containing $70, and fled east toward Elma Street.

Paramedics treated the man at the scene.

Police were alerted about the attack when a passerby driving south on North Main near Frances Avenue called. The driver saw the robber and briefly attempted to follow him, Edwards said.

Investigators later obtained several bank security camera photos of a man believed to be the robber but were unable to make an identification, Edwards said.

The robber was described as a black man, 18 to 25 years old, 5 feet 8 inches to 6 feet tall and about 150 to 160 pounds. He styled his hair in cornrows and wore blue jeans and a black jacket with brown fur around the hood.

Anyone with information is asked to call Akron detectives at 330-375-2490.

Ed Meyer can be reached at 330-996-3784 or at emeyer@thebeaconjournal.com.

United Way of Summit County on Wednesday announced $1 million in strategic investments for educational initiatives that support the “Cradle to Career Alliance” pipeline:

• Akron Area YMCA, for early child care and education, $118,000.

• Akron Area YMCA, for its Phoenix School, $50,000.

• Akron Area YMCA, for its Youth Development Program, $5,000.

• Akron Urban League, for its Summer Enrichment Camp, $45,000.

• Asian Services in Action, for its READY Program, $37,706.

• Big Brothers Big Sisters Serving Summit, Medina & Stark Counties, for youth programs, $60,000.

• Boy Scouts of America Great Trail Council, for its Venturing Programs, $35,000.

• Boys & Girls Clubs of the Western Reserve, for youth development, $100,000.

• Building for Tomorrow, for its Early Childhood Initiative, $65,000.

• Child Guidance & Family Solutions, for its Toddlers and Preschoolers Succeeding program, $60,000.

• Greenleaf Family Center, for Supporting Partnerships to Assure Ready Kids (SPARK) program, $45,000.

• Greenleaf Family Center, for teen parent support, $37,000.

• Girl Scouts of North East Ohio, for its Business of Babysitting: A Financial Literacy Program, $40,000.

• Info Line, for Childcare Connection, $25,000.

• Law and Leadership Institute, to promote diversity in law school, $15,000.

• Project LEARN of Summit County, for literacy programs, $60,000.

• Shaw JCC of Akron, for early childhood education, $25,000.

• The Arc of Summit and Portage Counties for advocacy for students with disabilities, $40,000.

• The Arc of Summit and Portage Counties, for its People Together program, $10,000.

• The Salvation Army of Summit County for its Learning Zone, $40,000.

Summit Education Initiative, for its Cradle to Career Alliance, $113,000.