Copley-Fairlawn teachers and administrators have struck a labor deal, ending lengthy negotiations that required a federal mediator.

Talks that began in the spring broke down in September — the first such failure in labor negotiations in the district in 30 years — when the teachers union overwhelmingly rejected a plan to unlock a three-year pay freeze that had included no annual step increases.

The original contract offer reinstated the step increases and included a 2 percent pay raise in each of the next three years. Three-quarters of teachers rejected the deal.

The revised plan — ratified by teachers last week and approved Tuesday by the school board — settles the dispute over pay by increasing the raises to 2.2 percent in the first year and 2.1 percent in the second year. Third-year raises and an option to extend the contract for a fourth year remain at 2 percent.

Administrators also conceded a one-time merit bonus for all licensed teachers, who collectively have contributed to the suburban district’s Excellent academic rating on the state report card.

After totaling the one-time bonuses and the increases in raises from one contract to the next, the bottom-line difference between the contract rejected in September and the one accepted this month is $230,000 more over the life of the three-year deal, according to district figures.

Teachers agreed to work an additional training day, not attended by students, in each of the next two years.

“I’m pleased we reached a mutually agreeable contract with the teachers association,” Superintendent Brian Poe said. “I realize it was a long and difficult process. But I’m pleased that we can move forward with providing our students with an excellent education.”

A statement from the Copley Teachers Association said the contract “was the best agreement possible with this Board of Education without a likely work stoppage. After lengthy debate, teachers accepted the terms of the contract. The vote by the teachers to approve the agreement was not unanimous.”

Total salary increases over the next three years will add $1.5 million to the district’s $12 million budget.

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

MEDINA

Anderson, Betty J., 83, of Wadsworth. Died Tuesday. Hilliard-Rospert.

STARK

Julian, Mary “Kay,” 82, of North Canton. Died Monday. Heitger, Massillon.

PORTAGE

Furl, Howard, Jr., 82, of Windham Township. Died Monday. Mallory-DeHaven-Carlson, Garrettsville.

Hujer, Cathleen G., 70, of Aurora. Died Monday. Green, Mantua.

OTHER

Donovan, Kimberly Jo, 49, of Akron. Died Monday. Paquelet, Massillon.

Halter, Paul M., 62, of Tallmadge. Died Monday. Heitger, Massillon.

Marik, Linda D., 62, of North Jackson. Died Sunday. Wood-Kortright-Borkoski, Ravenna.

BATH TWP.: Town officials are pondering the future of a deteriorating 101-year-old vault at Bath Center Cemetery.

“The overall structural stability of the vault has been compromised, and sections of the stone veneer are falling off,” Township Administrator Vito Sinopoli said at Monday’s trustees meeting.

Along with the wear and tear of time and weather, a towering pine tree adjacent to the structure has contributed to its deterioration, Sinopoli said.

Two structural engineers were asked to examine the integrity of the vault and offer recommendations for repairs. Sinopoli said they proposed to either demolish the structure for safety reasons or to begin a complete stone veneer removal, cataloging those stones and then rebuilding the vault.

The vault was used to store bodies during the winter months when digging into the frozen ground was not possible, said Bath Trustee Becky Corbett, the township’s former cemetery sexton. Corbett said she plans to explore how many similar structures remain in the state to better determine the vault’s historic significance.

Sinopoli said the township is looking at options such as donations or grants to fund deconstruction and reconstruction if officials determine that to be the best course of action.

During my three decades at the Beacon Journal, I have received some incredibly odd reader feedback. This one tops the list.

Award-winning WKSU (89.7-FM) radio reporter Kabir Bhatia recently told me that one of my movie reviews saved his life.

And he wasn’t joking.

In 1993, I was covering radio and TV. Early that year, I weighed in on Howard Stern’s new video, Butt Bongo Fiesta.

Now, I’m generally a fan of Stern (nobody gets more out of celebrity interviews), and his 1997 feature film, Private Parts, was quite deservedly a critical and box-office hit. But BBF was incredibly juvenile.

The copy desk put this headline on my review: “12-year-old’s icky dreams fulfilled in Stern’s ‘Butt Bongo.’ ”

We’ll let Bhatia take it from here. After all, the guy talks for a living.

“I saw that review ... and clipped it out,” he says, “because [Stern’s syndicated radio show] was new in Cleveland. ...

“So I’m at a garage-band practice, and somebody came over and had gotten a copy of this tape. He says, ‘Hey, we’re going to watch it at somebody else’s house; they have a TV in the basement and no one’s going to bother us’ — because obviously we can’t watch this in our family room with our parents in the room.”

Bhatia was 13 at the time and living in Hudson.

“I said, ‘I don’t know, I read this review and it said it’s for ‘icky’ 12-year-olds. That’s not me.’ I remember it specifically because I’d never seen such a word in a review.

“So I said, ‘No, no, I don’t want to see it.’ They said, ‘We’re going!’ ”

Four or five of his pals packed into a small Pontiac. The weather was lousy, and on the way to their destination the driver hit a patch of ice, crossed the center line and was clobbered by an oncoming vehicle, totaling the car.

The injuries were mostly minor, but because Bhatia was “low man on the totem pole” in terms of age, he figures he would have been jammed into the back seat right behind the driver — where a door had caved in.

“So I always felt that you, Bob Dyer, with your one word ‘icky’ in the headline, saved my life from this car accident that I ended up not being in.”

Journalism — Saving Lives, One Review at a Time.

CSI: Medina

Week after week, the Medina Township police report is jammed with horrendous tales of criminal activity. Here’s the latest:

“Police were called to Pearl Road for a report of a group of suspicious people. It turns out it was several adults participating in a scavenger hunt.”

Separated at birth

When Cheryl Duer of Howard Hanna asked me to compare a colleague of hers to the new chief of the embattled Veterans Administration, I saw double.

Her fellow agent, Arne Englehart, was a good sport, admitting he easily could be mistaken for the VA’s Robert McDonald.

“I could wear my dark suit, get the flag lapel pin that all uppity Washington politicians wear, go down to our local VA office and tell them that we are going to turn things around,” he joked.

“No more waiting for visits or surgery; strictly walk-in, no appointments.”

Abbi’s hearing

An update on Abbi Dobson, the 18-year-old Cuyahoga Falls resident who was charged with jaywalking after being hit by a truck while trying to rescue an injured cat.

As we told you a couple of weeks ago, she was driving on a rainy night when she pulled over and ventured into the street to try to save the critter.

Part of her body crossed the center line and was hit by a pickup truck moving in the opposite direction. She suffered a broken pelvis and a concussion — and also collected a ticket, compliments of Cuyahoga Falls police, who said they had no choice because they had to protect the driver of the truck from potential civil action.

Her father, Jerry, says Abbi pleaded no contest.

“The magistrate asked what happened and how she was,” he reports.

She was not fined but did have to pay $50 for court costs.

Jerry is comfortable with the outcome.

“Now, hopefully, she can get this behind her and move forward.”

Angley follow-ups

Five former members of Ernest Angley’s Grace Cathedral were interviewed recently by Vipp Jaswal of Fox News Radio.

Part 1 involves Pam Cable, Layla Minares and Greg Mulkey. Part 2 highlights Shane McCabe and Angelia Oborne.

Jaswal was so taken with the first two parts that he taped a 45-minute interview with Yours Truly last week.

You can find all three podcasts by searching “Vipp” and “Angley” on Google.

Bob Dyer can be reached at 330-996-3580 or bdyer@thebeaconjournal.com. He also is on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bob.dyer.31.

NORTON: A veteran Norton police officer was sworn in as police chief Wednesday afternoon.

In front of about 70 well-wishers, John Dalessandro, 47, was sworn in by Mayor Mike Zita as the city’s fifth police chief.

“First and foremost, we have a great group of guys here,” the 23-year police veteran said.

He vowed to meet individually with every officer on the force. The department has 18 full-time officers and he hopes to hire two more patrol officers and promote two more officers into leadership posts.

“We’re in the process of promotions and hiring. It’s a fun time for this department,” he said. “We’ve had four retirements in the last six months so my job right now is to bring us back to full strength. We’ve had some budget cuts in the last five or six years, like most departments have, but I’d like to hire two more and get the strength back to at least 20.”

Dalessandro said he’d like to look into combining more resources with neighboring communities.

“We’ve joined dispatching services with Barberton and Copley and we work well with them. I’d like to continue working closely together with those communities and start with some training to expand other services,” he said.

He has served as the department’s assigned officer to the U.S. Marshal’s Violent Fugitive Task Force for five years from 2004 to 2009. At the same time, he headed the detective bureau and was involved in all the major investigations from 2001 until 2009.

This work included the community’s first bank robbery in July 2004.

The bank robber was caught and sentenced to 13 years in prison after leads were developed in collaboration with Akron police and the FBI.

Dalessandro holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice administration from Columbia Southern University and an associate’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Akron.

He said his wife of 20 years, Ellen, has been there from the start of his career — three weeks before he started the police academy. They have two sons, John II, 17, and Adam, 13.

“I’ve had great police chiefs here, I was fortunate enough to know all four of them before me,” Dalessandro said. “I respected them all and they all gave me good advice and I took something from each and every one of them.”

He said he learned to be loyal and committed to the community from Chief Forest Diefendorff.

Chief Tom Walters, who hired him full time, saw something in him as a 24-year-old and gave him a chance. He said Walters taught him about commitment to each other as well as the community.

Chief Greg Carris was his mentor. He taught him loyalty, integrity and honesty to the community.

Chief Thad Hete, who retired two months ago and was present at the ceremony, was his training officer in 1991, when he first joined the police force.

“He taught me to be a cop, what I took from him are my investigative skills and hard work ethics,” he said. “From Day One he told me hard work always pays off.”

Dalessandro, who was a firefighter first and worked part time for Fairlawn, said he loved the job but his passion was in law enforcement, so he switched career paths.

“When John was a little boy he used to play at Croghan Park [Fairlawn] and every time he would see a police officer he would run over and talk to the officer. He was in the third grade, about 8 years old, when he decided that’s what he wanted to be when he grew up,” said his mother, Rosetta Dalessandro. “I would say why do you want to do that, it’s so dangerous. And he’d say, ‘someone’s gotta do it, why not me.’ ”

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

People Helping People is a list of charitable causes in our area that need donations or volunteers. The Beacon Journal has not investigated these causes, so donors should verify their worthiness and the tax-deductibility of contributions.

A link to a form for submitting requests to People Helping People can be found at www.ohio.com/charity, along with tips on researching charities and a list of causes already published.

Questions about submitting information? Call Mary Beth Breckenridge, 330-996-3756.

Mothers Assisting Mothers Inc., 680 E. Market St., Suite 207, Akron, OH 44304, provides resources and supportive services to disabled and/or homeless mothers.

It is seeking volunteers to help raise money by wrapping gifts from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Nov. 29 and 3 to 6 p.m. Nov. 30 at Summit Mall. Volunteers are asked to help for two to four hours.

For information, visit http://uwsummit.org or call the United Way Volunteer Center, 330-643-5512.

OPEN M (Opportunity for People Everywhere in Need Ministry), 941 Princeton St., Akron, OH 44311, helps people in the Akron area meet the spiritual and physical challenges of living with scarce resources. It requests the following:

• Donors to bake and donate cookies to feed volunteers during December.

• Volunteers to help the agency prepare for and carry out its Christmas distribution of food and gifts.

• Donors to buy gifts for children. Donors are asked to buy two gifts worth a total of $50 for each child. Gifts may be dropped off at OPEN M by Dec. 9 or delivered directly to the family.

For information, visit http://uwsummit.org or call the United Way Volunteer Center, 330-643-5512.

Hattie Larlham, 7996 Darrow Road, Twinsburg, OH 44087, provides medical, vocational and recreational services to 1,500 children and adults with developmental disabilities.

On Dec. 2, Hattie Larlham will participate in Giving Tuesday, a national day of giving in which people join together to raise funds and awareness for charity. On that day, a Hattie Larlham contributor will match each dollar donated up to $15,000. Donations can be made at www.hattielarlham.org.

For information, contact Rosanne Drake at 330-274-2272, ext. 3878, or rosanne.drake@hattielarlham.org.

PORTAGE

Yoder, Nicholas, 30, of Kent. Died Sunday. Green, Mantua.

AKRON

Campaign finances

AKRON: The Akron City Council isn’t expected to vote Monday on legislation that would boost campaign finance limits for next year’s election.

Council President Garry Moneypenny said more time is needed to look into some of the concerns raised by citizens during public hearings held last Monday.

The legislation would boost limits by $100, which would raise the limit for mayoral and at-large city council candidates to $750 and for ward council candidates to $500. The limit pertains to contributions from individuals, campaign committees, PACs and political parties.

A recent change to Akron’s charter requires the council to review the contribution limits every two years, and to seek input from the public.

The council’s last meeting of the year will be Dec. 15.

Abuser sentenced

AKRON: An Akron man was sentenced to prison Thursday for physical abuse that left his girlfriend’s 2-year-old son permanently disabled.

Judge Tammy O’Brien ordered Kurtis Mathes, 23, to serve a maximum of eight years in prison for felonious assault.

Mathes was watching the boy in January when he called 911 reporting that the child was not breathing. The toddler suffered severe brain injuries and retinal hemorrhaging in both eyes.

Police recruitment

AKRON: An informational event will be held Saturday for those interested in applying to be an Akron police officer. The city is sponsoring the recruitment program at the Job Center, 1040 E. Tallmadge Ave., from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.

Two police department representatives will answer questions and assist applicants interested in joining the police force. The department is honoring its prior commitment to the session while also solemnly remembering Officer Justin Winebrenner, who was shot to death early Sunday and will be buried Saturday.

Bottles needed

AKRON: Seiberling School is seeking 2-liter plastic soft-drink bottles to complete building a greenhouse at the school.

The bottles can be green or clear plastic, said Sharon Connor of the grass-roots group Residents Improving Goodyear Heights Together. About 500 bottles are needed, she said. They can be dropped off at the school at 400 Brittain Road.

The bottles are being used to build a 12- by 9-foot greenhouse at the main entrance at the rear of the building.

Bike event

AKRON: The Summit Cycling Center is conducting a scavenger bike hunt to benefit the needy Saturday. Registration is at 8 a.m. and the ride begins at 9 a.m. from the Bike Kitchen at Lock 3 Park, 200 S. Main St.

Participants in the second annual Cranksgiving alley cat ride will visit Akron stores to make required purchases.

Cyclists must supply their own bikes, a bag and about $20 to spend on winter hats, gloves, mittens, socks and personal care items for the needy. All items collected will be donated to St. Bernard’s Food Pantry.

Cyclists can register at http://summitcycling.org/cranksgiving-akron.

COVENTRY TOWNSHIP

Spaghetti fundraiser

COVENTRY TWP.: A spaghetti dinner at St. Francis de Sales School, 4009 Manchester Road, will be 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday to benefit a Manchester High School junior diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer called desmoplastic small round cell tumor. Fewer than than 200 cases have been reported.

Tickets, $10 for adults and $7 for children, are available at the door. Donations also may be made to the Zoey Kohler Benevolent Fund at any FirstMerit Bank.

Proceeds will offset the family’s medical bills and travel expenses as Kohler is expected to finish chemotherapy and undergo a complicated surgery at a New York hospital.

HARTVILLE

Funds for new hires

HARTVILLE: The village will make provisions for new hires at the sewage treatment plant and the street department in 2015.

Fiscal Officer Scott Varney told the Village Council on Tuesday that proposed appropriations include enough money for a part-time street employee and a full-timer in the wastewater treatment plant.

Total spending in all funds is projected at $3.7 million, of which nearly $1.5 million would be for the general fund, which includes police, administration, council, zoning, income tax collection and parks. Police spending is to include the purchase of two SUVs for patrol

The council is expected to vote on the plan Dec. 16.

LAKE SCHOOLS

Energy use declines

HARTVILLE: Brian Wagner of CCG Energy gave the Lake Board of Education an update on the district’s energy conservation program Monday.

He said Lake High School has reduced energy use by 60 percent.

A free program to discuss the problem of drug abuse, Faces of the Community, will take place at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Lake Performing Arts Hall.

Talks by siblings of overdose victims are part of the evening.

The next Community Dialogue will be 6 to 8 p.m. Dec. 2 in the Lake High School cafeteria.

SUMMIT COUNTY

Help with housing

Two Summit County housing projects will receive state assistance from the Ohio Housing Finance Agency.

The agency provided $21.6 million statewide through the Housing Development Loan program, which provides financial assistance for the development and rehabilitation of affordable housing through unclaimed funds from the Ohio Department of Commerce.

The local projects are:

• Spring Hill Apartments in Akron: $3.5 million for the rehabilitation of a 70-unit rental development for families. The improvements include the repair and replacement of roofing, doors, walls and windows; a new parking lot; the conversion of storage space into a community room; enhanced accessibility; and new appliances, flooring, cabinets, countertops and bath fixtures in each unit. The developer is American Community Builders Inc.

• Friendship Terrace in Cuyahoga Falls: $2.5 million for the refurbishment of 40 ranch-style units for seniors. The upgrades include new siding, gutters and downspouts, windows, doors and exterior lighting; renovation and expansion of the community building; parking lot resurfacing; a new walking path; and new doors, kitchen and bath cabinets, countertops, tub and shower surrounds, plumbing fixtures, flooring, appliances, HVAC and hot water heaters. The developer is Neighborhood Development Corporation of Akron.

WADSWORTH

Zoning variances OK’d

WADSWORTH: The Board of Zoning Appeals on Monday approved variances to allow for the expansion of two businesses.

Top Designs at 1700 Wall Road plans to add a 6,600-square-foot building at its present location.

Van’s at 185 Broad St. plans to add two service bays behind the existing structure.

Additionally, the board approved a variance for a single-family home on Kaylee Drive.

Cable rates to rise

WADSWORTH: Subscribers to the city’s cable television and Internet will see a rate increase beginning Jan. 1.

The City Council adopted the increase at its session Tuesday. Basic rates will increase by $2.30 monthly to $16.55 for city residents; $2.55 to $18.20 for those in the township.

Enhanced service will increase by $4.50 monthly for city users to $55.80; $4.95 to $61.40 for the township.

Other tiers will also see increases.

The council also approved the issuance of $4.7 million in notes to finance improvements and purchases including $1.5 million for the wastewater treatment plant; $1.3 million for water mains and $1.1 million to improve a portion of state Route 94.

Other proposed expenditures include $230,000 for a sanitation truck, $415,000 for stormwater management and $230,000 to improve the telecommunication system.

NORTH CANTON: A 58-year-old Jackson Township man was arrested Thursday on charges that he lured young boys into letting him take nude pictures of them.

The U.S. Marshall’s Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force arrested Joseph P. Kolp Jr. of Galena Avenue N.W. at his home on two felony and two misdemeanor sex offense charges. He is charged with two counts of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material or performance and two counts of criminal child enticement.

Kolp was secretly indicted by a Stark County grand jury Wednesday.

A search warrant was issued in July at his North Canton home on 5th Street, where police recovered several photos of nude male juveniles. Kolp has two properties; he recently built his Jackson Township home.

North Canton Detective Lt. Stanley Strausser said Kolp would befriend the boys.

“Some were the sons of some of his friends,” Strausser said. “He would meet them anywhere. One was a son of someone he worked with. I think he met another in a gym. He would befriend male juveniles, have them help him work around his house, and he would take them water skiing on his boat on the Ohio River, where he would have them change clothes on the boat and have the juveniles pose naked while he photographed them. We don’t believe he distributed the photos, but kept them for himself.”

He said Kolp would also have the boys pose nude for photos in his basement.

The first complaint filed against Kolp came in 2002 from a 31-year-old man who told police he posed for Kolp between 1982 and 1987, when he was between the ages of 11 and 16.

“Unfortunately, as some of these reports came in, the statute of limitations prevented us from getting a search warrant,” Strausser said. “You can’t come to us in 2002 and tell us about something that happened 20 years ago and expect us to get a search warrant right away.”

Strausser said authorities believe Kolp has been taking nude pictures of young males for 30 years. Police kept an open file on him as they continued to gather evidence.

“This case is kind of different, it’s been going on a long time. We’ve known about it, but we’ve just never been able to get enough evidence to present it,” Strausser said. “We’ve consulted with the prosecutor over the years, and we finally got enough evidence recently when our latest victims came forward. This time, the victims didn’t wait as long — so we were able to get that search warrant.”

Strausser said about six victims have launched similar complaints, and there may be more victims who might come forward.

Kolp was also found on the Boys Scouts’ perversion list, a list started by the Scouts that is used to check when adult volunteers wanted to become Scout leaders. The list includes men accused of acts of perversion with children. Kolp made the list in 1985, when he was accused of sexual misconduct. He was 28. No formal charges were launched against him, but the organization asked him to terminate his membership with the Boy Scouts, which he agreed to do.

Kolp remains in the Stark County Jail. No bond or court date has been set yet.

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

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in downtown Akron.

Hundreds of volunteers have been decking the halls this week at the John S. Knight Center for the 33rd annual Akron Children’s Hospital Holiday Tree Festival.

The annual event, which is expected to draw more than 250,000 visitors, opens to the public Saturday and continues through Nov. 30.

The Akron holiday tradition kicks off with a preview gala Friday, followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. Saturday.

As in previous years, admission is free.

“It’s going to be wonderful,” said Jolea Swann, who has volunteered with the tree festival committee for 15 years.

Swann and Santa’s other helpers spent hours this week assembling displays of trees and other items, including American Girl dolls and a big-screen television, that will be available in a raffle drawing. Proceeds from tickets, which sell for $10 for 12, benefit the hospital.

Along with the raffle displays, this year’s event features 157 full-size Christmas trees decorated in a variety of themes and many wreaths, miniature trees and other holiday decorations.

Area residents, businesses, schools, churches and community groups donate all items. Proceeds from the sale of the trees and other decorations benefit medical research, education and patient-care programs at Children’s.

Since its inception, the tree festival has raised more than $4.7 million for the pediatric hospital. Last year’s event generated $262,000.

Many of the trees are painstakingly decorated to honor patients at Children’s who survived life-threatening illnesses and injuries, as well as those who lost their battle.

During his brief life, Adam Bertram and his parents, Anna and Ken Bertram of Strongsville, relied on the staff at Akron Children’s Hospital to care for him.

Adam died from cancer two days before Christmas in 2011 when he was 8 months old.

Now his family, who lived in Jackson Township at the time of Adam’s death, gives back to the hospital each year by decorating a tree for the festival in his memory.

His mother and 6-year-old brother, Ross, painstakingly folded hundreds of coffee filters, sprayed them with glitter and attached them to foam board to create giant angel wings that are perched atop this year’s tree, titled, “Angel Wings.”

This week, his 1-year-old sister, Molly, rested in a back carrier while their mother and grandparents decorated the tree with gold ornaments, the color to denote pediatric cancer awareness.

“Akron Children’s became our family,” Anna Bertram said. “Even now, I still keep in touch with the nurses who took care of him.”

Hours for the festival are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Special Thanksgiving Day hours are 2 to 6 p.m.

For more information about the tree festival, visit www.akronchildrens.org/treefestival.

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

Summit County Public Health is holding an open house Friday (Nov. 21) at its new headquarters in West Akron.

The county health district recently relocated about 190 employees and the majority of its services from offices in Stow and downtown Akron to the Fairway Center office building. The facility is located behind the Acme grocery store at 1867 W. Market St.

The health department is having a ribbon cutting at 10:30 a.m., followed by a public open house with self-guided tours and light refreshments from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The 80,000-square-foot facility houses the health department’s administrative offices, birth and death records, drug and alcohol counseling, environmental health services, the communicable disease division, laboratory services, adult protective services, public health nurses and a clinic, which includes a new sliding-scale dental office, Summit County Assistant Health Commissioner Donna Skoda said.

The district previously offered limited dental services through a mobile van.

“We never had a fixed site before,” Skoda said. “Dental care is the No. 1 unmet need,” Skoda said. “We’re trying to expand services in that area.”

The new headquarters has an auditorium that can be used for public programs and a demonstration kitchen for healthy cooking education.

It also features an operations centers for coordinating responses to emergencies and disasters, such as the recent surveillance for Ebola after a Dallas nurse who visited family in the area subsequently tested positive for the viral disease.

Summit County Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services is leasing space in the Fairway Center building and recently relocated its headquarters there from the Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority building on Diagonal Road in Akron.

Summit County Public Health — which in recent years merged with the Akron and Barberton health departments — bought the Fairway Center office building for $600,000 to serve as its consolidated main campus.

The property has housed a variety of businesses over the years, including physician offices, radio stations and newspaper offices.

For Leah Francis, the district’s arrival has resulted in a healthy increase in her business.

For about 10 years, Francis has owned Leah’s Kitchen, which serves homemade breakfasts and lunches on weekdays in Fairway Center.

“It’s a lot more people,” she said. “Business is doubled.”

Summit County Public Health used bonds to finance the needed renovations, which totaled about $5 million, Skoda said.

Before the move, the district had been using the Akron-owned Morley Health Center on South Broadway as part of a three-year deal with the city.

Summit County Public Health is maintaining a medical clinic and a WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children) clinic at the Graham Road location, along with its mosquito control division.

Several outside agencies, including the Ohio State Extension, Army Corps of Engineers and the Summit County Community Partnership for Drug Prevention, are leasing space in the Graham Road location.

Summit County Public Health is maintaining these other satellite locations:

• 1400 S. Arlington St., Suite 28 Akron — WIC clinic, childhood immunizations and refugee clinic.

• 380 W. Crosier St., Akron — WIC clinic.

• 542 W. Tuscarawas Ave., Barberton — WIC clinic and childhood immunizations.

• 9691 Valley View Road, Macedonia — WIC clinic.

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

Crystal Palm’s friends and family knew that the colorful balloons released above her home would quickly disappear from their view into the November night.

But the helium-filled orbs merely served a practical purpose: To carry messages, declarations of love and fond recollections closer to a loved one who was taken too soon and too violently.

Several dozen people attended a prayer vigil at the Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church on Grant Street Thursday evening before walking the two minutes to Palm’s home on East Emerling Avenue in order to send the balloons skyward.

It was there that Palm, 33, was discovered Saturday by firefighters who were called to extinguish a small fire. The Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office determined she had suffered numerous stab wounds to her neck and torso.

Even in a neighborhood known for its troubled history, her death came as a shock to those who knew her.

Palm’s sister, Daris Palm, said her sister was tired of South Akron — had even begun to look for another place — but she did not live in fear.

“I talked to my sister every day. She wasn’t afraid,” Daris said.

As Polly Baitz, Latoya Brandon and Charmaine Ruffin filled the balloons before the vigil, they shared a hearty laugh remembering the colorful friend they called “Foxy.”

Palm was vivacious, changed her hair color frequently, and donned clothes and an attitude that stood out in a crowd.

“When Foxy walked into a room, all eyes were on her,” said Baitz, whose T-shirt featured a photo of Foxy as a redhead.

“She had no filter,” said Ruffin, whose pronouncement caused everyone else to giggle. “Whatever came into her mind came out of her mouth. But if you didn’t know her, you missed out.”

She was also kind, others chimed in.

Her cousin, Tangwen Palm, said she still could envision Foxy as a young girl, rubbing her grandmother’s tired, swollen legs.

“When she got older in life, she still loved to help older people. She’d get out of her car and help someone with a bunch of groceries cross the street. She just loved people,” she said.

Crystal Palm worked as a state-tested nursing aide for several years, friend Raphael Dixon said, and he and others encouraged her to use her education to get out of the inner city.

“But she loved the inner city community,” Dixon said. “We were trying to get her out of here, but sometimes you have that vision that things will change for the better, so you stay.”

Baitz said she and Palm worked as cocktail waitresses together before Palm started her own South Akron bar. The venture was short-lived, but “she was really proud of herself and we were really proud of her because that was her dream,” Baitz said.

Starletta Bates, who organized Thursday’s gathering, said she hoped the vigil and balloon launch would remind the neighborhood that Palm was loved and deserving of justice.

“We’re trying to raise awareness. There are people who supposedly heard her screaming,” said Bates, whose own T-shirt featured a blonde Palm. “When do you get involved? It’s time to call the police. It’s time to get involved.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact Akron police at 330-375-2490.

Information may also be provided anonymously by calling Summit County Crimestoppers at 330-434-COPS (2677) or by texting TIPSCO plus the tip to 274637.

Those wishing to help the Palm family with burial expenses may donate to a fund set up at Charter One.

Paula Schleis can be reached at 330-996-3741 or pschleis@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/paulaschleis.

Calls to 911 in the moments after five people, including Akron Police Officer Justin Winebrenner, were shot reveal an emotional scene as the unknown gunman fled an East Market Street pub.

The recorded calls were released Thursday by Akron police in response to public records requests from numerous news outlets.

The calls paint a picture of a panicked scene in the moments after Sunday morning’s shooting, which killed Winebrenner and left four others wounded.

The calls contain sounds of the emotional trauma experienced by those who witnessed the shooting inside Papa Don’s Pub on East Market Street.

“Somebody’s been shot,” the first caller says. He then hands the phone to another off-duty officer who was at the pub when the shots were fired. The first calls say two were injured, one inside and another outside in a parking lot.

“We’ve got two victims, at least,” the police sergeant tells a dispatcher. “I need multiple units. I need at least three EMS units. I have an officer down.”

The disclosure that an Akron officer has been shot prompts the dispatcher to shout out several times to her fellow dispatchers that an officer is down.

A second call was placed by a female bartender who said she heard five or six shots fired from near the pub’s front door.

The woman says the shooter was armed with a .40 caliber pistol, had a “wad of money” and was dressed in all black.

“I heard the gun and I just ran in the office,” the woman says. “I think somebody’s been hit. … I’m kind of afraid to look out the front door. … That’s Justin that’s down.”

Another male caller says he saw the gun on the ground in the parking lot and tossed it into a trash bin.

“To get it away from the perp,” he explains to a dispatcher who asks why he touched the gun.

The callers tell dispatchers that the shooter fled by foot onto East Market Street.

Kenan Dason Ivery, 35, was arrested a short while later, hiding in a field. He is charged with aggravated murder and felonious assault and is being held without bond. Ivery has pleaded not guilty.

The final 911 call appears to be from a woman too distraught to speak. The call disconnects and the dispatcher’s return call goes to voice mail.

Calling hours for Winebrenner will be from 1 to 7 p.m. Friday at Rhodes Arena. Funeral services are set for 10 a.m. Saturday at the arena.

The public is asked to line the officer’s funeral procession route about 11 a.m. Saturday. The motorcade procession travels from Rhodes Arena to South High Street and past the Akron Police Department.

The route continues south onto South Main Street to Holy Cross Cemetery on East Waterloo Road.

Phil Trexler can be reached at 330-996-3717 or ptrexler@thebeaconjournal.com.

In 2015, the Akron Marathon will say goodbye to Firestone Park, Sand Run and the Towpath Trail, and hello to Merriman Road, Hardesty Park and Cuyahoga Falls Avenue.

The Blue Line has been radically redrawn to accommodate the growth of the event, first held in 2003.

“A course that was designed for 3,000 participants doesn’t exactly accommodate 15,000 people,” race director Brian Polen said.

The route for the marathon — the marquee event of the newly branded Rubber City Race Series — will be flatter and eliminate some narrow passages and 90 degree turns that had runners jostling elbows.

Using photos taken on race day, officials identified areas where people sometimes were forced to leave the road for sidewalks and embankments, Polen said.

The new map also seeks to avoid upcoming construction conflicts in Firestone Park and the towpath northwest of downtown, the latter being a sewer project that could be problematic for several years.

Course designers preserved routes where exuberant residents treat the marathon like an annual holiday, and they hope to encourage those living along new residential sections to join the Blue Line celebration.

Last year, 41 states and six countries were represented “and you want to showcase the best your city has to offer,” Polen said. “These people are our guests, and we want to make sure they are having a good time.”

The final touches have also been put on the course for the June 27 race, the first of the three events in the Rubber City Race Series.

Participants can ease into the summer with a one-mile or 8k race in the University Park area. It will end at Infocision Stadium’s 50-yard line, the site of the Thirsty Dog Blues & Brews Finisher Festival.

Still unfinished is the course design for the second race in the series. That August event will offer half marathon and 10k options and take in the new Goodyear headquarters, Derby Downs and Lockheed Martin air dock.

The June and September course designs were released today to coincide with the opening of registration on the website RubberCityRaceSeries.org.

Starting line

The Sept. 26 marathon will step off on High Street near the Akron Police Department, one block west of its traditional start on Broadway. Runners will cross the All-America Bridge on the west side (also opposite of previous years) and burrow deeper into North Hill.

A loop will follow East Cuyahoga Falls Avenue (officials are calling it the “Milkshake Mile” as a nod to the Dairy Queen and Swenson’s that runners will pass), then follow Gorge Boulevard past North High School to Glenwood Avenue. A detour down Butler and Olive streets — with St. Thomas Hospital rising into view — will bring runners back to the east lanes of the All-America Bridge.

The Blue Line continues south on Broadway, but instead of proceeding through the heart of the University of Akron, where narrow walking paths always caused congestion, the course will stick to streets encircling the campus.

Polen said the route “features the beautiful renovations they’ve made around the campus” along University, Buchtel and Spicer avenues and East Exchange Street.

In previous years, runners approached Exchange from Brown Street, where the view of Infocision Stadium focused on the corner box office. The new route offers an eyeful of the football stadium’s interior.

Those little details are important, Polen said.

Runners “love entertainment on the course, they love high-energy spectators, and they notice cool visuals,” Polen said.

Rubber City Race Series Executive Director Anne Bitong agreed, saying when people are comparing races, “they’re looking at a course description and what landmarks they are looking forward to seeing, and it can help make a decision as to what race you’re going to run.”

The course will leave Exchange at High, continuing left to Bartges, Dart, Opportunity, Cedar and Maple before returning east on Exchange.

Runners will reach Exchange and High a second time coming from the opposite direction, creating a unique moment where the leaders and those in the middle of the pack will be close enough to exchange high fives as they pass each other.

“I’ve been to a couple of races where they have these [intersections] and it’s almost like an entertainment zone,” Polen said. “They cheer for each other. It’s very neat.”

A left on High will take the runners to West Market, where the half-marathon runners split from the full marathoners. Those running the 13.1 mile course will travel one block to South Main, then backtrack to the traditional finish line at Canal Park.

Meanwhile, the full marathoners will follow Market to scenic Merriman Road, where, for the first time, runners will pad down the tree-lined street of stately manors for two miles.

“It’s an absolutely gorgeous street. In September, it’s as pretty as it can be,” Polen said.

Historic view

After a quick left on Mayfair, the course will cross Portage Trail into historic Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens (traveling the opposite direction of previous years), then exit onto Garman Road.

Here, runners will be going down the steep grade called “Heartrate Hill” with the knowledge that what goes down must come up.

The course will take the north tip of Castle to Fairfax, passing Firestone High School, then make a series of lefts around Thurmont, Brookshire, Overwood and Wiltshire.

The Overwood area “has become one of the marquee neighborhoods of the race. They come out in full force and almost every house has a party,” Polen said. They wear custom T-shirts and call themselves “The Wood,” Polen said, “and when you give yourself a nickname, you know it’s a big deal. It’s really a cool neighborhood and we wanted to make sure to keep them in the race.”

Participants will get back to Market via North Hawkins and a trip past Hardesty Park, but the trip down Market will be brief as runners are sent down the length of scenic Castle Boulevard.

“This is going to be another legendary neighborhood, I think,” Polen said, having spoken with area homeowners about their excitement over getting the Blue Line.

At Garman, runners will turn right and tackle “Heartrate Hill” again, but this time in the direction responsible for its ominous name, then turn right onto Portage Path. That’s when the new course finally repeats the old one: Down Portage Path to Market, then on to Main Street and the final steps into center field at Canal Park.

While everyone was initially disappointed to lose the lush environs of Sand Run and the towpath, it was a long and hilly stretch that had to be tackled without benefit of cheering crowds for motivation.

“All in all, being able to take advantage of Merriman Road to Mayfair and some of the West Akron neighborhoods, I really think the experience is going to be enhanced through block parties and spectators,” Bitong said.

And while the Sand Run leg is a beautiful stretch, it is already a popular training spot for many local runners, she added.

“On Akron Marathon day, we want to have runners on roads they can’t run on any other day,” Bitong said. “Even though we had to take out a few of our landmarks, we truly feel this is a better course.”

Paula Schleis can be reached at 330-996-3741 or pschleis@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/paulaschleis.

Just three days after a raid on an alleged dog-fighting ring, police found six dogs and two dead ones abandoned in a Fern Street garage believed to be part of the ring.

Authorities say the garage is owned by a relative of one of the men arrested in Saturday night’s raid.

Officers found the dogs Tuesday night after responding to a report of an open door at a vacant house in the 700 block of Fern Street, said Lt. Rick Edwards.

“A neighbor informed our officers that the house had been vacant for some time and that there were two pit bulls inside the garage,” said Edwards.

Police say the owner of the Fern Street property is a brother of one of those arrested in Saturday’s raid. Darius D. Spear, 29, of Chinook Avenue, has been charged with one count of dog fighting, a fourth-degree felony, for his participation in the alleged dog fighting.

Humane officers Tim Harland and Shannon O’Herron went to the home on Wednesday and found two of the dogs running loose inside the garage. Four others were in cages and two others were dead.

The animals were covered in feces and had no food or water. Some of the dogs showed severe scarring, said Harland.

“We walked into this situation having no true idea of what we would be facing. The only thing we knew ahead of time is that dogs could be heard barking inside of a garage on a vacant property,” O’Herron said. “What we found was one of the most gruesome scenes I have witnessed in a very long time.”

Four animals were in crates, sitting in their own waste and urine.

“We found two dead dogs with wounds consistent with dog fighting,” Harland said.

Humane officers also found an animal carrier covered inside and out with dried blood.

Harland said it is not uncommon for dogs who are being used to fight to be treated by their owners or killed when they can no longer fight.

“They will treat the injuries themselves and make splints and casts out of things like PVC pipe,” he said. “Ears are sutured with fishing line because they can’t take the dogs to a real vet.”

Harland said the animals are receiving medical attention at the shelter.

“They are just as friendly as the ones we brought from the fight,” he said.

Since ownership of the dogs rescued Wednesday can’t be proven, no charges have been filed, said Karen Hackenberry, executive director of the Humane Society.

“[We are] unable to directly link them to the dog fight broken up on Saturday that led to the arrest of 47 people. However, the injuries, the timing of this rescue and the environment are consistent with dog fighting,” Hackenberry said.

Each of those arrested has initially been charged with one count of felony dog fighting and booked into Summit County Jail.

As a part of the raid, authorities executed a warrant at a home in the 1100 block of Cordova Avenue on the city’s west side.

Akron officers, who were acting on a tip after a yearlong investigation, worked with the FBI, Summit County SWAT and the U.S. Marshal’s Office to break up the dog fighting event where they also seized $52,000, 11 vehicles and rescued eight pit bulls and pit bull mixed breeds.

The Humane Society is asking residents to be aware of dogs that might be in vacant properties in their neighborhoods in light of the recent arrests.

“If you live near a vacant house and observe or hear unusual dog activity, please contact us at 330-487-0333 so that we can help them right away,” Harland said.

Kathy Antoniotti can be reached at 330-996-3565 or kantoniotti@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow on Twitter at: @KathyAntoniotti and on facebook: www.facebook.com/KathyAntoniotti.

NEW FRANKLIN: Students at Nolley Elementary eagerly filled out applications this year to work on the safety patrol as bus helpers, coat-zippers and shoe-tiers.

Leadership positions went fast in the front office, cafeteria and classroom, where students now work as mail couriers and greeters — meeting guests with a smile, a handshake and a polite “hello” or “how may I help you.”

After all, even fourth-graders know good leaders set good examples.

“You want to lead the school because kindergartners will do what you do,” said Kyle Anker, 10.

“Yeah,” agreed Gavin Roberts, a fellow fourth-grader. “It’s like ‘monkey see, monkey do.’ ”

The young gentlemen joined their classmates Thursday morning as the school opened its doors to 100 educators from across Ohio. They visited Nolley in the Manchester district to see what a leadership program in an elementary school looks like.

Nolley Elementary, Hillcrest Elementary in Revere and Evamere Elementary in Hudson are each in the second year of a transformation that is garnering positive results and interest from other schools.

Their program, the Leader in Me, is an extension of author Stephen R. Covey’s best-seller The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, which has been adapted for the elementary school setting.

Teachers at Nolley committed to forging a school culture founded on leadership after reading Covey’s work nearly three years ago.

They note that young students have always sought ways to help others. And they have always unwittingly employed the seven habits.

But the program goes a step further, reinforcing and recognizing their actions through a common language of leadership. Students begin to realize the reasons they must lead.

As one astute third-grader so eloquently put it: “we can all make deposits in each other’s emotional bank accounts.”

“It’s created this sense of unity throughout the whole school, where we have this common sense of what leadership is and what we expect from one another,” Principal Christina Pappas said. “It’s really changed the culture and climate of our building.”

In their second year implementing the program, each of the three Summit County “leadership schools” have received between $12,000 and $15,000 annually from the GAR Foundation, which has increased its educational grant-giving in recent years.

“I’ll be honest, I was skeptical,” said Lucille Esposito, hired a year ago by the GAR Foundation to assess the impact of its philanthropic giving. “This was a lot of money. But as a consultant, answering to GAR, I was impressed.”

Teachers have welcomed the program with open arms.

In their classes, students constantly link learning to good habits — being proactive, having a plan, prioritizing work and play, sharing success, working together, listening before talking and finding constructive ways to wind down.

Pappas has noticed a decrease in teachers referring students to the office for bad behavior. And academics have improved in other leadership schools.

“We are about 15 months into it, but I feel really proud of where we are,” Pappas said, doling out credit to a core group of teachers who have spearheaded the transformation from the bottom up.

“When you unleash leadership potential in children, you really prepare them for career and college readiness,” said Renee Brown, a principal visiting Thursday from Mason Elementary, one of seven Canton City schools considering the program.

“We haven’t completely embraced the Leader in Me program,” Brown said, “Yet.”

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

An Akron Roundtable luncheon crowd gave Browns owner Jimmy Haslam a hearty round of applause when he was asked what it will take for the city to land the team for training camp.

Haslam said a decision about possibly leaving Berea, where the Browns have trained since the summer of 1992, hasn’t been made.

But it was clear that the team’s Family Day scrimmage last summer at the University of Akron’s InfoCision Stadium, as former Browns Coach Marty Schottenheimer was fond of saying, put a gleam in Haslam’s eyes.

Many in the Roundtable crowd of 600-plus cheered Thursday when Haslam answered the Akron question.

“All of us felt great about that Saturday morning that we came down here,” he said. “First of all, the university did a great job, the facilities were good, the crowd turnout was outstanding. It literally felt like going into a Browns game that day.”

Although many communities apparently have approached team officials about training camp, Haslam assured the Roundtable crowd that “Akron will get a good look. You got off to a good start by what you did in August here,” he said.

The Aug. 2 scrimmage, which began and ended early under a forecast for rain, drew a crowd of 20,673 to InfoCision.

Haslam, who arrived 25 minutes late for the luncheon because his flight into Akron Fulton International Airport was diverted, began his talk by praising the “great crowd that turned out” in windy, freezing weather.

He then gave his thoughts on leadership, “something that I think is really in short supply all across our country, unfortunately.”

As CEO of Pilot Flying J, a huge chain of travel centers and truck stops throughout the U.S. and Canada, Haslam said his first principle of leadership is: “Do the right thing all the time.”

Later in his talk, he discussed his No. 1 rule again by directly bringing up the April 2013 raid of Pilot’s headquarters in Knoxville, Tenn.

The FBI probe, in connection with an alleged scheme to cheat customers out of promised truck-fuel rebates and discounts, has thus far resulted in 10 former Pilot employees pleading guilty to federal charges of mail and wire fraud.

Haslam has not been charged with any crime, but in July he agreed that Pilot would pay $92 million in fines and accept responsibility for the criminal conduct of its employees while the government agreed not to prosecute the company.

Haslam called it “a really tough situation” and that he is “about to wrap that up right now.”

“I’ve said this publicly, and I’ll say it again,” he told the crowd. “It’s the hardest thing we’ve ever gone through. I know it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever personally gone through because, first of all, it’s embarrassing.”

He said he took “total responsibility” for what happened. “It’s very embarrassing, but I think what you’ve got to do is you’ve got to react, and you’ve got to react quickly,” Haslam said.

“We got quickly to the facts, and the first thing we did is we paid every trucking company back that we owed any money to, and if there was any doubt, we went out of our way to pay them more.”

Several hundred companies were affected when news of the FBI probe broke, Haslam said, but the number is down now to “about seven or eight.”

“I’m confident we’ll work through those in the not too distant future,” he said.

“The second thing is, you’ve got to get rid of the people who made bad decisions and replace them with people who’ll make good decisions. We’ve done that,” Haslam said.

“And the third thing is, you’ve got to put the right systems and processes in place where this type of thing can never happen again. And I think we’ve done that, but it was a very difficult time.”

Haslam said he feels it’s extremely important for anyone in a leadership position to remain on “an even keel,” and that he sees such an attribute in the Browns’ rookie coach, Mike Pettine.

With six games to go in the season and the playoffs in sight for the Browns, Haslam said he is confident that “we’ve got a good blueprint in place.”

“There’s no excuse for not winning in the NFL. And if you don’t,” he said, “it’s the owner and top management” that’s responsible.

He called the NFL “a level playing field,” using the Green Bay Packers as an example.

“It’s a town, I think, of 140,000,” Haslam said, “and I think they’ve won their share of NFL titles.”

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

Summit County

Akron

Arrests

A Malasia Avenue man, 26, was charged with domestic violence with a previous conviction and assault after police said he smashed a plate over his father’s head. He then attacked his father’s girlfriend, leaving an abrasion on her neck, police said.

A Kelly Avenue man, 54, was charged with possession of Percocet, possession of Oxycontin, trafficking in Percocet, trafficking in Oxycontin, possession of criminal tools and weapons under disability after a police search at his residence.

A Berghoff Street man, 27, was charged with receiving stolen property after police said he admitted buying a stolen vehicle.

A Brown Street man, 57, was charged with domestic violence with a previous conviction after police said he grabbed his ex-girlfriend by the hair and punched her several times in the face.

Bath Township

Arrest

A San Pier Drive man, 33, was charged Nov. 16 with threatening domestic violence after police said he threatened his 33-year-old wife.

Coventry Township

Burglary

A Glenmount Avenue man told a Summit County sheriff’s deputy Nov. 7 that he found a window broken and door opened when he arrived home and discovered a computer, pistol and other items, total value $2,980, had been stolen.

Thefts

A Stow woman told authorities Nov. 6 that seven gold and diamond rings, total value $15,500, were stolen from the center console of her sport utility vehicle while parked on Dorwill Drive.

An Akron motorist told police Nov. 6 that a $2,000 watch was stolen from the center console of his vehicle while it was sent to the service area of a South Arlington Road business.

Copley Township

Drug arrest

A Fairlawn man, 19, was charged with possessing marijuana on Nov. 8 after a police officer found a small baggie of marijuana in the man’s pocket. The officer approached a car parked behind a closed office building in the 200 block of Montrose West Avenue with four people in the car. The officer detected the smell of marijuana inside the car.

Cuyahoga Falls

Arrests

A Bolich Middle School boy, 14, was charged Nov. 19 with assault after police said he struck another student in the head.

A Bailey Road woman, 48, was charged Nov. 17 with falsification after police said she misled police about the unauthorized use and crash of her vehicle.

Aggravated menacing

Someone wrote two threatening comments on a bathroom stall at Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy, 4687 Wyoga Lake Road, on Nov. 17.

Breaking and entering

Someone broke into Acu Serve, 2020 Front St., on Nov. 12. Nothing appeared to be missing.

Someone broke into Oakwood Convenient Store, 2674 Oakwood Drive, by backing a vehicle into the front window. Several cases of beer and several packs of cigarettes were taken.

According to surveillance video, two men broke into Bailey Road Mini Mart, 2810 Bailey Road, on Nov. 17. They used a trash can to carry out cigarettes, packs of Black and Mild, small liquor bottles and $300.

Burglary

A home in the 400 block of Jennings Avenue was burglarized Nov. 16. A cellphone and computer were taken.

Identity theft

A Wyoga Lake Boulevard woman reported Nov. 18 that someone used her identity to refinance a loan.

Thefts

A Second Street woman, 64, reported Nov. 19 that she fell in the parking lot of her apartment building. A stranger who helped her took an envelope from her purse containing $306.

Car keys were taken from an unlocked locker at the Cuyahoga Falls Natatorium on Nov. 15. The keys were used to enter the owner’s car. His wallet, containing a credit card and $40, was taken from the vehicle.

A gym bag was taken from a locked locker at the Cuyahoga Falls Natatorium on Nov. 16. The man’s bag and contents were valued at $120.

A woman reported Nov. 15 that while she was inside the post office branch at 2054 Second St. someone took $300 from her purse that was left inside her unlocked car.

Fairlawn

Possession of drugs

An Akron man, 22, of Hampton Knoll Drive was charged with possession of drugs Nov. 15 after police said a pill box with a small amount of marijuana was found in the car he was driving. He had been stopped in the 3100 block of West Market Street for driving without headlights.

Thefts

A North Royalton man called police to report a dehumidifier and four air movers for a total value of $3,400 were stolen from his truck in a parking lot in the 3100 block of West Market Street.

An employee of the Go Calendars kiosk, 3265 W. Market St., told police that when she opened the store on Nov. 14, she discovered $200 missing.

Green

Arrests

A Zanesville man, 25, was arrested Nov. 11 on a warrant for felony receiving stolen property at the Hilton Garden Inn on Landmark Boulevard in front of the Akron-Canton Airport.

An Akron man, 23, of Westwood Avenue was jailed on an aggravated burglary warrant that was discovered after he and another man were asked to leave a skill games parlor on South Arlington Road. The second man was released without charges, a deputy’s report stated.

Breaking and entering

A riding mower and rototiller, total value $2,300, were reported stolen Nov. 6 from an East Turkeyfoot Lake Road residence.

Thefts

A Wonder Lake Drive man told authorities Nov. 11 that his walk-behind mower, valued at $1,500, was stolen from his yard.

A flat-screen TV and stand, total value $552, were reported stolen from a room at Value Place on Fortuna Drive where the guest left without paying a $160 bill, a sheriff’s deputy reported Nov. 10.

Hudson

Arrests

A Garden Lane man, 22, was charged Nov. 17 with possession of marijuana.

Norton

Breaking and entering

Between Nov. 14 and Nov. 16, someone broke into a shed in the 300 block of 31st Street Northwest. A crossbow and belt sander were taken.

Counterfeiting

The manager of McDonald’s, 3177 Greenwich Road, reported Nov. 17 that she suspects an employee exchanged a counterfeit $20 bill for a real $20 bill.

New Franklin

Identity fraud

A Florian Drive resident told police Nov. 7 that in October someone made unauthorized charges totaling $1,893 on his Sam’s Club credit card.

Springfield Township

Arrest

An Akron man, 58, of Dietz Avenue was charged with domestic violence Nov. 6. A report said that after his wife reached down to retrieve her phone at her Coach Lane home, he choked her and hit her in the face three times.

Domestic violence

A warrant was issued for a former Samuel Road woman, 31, on Nov. 10 after her husband said she assaulted him at his grandmother’s Farmdale Road residence. The woman said she would come to police headquarters to give a statement but never did.

Identity fraud

A Swinehart Road woman told police Nov. 4 that someone — she believes it is the boyfriend of her granddaughter — has accumulated $765 in charges on a cellphone account fraudulently created in her name.

Thefts

Police began investigating a theft and forgery case Nov. 6 in which a Beach Drive resident said a checkbook was stolen and four checks, totaling $600, were forged and cashed.

Nelson Tree Service of Ashland told police Oct. 30 that chain saws and other items, total value $1,650, were stolen from a Massillon Road location. Some trucks were also damaged.

Stow

Arrests

A Williamsburg Circle man, 18, was charged Nov. 18 with possession of dangerous drugs, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia after a traffic stop on Kent Road.

Animal cruelty

Police were called to a home in the 1900 block of Hawthorne Avenue on Nov. 18 for a report of a golden retriever outside for nearly three hours in 14 degree temperatures. The owner was advised to keep the dog outside only briefly.

Burglary

Someone tried to break into a home in the 5100 block of Atterbury Lane on Nov. 17 by opening a kitchen window.

Soliciting

The principal of Stow-Munroe Falls High School reported Nov. 12 that someone at the school wrote a note offering to pay for sexual activity. The note writer was not able to be identified.

Tallmadge

Arrests

An Akron woman, 36, was charged Nov. 15 with theft, felony possession of drugs, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

A West Avenue man, 71, was charged Nov. 14 with failure to comply with police.

Cuyahoga County

North Royalton

Vandalism

Police were called Nov. 13 to take a report from a Harley Hills Drive resident who discovered someone had painted the fire hydrant pink.

Medina County

Brunswick

Drug offense

Officers responded to a call on Nov. 13 that an erratic driver was throwing items from the vehicle. The car was stopped on Center Road. The driver, a Grafton man, 24, told officers he was a former heroin user and was discarding old needles.

Medina

Gun complaint

An Ellington Court resident called police Nov. 16 after a shotgun slug went through house and into bedroom.

Medina Township

Neighbor dispute

A Granger Road landowner called police Nov. 17 to complain that a neighbor keeps blowing leaves onto his property.

Montville Township

Officer assist

Officers were called to Parnham Drive Nov. 18 after a 19-month-old child locked the mother out of the house while she walked the garbage to the curb. The mother was able to coax the child into unlocking a patio door.

Wadsworth

Arrests

A 17-year-old boy was charged Nov. 19 with domestic violence after police said he assaulted a 50-year-old man in a Main Street apartment.

Burglary

A home in the 100 block of Meadowcreek Drive was burglarized Nov. 14.

Theft

Police received a report Nov. 14 that money was taken from an elementary school fundraiser. The case is under investigation.

Stark County

Jackson Township

Arrests

An Akron man, 36, of Crestview Avenue was jailed on a felony theft warrant Nov. 7.

A Kent woman, 20, of Crain Avenue was charged with theft, and a Macedonia resident, 20, of Driftwood Lane was summonsed to Massillon Municipal Court, after police said they took $504 worth of clothing from Macy’s in Belden Village Mall without paying. A Macy’s loss prevention officer held the pair for police, a Nov. 6 report stated.

Breaking and entering

A carpet cleaner, two garbage disposals and other items, total value $1,181, were reported stolen Nov. 10 from a home on Quail Hollow Street Northwest. Police said a key apparently was used to gain entry.

Burglary

On Nov. 8, a Hyatt Avenue Northwest man told police that two gold rings valued at $800 plus cash totaling $3,000 were stolen from his home.

Identity fraud

A Westdale Drive Northwest resident told police someone gained access to his personal bank account and purchased an item online for $762.

Thefts

A 1.5-carat diamond ring, total value $7,931, was reported missing and believed stolen Nov. 12 from a Lake O’ Springs Avenue Northwest home.

A hunting dog valued at $1,500 was reported stolen Nov. 12 from its outdoor pen at a Harvey Avenue Northwest residence.

A township resident told police Nov. 11 that she left her purse with $500 and other items on the floor by her seat at the Tinseltown Movie Theater on Mega Street Northwest and said it was gone when she returned to search for it.

The owner of Commercial Property Management on Freedom Avenue Northwest told police Nov. 10 that a tailgate and two tail lights, total value $500, were stolen from a company truck parked in the lot.

A $849 computer was reported stolen Nov. 9 from Sam’s Club on Portage Street Northwest. The thief left through a fire exit to a waiting car.

A safe and contents were reported stolen Nov. 9 from Karen’s Hallmark, 2875 Whipple Ave. NW.

A Lutz Avenue Northwest resident told police Nov. 7 that his company’s gas credit card was used for numerous purchases totaling $3,227 and a debit card was used to make purchases totaling $1,600.

A $1,200 auger owned by Rice’s Nursery Landscaping on 55th Street Northeast in Plain Township was reported stolen Nov. 7 from the Hyatt Place Canton hotel under construction on Whipple Avenue Northwest at Everhard Road.

An employee of Danny Boy’s Restaurant on Dressler Road Northwest told police Nov. 6 that she was working when someone stole a $600 Pandora bracelet from her purse stored in an employees’ closet.

Lake Township

Arrest

A Pleasantwood Avenue Northwest man, 54, was charged with domestic violence and resisting arrest Nov. 8 after police said he choked a woman with whom he was living. He forcefully resisted attempts to handcuff him, police said.

North Canton

Rape report

A Canton girl, 17, told police Oct. 31 that she was raped by a Facebook acquaintance at a North Main Street apartment complex. The case was closed after the girl became uncooperative, police reported.

Burglary

An iPad, large TV set and other items, total value $2,050, were reported stolen Nov. 8 from a Postiy Street Northwest home.

Plain Township

Arrests

A Guilford Avenue Northwest resident, 38, was served with a warrant charging domestic violence and assault Nov. 12. He already was incarcerated at Stark County Jail.

During the Nov. 11 arrest of a Grove Street Northeast man, 41, at his residence on charges of domestic violence, menacing and resisting arrest, deputies said he threatened to harm them while in the cruiser en route to the Stark County Jail.

The girlfriend of a Broad Avenue Northwest man, 47, told authorities he hit her in the face three times, a deputy’s Nov. 8 report stated.

Uniontown

Arrest

Police charged a Hoover Avenue man, 20, with forgery and escape, both felonies, after answering a domestic disturbance call at the home Nov. 9. He also was charged with two counts of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence plus other misdemeanor charges when stopped at the intersection of Hoover Avenue and Edison Street.

Wayne County

Wayne Sheriff

Arrests

A Big Prairie woman of state Route 226 was charged Nov. 19 with aggravated possession of drugs.

An Orrville woman of the 200 block of East Water Street was charged Nov. 19 with two counts of drug manufacturing and cultivation, endangering children, aggravated possession of drugs, permitting drug abuse and drug paraphernalia.

A Wooster man of the 3500 block of Melrose Drive was charged Nov. 19 with two counts of heroin possession.

A Wooster woman of the 2700 block of Secrest Road was charged Nov. 18 with theft and possessing criminal tools after deputies said she took winter clothing worth $170 from Rural King of Ohio, 3541 E. Lincoln Way.

An Orrville man of the 100 block of Wadsworth Road was charged Nov. 17 with being a fugitive from justice.

A homeless Wooster man was charged Nov 13 with burglary.

Breaking and entering

Four tires worth $860 were slashed Nov. 14 on two cars in the 4400 block of Friendsville Road, Wayne Township, a report said.

Failure to file

A sex offender was found not to be at an established residence Nov. 11 in the 800 block of Madison Avenue, Wooster.

Possession of drugs

A person who was believed to be on heroin was found unresponsive Nov. 13 at a gas station at state Routes 585 and 57, a report said.

Thefts

A Chippewa Township man reported Nov. 14 that he sold a 2000 Audi valued at $7,000 on Craigslist and that the purchaser sent him a fraudulent check for the car.

A woman, 78, reported Nov. 14 that someone took checks and forged her name to cash them for $455.

Wooster

Breaking and entering

Trading cards valued at $950 were reported stolen Nov. 15 from Wings, Wheels & Waves, 133 N. Bever St.

Burglaries

A roll of quarters worth $12 was reported stolen Nov. 16 from a home in the 3700 block of Turnberry Lane.

Jewelry, a Kindle Fire and other items, total value $3,572, were reported stolen Nov. 14 from a residence in the 1600 block of Summerlin Drive.

Bamboo fishing poles, a stereo and military surplus boots, total value $340, were reported taken Nov. 19 from a home in the 2900 block of Melrose Drive.

Two flat-screen televisions, jewelry, clothing and other items, total value $4,367, were reported stolen Nov. 13 from a residence in the 300 block of East South Street.

Possession of drugs

Marijuana and other items with residue were found Nov. 13 during a traffic stop at McDonald and McGuire streets, a report said.

Thefts

A woman, 47, reported Nov. 17 that $1,000 was taken from her residence in the 700 block of North Bever Street.

Cleveland Browns memorabilia, a television and other items were taken Nov. 15 from a residence in the 1700 block of Normandy Drive, a report said.

When Joan Ruquet learned pancreatic cancer had spread to her lungs, she figured she would need dozens of radiation treatments over several months.

Instead, she recently finished four treatments at Summa Akron City Hospital in a two-week time span — just in time to head south to Florida before bitter cold temperatures arrived in Northeast Ohio.

Summa Health System recently acquired the Vero stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) system to expand its capabilities to combat cancer, particularly tumors in hard-to-treat areas of the body.

The Vero machine delivers the same type of high-power X-ray beams to shrink cancer tumors as traditional radiation therapy. But unlike traditional radiation systems, the Vero can precisely pinpoint tumors in the lungs, chest and other places within the body that move with breathing, heartbeats or digestion, said Dr. Charles Kunos, medical director of radiation oncology at City Hospital.

The enhanced precision allows patients to undergo more intense treatments in substantially fewer visits, Kunos said. Tumors in the lung, for example, can be treated in as few as four visits instead of 25 or more.

“Because of the precision, we can increase the intensity,” Kunos said. “I can intensify the radiation given to the patient without hurting the healthy tissue.”

The condensed number of radiation treatments allows patients who need follow-up chemotherapy to get their needed care more quickly, Kunos said. “We can get them faster to the chemo courses.”

Summa is one of only four health systems in the nation — and fewer than 20 worldwide — to acquire the multi-million dollar Vero system, which is a joint product of BrainLAB of Germany and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of Japan, Kunos said.

The health system wouldn’t disclose the exact cost of the system because of contractual obligations.

The Vero is housed within the Jean and Milton Cooper Cancer Center on the City Hospital campus.

For Ruquet, 76, the new treatment allowed her to return to her home in central Florida more quickly. She went to Summa’s cancer center for care while visiting her daughter, who lives in Clinton.

“I was very fortunate that I was able to be a candidate to use this new treatment because I only needed four treatments,” Ruquet said. “If it was the standard type of radiation treatment, I would have probably gone around 34 or 35 times.”

The Vero system can be used to treat tumors throughout the body, including lung, liver, prostate, brain, spine and gynecologic cancers.

In some cases, the Vero provides radiation treatment options to patients who otherwise would be poor candidates.

One of the first patients treated with the Vero SBRT at Summa was unable to get traditional therapy because he had a recurrent tumor adjacent to a portion of his lung that already had undergone radiation, Kunos said.

The large machine resembles a giant doughnut that rotates around the patient, who rests flat on a bed in the middle.

An infrared camera mounted to the ceiling tracks chest movements so the computerized system can adjust the accelerator that delivers the radiation beams to the targeted treatment area.

Treatments are painless and typically last about 15 minutes per session, Kunos said.

Patients with large tumors might not be candidates, Kunos said.

“For the most part, what can be treated in the standard machine can be treated here,” he said.

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

Beacon Journal staff report

Goodyear will give 50 people the chance for a ride on its new airship, Wingfoot One, as part of its annual Toys For Tots collection.

Donations of toys will be accepted at the blimp hangar early next month in conjunction with the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.

Entry forms for the Goodyear Toys for Tots Blimp Ride Sweepstakes are available at Goodyear-owned stores or by calling 1-800-344-9859. Forms can be submitted at the Suffield Township blimp base, at 841 Wingfoot Lake Road, or by mail. There will be 25 entrants who will win a ride for two.

The fourth annual Toys for Tots program, where people drive into the blimp base to drop off toys and get a chance to see the airship, will be noon to 10 p.m. Dec. 5 and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Dec. 6 and Dec. 7.

The free event is open to drive-through traffic only; the public will not be allowed to walk inside the hanger or on the grounds. The airship is nicknamed the “Santa Clause Express” for the holidays.

More than 20,000 toys and $30,000 have been raised over the past three years.

Donating a toy is not required to enter the sweepstakes, nor does it improve the odds of winning.

For more information, go to www.goodyearblimp.com, the Goodyear Blimp Facebook page, or call 1-800-344-9859 or 330-796-8151.