MEDINA
Kahl, Jim H., of Sharon Center. Died Aug. 26. Hilliard-Rospert, Wadsworth.
PORTAGE
Papciak, Irene, 72, of Shalersville. Died Monday. Green, Mantua.
STARK
Parrish, Joan M., 87, of Alliance. Died Tuesday. Sharer-Stirling-Skivolocke.
OTHER
Marko, Helen A. “Leigh,” 75, of Akron. Died Monday. Bissler & Sons, Kent.
Western Reserve Hospital could lose its Cuyahoga Falls home unless its physician majority owners reach a deal with Summa Health System to buy the facility by the end of the year.
The hospital is leasing the Summa-owned facility on a month-by-month basis — an arrangement Summa officials say can only continue through December under federal laws.
Summa is trying to strike a deal to sell the facility off State Road for “fair market value,” as required under an agreement between the two organizations that expired in June, Summa Senior Vice President and Chief Financial officer Brian Derrick said.
But the hospital’s physician leaders have rejected attempts to let an independent appraiser determine a fair sale’s price, Derrick said.
In a letter to health system employees on Wednesday, Summa Chief Operating Officer Valerie Gibson said the only option under the previous agreement is to sell the facility at a price set by an independent appraiser, “or evict them.”
“Our hope remains that we will find mutually beneficial solutions to these issues and eliminate any misconceptions that might exist,” Gibson said. “But as you can see, we will authorize any action necessary to ensure that we are operating within the law.”
In an email, Western Reserve Hospital President and Chief Executive Dr. Robert Kent said the hospital “is fully committed to purchase the building in which they operate under the fair market procedure that was contractually agreed upon.”
“Once again, this is the big bully trying to push the little guy around,” Kent said. “While this unfortunate move by our minority partner is meant to distract us from our focus on being ‘all about the patient,’ we are staying the course, and no matter of obstruction — including a threat to evict the healthcare provider to tens of thousands of people — will alter our dedication to serving the community.”
Through July, the hospital provided 3,696 inpatient admissions, 5,201 surgeries, 23,395 emergency department visits and 127,534 outpatient visits so far this year.
Federal laws only allow the expired agreement to be extended for six months, said Ben Sutton, Summa’s senior vice president of strategy and performance management.
“Our goal is not to kick the hospital out of the building,” Sutton said. “…There is no desire to evict the hospital and disrupt care in the community.”
Western Reserve Hospital leaders haven’t requested a new lease, which could be considered, Derrick said.
Summa has controlled 40 percent of the venture that owns Western Reserve since 2009, when the health system entered a deal with about 200 area doctors to jointly operate the community hospital.
The relationship has been strained in recent months.
Summa stepped up its fight with the hospital’s physician owners, Western Reserve Hospital Partners LLC (WRHP), on Wednesday by resuming a case in Summit County Common Pleas Court seeking to maintain its minority ownership rights.
Summa seeks records
In the lawsuit filed in February, Summa alleges the physician owners wrongly terminated Summa’s participation in the joint venture last November.
According to court filings, Summa withdrew its original motion for a preliminary injunction in May after the physician group agreed to reinstate health system representatives on the hospital board and recognized Summa’s rights to approve and enforce a management services agreement.
Summa is now seeking a court order forcing Western Reserve to recognize the health system’s minority ownership and rights to access records “related to the operation and conduct of the hospital.”
“Over the past three months, WRHP has continued to violate the party’s agreements, undermine Summa’s management rights in the joint venture and obstruct Summa’s efforts to ensure the hospital remains in compliance with federal laws and regulations,” Summa alleges in its court filing.
As a minority owner, Summa must examine contracts, time studies, cash flow and other documents to make sure all deals between the hospital and its doctors don’t violate federal anti-kickback laws, Summa Senior Vice President and General Counsel Robert Gerberry said.
Allegations denied
Summa wants to pay for an independent, third-party review, Gerberry said. Such a review would be needed before Summa could talk to the doctors about possibly selling the health system’s interest in the hospital — a likely outcome as the partners grow further apart.
“We can’t figure out why that access isn’t being given,” Derrick said. “It’s concerning to us.”
Western Reserve’s Kent denied the allegations, saying the hospital “operates in a fully transparent manner” and “has never denied their minority partner a lawful record request.”
“In general, Summa Health is seeking unfair leverage in negotiations and trying to sacrifice Western Reserve Hospital’s hard-earned reputation with unfounded allegations and innuendo about things such as the hospital’s compliance procedures and financial reporting of its members,” Kent said.
Summa’s Derrick stressed that the dispute has nothing to do with the hospital’s medical care.
“We believe they give great care to patients,” he said. “…This is about leadership and governance.”
Cheryl Powell can be reached at 330-996-3902 or cpowell@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow Powell on Twitter at twitter.com/CherylPowellABJ.
CLEVELAND: A Barberton foundry worker has pleaded guilty in federal court to participating in an ethnic cleansing execution during the Yugoslavian wars in the 1990s and lying to get into the United States, the Northeast Ohio Media Group reported Wednesday.
Slobodan Mutic, 53, a Bosnian Serb, will be sent to Croatia to stand trial. See the full report at Cleveland.com.
Someone needs to write a doctoral dissertation about secret sex at Kent State University.
Earlier this year, we learned that KSU was the fourth busiest campus in the nation on the website SeekingArrangement.com, which matches financially struggling college-age females with “sugar daddies” willing to help pay their expenses.
That financial assistance usually doesn’t come without something in return, if you catch my drift.
KSU, with 387 new sign-ups last year, finished behind only the University of Texas, Arizona State and New York University.
Then, last week, we learned that Kent State also is among the national leaders on Ashley Madison, a site for people who are trying to arrange extramarital affairs.
After hackers broke into the database, someone crunched the domain names and discovered that a whopping 653 Ashley Madison users had emails that ended with “kent.edu” — the third most of any university on the continent.
Penn State led the pack with 679 accounts, a mere 26 ahead of the much-smaller Kent State.
Apparently, Kent State’s walk on the weird side is not a passing fancy. I wrote about KSU’s mastery of SeekingArrangement in 2013, when the school also finished fourth.
I interviewed a junior nursing student who had dated a 37-year-old Cleveland man for a couple of months. When I expressed skepticism about the website’s claim that 84 KSU students graduated debt-free in 2012 because of sugar daddies, she said she wouldn’t be the least bit surprised.
So what’s in Kent State’s water? And how far will this go?
No word at this point from Fetlife.com or KinkySinglesUSA.
Tree-pee tips
Bob: In response to your snarky rant on Mayor Don ... most of us over 65 know that the necessity stop is dictated by time, not distance. The 0.79 miles away from home you quoted may as well be 79 miles, as the result can be the same: a warm, wet car seat.
I was a teenager when a group of us were counseled by our 75-year-old “town sage” regarding peeing outside, as follows:
1. ALWAYS assume someone is watching.
2. NEVER look down. Aim is not required.
3. ALWAYS look up at tree tops or the sky.
4. ALWAYS point up at several “things” to distract the voyeurs (do not be a statue).
5. When you realize you are being watched, frantically point. This should create enough time to hide the “evidence.”
I am glad to share these rules with Mayor Don and any others who may need them.
Mike Clum
Silver Lake
Mike: Sage advice, indeed. But I’m afraid it’s a bit late for Mayor Don.
UA follies
Bob: I thought of a new slogan for the University of Akron.
“FEAR THE RUSE!”
Just a suggestion.
Rich Ferris
Ellet
Rich: Funny. But please don’t give those people any more terrible ideas. They’re doing a fine job coming up with their own.
Double meaning
Barbara Skidmore of Bath passed along a funny exchange she had when ordering something over the phone.
After providing her credit card number, she was asked, “Can I have your expiration date?”
That question could be taken multiple ways, and Skidmore initially took it the wrong way.
“Well,” she responded, “I hope it won’t be MINE, but ... .”
Trade secret
Here’s one last hurrah on the Smucker slogan, which I’ve written about too much already.
“I live in Rittman,” says Marilyn Watson. “Years ago I was with a group of people and someone noted that Rittman is close to Smucker [in Orrville].
“I said, ‘Yes, and in fact, I created their slogan.’
“I told them it was: ‘If you don’t like our jelly, jam it!’ ”
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. Anyone who asks can be his friend. Yes, he’s that needy.
AKRON
Festival’s debris minimized
AKRON: Most of the waste generated by last Saturday’s Highland Square Porch Rokr festival was recycled or composted.
After that was done, there were only eight bags of trash that had to be sent to a landfill, said the Greater Akron Innovation Network for Sustainability. It worked with Let’s Grow Akron and Keep Akron Beautiful to minimize the environmental impact of the festival that attracted about 10,000 people, the groups said proudly in a Wednesday Facebook post.
“Ya, wrap your square heads around that,” the post said.
Community meal and Q&A
AKRON: DeAndre Forney, an at-large Akron councilman, will host a free community meal and question-and-answer session from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at Lawton Street Community Center, 1225 Lawton St.
Forney was appointed to fill a vacant at-large spot through the end of the year and isn’t running to keep the seat in Tuesday’s election. The menu will be spaghetti, salad, rolls and fried chicken.
AKRON
Financing help offered
AKRON: Huntington Bank is offering another financing option to assist homeowners in low- or moderate-income census tracts in East Akron.
The bank is waiving closing costs for qualifying residents who want to refinance existing mortgages or buy new homes.
Closing costs normally range from $1,500 to $2,500, according to a news release issued by the bank.
The offer doesn’t apply to costs charged by a third party, such as property taxes and property insurance. There is no end date for the offer, according to the release.
Residents who are interested may visit any local Huntington branch or go to Huntington.com for a list of mortgage officers in their area.
Huntington announced in April that it will provide $3 million in affordable mortgages and home-improvement loans to East Akron residents in the next two years. The program is a partnership between the bank and the East Akron Neighborhood Development Corporation, which is leading a $22 million public/private project to improve East Akron.
cuyahoga valley
Seasonal hours announced
The National Park Service has announced fall hours for park visitor centers in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
The Boston Store in Boston Township is open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily through Nov. 30. It will be closed on Thanksgiving.
The Canal Exploration Center in Valley View is open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays in September and October and from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays in November.
Hunt House in Cuyahoga Falls will be open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays in September and October.
For more information, call 330-657-2752 or go to www.nps.gov/cuva.
HARTVILLE
Hearing for church proposal
HARTVILLE: Village Council has scheduled a public hearing about a request from Hartville Church of God to have its property rezoned for business use.
The 1.4-acre tract includes lots at 532 W. Maple St., 526 W. Maple St., 543 Sunnyside St. SW, and an adjacent vacant lot on Sunnyside. All the land is now designated for residential use, with the church as a permitted use.
The hearing will be at 6:45 p.m. Oct. 6 at Village Hall, 202 W. Maple St.
RAVENNA TOWNSHIP
Man charged in store theft
RAVENNA TWP.: A Ravenna man was arrested Monday and charged with stealing items from a local department store and assaulting a female loss prevention officer who tried to detain him.
Portage County sheriff’s deputies arrested Anthony David Moore, 37, around 11:30 a.m. after they were called to the Walmart at 2600 State Route 59. An employee reported that a man was seen concealing DVDs in a bag.
As the man was leaving the store without paying for the items, he punched a loss prevention officer in the face with his fist and left the store in a waiting vehicle, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
Moore was identified through store security video and taken into custody without incident Monday evening.
Moore, whose last known address was in an apartment in the 600 block of West Main Street in Ravenna,was being held at the Portage County Jail.
The woman Moore allegedly assaulted was transported to University Hospital Portage Medical Center for treatment.
SUMMIT COUNTY
Welcoming initiative grows
AKRON: County Council members have followed the city of Akron’s lead to be a Welcoming City to immigrants by declaring the entire county an immigrant-friendly welcoming community.
Like Akron, Summit County passed a resolution to join the Welcoming Cities and Counties project and the Welcoming Economies Global Network that focuses on the Great Lakes region. So far about 60 communities and several Ohio cities also participate including Columbus, Cincinnati, Dayton and Lucas County, which includes Toledo.
As partners with Welcoming America, U.S. cities and counties are uniting to support locally driven efforts to create more welcoming environments for immigrants to maximize opportunities for economic development and cultural vitality and position communities as globally competitive.
Clerk to donate pay raise
STOW: Stow Municipal Clerk of Courts Kevin Coughlin said he will donate a pending salary increase to local charities.
The recently passed budget for the State of Ohio provides for a 5 percent pay raise for all municipal clerks of court effective September 29, raising the Stow position’s salary from $96,985 to $101,872, an increase of just under $5,000.
“For my colleagues around the state that have served as clerks for a while this pay raise is much deserved,” Coughlin said. “But I’ve been in this office a relatively short time and I own a business. While I would certainly use the money there are others in need who could benefit more.”
Shred documents for free
BARBERTON: ReWorks will host a free document shredding event from 9 a.m. to noon Sept. 12 at the BCF Sports Complex at 841 Wooster Road West.
Enter off Wooster Road West only.
The event is for Summit County residents and businesses only.
There is a limit of 10 file boxes or shopping bags per vehicle. All paper shredded will be recycled.
For more information, call 330-374-0383 or go to www.summitreworks.com/shred.
RAVENNA: A woman has died in a one-vehicle crash in Portage County that injured the car’s driver.
The Ravenna post of the State Highway Patrol says the woman was killed when the car she was in ran off state Route 305 in Portage County and struck a utility pole and a tree.
A statement from the patrol says 35-year-old Ginger Scheel, of Kent, was dead at the scene of the accident that occurred around 3 p.m. Wednesday.
Troopers say 27-year-old Michael Sweet, of Kent, was driving the car. He was taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries.
Scheel and Sweet were wearing their seatbelts. Investigators said alcohol is not believed to be a factor in the crash.
This crash remains under investigation.
Five hundred people parking themselves at a long table on the Akron Innerbelt for a community meal.
Sounds like a stunt for the Guinness World Records book.
It’s actually a community building and art project called 500 Plates coming to a stretch of the underused Akron Innerbelt on Oct. 4.
“What’s one thing that really brings people together — food,” said San Francisco-based artist Hunter Franks, who is organizing 500 Plates, using a Knight Foundation grant awarded earlier this year.
“In all my work, I try to focus on things that bring people together,” he said.
Angela Miller, 59, of Akron’s Kenmore neighborhood will attend 500 Plates as a “neighborhood ambassador.”
“This is a great idea,” said Miller, a retiree and busy volunteer who has organized block parties as part of “Kool Kenmore” effort. “I can’t wait until we all get together.”
Miller said she was eager to return to the nurturing neighborhood after living out of state for awhile.
But with its older homes and struggling business area, Kenmore is sometimes perceived as “the poor stepchild” of Akron, she said.
“I’m working to rectify that,” she said. “I’m trying to get people engaged, both as residents of Kenmore and in the city of Akron.”
Franks and University of Akron student David Swirsky, working as an assistant on the project, have signed up the “neighborhood ambassadors” — one from each of the city’s 22 neighborhoods. Representatives of neighborhood groups and other organizations suggested possible ambassadors.
The ambassadors, in turn, are being encouraged to invite ten others from their neighborhoods. Franks envisions the meal breaking down “social barriers,” with people from different parts of the city visiting with one another and learning about Akron’s various communities.
A limited number of free tickets are available to Akron residents at www.500plates.com. The event is to run from 1 to 4 p.m.
Franks said he explored Akron, looking for a public space for the event. He eventually landed on the idea of using the Innerbelt as his canvas, figuring the project could serve as a “really unique opportunity to reimagine what the space could be used for.”
Smaller tables will be strung together into one big table to accommodate all of the participants.
Putting Innerbelt to use
For years, now retired Mayor Don Plusquellic, inspired by similar moves in other cities, sought support for tearing down the Akron Innerbelt, in the city’s downtown. It would free up 31 acres for new development, he has noted.
Next year, the city plans to move forward with improvements to Dart and Rand avenues, one-way streets that border the Innerbelt, as a prelude to a possible new use for the Innerbelt in the future.
For now, the Innerbelt remains, and on Oct. 4, the stretch between Market and Exchange streets is to be blocked off for the 500 Plates event.
This week, Franks hired local caterer Robert J. Events & Catering to prepare the meal.
Each neighborhood ambassador will submit a recipe, and Franks is choosing among them to come up with the menu for the big meal.
Miller’s recipe is for hummus, the spread made with mashed chickpeas. She said she longed for hummus she had at an Akron restaurant while living in Florida. While there, she discovered a recipe she adores.
Her recipe and the others will be incorporated into designs on ceramic plates that will be part of the event. Local artist Eva Kwong is to make 500 ceramic plates. She will create 22 plate designs — each featuring one recipe.
Neighborhood ambassador Michael Mosley, 34, a University of Akron student who started an Internet radio enterprise, agreed with other ambassadors that the food isn’t the main attraction.
He said 500 Plates will be good for him: “I’m kind of shy. These things kind of open me up.”
All the participants should benefit, he said.
“Just to have people of come together, [with] different backgrounds, different cultures... we see we’re alike,” he said. “[That person] wants to take care of his family, I want to take care of mine.”
A John S. and James L. Knight Foundation grant is being used to pay for all the event’s costs, including Franks’ work to put it together.
A portion of the $96,200 grant will be used to pay for a “community gathering table,” for each of the 22 neighborhoods, to be made by Dominic Falcione, an Akron sculptor and fabricator.
Falcione plans on making durable 8-foot-long tables — featuring wood tops and steel legs — that can be installed outside, next to a community center, in a park or some other public space.
Making connections
Hem Rai, 27, who lives in North Hill, is another neighborhood ambassador. He and his friend Mon Phuyel opened Nepali Kitchen in North Hill last spring, after originally settling in Dayton as refugees. North Hill is home to many ethnic Nepalese who fled Bhutan.
Nepali Kitchen is the city’s first Nepali restaurant to appeal to the refugee community. The restaurant serves pork, chicken and mutton curries, as well as what Phuyel calls chowmeins, made with wheat flour spaghetti soaked in hot water and then fried with vegetables and meats.
Rai likes getting involved in local events, figuring “everytime, it’s a new experience... it’s good publicity [for the restaurant] and I learn more about the people.”
Franks’ art is sometimes called “creative placemaking.” Another of his projects involves collecting stories from “underrepresented communities” and mailing them to people in different areas in the same city to generate connections.
Katie Byard can be reached at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com. You can follow her @KatieByardABJ on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com.
TWINSBURG: A report from a medical examiner’s investigator says a man was fatally shot by his father when he tried to stop the older man from leaving home with a pistol and a rifle vowing to “do some damage” at a medical facility.
A Twinsburg police officer shot and killed 76-year-old Charles Shaw on Tuesday after responding to a 911 call about him shooting his son, 55-year-old Scott Shaw. Police say an officer fired multiple shots at Charles Shaw after Shaw loaded a handgun, pulled back the hammer and pointed it at officers.
Charles Shaw was pronounced dead at the scene. Scott Shaw was pronounced dead at a medical facility.
The report says Charles Shaw was upset about his medications.
CANTON: The governing board of a Northeast Ohio port authority has unanimously approved an agreement that sets the framework for the first phase of development near the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The Repository newspaper in Canton reports Tuesday’s approval sets the structure for the project’s first phase. That includes the $80 million reconstruction of Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, conversion of Don Scott field into youth football fields, and improvements to the parking lot at McKinley High School. The plans are all part of the proposed “Hall of Fame Village.”
An attorney for the Stark County Port Authority, Sam Simmerman, says work needs to start in order to meet deadlines to have the first phase completed prior to next year’s Hall of Fame enshrinement.
The Cuyahoga Falls mayor is urging Summa Health System to let Western Reserve Hospital stay in its building off State Road.
A group calling itself “Protect Western Reserve” also has launched a website – www.protectwesternreserve.com — asking Summa to “cease and desist” any threats to kick out the community hospital.
Summa, Western Reserve’s minority owner, is embroiled in an escalating feud with a group of area doctors who share majority ownership and leadership of the community hospital.
The 57-bed hospital has been leasing the Summa-owned facility on a month-by-month basis since a contract between the two organizations expired at the end of June.
Summa officials have said federal laws only allow the expired lease to be extended for six months, leaving the health system two options: Sell the building to Western Reserve at “fair market value” set by a third-party appraiser by the end of the year or evict the hospital.
So far, the two sides have been unable to agree on a price.
It’s unclear who’s behind the new website, which calls for residents to “stand together to save Western Reserve” by signing an online petition supporting the hospital.
“We deserve our hospital and our doctors but now we have to fight to keep them,” the website states. “…Summa is playing with our lives and our livelihood, and we won’t stand for it.”
Several calls to a contact phone number listed on the website weren’t returned on Thursday.
Summa’s leadership team “will be happy to sign any petition to protect Western Reserve Hospital and its employees,” Summa spokesman Mike Bernstein said in an email on Thursday.
He noted the health system “stepped in to purchase the facility in 2001 when it was struggling to remain open.”
In his letter to Summa board members on Thursday, Cuyahoga Falls Mayor Don Walters stressed the hospital’s vital role in the community.
“Many of our residents owe their lives to the hospital and many more have been directly impact by services provided,” he said in his letter, a version of which is posted on the Protect Western Reserve website. “…I know that you, as board members, are business and community leaders and stalwarts of the community and will take the necessary steps to do what best benefits all entities and citizens involved.”
Summa has had conversations with the mayor to keep him informed, Bernstein said. “…We will be happy to have further dialogue so that he can offer non-partisan opinions going forward regarding our shared desire to ensure care for the people of Cuyahoga Falls.”
The fight over the hospital building is the latest twist in the increasingly strained relationship between Summa and Western Reserve’s majority physician owners.
Summa has controlled 40 percent of the venture that owns Western Reserve since 2009, when the health system entered a deal with about 200 area doctors to jointly operate the community hospital.
Summa stepped up its fight with the hospital’s physician owners, Western Reserve Hospital Partners LLC (WRHP), earlier this week by resuming a lawsuit seeking to maintain its minority ownership rights and gain access to records “related to the operation and conduct of the hospital.”
Western Reserve officials did not return several phone calls and text messages seeking comment on Thursday.
Western Reserve Hospital President and Chief Executive Dr. Robert Kent said this week the hospital “is fully committed to purchase the building in which they operate under the fair market procedure that was contractually agreed upon.”
He called Summa’s actions “the big bully trying to push the little guy around” and insisted the hospital “operates in a fully transparent manner.”
But Bernstein said Kent and the physician owners’ leadership team are unwilling to participate in an independent audit of the hospital’s books and records, “despite being legally bound to by our management agreement and ethically bound by good business practices.”
Health system officials said such a review also is needed before Summa could consider selling the health system’s interest in the hospital — a likely outcome as the partners grow further apart.
“It’s clear that Dr. Kent is attempting to shift the focus away from his poor management decisions by…unnecessarily scaring the public through outrageous rhetoric,” Bernstein said. “Compliance and operating within the law is real. The penalties for not being compliant are real. The potential for liability for all of the joint venture physician owners is real.”
Cheryl Powell can be reached at 330-996-3902 or cpowell@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow Powell on Twitter at twitter.com/CherylPowellABJ.
BATH TWP: Numerous eyeglass frames with a total value of $3,000 were stolen from the Eye and Vision Center on Ghent Road Thursday morning.
Someone used a concrete brick to smash the front window, entered the business and removed the glasses displayed in the main lobby area.
Officers responded to a motion detector alarm, but the culprit had fled before they arrived.
Investigators found fingerprints on a large piece of the glass still attached to the window frame and will review images captured by security cameras.
Earlier in the week there was a similar burglary at the Akron office of Drs. Snow & Durkin in the 1600 block of West Market Street.
The front window of the first floor office was broken and several eyeglasses and frames were taken.
AkRON
City widens 311 availability
AKRON: Akron residents who want to report an issue to the city like a pothole or overgrown lawn can now dial 311 from either a landline or cellphone.
This service was previously only available from landlines; cellphone users were required to dial the longer 330-375-2311.
Akron is now using a new customer assistance software that allows residents to just dial 311 from any place in the city from any type of phone.
Residents also can contact the call center by visiting the city’s website, www.akronohio.gov and finding the 311-mayor’s action center link.
Akron’s 311 center handled between 150,000 and 170,000 calls per year the past several years.
More than half the calls were for information, such as times of concerts at Lock 3 or whether trash collection would be delayed because of a holiday.
The remainder were service requests, with the most frequent relating to trash issues, snow and ice, pot holes, high grass and weeds, and animal complaints, according to a city news release.
The city is working on a mobile-friendly website that will allow residents to input information from their smartphones or tablets to the proper department, further reducing response times.
This should be finished by the end of the year.
Artist’s garage sale benefit
AKRON: Postmodernist artist todd v is having an artist’s garage sale to benefit Stewart’s Caring Place at 6 p.m., Sept. 9 at the Uncorked Wine Bar and Gallery, 22 N. High St.
The art sale will include an auction of studio supplies. Angie Haze will provide live entertainment.
Potential buyers are invited to view the artwork (up to the date of the auction) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at Stewart’s Caring Place, 2955 W. Market St., Fairlawn. The work can also be seen on Facebook at toddv.art.
For more information about Stewart’s, a cancer wellness center that provides services to individuals and families touched by cancer, go to www.StewartsCaringPlace.org or call 330-836-1772.
Project RISE resource fair
AKRON: Project RISE will present a teen homelessness awareness event at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Akron–Summit County Public Library, 60 S. High St.
The event will feature a play called This Is Life, written by Akron playwright Tyron Hoisten. A community resource fair will be available from 4 to 6 p.m. in the atrium of the library. Admission is free.
Project RISE (Realizing Individual Strength through Education) is a federally funded collaborative between Akron Public Schools, local shelters and the community to provide supplemental educational services to children and youth experiencing homelessness.
For more information about the event, call 330–761–2969.
LeBron initiative underway
AKRON: The LeBron James Family Foundation is following through on a commitment to help some of the under-educated parents of the Akron children served by the organization’s educational efforts.
The Beacon Journal reported in April that the foundation announced during a Project Learn luncheon that 50 parents lacking high school diplomas would be supported in an “I Promise, Too” initiative.
The name is a play on LeBron James’ “I Promise” Network, which for five years has provided financial support, mentors and encouragement to 1,100 Akron students beginning in their third-grade year.
The foundation formally announced Thursday that the first class of parents will enroll in adult education classes this fall through Project Learn. The foundation will provide electronic tablets for parents and cover all program costs.
BARBERTON
Assistance program expands
BARBERTON: Catholic Charities Community Services of Summit County has expanded its Emergency Assistance program through a new partnership with Barberton Area Community Ministries.
The program offers limited assistance with all utilities and rent. It also provides one-on-one financial counseling during appointments, as well as one-day bus passes and MyBudgetCoach case management.
A Catholic Charities representative will be at BACM, 939 Norton Ave., from 1 to 5 p.m. on the second and third Tuesdays of each month. Clients must meet certain requirements for fund distribution.
To schedule an appointment in Barberton, call 330-475-0091, ext. 230.
BATH TOWNSHIP
More eyewear stolen
BATH TWP: Numerous eyeglass frames with a total value of $3,000 were stolen Thursday morning from the Eye and Vision Center on Ghent Road.
Someone used a concrete brick to smash the front window, entered the business and removed the glasses displayed in the main lobby area.
Officers responded to a motion detector alarm, but the thief had fled before they arrived.
Investigators found fingerprints on a large piece of the glass still attached to the window frame and will review images captured by security cameras.
Earlier in the week, a similar break-in occurred at the Akron office of Drs. Snow & Durkin in the 1600 block of West Market Street.
BATH TOWNSHIP
Suspect faces more counts
BATH TWP.: An Akron man who was arrested Tuesday in Cuyahoga Falls on a robbery charge is also a suspect in a carjacking in the Montrose area of Bath earlier in the day.
Joseph W. Caton, 33, was apprehended Tuesday evening and charged with robbery of a retail store in Cuyahoga Falls and receiving stolen property in connection with the theft of the Ford F-250 from Bath.
Cuyahoga Falls police recovered the truck at the scene of the incident.
The 75-year-old truck owner was injured when he attempted to stop the thief from stealing his truck as he was putting air in the tires at a Medina Road and Springside Road gas station at 10 a.m. Tuesday.
Caton allegedly jumped into the driver’s seat and started the vehicle, Bath police said.
The victim was dragged by the truck and thrown to the ground as the robber drove west on Medina Road toward Interstate 77.
He was transported to a local hospital for treatment by Bath Fire Department.
Caton was booked into the Summit County Jail, Cuyahoga Falls police said.
Additional charges will be filed by Bath Police Department pending further investigation.
COPLEY TOWNSHIP
Interstate 77 ramp closing
COPLEY TWP.: The Ohio Department of Transportation will close the Interstate 77 northbound ramp to state Route 21 southbound from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday for bridge repairs.
I-77 southbound to Route 21 southbound also will have lane restrictions, authorities said.
A Cleveland-area police officer faces charges he was selling anabolic steroids and other drugs from his Mogadore home.
The charges announced Thursday follow an Aug. 12 search of the home of Anthony Borway, 34, on Highland Road by the Summit County Drug Unit.
Borway worked as a part-time police officer for the Village of Highland Hills in Cuyahoga County at the time of his initial arrest.
During the search of Borway’s home, authorities say they recovered and seized numerous items.
They include: 18 vials of anabolic steroids, several hundred anabolic steroid pills, numerous types of prescription pain medication including Oxycodone, Hydrocodone, Opana, Methadone, Xanax, Adderall, cash, syringes and three handguns.
Jentle S. Love, 27, who also resides in the house was also arrested.
They face numerous charges including possession of drugs/anabolic steroids, trafficking in drugs/anabolic steroids, aggravated trafficking in drugs, aggravated possession of drugs, possession of drugs and possessing drug instruments.
Both were indicted by a Summit County Grand Jury on Tuesday.
Authorities say the Summit County Drug Unit launched an investigation after getting a tip of “possible drug trafficking by a police officer in and around Summit County.”
Engineers and educators at the University of Akron have received a $724,356 grant to help eighth-grade students in Akron develop the next generation of All-American Soap Box Derby cars.
The federally funded grant was awarded by the National Science Foundation, which disperses billions of tax dollars each year to promote science and research initiatives in higher education.
The funding will be used to train teachers and purchase 3-D printers, computer programs and a small-scale wind tunnel for a new engineering class in Akron Public Schools STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Middle School.
Students in the class will test the aerodynamics of replica Soap Box Derby cars. Using computer-assisted programs, the eighth-graders would design and create new car parts to tinker with a Soap Box Derby body style that has been unchanged for decades.
The ultimate goal, educators at UA and Akron Public Schools said, is to inspire students to embrace engineering.
“Partnering with the National Science Foundation, UA and the Soap Box Derby has given our students a tremendous opportunity, not to mention a competitive edge for the future,” said Akron Superintendent David James, who has larger plans for the proposed class.
“Because of this, state-of-the-art technology will, in time, grace all of our eighth-grade science classrooms and help our talented science education staff to continue to prepare our students for a bright future,” James said.
The Soap Box Derby already has partnered with area schools, teaching kids to build and test gravity-fueled cars. Last year, CEO Joe Mazur expanded the Soap Box Derby’s flagship educational programs beyond Akron, where students from area schools had competed since 2010 in a Gravity Racing Challenge and participated in a summer learning camp.
If successful, the new engineering curriculum for Akron middle school students could be packaged and shipped to schools across the country, Mazur said.
“With more than 100 licensed Soap Box Derby organizations in 40 states, the infrastructure is already established to expand the project nationally should the pilot study prove successful,” Mazur said.
Doug Livingston can be reached at 330-996-3792 or dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow on Twitter: @DougLivingstonABJ.
MEDINA
Houseman, Virginia “Evelyn,” 88, of Chatham Township. Died Thursday. Waite & Son, Medina.
PORTAGE
Chechak, Thomas G., 87, of Ravenna. Died Wednesday. Wood-Kortright-Borkoski.
Flogge, Charles B., 91, of Kent. Died Wednesday. Bissler & Sons.
STARK
Richardson, Gene, 51, of Massillon. Died Wednesday. Paquelet & Arnold-Lynch.
Roberson, Bernice F., 98, of Massillon. Died Saturday. Paquelet.
WAYNE
Fabianich, Della (Laughlin), 70, of Daltton. Died Tuesday. Paquelet, Massillon.
OTHER
Hess, Joyce Ann (Knepper), 78, of Cuyahoga Falls. Died Tuesday. Stark Memorial, Salem.
Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh has cleared a Summit County Sheriff’s deputy in the May 20 shooting of Jonathan Colley.
Walsh pointed out in her four-page ruling that Colley’s stepfather, Ralph Ralston, warned a 911 dispatcher that “law enforcement better be prepared because Colley stated he was going to fight the police.”
Officers were called to the home in Green to settle a domestic dispute at the home.
Ralston called for help because the 52-year-old Colley, who was 6 feet, 5 inches tall and weighed 265 pounds, had been yelling and destroying items and threatened to harm his stepfather and his mother.
When deputies arrived at the home, Walsh said, Colley charged at a deputy “at full speed” while holding a butcher’s knife.
The report says one of the deputies who responded that morning had been to the home to deal with Colley on three to four previous occasions and “warned other deputies that Mr. Colley had mental health issues.”
It was learned that Colley had been fired from his job the day before the shooting and was “angry and violent.”
“Our deputies are highly trained and prepared to handle just about any situation,” said Sheriff Steve Barry in a statement. “Deputies did everything they could to help Mr. Colley. The deputy opened fire as a last resort and only did so to protect himself and other deputies, as well as Mr. and Mrs. Ralston.”
Walsh said the investigation concluded that Colley represented a threat to the safety of the deputies.
“Our investigation showed Mr. Colley was out of control and threatened the lives of several people,” Walsh said in a statement. “Deputies pleaded with Mr. Colley to have him drop the knife he was holding, but he refused. And when Mr. Colley charged at officers, the deputy had no other choice.”
As the Akron mayoral race heats up, so does the conversation between the three adult children of the Rev. Jeffrey Dennis.
“Each of them is supporting a different candidate. One is supporting Mike Williams. One is supporting Dan Horrigan and one is supporting Eddie Sipplen,” said Dennis, senior pastor at Mount Calvary Baptist Church. “I’m proud of all of them for being involved in the process, studying the issues and the candidates and being ready to cast an educated vote.”
On Sunday, the two who have selected the opposing Democratic candidates (Horrigan and Williams) will participate in an event called Victory Vote at the Summit County Board of Elections. Victory Vote, which runs from 1 to 3 p.m., is an effort by 15 local church pastors to encourage parishioners to participate in the voting process.
“We want to come together as a faith community and have our voices heard at the polls,” Dennis said. “There is nothing partisan about what we are doing. We are not telling people who to vote for, but hopefully this will start the momentum for people to vote and have a say in who will lead us in Akron as mayor and council members.”
Because it is a holiday weekend, when attendance at church is usually lighter than other Sundays, the pastors are hoping to get at least 10 members from each congregation to participate in the early voting process. In-person early voting for Tuesday’s primary election can be done daily through Monday at the board of elections, 470 Grant St.
The Rev. Eugene Norris, senior pastor at Mountain of the Lord Fellowship, said the upcoming Victory Vote event has been an opportunity to remind his parishioners of the sacrifices made to secure voting rights and of the importance of acknowledging those sacrifices by exercising their right to vote. His hope is that Sunday’s event will show that the faith community is committed to standing together to protect that right.
“We don’t need to agree on a candidate or an issue. What is important is that we participate, that we take the time to study the issues and the positions and platforms of the candidates and vote our conscience,” said Norris, who ran for Akron’s Ward 4 council seat in 2013. “This is a critical time in our city. We’re getting ready to elect new leadership and people need to be mindful of whom they’re voting for. They need to know what each candidate brings to the community and what each candidate stands for.”
Tuesday’s primary will decide whether Horrigan, the Summit County clerk of courts, or Williams, a longtime Akron councilman, will face Sipplen in the Nov. 3 election. Sipplen, the Republican candidate and an Akron attorney, is unopposed in the primary. November’s winner will succeed Don Plusquellic, who abruptly resigned in May as mayor after 28 years in office.
In addition to Mountain of the Lord and Mount Calvary, the other congregations involved in Sunday’s Victory Vote are Antioch Baptist, Burning Bush, First Apostolic Faith, Galilee Baptist, Greater Peace Baptist, Macedonia Baptist, New Hope Baptist, Providence Baptist, St. Paul A.M.E., St. Paul Baptist, Second Baptist, Temple of Faith Church of God and United Baptist
The leaders of the congregations are also using the event to bolster voter participation in calling for a stop to gun violence in the city.
A special Vote and Stop The Gun Violence service will begin at 10:45 a.m. (prior to the voting rally) at New Hope Baptist Church, 1706 S. Hawkins St. The service will feature Akron’s national recording artists Jennifer Mekel and the trio Half Mile Home.
Half Mile Home and Mekel are listed in this week’s Billboard magazine on the Gospel National Airplay charts at numbers 30 and 29, respectively.
“Voting is the first step in having a voice to impact decisions that are made on a variety of issues, including education, quality of life and economic development,” Norris said. “By coming together as a faith community to vote, we are saying that we are part of the process and that the people we elect are also accountable to us.”
Colette Jenkins can be reached at 330-996-3731 or cjenkins@thebeaconjournal.com. She can be followed at www.twitter.com/ColetteMJenkins. Beacon Journal staff writer Stephanie Warsmith contributed to this report.
LEWISBURG: Three young men apologized to their victim on Thursday after a judge sentenced them to time behind bars for throwing a rock from an interstate overpass, striking the Stark County woman in the head and causing her severe brain damage.
A judge ordered Dylan Lahr, Tyler Porter and Keefer McGee to serve at least 4½ years, 1 year and 10 months, and 11½ months for the July 2014 attack on Interstate 80 in central Pennsylvania that injured Sharon Budd.
“I thought the judge would be just, and he was,” said Budd, a middle school language arts teacher from Uniontown, Ohio, after the hearing. “It’s hard to look at their faces and not feel bad for them.”
The minimum sentences are the earliest they could be released from county jail or state prison. All three have much longer maximum sentences and will be on probation for many years. They also were ordered to pay restitution.
Lahr, 18, who was given credit for spending the past year behind bars, was shackled around the waist as he asked Budd directly for forgiveness.
“I’m sorry, Sharon,” he said. “I feel horrible for what has happened and for what you and your family had to go through.”
Porter said he was sorry and that he wished every day the attack had not occurred.
McGee drew a response from Union County District Attorney Pete Johnson when he told Budd: “I shouldn’t have let my friends do what they did.”
“Calling these things bad choices or mistakes, I think, demeans what it is, which is the expression of criminal intent, the criminal choice,” Johnson told Judge Michael Sholley. “And that deserves punishment.”
Budd has already undergone seven surgeries after the rock that crashed through the front windshield of her car destroyed much of her skull, part of her brain and one eye. She and her husband were passengers as their daughter drove them through Pennsylvania, on their way to see a show in New York, when the attack occurred.
Budd’s husband, Randy, called the injuries “a lifelong sentence for Sharon.”
“We have four children,” Randy Budd told Sholley. “They always went to Sharon. Now they come to me. Sharon always took care of them. Now they take care of Sharon.”
A fourth man, Dylan’s brother Brett Lahr, 20, previously began serving at least 18 months after pleading no contest to a conspiracy count. Porter, 19, pleaded no contest to conspiracy to commit aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury. Dylan Lahr pleaded guilty to trespassing, agricultural vandalism and two counts of aggravated assault. McGee, 18, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault.
“It feels like a result that is appropriate,” Johnson, the prosecutor, said afterward. “I can’t say, when you’re done with this kind of thing, that anything feels like justice.”
Authorities say the rock-throwing culminated a day of troublemaking that included shoplifting steaks, breaking a window in a neighbor’s home and driving through a cornfield, causing damage. A truck driver also reported damage from a rock in that spot around the same time.
Dylan Lahr and Porter will serve their sentences in state prison, where Brett Lahr is incarcerated. McGee was allowed work release while serving his time in the county jail.
Randy Budd said he has begun a campaign to increase safety fencing on interstate overpasses.
Several thousand electric customers across the region were without power Thursday evening following afternoon thunderstorms that brought down power lines and trees, pelted areas with large hail and turned some stretches of parched land into instant lakes.
The downpour tied up rush-hour traffic on local roads and highways, causing some accidents.
Around 5:30 p.m., Stow police reported a wire down on Graham Road had taken out traffic lights at the Graham Road intersections with Fishcreek Road and L’Ermitage Place and at Fishcreek and Genevieve Boulevard.
FirstEnergy’s Storm Center website indicated that crews dispatched across the Akron area were working to restore service.
The National Weather Service in Cleveland said up to two inches of rain fell, and the runoff created a flooding threat for small streams and creeks in southern Summit County.