CANTON: The Stark County Sheriff’s Office will conduct a Citizen’s Academy from Feb. 28 to May 9.

The goal is to improve communication between residents and the Sheriff’s Office.

Graduates will possess greater insight into law enforcement practices and the services provided, Sheriff George Maier said.

The classes will be held from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. every Tuesday at the Sheriff’s Office, 4500 Atlantic Blvd. NE. The Citizen’s Academy is not a training course, but an educational class.

Anyone interested must complete an application which may be downloaded at www.starkcountyohio.gov/sheriff or picked up at the Sheriff’s Office. The deadline to submit an application is Jan. 27.

CLEVELAND: The Cleveland Browns’ first victory of the season is also a win for the Greater Cleveland Food Bank.

Some fans upset over the team’s poor performance this year were planning a “Perfect Season Parade” if the Browns ended up winless. Over $10,000 had been donated to a fund to help pay for expenses such as security and bathroom facilities for the parade.

But the event was canceled after the Browns beat the San Diego Chargers 20-17 on Saturday for their first win in 2016 and first in more than a year. Organizers said the money from the parade fund would be given to the food bank.

And on Tuesday, the Browns said they would match the $10,000 raised by fans.

The victory over the Chargers brought relief for players, coaches and Cleveland fans. The Browns were just the fourth team in NFL history to go 0-14 and with two more losses they would have matched the 2008 Detroit Lions as the only teams in league history to finish 0-16.

Cleveland will go for its second win on Sunday in the season finale at Pittsburgh.

The University of Akron board of trustees has rejected a recommendation to add faculty and other college employees as non-voting members to various board committees.

The board concluded that it already considers proposals brought by the Faculty Senate and University Council, and its committee meetings are open to the public.

Board Chairman Roland Bauer outlined the decision last week in a five-page letter to UA President Matthew Wilson.

While non-voting members won’t be added, the letter, dated Dec. 23, states the board will host new “information sessions” with representatives from the Faculty Senate, University Council and student government to discuss issues and concerns.

Bauer also wrote that he will appoint trustee liaisons to attend Faculty Senate and University Council meetings.

The proposal arose earlier this year from UA’s “Tiger Team,” which examined issues such as enrollment, university governance and finances. It also followed a few years of a sour relationship between many students, faculty and staff and the board and administration under former President Scott Scarborough.

Faculty Senate Chairman Bill Rich and American Association of University Professors President John Zipp couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

In October, Rich told the Beacon Journal that the faculty wanted a seat at the committee table and it would improve communication.

“There is a lack of information and consequently some misunderstanding on the part of the faculty on what the board’s thinking is on various issues that it addresses in decision making,” he said at the time. “This is a way that the faculty can become informed about the thinking of the board and explain it to other members of the faculty.”

The 11-member board of trustees now includes two non-voting student representatives.

The board members, including the student representatives, are appointed by the governor.

Rick Armon can be reached at 330-996-3569 or rarmon@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter at @armonrickABJ .

The family of Robert Jarvis were hoping the retired teacher with no criminal record would get probation for a bar fight that left another man dead.

The family of Forrest Ryan, the man Jarvis admitted to killing, wanted Jarvis to get the maximum prison term.

Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge Todd McKenney made neither family happy Wednesday, sentencing Jarvis to four years in prison.

“It was a bar fight,” McKenney said. “He didn’t go to the bar to work as a DJ intending to kill Mr. Ryan.”

Jarvis, 65, of Akron, was working as a DJ at the Zodiac bar, 1955 Triplett Blvd. in Akron where prosecutors say he got into a fight just after midnight Jan. 8 with Forrest Ryan, 43, of North Canton. They say Jarvis punched Ryan multiple times in the head. Ryan died of the injuries.

Jarvis pleaded guilty last month to a lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter, a first-degree felony, under an agreement with prosecutors. He was originally charged with murder and prosecutors dropped a felonious assault charge against him. He faced three to 11 years in prison.

Family members and supporters of Jarvis packed the courtroom and sent more than 20 letters of support to McKenney. Relatives of both men spoke at the sentencing.

Mike Callahan, Jarvis’ attorney, said his client will apply for early release from prison in six months.

Read more later today on Ohio.com and in Thursday’s Beacon Journal.

Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at 330-996-3705 or swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow on Twitter: @swarsmithabj  and on Facebook: www.facebook.com/swarsmith.

COLUMBUS: The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that the investigative files of a completed criminal case are a public record under state law.

The court on Wednesday sided with the Ohio Innocence Project, which sought the file of a Columbus man convicted of killing a woman in 2005 to weigh the strength of the man’s innocence argument.

At issue was what public records attorneys call a troubling trend of police departments refusing to release files until all chance of appeals are exhausted, usually because the defendant is dead.

The Innocence Project’s 2014 lawsuit sought the full record in the case of Adam Saleh, who is serving a 38-year prison term.

Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien says the evidence against Saleh was overwhelming.

As the Girl Scouts prepare to mark the 100th anniversary of selling cookies, the organization in Northeast Ohio will mark another historic milestone — the introduction of $5 boxes of the specialty baked goodies.

The old standbys are back again — Thin Mints, Samoas, Tagalongs, Do-si-dos, Trefoils and Savannah Smiles.

They will still cost $4 a box — the same as last year.

But the new kids in the troop, the Girl Scout S’mores and Toffee-tastic, will cost $5 a box.

The gluten-free Toffee-tastic with crunchy toffee bits was introduced on a limited basis as a pilot last year.

The Girl Scout S’mores features a crunchy graham sandwich with a creamy chocolate and marshmallow filling.

All the cookies are baked by Little Brownie Bakers.

Kimberley Graves, spokeswoman for Girl Scouts of Northeast Ohio, said this is the first time a $5 box is being sold throughout the region, but these are some pretty special cookies.

“Our specialty cookies do cost a little more than the others due to the expensive nature of the ingredients, separate baking process and additional distribution costs,” she said. “The Girl Scout S’mores and Toffee-tastic cookies cost our council more than twice as much as the core cookies, which are $4 per box.”

Last year Girl Scouts in the 18-county region that includes Summit, Portage, Medina and Stark counties sold some 2.6 million boxes of cookies.

Girl Scouts will officially begin taking pre-orders for the cookies on Jan. 4 with the cookie booths opening in March. The campaign runs through April 2.

Cookie lovers can call 1-888-9 THIN MINT to find a local troop or visit gsneo.org once the sales begin.

Last year, Girl Scouts in Northeast Ohio sent 58,313 boxes of cookies to those serving in the military through the organization’s Operation: Sweet Appreciation.

Local troops get 17.5 percent of the sale of each box, with 30 percent covering the expense of producing the cookie. The remainder is split between administrative expenses (9.25 percent), membership and troop support (25 percent), outdoor and other programming (14.5 percent) and volunteer programs (3.75 percent).

Five years after founding the organization, Juliette Gordon Low sold the first cookie in 1917 to help fund the then-fledgling organization and the rest is history.

“The Girl Scout cookie program is essentially a business built by girls,” said Jane Christyson, who heads the Northeast Ohio region, in a statement. “Girls who participate set goals and decide how their profits will be used to support their activities, which often include giving back through service projects. Because it’s girl-led, they’re learning to be effective leaders, manage finances, and gain self-sufficiency and confidence in handling money.”

Craig Webb, who is a Do-si-dos kind of guy, can be reached at cwebb@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3547.

CLEVELAND: A former employee of the Catholic Charities Diocese of Cleveland has been charged with stealing $2 million from it.

Federal authorities said Wednesday that Michelle Medrick is charged with bank fraud in an information, which indicates she’s agreed to plead guilty.

Prosecutors say Medrick worked as comptroller and business manager for Catholic Charities and allege she fraudulently withdrew money deposited with Fifth Third Bank from charitable donations and from government agencies including Ohio and various counties. Prosecutors say the thefts began in 2008 and ended in March.

The information says the money was stolen from a Catholic Charities facility called Parmadale in Cuyahoga County that provides foster care and adoption services and residences for children with behavioral problems.

Medrick is from North Royalton. Her attorney has declined to comment.

MEDINA

French, Johnnie Mae, 84, of Spencer. Died Monday. Bauer, Valley City.

Starr, Scott F., 59, of Medina. Died Wednesday. Waite & Son.

Baby New Year will not be the only attraction at this year’s First Night in Akron.

There might even be a Bellsprout, a Geodude or a Magnemite or two making appearances.

The music, crafts and various performers will be back for the annual New Year’s Eve rite in downtown Akron, but organizers also plan to set off some so-called lures in and around downtown to attract rare and common Pokemon Go characters.

This year marks a reboot of sorts of the event that has been attracting families to downtown Akron for two decades, with venues packed closer to the city’s center.

The venues include the Akron Civic Theatre, with most situated along a quarter-mile corridor stretching from Zion Lutheran Church to the Akron Art Museum.

At the museum, those with an event button can take a walk through an ice sculpture garden, complete with an ice throne.

A stage will be set up on Mill Street between High Street and South Broadway, which will be closed to traffic during the event.

Admission buttons are $10 and children 10 or younger are admitted for free with a button-wearing adult. There will be free parking offered at numerous downtown lots during the event.

Groups set to perform range from Jul Big Green from Cleveland to Wesley Bright & the Honeytones from Akron to the Chardon Polka Band.

Magical Theater in Barberton will perform Pinocchio at Akron-Summit County Public Library.

The performances and exhibits — numbering around 40 — kick off at the various venues at 6 p.m. and end with midnight fireworks.

A variety of food, ranging from soup to Philly cheesesteak sandwiches to Hungarian sausage, will be available at various venues. Beer and wine also will be sold at select locations.

There will also be food trucks, including the Square Scullery, Stray Dog Cart and Swensons in the High Street parking lot at the John S. Knight Center.

Horse-drawn sleigh rides by Carriage Limousine will be offered along Main Street from 6 to 9 p.m.

Anywhere from 13,000 to 15,000 people are expected to attend this year’s event.

Those numbers will likely swell at midnight, when revelers from Akron nightclubs and restaurants will spill out into the streets to enjoy fireworks over the Akron skyline.

Craig Webb can be reached at cwebb@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3547.

By Ashley Bunton

Civitas Media

YELLOW SPRINGS: The morning after the presidential election in eclectic Yellow Springs, Ohio, a dour clientele filed into the Coffee Emporium and Underdog Wines storefront on the main street through town.

Many had learned the news when they awakened: Donald Trump would be the next president.

Yellow Springs is a liberal island in the otherwise heavily Republican rural Ohio countryside, and the news was not welcomed.

“It just seems so obvious that it was wrong, but it happened anyways,” said Kathy Moulton, 65, as she stopped in for coffee. She had voted for Hillary Clinton and was in tears.

Behind her in line, Andrew Morris reached for a cup at the coffee bar, then hesitated and shook his head.

“I just woke up and found out that Trump is president,” said the 26-year-old from Yellow Springs. “I think I’m going to go back and get a bottle of liquor. Like, legitimately, I think I’m going to go back there and grab myself a bottle of liquor. A big racist [expletive] running the country. It’s [expletive] bull [expletive],” Morris said.

He wasn’t alone as several others quietly filed past and checked out with bottles of wine and liquor, some wiping away tears. It wasn’t yet 10 a.m.

This little town of 3,500 where 89 percent of the votes were for Hillary Clinton, the home of the historic liberal Antioch University and Antioch College, illustrates the pendulum swing in Ohio politics, as measured in levels of disgust.

Polling done through 2016 for the Your Vote Ohio project, a collaborative effort of Ohio news organizations, showed that as the summer began, 75 percent of Trump supporters were disgusted with the state of politics in the country — a 10-point lead over the disgust level of Clinton supporters at 65 percent.

After the election, the numbers not only flipped, the disgust gap between the two sides widened by four points. Seventy-four percent of Clinton supporters were disgusted, and the level of disgust among Trump supporters had plummeted from 75 to 60 percent.

Presidential elections are like that. In 2008, the country was in the worst recession in 80 years and the polling showed a record number of Americans thought the country was on the wrong track — just shy of 90 percent, according to a New York Times poll. That number plummeted about 25 points in the months following Barack Obama’s inauguration.

The No. 1 reason given for choosing Obama, according to multiple national polls, was a desire for change.

Likewise, in the Ohio postelection survey, 54 percent of Trump supporters gave “change in the White House” as their No. 1 reason for their selection. For Clinton supporters, change was important to only 4 percent. Their No. 1 reason cited was experience in public office, 39 percent.

The latest poll was conducted beginning the day after the election through Dec. 10. Contacted were 800 of the nearly 2,000 who were part of a statewide pool created in June for repeat interviews. The margin of error is 3.5 percent.

What’s unusual about this election, though, is the continuing high level of disgust, and changes within the numbers from the first poll in June to the postelection survey.

The biggest shift toward satisfaction occurred among Trump supporters, among them groups defined as women, white, with income below $50,000, or a high school diploma or less.

The growth in disgust was particularly marked among female supporters of Clinton, up 23 percentage points. Trump’s suggestion that an aggressive Fox News debate moderator, Megyn Kelly, was possibly in her period, and the release of an audio of Trump in a discussion about groping women, were often named as reasons.

Sixty-one percent of Clinton supporters overall said they were very uncomfortable with how women were discussed during the election.

Dishonesty in politics

Two out of three Ohioans remain disgusted with the state of national politics.

“My No. 1 main thing would be the dishonesty over the jobless rate,” said Linda McQuistion, 60, an engineer with a doctorate, living in Hartville near Akron. “That people, the government, and mainstream media portrayed it as, ‘unemployment numbers were down,’ but the job participation rate was obviously not. And people who are living through that understand it. I, myself, my job was with the state of Ohio and it was abolished. And after a while, I basically was off unemployment and so I’m not on the rolls anymore. So I understand that, and a lot of people around me, whether they’re blue collar or white collar, it was shocking to see how many people that I knew that were out of work.”

Larry DeCamp, 79 a retired grocery store manager in Canton, is disgusted with the political cycles that fail to live up to expectations.

“I think it’s been the same for years,” DeCamp said. “You hear all these promises, and once elected officials get in, the [promises] are gone. One of the reasons they have problems is because people vote so much in party lines. If it’s a Republican idea, Democrats vote against it. It’s not necessarily voting for what’s best for the country.”

Donna Brill, who participated in the poll, voted for Trump. The 57-year-old from Guernsey County said she had grown disgusted with the direction of the country and believes Trump will bring change to immigration, drugs, jobs and national debt that the country so desperately needs.

“I think he can do the country some justice,” said Brill.

She said Clinton had her chance in politics when her husband, Bill, was president.

“She’s been in the government system for how many years, for a long time ... and I don’t see nothing fantastic that she’s ever really done. She could have helped us get all out of debt years ago,” Brill said.

After the election, Brill declined to get into another political discussion.

“The election is over, people need to get over it, everybody is picking at each other about the election results and I don’t want to talk about it,” she said.

Michael Darbyshire, a poll participant from Ross County, supported Clinton and said in an October interview that if Trump won the election he would lose all hope for the ability of the American people to ascertain the facts and choose the right candidate.

Following the election, Darbyshire said he was still disgusted but ready to move on. “I think the election is over and we do need to get over it. People have spoken and sometimes people deserve what they get,” Darbyshire said.

The disgust question in the Your Vote Ohio poll asked respondents to choose a number from 1 to 10 to best reflect their level of disgust, with 1 being highest and 10 complete satisfaction. In June, 32 percent selected the highest level of disgust: One.

When asked again after the November election, the percent choosing the highest level declined slightly to 28 percent.

Media problem

Darbyshire blames the media.

“Rather than just having your typical evening news that just tried to report the facts in an unbiased way, we have these news outlets like Fox News on the right side and then you have MSNBC on the left side and they are obviously, in their decisions and in their reporting, biased, and this has a negative impact on our whole process, on the weight of the issues in the campaign,” Darbyshire said.

The postelection poll showed 48 percent of Ohio voters felt that the news media were very responsible for the poor state of American politics.

“The news media is frequently blamed by all sides in political campaigns,” said John Green, director of the Bliss Institute. He said that while there’s plenty of room to be critical, those voters who value traditional news sources are declining.

“The number of people who value objectivity in news coverage appears to be declining as politics has become more polarized between conservatives and liberals,” Green said.

Darbyshire is unusual, tapping into multiple sources, among them CNN, Fox, MSNBC, Politico, the Chillicothe Gazette and the Columbus Dispatch (online).

“Here’s what I think about newspapers: as long as they allow both sides to be reported on, they have these writers who they allow on their opinion page, if they allow both sides on their pages, that’s OK. Read both sides and come to your own determination. Delve into it and get the facts,” Darbyshire said.

On the news side, though, he was troubled by Trump’s ability to command headlines with comments such as prosecuting and jailing Clinton, building a wall and deporting 10 million immigrants.

“Because of his demeanor and the crazy statements he would make, that’s what people would hear, and some of these people who would respond to these things positively just took off,” Darbyshire said. “I don’t blame them for being fed up, but do something positive about that. … I only hope that Congress can reel him in, because with his cabinet picks, our future looks very dim.”

JoJo Clark, 64, of Lima is very invested in politics, watching a lot of CNN and MSNBC during the election. For her, the feeling of disgust with this year’s presidential campaign and subsequent election can be largely attributed to Trump.

“I know that Ohio is a Republican state, especially Lima, but we thought Hillary was in the bag,” she said. “The disgust right now is with the cabinet he’s choosing, like Rex Tillerson for secretary of state. The disgust is just coming through the rhetoric that has followed him and the scrutiny that has come to him with the lies.”

Kurt Wilkins, 53, of Lima, did not go into detail on his thoughts on the campaign, simply emphasizing that he voted for Trump. He did express disappointment with reactions to the election, however, maintaining that Trump needs to be given a chance to succeed before people assume he will fail.

“I can’t understand why people are putting Trump down,” he said. “He’s not even in office yet. Let him get in, first.”

Wilkins is optimistic about the prospects of a Trump presidency, saying he hopes to see “marked improvement” under his leadership.

“I voted for Trump because I like guns,” he said.

As for where he gets his news, Wilkins pointed to one source.

“I watch Fox because it’s the only one that’s accurate,” he said.

Back at the Yellow Springs coffee shop, Christina Roberts, 62, and her husband Doug, 60, were among many who awoke Wednesday, Nov. 9, to the Trump win.

“It’s a devastating day for the environment,” Christina Roberts said.

“I think it’s a particularly sad day for women and the environment,” her husband said.

“Maybe this will be good for Yellow Springs,” Christina Roberts said. “Maybe Yellow Springs will become a center for sanity. As things fall into chaos around the region, maybe people will turn to Yellow Springs for guidance because we have a little intelligencia here and [it’s] looking forward and not back.”

Ashley Bunton is a reporter at the Washington Court House Record Herald, part of Civitas Media, which owns several papers across Ohio. She can be emailed at abunton@civitasmedia.com

COLUMBUS: The investigative files of a completed criminal case are a public record under Ohio law and can be released even if further appeals are possible, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday in a lawsuit brought by the Ohio Innocence Project.

Public records lawyers had argued that police departments were improperly interpreting earlier court decisions and arguing they could shield the files of long-closed cases until the defendants died.

At issue was an attempt by the Innocence Project to review the case of a man sentenced to 38 years in prison for killing a woman in 2005. The project doesn’t represent defendant Adam Saleh but wants to review the records, which Saleh alleges will bolster his claim that he didn’t do it.

A divided court ruled Friday that the files, with some exceptions, become a public record once a trial is over.

The court said that under Ohio’s open record laws, the lawyer requesting Saleh’s file “had a clear legal right to the requested records and that respondents had a clear legal duty to provide the records,” said Justice Paul Pfeifer, writing for the majority.

Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor said the city of Columbus should release all public records in the Saleh case. But she said other investigatory records should be shielded, and the files should not be released until after all of a defendant’s appeals are over or a police department closes a case without charges.

“Releasing materials that demonstrate law-enforcement investigatory strategies, particularly if knowledge of such strategies would empower criminals to avoid detection, is dangerous,” O’Connor wrote in a dissent.

The court also awarded attorney’s fees, court costs and $1,000 in damages to the Innocence Project attorney who brought the case.

Messages were left for the city of Columbus and the Innocence Project seeking comment.

Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien said that Saleh’s “guilt is clear from the evidence as well as the attempt to cover up his crime, obstruct justice and intimidate witnesses.”

Evidence released through public records has resulted in numerous exonerations of wrongfully convicted inmates, open records attorney Fred Gittes argued in a filing in June 2015.

The lawsuit argued that changes in state Supreme Court evidence rules have addressed concerns raised by older court rulings regarding the release of case files.

A 2000 appeals court ruling said police aren’t obligated to release the files without proof that no further appeals are possible.

Saleh, 30, was convicted in the death of aspiring model Julie Popovich, last seen leaving a bar near the Ohio State University campus in August 2005. The skeletal remains of the 20-year-old woman were found three weeks later in suburban Westerville.

Saleh was seen leaving a bar with the woman shortly before she disappeared.

On a recent afternoon, about 25 volunteers sat tinkering with toys in a Verizon warehouse in Twinsburg, where the sound of Elmo’s voice was the sound of victory.

“Yes! Jackpot, baby,” said Brent Bumbaugh of North Canton as the tires on a toy car he put back together whirred in functional confirmation.

Bumbaugh, along with most others there, didn’t have any prior experience with modifying toys aside from taking them apart as curious kids. But at the RePlay for Kids workshop, they got firsthand experience with adapting everything from remote-controlled cars to talking Elmo toys.

“Surprisingly, these toys aren’t as complicated as I thought,” Bumbaugh said.

RePlay for Kids is an organization that works to increase the availability of toys for children with disabilities. The organization holds a few workshops a month to teach people how to add a more accessible switch on normal toys the kids wouldn’t be able to use otherwise.

“Mainly kids that will use these toys either have physical limitations that would keep them from reaching the switch, or kids with developmental disabilities who don’t understand cause and effect,” said Bill Memberg, who founded RePlay for Kids in 1999.

Workshops typically involve working with corporations that want volunteer hours, as was the case with Bumbaugh and other Verizon employees earlier this month. The toys from those workshops then are given away to families and agencies during their annual toy giveaway.

A few years ago, RePlay expanded to have a more direct relationship with the children who are helped through the program. The organization now hosts family workshops to teach the parents of kids with special needs how to adapt their own toys at home, sending them home with a kit to do it themselves.

The Millennium Fund for Children recently awarded RePlay a $1,000 grant to expand its free family workshop program. The Millennium Fund, operated by the Akron Community Foundation and launched by the Akron Beacon Journal, awarded 32 grants totaling nearly $42,000 to initiatives in Summit, Portage and Medina counties this year.

“It’s great because we’re developing these family workshops so the more that we do, the more official they’ll get,” Memberg said.

Most children’s toys work with a similar simple mechanism, so Memberg developed a way to teach an everyday person how to modify them with a larger exterior button for kids to press instead of a tiny switch.

The process does involve some tools, like a soldering iron and screwdriver, but Natalie Wardega, the organization’s director of operations, said most people pick up on the process pretty quickly. Beginners usually have their first toy done in an hour.

“It’s not that complicated,” Wardega said. “It’s learning something new.”

The kits include everything a family needs to modify several existing toys. The organization works with county agencies to identify families who would benefit most from the free workshops to alleviate the otherwise hefty cost of toys made for kids with disabilities.

“The price is unbelievable, so I don’t think we’d have many toys if we had to purchase them out of the toy magazine,” said Lorie McMullen of Akron.

McMullen’s 7-year-old daughter, Rakaya, has multiple special needs.

Rakaya loves toys that have lights or make sounds, which McMullen said encourage independent play and help with speech.

McMullen’s first encounter with RePlay was a few years ago when she participated in a family workshop. The organization surprised her with a kit to modify her own toys at home last year, “so that was a blessing,” McMullen said.

“I’m not that talented yet, so we’ll still go to workshops and do some there,” McMullen said. “They’re a blessing to many families.”

Theresa Cottom can be reached at 330-996-3216 or tcottom@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @Theresa_Cottom .

Avid readers of the Akron Beacon Journal and Ohio.com know that the Bobby Awards have become a holiday tradition — much like spilling red wine on the carpet or clogging your vacuum cleaner with pine needles. If you crave such things, check out Sunday’s newspaper or Ohio.com, where columnist Bob Dyer will trot out his annual collection of local oddities.

CANTON

K-9 dogs get armored vests

CANTON: The city’s police dogs will wear armored vests donated to the department by a Massachusetts-based charity.

K-9 dogs Diesel and Tuko will sport the vests, which protect from bullet and stab wounds. The vests are embroidered in memory of fellow Canton K-9 Jethro, who was killed almost a year ago in a shooting by a burglar.

The vests were donated by Vested Interest in K-9s, a charity based in East Taunton, Mass., that provides protective vests to assist police dogs in performing law enforcement activity. Since its inception in 2009, the organization has donated more than 2,200 vests across all 50 states.

Jethro’s death in January caused a shock wave across the country. The police department received overwhelming support, including officers from other states attending the dog’s funeral.

Kelontre Barefield, 23, of Canton, pleaded guilty to the shooting and was sentenced to 34 years in prison for charges related to that crime, plus another 11 for unrelated charges.

CLEVELAND

Woman faces theft charges

CLEVELAND: A former employee of the Catholic Charities Diocese of Cleveland has been charged with stealing 
$2 million from the nonprofit.

Federal authorities said Wednesday that Michelle Medrick of North Royalton was charged with bank fraud in a criminal information filing, which indicates she’s agreed to plead guilty.

Prosecutors say Medrick worked as comptroller and business manager for Catholic Charities and allege she fraudulently withdrew money deposited with Fifth Third Bank from charitable donations and from government agencies including Ohio and various counties. Prosecutors say the thefts began in 2008 and ended in March.

The filing says the money was stolen from Catholic Charities’ Parmadale facility in Cuyahoga County, which provides foster care and adoption services and residences for children with behavioral problems.

Medrick’s attorney declined to comment.

COVENTRY TOWNSHIP

Crash closes expressway

COVENTRY TWP.: The exit ramp from U.S. Route 224 east to Interstate 77 south was closed for about three hours Tuesday night after a one-vehicle crash.

A 68-year-old Springfield Township man operating a 2005 Buick drove off the side of the road at 8 p.m., struck a guardrail and overturned, trapping him inside the vehicle, the Summit County Sheriff’s Office said.

The man, who was not identified, was extricated and taken to Summa Akron City Hospital with serious injuries.

Alcohol appears to be a factor in the accident and the investigation is continuing, authorities said.

OHIO SUPREME COURT

Age forces justices to retire

TOLEDO: One of the two Ohio Supreme Court justices retiring at year’s end due to mandatory age limits said she’s “a bit unhappy” as those rules force her from the bench.

Justice Judith Ann Lanzinger told the Toledo Blade that perhaps the provision made more sense when people weren’t living so long.

She noted that the judicial branch is the only branch of government with such a requirement, which she says restricts someone even “when you have a lot of mental and physical energy.”

But, it also “makes room for new blood to come into the judiciary,” she said. In Lanzinger’s case, it opens the way for her son, a Toledo Municipal Court judge, to seek election.

Lanzinger and the most senior justice, Paul Pfeifer of Bucyrus, must retire because the rules prohibit justices over 70 from seeking re-election. Ohioans voted in 2011 against raising that age to 75.

Lanzinger’s elected replacement is 1st District Court of Appeals Judge Pat Fischer, who will be the first Ohio justice from Cincinnati in about 45 years. The open seat created by Pfeifer’s departure will be filled by Pat DeWine, the state attorney general’s son.

The high court will continue to have six Republicans and one Democrat.

The Rev. Daniel Edward Thomas, the bishop of Toledo, was appointed Wednesday as the apostolic administrator for the eight-county Catholic Diocese of Cleveland.

The white-haired, 57-year-old will oversee the diocese until Pope Francis appoints a permanent bishop to replace Richard Lennon, who retired early because of vascular dementia.

Thomas was born June 11, 1959, in the Philadelphia neighborhood of Manayunk to Francis Jr. and Ann Thomas, who are both deceased. He had one brother, Francis III, who also passed away.

During his introductory news conference, Thomas said he knew that he wanted to be a priest ever since he was 7.

“It was from a very early age that I felt that call from the Lord to serve him and the church as a priest,” he said.

Thomas attended Catholic elementary and high schools before graduating from the St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, Pa., in 1985.

He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in 1985.

He also graduated from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome with a degree in dogmatic theology in 1989.

Before being appointed bishop in Toledo in October 2014, he served as regional bishop in Philadelphia.

He has served with several religious groups throughout his career, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Ohio Council of Churches and Catholic Conference of Ohio.

A 2014 profile in the Toledo Blade newspaper noted that Thomas is fond of beagles and he drove a Jeep Cherokee.

He apparently also favors organization, telling the newspaper: “I’m not the kind of person who can live out of boxes, and I’m also not the kind of person who can ... have an office that is completely disorganized and have papers everywhere.”

Thomas doesn’t know much about the Cleveland diocese. He learned only a week ago that he was taking over.

“There’s much for me to learn, to understand and to embrace as I strive, with your help, to get down to the work of governance in shepherding the diocese,” he said.

He will continue to serve as bishop of Toledo and isn’t sure how he will split his time between the two dioceses.

Thomas showed off a sense of humor on the topic.

His sister-in-law suggested in a text that he needs to clone himself, but he noted that the church doesn’t believe in cloning.

He also commented on the Cleveland Browns winning their first game last weekend and noted that he received a Browns winter hat for Christmas.

He has demonstrated that sense of humor before.

When he was introduced as the bishop in Toledo, he remarked about how the community was getting a new Danny Thomas, referring to the former television star who grew up in Toledo.

“Now, since the bishop is the father of the family of faith in the diocese, I guess today this is Pope Francis’ way of inviting all of you to Make Room for Daddy,” he told the Toledo Blade, referring to the star’s TV show.

Thomas likened his role in Cleveland to that of an interim sports coach and admitted he was in a “weird situation.”

“My job is to be the conduit from the past to the future and simply make sure the diocese knows that it’s cared for,” he said.

“I am simply the Lord’s humble servant and I pray God that he will be able to use me as a humble instrument to care for the church in Cleveland,” he added.

Rick Armon can be reached at 330-996-3569 or rarmon@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter at @armonrickABJ .

MEDINA: Medina County Public Transit and Brunswick Transit Alternative are merging effective Sunday, the Medina Gazette reports.

County commissioners signed off on the merger Wednesday. Brunswick officials have said that the agreement won’t affect service in the community, the newspaper says.

Read the full Gazette report here.

GUILFORD TWP.: A Creston man was killed in a one-vehicle accident on Bell Road at 3:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Michael J. Kelly, 21, died in the accident near Lee Road.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol said a 2006 BMW 330i was traveling westbound on Bell when it went left of center, traveled off the right side of the road, struck an embankment and rolled over several times.

Kelly was found at the scene. Occupant Dylon J. Woody, 20, of Burbank, was later located at Wooster Community Hospital.

The crash remains under investigation but the patrol said alcohol was a contributing factor and seat belts were not being worn.

STATESVILLE, N.C.: A 47-year-old Ohio man of tying up a woman and her teenage daughter for days before killing the mother in their North Carolina home.

Iredell County Sheriff Darren Campbell told local media outlets Tuesday the two were violently assaulted in what he called a “demonic” crime.

Gary Love, of Wadsworth, is charged with murder and is being held without bond. It’s unclear if he has an attorney.

Deputies found the woman dead Monday morning after her 14-year-old daughter texted a friend for help. Love told officers who came to check on the two that they were at a funeral, then fled out the back door. He was arrested soon afterward.

The daughter told deputies she had been tied up since Christmas Eve. She was treated at a local hospital and is staying with relatives.

Authorities are awaiting autopsy results to determine how the mother died.

The teen has not been identified. The AP is not identifying the woman because authorities say they expect to add sexual abuse charges.

Campbell says Love has been in North Carolina for several months. He and the woman knew each other years ago when they lived in New York, according to a sheriff’s office release.

Local media outlets report Love is wanted in Ohio for domestic violence and had a protection order against him.

COLUMBUS: The new safety director at Ohio State University is receiving praise for how she responded to the Nov. 28 attack on campus by a student who drove his car into a crowd and slashed at people with a butcher knife.

Monica Moll, a University of Akron graduate who grew up in Massillon and previously worked as a police officer for Kent State University, has a “calm-but-commanding presence,” the Columbus Dispatch reported.

“She’s a compassionate person and treated people the right way — with dignity and respect,” Kent State public safety director Dean Tondiglia told the newspaper.

Read the full Dispatch report here.

The Summit County Republican Party’s Executive Committee has recommended candidates to Gov. John Kasich for two open seats in Akron Municipal Court caused by judges being elected to other posts.

For Judge Joy Oldfield’s seat, the committee suggested Tom McCarty. For Judge Katarina Cook’s position, the committee suggested Jason Adams. The committee also submitted three other attorneys for consideration for the two posts: Ann Marie O’Brien, Dave Lombardi and John Chapman.

Kasich will choose who will fill the posts.

All of the party’s suggested candidates have run in the past for local elected positions.

Oldfield won a seat in the Nov. 8 election in Summit County Common Pleas Court, while Cook earned a spot in Summit County Domestic Relations Court.

The person appointed to Oldfield’s seat will run for a full term in 2017, while the person selected to fill Cook’s spot will run in 2017 for an unexpired term and in 2021 for a full term.

The local GOP committee will recommend replacements in January for the Summit County Common Pleas Court judicial vacancies created by Judges Lynne Callahan and Tom Teodosio being elected to the Ninth District Court of Appeals. Callahan and Teodosio will assume their new posts in February.