When Assistant Summit County Prosecutor Ty Graham dismissed an outspoken African-American man from a jury Thursday afternoon, the defendant in the case yelled, “Objection!”

Andre Yeager, who was representing himself in a trial over several smash-and-grab break-ins at local businesses, then went into a sidebar with the judge, prosecutor and Yeager’s attorney, who was on stand-by in case Yeager needed legal advice.

After the group conferred, visiting Judge Richard Reinbold told the juror he was dismissed, and the jury selection continued.

This was the unusual scene in a Summit County courtroom Thursday as Yeager took advantage of a seldom-used right for a defendant to represent himself in a criminal proceeding. Reinbold is presiding over the case for Judge Alison McCarty, who is out of town.

Yeager, 47, of Cleveland, is charged with four counts of breaking and entering, as well as receiving stolen property, possessing criminal tools, driving under suspension and obstructing official business. Prosecutors say Yeager was involved in break-ins at four local businesses in which someone rammed a vehicle into a door or window and then stole items from inside. If convicted, Yeager faces up to 6½ years in prison.

Prosecutors say Yeager may be linked to as many as 15 break-ins at businesses in the Akron area.

Yeager, dressed in a dark blue suit with a light blue dress shirt and tie, however, said he was innocent during his opening statement.

“I’m here speaking for myself,” he told the jurors. “You are the only buffer for me staying free. I have a lot to lose today.”

Graham said Yeager was tied to break-ins at Novus eye clinic, Shop Express liquor store, Union Eye Care and the former Family Mini Mart, all in Akron, between 2013 and 2016. He said Yeager was arrested in July 2016 in the parking lot of a BP gas station on Copley Road driving a stolen car that was backed up to the station’s doors.

Graham said the thieves in the break-ins stole liquor and Black & Milds from the liquor store and high-end optical frames from the eye clinics. He said Yeager’s DNA matched DNA samples found at the scenes of three of the four break-ins.

Job Esau Perry is Yeager’s attorney who will be there during the trial in case Yeager has legal questions. Yeager, though, is sitting in the first seat on the defense side of the table where the defense attorney would normally be, with Perry to his right.

Graham asked the pool of 30 jurors their thoughts about Yeager representing himself during voir dire, which is the process used to select a jury. Several jurors expressed confusion and concerns about this choice.

“I don’t think he’s skilled enough to know when to object,” said one juror, whose son is an attorney. “I think he should have thought it over more.”

Another juror wondered whether Yeager was mentally competent.

Reinbold assured the jurors that Yeager was deemed competent before the trial.

“There is nothing to interfere with his ability to represent himself,” the judge said.

One juror said Yeager’s decision brought to mind the phrase, “Anyone who represents himself has a fool for a client.”

“I’ll try to put it aside,” the juror said of his views.

Yeager has previously been convicted of break-ins at Akron area businesses, including a string of 100 “cigarette bandit” thefts in the early 2000s in which the culprits drove a stolen car through plate-glass windows of businesses, stepped over the broken glass and stole dozens of cartons of cigarettes — usually Newports.

Yeager’s new trial is expected to conclude by Monday.

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

AKRON

Cops: Here’s to a safe party

AKRON: Police are urging people planning to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day to do so responsibly.

Police will be out in force in Akron to deter impaired driving. Greater levels of enforcement are funded through a grant from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Ohio Department of Public Safety.

To avoid criminal action, police suggest people celebrating should designate a sober driver or plan alternate transportation before going out. To those hosting parties, police suggest serving food and non-alcoholic beverages and to stop serving alcohol a few hours before the party ends.

Finally, police urge people to take keys away from anyone who’s too drunk to drive. They suggest calling a cab or ride-share or giving them a ride home — as long as the driver is sober.

Interstate 76 ramp to close

AKRON: The Ohio Department of Transportation will permanently close the ramps from South Street to Interstate 76 eastbound in Akron starting Wednesday.

The closures are needed so work crews can do waterline work and begin construction of a new section of South Street.

The work is part of the ongoing $84 million project to reconstruct the I-76 interchange with South Main Street and South Broadway. The project is set to be completed by July 2020.

The South Main ramp to I-76 eastbound will remain open during the work. The ramps were originally scheduled to be closed Friday, but the closure was pushed back because of the weather, ODOT said Thursday.

The state agency, as part of several projects, is reducing the number of entrance and exit ramps along I-76 in Akron to improve safety.

MEDINA

Paschal candles for Easter

MEDINA: A.I. Root Co. is busy creating intricate paschal candles for churches around the country, the Catholic News Service reports.

“It’s very peaceful work,” employee Judy Hamrick says.

The candles, which are a central part of the Easter celebration, are decorated with lambs, crosses, numbers and Greek letters.

The company estimates that each day it creates 25 to 30 paschal candles, with the 15 weeks leading up to Easter being the busiest time.

STARK COUNTY

School construction to start

LAKE TWP.: Lake Local schools will hold a groundbreaking ceremony for their new building at 9 a.m. Monday.

Site preparation had been underway for the past several months for the new middle school/high school building, which will be located at the corner of Market Avenue North and Lake Center Street in Uniontown.

“We are excited to reach this next milestone in the remodeling and building of new facilities in our school district,” said Superintendent Kevin Tobin.

The public is invited to attend.

Hospital laying off workers

MASSILLON: The Affinity Medical Center is laying off workers as the number of patients has fallen, the Massillon Independent reports. As many as 50 employees could lose their jobs, the newspaper said.

“Although the decision to rebalance our workforce is never easy, ... managing our resources prudently will allow us to be better positioned to serve our community into the future,” the hospital said in an email to the newspaper.

WAYNE COUNTY

Ex-commissioner dies at 77

WOOSTER: Former Wayne County Commissioner Cheryl Noah died Wednesday, the Wooster Daily Record reported. She was 77.

Mrs. Noah, a Republican, was the county’s first woman commissioner when she was elected in 1992, the newspaper said. She served for 16 years.

Mrs. Noah also was a registered nurse and real estate professional.

Memorial services are at 1 p.m. Saturday at McIntire, Bradham & Sleek Funeral Home, 216 E. Larwill St., Wooster.

Go forth and eat some guilt-free corned beef.

In a clash of calendars that happens every seven years or so, St. Patrick’s Day this year falls on a Friday during Lent, when Catholics are required to abstain from eating meat.

Don’t fret. Bishop Daniel Thomas, apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Cleveland, has issued “a dispensation to the faithful from the obligation of abstinence from meat for the memorial of St. Patrick.”

Thomas has encouraged the faithful to go ahead and have some corned beef, but asks that they also partake in “another act of penance” on Friday.

We should thank our lucky charms that we live in a diocese with a large Irish Catholic population where such “special” dispensations are typically granted to mark the feast day.

The Catholic News Service noted recently that it found just 12 other dioceses in the country where such dispensations have been granted.

A quick survey of Ohio.com and Beacon Journal followers on Facebook found many Akron-area Catholics plan to take Thomas up on his offer.

Akron’s Michelle Greenwell said, “I’ll eat meat all I want bwahaha.”

Others plan to stick with tradition and head off to a Friday fish fry.

“I will have some beer battered fish and a few pints,” wrote JP Griffin. “Typical Friday for this grandson of Ireland.”

Akron restaurateur Joe Gallagher, who lived in Ireland until age 8 when his family moved to Northeast Ohio, said he’s grateful for the free pass, but noted with a priest as an uncle, they have been long forgiven for such transgressions when the unthinkable happens and the feast day for St. Patrick falls on a Friday during Lent.

The co-owner of D’Agnese’s Trattoria and Cafe said his family always starts the day at Mass at St. Patrick’s in Cleveland then heads downtown for the parade — which is expected to be among the chilliest in its 175-year history when it steps off at 1:04 p.m.

“You start the day off at Mass, then you will be blessed for the rest of the day,” he said.

As busy as it will be in downtown Cleveland when one of the largest such parades and gatherings in the country marches on in the snow, Gallagher said, things will also be hopping at his restaurant on White Pond Drive.

This week, he has drawn on his Irish roots and mixed in some special dishes, including corned beef and potato pancakes among the restaurant’s typical Italian fare. He has been adding Irish flavor to the menu during St. Patrick’s week for the past three years, and each one is more popular than the last.

He said they will probably cook anywhere from 180 to 200 pounds of corned beef by the time the last dish is served on Sunday.

“That’s a lot of corned beef for an Italian restaurant,” he added with a side of sarcasm.

But corned beef is king on a day when we celebrate the patron saint credited for spreading Christianity to Ireland. It was pagans — not snakes — that St. Patrick drove out of the country.

The single busiest day of the year at Akron’s famed Diamond Deli is St. Patrick’s Day, with lines typically out the door and down the block, and phone orders for corned beef sandwiches piling in as early as Thursday.

To meet the demand for the prized meat, owner Chuck Magilavy said, extra roasters are brought in for the corned beef and sauerkraut.

It is an “all hands on deck” kind of day, he said, to make corned beef and Reuben sandwiches along with the rest of the deli’s lineup of goodies.

“Thank God we are well known for our corned beef,” he said.

The deli had a record day for business last St. Patrick’s Day, serving up some 400 pounds of corned beef alone.

But the weather was unseasonably warm that day, unlike Friday’s chilly forecast of snow and rain and temperatures struggling to climb out of the 30s.

As for Magilavy, he is a Reuben guy, but as he gets older he tends to do plain corned beef with a little mustard on the side to help maintain his trim frame.

“We probably sell more Reubens than corned beef sandwiches,” he said.

Either way — thousand island dressing or not — the corned beef will be flying off the meat slicers, and the deli’s trademark friendly banter will still be included along with a complimentary pickle with every order.

“We’ll still be able to carry on a conversation with folks in line,” he said. “But we will be moving the sandwiches out pretty quickly.”

Craig Webb, who is definitely a Reuben guy with some extra thousand island dressing on the side, can be reached at cwebb@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3547.

An Afghan man who risked his life to help the U.S. fight terrorism was detained and set for deportation Wednesday, a day after he was supposed to be resettled in Akron.

Before President Donald Trump’s revamped travel ban on Muslim-majority countries was to take effect Thursday, the Washington Post reported that the man was to be deported by the Department of Homeland Security, which detained him upon arrival Monday night at Newark International Airport in New Jersey.

One of the man’s attorneys, Elizabeth Foydel, a lawyer for the International Refugee Assistance Project, detailed the scenario to the Washington Post, which reported this as the second time a refugee granted a visa for assisting U.S. troops has been threatened with deportation this month.

As was the case with a family of five scheduled for deportation back to Afghanistan earlier this month, a federal judge has intervened to stop the removal of the Afghani man who was supposed to be in Akron this week.

Foydel would not provide the Afghani man’s name. But the International Institute of Akron confirmed that bad weather prevented the man from boarding a plane earlier in the week and arriving in Akron on Tuesday. His rescheduled flight arrival on Thursday would have marked the beginning of a new life in America in exchange for the services he provided its troops in Afghanistan.

The man worked as an interpreter for the U.S. military, earning him a Special Immigrant Visa through a program created in 2007 to allow Iraqi and Afghani nationals who assist in the war effort to come to America as refugees. Other refugees here through the program have told the Akron Beacon Journal/Ohio.com that they will not serve again or attempt to travel with Trump’s executive orders ramping up immigration enforcement and blocking entry at airports.

DHS agents with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol detained the man for 36 hours. After questioning, a government official told the Washington Post that he relinquished his visa and was scheduled to return to Afghanistan. His lawyers, including Foydel, argued that he spoke poor English and was coerced out of his rights. They requested and received a temporary stay of deportation on Wednesday from the 3rd District Court of Appeals.

Also on Wednesday, U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., John McCain, R-Ariz., Jack Reed, D-R.I. and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., introduced bipartisan legislation to add 2,500 spots to the Special Immigrant Visa program.

“We simply cannot win this war without the assistance of the Afghan people who put their lives on the line to help American troops and diplomats serving in harm’s way,” McCain said in jointly announcing the legislation. “Unfortunately in recent years, Congress has reneged on the promise we made to protect these brave individuals by failing to authorize the appropriate number of Special Immigrant Visas for Afghan translators and interpreters. It’s because of our failure that the lives of thousands of Afghans are in imminent danger from the Taliban.”

Turned away

Elizabeth Walter with the International Institute of Akron said workers there were expecting the man Thursday after a winter storm this week had grounded flights along the eastern seaboard.

“The client was scheduled to arrive in Akron on Tuesday,” Walters said. “But those flights were proactively rescheduled due to weather and his arrival was rescheduled.”

Walters and the institute could not comment specifically about the Afghani man’s case. Refugees who come through the North Hill facility typically undergo an 18- to 24-month screening process. This includes Special Immigrant Visa refugees who assist U.S. troops.

Before refugees land in Northeast Ohio, the agency’s resettlement services secures an apartment or rental house, usually in North Hill so that refugee have easy access to ongoing assistance and consultation services. The apartments are usually furnished by donated goods and stocked with foods that match the culture of the incoming refugee or family.

Marion Goins Leon, an Ohio man and former soldier and contractor with the U.S. military, had sponsored the Afghani man’s successful application for resettlement in America, just as he had for 10 other interpreters who volunteered their services to fight the Taliban.

“He’s the first one they did this to,” Leon told the Washington Post of the man’s detainment and the government’s attempt to deport him.

Doug Livingston can be reached at 330-996-3792 or dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow on Twitter: @ABJDoug .

Akron police are urging people planning to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day to do so responsibly.

Police will be out in force in Akron to deter impaired driving. Greater levels of enforcement are funded through a grant from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Ohio Department of Public Safety.

To avoid criminal action, police suggest people celebrating should designate a sober driver or plan alternate transportation before going out. To those hosting parties, police suggest serving food and non-alcoholic beverages and to stop serving alcohol a few hours before the party ends.

Finally, police urge people to take keys away from anyone who’s too drunk to drive. They suggest calling a cab or ride-share or even giving them a ride home — as long as the driver is sober.

Everything green is turning snow white this St. Patrick’s Day in Akron.

The National Weather Service issued a special weather statement Friday afternoon warning that a band of heavy snow was making its way across Northeast Ohio.

The weather service says anywhere from an inch to two inches of snow could fall before it ends later this afternoon.

Temperatures are expected to rise in wake of the snow and chilly rain is in the forecast.

Two very different Akron area innovations — a portable marijuana-detection device and an app that allows users to exchange free baby-sitting services — have each won $25,000 from the region’s nonprofit Innovation Fund.

The ventures — the Komae baby-sitting app and Triple Beam Technologies, maker of the pot detector — are among four Northeast Ohio startups that received money from the fund designed to help young companies at early stages of development.

Triple Beam Technologies created a device called the Cannibuster.

The startup’s creator and founder said the device could be a significant law-enforcement tool as more states allow for the medical and recreational use of marijuana.

The Cannibuster, using saliva, provides for a reading for the level of THC, the psychoactive chemical in marijuana, in a few minutes on a handheld analyzer.

If authorities now suspect marijuana impairment in motorists, they have to rely on blood tests that can take weeks for confirmation.

The market is big. A total of 28 states and the District of Columbia allow for medical marijuana and eight states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational pot use for adults. In addition, lawmakers in 17 states are working on measures that would legalize recreational use.

Kathy Stitzlein, a UA student, is president of Triple Beam Technologies. She has worked on the venture with UA student Mariam Crow. Both are graduate students in biomedical engineering.

Stitzlein said Triple Beam plans to use the $25,000 Innovation Fund award to compare Cannibuster results against traditional lab tests.

“The goal now is just moving toward commercialization,” she said. “We’ll be looking toward attracting investors, and in order to do that we have to have a good amount of data.”

‘Village’ people

The baby-sitting app is called Komae. It’s named for the Greek word for village, kómé; users of app build “villages” of people they know and then use the app to send out requests for baby-sitting to people in their villages.

Creators of the app are Audrey Wallace of West Akron and Amy Husted of Copley Township. They have since added developer Adam Skinner to their team.

Parents earn Komae points when they baby-sit, and they use the points to pay for baby-sitting.

Wallace and Husted have pointed out that the app eliminates the need to ask someone directly for baby-sitting help — a situation that can lead to guilty feelings if the person being asked declines.

Komae released the app in Apple and Android app stores earlier this year. The web app — 
app.mykomae.com — was released in September.

The team plans to use the $25,000 for “enhancing the app design for an even better user experience,” Wallace said.

“We’ve done usability testing with customers to find out what they like and what can be improved,” she said.

Wallace said Komae now has about 2,000 users. That’s up 93 percent from earlier this year, before its release in the app stores.

Both Triple Beam Technologies and Komae have previously attracted grants from groups that work with startups.

The Lorain County Community College Foundation started the Innovation Fund, which has awarded $11.7 million to 178 technology startups since it started accepting applications in July 2007.

Fund partners include the University of Akron and Northeast Ohio Medical University.

Each quarter, the fund grants money to technology startups in a 21-county Northeast Ohio region, including Summit, Stark, Portage, Medina and Wayne counties.

The two Akron area ventures —Komae and Triple Beam Technologies — along with two Cleveland startups received a combined $175,00 in the most recent round of funding.

The Innovation Fund said in a release that companies use the grants — between $25,000 and $100,000 — “to complete specific projects that will bring their technologies closer to market, preparing them to raise more funding, launch new products, and create jobs.”

Katie Byard can be reached at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com. You can follow her @KatieByardABJ  on Twitter or on Facebook at www.facebook.com.

MEDINA

Homonai, Evelyn R., 81, of Wadsworth. Died Thursday. Hilliard-Rospert.

Yost, Robert E., 82, of Seville. Died Thursday. Waite & Son, Medina.

PORTAGE

Miller, Martha Lee, 97, of Kent. Died Wednesday. Bissler & Sons.

Pizer, Elizabeth J., 90, of Garrettsville. Died Tuesday. Mantua, Green.

STARK

Brown, Jean L., 92, of Alliance. Died Thursday. Cassaday-Turkle-Christian.

Null, Helen B. (Rohr), 95, of Massillon. Died Wednesday. Heitger.

WAYNE

Baer, Jerry L., 60, of Apple Creek. Died Tuesday. Paquelet, Massillon.

Summa Health this week received an Ohio Patient Safety Institute award for improving quality between 2015 and 2016.

The eighth annual Dr. Frank Dono Best Practice Award recognizes a Summa pilot project called “Transitioning With Excellence.”

A team of Summa administrators, computer programmers, nurses, physicians, pharmacists, psychologists, social workers, process engineers, respiratory therapists and dietitians collaborated to identify stronger methods of patient care transitions from hospital to home.

Between January 2016 and September 2016, the project reduced preventable readmissions from 19.7 percent to 14.9 percent, the safety institute said.

“This is an example of what can be accomplished when we focus on our patients and the care that we provide,” said David Orr, Summa Health vice president of quality, in a news release. “Summa Health and its employees are committed to being a safe place to get quality care close to home for the people of Akron and surrounding areas.”

Madeline Wilson’s obsession with Jeopardy! started in infancy.

“My parents used to say that even as a baby, I would get excited when the theme music came on,” Wilson said. “I guess you could say I’ve been watching Jeopardy! my entire life.”

You can watch the Akron resident try to turn her affections into cash Wednesday night when she competes on the game show.

Wilson, 27, is sworn to secrecy as to how she performed on the show, which tapes months in advance, but she was able to share some behind-the-scenes details.

She flew out to Los Angeles last December with her boyfriend, Jeremy Southgate. Jeopardy!, with host Alex Trebek, shoots an entire week’s worth of 30-minute episodes in one day. She said that you don’t know until a random drawing in the studio which “day” will be your slot. (Jeopardy! tapes 10 shows on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, Calif. Next door, Wheel of Fortune tapes 10 shows on Thursdays and Fridays.)

She was told to bring multiple outfits.

“They say to wear business casual. No bold patterns. No white on top. They tell you to bring several options, in case you win and need to come back for another show, and in case the [outfit] doesn’t look good on camera.”

Wilson, who grew up in Dublin, Ohio, near Columbus, majored in Spanish at Baldwin Wallace University, and minored in dance and theater. She also spent some time in graduate school at Kent State University.

When she’s not on game shows, Wilson writes internet content and social media posts for several companies. You can also find her pre- and post-Jeopardy! musings online at madelinejwilson.wordpress.com. (She is apparently a super-positive person, because her blog features a drawing of a unicorn and a rainbow.)

During her sophomore year at BW, she and her roommate watched Jeopardy! endlessly, she said. That’s when she started taking the annual online tests to try to get on the show. Finally, last spring, after taking the test seven or eight times over the years, she got a call to come to an audition at a hotel in Detroit.

There she was interviewed briefly, took a written test and played a mock game. “They want to see if you can speak slowly, or speak loudly enough,” said Wilson, “and whether you can ring in at the right time.”

After the tryout, she was told she might receive a call in the next 18 months. The call came last November, which gave her about a month to plan her trip.

Wilson’s trivia strengths are literature, geography, theater, dance, Spanish and “some basic baseball statistics.” Before flying west, she boned up on some of her weaker areas like science and U.S. cabinet members.

Once in the studio, she said, a lawyer comes out to explain to all of the contestants the random nature of who gets on when and what categories will be used.

Beyond the mounds of information running through everyone’s head, Wilson said the most pre-show time is spent explaining the proper use of the buzzer. “Even before you go, they tell you to practice at home with a clicky pen.”

The little, hand-held cylinder can be confounding. If you’ve ever watched the show, you no doubt have seen some contestants frantically thumb-pounding with various degrees of pained expressions.

Buzz in before Trebek finishes reading the answer, and you will be locked out. Buzz again too soon, and you will be locked out again for a fraction of a second. (There are also lights that TV viewers don’t see, alerting contestants to the proper buzz-in time.)

“But they tell you to keep pressing the button,” said Wilson, “because the person next to you may have just been locked out.”

We’ll see on Wednesday if Wilson hits some buzzer-beaters.

Clint O’Connor can be reached at 330-996-3582 or coconnor@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @ClintOMovies .

Mobile Meals Inc. — the group that delivers about 2,600 meals and supplements daily to Northeast Ohioans — is fighting back against President Donald Trump’s proposal to cut funding for meal delivery programs nationwide.

Mark Frisone, executive director of Family & Community Services, said the proposed federal funding cuts make up the majority of its Mobile Meals funding.

Mobile Meals merged last year with the Family & Community Services, one of the largest social services agencies in Northeast Ohio.

“I see no benefit of taking food out of the mouths of grandmas and grandpas across the country,” Frisone said on Friday.

His organization is providing sample letters clients can send to elected representatives in Congress urging them to reconsider the funding meal delivery.

Some may not understand that delivering food is only part of Mobile Meals’s mission. Almost as important is social contact for homebound seniors who often don’t have anyone else, Frisone said.

“Unfortunately, we find seniors who have fallen ... or who have expired and no one would ever know unless meals are delivered,” Frisone said.

Frisone said there’s usually a waiting list of about 50 people in Summit County to get Mobile Meals services.

Mobile Meals serves meals in Summit, Cuyahoga and Portage counties.

If the funding disappears, Frisone said Mobile Meals will survive through support from communities it serves.

“We won’t completely disappear,” he said, “but we’ll be gutted and be a much different animal than we are today.”

Mobile Meals in recent weeks relocated about six miles north to 1357 Home Ave. near Chapel Hill.

Mobile Meals also has a new director, Dana Downing, who had previously worked as a finance executive for the group. He replaces Blake Babcock, who is now a development director with Family and Community Services Inc.

The nonprofit also is launching a new program to offer free meals for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people struggling with health, financial and housing challenges.

Mobile Meals is funding the meal delivery and food assistance service with a grant from the Gay Community Endowment Fund. Summit County residents who identify as a member of the LGBT community are eligible.

The program will allow about 20 people to receive meals. Hot meals may be delivered to the doorstep Monday through Friday, or a recipient can opt to receive several frozen meals once per week.

Mobile Meals is working with the Community AIDS Network and Akron Pride Initiative (CANAPI), a local LGBT advocacy group, to find eligible county residents. To qualify, residents must have low ­income. Those interested are asked to call CANAPI at 330-252-1559 or email the group at info@canapi.org to schedule a referral appointment.

Mobile Meals was founded in 1971 by Mary Gordon at a picnic of the Summit County Medical Auxiliary. Her husband was a physician who worried about sending stroke patients home from a hospital when they could neither shop or prepare their own meals.

For more than 30 years, a group of volunteers that calls itself the Interfaith Caregivers Program has been quietly going about the business of trying to help the ill, the frail and the elderly keep their independence as long as possible.

Some days that means offering transportation to a doctor’s office. Other days it might mean picking up a few groceries or doing light housekeeping. Sometimes it’s just checking in to lift someone’s spirits.

In recent months, the Akron Beacon Journal has been taking the mystery out of what it means to be a volunteer by offering a step-by-step guide for some Summit County organizations.

In previous stories, we explained how to get involved with Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, Haven of Rest Ministries, Akron Children’s Hospital, International Institute of Akron, Junior Achievement, the Akron Zoo and the Akron-Canton Regional Food Bank.

Today: How to volunteer with Interfaith Caregivers.

The program was launched in 1984, an effort by a coalition of churches that crossed all denominations. It operates with a single paid employee, director Joan Davidson, and an all-volunteer squad. Volunteers choose what tasks they are available to do for clients living on low and fixed incomes.

Most of the clients are referred by agencies, expressing a need that just doesn’t fit the mold of what other organizations do.

Currently there are about 40 active volunteers, but Davidson said the need is much greater. She looked over a list of 108 requests filled in the past two months.

“Here’s a 75-year-old disabled client who needs someone to take down his drapes and clean the windows,” she said. “I’ve got a couple people who said, hey we’re going on spring break. Can you pop in and check on Mom and Dad during the week?”

The No. 1 request, though, is for the program’s free transportation service.

“A sort of Senior Uber,” Davidson said, referring to the online initiative in which average folks run a cab-like service using their personal vehicles. Thanks to a new grant, volunteers can even get reimbursed for mileage when driving clients to medical appointments.

Signing up

I started the process by visiting www.icpakron.org. A volunteer button opened an application that asked what kinds of tasks I would be willing to do, my general availability and any personal interests that might prove helpful.

I also had to provide my driver’s license and insurance information, and the phone numbers of a couple of character references.

Within a day or two of submitting that form, Davidson will call to set up an in-person interview at her office, a space donated by Holy Trinity Lutheran Church at 50 N. Prospect St. on the edge of downtown Akron.

Davidson reviewed with me a 20-page training manual that answered many questions I hadn’t even thought to ask, like the fact that volunteers are protected by liability insurance from the time they leave their own home to the time they return.

The tasks are never medical or hygiene related, and volunteers do not transport people in wheelchairs.

Caregivers are told to do only the task they signed up for. If the client discovers a new need, Davidson will put it on the to-do list for future assignment.

There are helpful tips for dealing with the elderly, like reminders to speak loudly and listen patiently. And there are guidelines on everything from how to arrange a shopping request to what steps to take if you’ve volunteered for yard work.

Davidson will give this one-on-one training with potential volunteers when practical, but also sets dates for larger group orientation when needed.

After clearing a background check, volunteers receive a password to an online database that lists the needs waiting to be filled.

They can choose what fits their schedule or interest, and review helpful details, such as whether the client is a smoker, whether it’s OK for the volunteer to bring along a child in their care, or the number of miles in a transportation request.

Showing up

Since Davidson is trying to expand the transportation service, I asked to shadow one of her drivers, so she put me in touch with LauraLee Sales.

Sales — friends call her “LL” — is a para-legal between jobs who decided to use her spare time to pitch in with Interfaith.

“I thought, I know how to drive, I have a car, and I have time during the day. I can help someone,” she said.

I joined her at her home and we drove a short distance to Akron’s Highland Square neighborhood to pick up Barbara Hobbs.

As Sales offered Hobbs her arm at the door, it became clear why Hobbs needed special assistance. She began to develop Parkinson’s-like symptoms a couple of years ago, and now there are times her feet refuse to move and she has to wait for her brain to give them the order to get going again.

Hobbs, a soft-spoken woman with an iron determination to get better, said she tried taking the SCAT bus to her therapy appointments, but what she really needed was a helper with an abundance of patience and compassion.

She’s a widow whose only daughter lives out of town.

Enter Sales, who volunteers for the two to three outings Hobbs requests each week. As they drive to the therapist’s office, they chat like a couple of girlfriends, planning a future shopping trip to Marc’s and discussing a used stationary bike that Hobbs wants to buy to continue her therapy at home.

At Akron General Sports Medicine & Physical Therapy, I offer Hobbs my arm and we begin the slow and deliberate walk toward the door, pausing occasionally until her feet obey.

Sales said she usually cracks open a book for the half-hour session, or chats with the small staff she has come to know personally.

After therapy, Sales takes Hobbs to check out the used bike offered for sale by a nearby resident. She decides to buy it, but her hands aren’t steady enough to write a check. I fill in the blanks, she finishes it with a signature, and she tells the local seller she’ll have friends pick it up later.

On the way home, the women decide to extend their day with a visit to the Wallhaven Starbucks, making their way inside for some pleasant conversation before heading home a couple of hours after their excursion had begun.

Sales worries about whether another volunteer will step up to take her place when she finds a new job.

“It’s such a good program,” she said.

She thinks of Hobbs’ determination to stay in her apartment as long as possible, the goal of all who call Interfaith for a hand.

“These are people who are trying hard to take care of themselves,” she said. “That’s something to admire.”

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

Fights. Grand theft auto. After-hours partying. Late-night arrests. Cops attacked and a bouncer killed.

A rash of alarming activity at Game 7 Bar and Grille on Arlington Street has prompted city leaders to block a liquor permit application and to pursue legal action to shutter the night club. Akron Councilwoman Tara Mosley-Samples is pushing a ballot issue to outlaw liquor sales in the surrounding neighborhood.

But buried beneath the alcohol-related crimes at 627 S. Arlington St. is a property owner known by city and county officials for running up a delinquent tax bill of more than $800,000 — enough to hire about 15 police officers for a year.

The owner is 627 S Arlington, a limited liability company created in 2014 by Gary L. Thomas, according to state records.

City prosecutors, police and Mosley-Samples called a nuisance hearing Friday morning with Thomas, the bar’s new operators — Leslie Garr and Anthony Hunt — and Joe Salem, who holds the liquor permit while the operation is changing hands, to review complaints of shootings, violence, late-night noise and other issues at the property.

Thomas never showed. He sent his attorney, Robert Meeker, instead. Meeker did not return a phone call seeking comment for this article, and Thomas hung up on a reporter earlier in the week.

Along with properties in trusts or registered to his wife, Thomas has created 15 companies that manage 100 Akron properties, mostly rentals. The network of companies, which have become cheaper and easier to create under the current leadership in Columbus, protect the out-of-town businessman from being legally or financially responsible for the taxes or lawsuits that crop up.

Combined, the properties have $822,290 in back taxes, late utility bills, fines and fees — or nearly $1 in every $100 missing from the city’s property tax roll.

While tax-paying Akronites complain of soaring water bills and brace for a possible income tax increase, Thomas — who emerged from bankruptcy court in 2012 — lives in a roughly $350,000 home in Wadsworth registered to his wife, Barbara. There, they pay property taxes on time and in full.

Property swap

The company Thomas created bought the bar property in 2014 from another business he created in 2009, a year after filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy in the Northern District Court of Ohio.

Some of his and his companies’ 100 tax-delinquent properties have shuffled from one company to another then back again in as little as a month, according to an Akron Beacon Journal/Ohio.com review of state business filings and county property records.

County documents list 627 S Arlington LLC as the bar property owner. State documents say the company is registered to Thomas. “That’s not completely correct,” Thomas said, returning a reporter’s call. “But at this time, I have no comment on that situation over there.”

“Thank you very much,” he added, then hung up before the reporter could inquire about his real estate activity, why the companies have fallen so far behind on tax bills and what steps he takes to ensure that bar operators renting from him have the community’s best interests at heart.

Listed in his wife’s name is a two-story home in Wadsworth with a 300-foot concrete driveway. It’s listed at $338,130 on the Medina County auditor’s website.

100 properties

The Beacon Journal downloaded the names of businesses created by Thomas and then cross-referenced them and their P.O. box addresses with a database of last year’s delinquent properties.

The Thomases and their associated companies are linked to 100 properties: one in Barberton and the rest in Akron. Sixty-seven are listed as rentals, although some have been fined for not paying to be registered as such. Some are valued at less than the court-ordered fees, administrative fines and back taxes on them. And others are in disrepair.

“[Akron] has criminally prosecuted Mr. Thomas several times over the last six years in Akron Municipal Court for Housing Code violations,” said Ellen Lander Nischt, assistant law director for the city.

Along with installing a camera to keep an eye on Game 7, Lander Nischt said the city has collected “several thousand dollars in fees from Mr. Thomas to pay for those inspections. In addition, several properties owned by entities he controls have been demolished pursuant to orders of our Housing Appeals Board, and other have pending orders to be demolished.”

The deal

Thomas sometimes buys properties from banks after foreclosure and sheriff sales. The sale price can be as low as $10,000. He rents them out, but the property tax bill soon piles up.

In November, county records show that the right to collect $6,500 in back taxes at the bar property was sold to Adair Asset Management. The private lien collector from Minnesota can now go after the debt, possibly pushing the property into foreclosure, a process that can take up to 18 months.

Asked about interactions with Thomas, Jack LaMonica of the Summit County Fiscal Office said shortly before the November tax lien sale, Thomas tried to set up repayment plans for some of the delinquent tax bills. Properties on repayment plans are exempted from tax lien sales. The county, however, refused Thomas’ request because he’d done this before only to stop making payments, but not until after avoiding a tax lien sale, LaMonica explained.

More recently, LaMonica said Thomas has reached out to the county’s land bank to ask about donating property, which would allow him to write off his losses or unload properties with higher tax bills than they’re worth — some marked for demolition at the owner’s expense.

Doug Livingston can be reached at 330-996-3792 or dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow on Twitter: @ABJDoug .

ROOTSTOWN: Nervous chatter and bouncing knees pulsated through the ballroom at the NEOMED Education and Wellness (NEW) Center on Friday as medical students awaited their fates, each one sealed in an envelope and compiled in a gold tumbler at the front of the room.

Sarah Khoncarly was called up to the stage first. She opened her envelope and, with a sigh of relief, read out loud where she’ll spend the next few years training to be a physician — a road, she learned, that will begin with Summa Health System.

Friday was National Match Day across the country, where more than 30,000 medical students learned where they’ll complete their residency programs.

Of the 139 Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED) students in attendance at the NEW Center for Match Day results, 22 will train with the troubled Summa Health System.

Despite the growing pains Summa is enduring in its emergency room transition, including a recent loss of the ability to train ER residents altogether, the NEOMED students placed there were satisfied with the match.

“Summa is a great place to train,” said Khoncarly, who will begin her transitional year at Summa in July before heading to Case Western/MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland next year. “Despite the political climate going on, it’s still a great place for students and always will be.”

Summa woes

Summa abruptly switched ER staffing groups from Summa Emergency Associates (SEA) to Canton-based US Acute Care Solutions (USACS) on New Year’s Day after failed contract negotiations.

It has since faced a series of trials, including former CEO Tom Malone’s resignation three weeks later.

Perhaps Akron City Hospital’s most pertinent problem, though, is the ER’s loss of accreditation by the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), effective July 1.

In a routine visit to the hospital, the ACGME deemed Summa unfit to train new ER residents and withdrew its accreditation. The report cited a number of problems with City Hospital’s emergency room, such as delays for specialized care and patients leaving without seeing a physician at all.

The ACGME also put the entire hospital on probation, prohibiting the hospital system from creating new residency programs, increasing the size of those that exist, and requiring the hospital to notify applicants that it is on probation.

The Joint Commission, another accreditation group, also confirmed that it was on site this week for a visit regarding a patient safety concern.

The Beacon Journal sent a list of questions to Summa representatives and received the following statement from spokesperson Mike Bernstein:

“Summa Health is very pleased to report we have filled all of our 63 available slots for this year’s Match. Each of the residents selected is an outstanding candidate and we look forward to them joining the Summa Health family. We are also very happy with the number of NEOMED graduates we are welcoming to our programs this year.

“Summa Health withdrew the Emergency Medicine program from the Match this year while we await results of our recent appeal to the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education.”

Summa officials were tight-lipped about details beyond that, including how many slots the health system usually fills on Match Day and how ACGME’s decision affected residents.

It is unclear when the hospital appealed ACGME’s decision.

Match Day

Regardless, the NEOMED students who were matched at the hospital showed enthusiasm about the opportunity.

Eight of the 22 students matched with Summa will spend a transitional year with the health system, then finish their residency at a different hospital. Of the remaining 14 students, four were matched to the internal medicine department; three to family medicine; two to psychiatry; and one each to preliminary medicine, orthopedic surgery, general surgery, pathology and obstetrics and gynecology.

“I’m really excited. I wanted to be close to home,” said Whitney Sommers of Akron, who will complete a three-year residency at Summa in family medicine. “I think the whole hospital shouldn’t have to suffer based on one specialty.”

Students begin applying for residency programs at the beginning of their fourth year and then spend a few months interviewing with hospitals.

Both the hospitals and the students indicate their preferences to the National Resident Matching Program, which determines the final pairings using an algorithm based on their preferences.

Each residency program is three to five years long and begins in July.

Students and institutions had to file their preferences by Feb. 22, just weeks after Summa lost its accreditation.

For some students, though, the loss didn’t change their decision — “not even a little bit,” said Michael Graham, who will complete his residency in the internal medicine department.

“I have nothing but good things to say about Summa … It was a top choice before all that and the top choice after. I’m excited to start.”

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

One man was killed and another was hospitalized Friday night in what police described as a double shooting in Copley Township.

Officers were called to a home in the 1300 block of Lakeland Avenue shortly after 6:15 p.m.

Copley Police Chief Michael Mier told WJW Channel 8 and WKYC Channel 3 that the men apparently shot each other after an argument broke out. Both men were known to a woman who lives at the house, Mier said.

The extent of the wounded man’s injuries was not immediately clear.

No other information was being released Friday, but more details are expected to come out in a news release Saturday, the Cleveland stations reported.

AKRON

Ryan to hold town meeting

AKRON: U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Niles, will host a town hall meeting for constituents of Ohio’s 13th Congressional District from 2 to 4 p.m. March 25 at the University of Akron’s Student Union Theatre, 303 Carroll St.

Seating is limited and there is no available overflow space, so those wishing to attend should arrive early.

The town hall will be moderated by UA professor and Akron Press Club trustee Dave Cohen.

The 13th district covers portions of Summit, Stark, Portage, Trumbull and Mahoning counties.

Self-defense class

AKRON: A free self-defense class for women will be offered Tuesday.

The course will be from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Community Center Gym at First Apostolic Faith Church, 790 Easter Ave. No registration is required.

Participants will learn verbal techniques, kicks and slaps, how to get free from a chokehold and more. The monthly class is sponsored by Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh and University of Akron Police Lt. Chad Cunningham.

For more information, contact Jennifer Watson at 330-643-7915 or watson@prosecutor.summitoh.net.

COPLEY TOWNSHIP

Man dies in double shooting

COPLEY TWP.: One man was killed and another was hospitalized Friday night in what police described as a double shooting. Officers were called to a home in the 1300 block of Lakeland Avenue shortly after 6:15 p.m.

Copley Police Chief Michael Mier told WJW Channel 8 and WKYC Channel 3 that the men apparently shot each other after an argument broke out. Both men were known to a woman who lives at the house, Mier said. The extent of the wounded man’s injuries was not immediately clear. No other information was being released Friday.

CLEVELAND

Woman hurt in balcony fall

CLEVELAND: Authorities say a 20-year-old woman who fell from a second-story balcony inside a Cleveland bar after the city’s St. Patrick’s Day parade has been hospitalized in critical condition. Cleveland.com reports the woman fell about 2:30 p.m. Friday at Spirits Nightclub in the Warehouse District.

STRONGSVILLE

Fatal shots shown on video

STRONGSVILLE: Police dashboard camera video shows the moments when police shot an unarmed man after a high-speed chase in Ohio.

Roy Evans Jr. was shot March 7 on Interstate 71 following the chase that began in Strongsville, about 20 miles south of Cleveland. Evans’ girlfriend and her three children were also in the van, but weren’t harmed.

Two cruisers boxed the van in after the 14-minute chase, and Evans struck a cruiser. The video shows two officers approaching the van with guns drawn. One officer opens the driver’s door, and two shots are heard seconds later.

Authorities say the Strongsville officers said Evans wouldn’t follow orders and appeared to reach for something.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation says no weapons were found in the van.

STATE GOVERNMENT

35th House district seat

Ohio Democratic leaders are seeking letters of interest to fill the soon-to-be vacant 35th House district seat.

State Rep. Greta Johnson, D-Akron, has announced that she will step down as a state representative March 26 to become the deputy law director for Summit County.

The Democratic minority caucus will appoint an applicant to serve the remainder of Johnson’s term, which runs through December 2018.

A screening panel of five Democratic state representatives will interview applicants to make a full recommendation to the full 32-member caucus.

The 35th District includes portions of Akron, Barberton and Coventry Township.

Applicants should mail and email resumes and cover letters to House Democratic Chief of Staff Andy DiPalma by the close of business March 31.

Not enough skilled workers.

It’s a common lament among manufacturers in the nation and Ohio, where, despite massive declines in manufacturing, the sector accounts for one in every eight jobs.

“We’re all struggling with the same issues. Not having enough of a skilled workforce,” said Dave Sattler, owner of Sattler Machine Products in Sharon Center.

Sattler is working to get the word out — especially to fellow manufacturers — about a ConxusNEO-organized event Thursday called “Align.”

The program — which will run from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. — is designed to get area manufacturers, educators and economic development officials talking about ways to align education and training programs to the needs of the workforce.

Jobs have become more sophisticated, and many people — students, job seekers, educators and others — don’t know that manufacturing is not about their grandfather’s dirty factory floor, manufacturers note.

Sattler and Jenny Stupica, human resources manager for Twinsburg-based instrumentation valve and fittings manufacturer SSP, are championing a year-old Akron area effort — called ConxusNEO, a nonprofit aimed at closing the skills gap and strengthening the connection between job seekers and employers.

Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro, Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan and Akron Public Schools Superintendent David James will be among those talking Thursday about efforts such as Akron Public Schools’ College and Career Academies. The program is at North High School and eventually will expand districtwide.

ConxusNEO, the reorganized Summit Workforce Solutions, is helping to develop the College and Career Academies program, working with more than 100 community, business and education leaders to link academic subjects to workforce themes.

Para Jones, president of Stark State College and a member of the ConxusNEO board, will talk Thursday about Stark State College’s plan for an industrial maintenance program in Akron.

Five sectors

Stupica, on the board of ConxusNEO, said manufacturers attending Thursday will learn how they can become involved in one of five “sectors,” or groups — each covering a particular geographic area of Summit County. Each group involves educators, companies and economic development officials in the given area.

“The nice part is now collectively we’re all working together,” said Sattler, “knowing full well [the challenge of finding skilled workers] is not about one given company.”

Sattler, whose 22-employee company serves various markets, said “We all become stronger from [working together] and we’re not taking employees from one another any longer. The pool [of job candidates] gets bigger.”

One ongoing effort that manufacturers will learn about is TalentNEO, a 2-year-pilot program, involving an assessment test for math, reading and information-seeking skills. ConxusNEO oversees the pilot in Summit County.

Stupica said the end result of this ACT WorkKeys assessment test may be a job pairing that neither a company nor a job seeker expected.

“Those looking for a job might say, ‘I’ve never been in a manufacturing facility before,’ ” Stupica said. “And now after taking the WorkKeys test, they can see they have the skill set that shows they can get a position that’s just a starting point in a manufacturing career.”

Getting word out

In addition, Sattler said, ConxusNEO and Thursday’s event is about getting the word out about existing workforce development programs: “We want to identify the best practices and share them with one another.”

Sattler said there are a lot of workforce development efforts, but “they’re in different pockets... This is the first time we’ve been able to get anything [to work together] that has momentum.”

One such existing program — in which ConxusNEO is involved — is the Right Skills Now program.

This month, SSP, the 180-employee manufacturer in Twinsburg, hired three people who interned with the company for eight weeks as part of the Right Skills Now program at area community colleges.

Rick Stockburger, manufacturing engagement manager at ConxusNEO, said attendees at the Thursday event also will hear a talk by Ned Hill, who will focus on the future of manufacturing and how U.S. manufacturing will be affected by President Donald Trump’s administration. Hill is with Ohio State University and the nonpartisan Brookings Institution think tank.

Educators will be able to learn about trends in careers in manufacturing and grant opportunities available through the Gene Haas Foundation, the California group that awards grants in support of manufacturing education.

Katie Byard can be reached at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com. You can follow her @KatieByardABJ  on Twitter or on Facebook at www.facebook.com.

Dec. 29: Summa and its longtime emergency room physician group, Summa Emergency Physicians (SEA), fail to agree on a contract less than 48 hours before expiration.

Dec. 30: Summa announces it is replacing SEA at midnight on Dec. 31 with Canton-based US Acute Care Solutions (USACS).

Dec. 31: SEA turns over care to USACS.

Jan. 1: Summa’s medical residents announce a no-confidence vote in Summa CEO Dr. Thomas Malone.

Jan. 2: Some Summa employees say that they are seeing problems in ER, including longer-than-normal wait times and patients leaving ER without being treated.

Summa says transition is smooth.

Jan. 3: A national health accreditation organization confirms it received a complaint “of a patient safety concern at Summa.”

Jan. 5: More than 250 Summa doctors back a no-confidence vote in Malone and his leadership team.

Jan. 13: Malone tells the Beacon Journal that he is hurt by the physician no-confidence vote, but will not resign.

Jan. 24: A private law firm hired by Summa finds no conflicts of interest with the USACS contract.

The Beacon Journal reports the same law firm previously represented a medical billing company owned by USACS, in a civil lawsuit.

Jan. 26: Malone resigns, saying he has become a distraction. He will stay while Summa searches for a successor.

Feb. 9: A key accreditation body suspends Summa’s emergency medicine residency program effective July 1 and places the health system’s other residency programs on probation. Summa says it will appeal.

Feb. 16, 18: The Beacon Journal reports that the accreditation council found problems with patient care, USACS staff lacked teaching experience and a hostile work environment.

Feb. 20: USACS CEO Dr. Dominic Bagnoli says that if he and his business had not stepped up Jan. 1, Summa’s ERs may have had to turn away patients because no doctors would have been there.

Feb. 24: Summa hires Dr. Cliff Deveny, one of its former executives, as interim president and CEO.

March 12: The Beacon Journal reports that nine registered nurses who work at Akron City ER believe some physicians are putting patients’ lives in danger. Summa disputes the allegations, saying that every doctor is competent and board certified in emergency medicine.

March 13: Deveny becomes interim president and CEO.

Medina

Dangelo, Victoria A., 72, of Medina. Died Friday. Bauer, Valley City.

Cedar Point is used to dealing with rumors.

Usually the speculation swirls over future rides and the fate of old ones such as just what is going on with the closed Mean Streak roller coaster believed to be in the midst of a top secret transformation into a wood-steel hybrid coaster.

This past week, Cedar Point became the target of a fake news story making the rounds on social media that announced the Sandusky park was not going to open this summer.

The quick spread of this particular fake item across the Internet forced the park’s staff to turn to its own social media channels, including Twitter, to dispel the rumor and even post construction pictures of work on its multimillion-dollar redo of its Cedar Point Shores Water Park to show it is gearing up for another summer season.

Park spokesman and social media guru Tony Clark said usually staffers see fake contests or dubious discount ticket offers centered around the park, so this one was a bit different.

“We like to remind guests that unless the information is linked back to the official Cedar Point website or an official social channel of the park, it may not be real and might be worth investigating before proceeding,” he said.

Clark said they were aggressively working to set the record straight.

“We do not comment on general park rumors or speculation,” he said. “However, when we see information that’s blatantly incorrect or has the possibility of misleading guests as it pertains to a big story [i.e., the park will be closed all summer], we are proactive to get the correct info out there.”

As for what’s happening with the Mean Streak, Clark dodged that particular question faster than the Millennium roller coaster screams down the track.

“[The Mean Streak] is no longer at Cedar Point, and I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said.

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