Motorists using state Route 18 through Bath and Copley townships will encounter occasional lane restrictions for road work starting this week, the Ohio Department of Transportation said.
The work, taking place between Hametown Road and Interstate 77, is part of a $7.7 million project to widen Route 18/Medina Road and to resurface the road to the Akron city limit.
The entire project is scheduled to be completed by late June 2017.
U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci announced this morning that he is entering the Ohio governor’s race.
Renacci, R-Wadsworth, makes the third person from the Akron area who has joined the crowded 2018 gubernatorial contest to replace Gov. John Kasich, who can’t run again because of term limits. The others are Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor, a Republican from Green, and former U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton, a Democrat from Copley.
Renacci made his announcement in an email this morning, saying he’s the best candidate because most of his career has been in business and not politics. He touted how he has created more than 1,500 jobs in Ohio and employed more than 3,000 people.
“For far too long, career politicians in both Washington and Columbus have been looking out for themselves, not us, and now more than ever we need a serious, conservative outsider to lead our state who will always put Ohio first,” Renacci said. “We need a leader who will end the ‘pay to play’ sweetheart deals that have corrupted Columbus.”
Renacci announced a campaign website for his campaign: ohiofirst.com.
U.S. Tim Ryan, D-Niles, recently announced he won’t run for governor. His district includes part of Summit County.
The Ohio Department of Transportation says motorists on Interstate 77 in Akron will encounter various lane restrictions from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday for road construction.
The work will take place between Interstate 76 and state Route 261/Vernon Odom Boulevard.
Starting Tuesday, a new statewide law will require motorists to give bicyclists at least three feet of clearance while passing.
HB 154, which passed in December, makes Ohio one of more than half of the states to put in place a three-foot passing law and brings together municipal efforts to legislate the safety of bicyclists. It updates a previous state law requiring drivers to pass bicyclists at a safe distance.
Several Ohio communities already have enacted three-foot bike passing laws.
“I think to have the law statewide, it really gives it validity,” said Jacob Van Sickle, executive director of Bike Cleveland, a local bike advocacy organization. “It’s really about a culture shift and building the policies that help shift the culture of how people drive around a vulnerable road user like someone on a bike.”
Van Sickle would like to see more safety-related laws, likes those regarding distracted driving, handled at a statewide level. In Ohio, a number of municipalities have stricter distracting driving laws on the books than the state.
Under the new law: “The operator of a vehicle overtaking another vehicle shall pass to the left at a safe distance and shall not again drive to the right until safely clear of the overtaken vehicle. When a motor vehicle overtakes and passes a bicycle, three feet or greater is considered a safe passing distance.”
The three-foot passing distance is a standard supported both by the American Automobile Association and the League of American Bicyclists.
To help with enforcement of the new law, Bike Cleveland purchased an electronic device that monitors the distance of passing vehicles. They plan to loan the device, which attaches to bicycles, to police departments. Eventually, the group would like to see departments purchase devices to enforce the three-foot passing law.
Jason Kuhn, communications and events manager for Bike Cleveland, in February tested out the device on the roads of Ohio City.
“No one set it off, which was great,” Kuhn said. However, he said, some drivers don’t know they are permitted to cross a double yellow line to safely pass a bicyclist.
“Drivers don’t realize they can cross that center line,” Kuhn said. “It’s okay to cross the yellow line.”
The Ohio Department of Transportation is starting work this week to widen Interstate 77 in southern Cuyahoga County.
The state agency is expanding I-77 from two to three lanes between Oakes Road and the Ohio Turnpike, a stretch of just over 2 miles.
The $18 million project, taking place in Brecksville and a bit in Richfield, also will include new lighting, signage, concrete barriers and pavement.
The work is expected to be completed by July 2018.
The goal is to reduce congestion and improve safety between Akron and Cleveland. About 60,000 vehicles a day travel in the construction area.
The northbound and/or southbound right lanes on the highway will be closed from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. starting overnight Wednesday through early April.
Kokosing Construction Co. will be doing work on the shoulders so traffic can be shifted in early April while the new lanes are constructed.
The agency said the widening will occur in the median so all traffic lanes will be maintained during the work.
Motorists will encounter reduced speed limits in the area while crews are working. ODOT will use electronic signs to alert drivers about the speeds.
The project is part of an overall widening effort along the highway that already has seen I-77 widened between Oakes Road and Interstate 480.
ODOT also now is studying whether to widen I-77 to three lanes from the turnpike to just south of Ghent Road in Summit County. Those findings will be released to the public in the summer or spring, agency spokesman Justin Chesnic said.
If the study determines that the highway should be widened, ODOT will then seek funding for the project, he said.
Rick Armon can be reached at 330-996-3569 or rarmon@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter at @armonrickABJ .
There’s a new pair of LeBron-endorsed Nike shoes on the market, and some Northeast Ohio youngsters were the first to get a chance to show them off.
Nike and the Akron native announced the release Monday of the LeBron Soldier 10 FlyEase on the shoemaker’s website, Nike.com.
The lace-free shoes range in cost from $80 for kids to $110 for “big” kids and $140 for adults.
The biggest foot they will fit is a size 15 — the same size as the NBA superstar.
Nike said this latest incarnation of the LeBron-themed shoe line has an improved version of the FlyEase technology where the zipper has moved to “a flatter angle to allow for an easier pull around the ankle.”
Another change is the shoe now expands the “mid-foot and heel counter opening, making it easier than ever to put on and take off.”
“One of the key learnings we’ve had in crafting accessible footwear is the importance of easy entry and exit of the shoe, not just simplifying its fastening system,” said Tobie Hatfield, Nike senior director of Athlete Innovation, in a statement. “Eliminating the intricate hand movement of lace tying is important, but if the athlete cannot get their foot into the shoe, lacing becomes a moot point.”
Working closely with a variety of athletes — like James and those whose exploits are contained within the walls of a local gym — Hatfield said Nike “reimagined” this latest version of the Soldier 10 as one that opens up midfoot all the way through the heel counter.
And once it is zipped, Hatfield said, the shoe’s Velcro straps will keep feet comfortably secure.
“It looks just like the traditional Soldier 10, but with a far more generous opening for the foot,” Hatfield said. “Of all the shoes we’ve ever made, this may be the easiest one to get into.”
James hosted young patients from the Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital for Rehabilitation at the Cavaliers’ practice facility when the team was still in town last week and handed out pairs of his new namesake shoes.
James, who serves as Nike’s ambassador for the FlyEase technology, said this all fits into the shoe company’s philosophy that “if you have a body, you’re an athlete” and helps kids and adults to be able to easily put on and take off shoes.
“It’s about us empowering every kid and everybody to understand that we are all athletes,” James said in a statement. “For myself and Nike to be able to collaborate on a project like this has been special since the very first time it was brought to the table.”
Craig Webb can be reached at cwebb@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3547.
AKRON
Soiree benefits program
AKRON: Girls on the Run Northeast Ohio will host its first Sneaker Soiree to raise money for the program from 5:30 to 8 p.m. April 6 at the University of Akron’s InfoCision Stadium, 375 E. Exchange St.
The event will celebrate the 10-year anniversary for the Northeast Ohio chapter of the national program that encourages girls in third through eighth grades to be healthy and confident.
Guests are encouraged to strap on their sneakers in their business attire and join the group for an evening of food and fun.
No girl is ever turned away because they cannot afford the program, organizers said. Fundraisers such as the Sneaker Soiree make that promise possible.
Tickets are $75 and include hors d’oeuvres and beverages. Visit www.gotrNEO.org for more information.
ROADWAY DISRUPTIONS
Expect delays on bridge
AKRON: Motorists may encounter temporary lane restrictions on the North Main Street Bridge, also known as the High Level Bridge, this week as workers inspect the span, Summit County Engineer Al Brubaker said.
Traffic will be maintained, but delays are possible. The work will take place through Friday.
The bridge connects Akron and Cuyahoga Falls.
For updates on the project and others throughout the county, go to http://summitengineer.net.
I-77 lane restrictions
AKRON: The Ohio Department of Transportation says motorists on Interstate 77 in Akron will encounter various lane restrictions from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday for road construction.
The work will take place between Interstate 76 and state Route 261/Vernon Odom Boulevard.
State Route 18 project
COPLEY TWP.: Motorists using state Route 18 through Bath and Copley townships will encounter occasional lane restrictions for road work starting this week, the Ohio Department of Transportation said.
The work, taking place between Hametown Road and Interstate 77, is part of a $7.7 million project to widen Route 18/Medina Road and to resurface the road to the Akron city limit.
The entire project is scheduled to be completed by late June 2017.
RICHFIELD TOWNSHIP
Calling all senior citizens
RICHFIELD TWP. : Every year, the Revere High School PTSA hosts the area’s senior citizens at a complimentary spring breakfast at Revere High School and just prior to a performance of the Revere Players’ spring musical.
This year, the breakfast will take place in the high school cafeteria at 9 a.m. April 19.
At the conclusion of breakfast, guests will be escorted to the auditorium for a performance of The Music Man.
Limited handicap facilities are available, and there is no need to RSVP. For details, call 330-659-9012 or email lynnaaa@aol.com.
CLEVELAND
Plea entered in trooper death
CLEVELAND: A driver suspected of fatally hitting a state trooper along a Cleveland interstate has pleaded not guilty to additional charges that could bring a tougher sentence if he’s convicted.
Thirty-seven-year-old Joshua Gaspar of Columbia Station remained free on $500,000 bond after his court appearance Monday.
He initially pleaded not guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide in the September death of Trooper Kenneth Velez. He was later indicted on more charges, including causing an officer’s death while driving recklessly or under the influence of drugs.
Prosecutors say Gaspar took methadone shortly before the crash and didn’t have a proper license.
His attorney has said that Gaspar took a prescribed dose of methadone issued to him to address a drug addiction, and that his license was valid.
City leaders and social justice advocates are pushing for a local commission to hear discrimination cases and to extend protections to the city’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.
Mayor Dan Horrigan and Councilman Rich Swirsky are co-sponsoring legislation that would form an Akron Civil Rights Commission.
The panel of five to seven Akron residents would hear complaints brought by residents who have been denied employment, housing or access to public amenities based on what they believe to be their age, sex, race, color, creed, religion, national origin, military status, disability or marital status — all currently protected by state and federal law. The city’s proposal also would extend protections for gender identity and sexual orientation.
The proposal would add an option for Akron residents to grieve discriminatory treatment. Currently, residents can complain in civil court or to the Akron branch of the Ohio Civil Rights Commission. Either course triggers a multi-year process. City employees can complain to the Akron Civil Service Commission. Complaints against officers are taken by police auditor Phil Young or filed in civil court.
But there is no option to have peers make the final ruling — especially for complaints based on sexual orientation and preference. If approved, Akron’s proposal would follow others pioneered in Columbus, Cincinnati, Dayton and Toledo.
“It’s a big deal,” said Matt Barlet, director of operations for CANAPI (Community AIDS Network Akron Pride Initiative). In Ohio and 28 other states, members of the gay community can be denied housing or a job based on their sexual orientation or identity, and no law protects them.
Since the mayor spoke of the need for broader inclusion at an LGBT fundraiser in May, CANAPI, Equality Ohio and the Gay Community Endowment Fund have driven local leaders to strengthen Akron’s 2015 designation as a Welcoming City. The effort inspired the #AkronUnited movement, which encompasses 33 local organizations and individuals, including the NAACP, Akron Public Schools, County Executive Ilene Shapiro, equal opportunity offices at Kent State and the University of Akron, the First Congregational Church of Akron and Clerk of Courts Sandra Kurt, who called herself “an openly gay public official” in speaking in favor of the legislation at Monday’s meeting.
For some, having a local and expedited process could mean swifter justice. For others, being protected could mean any justice at all.
“Even in a community as open and welcoming as Akron, I still hear stories of people being evicted or denied housing … or an employer denies them because they are gay,” Barlet said.
“No one should live in fear of being fired, being denied service, or being denied a place to live just because of who they are,” Mayor Horrigan said. “And I truly believe that if Akron is to live up to its reputation as a ‘welcoming city,’ it needs to be more than just words on paper. We must fulfill what the 14th Amendment promises — equal protection for all, not just for some.”
The 16-page piece of legislation was introduced in committee Monday afternoon and will be further discussed and possibly adjusted next week in committee. The legislation, which could be approved next Monday, would take effect immediately, making discrimination law more comprehensive and creating the framework for the Akron Civil Rights Commission.
Complaints, under the proposal, would be with the commission no later than a year after the alleged discrimination. Penalties could include up to $1,000 in fines and anything needed to make the situation right, including the re-employment of inappropriately fired employees and services for customers discriminated against by business owners.
The legislation would cover anyone living, visiting or doing business in the city, as well as businesses that take contracts from the city but may be located elsewhere. The ordinance also would protect anyone barred access to city-owned facilities, including parks.
The hearing process would allow the accuser and the accused to make their cases before a panel of peers. After the legislation passes, the mayor would come back to council for approval of candidates for the commission.
“I want it to be as diverse as possible,” Horrigan said of candidates, some of whom he’s already considered to serve. Panelists would be paid $100 per hearing meeting and would likely include a retired judge or member of the business community, and potentially any resident of the city.
“It’s not going to be all people that used to work for the city or county,” Horrigan said. “This is going to be a good diverse mix of people.”
Doug Livingston can be reached at 330-996-3792 or dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow on Twitter: @ABJDoug .
HARTVILLE: Lake Local Schools on Monday began the expansion and renovation of the middle school and high school, the Canton Repository reports.
The work is part of an ongoing $93 million construction project in the district.
Heading into its fifth anniversary season, Rubber City Shakespeare Company on Friday night announced a name change, new educational programs and its new 2017-18 lineup of shows in downtown Akron.
The news was announced at Rubber City’s gala fundraiser, which featured a performance of the comical The Shakespeare Revue. First, the company will change its name to Rubber City Theatre effective June 20 to reflect its new direction in programming.
Rather than doing nearly all Shakespearean plays, the company will now offer Shakespearean plays, modern classics, musicals and new works. The reason for the change? Rubber City realized it was time to newly distinguish itself as a downtown theater.
“We were getting a lot of people that were confused between us and Ohio Shakespeare Festival now that they’re year-round,’’ operating at Greystone Hall downtown, said Producing Artistic Director Dane Leasure. “It’s giving us greater flexibility to provide professional quality theater at an affordable price, and it’s not just Shakespeare.”
When Rubber City stepped out of its Shakespearean mode to produce the epic musical Aida last winter, the company enjoyed sold-out audiences. The musical was such a huge success, it helped clinch the theater’s decision to widen its artistic offerings for its fifth season.
Rubber City also has added Associate Artistic Director Sarah Bailey to its staff to develop new year-round educational offerings in partnership with Spotlight School of the Arts, run by Marissa Leenaarts in Medina. The Akron theater, which previously had offered mainly in-school workshops, will roll out its new youth education program with camps in June: the Something Rotten Shakespeare Workshop June 12-23 and Greek Week June 26-30, both at Rubber City, at the Well CDC, 647 E. Market St. in downtown Akron.
Rubber City also will offer Disney summer stock opportunities for youth with The Lion King Kids July 10-21 and The Aristocats Kids July 24-Aug. 4. Students ages 7-14 will take technique classes each morning at Spotlight School of the Arts in dance, voice and acting, followed by musical rehearsals in the afternoons, when cast members ages 5-6 will also join them.
On the final day of each camp, the students will put on a fully produced musical at Rubber City Theatre, where kids will help work on the set, make props and create costumes. (See www.rubbercityshakes.com for more information and to sign up for all summer camps.)
“She [Leenaarts] has a gorgeous facility and we have a theater, so we were like, ‘Let’s make this magic happen,’ ’’ Leasure said of the new partnership between the arts studio and theater.
“You are as good as your team, and I’ve been working with Marissa and Dane for a very long time and we are always coming up with ideas’’ for new theater opportunities for young performers, said Bailey, former education director at Weathervane Playhouse, where she worked in various capacities for more than 13 years.
Leasure, currently an adjunct theater instructor at Cuyahoga Community College, formerly worked as education coordinator at Weathervane, where Leenaarts also has served as a teaching artist, choreographer and director.
Another element of Rubber City’s five-year strategic plan includes developing a new works series with new offerings by playwrights, composers and lyricists. The theater also will employ two Equity actors in its fifth season as the small professional company transitions toward operating with a full Equity agreement.
Here’s the new season lineup:
• Pippin Aug. 11-27, with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, book by Roger Hirson. Young prince Pippin searches for true happiness and fulfillment in this musical, which Leasure will direct with a vaudeville-style spin. He chose the musical as a juxtaposition to the story of another prince, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, which comes next in the season.
• Hamlet Oct. 6-22, by William Shakespeare. Rubber City will produce the Shakespearean favorite for the first time, set in a modern context and directed by Leasure.
• A Christmas Carol Dec. 1-23, by Charles Dickens, adapted by Leasure and Casey Robinson, directed by Michele McNeal. Rubber City is reprising the holiday classic that was a hit at the theater last Christmas.
• Twelfth Night Feb. 9-25, 2018, by Shakespeare, directed by Leasure. This story about shipwrecked Viola, who dresses up like a man and is employed in the court of Duke Orsino, features a strong female lead. Rubber City is producing the comedy of mistaken identities for the second time.
• Equivocation April 6-15, 2018, by Bill Cain. The Ohio premiere, directed by Leasure, is a contemporarily written high-stakes political thriller about Shagspeare (an alternate spelling of the Bard’s name), who is confronted with a moral and artistic dilemma when he is commissioned in 1605 to write the “true historie” of a terrorist plot to assassinate King James I.
• The Crucible June 8-24, 2018, by Arthur Miller. Rubber City chose this drama, directed by Chris Simmons, to dive into a modern classic. The story about the Puritan witch trials in Salem is both a gripping historical play and a timely parable of contemporary society.
Arts writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com. Like her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/kclawsonabj or follow her on Twitter @KerryClawsonABJ .
It’s been a month since a missing Medina County township trustee was found dead in a lake, and investigators have yet to determine how he died.
Medina County Coroner Lisa Deranek said at a news conference on Feb. 23 — two days after Bryon Macron’s body was discovered floating in Chippewa Lake — that Macron’s autopsy report would be complete in two weeks. March 9 marked two weeks since the news conference.
Contacted Monday, Deranek said she has reached out to the Cuyahoga Medical Examiner’s Office, which handled the autopsy for Medina. Investigators told her Cuyahoga’s cases have taken precedence over Medina’s cases.
“We have nothing yet,” she said. “The autopsy report isn’t done, and the toxicology report isn’t done.”
In the meantime, authorities will not release more information about Macron’s death. Authorities refused to answer questions at the press conference four weeks ago and have denied attempts to view preliminary reports, even though a little-known state law allows journalists — and no one else — to inspect certain records.
Until more information is released, the public is left to speculate on what happened to Macron, 45.
What’s known is that Macron went missing on Dec. 16. He left his home in Lafayette Township early that morning, though authorities won’t say how early. At about 7:30 a.m., a township employee discovered Macron’s office at the township hall in disarray. Using OnStar services, authorities discovered his vehicle in a parking lot next to the frozen lake where Macron’s body was later discovered.
Investigators found blood in his office and the vehicle, but have refused to say how much or where specifically it was found. Prior to his body’s discovery, they labeled the case “suspicious.”
Authorities searched the lake on foot and by air, but did not find his body. Medina County Sheriff Tom Miller assured reporters at the news conference that the search was “thorough.”
His body was discovered by a kayaker on Feb. 21, during a period of warm weather that melted the ice on the lake. The kayaker said Macron was fully clothed and his body was bloated, as if he’d been in the water for a long time. He was able to identify the body as Macron when reporters showed him a photo of the trustee’s face. Authorities confirmed the body was Macron’s the next day.
Macron leaves behind a wife, Victoria, and three daughters. He worked as a national sales representative for a jewelry wholesaler. He once served in the U.S. Marines and had been a township trustee since 2010.
Nick Glunt can be reached at 330-996-3565 or nglunt@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @NickGluntABJ and on Facebook @JournoNickGlunt .
A business group is hoping to get a train depot built in Akron’s Merriman Valley.
Whether that’s possible, however, isn’t clear to the many entities that would be involved.
The newly formed Merriman Valley Business Association has posted a petition on Change.org encouraging the construction of the building, which would serve as a stop for the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad.
“I don’t like to call it a petition. I like to call it a letter of encouragement,” said Karen Zampelli, an association member who posted the document.
As of early this week, the petition had 371 signatures toward its goal of 500. It can be found at http://tinyurl.com/merrimandepot.
The business group is suggesting situating the depot on land along Riverview Road, between the Greater Akron Motorcycle Club and the Valley Dental Group. The land is owned by the Summit Metro Parks.
The hope is that passengers on the scenic railroad might stop when the train passes through the valley and visit the shops, restaurants and other businesses there, Zampelli said. It’s one of several ideas the group is floating to attract visitors, including a farmers market and better signage for the nearby Towpath Trail, she said.
The idea is in its infancy, however, and it’s not clear who would pay for the depot if one were built.
The train runs between Independence and the northern edge of Akron’s downtown, traveling for most of its route through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. It is owned and operated by the nonprofit Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, but the National Park Service owns and maintains the tracks, said Pam Barnes, community engagement supervisor for the park service.
“No one has contacted us about this,” Barnes said, although she said the park welcomes ideas from the community. She said the proposal would need to be evaluated by the parties involved, and she doesn’t know whether the project would be pursued.
Barnes noted building a depot would involve not just the cost of construction, but also personnel and money to maintain it. Most depots along the line are unstaffed but have bathrooms that require regular maintenance, she said.
“Venturing outside our park boundaries is quite a big decision,” she said. “There would be a lot to discuss.”
The land proposed for the depot is considered wetland, so building a depot might not be possible there, said Nate Eppink, chief of community engagement for Summit Metro Parks. The park district is aware of the petition, although it has not been contacted by the organizers, Eppink said.
The Cuyahoga Valley railroad referred questions to Dan Rice, president and CEO of the Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition, a nonprofit organization that supports preservation and development along the route of the Ohio & Erie Canal. The railroad was contacted before its new CEO, Joseph Mazur, started his job this week.
Rice said he’s heard talk of a Merriman Valley depot for several years.
“On the one hand, it makes sense,” he said, but where a depot would be located and who would pay for it would need to be worked out. He speculated the project might require the National Park Service to buy more land.
If the petition gets 500 signatures, it would be presented to several Akron council members and to officials with the railroad and the Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park, a nonprofit organization that supports the park.
Mary Beth Breckenridge can be reached at 330-996-3756 or mbrecken@thebeaconjournal.com. You can follow her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MBBreckABJ or on Twitter @MBBreckABJ .
Chloe the kinkajou stole the show.
Chloe, one of the Akron Zoo’s animal ambassadors, was the star of an annual presentation Monday by the zoo before Summit County Council.
“The animal ambassadors serve a tremendous role at the zoo. They serve a role in all of our education programs, in our outreach programs and in the ability to directly connect people and wildlife,” said Doug Piekarz, zoo president and chief executive officer.
Council members were clearly mesmerized by the presence of 12-year-old Chloe, whose species is native to the rainforest canopies of Central and South America. Kinkajous are also known as honey bears because their favorite food is honey, said Todd Boerner, zoo education specialist. He held Chloe and walked around the council chamber, letting council members pet her as he talked about the kinkajou and the ambassador program.
“You guys can check her out,” he said.
The zoo has had Chloe since she was a year old, and the species has lived to be more than 40 at other zoos, Boerner said.
And while Chloe looks monkeylike, she is not a monkey, he said.
“Her closest relative is the raccoon,” he said.
Chloe and other Akron Zoo animal ambassadors take part in hundreds of educational presentations annually at schools, Boerner said.
The Akron Zoo finished 2016 with record high attendance of 398,878 on-site visitors, Piekarz said.
In addition, the zoo remains on schedule to open its new exhibit, Curious Creatures, on June 3, he said. The exhibit, which will feature naked mole rats, electric eels and much more, including animal-eating plants, will take up completely redesigned space that previously held the Journey to the Reef exhibit.
In another presentation that followed, Heidi Swindell, director of administration, government affairs, talked about County Engineer Al Brubaker’s proposal for a new Surface Water Management District. The plan addresses stormwater runoff and flooding issues in Summit County.
Brubaker earlier in the month unveiled the new proposal to the Summit County Township Association, asking the organization to respond to him by the end of the month. Eight of the nine association members took part in a workshop Monday on the district proposal.
The voluntary program, if approved, also gives other county villages and cities the option to join.
Under Brubaker’s latest plan, residential property owners would pay a minimum of $4 a month. Commercial property owners would pay a separate fee.
Voters in 2014 voted against a proposed sales tax that would have directed a portion of the new revenue to deal with stormwater issues.
Also Monday, the council:
• Approved 2.5 percent pay raises for 634 nonunion county employees. The raises work out to an average of $1,617.17 per nonunion employee. The percentage increase matches what county union employees are getting this year. The salary budget increase totals $1,027,828.
• Gave initial approval to joining the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council, or NOPEC, and adopting an opt-out natural gas aggregation program for county residents.
• Confirmed an award not to exceed $225,000 for a one-year professional service contract with the Battered Women’s Shelter of Summit and Medina Counties for homeless prevention services.
• Approved an increase in annual salary to $8,190 each for the three-member county Human Resource Commission. The increase means the three commission members qualify for the minimum service credit threshold for the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System.
Jim Mackinnon can be reached at 330-996-3544 or jmackinnon@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him @JimMackinnonABJ on Twitter or www.facebook.com/JimMackinnonABJ
GREEN: City leaders are considering building a third fire station, possibly in the northeast sector where residential, business and industrial growth continues.
No decisions have been made, but the process is starting to take shape, Fire Chief Jeffrey Funai said.
Since 1997 — five years after Green became a city – its leaders have been talking about when a third fire station would be needed to improve fire and emergency medicine services in the growing community.
An outside firm provided a study that would create a five-station plan with a central fire station and four others to cover each corner of the city.
The central fire station on Massillon Road is in place as is Station 2 on state Route 619 at Cottage Grove Road, from which most of the western portion of Green is covered.
An in-house committee recently formed to study the old plan and current information to come up with recommendations for a new station’s design and location.
“Based purely on the 6-mile square shape of Green, the 1997 model makes great sense,” said Funai, who joined the Green department 22 years ago. “We have to come up with a model we can afford though. We may get there someday.”
There is no determination at this point as to what the proposal will cost, said Funai, whose department costs last year were $6.6 million. The department’s budget this year is $7.7 million, including a new ambulance, according to the city’s finance director.
“Station 3 has been a part of the capital projects list [for some time], but it just has not scored well enough to be funded as we move forward,” he said. “However, I think it is rising toward the top.”
The department’s calls and alarms last year totaled 3,638, an increase of about 10 percent from 2015. Station 1 handled 66.5 percent of the calls, while Station 2 responded to 32.5 percent. Both stations responded together on 1 percent of the calls, Funai said.
Funai said the firefighters union deserves a big “thank you” for agreeing to a new staffing clause for a potential Station 3 in the contract that is now in effect. If Station 3 becomes a reality, minimum daily staffing would climb from nine to 11 total covering the city.
Funai said the proposed station would have two fire/medics and a lieutenant each day just like Station 2.
“That was very important from the city’s perspective to be able to quantify what the staffing situation would be so budgets can be made and discussions can be had,” said the chief, whose department now has 41 fire/medics plus the chief and assistant chief and seven full-time and eight part-time dispatchers.
The department continues to seek grants and other sources that could help defray the cost to taxpayers for the possible expansion.
Asked whether grants and other sources are known, Funai responded: “If we can find one, we want to take advantage of it. Absolutely.
“We understand we are a growing city, and we have lots of needs,” he said. “But this has been on the radar for a long time. And we are trying to make sure by having those discussions that we are doing this at the right time.”
George W. Davis can be reached at mediaman@sssnet.com
“I had no choice.”
That’s what William Knight, 63, told police dispatchers after he killed a man in Akron’s Goodyear Heights neighborhood on Monday night.
Knight, who has a permit to carry a concealed weapon, shot 24-year-old Keith Johnson in the head at about 9 p.m. According to 911 recordings, Knight and his family went to the 700 block of Danmead Avenue in response to a Craigslist ad selling a dirt bike that matched the description of a bike that was stolen from his son-in-law last year. A 911 caller told a dispatcher the bike was worth $4,000. The situation escalated to an altercation, according to reports, and Knight opened fire.
Knight, of Streetsboro, was arrested. He’s charged with involuntary manslaughter and felonious assault.
Three people called 911 over the course of the altercation.
In one of the calls, Knight’s daughter said she, her husband and her father were supposed to have a police officer with them to retrieve the bike, but the officer had to go to another call. The family opted to meet up with Johnson anyway.
The shooting happened while she was on the phone with dispatchers. She was requesting police because the situation was growing aggressive. The sound of a revving dirt bike engine could be heard for several seconds, and then the woman returned to say her father had shot Johnson.
That’s when Knight took the phone from his daughter.
“Did you just shoot the man?” the dispatcher asked.
“I had to,” Knight said, alleging that Johnson had tried to flee and that he could have hurt his family members.
Knight’s said his son-in-law tried to hold on to the bike to prevent Johnson from riding away.
Knight was cooperative with the dispatcher following the incident. He spoke calmly and even gave his Social Security number to the dispatchers to confirm his identity. When a dispatcher expressed concern that he was still armed, Knight said he put the gun on the ground by a nearby fire hydrant.
Another caller was Johnson’s girlfriend, who was hysterical. Johnson had just been shot when she called.
“They shot my boyfriend,” she said through tears.
When asked if he was responding, the woman cried that he wasn’t.
The third caller was seemingly a passerby. He described the situation before the shooting and requested that police get there soon because Johnson and the others were fighting.
Police could not be reached for comment. It’s unclear if the dirt bike was the same one that was stolen last year. It’s also unclear if Johnson was the thief.
Nick Glunt can be reached at 330-996-3565 or nglunt@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @NickGluntABJ and on Facebook @JournoNickGlunt .
Maybe representing himself wasn’t such a great idea.
A Summit County jury found a Cleveland man who served as his own lawyer guilty of charges filed against him for a series of break-ins at local businesses.
Richard Reinbold, a visiting judge in Summit County Common Pleas Court, sentenced Andre Yeager Tuesday to 4½ years in prison.
Yeager, 47, had Job Esau Perry as his standby attorney in the event he needed legal advice, but otherwise handled his own defense in a trial that began last Thursday.
Yeager was charged with four counts of breaking and entering, as well as receiving stolen property, possessing criminal tools, driving under suspension, and obstructing official business. The charges of driving under suspension and possession of criminal tools were dismissed in the course of the trial.
Prosecutors said Yeager was involved in break-ins at four local businesses between 2013 and 2016 in which someone rammed a vehicle into a door or window and then stole items from inside. They say Yeager’s DNA matched DNA samples found at the scenes of three of the four break-ins.
Prosecutors said Yeager might be linked to as many as 15 break-ins at businesses in the Akron area.
Yeager, however, claimed to be innocent in his opening statement in the trial.
“You are the only buffer for me staying free,” he told the jury. “I have a lot to lose today.”
Yeager didn’t testify in the trial and put on no witnesses in his defense.
The jury returned guilty verdicts at 5:45 p.m. Monday except for one of the breaking-and-entering charges on which they were deadlocked. Jurors resumed deliberations Tuesday morning and reported a guilty verdict on the final charge about noon Tuesday.
Assistant Summit County Prosecutor Ty Graham suggested to Reinbold that Yeager receive 5½ years, the maximum penalty possible after the two charges were dismissed. Graham also requested that Yeager be required to pay restitution to the businesses from which he stole high-end optical frames, liquor and cigars.
Yeager suggested that the judge sentence him to one year.
Perry said Yeager plans to appeal.
“He had his day in court,” Perry said.
Yeager previously was convicted of break-ins at Akron area businesses, including a string of 100 “cigarette bandit” thefts in the early 2000s in which someone drove a stolen car through plate-glass widows of businesses, stepped over the broken glass and stole dozens of cigarette cartons.
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
Our City, Our Ward
AKRON: An Our City, Our Ward free community open house will be held from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at Buchtel Community Learning Center, 1040 Copley Road.
Ward 4 Councilman Russ Neal has requested the attendance of area leaders, including state Rep. Emilia Sykes, Sen. Vernon Sykes, Akron Public Schools Superintendent David James and Summit County Councilman David Hamilton. Mayor Dan Horrigan and Congresswomen Marcia Fudge cannot attend due to scheduling conflicts, but may send representatives instead to the free event.
At 10:30 a.m., residents will hear elected officials talk about their vision for the neighborhood. Participants also can explore available services and opportunities to get involved in the community, such as organizing a neighborhood club or block watch, creating community gardens or volunteering.
The morning will begin with Community Wellness Circles hosted by Project Ujima in collaboration with Summa Hospital, as part of an effort to combat infant mortality and promote healthy living. Table displays featuring neighborhood businesses and community organizations can be viewed throughout the event.
KENT STATE STARK
ABC show host to give talk
JACKSON TWP.: John Quinones, reporter and anchor/host of ABC News’ What Would You Do?, a hidden camera ethical dilemma series, Quinones will be the final presenter of the 26th season of the Kent State University at Stark Featured Speakers Series at 7:30 p.m. April 19 at the campus’s Conference Center.
He will present Words of Wisdom About Doing the Right Thing, based on what he has seen and learned from the series.
Tickets are required for this free event and may be obtained by visiting the Kent State Stark Information Desk in the Main Hall beginning at 8 a.m. Monday. A limit of two tickets will be distributed per person while supplies last.
For more information on Kent State Stark’s Featured Speakers Series, contact Kelly Simonis at 330-244-3223 or ksimonis@kent.edu or visit www.kent.edu/stark/featured-speakers-series.
COLUMBUS
Spousal rape bill hearing
COLUMBUS: A proposal to eliminate legal protections for Ohioans who commit sex offenses, including rape and sexual battery, against their spouse is getting its first hearing in the state legislature.
The bill introduced by Democratic Reps. Greta Johnson, of Akron, and Kristin Boggs, of Columbus, aims to change a law that treats marital rape differently from other forms of rape. The sponsors say Ohio is one of 13 states that provide spousal exceptions for rape and other sex-related offenses.
Current state law requires there to be “force or threat of force” in order for sexual assault by a spouse to be considered rape. That language excludes from prosecution cases where a spouse may have been drugged, for example.
The legislation was before the House Criminal Justice Committee on Tuesday.
Halfway house fails audit
COLUMBUS: A state audit says officials at a southern Ohio halfway house illegally spent thousands of taxpayer dollars on alcohol, hotels, travel costs for family members and a strip club.
The audit released Tuesday also says employees of STAR Community Justice Center in Scioto County forged receipts for personal and unauthorized purchases.
The report from Auditor David Yost found $20,000 in illegal spending, with about half involving conferences in Las Vegas, Reno, Orlando and Pittsburgh. The report said two center officials spent $170 at a Columbus strip club in December 2014.
The report cited former deputy director Josh Saunders for improperly spending $12,042, and executive director Charles Philabaun for improperly spending $5,965.
Messages seeking comment on the allegations were left for attorneys representing Saunders and Philabaun.
The Ellet IGA — the last IGA grocery store in the greater Akron area — is closing.
But with its closing, the store’s home delivery service will be purchased by Acme Fresh Markets.
Jim Trout, the president of the Akron-based Acme chain, said he sees it as an opportunity to enter and expand into a new market of grocery pickup and delivery.
“We are jumping into the deep end of the pool on delivery,” Trout said during a phone interview Tuesday. Trout said he recently read an article saying consumers are expecting grocery delivery by 2020. “For Acme, we’ve got to experiment with this business. This gives us an opportunity.”
The details of Acme’s foray into home delivery of groceries and pickup at the store are still being worked out, Trout said. He confirmed that he has a tentative agreement with the owners of the Ellet IGA and its Hometown Grocery Delivery service, which was based out of the store.
Trout said initially, Acme will fulfill delivery orders for existing customers of the Ellet IGA while deciding how to implement the program at the Ellet Acme and eventually at its other 15 stores. Trout said he and his team need to look at costs and logistics for the Hometown Grocery Delivery service, which charged $10 for delivery.
“We do what our consumers expect us to do. I’m very happy about it. It’s a new venture for us,” Trout said.
Jeffrey LeBlanc, who owned the Ellet IGA with three other local investors, said despite marketing efforts, the grocery delivery service never caught on big with key customer segments, including working parents. It was popular with shut-ins or older customers, he said.
“The intention was it would eventually become its own business, but the problem is it couldn’t make up for the loss of sales in the store itself,” he said.
Competition from a variety of stores, not just grocery stores, is the reason the Ellet store is closing, said LeBlanc.
“The market has changed,” said LeBlanc. “Any drug store you go into ... they all look like a grocery store now. They’re selling the packaged goods. I know people who don’t even go to a grocery store; they eat out all the time.”
The grocery store business is already an industry with a small profit margin, so the addition of groceries in other retail stores, including gourmet grocery stores, slices into the already small pie, LeBlanc said.
Last locally owned
The store, at 255 Darrow Road, was the last of the locally owned Independent Grocers Alliance stores. The IGA chain was founded in 1926 to bring together independent grocers to allow family-owned stores to compete with growing chain competition. The Ellet store was purchased by LeBlanc’s group in 2006 from a retiring owner. LeBlanc said the store has probably been open about 30 years.
In 2013, the Portage Lakes IGA was purchased by Wooster-based Buehler’s Fresh Foods and reopened as a smaller-format Buehler’s.
In 2015, LeBlanc’s group, which also owned the Firestone Park IGA, closed that location, citing low sales.
The Ellet IGA will stay open until the middle of April, when it will go to weekends only until the inventory is liquidated, LeBlanc said.
Acme has offered to interview any of the 26 employees who would like jobs at area Acme stores, said Trout, who recently went to meet with the Ellet IGA employees.
“Acme is always looking for good people. We told them their first job is at the Ellet IGA and I’m trying to provide a transition for them. The supermarket business needs experienced people,” he said.
Trout said Acme has considered buying the Ellet IGA a few times, but the location is too close to the Acmes in Ellet and Tallmadge, and the store size is too small for an Acme.
“It’s a local business. We’re always sad to see a local business close,” he said.
LeBlanc said his group of investors did not own the building housing Ellet IGA and the closure of the store and sale of the delivery business will put an end to their investments.
“We were all employed by other companies around in Akron. This was not our first job. Our intention was to build this business. It’s unfortunate,” he said.
Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at 330-996-3724 or blinfisher@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her @blinfisherABJ on Twitter or www.facebook.com/BettyLinFisherABJ and see all her stories at www.ohio.com/betty.
पीडित
That translates to “victim” in Nepali.
The Summit County Prosecutor’s Office is reaching out to crime victims from different cultures by speaking their language.
A new outreach campaign starting this week features messages in English and three other languages: Spanish, Nepali and Arabic. The effort will include 320 ads on the sides, backs and inside Metro RTA buses and 10 billboards throughout Akron with contact information for the prosecutor’s office and other agencies that assist crime victims.
“The whole point is awareness, information and sending the message that we care about crime victims,” said Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh. “A lot of times, victims have no idea how much help is available.”
The campaign is part of a continuing effort by Summit County victim agencies to assist underserved populations. The Battered Women’s Shelter, for example, provides brochures in Spanish, French, Arabic, Nepali and Burmese.
“We all need to do a better job of making sure we don’t have people in the community who are not getting services,” Walsh said.
The newest outreach effort is being funded with $14,200 in Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) grants, along with $3,500 from the prosecutor’s office. The bus signs with the messages debuted Monday and the billboards will be erected by the first week of April, which also is National Crime Victim’s Week.
The ads on the side of buses say: “Are you a crime victim? You are not alone. We can help.” The ads inside the buses include the statistic that more than 20,000 Summit County residents are victims of crime each year.
The prosecutor’s office is deciding where the billboards should be located. The locations will include spots likely to be read by people from different cultures, including one in North Hill, which has a large number of Nepali-speaking people.
Metro provided the prosecutor’s office with the same discounted advertising rate it gives all nonprofit agencies.
The prosecutor’s office, which has never done a campaign like this, may do it again in September as part of its annual senior safety awareness effort. This follow-up effort would be funded with drug-seizure funds.
The prosecutor’s office, which serves about 2,000 victims a year in Summit County Common Pleas Court and Summit County Juvenile Court, consulted with the International Institute of Akron and Asia Inc. for input on which languages should be included.
Elizabeth Walters, the community outreach coordinator for the International Institute, said the agency is pleased by the prosecutor’s campaign. She said reaching people in their native language is important.
“We’re encouraged to see when community leaders take the proactive approach and reach out,” said Walters, whose agency provides services to people who speak all of the languages included in the prosecutor’s campaign.
Isaac Baez, a victim advocate for the Battered Women’s Shelter who works with immigrants and refugees, said this population has language and cultural barriers that could prevent them from seeking help. For example, he said, some cultures frown upon getting a divorce even if the relationship is abusive.
The Battered Women’s Shelter gives a monthly presentation at the International Institute to provide refugees with information on the services offered by the shelter and the Rape Crisis Center, two affiliated agencies.
“We’re here to help people out for intimate partner violence,” Baez said. “We really do want everyone to come in to receive that help.”
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at 330-996-3705, swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com and on Twitter: @swarsmithabj .
City Hall is having trouble giving away money.
Last year, the council set aside $100,000 for community-based grants, which would help neighborhood groups that come up with matching funds to do clean-up, beautification and other projects.
As of early March, the groups — many repeat applicants — had made 26 submissions asking for a total of $23,577. The city’s Department of Neighborhood Assistance, which administers the grant program, denied more than half.
Only $10,635 of the $100,000 — or barely $1 for every $10 — has been approved or is pending as the city opens the 2017 grant period.
The window to submit applications was extended by two months last year. But even if all 26 applications had requested and received the maximum $1,000 amount, $74,000 would have been left on the table to be absorbed into the city’s general fund.
This year, Councilman Russ Neal has asked for the application process to begin earlier. Instead of seeing the first applications in June or July, he wants them to start now.
Neal’s West Akron ward has not done well in applying for or receiving these $250 to $1,000 grants.
“We want to be able to empower more groups,” said Neal, who differentiated between the well-oiled, grant-seeking machines in neighborhood economic organizations and the packs of residents who see a need but lack the expertise to get funded.
Learning curve
In its first two years amid a shuffle in the city’s law department, the Our City Our Akron grant program was not widely broadcast to the community. Applicants ran into myriad issues.
“I think part of it is us doing a better job of getting the information out and part of it is the way the grant process is crafted,” Neal said.
John Valle, whose Department of Neighborhood Assistance dispenses the grants, hosted an informational and planning session last week at Summit Lake to brief residents on the program and how to apply. Valle plans to hit each of Akron’s 12 community centers in the coming months, usually in conjunction with regularly scheduled council ward meetings.
Beyond better communication, there’s something to be learned about setbacks experienced by past applicants. They’ve been rejected for not partnering with nonprofit organizations, for proposing giveaways, for planning festivals or fundraisers, or because their requests would have benefited only a sliver of the broader Akron community.
“The reason that ours was denied, and I have the denial letter in front of me, it’s saying that the mission is to support public projects that benefit the entire neighborhood, not just one agency or one small group of people,” said Becky Hewit, the grant manager at the Battered Women’s Shelter in Akron.
The proposal Hewit submitted sought $1,000 to renovate an enclosed playground for children of women in the shelter’s care. Hewit noted that despite the application denial, “the city has been extremely kind to us in obtaining funding” for other renovations and support.
Rodney Dennis, a local entrepreneur and role model for young black men, applied in 2015 and 2016 for a grant to buy and give away socks and belts, particularly to eliminate an issue he says prevents urban youth from getting jobs and gaining respect.
“I’m in an urban area and we have an issue with sagging pants. It’s real. Kids walk around with their butts showing and it’s an issue,” Dennis said.
He was awarded the grant in 2015 but denied for the same proposal in 2016 because new leadership in the law department determined his request constituted a “giveaway.”
Part of his program educates youth on saggy pants, a fad that grew out of American prisons. Inmates were often given clothing a few sizes too big but not belts, which could be used to harm themselves or others. Some say inmates let their pants droop to signal homosexual advances.
In the mid-1990s, the fad was embraced by rappers who owned an unfortunate piece of the black experience.
“With me, I understand both sides,” Dennis said as a black man who recently opened a second barber shop downtown. His goal, as with upcoming job fairs for local youth, was to show young men what it takes to be successful, from accessing grants and loans to filing paperwork to start a business to being presentable along the way. “My program was to help the situation. All I wanted to do is purchase belts and give them away in front of my barber shop or any place that could help, like schools, to anyone who needed them.”
‘Sweat equity’
Neal suggested that Dennis and others learn from the successes of the Akron’s Neighborhood Partnership Program, an older grant program that distributed about $250,000 last year from the Akron Community Foundation and federal community block grant funds funneled through the city. That program also requires a dollar-for-dollar match, sometimes paid in man hours when money is tight.
Neal said Dennis could get 20 boys to each give five hours of their time to fix or clean up yards and houses owned by the elderly. At $10 per hour, their “sweat equity” would total $1,000, enough to unlock the money needed to buy the belts and socks.
“That’s the way that those guys can accomplish their goal,” said Neal. “It’s part of the overall learning process on both sides as we try to fine tune the [Our City Our Akron] program.”
Neal would also like for council members to have the final say on whether grant applications are approved or denied, “because they know who’s working in their wards and who should be rewarded.”
Doug Livingston can be reached at 330-996-3792 or dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow on Twitter: @ABJDoug .