AKRON
Restaurant robbed
AKRON: Akron police say two men stormed into the Long John Silvers on Romig Road around dinner time Monday and demanded money.
Employees told investigators the men fired shots into the ceiling around 5:30 p.m. One of the men forced the manager into a back room and fired another shot while ordering that a safe be opened.
The suspects fled with an undisclosed amount of cash. No employees were injured.
Police say the suspects are two white men ages 25 to 35 years old.
The first suspect was about 6 feet tall and wore an orange hunting outfit with a camouflage bandana covering his face.
The second suspect was about 5 feet, 10 inches tall.
Taxi theft
AKRON: A 21-year-old man was arrested after he used a handgun to steal a taxi Monday night, police said.
Stefan Dalon King of Windsor Street was charged with aggravated robbery, auto theft, burglary and weapons under disability. Police said he brandished a handgun at a taxi driver, ordered him out of the vehicle and took the vehicle.
He crashed the cab and took items from it after the crash, police said.
Authorities said King was picked up at a nightclub by Akron Express Taxi and used a handgun to force the driver out of the taxi in the 300 block of Kline Avenue. He crashed in the 1200 block of Pondview Avenue and walked to North Martha Avenue, taking items from the cab with him.
Police arrested King in the 200 block or North Martha Avenue. The handgun was found inside the taxi.
Foreclosure talk
AKRON: Councilmen Jeff Fusco and Donnie Kammer will co-host a meeting from 6:30 to 8 p.m. today about how to prevent foreclosures.
The meeting will be at Voris Community Learning Center, 1885 Glenmount Ave.
Speakers will be John Valle, Akron’s director of neighborhood assistance, and Michele Colopy of ESOP, a nonprofit HUD-certified housing counseling agency.
They will discuss foreclosure prevention and help available to homeowners.
AKRON SCHOOLS
Fights at Kenmore
AKRON: School administrators called police to Kenmore High School in response to four fights Tuesday.
Sarah Hollander, spokesperson for Akron Public Schools, said no students suffered any major injuries.
Lt. Rick Edwards said a police wagon was summoned to the high school, but no students were arrested.
“The school did not go on lockdown,” Hollander said.
Administrators summoned police as a precaution. Additional officers staffed the school throughout the day to ensure student safety and a smooth dismissal, she said.
Police also patrolled the hallways for loitering students.
Hollander said the reason for the fights is “unclear at this point.”
CANTON
Felons may apply
CANTON: New civil service rules will allow individuals with criminal convictions to apply for some of the roughly 1,000 jobs in city government.
“What has changed is, up to now, anyone with a felony conviction could never apply for a job in Canton; they were automatically banned,” Law Director Joseph Martuccio told the City Council on Monday. “That automatic ban is no longer automatic.”
The Civil Service Commission’s action on Friday eliminated a box on applications that asked prospective employees about felony convictions.
Affected persons will be able to take civil service tests, and, if scoring high enough and generating interest from the hiring authority, may be interviewed.
“At the interview, they have to tell us honestly and completely of any convictions that have happened,” Martuccio said.
They must sign a release allowing the city to search any database to test the truth of an applicant’s disclosure.
Cleveland, Cincinnati and some private companies have joined the movement to “ban the box” on applications that asked about felony convictions, Martuccio said.
Some jobs will continue to be off-limits to people with certain criminal records.
For example, a domestic violence conviction prohibits possession of a firearm, thus precluding employment as a police officer, Martuccio said.
KENT STATE
Record enrollment
KENT: Kent State University set a record for spring enrollment, up 161 students, or 0.4 percent, in the eight-campus system.
The university reported a total of 40,559 students on the 15th day of spring semester, compared to 40,398 last spring.
Enrollment at the Kent campus is 26,461, up 2.7 percent over the same period last year.
For the full enrollment report, go to www.kent.edu/rpie/enrollment.
LAKE TOWNSHIP
Assistant hired
LAKE TWP.: Trustees hired Christopher McInally to be the township’s assistant road superintendent at their meeting Monday night.
McInally will be paid $24.50 per hour in the full-time post.
Trustee Ellis Erb and attorney Charles Hall III were appointed as the township’s representatives to the Tax Incentive Review Council for 2013.
The board approved the attendance of Uniontown police Chief Harold Britt at the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Va. He will join 250 officers from across the country at the 10-week program.
SUMMIT COUNTY
Offices moving
AKRON: The Akron Area YMCA Association Services office will be relocating to space at 50. S. Main St. in downtown Akron today through Friday.
During that time, telephone service to Y branches in the Akron area and the organization’s Internet site might experience interruptions as servers, routers and phone systems are moved.
For more information, call 330-376-1335.
WADSWORTH SCHOOLS
Leader to resign
WADSWORTH: The Wadsworth Board of Education accepted the resignation of Superintendent Dale Fortner at a special meeting Tuesday.
Fortner, who has been with the district for 12 years, said his last day will be June 30.
“I am extremely proud of what our district has been able to accomplish over the last 12 years and feel that with our financial stability, settling the teacher union contract and being close to finishing up the classified employee contract, and closing out our recent construction project that it is a good time to transition to new leadership,” Fortner said in a statement.
The board has hired consultant firm Finding Leaders to aid in the search for Fortner’s replacement. It will make a formal announcement about the resignation at its regularly scheduled board meeting Feb. 11.
“We are going to lose one of the best superintendents in the area,” board President Charles Pfeister said. “It is going to be tough to fill his shoes.”