AKRON
Medicaid support
AKRON: Akron City Council approved a resolution this week supporting Gov. John Kasich’s proposed expansion of Medicaid to low-income Ohio residents.
Kasich included in his proposed two-year state budget an extension of Medicaid health-care coverage to those with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, which is about $15,400 for an individual or approximately $32,000 for a family of four. The governor has asked for support for his proposal.
“The governor has put aside politics,” said Akron Councilwoman Linda Omobien, who proposed the resolution.
Council unanimously approved the resolution.
The expansion would provide health care to an estimated 366,000 people in Ohio and about 22,000 in Summit County, Omobien said.
Fatal crash
AKRON: Akron police said alcohol is the likely cause of a fatal crash early Tuesday morning.
The driver was identified as Michael Lloyd, 34, of Akron. An autopsy showed he died of severe head trauma, according to a spokesman with the Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The crash happened about 1 a.m. when the driver of a 1994 Dodge Ram lost control of the vehicle while traveling at a high rate of speed on East Market Street near Kelly Avenue, police said.
The van went over a sidewalk on East Market, struck a light pole and went airborne about 70 feet, careering down an embankment onto Kelly Avenue.
Police said the driver was not wearing a seat belt and was partially ejected from the van. The driver died at the scene.
Police said alcohol “appears to be a factor in the accident,” but they did not elaborate. Toxicology tests for drugs or alcohol in the driver’s blood are expected to take several weeks.
Mayflower meeting
AKRON: Mayflower Manor residents are invited to talk to a HUD official at the building’s monthly tenant council meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday in the former hotel’s community room.
The building’s 250 or so residents are being displaced within the next two years. The city of Akron wants to purchase the building and upgrade it.
Residents met with city officials last week to learn about relocating to other available housing.
Coach to speak
AKRON: Julie Jones, the University of Akron softball coach, will speak at the Kiwanis lunch at noon Thursday at Portage Country Club, 240 N. Portage Path.
Cost is $15.
For reservations, call 330-643-5517.
CANTON
Questions on trip
CANTON: Councilwoman Mary Cirelli raised questions Monday night about the cost of Mayor William J. Healy II’s trip to China and who is picking up the tab.
Members of the administration were unable to tell her who was paying.
The Akron law firm Brennan, Mannos & Diamond is paying for the economic development trip, according to an article on the company’s website.
Healy is traveling with several Summit County officials, including County Executive Russ Pry, Akron Deputy Mayor Robert Bowman and Akron Planning Director Marco Sommerville.
The trip, which began Feb. 27, ends Sunday.
Healy’s travel budget totals $10,000 this year, city Finance Director Joseph DiRuzza said.
Police innovations
CANTON: Police Chief Bruce Lawver has announced plans Monday to launch two technological crime-fighting tools over the next few months.
ShotSpotter is an acoustic surveillance system that identifies the location of gunshots, the number fired and the direction of the sound.
Sensors would notify police about shootings even before people call 911, he wrote in the spring edition of the Canton Connection, an official publication of the city.
Lawver wrote that shooters often have left the scene by the time police respond.
The chief also touted a system that would allow people to send tips through anonymous text messages.
TIP411 also would allow police to send alerts to residents who voluntarily sign up for the service.
Safety Director Thomas Ream declined to discuss the systems in more detail Tuesday on grounds they still need City Council approval.
CUYAHOGA VALLEY
Park concerns
PENINSULA: The leaders of 11 environment and land conservation groups in Ohio on Tuesday called on President Barack Obama to protect the Cuyahoga Valley National Park from development.
That includes Deb Yandala, CEO of the Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park, a friends-of-the-park group.
The groups called on Obama to protect parks by providing full funding from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, which gets its money from offshore oil leases.
Parks are at risk because money has been diverted from that fund in the past, and the president should provide full funding for parks in fiscal year 2014, the signees said.
The president provided $900 million from that fund in fiscal year 2012.
STARK COUNTY
Body found
MASSILLON: A 74-year-old man found near his neighbor’s front stoop may have died from exposure, presumably trying to seek help after crashing his truck.
The Stark County Coroner’s Office is still investigating but said John Samuel Vales likely died from being outside in freezing temperatures all night and not because of the accident. His 2000 GMC pick-up truck was found nearby and apparently had struck a tree.
Vales, of Kenyon Avenue Southwest, was reported missing by his family just after 6 p.m. Monday, the Stark County Sheriff’s Office reported. The family reported he left home for unknown reasons in the early morning hours and had not returned.
Vales was entered into the Ohio Missing Senior Files with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office and local law enforcement canvassed the area but did not find him.
On Tuesday just before 8 a.m., the sheriff was contacted by a resident a few doors down from Vales’ home to report finding the truck and the body.
SUMMIT COUNTY
Regionalism talk
A community meeting to discuss sustainable development and regionalism will be held at 7 p.m. Monday at Munroe Falls Town Hall, 43 Munroe Falls Ave.
Speakers will include former Geauga County Commissioner Skip Claypool and David Frost, who will give a presentation and discuss the history of sustainable development and regionalism and how the agendas are being implemented in Ohio.
The talk is free and open to the public.
Grief workshop
TALLMADGE: A grief workshop will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Tallmadge Community Center, 80 Community Road.
Author Sara Ruble, whose son died at age 19, will share Grief and Pain: Life’s Greatest Challenges ... It All Has Meaning in a talk sponsored by Conversations and Co., Tallmadge.
The workshop is open to the public.
For more information, call 330-633-2432.
School open house
AKRON: The Lippman School will host an open house at 10 a.m. Tuesday.
The school, at 750 White Pond Drive, Akron, welcomes boys and girls in grades K-8 and is enrolling for the 2013-14 year.
For more information, go to www.TheLippmanSchool.org.
Personal tours also can be scheduled by calling 330-836-0419.
Land talk
AKRON: The March Highland Square block watch meeting will focus on land banking.
Jim Rokakis, director of the Thriving Communities Institute of the Western Reserve Land Conservancy, will be guest speaker at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Highland Square Public Library, 807 W. Market St.
Rokakis, a former Cleveland city councilman and current Cuyahoga County treasurer, will discuss what land banking means to community and neighborhood revitalization. He is now consulting with Summit County on its recently formed Land Reutilization Corporation.
Councilman Frank Comunale of District 4 will host the block watch meeting. District 4 includes part of Akron, Bath and Cuyahoga Falls.
For more information, call the Summit County Council Office at 330-643-2715.