AKRON
Mayors to meet
AKRON: Mayor Don Plusquellic will attend a U.S. Conference of Mayors’ session on racism and discrimination today in Birmingham, Ala.
Plusquellic, a past president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, will moderate a panel discussion on building tolerance.
The mayors event is being held in tandem with Empowerment Week, marking Birmingham’s involvement in the civil rights movement of 1963 and the 50th anniversary of the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church, which killed four young girls.
The conference of mayors will release a 10-point plan to end racism and discrimination and is establishing the U.S. Coalition of Cities Against Racism and Discrimination, a network of communities working together to improve their policies to fight racism, discrimination, xenophobia and exclusion, according to a news release.
C-SPAN plans to cover the event.
Valle plans hours
AKRON: John Valle, the city’s director of neighborhood assistance, will host office hours at two community centers this month.
Scheduled sessions are: noon to 2 p.m. Tuesday at Firestone Park, 1480 Girard St.; and 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sept. 25 at Lawton Street, 1225 Lawton St.
AKRON SCHOOLS
Safety programs
AKRON: As part of an ongoing partnership with the Akron Police Department, Akron schools are holding informational meetings at each high school throughout September to inform the public of the A.L.I.C.E. program.
The effort helps prepare teachers and staff to handle an active shooter in a school building.
The first meeting was Wednesday at East.
Remaining meetings, all starting at 6 p.m. are tonight at Ellet, Monday at Garfield, Wednesday at Firestone, Sept. 19 at Kenmore, Sept. 23 at North and Sept. 25 at Buchtel.
CAMPAIGN TRAIL
Coughlin on ballot
AKRON: Former state Sen. Kevin Coughlin has been added to the Nov. 5 ballot for Stow Municipal Court clerk.
The Summit County Board of Elections, which met for Tuesday’s election, certified Coughlin’s petitions as a nonpartisan candidate. The Ohio Supreme Court on Monday ordered the board to grant Coughlin ballot access.
Coughlin filed suit with the Ohio Supreme Court after the board disqualified him on the basis that he couldn’t run nonpartisan because of his past affiliations with the Republican Party. He argued that he should be permitted to run nonpartisan, just as Stow Municipal Judge Kim Hoover is attempting in the Nov. 5 election.
Renacci breakfast
GREEN: A breakfast with U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci will be held Monday at the Global Gateway Event and Conference Center, 5441 Global Gateway, just west of Akron-Canton Airport.
The registration and breakfast will be at 7:30 a.m., followed by the program at 8 a.m. The program is sponsored by the Green Chamber of Commerce and other chambers in Renacci’s 16th House District.
Renacci, R-Wadsworth, will answer questions and address the concerns of audience members.
For reservations, call, 330-896-3023 or email info@greencoc.org.
GREEN
Fundraiser run
GREEN: The third annual Bulldog Bash 5K and 1-mile fun run will take place at 8 a.m. Oct. 6 at Green Memorial Stadium.
The race will benefit Greenwood Early Learning Center and Green Primary School.
Through Wednesday, registration is $20 per runner for the 5K and $10 per runner/walker for the 1-mile fun run. The cost is $25 for both events. Registration fees increase $5 after Wednesday.
Last year, more than 920 people participated. Race entries, student pledges, and sponsorships combined to generated almost $30,000. This year’s goal is to raise $40,000.
For sponsorship information or to register, go to www.greenbulldogdash.com.
KENT STATE
Student in pageant
KENT: A master’s degree student at Kent State University will compete at 9 p.m. Sunday in the annual Miss America Pageant.
Heather Wells of Warren will be among 53 women who will compete for prize money in Atlantic City, N.J.
Wells was named Miss Ohio at the state pageant in June on her sixth try. She has competed in pageants since a very young age, reigning as Tiny Miss Canfield Fair at age 3.
She is enrolled as a post-undergraduate student in Kent State’s nutrition master’s program with a goal of becoming a registered dietitian.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism with a minor in dance from KSU in 2012.
She aims to be a health-care journalist for a major news network.
Her platform issue is divorce recovery for youth.
The pageant will be broadcast on ABC.
NAVARRE
Railroad upgrade
NAVARRE: The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio on Wednesday approved upgrading the Tuscarawas Street railroad crossing in the village.
Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway will install mast-mounted flashing lights and roadway gates at the crossing, the agency said. The railroad is responsible for completing construction by June 11.
Federal money will pay for the upgrade.
The PUCO is responsible for evaluating Ohio’s public crossings to determine the need for installing active warning devices. The annual number of train-motor vehicle crashes in Ohio has decreased from 123 in 2001 to 71 in 2012.
STARK COUNTY
Request withdrawn
PLAIN TWP: Developers Bob DeHoff and Bill Lemmon have withdrawn their request to rezone property at Edgewood Golf Course in Plain Township.
The developers had requested that the 114-acre tract off Market Avenue North be rezoned to allow apartments and senior housing, along with single-family homes.
Township residents jammed into GlenOak High School for a public hearing of the township’s zoning commission Aug. 14 to protest the zone change. The commission then recommended denial of the request.
The Stark County Regional Planning Commission previously had recommended approval for the zone change.
That split put the matter in the hands of township trustees.
It would have taken a unanimous vote of the trustees to overturn the negative recommendation of the township zoning commission, and it appeared that was not going to happen at the next meeting, set for Sept. 24.
Trustees said their meeting that day will return to its regular location and start time: 6 p.m. at township hall.
New phone feature
CANTON: The Stark County Sheriff’s Office will soon be able to give recorded answers to common questions about jail inmates, such as court dates, commissary balances and visiting hours.
County commissioners on Wednesday approved a contract with Securus Technologies, of Dallas, to add the automated service at a cost of $875 a month to an existing contract for inmate telephone service.
It is expected to save about $100,000 a year in staff time spent handling routine questions.
The board also approved the purchase of 11 Ford Explorer Police Interceptors with all-wheel drive from George Waikem Ford of Perry Township. The total price for the 2014 models for the sheriff’s office is $322,545.
Commissioners agreed to advertise for proposals to add electronic filing capabilities for all county court offices.
“We’ll literally be going paperless in the future,” Common Pleas Judge Taryn Heath said. She said Montgomery County’s savings from electronic filing paid for the system within two years.
Commissioners also approved a sanitary sewer extension for a four-story Comfort Suites hotel to be built off Edison Street, east of the Hartville Kitchen in Lake Township.
SUMMIT COUNTY
Meth lab forum
AKRON: A Meth Lab Community Forum will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Sept. 25 at Akron-Summit County Public Library, 60 S. High St.
Presenters will include Lt. Brian Simcox, Akron officer Chris Crockett, retired Summit County Sheriff’s Capt. Hylton Baker and Becky Mundy, a burn unit education coordinator at Akron Children’s Hospital. A former meth maker and user also will speak.
Topics will include what to do when a meth lab is discovered in a neighborhood and what health risks are posed.
Resource material from community organizations will be distributed from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
The event is free to the public.