Plans for Aurora Park at Geauga Lake main focus of this year’s state of the city address
- Wendy DiAlesandro. Aurora Park at Geauga Lake took center stage at Aurora’s 2026 State of the City event, held Feb. 25 at Aurora Meadows.
Aurora’s superintendent praises district successes while looking to the future
- Wendy DiAlesandro. In his first year as head of the Aurora City School District, Superintendent Paul Milcetich spoke about “The Green Standard,” the district’s commitment to ensuring that its youth thrive not only academically, but also athletically, artistically and socially, as leaders and as human beings.
Round Two: The time I interviewed the legendary Lou Holtz
- Tom Hardesty. When I heard the news earlier this week that Lou Holtz had passed away at the age of 89, my mind immediately drifted back to a spring evening 32 years ago.
Rooted Ramblings: Sowing seeds indoors and in the garden
- Master Gardener Volunteers. Planting seeds, indoors or outdoors, creates the right environment for dormancy to break and new life to begin. Watching a seed sprout feels like magic. Starting seeds indoors is a rewarding, inexpensive way to grow hundreds of healthy transplants and get a head start on the gardening season.
Portage County obituaries for March 4-5, 2026
- Staff Report. Remembering those we've lost in Portage County
Income tax increase on the ballot in Ravenna
- Wendy DiAlesandro. Ravenna voters will decide in May whether to hike their income tax a quarter percent, from 2.5% to 2.75%.
Portage County Recycling to open Reuse Center
- Adriana Gasiewski. Portage County Recycling anticipates opening a Reuse Center at its Center for Hard to Recycle Materials in April, with hopes of eliminating landfill waste and hazards.
Been There, Done That: My 'solid' plan for weight loss
- Laura Nethken. I always have a plan, no matter what we're talking about: yard sale shopping, grocery shopping, paying bills, even losing weight. I want to get into better shape. I'm going to try to do in my 60s what I haven't been able to do my entire life— get rid of these "thunder thighs" as my brothers so aptly named them.
Portage County obituaries for March 2-3, 2026
- Staff Report. Remembering those we've lost in Portage County
Documenters: Rootstown Township Trustees meeting for Feb. 24, 2026
- Marissa Devantier. Palmer requested approval to transition two part-time firefighters to full-time status, effective April 1. While the fiscal officer noted that the midyear budget did not initially account for the additional salaries, approximately $500,000 in carryover funds made the hires feasible.
Portage County corrections officer charged with sexual extortion
- Wendy DiAlesandro. A Portage County corrections officer faces two felony charges of sexual extortion, but the sheriff’s office isn’t naming names.
Around Brimfield: Many ways to help feed your neighbors
- Shirley Mars. For over 45 years, the spirit of neighborliness has been alive and well in our community, as residents wholeheartedly lent support to the Brimfield Community Cupboard and created a legacy of caring for our own.
County roundup: Aurora firefighters honored; Ravenna and Streetsboro news
- Roger Gordon. Aurora City Council had resolutions of appreciation for firefighter/paramedics Michael Upholz and Michael Gelardi. They recently saved the life of a woman who was in the passenger seat of a car that had just arrived at the Hillcrest Hospital emergency room parking lot.
Portage County obituaries for Feb. 27-March 1, 2026
- Staff Report. Remembering those we've lost in Portage County
How the closure of West Main Elementary will affect Ravenna students
- Savana Capp. Ravenna City Schools announced the plan for housing the district's students next school year following the closure of West Main Elementary. Ravenna City Schools will have its K-12 students in three buildings next year: K-2 at Willyard Elementary, 3-6 at Brown Middle School and 7-12 at Ravenna High School.
Local manufacturing business to acquire parcel on former Davey Drill site
- Margaret Lennox. Copen Machine, a manufacturing company in Kent, is planning to acquire three parcels of land located on 200 W. Williams St.
Baker: Cages and keys
- Kathy Baker. My words to you this month were inspired by the following quote, written in the fourteenth century by the great Persian poet and mystic, Hafez: “The small man builds cages for everyone he knows. While the sage, who has to duck her head when the moon is low, keeps dropping keys all night long for the beautiful, rowdy prisoners.”
Portage County obituaries for Feb. 25-26, 2026
- Staff Report. Remembering those we've lost in Portage County
From the publisher: Fraud is a real problem
- Ben Wolford. At least once a week and sometimes more often than that I receive an email or a call from a reader telling me they need to update their credit card because it was stolen or hacked.
Downtown Kent to turn into student art gallery in March
- Adriana Gasiewski. While attending the 2025 Heritage Ohio Annual Conference, Lesley Sickle, marketing coordinator of Main Street Kent, learned how in Delaware, Ohio, they displayed students’ artwork at local businesses for an entire month and started thinking about how Kent could pull off something similar.