Grow with your community

Kent roundup: Summer festivals, fire station renovations and Standing Rock rates

- Wendy DiAlesandro.

There will be no Kent Heritage Festival this year, and Franklin Avenue will be closed to through traffic starting today, Kent City Council decided this week. Franklin Avenue will be closed from Erie Street to Main Street from May 7 to Oct. 4 (tentatively). The idea is to provide outdoor seating as downtown businesses struggle to cope with Covid-19 social distancing advisories.

Ravenna’s downtown district plan gathers steam with city council endorsement

- Wendy DiAlesandro.

Young people have told Bill Barber, chairman of Main Street Ravenna’s design committee, that the city is uninviting. Its hodgepodge of boutiques, restaurants, professional offices, service-oriented organizations and empty storefronts doesn’t appeal to the younger crowd. Barber is hoping to sell his vision for revitalizing downtown Ravenna to city, township and county leaders to change that perception.

Portage County Solid Waste hopes to keep recyclables out of the landfill

- Wendy DiAlesandro.

Some communities have severed their contracts with the Portage County Solid Waste District, or never had one to begin with. That leaves would-be recyclers without curbside service or central drop-off points. Their only option is to throw everything into the trash.
Enter Bill Steiner, director of the Portage County Solid Waste Management District. He is not okay with landfilling everything, and is currently gauging interest in establishing regional drop off sites.

Op-ed: A fresh start with a ‘People’s Budget’

- Op-Ed Contributor.

I grew up in rural Ohio with parents who fought to ensure I had opportunities that they didn’t. Mom was a social worker. Dad was a farmer, mechanic and carpenter. They worked hard to get ahead, but they often found themselves treading water. Today, I know that Ohio’s upside-down tax code is part of the reason families like the one I grew up in have trouble making ends meet.

Hardesty: I don’t know what it’s like to be a first-round draft pick, but I know what it’s like to have epilepsy

- Tom Hardesty.

Justin Fields spent his two years at Ohio State moving the ball downfield as well as — or better — than any quarterback ever to wear the Scarlet and Gray. But no drive to the end zone for the Buckeyes will have meant nearly as much as will his march to erase the stigma of the disease that Fields recently revealed he has: epilepsy.

Streetsboro chicken owners lobby council for free range

- Wendy DiAlesandro.

Residents in Streetsboro came out in support of less restrictive chicken ownership ordinances in the city on Monday, pushing back on proposed legislation that would banish roosters from urban areas and limit where people can keep hens.
Streetsboro City Council held a virtual public hearing about the proposed legislation in which multiple residents argued that chickens are harmless and no more bothersome than dogs. In fact, one said they make for good guard dogs.

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