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Portage County’s community foundation is seeking a new executive director after Lindsey Loftus announced his switch to Northeast Ohio Medical University on Friday.

Kent City Council approved its 2022 tax budget Wednesday, projecting little to no increase from 2021 to 2022 for the General Fund and no tax hikes for residents.

A petition circulating in support of the Freedom Township business Duke’s K9 Dash ‘N Splash, a dog training facility that is facing pushback over zoning, has garnered almost 3,000 signatures since it was created Wednesday.

Kent State reached a settlement agreement June 28 with Karen Clarke, the former senior vice president for strategic communications and external affairs at the university, over a wrongful termination claim she filed in June 2020.

With little notice from the public, a fundamental right of citizens across our great country— the right to cast a vote—is being lost. In state after state, including our great state of Ohio, lawmakers are introducing and passing voter suppression bills.

The sheriff’s office did not disclose how many deputies fired, how many shots they fired or how much time elapsed between arriving on the scene and firing their weapons. Spidalieri declined to provide The Portager with information beyond what he disclosed in the press release, including the names of the deputies.

At a special council meeting in front of about 20 community members, Mantua Village Council on Tuesday declined to take further action to discipline Mayor Linda Clark for allegedly creating a hostile environment for former staff members.

Regardless if you think the name change is long overdue or it’s yet another example of political correctness gone over the cliff, the Indians nickname in Cleveland will be thrown onto the scrap heap of history and replaced with something else.

Ravenna City Council postponed a vote to raise the price of recycling pickup service on Tuesday night, with some members concerned the public has not been adequately consulted on the changes.

Journalists at the Record-Courier have collectively filed to form a union following years of layoffs, low wages and ownership switches.

In 2018, China banned the purchase of U.S. recyclables after years of warning there was too much garbage interspersed with the recycling. The recycling industry collapsed, having relied heavily on the sale of materials to offset expenses.
The effects have reached Portage County, where the Solid Waste Recycling District — which had once received an annual rebate of $315,000 from the sale of materials — needed a new way to cover its bills.

Nearly 50 community members and dog trainers gathered Thursday evening at a Freedom Township trustees meeting to address the actions of Trustee John Zizka, who they say has “abused his power” and “overstepped his role” in attempting to shut down a new business.

Edinburg Trustees are in the beginning stages of planning a new township fire station at the corner of state Route 14 and Tallmadge Road. It will replace the old fire station, which was built in the 1930s, with an addition in the late 1940s or early 1950s. The new station will be bigger and will be able to house all personnel and equipment.

Kent police are investigating multiple incidents involving groups of minors brawling in downtown Kent.
Two recent fights were caught on video: one from Saturday that took place on the steps of Acorn Alley and another from April that appeared to start at Dan Smith Community Park before spilling onto the sidewalk along Erie Street.

Brimfield voters will likely find a 2.38-mill tax levy question on the November ballot, asking whether they want to expand their police force or maintain the status quo.

Aurora’s 2022 tax budget, approved by city council Monday night, includes a $1.8 million spending increase for law enforcement compared with 2019, when the city spent $7.6 million.

Portage County lost two giants of the community when Roger Di Paolo and John Keegan died four days apart earlier this month. And I lost two friends when John passed away June 14 at age 71, followed by Roger on June 18 at age 66.

Executive Director Lindsey Loftus joined the foundation in May 2020 and wanted to find a way to directly raise money for and promote the organization. He said he wants to showcase their “collective why,” specifically why the foundation exists. From there, the idea for the Ultra ‘21 Society and the 100 for 100 campaign was born.

As the population of Brimfield grows, so do the township’s bills. Most recently, trustees announced that they may place a tax levy on the November ballot, seeking funding for new requests from the police department.

At the height of the pandemic, UH Portage Medical Center had to reconfigure its morgue to accommodate the surge of Covid-19 victims. And they feared there would be more.