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Live music, vendors, games, fresh produce and fun for the whole family in the middle of Ravenna. What’s not to like? The Magnolia Market, a multi-genre mini-festival, will offer a montage of arts, crafts, music, food trucks and more starting May 28, and then continuing every other week.

Hoping to build transparency, trustees are revamping the township’s website to include meeting minutes, township codes and financial information. For information on all things Hiram, visit the website at www.hiramtownship.org.

We urge every member of Congress to take swift action in response to ongoing racist police killings and other violence against Black people across our country. Although much of the work to address police violence needs to be done at the local and state level, federal legislation is also urgently needed.
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From its title, “Sunflower Sisters” by Martha Hall Kelly sounds like it could be happy-smiley-giggly “women’s fiction,” doesn’t it? Perhaps a lot of fashion, romance and swooning? Nope. I don’t really like those books anyway. This one I couldn’t put down.

Most of the Covid-19 “new normals” will be tossed onto the trash heap of history when the pandemic is finally behind us.
Some, though, will remain, as adjustments to living with the virus have actually proven more efficient than the way things were done before. Zoom meetings are likely here to stay, for example. An increased focus on cleanliness in restaurants and on airliners was a good idea decades ago. Working remotely from home has in some ways increased employee morale — and companies’ profit margins.

Women once again took to the stage to share their stories after more than a year since the pandemic paused Fearless Femme live storytelling shows. While lines once extended out the door of the Zephyr Pub in Kent for Fearless Femme, attendees flocked to a new location, North Water Brewing Co., last Tuesday for the first live show in over a year.

About 20 people from the Ravenna’s Skeels community gathered Friday at the United Church of Jesus Christ for a service called Midnight Cry to support those recovering from addiction disorders.

After more than 50 years of serving Portage County, Rivers Garage and Body Shop has closed permanently.
Lifelong Ravenna residents Halley Rivers Jones and his wife Opal owned and operated the shop for many years until they retired.

Kent City Council and state Rep. Gail Pavliga are taking action to oppose a section of Ohio’s 2022-2023 budget bill (HB 110) that could threaten the future of the Kent City Health Department.
A provision in the bill would require small city health departments serving a population of fewer than 50,000 to complete a study to determine if they are efficient and effective enough to operate on their own, apart from their county counterparts. If passed, the law would mandate the Kent health department to merge with the Portage County Health District if it doesn’t measure up against the study criteria.

There were no comments at a May 12 public hearing to establish the DORA, but one person posted a comment on the village council’s YouTube page: “Does Garrettsville really need more public intoxication? When is the village going to address the drinking and driving that’s happening?”

Charlestown will observe Memorial Day with a short parade and ceremony at 11 a.m. Sunday, May 30. Children are encouraged to decorate their bicycles and join the procession. Participants should arrive at the fire station at 10:30 a.m. to get organized for the short parade to the cemetery.

The sleek metal roofs you normally see in HGTV home remodels are generally prohibited in Aurora — but that might be changing. Monday night, Aurora City Council voted to overturn the Architectural Board of Review’s decision to deny new resident Ron Wolford a permit to install a standing seam metal roof.

The Village of Hiram’s EMS staff has been getting a workout, but Fire Chief Bill Byers noted that the service is increasingly one sided, with Hiram providing much more mutual aid than it is getting. “I’m not opposed to helping neighbors, but if we’re supplementing their service, I don’t agree with that,” council member David Smith said.

Streetsboro City Council postponed a decision on new restrictions for chicken ownership in the city, saying they needed more information. They were expected to consider the proposal at Monday’s meeting.

Streetsboro City Council member John Ruediger resigned from his position Monday after being charged with sending inappropriate photos of himself to a 13-year-old boy.

Paris Township may host a regional recycling center. Bill Steiner, director of the Portage County Solid Waste Management District, floated the idea last week to Paris’s trustees. The regional recycling center concept would replace smaller recycling sites in Paris and other communities throughout the county.

Ravenna Township’s fire department gained a seventh member. Windham Township will host a Memorial Day parade at noon May 31. Shalersville Town Hall will be getting more energy-efficient windows.

Pending guidance from legal council, Mantua Township trustees voted to reopen the township civic center and gym annex for rentals. Trustees established a tentative fee schedule for renting the annex, pledging to set definite prices at their May 20 meeting.

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.

Parks Director Cassie Weyer is compiling the results from more than 100 survey responses about the Cranberry Creek Dog Park. Weyer will use the feedback to apply for a $5,000 PetSafe Bark for Your Park grant. If the grant funds come through, Weyer said she would like to improve or replace the park’s fencing and gate.