Archive

Garrettsville Village Council is considering establishing a designated outdoor refreshment area (DORA) in the downtown area. DORAs are typically established to allow people to legally consume alcohol in specific outdoor areas. Council set a public hearing set for 4 p.m. May 12th, and a special council meeting to enact the legislation is scheduled for May 19th.

Rootstown trustees say motorists and residents should not be alarmed if they see some low-flying helicopters this spring. First Energy will be trimming trees around the township. The company often uses aerial saws to trim branches around power lines.Trustees voted down a proposed zoning change at a public hearing on April 13, to the disappointment of residents Jeff and William Parsons.

Hiram Village Council met Tuesday to hear village resident Ann Patella’s concern about the state of veterans’ gravesites in Fairview Cemetery.There are almost two dozen veterans’ graves Patella could not even find, as well as issues with missing flag markers. She said she has been working with the city but “in my opinion it’s a mess.”

Does Streetsboro need tornado sirens? Streetsboro’s Safety Committee doesn’t think so, especially at a cost of some $50,000 per siren for the nine units that would be needed to cover the whole city.

Judging by comments readers have sent us, confusion still reigns over recycling. It doesn’t help that the Portage County Solid Waste Management District’s website is outdated and misleading.

Chairman Henry Michael resigned April 13 as chairman of the board of trustees. Trustee Bradley Vaughan was nominated as the board’s new chairman.

Buckeye Relief hopes to move into a vacant building on West Main Street. Kent’s Architectural Review Board favors the plan, and several neighbors in the area say they would welcome the new tenant.

The Fields Playground Group received a badly needed cash infusion from Nick and Joe Smith, who donated $100,000 to help the playground become a reality. While neither Nick nor Joe resides in Randolph, they own property in the township and have relatives who do live in Randolph.

Edinburg trustees are considering scrapping the township’s recycling contract with the Portage County Solid Waste Management District, which is in the process of raising rates, though nothing has been decided yet.

The Randolph-Suffield-Atwater Food Shelf will be leaving its current location on the grounds of St. Joseph Church in Randolph to move to its new home just east of the Knights of Columbus Hall on Waterloo Road.

Nelson Township trustees are in the process of building a 28-by-60-feet storage building near the township garage and the salt barn, Trustee Mike Kortan told The Portager.

In the first Don Faix Invitational at Bridget Franek Track, the Field Falcons girls track and field team took first place in a highly competitive landscape. See the full results here. View Portager photos from the event below. To purchase Portager photography and prints, write to photos@theportager.com.

People drive by Streetsboro Cemetery near state Routes 14 and 43 every day without giving the deteriorating landmark a second thought. Not the case for Ryan Martin, commander of Streetsboro VFW Post 9716. The city’s “V,” as he affectionately calls it, is on a mission.

The new tower for Kent’s chimney swift population will feature designs from a local artist, and the site plan includes a pollinator garden, replacing the overgrown patch of weeds currently occupying the space. Rhonda Boyd, a city engineer, presented the details to Kent’s Architectural Review Board last week.

Portage County Auditor Janet Esposito flouted pandemic safety guidance and traded expletives with another county official during a routine budget commission meeting, according to a livestream posted to the county’s YouTube channel. Esposito did not wear a mask for the duration of the March 30 meeting, even though it was indoors and she shared a small table with other county leaders.

Goose poop and what to do about it was a main talking point at Brimfield Trustees’ April 7 meeting. It’s everywhere in the township center area, making sports activities, and simply strolling, an exercise in judicious foot placement. The area is also the site of Brimfest, outdoor movie screenings and concerts.

In polls, some residents said downtown Ravenna “feels dirty” and prefer Kent. But commissioners want an upgrade that doesn’t reduce available parking.

The maintenance and cleanup is ongoing at Grandview Cemetery, where trustees plan to install a columbarium by summer’s end. A columbarium is a prefabricated structure designed to house cremains. Turns out space for cremains is actually an issue at Grandview.

At their April 6 meeting, Shalersville Township trustees were pleased to accept Girl Scout Troop 7575’s offer to do roadside cleanup on April 25. While no roads have been identified, Trustee John Kline is adamant that Covid-conscious safety protocols will be in place, and each group of scouts will be accompanied by a chaperone.

Supporters of public transportation spoke, and the Ohio legislature listened. A new transportation budget investing $8.3 billion over the next 2 years was approved with bipartisan support in both the Ohio House of Representatives and Ohio Senate. The bill allocates $70 million in public transit funding.