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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.

Having cleared the second of three hurdles necessary to bring a licensed medical marijuana dispensary to Kent, Buckeye Relief is now waiting for the state’s next move.
Kent’s Planning Commission approved Buckeye’s application for a conditional use permit earlier this week, setting the stage for a dispensary at 1181 West Main Street.

Let’s be honest. Fear of the growing number of Black and brown people participating in American democracy is what’s behind a massive push by conservative lawmakers in 47 states (so far) to pass voter suppression bills, laws that would make it much more difficult to cast a ballot in elections.

Just over 11% of registered Portage County voters turned out to vote in Tuesday’s election to decide on a school levies, a children’s services levy and an open Streetsboro City Council seat. Here are the results of the most-watched ballot items.

The 17-member Atwater Fire Department is growing, with Jacob Fatherington and Dakota Myers becoming regular volunteer members. The two have been on probationary status for a year. Probationary status serves as a learning and testing period for new firefighters.

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.

Just like the Gym Annex, Star Wars Day is unwittingly demolishing history

Village Council scored a grant for two electric vehicle charging stations courtesy of the Ohio EPA. “The electric company will be over there in Lordstown so we thought what could it hurt to buy a couple charging stations,” Council President Larry Cunningham said.

If you want to keep chickens in Atwater Township, you better have a farm. After a public hearing on April 27, township trustees rejected a resident’s bid to allow chickens in subdivisions, where lots are less than an acre.

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.

Job and Family Services will host a virtual Job and Career Fair from 9 a.m. to noon May 7. At least 16 employers are already signed up.

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.

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.