Lyndsey Brennan

Three Portage County police chiefs fielded questions from residents Thursday about police policies around use of force, community oversight and mental health crisis intervention. 

Aurora schools reopened Leighton Elementary on Monday, with a new “masks mandatory” policy, after administrators closed the school Friday because of a coronavirus outbreak. 

Kent Roosevelt High School administrators called the police around noon and locked down the school for about 10 minutes after a student reported to staff members that another student brought a gun to school. 

People who go out on the weekend to grab brunch from Over Easy Morning Cafe in Kent’s Acorn Alley often find themselves waiting two hours for one of the establishment’s 13 tables. That will soon change.

Voters in Brimfield Township and the village of Mantua declined to authorize new taxes that would have helped hire more police officers, according to unofficial results of the Nov. 2 election.

By a razor-thin margin, voters approved a 1-mill levy to support the Portage County District Library, but the narrow tally will likely trigger an automatic recount that will decide the future of library programming.

Judges Mark Fankhauser and Kevin Poland each won another six years on the bench in Portage County Municipal Court, defeating their Republican-backed opponents by large margins in the Nov. 2 election.

Mantua village voters will see four tax questions on their ballot Nov. 2: a property tax increase for the Portage County District Library, renewals on the Crestwood Local Schools and Maplewood Joint Vocational School District levies, and a 0.5% income tax increase for the village police department.

Atwater and Randolph voters will decide among three candidates to fill two open seats on the Waterloo Local School District Board of Education on Nov. 2. Thomas Mignano II is challenging incumbents Brian Pusateri and Amber Wheeler. 

Six newcomers are looking to fill seats on the Atwater Township Board of Trustees, giving voters an opportunity to select officials to represent their interests in discussions about the future of the Atwater Fire Department and the way the township handles its finances. 

Mantua resident Lorrie Atkinson doesn’t drive and can’t regularly make trips to the Garrettsville Branch of the Portage County District Library, a 15-minute drive away, to pick up books and magazines. 
Fortunately for residents like Atkinson, the library can come to her. 

The Brimfield Police Department is asking voters to approve a 1.95-mill levy that would generate an additional $594,823 in funding per year and allow the department to hire at least two new officers, make equipment and vehicle upgrades, and provide ongoing training for employees.

Two of Portage County’s three Municipal Court judge seats are up for election on Nov. 2. Judges Mark Fankhauser and Kevin Poland are seeking re-election against challengers Wesley Buchanan and Joe Sontich.

Last month, the Kent Police Department and CSX, the rail transportation company that owns part of the land the community was camped on, asked those living on the property to vacate by Oct. 1, citing safety concerns.  

On Wednesday, 32 Windham High School students filed into the gym during 5th period for the first meeting of the Windham High School NAACP High School Chapter. 

Crestwood Local School District administrators canceled in-person classes Tuesday for students in grades 7-12, after a quarter of the student body is in quarantine because they were exposed to confirmed coronavirus cases.

The Kent State Board of Trustees is expected to vote at its Wednesday meeting to merge WKSU, the university’s NPR-affiliated radio station, and Cleveland-based Ideastream, according to a person with knowledge of the plan. 

Halem, a Kent resident who ran the university’s glass program for nearly three decades before retiring in 1998, said he carried his grief and anger about 9/11 with him for about 10 years before he was able to make art about it.