At 9:32 a.m. on May 14, a Garrettsville police officer and a Portage County sheriff’s deputy responded to a 911 call about an armed woman trying to break into her neighbor’s house in Windham Township.
The woman killed in Windham Township during a confrontation involving neighbors and law enforcement officers was identified as 66-year-old Cora Baughman, according to an Akron Beacon Journal report.
Across Portage County, voters will decide on tax questions for schools, funding for police and emergency services, public meeting policies and more. Below we explain what each of these ballot issues is about. You can skim the headings to find issues that pertain to your community and may appear on your ballot May 3.
According to a recent survey of Portage County by Flat Wireless, there are 2,135 houses with 6,142 people underserved or unserved by broadband internet service providers (ISPs). The bulk of these are in the rural portions of eastern and northeastern Portage County. Broadband Now, an independent ISP watchdog based in Los Angeles, estimates 12% of Ohioans do not have high enough speeds.
In Aurora, Ward 5 City Council Member Kathi Grandillo lost her battle with cancer on Jan. 18. And Aurora Board of Education President Gerald Kohansky died Jan. 24. In Garrettsville, Village Council Member Tom Collins died on Jan. 26 from Covid.
Across Portage County, new solar installations are going in each month, and electric vehicle charging stations are popping up across the northern half of the county.
Cities and villages across Portage County have passed laws requiring businesses and residents to clear snow off sidewalks, but in most cases no one is enforcing them, officials said.
Garrettsville Council Member Thomas E. Collins, 57, died early Jan. 26 after a brief hospital stay. Funeral arrangements are being handled by Carlson Funeral Homes and Cremation Services.
The Portage County Board of Elections on Wednesday confirmed the results of two toss-up races from the Nov. 3 election, handing victories to the Portage County District Library and to the incumbent candidate for Charlestown Township trustee, Tim Patrick.
Despite a fresh cast of school board challengers energized by racial equity and Covid issues, Portage County voters largely opted for familiar names in the Nov. 2 election, letting incumbents keep their seats in Ravenna, Rootstown, Aurora, Waterloo and elsewhere.
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.
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.