Late-night noise gets the go-ahead in Kent
- Wendy DiAlesandro. Meeting in special session July 22, and with no discussion or debate, Kent City Council unanimously tweaked the city’s noise ordinance to keep the downtown music playing.
Kent
Portage County youth group home changing operators
- Wendy DiAlesandro. It’s a well known journalistic truth: people stop reading when they see numbers. Would they still stop if they realized that each statistic represents a teenager’s daily life?
Following recent scares, Kent police and schools team up for safety
- Adriana Gasiewski. Following the recent May and April bomb and gun threats at Stanton Middle School and Longcoy Elementary, the district is extensively reviewing how these situations were handled. Leaders are updating safety plans during the summer and anticipate hosting more theoretical drills with faculty throughout the school year.
League of Women Voters event focuses on fight against data centers
- Wendy DiAlesandro. Data centers took center stage in Kent July 6 as Jessica Winchell, the moving force behind the now 2,600-member Portage Residents for Responsible Development, spoke at a Monday forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Kent.
The Kent Flea supports local artisans, as well as historic home
- Jeremy Brown. In 2017, artist Beth Stoneking and Rockton Lodge #316 Trustee Fred Moore teamed up to create the Kent Flea and Makers Market to raise funds to help maintain the former home of Marvin Kent and to give local craftspeople a venue to offer their artisanal and vintage goods to the community.
Portage County plans Juneteenth celebrations throughout the weekend
- Wendy DiAlesandro. Juneteenth, also called Freedom Day, has been celebrated since 1866. President Joe Biden declared it a federal holiday on June 17, 2021, but Portage County communities celebrated it before that and continue to do so.
Fruity Films develops in Acorn Alley to capture life in Kent
- Adriana Gasiewski. Having undergone surgeries for carpal tunnel issues, Lauren Glass found it difficult to return to being a hairstylist. She decided instead to revisit her high school hobbies, including photography.
Learn all about glass with Henry Halem
- Wendy DiAlesandro. Local glass artist Henry Halem will be the featured speaker at the next Tap Talk, set for 7 p.m. June 16 at North Water Brewing Co., 101 Crain Ave. in Kent.
Kent-Brimfield JEDD doesn’t want funds used for dispatch services
- Wendy DiAlesandro. It’s up to the state auditor’s office now. Brimfield Township, which manages the Kent-Brimfield Maintenance and Improvement fund for the mutually beneficial Joint Economic Development District, may be in for some more bad news.
Kent Pride Fest creates emergency relief one dollar at a time
- Adriana Gasiewski. With the help of a Morgan Startup Grant, a grant the Burton D. Morgan Foundation donated to LaunchNET at Kent State University, owner of Sun in Leo Justine Gallo was able to open her upcycled clothing boutique in January 2023.
Kent considers reducing the annual Franklin Avenue closure timeframe
- Wendy DiAlesandro. Love it or not, Kent motorists have become used to avoiding part of Franklin Avenue for years.
How Portage County organizations plan an eventful summer
- Adriana Gasiewski. Cochairs of the revived Captain Brady Day Annette McMullen and Charlie Hall grew up attending the community festival at Brady Lake. McMullen recalled how the event was less centered around Captain Samuel Brady but bringing the then-Brady Lake Village community together.
Davey Tree hosts North American Tree Climbing Championship at new SEED Campus
- Jeremy Brown. Some of the top tree climbers from the U.S. and Canada descended on the Davey Tree SEED Campus on Friday, May 15, for a weekend of fellowship and rivalry at the International Society of Arboriculture North American Tree Climbing Championship.
Documenters: Kent City Council meeting for May 20, 2026
- Noell Wolfgram Evans. Shaffer Bish had the only new business. A resident contacted her regarding a beer-pong table that has become what she called “a fixture” in her neighbor’s yard. Shaffer Bish asked council to take up the item as a potential code issue in a future committee meeting. All members voted yes to move this concern forward.
Kent schools continue to investigate two gun-related incidents, bomb threat
- Adriana Gasiewski. After the Kent City School District was informed that a student was suspected of having a gun and Longcoy Elementary School was placed under lockdown, the police are investigating the situation.
Kent is rolling out homebuyer’s assistance program
- Wendy DiAlesandro. Alarmed by the number of single-family homes being converted into rental properties, Kent City Council is hoping to reverse the trend.
Kent State cancels trial agreement with Flock Safety after pushback
- Wendy DiAlesandro. Kent State University’s administration and police had intended to use license plate readers on campus, but reversed themselves after public outcry became apparent.
Kent schools levy passes; Streetsboro, Ravenna, and JFS all saw losses
- Rachel Abbey McCafferty. The Kent City School District got a decisive win in Tuesday’s election, as its 9.8-mill additional tax levy passed 3,125 to 2,225.