The Southeast Board of Education on Monday accepted the retirement of intermediate school teacher Valerie Kotlar, effective Sept. 1. Kotlar has been with the district for 16 years. The board also noted the retirement of band director Joni Stoll, who has served the district for 20 years. Stoll's retirement is effective June 1.
Paris Township will hold its spring cleanup from 8 a.m. to noon on May 1 at the township community center on Newton Falls Road. The cleanup is limited to Paris Township residents only, and participants must show ID or proof of residency.
If all goes well, Minyoung Road in Paris Township may be in for an upgrade. Trustees agreed Thursday to pursue state Issue 2 funds to repave the road, assigning experienced grant writer Derek Reed (also the township's fire chief) to spearhead the project.
Trustees approved chip and seal projects for Gilbert Extension from Kestrel Road to Cable Line Road, and for the post office on Wayland Road. The township owns the property the post office is on, so it is their responsibility to maintain it, Trustee Dave Kemble said.
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.
Trustees are installing temporary speed bumps on Skeels Street and nearby side streets in response to reports of vehicles speeding through the Skeels allotment. The traffic control devices will be removed later this year to allow snow plows to keep the roads clear, Trustee Vince Coia said.
The Davises built this pantry on wheels themselves in the wake of the pandemic and food insecurity crisis that followed. Known as the Rural Relief Mobile Food Pantry, their mission is to meet the needs specifically of rural Portage County, where pockets of the population experience the additional difficulty of living in a food desert.
Out of Portage County’s 12 public school systems, only Kent City Schools and Bio-Med Science Academy will require students to wear masks. Those two districts flipped their original decisions after public outcry against masks-optional policies. The remaining school districts, including Aurora, said that until they are required to enforce a mask mandate, they will leave the masking decision up to parents.
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.
The Portage County Board of Elections announced the official slate of candidates and issues that voters will see on the May 2022 ballot. Here’s a rundown of the Republican and Democratic ballots, as well as the 10 issues around the county that are up for vote.
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.
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.