Local government

Ravenna’s efforts to equalize the population size of its four wards is moving forward as City Council’s committee of the whole on Oct. 19 approved a new ward map.

The Hiram Historical Society will have the dedication for the new James A. Garfield monument at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 15, at the Hiram Village Hall at 11617 Garfield Rd.

Amy Ward, a Kent resident, addressed council with a request to put a 20 mph School Zone sign in front of Walls Elementary. She said it was the only school in the city without a marker, which she claimed was not only needed but mandated by state law.

Motion to add flag football as a girls’ sport. There was discussion regarding who will coach. Hawkins stated they will offer the position to teachers first before deciding.

Because of an ordinance Kent City Council authorized on Oct. 21, it is now illegal to feed certain wild critters on public or private property.

Shalersville trustees on Oct. 20 unanimously extended the township’s now years-long moratorium on data centers another six months.

The Atwater Zoning Commission has been working diligently on proposed language regarding data centers. This language has been sent for review by Portage County Regional Planning at their Oct. 14 meeting. After that review, it will return to the zoning commission to consider any possible suggestions to the language.

A plan to further regulate data centers in Shalersville hit a snag Oct. 14 as the Portage County Regional Planning Commission unanimously voted to table a slew of proposed conditional uses meant to make their way to the township trustees.

Two of Portage County’s cities have income tax measures on the November ballot, with Ravenna asking voters to approve an income tax hike from 2.5% to 2.75% and Kent seeking to make permanent a 25-year, .25% increase voters approved in 2013.

Streetsboro City Council is eying excluding registered sex offenders from city-owned playgrounds, parks and recreation facilities.

Shalersville Township trustees tweaked the township’s zoning code on Oct. 6, effectively making it more difficult for Geis Companies and Bitdeer Technologies Group to site a 750-megawatt data center campus on just over 150 acres of Geis-owned land near the Ohio Turnpike.

In the Nov. 3 election, Paris Township residents will decide Issue 31, a measure to repeal the township’s zoning regulations altogether.

This voter’s guide is a joint venture of The Portager and the League of Women Voters of Kent and Northern Portage County.

Jessica Sabin, a national service director at Axess Family Services, recalls her grandma making frequent calls on her landline to stay in contact with her sister, as she wasn’t comfortable using her cell phone.

A statue of the 20th president of the United States, who resided in the village of Hiram for several years, including graduating from what is now known as Hiram College, will be relocated to the village from Wilmington, Delaware, where it has been on display for 131 years.

The Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank is ground zero when it comes to providing food for Portage County’s hungriest people.

Hiram Township is opening its own fire department, despite ongoing mediation with Hiram Village, which had long overseen fire services for both the village and township.