West Side News & Notes
By Stephanie Kist
GASP seeks volunteers for
search, rescue training
GREEN — Grandparents Against Sex Predators (GASP) is seeking volunteers to be trained in search and rescue tactics. The training will take place Aug. 1 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Summit County Sheriff’s Training Facility, 2825 Greensburg Road.
There is no charge to attend
the session, but anyone interested in taking the training
must contact GASP at (330) 247-1402 to begin the background
clearance process prior to attending the training session.
The training, conducted by Sgt.
Brian Westover, of the Summit County Sheriff’s
Office, will cover aspects of search and rescue operations,
including basic techniques, K-9 search procedures, evidence
identification, mobile command center operations and
crime scene vehicle demonstrations.
GASP volunteers who have completed
the training and are certified will be eligible to participate
in search and rescue team operations and Amber Alert
situations.
GASP is a volunteer organization
of grandparents and others dedicated to improving child
safety by helping to find missing/abducted children
and educating the community on child abuse and sexual
predators.
More information about the organization
is available at www.gasp123.org.
Smith Road closes for
resurfacing
WEST AKRON — Smith Road
will be closed between Sand Run and Riverview roads
today and tomorrow, July 26-27, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
for resurfacing.
The road will be open to local
traffic only.
The detour will be on Bath and
Yellow Creek roads, and the route will be posted.
Bike & Hike Trail closed
for paving
SUMMIT COUNTY — Contractors
started repaving a 4-mile section of the Bike &
Hike Trail, heading east from the Silver Lake trailhead
(2985 Kent Road in Stow) July 24.
The area will be closed for up
to four weeks.
Sometime during the closure,
the Silver Springs trailhead (5027 Stow Road
in Stow) will be closed for a few
days so contractors can pave with asphalt the 33.5-mile
trail’s last unpaved stretch.
Signs will be posted at each
site. For more information, call (330) 867-5511 or visit
www.
summitmetroparks.org.
One of the first rails-to-trails
conversions in the country, the Bike & Hike Trail
travels southeast from Alexander Road in Cuyahoga County
to Munroe Falls and Stow before heading into Portage
County.
Victim Assistance picnic set
for Aug. 3
SOUTH AKRON — The seventh
annual Victim Assistance/KNAFF Program Picnic will be
Aug. 3 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Fraternal Order
of Police Lodge, 2610 Ley Drive.
The free picnic is for children
who have been a victim of or who witnessed a crime.
The event will include hot dogs,
hamburgers, fried fish, games, arts and crafts, fishing
and visits by the Akron Fire Department, Summit County
Sheriff’s Office, the Akron Zoo and the Calypso
Gypsies.
To register, call (330) 376-0040.
Flood Risk Information Open
House scheduled
MEDINA — Representatives
from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in conjunction
with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR),
will host a Flood Risk Information Open House Aug. 14
from 4:30 to 7 p.m. at the Medina County
Engineering Center, 791 W. Smith Road.
The open house will provide Medina
County residents with an opportunity to review a recently
completed preliminary Flood Insurance Study (FIS) and
its accompanying preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Maps
(FIRMs), according to FEMA officials.
The FIS and the FIRMs provide
basic flood information, delineate areas subject to
significant flood hazards within the county and offer
information public officials can use when permitting
development in the floodplain.
The open house will be staffed
with representatives from various local, state and federal
agencies, who will provide information about flood risk,
flood insurance, floodplain development regulations
and the process for floodplain mapping within Medina
County.
The newly prepared preliminary
floodplain maps will be on display. Once the maps become
effective, these maps will be used by floodplain permit
officials, builders and developers, lenders, real-estate
agents, insurance agents and the general public to determine
flood risk, develop mitigation measures and encourage
responsible risk management decision-making.
Property owners, real-estate
agents, lenders and insurance agents may attend as well.
For more information, call Jennifer Scholl at (312)
408-5205.
Prosecutor supports
Vinson conclusion
AKRON — A long-awaited
review of Summit County’s
investigation into the death of Demetrus Vinson concluded
July 19 with the determination that Vinson died of a
close-contact self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
The conclusion supports the ruling
of the Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office
(SCMEO).
At the request of Akron Mayor
Don Plusquellic, the review was conducted by the Cuyahoga
County Prosecutor’s office. Assistant Prosecutor
Pinkey Carr and Chief Investigator Michael O’Malley
reviewed the evidence and determined that their findings
are consistent with the SCMEO’s ruling.
Vinson died in the early hours
of March 17, after the car he was driving was stopped
by police. The two officers reported that Vinson did
not comply with commands to exit the vehicle and displayed
a gun, causing the officer on the passenger side of
the car to fire three shots. They then retreated and
reported hearing a fourth shot inside the vehicle a
minute later.
Initial information released
by the Akron Police Department indicated Vinson’s
death was caused by the shots fired by the officer;
the SCMEO reported two days later, however, that the
death had been ruled a suicide.
Public outcry ensued, and Plusquellic
requested an independent investigation March 23.
“The benefit of this for
the community is that this was truly two individuals
investigating this from Cuyahoga County with no connections
here to the Akron Police Department, and so it is exactly
what I believe we needed to do at the time to ask someone
independent to review all of the information,”
Plusquellic said July 19.
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