West Side News & Notes
By Stephanie Kist
Horrigan alerts citizens of
federal government end to passport program
SUMMIT COUNTY — On Sept.
24, Summit County Clerk of Courts Daniel Horrigan announced
the U.S. Department of State set Sept. 30 as the expiration
date for the flexible accommodation passport program.
“We have been informed by
the U.S. Department of State that passport applications
are again being expedited to citizens in a timely manner,”
Horrigan said. “Given that passports will now
be received in six to eight weeks for routine applications
and approximately three weeks for expedited service,
there is no longer a need to continue the flexible accommodation
passport program.”
The change affects U.S. citizens
that travel by air to Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and countries
in the Caribbean with an “Official Proof of Passport
Application” and government-issued identification.
The passport requirement will be effective Oct. 1.
Citizens must present actual
passports to enter or depart the United States. Travelers
who departed the country under this travel accommodation
prior to Oct. 1 will be readmitted with the previously
required documents if returning to the United States
after Sept. 30.
For details about the passport
application process, call Annette Baker, chief deputy
of the Summit County Clerk of Courts Auto Title Division,
at (330) 630-7200, or visit travel.state.gov.
County hosting public
human services forum
DOWNTOWN AKRON — On Oct.
23 from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Summit County Executive
Russell Pry and the Summit County Social Services Advisory
Board (SSAB) will host the fourth annual Summit County
Making a Difference Human Services Forum at The University
of Akron’s Student Union, 303 Carroll St.
The keynote speaker will be Steven
Leifman, associate administrative judge of the Miami-Dade
County Court on Criminal Justice and Mental Health.
Leifman will address the issues related to his work
on local, state and national mental health issues.
The 2007 expanded forum format
will include three breakout sessions with the following
seven choices of topics: Criminal Justice and the Mentally
Ill; Organizational Cultural Competency; Leadership
Development and Succession; Planning for an Aging Boomer
Community; Medicaid Long Term Care; Youth, Incarceration
and Illiteracy; and Transportation Services.
The morning plenary session will
include an update on the progress of the Summit 2010:
A Quality of Life Project by Pry. In addition to the
update, the annual Summit County Making a Difference
Human Services Awards will be distributed to an individual
and a community organization that have demonstrated
excellence in the provision of
health or social services. The awards will be presented
during the luncheon portion of the forum.
The forum is open to the community.
The deadline for registration is Oct. 5. Registration,
nomination and sponsorship forms may be downloaded from
www.co.summit.oh.us.
For more information, call (330)
643-7512.
Northeast Ohio to celebrate
National Public Lands
Day
CVNP — The Trust for Public
Land (TPL) and Cuyahoga Valley National Park Association
(CVNPA) invite Northeast Ohioans to get their hands
dirty Sept. 29 for a cleanup of Cuyahoga Valley National
Park (CVNP).
The daylong event is part of
National Public Lands Day, a nationwide effort to mobilize
citizens interested in helping to improve and enhance
America’s public lands.
This CVNP cleanup is the first
time the TPL, CVNP and CVNPA have joined to mark the
day of volunteerism in the nation’s parks.
The TPL, a national land conservation
organization that works with private landowners and
public agencies to protect land and create parks, has
helped to protect 10,000 acres in Ohio. More than 741
of those acres are in CVNP.
One goal of the Sept. 29 event
is to motivate more of the park’s visitors to
get involved through membership in CVNPA.
Local National Public Lands Day
activities are sponsored by the Dominion Foundation.
Dominion employees volunteered at CVNP Sept. 25 as a
special effort before the event.
Participants will gather for
registration and a breakfast snack Sept. 29 at 8 a.m.
at Howe Meadow, 4040 Riverview Road. Once registered,
volunteers will be assigned to tasks of varying degrees
of intensity, depending on ability.
A “Leave No Trace”
hike also will be available for families of children
ages 6 and older.
Volunteers are encouraged to
wear sturdy boots or shoes, dress for the weather and
bring a small pack with work gloves, water and lunch.
To register before the event,
call (440) 546-5997 or e-mail cuva_vip_coordinator@nps.
gov.
Preregistration is required for
groups of five or more.
Melissa Gilbert speaks at
pediatric conference
DOWNTOWN AKRON — On Oct.
4, actress and activist Melissa Gilbert will address
a gathering of medical professionals and individuals
from across the country who care for children
facing life-threatening illnesses.
Gilbert will speak at a conference
titled “Leaders, Learners and Families Hand in
Hand,” designed to raise awareness for the emerging
practice of pediatric palliative care.
The conference is being organized
by the Ohio Pediatric Palliative & End-of-life Care
Network (OPPEN), a statewide consortium of pediatric
palliative care professionals working to ensure that
children have access to quality palliative and hospice
care. Akron Children’s Hospital is a sponsor of
the program.
Gilbert, a spokesperson and president
for the Children’s Hospice and Palliative Care
Coalition, has led a national movement to provide seriously
ill children better access to palliative care and hospice
services.
“Having Melissa lend her
voice to improving pediatric palliative care and participate
in this conference brings national attention to a much
needed service for our children,” said Dr. Sarah
Friebert, director of the Haslinger Pediatric Palliative
Care Division of Akron Children’s, and chairwoman
of OPPEN. “Palliative care is an emerging practice,
especially in pediatrics, and this conference is an
opportunity to discuss issues facing our field openly
with our fellow practitioners, patients and families.”
Poet-writer Thomas Lynch also
will offer a keynote address.
The conference will take place
at the John S. Knight Convention Center, 77 E. Mill
St. Oct. 4-6 and is open to the public. Individual keynote
sessions are $35. The three-day conference package is
$425. Visit www.akronchildrens.org for
more information.
YMCA Black Achievers
Program reaches out
to youth
GREEN — The YMCA Black
Achievers Program recently held its Annual Leadership
Development Conference for Youth at the Akron Area YMCA’s
Camp Y-Noah.
Twenty-seven young men participated
in this leadership development weekend, which matched
young black males from the community with adult black
role models.
The young men participated in
the four-day, three-night program while interacting
with their adult role models.
The program is sponsored in part
by The Akron Community Foundation, with additional support
being provided by the city of Akron, Neighborhood Partnership
Program, the Key Bank Foundation, National City Bank,
HSBC, He Brought Us out Ministries and several
other individuals.
This year’s workshop facilitators
included: Larry Grimes and Sharon Worlds, from the U.S.
Probation Department; Johnny Legrair, from the city
of Akron; the Rev. Ronald Goodman; Ricky Powers, from
Buchtel High School; U.S. Army recruiter Sgt. Adam Pennington;
and Michael Porter, from Alpha Phi Alpha Inc.
Camp chaperones included John
Hafford, Darrin Toney, Gary Wyatt Sr., Darryl Hill,
Roosevelt Jackson, Anthony Wyatt and Todd Moorer.
The weekend’s events culminated
with the Adventure Experiences High Ropes Challenge
Course and an awards luncheon featuring a speech by
Akron City Councilman Jim Shealey (D-Ward 5).
The YMCA’s Black Achievers
program was founded in 1971 at the Harlem YMCA in New
York City. The Black Achievers Program was extended
into Akron in 1994.
Sheriff’s Office offers
Citizen’s Academy
GREEN — The Summit County
Sheriff’s Office will present the 12th Citizen’s
Academy next month.
The 10-week program will be offered
on Tuesdays starting Oct. 9 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the
Sheriff’s Training Facility, 2825 Greensburg Road.
The program will include a tour
of the Summit County Jail and the Mounted Patrol Unit
barn at Southgate Park and information about patrol,
narcotics investigation, crime prevention, weapons,
community policing, traffic laws, bomb theft management
and the K-9 Unit.
Anyone with a felony conviction,
multiple misdemeanors, crimes of violence or pending
criminal cases will not be permitted to participate
in the event.
The registration fee for the
academy is $35, which includes a dinner upon completion.
Space is limited, and advance
registration is required. For more details or to register,
call (330) 896-4019 or visit www.co.summit.oh.us/sheriff.
— By Maria Lindsay
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