West Side News & Notes
By Stephanie Kist
APD lands grants to
fight gangs, meth activity
AKRON — Two grants totaling more than $1 million have been awarded to the Akron Police Department (APD) to go after gang and drug activities on city streets.
The Edward Byrne Memorial Discretionary Grants Program announced it will award $666,000 in funding administered by the Bureau of Justice Assistance in the Department of Justice for one year. Its purpose is for gang intervention.
“Half of the murders in
Akron last year were related in some way to gangs,”
said Mayor Don Plusquellic.
“Young people are more violent than they have
ever been before, and our police department needs all
the resources we can provide them. I’m very pleased
we were successful in going after these funds.”
Collaborating with the APD on
this effort will be the Summit County Sheriff’s
and Prosecutor’s offices and probation department;
the Akron FBI office; The University of Akron; and the
YMCA’s Phoenix Program.
The other grant recently announced
comes from the Department of Justice (DOJ) to help rid
the city of methamphetamine labs and meth activity.
The award is for $450,000, the maximum amount allowed
by the DOJ.
Working in conjunction with
the Summit County Prosecutor’s Office, a prosecutor
will be hired to handle cases specifically related to
production, distribution and use of meth. The prosecutor,
at a salary of $112,604, will be a liaison with the
APD in this initiative during the two-year grant period.
The APD currently has a Clandestine
Lab Enforcement Team that cleans up and tears down meth
labs. New equipment will be purchased for that team.
The grant also will help fund APD overtime pay.
Another use of the grant funds
will be through the Summit County Children Services
Board, according to Akron officials. The Board will
invest $20,000 in a study of children who have been
exposed to meth labs and design protocols for handling
these cases.
Scouts team up with Goodwill
to help community
NORTHEAST OHIO — More
than 2,500 area Boy and Girl Scouts are expected to
take part in Good Turn Day 2007 Nov. 17 from 9 a.m.
to 2 p.m. Scouts from the Boy Scouts of America, Great
Trail Council and the Girl Scouts of North East Ohio
will collect donations and help out at 13 Goodwill
Industries of Akron (GIA) sites
in Summit, Medina and Portage counties.
“Good Turn Day has become
a community tradition,” said Pattie Panetta, GIA
volunteer coordinator. “Scouts do a ‘good
turn’ for the community by collecting used clothing,
books, housewares and other items to be donated to Goodwill
or by volunteering their time at a donation site.”
The items collected are sold
in GIA’s 10 retail stores to support its mission
of helping individuals prepare for, find and retain
employment.
Donations for Good Turn Day
can be brought to Goodwill Retail Stores or attended
donation centers, including the following:
• 2689 State Road in Cuyahoga
Falls;
• 3500 Medina Road in Medina;
• 565 S. Cleveland-Massillon
Road in Fairlawn (trailer site in the St. Luke’s
Anglican Church parking lot); and
• 160 Great Oaks Trail
in Wadsworth (special one-day only trailer site in the
Giant Eagle parking lot).
Suggested items for donations
include: clothing, shoes, books, CDs and videos, linens,
furniture, toys and household goods.
For more information, visit
www.goodwillakron.org or
call (800) 989-8428.
New program assists injured
veterans
COLUMBUS — Ohio Gov. Ted
Strickland officially unveiled the Military Injury Relief
Fund last week during a ceremonial presentation to inaugural
recipient Sgt. Eric Marshall.
The fund was championed in the
Ohio General Assembly by state Sens. John Boccieri (D-District
33) and Steve Stivers (R-District 16). Boccieri served
in both Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi
Freedom, and Stivers served in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
“Many brave Ohio veterans
have suffered injuries during the current military
conflicts that present challenges to them when they
return home, and we must do all we can to make that
transition easier,” Strickland said. “The
Military Injury Relief Fund allows all Ohioans an opportunity
to reach out to our soldiers and thank them for their
service.”
Marshall, 29, of Caldwell, served
as a sergeant with the Army Reserves 660th Transportation
Company headquartered in Cadiz. The unit was sent to
Camp Anaconda, Balad, Iraq in January 2004. He was injured
Dec. 8, 2004, when his transport was struck by an improvised
explosive device.
Ohio taxpayers can donate Ohio
income tax refunds to the fund that assists Ohio veterans
injured in the line of duty while serving the Operation
Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom campaigns.
Donations can be made when filing Ohio Income Tax returns
by indicating the amount of refund one wishes to donate.
Direct contributions, made payable to the “Ohio
Treasurer of State (ODJFS),” also can be mailed
to: Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, Military
Injury Relief Fund, P.O. Box 182367, Columbus, OH 43218-2367.
Applications for the Military
Injury Relief Fund grants are available through county
Veterans Service offices. The Summit County office is
located at 148 Park St. in Akron and can be reached
at (330) 643-2830. The Medina County office is located
at 210 Northland Drive in Medina and can be reached
at (330) 722-9368.
AMATS predicts increase
in road congestion
GREATER AKRON — The road
to 2030 will be more congested for the Akron area, but
not by much, according to the recently completed “2030
Future Highway Congestion Study.”
According to the Akron
Metropolitan Area Transportation
Study (AMATS), the study is a forecast and analysis
of future traffic congestion on the area’s roadways.
Completion of the study is one of the initial steps
in the update of the area’s Regional Transportation
Plan, which identifies long-range transportation improvements
needed.
The area’s levels of freeway
and arterial traffic congestion are expected to increase
during the next two decades, but at a rate slower than
the national average due to anticipated weak population
growth, according to AMATS.
The amount of severely congested
freeway miles is expected to increase from 15 to 35,
and moderate congestion is expected to increase from
66 to 81 miles. The amount of severely congested arterial
roadways is expected to increase from seven to 28 miles,
and moderately congested arterials from 39 to 82 miles.
The top congested freeways in
2030 are expected to be:
• State Route 8 north and
south through the Central Interchange;
• Interstate 271 north
and south between the
Cuyahoga County line and state
Route 82;
• Interstate 77 north from
Wheatley Road to the I-271 interchange;
• The Interstate 76 ramps
east and west to the Kenmore Expressway north interchange;
• I-77 north from Ghent
Road to Wheatley Road; and
• State Route 8 north and
south between Carroll Street and the I-76/77 interchange.
The top congested arterial segments
are expected to be:
√ State Route 14 between
Interstate 80 and state Route 303 in Streetsboro;
√ State Route 82 from
Boyden Road to Olde Eight Road in Sagamore Hills;
√ Summit Street from Campus
Center Drive to Loop Road in Kent;
√ State Route 14 from Diagonal
Road to Price Road in Streetsboro;
√ Graham Road from state
Route 91 to Charring Cross Drive in Stow;
√ State Route 91 from
Glenwood Drive to the Cuyahoga County Line in Twinsburg;
√ State Route 82 from
the Cuyahoga County line to Chaffee Road in Sagamore
Hills;
√ Hudson Drive from Steels
Corners Road to Commerce Drive in Stow; √
State Route 14 from Price Road to Dawley Road in Ravenna
Township; and
√ Cleveland-Massillon
Road from Elgin Road to Brookwall Drive in Fairlawn.
Congested roadways identified
in the report will be targeted for improvements in the
Regional Transportation Plan.
The study is available on the
“What’s New” page of the AMATS Web
site at www.ci.ak
ron.oh.us/AMATS.
For details, call (330) 375-2436 or e-mail amats@ci.
akron.oh.us.
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