County – Reporting Public Policy

A look into the Ohio Supreme Court

November 18, 2020November 18, 2020 Shelby Reeves 0 Comments Columbus, Democrat, Election, Emeritus Carro, Jennifer Brunner, Legal system, ohio, Ohio Supreme Court, OLRS, Sharon Kennedy, USAID

The Ohio Supreme Court currently operates in Columbus, Ohio. Frequently hearing new cases, the court is integral in the Ohio court system, yet many Ohioans don’t even know what it does. Founded in 1802, the Ohio Supreme Court is the highest legal system in the state and topped only by the U.S. Supreme Court. “Any cases that get to the Ohio Supreme Court they go through what you might imagine as a pyramid,” Akron University Professor Emeritus J. Dean Carro explained. “At the base are the trial courts, the middle are the court of appeals and at the pinnacle is the Supreme Court of Ohio.” Sreeves8 · Pyramid-Carro The court

City of Kent Cops County covid19 Health Kent State University Ohio Public Health Public Safety Uncategorized

City of Kent’s plan for Halloween during COVID-19 pandemic

October 13, 2020October 14, 2020 Becca Sagaris 0 Comments Bars, CDC Guidelines, COVID-19, fall, Halloween, Health Department, Kent, kent state police, Pandemic, party, police department, risk, safety, trick-or-treat

KENT, Ohio — The City of Kent Trick-or-Treat event and annual Halloween party are coming up, and with the COVID-19 risk level increasing in Portage County, the Kent Police Department and Health Department plan to ensure everyone taking part in the festivities this year stays safe. Every year, the city of Kent gets a little spooky for the first popular holiday of the fall season. As Halloween creeps closer, friends and families visit orchards, haunted houses and corn mazes, decorate their houses and carve pumpkins that are later set out on their front porch steps. Although many of these activities are fun and attached to yearly traditions, due to the

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Portage County Commissioners declare Racism a public health crisis

September 28, 2020September 28, 2020 Sara Crawford 0 Comments NAACP, Portage County, portage county board of mental health and recovery, public health, Racism, Summit County

On Sept 11, the Portage County Commissioners declared racism a public health crisis in the county. The Portage County commissioners followed in the footsteps of six counties in Ohio, along with the Portage County Mental Health and Recovery Board, Kent City Health Department and the Portage County Democratic Party. “It declares racism a public health crisis. It says that our county is going to work in all the ways that we function as a county to promote equity, whether that be in hiring, purchasing, contracting or the policies that we promote,” Portage County Commissioner, Kathleen Clyde said. “We are also going to support, lift up and amplify organizations that are

City of Kent County Elections Kent State University Ohio Uncategorized

The Difference Between Voting Procedures

September 11, 2020October 6, 2020 Becca Sagaris 0 Comments board of elections, Clyde, early voting, Election, Election Coverage, Election Day, Kathleen, Kathleen Clyde, ohio, Portage County, Portage County Commissioners, Students, vote, voter fraud, voting

Kathleen Clyde started her position as a Portage County commissioner, which is the lead position in the county on the elected side, in Dec. 2018, where she oversees county operations that fall under the commissioners. Before this position, in Jan. 2011, Clyde started the first of four terms as a state representative, where she specialized in voting and election issues. She served as an election official in the 2008 election, where she ran the early-vote center in Franklin County. She is also an attorney with a specialty in election law. Clyde answered questions about the different ways Ohioans can vote this year, as well as other general voting inquiries. Q:

County Elections Ohio Politics

Voting Policy Explained by Portage County Board of Election Deputy Director

September 11, 2020September 11, 2020 Zachary Max 0 Comments ballot, board of elections, Election, election delay, Portage County, president, trump, voter fraud, voting

President Donald Trump has made statements in recent months expressing his doubts about the ways in which elections are conducted in the United States. Terrie Nielsen, the Portage County Board of Election deputy director, shared the processes that the state of Ohio uses to prevent voter fraud and the potential consequences.

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Issue 1 sparks debate on needs of addicts

October 24, 2018 Megan Ayscue 0 Comments

Ohio residents will vote on Issue 1 in the Nov. 6 ballot. Along with the goal of reducing the number of people in state prisons and increasing funds for things such as treatment or rehabilitation programs, Issue 1 would make felony four and felony five drug possessions misdemeanors. “I’m passionate about this because Ohio has been shooting itself in its foot for at least 50 years … with it’s failed war on drugs and mass incarceration,” said Stephen JohnsonGrove, one of the authors of Issue 1 who also leads its campaigning. “We could do better. We could be safer, healthier, with less incarceration, with more of that money back into

Photo of Original Boston Visitor's Center

County Environment Ohio

Cuyahoga Valley National Park Opening New Crowdfunded Visitor’s Center

May 11, 2018 Kellie Nock 0 Comments

Photo Courtesy of Cuyahoga Valley National Park Cuyahoga Valley National Park broke ground earlier this year when it began construction on its new Boston Mill Visitor Center. What exactly entails a new visitor center? Well, the project as a whole cost around $6.75 million, meaning quite a lot, actually. The original Boston Mill Visitor Center is a historic building, making its foundation and general structure in need of rebuilding. Because the National Park Service can’t do this project alone, The Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park is managing the project. Patty Stevens is the coordinator. It’s not about taking away from the historic aspect of the park, rather, it’s about

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Portage County Probate Court Works to Rehabilitate Troubled Youth

May 8, 2018May 10, 2018 Andrew Atkins 0 Comments

Juvenile crime rates in Portage County climbed in the past year despite rehabilitation efforts from the juvenile/probate division of the Portage County Common Pleas Court. In 2017, the juvenile/probate division had 619 cases. That’s an increase from the 2016 count of 531 cases. Offenses range from murder to assault to truancy and tobacco offenses. Youths who embroil themselves in cases relating to any of these charges may find themselves in the office of Chief Probation Officer Jeff Cunningham. “It can be difficult,” he said. “You see all of the kids that don’t necessarily go on and succeed as adults, and you never really know what happens to the ones that

County Individual Project Public Health

Fire hydrant Flushing in Portage County

May 8, 2018May 9, 2018 Julie Riedel 0 Comments

Words By: Julie Riedel Every spring, the Portage County Department of Water Resources flush Portage County’s fire hydrants. The fire hydrants are flushed to test the water pressure of the water distribution system. The EPA requires that a water distribution system is tested yearly and has a minimal pressure of 20-pounds per square inch for fire flow conditions. A Portage County water distribution operator who has the Ohio EPA water distribution license conducts these tests. “We’ve already flushed the transmission main from our facility to Streetsboro, we provide water to the city of Streetsboro as an example, then they continued the very next day, and started flushing into their system,”

Carousel County Health poverty Public Health

Portage County organizations provide food, diapers for low-income moms

April 11, 2018 Emma Keating 0 Comments coleman professional services, Community, Economy, Portage County, single moms, wic

Ashley Pamela was on track to go to the University of Toledo on a full-ride scholarship. She looked forward to joining a sorority and getting involved on campus. She finally felt her life and her future falling into place — and then she got pregnant. Pamela’s boyfriend at the time, unwilling to let his girlfriend move away to a different city, intentionally impregnated her. “He was like, yeah, so you’re just gonna have to stay here,” she said. Pamela considered aborting the fetus and continuing on with her life, but her family’s background of strict religious beliefs encouraged her to keep the baby. Although she lost her mom when she

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