Reporting Public Policy

A Reporting Project of the Kent State University School of Journalism and Mass Communication

City of Kent

City of Kent Council covid19 Public Health Public Safety 

Kent City Council passes emergency motion banning mass gatherings

Nicholas Lavrisiuk 0 Comments , , ,

Kent City Council’s Oct 21. meeting continued further discussions on preventing the spread of coronavirus, including an emergency motion to approve a ban on mass gatherings. The council previously heard from the city’s Public Health and Safety Committee on Oct. 7 in which the council voted 6-2 to approve ordinance 2020-97, which limits mass gatherings to 10 or less people. With the council’s initial vote to approve the motion, the ordinance was expected to take effect on Nov. 7, as it was not approved on emergency due to Councilwoman Tracy Wallach’s absence during the Oct. 7 meeting. Councilwoman Heidi Shaffer Bish elected to reconsider the motion in order to approve

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City of Kent Council Government Uncategorized 

New City Hall to consolidate management departments, bring ‘city campus’ feel to Kent

Nicholas Hunter 0 Comments , , , ,

In an effort to bring the bulk of city management under one roof, the City of Kent plans to construct a city hall in 2020. Gwen Rosenberg, councilwoman-at-large for Kent City Council, said having a designated city hall building will be a first for Kent. “There was a vision to have a sort of city campus, with a police department, fire department (and) city hall,” Rosenberg said. “The city hall as it was was kind of broken up into different spaces.” Consolidation of many of the city management departments will help round out this vision. The city hall will be constructed in place of the old police station on the

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Main Street Kent seeks to develop the downtown area

Hailee Carlin 0 Comments

The city of Kent recently granted Main Street Kent $70,000 for the next two years in order to help further develop and revitalize the area. Main Street Kent, formed in 2006, is a non-profit organization whose main goal is to revitalize downtown Kent. The organization comes from a parent company called Heritage Ohio, which oversees all Main Street America branches in the state. Heritage Ohio calls itself “Ohio’s official preservation and Main Street organization”. Per their mission, they seek to create economic development and sustainability by preserving history but also commercializing and revitalizing Ohio neighborhoods and promoting tourism in these areas. The national Main Street America initiative takes pride in

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Group Project Uncategorized 

Drugs in Public Libraries: Is it an issue?

Andrea Gump 0 Comments , , , , , , ,

  Librarians were once fighting overdue books, but nobody ever thought they would have to fight overdoses too. Stacey Richardson, the Director of the Kent City Free Public Library, sat down to talk with me about the opioid epidemic. She explained to me that this is not just happening within the homes or streets of our community, but it is happening in the free public library not even a mile away from Kent State University’s campus. I want listeners to pretend like they are taking a step into the Kent City Public Library, and I want them to ask themselves what they would see. People, desks, computers? I want them

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Kent City Council discusses 2018 Capital Project Update, approves City/KSU Lighting Agreement

Erin Keller 0 Comments

Kent City Council gathered Wednesday to receive the 2018 Capital Projects Update. It details the costs and improvements surrounding the on-going construction throughout the City of Kent the past three years. City Council also authorized proposed updates to the city’s Solid Waste/Recycling Code, proposed 2019 Capital Plan, Mainstreet Contract renewal, the 2018 Budget Appropriations Amendment, reviewed city regulation regarding leaves being raked into public right-of-ways and approve the City/KSU Lighting Agreement. In the 2018 Capital Projects Update, Jim Bowling, the City of Kent’s Superintendent of Engineering/Deputy Service Director addressed the many improvements made to help ease traffic. One of these is the new roundabout on Summit St. “The roundabout at

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Higher Education Kent State University Ohio Uncategorized 

How Besty DeVos Title IX suggestions might affect universities

Linda Stocum 0 Comments , , , , ,

Words by: Ashton Vogelhuber and Linda Stocum Besty DeVos is deciding on how to change Title IX. On June 23, 1972, Title IX of the Education Amendments was enacted by Congress and signed into law by Richard Nixon. Title IX prohibits sex discrimination in any education program or activity receiving any type of federal financial aid. Below is a guide explaining what Title IX is and how it applies to college campuses. The courts have explained how this affects sexual assault reporting. The New Yorker describes how courts decided how Title IX affects campuses, “The law itself does not mention sexual violence, but its interpretation by courts and by the

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City of Kent Economics 

Downtown parking meters garnering mixed reactions after first three years of operation

Caelin Mills 0 Comments , ,

Words by: Caelin Mills and Nicholas Hunter Local business owners have started seeing the changes Kent City Council promised the new parking meters would bring to business since their installation in May 2015. Bridget Susel, director of the Kent Community Development Department, said meters had not been used downtown since the 1970s. “They were brought back because when the downtown redevelopment was completed,” Susel said. “Many of the first floor restaurants and retail operations wanted to fulfill greater turnover for patrons.” Lauren Heroux, the general manager of Tree City Coffee, said the local coffee shop was not directly involved in the decision-making process. “I know the owners definitely paid attention

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A yellow pouch worth $15: Where does the money go?

Kyleigh Jarosinski 0 Comments , , , , ,

General Definitions City Controller: The City Controller is the paymaster and chief accounting officer of the city. Parking turnover: The ratio of the number of vehicles parked in a duration of time to the number of parking bays available. General Fund: It provides resources necessary to sustain day-to-day operations of a city and pays for operating expenses. When governments say they need to “balance the budget,” they typically are referring to the general fund. Compliance Officers: They are part of the police department who make sure residents of Kent are complying with the parking standards. It’s been just over two years since the City of Kent implemented parking meters, and

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City of Kent Transportation Uncategorized 

Long Road Ahead: Kent in early stages of state Route 261 improvement plan

Anna Huntsman 0 Comments , ,

What was once wishful thinking on the parts of local engineers of the 1960s is now the task at hand for James Bowling, Kent’s current superintendent of engineering. Minds behind state Route 261, which connects Kent to Akron and other nearby cities and townships, belonged to an era that anticipated a significant Northeast Ohio growth that never showed up.

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