Fallsnewspress.com - Rabid bat found in area; one dog is

Rabid bat found in area;

one dog is quarantined

AURORA -- The Portage County Health Department has reported a bat with rabies was found in the city. The heath department was notified of the case Oct. 12, but the information was collected Oct. 5, according to health officials. The health department said a dog was exposed to a bat, which was captured in the Whisperwood subdivision and tested positive for rabies. The dog was taken to the Aurora Veterinary Clinic, where it was vaccinated and observed for a few days. It is believed to be doing fine, according to the health department. Kelly Engelhart, director of nursing for the health department, said it is not unusual to have a bat test positive for rabies, explaining about 10 percent to 15 percent of them carry rabies.

Police investigate possible bomb
threat at school

HUDSON -- Police continued to investigate a reported bomb threat at Hudson High School Oct. 19. Police officers allowed students to enter the building after no suspicious items were found. School officials say the district received notification from the Safe School Helpline -- an anonymous hotline students can call if they think students or teachers are in danger -- at 5:30 a.m. The caller reported overhearing someone in a Hudson restaurant talking about placing a bomb in the high school Oct. 19. Police were notified and conducted a more than 90-minute search of the school building and grounds. Staff members were allowed to enter the building at 7:15 a.m. Police cleared the scene at 7:18 a.m., and students were allowed to enter.

Study to consider Route 8 corridor land

NORDONIA HILLS -- Up to $40,000 in funding is being offered for an economic development study of land where the Wolstein Sports and Entertainment Group wants to build a professional soccer stadium and retail complex. Macedonia, Northfield Center, Summit County and the Summit County Port Authority would help pay for the study, which would be coordinated by the Akron Area Chamber of Commerce. Macedonia Mayor Don Kuchta said he prefers that plans for the soccer and retail development remain on hold until the study is completed. A date for the study's completion has not been set. Wolstein Group President Paul Garofolo previously said he feels confident such a study would support his firm's proposal.

Two men honored
for saving woman's life

MAPLE HEIGHTS -- Two friends whose actions are being credited with saving the life of a 71-year-old Maple Heights woman were honored by Mayor Michael Ciaravino in a ceremony before the Oct. 17 Council meeting. Ciaravino presented Jim Borkey, of Willoughby, and longtime friend Nick Bartzis, of Corkhill Road, with certificates of bravery for alerting an elderly Mendota Avenue woman Sept. 9 that her house was on fire and helping her to get out of the home. Ciaravino said the men alerted the woman, who came to the door after waking up from a nap. Ciaravino said, "A big, thick amount of smoke came right out of the back of the room and out the front. This literally would have resulted in her being overcome by smoke and she probably would have lost her life."

Oakwood approves
3-year police contract

OAKWOOD -- "Congratulations. We have a police contract." Those were some of the first words out of Council President Robert Townsend's mouth Oct. 23 after Council returned from a 30-minute, closed-door session to approve the three-year contract. It calls for a 3 percent pay raise each year until it expires Dec. 31, 2009. Townsend said it took about six months of negotiations between the village and FOP Lodge 67, Oakwood Village Division, for the contract to be hammered out. According to Oakwood Police Sgt. Sam Bigham, who is the police union representative for the 13 members of the union, "This is the first time contract negotiations have gone this smoothly."

City examines two safety proposals

SILVER LAKE -- The impact of trains on the Cuyahoga Falls and Stow fire departments' response time was discussed as Silver Lake attempts to decide which agency for its fire, EMS and dispatch services. Stow currently provides those services to Silver Lake in a contract that runs through the end of 2008, but Cuyahoga Falls has offered to provide the service for less money. At an Oct. 22 forum at Silver Lake Village Hall, some residents asked about how the proposed dinner train and other railroad traffic would affect the fire departments' response times. "We would put cameras on those tracks and monitor those as well," said Falls Fire Chief Mark Snyder, adding Falls would cover that cost. Snyder said cameras along other railroad tracks have improved the department's response time to many areas of the city. "We happen to have stations on both sides of the tracks," said Stow Fire Chief William Kalbaugh, who added Falls' access to Silver Lake would be blocked if those inactive tracks were reopened for the dinner train or other railroad traffic.

Knights of Columbus
collecting for military

STOW -- Members of the Stow-Hudson Knights of Columbus are collecting items to help military personnel en route, deployed or returning home. The collection drive for the United Service Organization of Ohio is scheduled for Nov. 10 at Stow City Hall, 3760 Darrow Road, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Knights are collecting the following items: Toilet paper; international phone cards; canned vegetables; fruit cups; tea bags; tuna fish; shaving cream; white socks; eye drops; cough drops; and hand sanitizer. According to Knights of Columbus member Ron Crock, the group will work with the North Canton U.S. Armory. For more information, call Crock at 330-677-9829.

Plant closure
will cost city 46 jobs

STREETSBORO -- The Rexam Inc. plant on Mondial Parkway announced in a letter to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services that it will be closing early next year. "This action is expected to be permanent," Rexam plant manager Thomas Young stated in the letter. The planned closure will mean a loss of 46 jobs between Dec. 21 and Jan. 3, 2008. "We will work hard to hopefully replace the business as soon as possible," said Mayor Mark Pavlick.

District facing
deficit in near future

TALLMADGE -- Tallmadge Schools Treasurer Jeffrey Hostetler projects that the schools' general fund will have an ending balance of just more than $3 million by the end of this school year. The district's annual budget is around $25.5 million. If the district passes no more levies, by fiscal year 2009, the projected balance drops to $342,705, he said. In fiscal year 2010, the balance falls to a deficit of around $3.2 million and to a deficit of about $8 million in 2011. By 2012, Hostetler projects the district to have a deficit of more than $14 million. The current forecast doesn't factor in the new teacher contracts, which have yet to be ratified. The district hopes to pass Issue 14, a 1 percent school income tax levy on the Nov. 6 ballot.

Detective has
haunting hobby

TWINSBURG -- For some people, being spooked might only happen at a haunted house or while watching a scary movie. But for World Paranormal Investigator like Greg Feketik, it's a full-time hobby. A sergeant detective in the Twinsburg Police Department, Feketik and his wife, Kathy, live in Maple Heights, where it's not unusual for them to sit and watch 25 hours of a video recording where something -- or maybe nothing -- happens in the darkened room of an allegedly haunted house. In 2004 the Feketiks joined WPI, a non-profit organization founded by John and Bea Bruegge of Kent a few years ago. Greg Feketik's daughters, who grew up in Twinsburg, are also involved. Most recently, five members of WPI were invited by property owners to an abandoned building in Barberton and 11 members took a weekend trip to Prospect Place Hotel in Trinway.