The think tank estimated that there are 113,671 people living in poverty in the metro area, which includes Portage County. Nearly 58,000 of those live outside the city of Akron.

Poverty grew twice as fast in the Akron suburbs as in the city over the last decade, according to the book Confronting Suburban Poverty in America. The number of poor surged 96.9 percent in the suburbs and only 50.8 percent in the city between 2000 and 2011.

Despite that, the poverty rate in the Akron suburbs was 11.8 percent, well below the 28.9 percent in the city.

The report defines poverty using federal guidelines. In 2011, the federal poverty level for a family of four was $22,350.

Book authors Elizabeth Kneebone and Alan Berube attributed the suburban shift to a variety of reasons, including people moving out of cities, jobs shifting to suburbs, unemployment, the collapse of the housing market and the foreclosure crisis.

Policymakers must rethink where they devote anti-poverty efforts, they said. The authors urged the federal government to create a competitive $4 billion grant program for states similar to President Obama’s “Race to the Top” initiative for education.

The money would come from an existing pool of $82 billion a year provided to at least 80 federal programs.

Kneebone and Berube studied the 100 largest metro areas in the nation.

The Akron metro region ranked 23rd worst in the country for the percentage growth in suburban poverty. It was second in Ohio behind only Dayton, which saw a 109.3 percent increase.

The Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga., metro area led the nation at 158.9 percent. The national average was 63.6 percent.

The Brookings findings come as no surprise to those who deal with poverty on a daily basis.

In January, the Ohio Association of Community Action Agencies issued its State of Poverty 2012, revealing that poverty grew in suburban counties by nearly 70 percent statewide over the last decade.

And a Beacon Journal analysis in December showed a 71 percent increase over the last five years in the number of rural and suburban residents seeking government food assistance.

Philip Cole, executive director of the Ohio Association of Community Action Agencies in Columbus, noted that the data on suburban poverty can be shocking for some people. They have a preconceived notion of what poor people look like and reality doesn’t match the image.

“One in 12 people in poverty have a college degree, at least a bachelor’s degree,” Cole said.

Mark Frisone, executive director of Family & Community Services in Ravenna, agreed. His agency runs homeless shelters, food pantries and soup kitchens in Portage, Geauga and Trumbull counties, and helped about 90,000 individuals last year.

“The face of poverty has changed,” he said. “There’s no question that those who rely on services that we provide are a vastly different demographic than they were five years ago.”

He noted, for example, that more than half of the people seeking help have jobs but don’t make enough money to support their families.

“Hopefully, with the economy righting itself, those who never needed us will go back to never needing us again,” Frisone said.

Cole said many suburban residents don’t realize how quickly they can spiral into poverty.

“There’s this disbelief that it’s not going to happen to me. But it does,” Cole said. “There are a whole lot of ‘mes’ out there.”

Rick Armon can be reached at 330-996-3569 or rarmon@thebeaconjournal.com.

He wanted to be there as part of Mitzvah Day, cooking a healthy, hardy meal for Akron’s needy and homeless.

Chef Ries’ menu: breaded chicken cutlets, baked potatoes with butter and sour cream, green beans, tossed green salad, lemonade to drink and a serving of apricots for dessert.

Although the Red Cross doors opened for the free meal at 12:30 p.m., Ries was there at 8:30 a.m., he said, to begin his meal preparations for the expected heavy turnout.

Mitzvah is a Hebrew word meaning “good deed,” or an act of human kindness toward others — the theme of Sunday’s event at more than a dozen mostly nonprofit organizations throughout the city.

Ries, 49, who is retired after 30 years of work in Timken’s technical engineering center, said he felt the need to be there.

“I guess I’ve been blessed with good health, and I’ve made some good investments, so if I’m able to give back and help the less fortunate, I want to do that,” Ries said.

Red Cross volunteer Marianna Jones said the organization schedules community dinner days on every second and fourth Sunday of the month. The event usually draws between 150 and 200 people for the two hours that the meals are served.

However, with the fourth Sunday in May falling on Memorial Day weekend, the month’s second community day dinner was moved up a week.

And so the usually big turnout dropped to about 20 to 30, organizers said, with under an hour remaining before the doors closed at 2:30 p.m.

But that didn’t detract from the spirit of the 15 Mitzvah Day volunteers.

Lisa Spector of Akron’s Beth El Congregation was one of the volunteers in the serving line and brought her 16-year-old daughter, Madison, who helped serve the food at the buffet table.

Spector said it felt good to be there.

“We could have been out shopping for [my daughter], but we both decided to be here doing something for somebody else,” she said.

Such a decision embodies the true spirit and meaning of the word “mitzvah,” Spector said.

One of the needy, a 75-year-old woman from Akron who did not wish to give her name, brought a friend and said Sunday’s meal was very good.

“This is one of the nicer ones, and they have a lot of different groups who come in and serve,” she said.

The woman said she fell and broke her hip two years ago and has other health and mobility problems. Sunday’s meal simply helped her get by.

“My income keeps dropping every year with the government cuts, so I can’t make it without getting some help,” she said.

Every person, when finished eating the dinner at the Red Cross center, also received a grocery bag filled to the top with apples and oranges, canned soup and black-eyed peas, a jar of peanut butter, boxes of macaroni and cheese and breakfast bars, and packages of ramen noodles and ramen chicken soup.

But it wasn’t just the food that brought out the needy.

A 51-year-old Akron man, who preferred not to give his name, said he came for fellowship.

“We all need people in our lives, and this is one of the ways that really makes my spirits good,” he said.

Ed Meyer can be reached at 330-996-3784 or at emeyer@thebeaconjournal.com.

Phillips, James F., 89, of Sebring. Died Saturday. Cassaday-Turkle-Christian.

The gala included a cocktail reception as well as dinner for about 125 people.

The benefit was co-chaired by Allyn Davies, Catherine Brulport and Andrea Wlaszyn.

“It’s a weekend of sisterhood and we will have more than 300 people participating in the various events,” Brulport said.

“Tonight, we will be presenting the local Ronald McDonald House with an initial gift of $5,000 to go toward its new construction project,” Wlaszyn added.

According to Anne Collins, executive director of the Ronald McDonald House in Akron, the facility near the Akron Children’s Hospital campus is expanding from 20 bedrooms to 60.

Guests at Friday’s event had a chance to have their pictures taken with University of Akron mascot Zippy as they walked through the door.

“I’m looking forward to meeting all the girls and it’s just great to be together in one room,” Stephanie Zelasko said.

Members of Alpha Delta Pi sorority for more than 50 years included Maryann Matzules, Elsie Consilio and Helen Gisewhite.

“My mother was president of the mother’s club and being a part of this group was the greatest experience I’ve ever had,” Gisewhite said.

Some of the alumni sorority sisters flew in from out of state to attend.

“I wasn’t in a sorority in college but I joined and became initiated with my daughter as my sponsor,” Nancy Brulport said.

Gabrielle Dimengo and Alaina Pinto sold raffle tickets for a chance to win diamond earrings.

“I love getting to see all of my sisters and I’m just looking forward to catching up with them,” attendee Karissa Brandy said.

Music was provided by the Josh Rzepka Jazz Trio.

The June 1953 Class of North High will celebrate its 60-year reunion at noon June 15 at the home of classmate Carl Cochran and his wife, Marilyn. Contact Bonnie Amelio Batman at 330-929-1022 or batmans@sbcglobal.net.

The first reunion for Copley-Fairlawn School teachers will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Aug. 17 at the St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church, 3204 Ridgewood Road, Fairlawn. Reservations are required and must be received by Aug. 3. For details, email samandradar@yahoo.com.

Send notices of school, club and military reunions to Carol Biliczky at cbiliczky@thebeaconjournal.com or fax them to 330-996-3033.

Why, yes, of course you would — if you owned an Akron auto dealership in the 1920s. That was good publicity!

Texas rancher Fred Mathews Jr., better known as Daredevil Mathews, took Akron by storm in May 1928 with a headline-grabbing offer to break the local record for nonstop driving. Was there such a record before he arrived? Who knows? It sounded impressive.

Mathews, who billed himself as a cowboy from the Rio Grande Valley, ambled from town to town, making a career out of endurance driving. In Akron, the 29th city on his national tour, he approached William A. Hahn, the owner of a Gardner Motor Co. dealership at 30 N. Summit St., and offered to publicize a new model through “five days and five nights of continuous driving.”

“I brought a letter of introduction to Hahn, telling him to give me a Gardner car of the smallest type to make this nonstop drive,” Mathews told reporters in 1928. “He offered me a car and I told him it would stand the gaff.

“Hahn offered to make a gentleman’s agreement, which I did and which I win if the car fails to stand up without my resorting to unreasonable abuse. If it stands up under the running it will get, I will have to admit that it is some car.”

Daredevil Mathews agreed to drive a Gardner Model 85 for 120 hours without stopping “except to comply with traffic regulations, a signal or a passing train.” He arranged for Akron police to handcuff him to the steering wheel and keep the key at headquarters.

Believe it or not, this was a common act. Jack Allen, Al Blackstone, Jack Derby, Harold Lockwood and Bennie Mercer, all billing themselves as daredevils, performed similar stunts in cities across the country in the 1920s and 1930s.

Mathews pledged to Akron officials that he would stop the car if he ever felt too tired to drive. Joining him on the road was Barbara Cox, his nurse and business partner, who was to “administer nourishment and lend aid in all possible ways during the long hours,” the Beacon Journal reported.

Mathews lined up a dozen merchants to supply food, gas, tires and other supplies for the drive. He became a rolling advertisement for their products, touting them at every turn.

His only stimulant was black coffee. His only food was milk and ice cream. His only vices were cigars and cigarettes.

“I’m in good condition for the test,” he said. “It doesn’t pay to go to sleep.”

Officer Thomas Lynett handcuffed Daredevil Mathews to the Gardner steering wheel at 6:30 p.m. Monday, May 28, in front of the Beacon Journal’s headquarters at East Market and Summit streets. The car was topped with a large sign promoting Mathews and Hahn.

Mathews pulled away from the curb as hundreds of spectators cheered. His daily schedule was published as follows:

7 a.m. — Courtney Dairy Co., Merriman Road Extension, for milk.

8 a.m. — Akron Pharmacy, Main and Market streets, Portage Hotel, for coffee.

8:30 a.m. — B.F. Connelly service station, 970 N. Main St., for Freedom oil and gasoline.

9 a.m. — Beacon Journal, 140 E. Market St., to talk to reporters about his condition.

9:30 a.m. — Hahn & Co., 30 N. Summit St., for a cigar.

10 a.m. — Rudick’s jewelry store, 143 S. Main St., to have a Bulova wristwatch rewound.

10:30 a.m. — Sokol’s Furniture Co., 66 S. Howard St., for a cigar.

11 a.m. — Dewitt Distributing Co., 447 S. Main St., for a spotlight check.

11:30 a.m. — Furnas Ice Cream Co., 34 N. Broadway, for ice cream.

Noon — Banner Tire & Service Co., 316 S. High St., for inspection of spark plugs.

12:30 p.m. — Instant Tire Service Co., 440 S. High St., for inspection of Miller DeLuxe balloon tires.

1 p.m. — Dewitt Distributing Co. 240 W. Exchange St., for a cigar.

1:30-5 p.m. — Akron neighborhoods to meet new friends.

5 p.m. — Beacon Journal for another chat with reporters.

5:15 p.m. — Sokol’s Furniture Store, 66 S. Howard St.

5:30 p.m. — Rudick’s jewelry store, 143 S. Main St.

5:45 p.m. — Akron Pharmacy, 173 S. Main St., Ohio Building, for coffee.

6 p.m. — Hahn & Co., 30 N. Summit St.

6:15 p.m. — Instant Tire Service Co., 440 S. High St.

6:30 p.m. — U.S. Barber Shop, East Market Street and Broadway.

7 p.m. — Courtney Dairy Farms for more milk.

7:30 p.m. — B.F. Connelly, 970 N. Main St., for fuel.

7:45 p.m. — Akron Pharmacy, Market and Main streets.

8 p.m. — Hahn & Co., 30 N. Summit St., for a last cigar.

8:30 p.m. — Sunset Gardens for cigarettes.

9:45 p.m. — Brady Lake Park to drive around carnival rides all night.

Crowds gathered to see the daredevil in action. Pedestrians waved along the way, and Mathews waved back.

Technically, he didn’t stop for public appearances. He rocked the car forward and backward, making sure it was always in motion — even when guests hopped aboard.

That made his daily shave a little bit frightening.

“A day’s growth of beard gave the cowboy record breaker a somewhat haggard appearance when he drove up to the barbershop about 6:15 o’clock, with 23 hours, 45 minutes of continuous driving already to his credit,” the Beacon Journal reported. “In a few minutes, a barber was busy lathering Mathews’ face, standing in the tonneau while the driver’s head rested on the seat back.

“The automobile, however, continued in motion. Forward a foot, then reversed a foot, then forward again. Mathews drove as the barber struggled to soften the beard.”

The crowd held its breath when the barber whipped out a straight razor. Despite the rocking of the car, Mathews didn’t even suffer a nick.

The driver averaged about 200 miles per day. By Wednesday, he suffered fatigue, headaches and neck pains. He had a chiropractor treat him in the car and he felt better afterward.

“Good coffee also helps, and they surely do make good coffee at the Akron Pharmacy Co.,” he said.

That’s the way the daredevil spoke — always mentioning his local sponsors.

“The help I am receiving from the Akron merchants in this drive is in no small part responsible for my ability to remain on schedule,” he said. “Then I have the Bulova wristwatch, given me by Rudick’s jewelry store, and set daily by them. Night driving has been helped considerably by the spotlight provided by the Dewitt Distributing Co.”

Mathews insisted that he never fell asleep during his endurance run. Skeptics might wonder if anyone was present in the predawn hours to see the car circle Brady Lake, or if Mathews’ sidekick nurse ever steered while he took a nap.

Nobody wanted to imagine how Mathews heeded the call of nature while cruising around with a manacled hand.

Spectators cheered when the daredevil rolled to a stop at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, June 2, breaking the local endurance record. The car traveled 1,200 miles in five days, according to the odometer. Police unlocked the handcuffs and Mathews eased himself out of the car.

He took a bath at the Taylor Hotel and fell asleep at 7 p.m. in the front window of Hahn & Co., where curious onlookers could spy on him all night.

“Watch me when I hit the hay in the Hahn Co. window in the bed that will be provided by the Sokol Furniture Co.,” Mathews said.

Upon waking at 8 a.m. Sunday, Mathews had nothing but praise for the Gardner vehicle.

“What a car! What power! What smoothness!” he said before leaving Akron.

After five days of cigar smoke and driver perspiration, though, it surely had lost its new-car smell.

Copy editor Mark J. Price is author of The Rest Is History: True Tales From Akron’s Vibrant Past, a book from the University of Akron Press. He can be reached at 330-996-3850 or mjprice@thebeaconjournal.com.

Nature Realm open

AKRON: The Seiberling Nature Realm will be open on Memorial Day.

The nature center at 1828 Smith Road is normally closed on Mondays by Metro Parks, Serving Summit County.

Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For more information, call 330-865-8065 or go to www.summitmetroparks.org.

PORTAGE COUNTY

Big Brothers raffle

RAVENNA: Big Brothers and Sisters of Portage County will have a countywide raffle to support its one-to-one mentoring program.

Only 200 tickets will be sold for $100 each.

If all tickets are sold, one winner will have a choice of a $10,000 trip to St. Andrew’s or a trip to the Hawaii.

If all 200 tickets are not sold, a 50/50 drawing will be implemented. To buy a ticket, call the Big Brothers and Sisters Office at 330-296-6655.

stark county

Trail meetings

The Stark County Park District has scheduled three public meetings on trail-building plans.

The schedule is:

• May 30, Minerva Public Library, 677 Lynnwood Drive.

• June 5, Quail Hollow State Park, 13480 Congress Lake Road NE, Lake Township.

• June 20, Stark County District Library, 715 Market Ave. N., Canton.

The meetings start at 6 p.m.

The meetings follow similar ones in March and April when the park district took suggestions for various trail routes. This second round of meetings will enable park officials to report on how public comments were incorporated into a revised trail master plan.

For more information, contact Sarah Buell at 330-479-2334.

Summit county

Paint for seniors

AKRON: Applications for the Senior Home Improvement Paint program are being accepted for the 2013 exterior paint program.

To qualify, one must be a homeowner, over 60 or disabled and meet federal poverty guidelines.

Persons in need of assistance can attend a meeting of the Greater Westside Council of Block Clubs held on the fourth Saturday of each month at 10 a.m. at the Ed Davis Community Center, 430 Perkins Park Drive. The next meeting will be this Saturday.

Cancer group stays

FAIRLAWN: A local support group for prostate cancer patients is continuing, despite the American Cancer Society’s decision to stop sponsoring the program.

Effective Aug. 31, the American Cancer Society will no longer sponsor the Man to Man prostate cancer support groups nationwide.

However, the local group will continue to meet the second Wednesday of every month at Stewart’s Caring Place, Suite R, 2955 W. Market St., Fairlawn.

The meetings — which begin at 7 p.m. — are free and open to the public.

The group will be called the Prostate Cancer Support and Education Group.

Community sale

RICHFIELD: The annual Richfield Community Garage Sale will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 1.

More than 150 individual garage sale participants will have an official garage sale sign posted near the road.

Maps and itemized lists of what will be available at each sale may be purchased for $1 between 8 a.m. and noon on the day of the event at the corner of West Streetsboro and Broadview roads in Richfield.

Profits from the community garage sale will go toward its annual community service scholarship for a Revere High School senior, providing community events and assisting individuals and families in need.

Saturday

Pancake Breakfast and Geranium Sale — 9 a.m. to noon at the Akron Woman’s City Club, 732 W. Exchange St., Akron. $7, includes orange juice, sausage, pancake buffet and tea or coffee. Geraniums and hanging baskets for sale. Reservations required; call 330-762-6261.

One Love Unity 5K, Walk for Health & Community Cookout — at Hardesty Park, 1615 W. Market St., Akron. Check in 9:30 a.m. 5K begins at 10 a.m., walk at 10:15 a.m. 330-571-6060, 330-790-1257 or www.akron1loveunity.org.

Sunday

iPress Walk-A-Thon: Walk for a Cause — 3 p.m. at Lane Field, 1055 East Ave., Akron. 3-mile walk benefiting breast cancer awareness. $25. Call Carleesha Morrow at 330-780-4848 or Edna Moore at 330-212-9120.

Cancellation

Akron Civic Theatre “It’s All About Chocolate” — Fundraiser scheduled for tonight at the Akron Civic Theatre, 182 S. Main St., Akron, has been canceled. For information, call 330-253-2488.

Golf Outings

Sugar Bush Golf Classic — Wednesday at Sugar Bush Golf Club, 11186 State Route 88, Garrettsville. Morning round registration and continental breakfast at 6:45 a.m., shotgun start at 7:45 a.m. Afternoon round registration and lunch at 12:30 p.m., shotgun start at 1:30 p.m. Morning golfers’ awards lunch at 1 p.m., afternoon golfers’ awards dinner at 6:30 p.m. $125. Benefits Hattie Larlham. Call Tonnie Alliance at 800-233-8611, ext. 3069, or go to www.hattielarlham.org.

Shaw JCC of Akron Golf Outing — June 10 at Rosemont Country Club, 3777 Rosemont Blvd., Fairlawn. Registration at 10:30 a.m. with an 11:30 a.m. tee-off. $250, includes 18 holes of golf, lunch, snacks and beverages on the course, cocktails, dinner and door prizes. Call Todd Rockoff at 330-835-0021 or go to www.shawjcc.org.

Send information about social and charity events to The Scene, c/o Lynne Sherwin, Features Department, Akron Beacon Journal, P.O. Box 640, Akron, OH 44309. Or email lsherwin@thebeaconjournal.com with “The Scene” in the subject line. Event notices should be sent at least two weeks in advance. Merits of all organizations have not been investigated by the Beacon Journal, so potential donors should verify the worthiness of a cause before committing.

The cleanup itself will likely begin in early June, EPA spokeswoman Phillipa Cannon said.

The project covers soil and shallow groundwater remediation near the Copley Square Plaza at Copley (state Route 162) and Jacoby roads.

The work will run from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and will continue into August or September.

The area affected is north of Copley Road between the plaza and Meadow Run condominiums.

The EPA warns neighbors that the work will result in frequent loud equipment noises, dust from the construction and heavy equipment in the area.

For more information, contact remedial project manager Margaret Gieiniewski at 312-886-6244 or community involvement coordinator Susan Pastor at 312-353-1325.

Information is also available at www.epa.gov/region5/cleanup/copleysquare.

The project is part of a three-step remedy to correct contamination of an aquifer and soils from a former dry cleaning shop at the Copley Square Plaza that surfaced in 1990.

The $2 million plan calls for injecting a chemical mixture into the shallow aquifer to break up the dry cleaning chemicals — tetrachloroethane — that caused the contamination.

There is no immediate health threat, but residents could be at risk because of long-term exposure, the EPA said.

Earlier, the EPA had installed equipment in seven houses and condominiums to ensure that harmful vapors are not coming through the ground and affecting indoor air. In addition, 23 homes in the area were hooked up to Akron water and those wells were abandoned. The cost of the water connections and air controls is $1.5 million.

The contamination problem at Copley Square was discovered in 1990. It was detected by odors in water from two wells serving the plaza at 2777-2799 Copley Road.

In 1994, the Ohio EPA discovered 8,000 gallons of toxic chemicals stored in eight homemade pits under the plaza’s dry-cleaning shop.

The plaza’s two water wells were abandoned and a trench and sump system was built to remove contaminants from the soil and groundwater.

State and federal officials thought the pollution problem had been rectified in the mid-1990s, but in 2000, contamination was found to be spreading to the south and east.

In 2005, the site became part of the federal Superfund cleanup program. It was one of 34 Superfund sites across the United States and the only one in Ohio to be funded in 2012.

Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.

The “sisters,” as they call themselves — Deb Lemire-Kunz, Kim Hemminger, Nicole Lemire, Karen Lemire and Kelli Lemire — are hosting a “Unique Boutique” from 5 to 9 p.m. at Fairlawn Country Club, 200 N. Wheaton Road, Fairlawn, to raise much-needed funds to assist their brother Paul Lemire, who is battling pancreatic cancer.

The boutique invites you to shop new and gently used fine and costume jewelry and accessories; relax with spa and wellness services; enjoy live music, light hors d’oeuvres, cash bar, raffles and more. A raffle ticket for diamond jewelry is included in the $25 admission at the door. Sponsorships available.

For more information, please visit www.teampaulbreakitdown.com/unique_boutique.html

Because Paul is a 1988 Copley High School graduate, the sisters have sent a letter to his former classmates. It reads in part:

“Approximately eight months ago Paul received the news that all families pray they will never hear. He was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

“Paul has been a self-employed entrepreneur and published writer and has served in the Marines overseas. Copley High School class of 1988 will be holding a Benefit Reunion on Saturday, June 15, 2013, at Houston Hall, 3069 Houston Road, Norton. To make this a success, as the family is encountering mounting medical and household bills, a silent auction will be featured at our benefit.

“Please help us support Paul and his family by donating your company gift certificates/cards or a gift basket of your company product. All donations big or small will be accepted and greatly appreciated.” For more information, please call Lynn Dowling at 740-260-0054 or email lynndowling1@gmail.com.

WITAN grants

Big, beautiful bouquets to WITAN (Women in Touch with Akron’s Needs) for its recent round of community grants.

The nonprofit, founded in 1943, has granted more than $1.3 million to the community through its fundraising efforts. They’ve also donated an incalculable number of volunteer hours, 13,000 from members just last year alone.

Now for those grants:

• First Glance Student Center’s “Teen Moms” program — $4,200.

• OPEN M’s Free Medical Clinic (supply costs) — $10,000.

• ACCESS “Stepping Stones” program — $3,000.

• OASIS Outreach Opportunity’s “The Way” program — $5,000.

• Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank’s “Kid Power Packs” — $2,500.

• Akron Zoo, “Backpack Adventure” program — $2,000.

• Mobile Meals’ supplements for children at risk — $4,000.

• Salvation Army’s Booth Manor unit renovation — $5,000.

• Cuyahoga Valley Youth Ballet’s “Reach Out and Dance” program — $10,000.

• Daughters of Divine Charity, window coverings for Leonora Hall — $2,400.

WITAN awards as many as 10 grant requests a year to area 501(c)3 nonprofit agencies and organizations. Grant requests for the next round must be postmarked by Nov. 30. Download the form at www.witaninfo.org.

Taste of Soul

Excitement is building for the LeBron James Grandmothers Fan Club’s annual Sound & Taste of Soul fundraiser, 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday at Akron’s Helen Arnold Community Learning Center, 450 Vernon Odom Blvd.

The menu comes from the club’s cookbook with participation by guest caterers Shelvia Brown, Julia Craig, Laverne Easson, Wanda Nash and Janet Sommerville. The first 50 people will receive an autographed photo of club member Ruby Nash Garnett, an Akron native who sang with Ruby and the Romantics.

A varied menu of musical talents also awaits you: saxophonist Pat Munford and drummer Carson Barnes, jazz; Marilyn Rivers, blues; Al Knight, rhythm & blues; JLTs Gospel Singers, Marilyn Rivers, Audrey Clay and Barbara Bolar, gospel; Roland Jackson, drums. Cost is $8 with proceeds going to the club’s mentoring program. For more information or a reservation, please email alderchapman@yahoo.com or call 330-784-2544.

Pedal with Pete

The 19th annual Pedal with Pete cycling and hiking benefit for cerebral palsy research is planned for June 1, beginning at Faith Lutheran Church, 931 E. Main St., Kent, with registration from 7 to 9:30 a.m. or online.

Chairman Guy Russ said, “Cycling routes of 17, 40 and 60 miles of flat and rolling roads through Portage and Summit counties have been designated. Family-friendly biking and hiking routes of two or six miles extend through the Kent State campus and surrounding areas …

“Light refreshments and water will be available at rest stops on all routes off campus. SAG support and bike tune-ups will also be available to riders along the routes. A grilled lunch will be served to participants when they conclude the event at Faith Lutheran Church.”

There will be lots of prizes and a raffle for a Bianchi Iseo bike (courtesy of Portage Cyclery) planned for 10:30 a.m. All proceeds go to help cerebral palsy medical research and projects by Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus and other organizations.

“Pedal withPete founder, Peter Zeidner of Kent, was born with CP and has ridden a recumbent bicycle with joy and purpose to raise funds aimed at minimizing the debilitating effects of this condition,” Russ wrote. “To date the organization has raised over $500,000 through bike and hike events in Kent, Columbus and Emmetsburg, Iowa.”

For more information, please visit www.pedal-with-pete.org.

Sad news

It is with much sadness that I share the news that former Akron resident Dennis Lee Brown died April 22 in Cape Coral, Fla. He was 59. I had the pleasure of covering his 2001 wedding to the former Pam Collins on Edwin Shaw Hospital’s Challenge Golf Course.

The golf course was a natural setting as that’s where the couple met. He was a volunteer teaching golf to adults who were disabled since birth or from an illness; Brown was disabled due to bipolar disorder.

His wife formerly taught multi-handicapped students at Akron’s Sam Salem Elementary School.

Jewell Cardwell can be reached at 330-996-3567 or jcardwell@thebeaconjournal.com

Preparations are being made at Sree Venkateswara Temple of Cleveland, located at 4406 Brecksville Road, for a seven-day celebration of its grand opening. The historic opening of the first temple of its kind in Ohio begins Wednesday and extends through May 28, with the major celebration to infuse life into the presiding deity and other deities on Sunday.

“A lot of people have been waiting for years for this temple to be built because they have been driving to Pittsburgh, where the closest Venkateswara temple is located,” said Dr. Ram Bandi, chairman of the board of trustees. “Everyone in the Hindu community is excited. Most have never seen this kind of event.”

The 13,000-square-foot temple is the result of a vision that was nearly 10 years in the making. An agreement to purchase the seven acres of land where the temple now sits was made in 2007, several years after members of the local Hindu community began discussions about construction.

Richfield’s Planning and Zoning Commission approved preliminary plans for the temple in November 2007, but progress was thwarted nine days later when a group of residents — citing concerns of increased traffic and noise — filed a lawsuit. Nearly two years later, a Summit County judge ruled the temple could be built on the property and the local Hindu community, comprising an estimated 1,000 families, got busy making plans.

Construction of the $3.5 million project began at the site in January 2012. Last week, leaders of the temple walked through the two-story building with representatives of Akron-based Bennett Construction Management Inc. and Cuyahoga Falls-based David Pelligra and Architects Inc. to view the work that has been done.

The ground level houses the community hall, which will be dedicated to social, cultural and educational events. The area includes a stage, classrooms, a library, meeting room, kitchen and storage space. Social and cultural activities, including singing and dancing, are planned in the community hall during the grand-opening celebration.

The upper, or main, area includes the priest and worship area and sanctums for five deities, which were sculpted in India. The major celebration to install the sacred images in the temple on Sunday — called Prana Pratishtapanam — involves a ceremony during which a sculptor will cut open the eyes of the images and the sacred image is brought to life.

Bandi translated the Sanskrit words Prana Pratishtapanam to mean “establishing the breath within the sacred image by inviting the Divine to live in the image. Until that is done, the image is just stone,” he said.

Outside the main worship hall, a sanctum has been prepared for the deity called Ganesha, the Hindu god that brings faith to remove obstacles.

The four sanctums inside the main hall have been prepared for the main deity, Lord Venkateswara, also known as Balaji, who is believed to be a form of the Hindu god Vishnu and represents the power of sustenance.

The deities located on either side of Venkateswara will be Srideva, the goddess of wealth, and Bhudevi, the goddess of earth. At the rear of the main area is a sanctum for Garuda, the king of the birds, who is considered a messenger between the gods and men. A smaller deity, Anjaneya, known for his courage, power and faithful service, has not arrived from India.

While all of the finishing touches on the building, including the laying of granite tiles (quarried in India) on the community hall floor, might not be completed by Wednesday, the celebration will go on.

Events on each day leading up to Sunday will take place outdoors, primarily in tents. Religious activities will include prayers, the singing of hymns and lighting ceremonial fires.

The sacred fires, typically fueled using wood and clarified butter, are a means of Hindu worship. The ritual involves a priest placing things like rice and herbs into the sacred fire while hymns are sung.

“Every prayer has power, but fire has tremendous energy to transfer things faster. It’s like when you mail something. It takes longer to get there by regular mail than by email. The sacred fires also have a purifying element. They purify the air,” said Venkata Laxmi Narsimhacharyulu Trichukachi, the temple’s priest who affectionately is called “Murthy Garu.”

The priest, who will live in a small home on the property, comes to the local temple from Pittsburgh. The local Hindu community is exploring hiring a second priest.

In the Hindu religion, there are no regular service times. Devotees are free to visit the temple and request that the priest perform a service anytime during the day when the temple is open. During special observances or holidays, the community might gather at a specified time.

“Some people may like to stop in before or after work, but we expect Saturdays and Sundays to be the busiest days,” said Jagdish Medarametla, a member of the board of trustees. “People are looking forward to being able to come to the temple, which is God’s house.”

Until the temple opens, the local Hindu community will continue to take part in rituals and worship at altars in homes.

More information about Sree Venkateswara Temple of Cleveland can be found at www.balajiusa.org.

Colette Jenkins can be reached at 330-996-3731 or cjenkins@thebeaconjournal.com. She can be followed at https://twitter.com/ColetteMJenkins.

The Hindu American Foundation estimates that 2 million Hindus of Indian origin are in the United States, and another 1 million practicing American Hindus are not of Indian origin.

The Pluralism Project of Harvard University estimates that there are 1.5 million Hindus in the nation.

Diana L. Eck, one of the foremost scholars of Hinduism and director of the Pluralism Project, says Hindus believe in one transcendent Supreme Being, reincarnation and karma.

The faith tradition has no one founder, teacher, prophet or set of beliefs.

Its primary belief is that the soul does not die. Its rule of karma is that every act affects how the soul will be reborn. The cycle of birth and rebirth continues until the soul achieves spiritual perfection and is united with the Supreme Being.

Hindus worship deities, which are representations of the one god they believe in. They are monotheistic, and their worship involves meditating, chanting and worshipping icons of the deities.

Although Hinduism has many deities, the primary three are Brahma, the creator; Vishnu, the preserver; and Shiva, the destroyer. Hindus believe animals have souls, and some are worshipped as deities.

The religion includes many sacred texts. The best known is the Bhagavad Gita, a philosophical conversation between the deity Krishna and the warrior Arjuna. The primary texts of Hinduism are the four Vedas, which contain hymns, rituals and incantations.

“We are one of the most peaceful religions in the world,” Dr. Ram Bandi said. “Our goal here is to serve the entire Hindu community. The temple is open to everyone. There is no membership; you simply practice. ... We believe in inclusion rather than exclusion.”

Colette Jenkins can be reached at 330-996-3731 or cjenkins@thebeaconjournal.com. She can be followed at https://twitter.com/ColetteMJenkins.

Jonna Williams — 13 years old and barely 5 feet tall — was riding her bicycle on a city street in Waterloo, Iowa, when a stranger approached. It was about 1:30 in the afternoon.

Could she tell him how to get to Mulberry Street? the tall man asked.

Williams began telling him, but he said he couldn’t hear her. So he began walking.

Closer and closer.

“As I was telling him again, he grabbed me and instantly started saying: ‘Shut up, or I’m going to snap your neck. Shut up. You’re coming with me or I’m going to kill you!’ So it was instantaneous,” she said, “and the threat absolutely was immediate.”

Before she could make another move, Williams was taken away and sexually assaulted under a nearby railroad overpass.

It was July 4, 1994.

There were no thoughts of escape that day — just as there surely were none in the remarkable case of the Cleveland kidnappings, Williams contends — because of one, far greater concern: Survival.

Williams, now 31, said she is retelling her story in the hope that the Cleveland women — Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight — do not become trapped again in the “victim-blaming” question: How, over 10 years (or more), did they not find a way to escape kidnapping and rape suspect Ariel Castro?

“I can see why people don’t understand that, and that’s my big, big fear — these girls will be questioned about that. And absolutely no one has the right to question them about that, because they did what they had to do to survive. Escaping was secondary,” Williams said.

“And it wasn’t just their own survival they had to think about. It was, for all three of them, the survival of the little baby that was born while they were in captivity. The threats, I can guarantee, were ongoing.”

The man who attacked Williams held her for about two hours. In that time, she was threatened “a hundred times.” He tried but failed to kill her by snapping her neck, she said. Then he tried to strangle her with the string from her hoodie.

Finally, after more threats that he would kill her if she cried or tried to scream, she said she was told to count to 1,000, get back on her bike and go home — and he would be across the street watching everything.

“There are just so many factors — and the brainwashing that goes into that. I was missing for two hours,” Williams said, “and this gentlemen made me tell him where I lived and that he was going to come and kill my family.

“When someone has already asserted such a significant amount of power over you, you’re down and you’re going to believe what they say, because you don’t have a choice.”

Others who are following the Cleveland case closely are not so sure.

Another opinion

Internationally recognized forensic psychologist Dr. Carole Lieberman, a U.S. congressional witness on national security issues who also appears frequently to give insights into the criminal mind on CNN, the BBC, the Today show, Court TV and for the New York Times, said she had an immediate reaction to initial accounts of the Cleveland case by authorities.

Within days of the women being freed and Castro being arrested, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Tim McGinty said the victims were held against their will in “a torture chamber and private prison in the heart of our city.”

Lieberman, however, doubts that such things took place throughout the ordeal.

“It’s not believable — that these women did not have an opportunity to get out, to escape, before a decade. There is more here than meets the eye,” she said in a telephone interview from her office in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Lieberman cited the long-established theory known in the psychiatric realm as Stockholm syndrome — so named after a 1973 robbery in Stockholm, Sweden. Two men held four bank employees hostage at gunpoint inside the bank vault over six days.

“When the victims were released,” Time magazine reported in 2009, “their reaction shocked the world: They hugged and kissed their captors, declaring their loyalty even as the kidnappers were carted off to jail.”

Lieberman said she feels the same “psychodynamics” that prompted Time’s examination of the Stockholm theory — soon after the infamous California case of Jaycee Lee Dugard’s kidnapping and release after 18 years — could have occurred in the Cleveland case.

“What I think — why I’m suggesting Stockholm syndrome — is [a situation] where the kidnapped victims come to sympathize with, or have feelings for, or even fall in love with their captor,” Lieberman said.

At the time of the Cleveland abductions, she noted, all three victims — two teens and one young adult — were much younger than Castro, “so he would be like a father figure to them,” she said.

Lieberman also said the psychodynamics of sibling rivalry could have occurred over time, “where three daughters, more or less the same age, are always vying for the favor and attention of their father — competing for that.”

As coldhearted and psychopathic as Castro would appear to be in this early stage of the criminal investigation, Lieberman said, he “would have realized, he would have known, how to use this rivalry to forward his agenda of keeping them captive.”

Syndrome disputed

In the view of retired FBI agent Eileen Roemer, who worked for the bureau for 21 years, also serving as a U.S. Navy Reserves captain with collateral duties as an intelligence officer, Stockholm syndrome has no bearing on the Cleveland case.

Roemer’s background in such cases came from years of experience in the bureau’s Behavioral Analysis Unit. Her father also was an FBI agent.

“I don’t really go with the Stockholm syndrome theory,” Roemer said. “I’ve studied that when I learned how to be a hostage negotiator in the FBI, and that would have been in the late 1980s, when it was a big topic, and I personally don’t see these women bonding in that manner with their captor. I really don’t.”

Roemer brought up the example of the 1975 Academy Award-winning movie, Dog Day Afternoon, in which Al Pacino played the part of a takeover robber in a downtown Brooklyn bank heist. The movie was based on a similar event, told by writer P.F. Kluge in his story The Boys in the Bank about a 1972 Brooklyn heist.

Pacino’s character was so pathetic, Roemer said, with his home life crumbling on all fronts, that he did become a sympathetic figure to his captives.

“But I don’t believe these young women [in Cleveland] ever felt sorry for this guy, or felt anything good about him. He was a threat to them for 10 years — a complete and utter threat who abused them and who beat them into submission, from all reports. He was using sex as a weapon to humiliate them,” Roemer said.

“I can’t imagine that these girls have any kind of positive feelings, whatsoever, about this man.”

Another factor

Private investigator Philip Becnel of Washington, D.C., another widely sought expert on criminal matters as president of the Private Investigators Association of Virginia, said he feels another factor could have played out in the Cleveland case.

In explaining how the three young women could have remained captives for so long, Becnel said the influence of “perks” could have weighed heavily.

He said it works like this: “If you comply, I make it easier on you. You’re chained to a bed, and if you don’t struggle while I rape you, you can eat today. Over time, compliance is the easiest choice.

“There are many perks involved with compliance, and one might be: ‘If you comply for six months, I’ll let one of your wrists free. And if you comply for another six months, then I’ll let both hands free.’

“You can think,” Becnel said, “about any number of ways it might have happened, because all the details aren’t out yet.”

In the 1994 case of Iowa kidnapping victim Jonna Williams, the facts were established long ago.

Buried at the scene of her abduction, about 2 inches down in the dirt beneath the railroad overpass, she said that she left a bracelet her mother gave to her as a 13th birthday present.

“After my attacker left and told me to count to 1,000, I thought it necessary to leave some sort of proof that I was there. I knew that it was kind of a freak occurrence, and I wanted to make sure the police believed I was there,” Williams said.

A few days after Williams’ abduction, authorities charged Dale Dean Viers, now 50, with kidnapping. He was convicted of the crime in March 1995 and is serving a life sentence in prison.

Ed Meyer can be reached at 330-996-3784 or at emeyer@thebeaconjournal.com.

The syndrome, sometimes called “terror bonding,” was named after a 1973 bank robbery in Sweden in which the four captives, who worked at the bank, became emotionally attached to the robbers, even after their release.

The term was coined by criminologist and psychiatrist Nils Bejerot, who assisted police in investigating the robbery and later referred to the syndrome in a news broadcast.

Bejerot worked for many years as the consulting psychiatrist to the Stockholm Police Department.

In a recent interview, she strongly touted a cellphone app, called LifeLine Response, for protection when it’s dark, or when she’s alone or walking to her car in an unfamiliar place.

“It’s the most sophisticated technology that I have found to keep people safe,” Williams said.

The app is designed to notify authorities and family members instantly in the event of an assault or abduction. It also has a high-decibel alarm to alert anyone nearby and a voice warning to an attacker that police have been notified.

It works by thumb activation on the cellphone screen or a timer.

“If somebody grabs me, pushes me, or if anything else happens and I drop the phone, it gives me 20 seconds to pick up the phone and disarm it,” Williams said.

If the app is not disarmed in that time, local police are notified and the user’s personalized lifelines are dispatched in text message or email. It also gives a GPS location of the user within 300 feet.

“You shouldn’t have to carry a gun to feel safe,” Williams said.

The app, for Apple or Android phones, is available at the Apple iTunes store, Google Play and at www.llresponse.com, where more information can be found.

Monthly and annual subscriptions are available.

Akron

Arrests

A Leo Street man, 28, was charged with willful fleeing, resisting arrest, child endangering, driving under the influence and obstructing official business after a crash at Copley Road and Mercer Avenue. Police said the man hit a tree, drove off, ran through red lights, went the wrong direction on a one-way street and hit another car. Officers found a child in the back seat. The man admitted drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana before driving.

A Tallmadge man, 19, of South Thomas Road, was charged with gross sexual imposition involving a child, 12.

A Davies Avenue man, 25, was charged with felonious assault and child endangering after he allegedly injured a 1-year-old child.

A Cuyahoga Falls woman, 22, of Main Street, was charged with possessing drugs after a car crash at East Archwood Avenue and Coventry Street. Police said she was transported to an Akron hospital, where she was found to have a bag of heroin.

A Clark Street man, 48, was charged with vandalism, criminal damage and aggravated menacing after he allegedly damaged a car in a road-rage incident at Eastwood Avenue and Darrow Road, causing $2,000 in damage.

A Grace Avenue man, 19, was charged with aggravated robbery after a holdup at gunpoint.

A Triplett Boulevard man, 33, was charged with forgery, passing bad checks and receiving stolen property after he allegedly tried to cash a stolen check for $400 at a Chase Bank on South Arlington Street.

A Lily Street man, 44, was charged with tampering with evidence after a traffic stop. Police said he shoved a plastic bag into his pocket while the car was being searched and then put something in his mouth and swallowed. He later told officers that he had two Xanax pills in the bag.

A Nome Avenue man, 21, was charged with receiving stolen property after he allegedly tried to sell jewelry to Ohio Gold on Merriman Road.

A Dayton man, 21, was charged with burglary after a Vicross Avenue resident came home and found the man trying to escape with stolen items.

A man, 29, was charged with burglary after he allegedly tried to steal a flat-screen TV from a Glendora Avenue home.

A Hazel Street man, 69, was charged with domestic violence and assault.

A Treeside Drive man, 55, was charged with domestic violence.

A Hartford Avenue man, 36, was charged with domestic violence.

Barberton

Arrests

A Wadsworth man, 61, of Hartman Road, was charged with domestic violence May 4 after he allegedly hit his daughter in the face when she confronted him about his companion at a Wooster Road North bar.

A West State Street man, 49, and woman, 46, were charged with domestic violence following a disturbance at their home.

Domestic warrant

A domestic violence warrant was issued May 7 for a Brown Street man, 53, after he allegedly threw his girlfriend to the floor, causing her to hit a coffee table.

Theft

A Rittman man told police May 8 that he met a woman outside a church at Fifth Street and West Hop­ocan Avenue Northwest. When she said she forgot her keys, she went back for them. When she didn’t return, he went back to his vehicle and found that $450 was missing, along with the woman and her vehicle.

Copley Township

Domestic call

A Treetop Drive woman told police her boyfriend flushed her medicine down the toilet. The prescription was for 42 Oxycodone pills. Her doctor said she needed a police report to replace the prescription.

Coventry Township

Arrest

A Lake Vista Road man, 31, was arrested April 17 on a warrant charging him with communication harassment.

Cuyahoga Falls

Arrests

A 16th Street man, 34, was charged with two counts of felony domestic violence and one misdemeanor domestic violence May 9 after he allegedly threatened his brother with a knife, and then held the knife to his father’s throat and pushed him.

A Cuyahoga Falls High School student, 16, was charged with disorderly conduct May 13 after he allegedly pulled a fire alarm inside the school. He told police he was pretending to pull the alarm, and accidentally did.

Animal attack

A Brookpoint Lane man told police May 13 that a Rottweiler attacked his pet cat on a back porch. The cat died on the way to the veterinarian. The man did not know who owned the dog.

Arson

Someone set off firecrackers in a first-floor hallway of a Winter Parkway apartment building.

Burglary

Someone broke into an apartment in the 1400 block of Second Street on May 11 and took a safe containing $2,000 in jewelry.

Theft

A $10,000 diagnostic computer was taken from a home in the 2800 block of Sixth Street between April 28 and May 12.

Fairlawn

Theft

A Morewood Road man, 38, told police his 18-speed mountain bike valued at $100 was stolen May 10 from a back porch.

Arrests

An Akron man, 50, was charged with theft and criminal trespassing May 11 after he allegedly tried to steal four packages of steak and a bag of shrimp, total value $79.40, from Giant Eagle. He was charged with criminal trespassing because he has been banned from the store since 2011.

Two Akron women, 38 and 59, were charged with theft May 15 after they allegedly tried to conceal $160 worth of merchandise in a wheelchair at Dillard’s in Summit Mall.

An Akron man, 53, was charged with theft May 14 after he allegedly tried to steal an $84 cologne set from Dillard’s at Summit Mall.

A Clinton man was charged with theft May 11 after he allegedly tried to steal a pair of $9.99 gloves from Spencer’s Gifts at Summit Mall.

An Akron man, 22, was charged with possessing marijuana May 14 after police reported finding the drug when his vehicle was pulled over for not having a front license plate.

Green

Burglary

Jewelry and video games were reported stolen May 6 from a Thursby Road home. Values weren’t listed.

Springfield Township

Burglary

A woman told police May 4 that someone stole clothing, cellphones, a television and other items, total value $4,352, from her former home on Russell Street.

Identity fraud

Quality Mold on Massillon Road told police May 7 that someone made three copies of a $375.75 check, altered one and cashed them all for a total of $1,252.

Arrests

Two Linwood Road males, 25 and 17, were charged with felony theft, vandalism and criminal damaging after police reported finding them stealing copper off vacant Edwin Shaw Hospital on Flickinger Road.

Stow

Arrests

A King Drive man, 31, was charged with drug abuse, discharging an air gun and possessing drug abuse instruments May 13. A North Norman Drive man, 26, was charged with possessing drugs and drug abuse instruments. Police said the two fired the air gun in a parked car in a Huntington Bank parking lot on Darrow Road. Prescription medication and syringes were found in the vehicle.

Sexual assaults

A Stow-Munroe Falls High School official told police that a student, 15, was sexually assaulted April 27-29.

A woman, 36, told police May 14 that she was assaulted at her home.

Assault

A Jona Avenue man said May 14 that a man followed him home after a road-rage incident and assaulted him.

Child endangering

A Stow Road boy, 6, called 911 on May 8 to report that his mother was unconscious. Police suspected the woman overdosed on drugs while the boy and a sibling, 3, were at home.

Theft by deception

A clerk at 7-Eleven, 959 Steels Corners Road, activated prepaid debit cards for a caller who claimed to be testing the system from a corporate office. The loss was estimated at more than $3,000.

Thefts

A diamond ring set valued at $5,000 was stolen from a Young Road home, according to a May 11 report.

A Gross Avenue woman, 42, told police May 14 that someone used her personal information to open a utility account.

Burglaries

Five bottles of wine were stolen from a refrigerator inside a garage in the 4700 block of Sunnyside Drive, police were told May 10.

Someone broke into a Forest Heights Drive home May 1 and stole prescription medication.

Criminal simulation

A counterfeit $50 bill was used to purchase merchandise May 13 at Giant Eagle, 4300 Kent Road.

Tallmadge

Arrests

An Akron man, 31, was charged with falsification, driving under suspension and failing to maintain an assured clear distance May 9 following a crash on Tallmadge Circle. He initially told police that his girlfriend was driving the car but she walked home because she was on house arrest and didn’t want to get in trouble. When an officer said he would check the GPS coordinates on the woman’s ankle bracelet, the man admitted he was the driver.

An Akron man, 47, was charged with unlawful sexual conduct with a minor May 14.

An Akron man, 28, was charged with domestic violence May 12 after he allegedly assaulted his father.

A Kent man, 36, was charged with violating a protection order May 10.

Burglaries

Someone looted a home May 13 in the 1200 block of East Howe Road.

A thief took more than $500 in coins and cash May 11 from a home in the 100 block of East Howe Road.

Stark County

Jackson Township

Arrests

A 20th Street Northwest man, 56, was charged with domestic violence May 3 after he allegedly hit his daughter in the face.

A Waynesburg man, 65, of Market Avenue, was arrested May 4 following a car crash after an officer discovered the driver was wanted on a felony warrant of passing bad checks

Breaking and entering

An employee of Woodlawn Village on Woodlawn Avenue Northwest told police May 2 that someone broke into a locked box and stole several rent checks totaling $4,855.

A secretary at Ventura Manufacturing on Promler Avenue Northwest told police April 28 that someone stole grinders, sanders, saws and other items from the office.

Burglaries

Cash, a flat-screen TV and other items, total value $21,000, were stolen May 5 from a Crystal Lake Drive Northwest home.

A flat-screen TV, an Xbox 360 system, games and other items, total value $1,020, were reported stolen April 30 from a Castlebar Street Northwest home.

Identity fraud

A South Boulevard Northwest woman told police May 5 that someone charged $867 to her credit card account.

Thefts

A Fernwood Street Northwest woman told police May 7 that $1,000 and jewelry were stolen from her home over the past year.

Cash and a cellphone, total value $630, were stolen May 4 from a purse at Panini’s Bar & Grille on Dressler Road Northwest.

A purse and contents, total value $780, were stolen May 2 from a car at Planet Fitness on Whipple Avenue Northwest.

An $800 iPad were taken May 2 from a counter in the Cracker Barrel Country Store on Sunset Strip Avenue Northwest.

Lake Township

Arrest

A Woodlore Circle Northwest man, 19, was charged with domestic violence May 4 after he allegedly shoved his live-in girlfriend against a wall, threw her on a couch and refused to let her leave a bedroom.

North Canton

Arrests

A Canton woman, 40, of Daleford Avenue Northeast, was arrested May 6 on warrants alleging identity fraud, resisting arrest and endangering children.

A North Main Street boy, 17, was charged with theft, domestic violence and criminal damaging April 28 after he allegedly hit his father with his fist.

A Willaman Avenue Northwest girl, 14, was charged with domestic violence May 4 after she allegedly punched her mother during a quarrel.

Plain Township

Arrests

A Brookpoint Street Northwest man, 54, was charged with domestic violence after he allegedly hit his grandson in the face and head while they were driving. Deputies said the grandson escaped by jumping out of the moving vehicle.

A Middlebranch Avenue Northeast man, 35, was charged with domestic violence May 8 after he allegedly threatened to kill household members.

Uniontown

Theft

About 5,000 golf balls, total value $2,500, were stolen over a two-week period from a driving range at A Bucket of Balls on Edison Street Northwest across from Uniontown police headquarters, a worker told officers May 6.

Wayne County

Wayne sheriff

Burglaries

Three pistols, $500 and prescription medication, total value $2,954, were reported stolen May 10 from a home in the 6000 block of Wadsworth Road, Baughman Township.

Jewelry valued at $2,851 was reported stolen May 10 from a home in the 5500 block of East Steiner Road, Milton Township.

Theft

A 2002 Volkswagen valued at $3,500 was reported stolen May 10 from a home in the 8200 block of Smucker Road, Green Township.

Wooster

Arrest

A Wooster man, 38, was charged with felony domestic violence May 12 after he allegedly slapped his stepdaughter, 14, in the 700 block of Poplar Street.

Breaking and Entering

An Xbox, controllers and games, total value $300, were reported stolen May 9 from a home in the 4900 block of Pine Ridge Drive.

Burglary

A television and games, total value $2,120, were reported stolen May 9 from a home in the 500 block of West Liberty Street.

Thefts

A Portage Road woman, 55, told police May 9 that an Internet company sent her a $2,600 check and asked her to be a “secret shopper.” The woman shopped for items. Later, she found that the check was fraudulent.

Prescription medications were reported stolen May 8 from a home in the 2300 block of Cardinal Court.

Firestone High School student Chloe Napoletano of Akron received an honorable mention from the National Honor Society for Dance Arts for leadership, artistic merit and academic achievement. Firestone chapter sponsor Kelly Berick was recognized for outstanding teaching, leadership and guidance.

Medina County Treasurer John A. Burke received the Lutheran Lamb Award from the Chippewa District of the Boy Scouts of America for fostering spiritual growth and increasing the use of Boy Scout programs in the Lutheran Church. He is a member of St. Matthew Lutheran Church, where he has served as an organist for 28 years.

Education

Diccon Ong, chair of Western Reserve Academy’s history department, received the Outstanding American History Teacher Award from the David Hudson chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. He teaches advanced placement U.S. history and economics at the private Hudson school.

Russell Platt III, son of Martrice and Russell Platt Jr. of Fairlawn, received a Miguel Pro and a Buschmann Award from Xavier University. He will graduate from Walsh Jesuit High School this spring and plans to major in biology at Xavier.

Barbara Yoost of Shaker Heights, a nursing lecturer at Kent State, received the university’s Distinguished Honors Faculty Award for her work with nursing honors students.

Kristyn Shreve, daughter of Gregory and Joan Shreve of Kent and Oxford, Ohio, received a 2013 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. This award is granted to 2,000 students nationwide who are pursuing master’s and doctoral degrees in science and engineering. Shreve is pursuing a master’s degree in environmental science at Miami University.

Carol Sparber, a doctoral student at Kent State, received the Herbert J. Prehm Student Research Award for 2013 from the Council for Exceptional Children’s Division on Autism and Developmental Disabilities.

Anthony Nolfi, son of Edward and Sheri Nolfi of Akron, was recognized as a Rising Star at Defiance College for demonstrating great potential in his program of study, criminal justice. He is a graduate of Southeast High School.

Dr. Steven Jewell, medical director of Child Guidance & Family Solutions in Akron, was recognized as an Outstanding Volunteer Faculty Member at the Northeast Ohio Medical University.

Military

Army National Guard Pfc. Erik R. Milicevic graduated from One Station Unit Training at Fort Leonard Wood, Waynesville, Mo., which included basic military training and advanced individual training. He is the son of Miro and Heather Milicevic of Akron and is a 2009 graduate of Archbishop Hoban High School.

Army National Guard Pfc. Ashley M. Barrios graduated from One Station Unit Training at Fort Leonard Wood, Waynesville, Mo., which included basic military training and advanced individual training. She is the daughter of Michael Barrios of Akron and is a 2012 graduate of Ellet High School.

Army Pvt. Lauren C. Colley graduated from basic combat training at Fort Jackson, Columbia, S.C. She is the daughter of Laurence and Yolanda Colley of Akron and graduated from Waubonsie Valley High School, Aurora, Ill., in 2011.

Navy Seaman Recruit James A. Wisler, son of Jennifer L. Wisler and James Tarver, both of Akron, completed U.S. Navy basic training at Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Ill. Wisler is a 2010 graduate of Garfield High School.

Marine Corps Pvt. Samuel A. McCartney, son of Patricia Y. and Robert P. McCartney of Akron, graduated from the Marine Corps Basic Combat Engineer Course at Marine Corps Engineer School, Marine Corps Base, Camp Lejeune, N.C. He is a 2012 graduate of Norton High School.

Marine Corps Pvt. Collin A. Tschantz, son of Tammy Tschantz and Brian Tschantz, both of Barberton, graduated from recruit training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, S.C. He is a 2011 graduate of Barberton High School.

Send notices of school, community and military achievement to Carol Biliczky at cbiliczky@thebeaconjournal.com or fax them to 330-996-3033.

Kammer meeting

AKRON: Donnie Kammer, the Ward 7 councilman, will have a ward meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Firestone Park Community Center, 1480 Girard St.

Speakers will be Ione McIntosh, principal of Voris Community Learning Center, and a community policing officer, who will discuss crime prevention and summer safety tips.

Valle office hours

AKRON: John Valle, director of neighborhood assistance, will have one last set of office hours this month.

His hours will be from noon to 2 p.m. Tuesday at Firestone Park Community Center, 1480 Girard St.

CAMPAIGN TRAIL

Schafer fundraiser

AKRON: A campaign fundraiser for Julie A. Schafer will be held Thursday at Windsor Pub, 1322 E. Tallmadge Ave.

Schafer is a candidate for Akron Municipal Court judge.

The event runs from 4:30 to 7:00 p.m. Price is $50 per person. Send RSVPs to Sandi Morgan at 330-864-2003 or SJMorgan2597@gmail.com.

Contributions also may be sent to Elect Schafer for Judge, 755 White Pond Drive, Suite 403, Akron, OH 44320.

PORTAGE COUNTY

Search resumes

DEERFIELD TWP.: Portage County sheriff’s deputies on Saturday continued to search for a Norton man who disappeared Wednesday.

Jeffrey J. Hathaway, 45, was reported missing by his wife on Wednesday. His vehicle was later found in a parking lot at the Berlin Reservoir Wildlife Area on Fewtown Road in Deerfield Township.

Since then, deputies have searched the area to no avail. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Portage County Sheriff’s Office at 330-296-5100.

Event for women

GARRETTSVILLE: REALIZE Firearms Awareness Coalition will host a Women’s Day at the Range from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Targething Firearms Training, 12006 Fenstermaker Road, in Garrettsville.

The women-only seminar will offer lunch and provide a hands-on firearms education from the basics of a bullet, through the operation of multiple firearm designs.

This course supplies the basic building block foundation for all female shooters to build their confidence and firearm handling skills.

Class size is limited to 20 women.

Registrants are encouraged to bring their personal safety gear and personal firearms.

The cost to attend is $195 a person. For more information and to preregister, visit RealizeFAC.org.

Ranger academy

RAVENNA: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will hold a Safety Ranger Academy for kids.

The sessions for children 8 to 12 years old will be from 10 a.m. to noon each Saturday from Saturday to Aug. 3 at the Michael J. Kirwan Dam & Reservoir.

The Corps, along with West Branch State Park, Ohio Division of Watercraft, Portage County Sheriff’s Office, Edinburg Fire Department and Ravenna Marine will present program courses on how to be safe in the water, help rescue someone in trouble, how to be a mate on a boat, knot tying, bicycle safety and fire safety.

All courses are open to the public except the final course in which registered cadets who have successfully completed at least five of the program courses will go on a boat patrol with the ranger.

To register, call 330-385-2622 or use the contact link on the project’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/MJKirwanDam.

A parental or guardian consent form is required upon registration.

SUMMIT COUNTY

Service awards

AKRON: The Tri-County Regional Labor Council AFL-CIO and United Way of Summit County will host the annual Community Service Awards Dinner at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Akron Fairlawn Hilton, 3180 W. Market St. in Akron.

This year’s honorees are Judge Elinore Marsh Stormer, who will receive the Peter Bommarito Award, and Bill Orr, who will be presented the Leo E. Dugan Award.

Tickets are $50 a person and available by calling 330 253-2111.

On Saturday, there were more than 90. And the growth of the event may provide a long-term boost to the FirstEnergy All-American Soap Box Derby.

The challenge had teams from local schools (elementary through high school) building and racing vehicles designed to derby specifications, with an eye on improving education via the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) initiative.

The challenge addressed the STEM concept in broader ways, too, with displays by organizations like the Kent-based Corsair Model Aircraft Club and the Ohio Technology and Engineering Educators Association offering young people opportunities to get hands-on experience in building and design.

To be sure, a big attraction by Corsair was a tent of laptop computers and flight simulators that were getting repeat visitors unmoved by the sunny day and the racers speeding down the derby hill.

But pretending to fly might be a way to get young people interested in the radio-controlled aircraft that Corsair also displayed — not to mention the adjacent setup by the Aero Design Team of the University of Akron Society of Automotive Engineering, whose award-winning aircraft demonstrated what young people could put together.

For the International Soap Box Derby, which hosts the challenge and runs the All-American, the Gravity Racing Challenge also provides a way to bring new participants, fans and sponsors into derby racing. AAA and the architectural-
engineering firm GPD Group are partners in the challenge.

The crowd at Saturday’s event was a clear improvement over the numbers attending some local derby races in recent years.

Joe Mazur, derby president, said the organization has been taking several steps to introduce young, would-be racers. The Gravity Racing Challenge is one. Another is the offering of miniature-car kits, which can get children as young as 4 thinking about designing and building their own racer.

RaDonna Mair, a first-grade teacher at Hatton Elementary School who also works with the after-school enrichment program, said the after-school students started working with miniatures before going on to work on full-size racers.

This year the school had four racers in the challenge. They started with two a year ago, then added two more, who were inherited from Barrett Elementary after that school closed in 2012.

Of course, kids don’t necessarily look at this as an educational opportunity. When Mair asked her Hatton group what they liked best about the challenge, one piped up, “Winning a trophy!”

Hatton had just won in the stock division with Tallmadge Middle School placing second, followed by Russia Local Schools in Shelby County and then Summit Academy. Springfield High School won the super stock division, followed by Lorain County Joint Vocational School, Tallmadge Middle School and Notre Dame School in Portsmouth.

Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture and other topics for the Beacon Journal and Ohio.com, including the HeldenFiles Onine blog, www.ohio.com/blogs/heldenfiles. He is also on Facebook and Twitter. You can contact him at 330-996-3582 or rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.

The Forest Hill neighborhood church is hosting a pig roast in honor of Akron’s seventh annual Neighbors Day on Saturday, and is asking residents to bring a covered dish — and their appetites.

“I wanted to do something that would bring the neighborhood together — that wasn’t just us having a meal,” said Jeff Wade, pastor of Celebration Church. “We want to get to know each other and enjoy each other’s company. It’s something for the neighborhood.”

That’s the point of Neighbors Day, an event Akron has held annually since 2007 but that has been waning in recent years. The event had 100 neighborhood activities, ranging from neighbors serving tea to bigger block parties, in its first year, but the number dropped to 38 last year. In hopes of rejuvenating interest, Akron is kicking in more money, sponsoring larger events in each neighborhood and has sought the support of neighborhood groups and churches.

“We are going to grow it,” said John Valle, the director of the relatively new Department of Neighborhood Assistance whom Mayor Don Plusquellic tasked with trying to revive Neighbors Day as part of his duties.

The city will host events at all of its community centers (except Northwest Family Recreation Center, where another activity already was planned.) Woodland United Methodist Church instead will host an event for this area of the city. The pig roast at Celebration Church rounds out the 12 city-sponsored sites.

Beyond this, about 35 events are planned at other sites across the city, a number Valle hopes will grow to about 50 by Saturday. The city provides assistance to residents who register to host an event, including allowing them to put out extra trash after the event, mowing a grassy area and blocking off a street.

Akron is spending $3,500 on the event this year, up about $1,000 from previous years, and has been promoting the event, including the placement of 150 signs posted in front of city buildings, community centers, schools and fire stations.

Valle has talked up the event at neighborhood watch and ward meetings he has attended and office hours he has held during the past several months.

The city also is getting assistance in one form or another from various local businesses and community groups. Papa John’s Pizza is donating pizza to events at three community centers, and the Firestone Park Prime Timers are cooking for the Firestone Park event.

Other organizations are providing financial assistance.

Chapel Hill Tower is underwriting the cost of the Patterson Park event, and the city is providing a trolley to shuttle seniors from the tower to the community center for the festivities.

The Kenmore Community Council donated $400 to the Kenmore event, which will cover the costs of hot dogs, buns, chips and pop.

“It’s about giving back to your community,” said Tom Abbott, who heads up the council. “It’s not always me calling [Councilman] Mike Freeman and saying, ‘I need money.’ It’s kind of a positive.”

The Kenmore council plans to continue the Neighbors Day theme during the annual Kenmore Community Days Festival, with discounted ride passes offered Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Memorial Day. The festival starts Thursday at Prentice Park and will offer the Akron area’s only holiday-weekend fireworks, at 9:45 p.m. Sunday. (For more information on the festival, visit http://kenmorecommunitycouncil.org/.)

Abbott said he’s pleased the council can give back to the community that has supported the festival for so many years.

“It’s the neighborhood and the neighbors that are going to make or break our community,” he said.

Wade, the Celebration Church pastor, also sees his pig roast as a way to thank the community, especially about 140 Forest Hill-area residents who attended recent meetings about starting nine new block watches. The residents also are discussing starting a neighborhood association to take on bigger issues, such as vacant houses.

“We want to work together and make a difference,” Wade said.

He said Neighbors Day events at his church and elsewhere in the city are another way to bring the community together.

“Everything is so divided right now,” he said. “Anything that’s bringing people together in this country, I am more than willing to support it.”

Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at 330-996-3705 or swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow on Twitter: @swarsmith. Read the Beacon Journal’s political blog at www.ohio.com/blogs/ohio-politics.