The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, always on the edge of innovation, is taking a brand new approach to tire technology with the help of the United Soybean Board. 

In a release sent Tuesday, Goodyear announced the first commercial use of a new soybean oil-based rubber compound that's helping enhance tire performance in several differnt weather conditions, including winter weather. The tread compound, created by a group of Goodyear scientists, uses soybean oil, which is naturally grown and harvested, cost-effective, and a renewable source, according to the company. Goodyear says they've found a new way to keep the rubber pliable in different weather conidtions, increasing grip to the roadway in varying conditions. 

“Goodyear’s legacy of innovation drives us to continue to apply new technology solutions, developing superior performing tires that meet consumer demands,” said Eric Mizner, Goodyear’s director of global materials science.

Harvey made landfall in Texas a a category 4 hurricane last Friday, August 25th; the largest storm system to make landfall in the U.S. in more than a decade. In the process, Harvey destroyed or otherwise damaged refineries in the Gulf of Mexico, near Houston.

Patrick DeHaan, with GasBuddy.com, says that is going to affect the price at the pump in Akron and prices across the U.S., due to the trickle-down effect.

"This is such large event and there are so many refineries in Houston; you're talking about the energy capital of the U.S.," DeHaan told the Ray Horner Morning show Tuesday. He added that Harvey has tipped the supply and demand scale, with demand now outweighing supply, due to the damage to those refineries in the Gulf. DeHaan says that because of the amount of production at those affected refineries that has been temporarily thrown offline, we are seeing increases in our area and across the U.S. 

Below is the weekly release from GasBuddy.com detailing increases in Akron gas prices and including information on the impact Harvey will have: 

(GasBuddy.com) Average retail gasoline prices in Akron have risen 14.0 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.32/g yesterday, according to GasBuddy's daily survey of 372 gas outlets in Akron. This compares with the national average that has increased 3.9 cents per gallon in the last week to $2.36/g, according to gasoline price website GasBuddy.com.

Including the change in gas prices in Akron during the past week, prices yesterday were 16.3 cents per gallon higher than the same day one year ago and are 8.8 cents per gallon higher than a month ago. The national average has increased 6.0 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 14.4 cents per gallon higher than this day one year ago.

According to GasBuddy historical data, gasoline prices on August 27 in Akron have ranged widely over the last five years:
$2.16/g in 2016, $2.53/g in 2015, $3.39/g in 2014, $3.54/g in 2013 and $3.75/g in 2012.

Areas near Akron and their current gas price climate:
Cleveland- $2.25/g, up 4.2 cents per gallon from last week's $2.21/g.
Pittsburgh- $2.60/g, flat  from last week's $2.61/g.
Ohio- $2.30/g, up 7.4 cents per gallon from last week's $2.23/g.

"Gas prices are up in many places and motorists should be gearing up for more in the coming weeks, thanks to Hurricane Harvey inundating significant refineries along the Texas coastline, leading to closures and tilting the delicate balance of supply and demand," said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy. "Prices will likely rise nearly country wide heading into Labor Day, from rural towns in the Rockies to major cities in the Midwest and West Coast- nearly everyone will feel a bit of a pinch at the pump from Harvey. The impact could linger for several weeks or longer, depending on how long it takes Texas refiners to return to normal operations. In addition, the situation could worsen should more shutdowns or outages happen in the coming week as Harvey continues to drop feet of rain on already flooded Texas."

The Cleveland Browns have announced rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer will start the Browns preseason game 3 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Saturday, August 26th in Tampa. 

Here is the statement from Hue Jackson: 

“This morning, I informed our quarterbacks that DeShone will be our starter for the third preseason game against Tampa. He has made a lot of progress by investing the time necessary to learn our offense, working hard to improve on his fundamentals while also effectively moving the offense in preseason games. Development is so important for a young quarterback, this is the next step he needs to take and he deserves this opportunity. We are very excited about seeing DeShone in the role of starter for this week, as he is certainly positioning himself well to earn the starting job heading into the regular season.

“Much like DeShone, Brock, Cody and Kevin have worked extremely hard throughout training camp and have helped create a very supportive environment in our quarterback room. They’ve pushed each other, worked well together and we expect that to continue.”

Municipal Judge Joseph Bruzzese Jr. was shot and wounded outside of a Steubenville courthouse at the start of the workday Monday morning. 

According to reports, a suspect and another man were seen waiting outside of the courtroom and then approached Bruzzese as he was walking up to the entrance of the building. That's when police say the suspect, whose name has not been released, fired five shots. Judge Bruzzese, who was carrying a gun, fired five shots himself, though it is reported that a probation officer returned fire, killing the suspect on the scene. 

Judge Bruzzese was transported to an area hospital with injuries and later Monday morning was reportedly in stable condition. 

Police were seen taking a man into the back of a police car, but, in a Facebook Live interview with WTOV-9 Steubenville and other news outlets, Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla said that this person was not considered a suspect at the time. Sheriff Abdalla added that the man was a passenger in the vehicle with the shooter, and claims that he had no prior knowledge. 

The shooter was reportedly due in court that morning, but it wasn't immediately clear for what exactly. Sheriff Abdalla suggested that it was some kind of retaliation shooting, but a clear motive hasn't been established yet. 

Steubenville Police and Ohio BCI are investigating. 

Akron Police are looking for a suspect, and a motive, after a woman found an Akron mausoleum broken into and vandalized.

Rita Day-Lavelle tells News 5 that she was walking past East Akron Cemetery Tuesday and noticed the door to a mausoleum was open. Upon further inspection she saw the lock had been broken. When she looked inside, she saw that a casket had been toppled over, and a man's body was sprawled onto the floor. She tells News 5 that limbs had been broken and the man's head was detatched. 

The man, later identified as a World War I veteran, had been buried in the mausoleum 37 years ago. Another crypt was damaged as well. 

Akron Police Lt. tells the news outlet that grave robbery could be a possible motive, but they haven't established any suspects yet. 

The investigation is ongoing. 

An Akron man is charged with Child Endangering after reportedly leaving his toddler locked in the car while he was inside the Jack Casino in Cleveland. 

Cleveland Police responded to a call of the young boy locked in the car Saturday night, around 9:30. When they arrived, 28-year-old John Pierre McCallister was reportedly walking through the garage toward the car. He met the police there and reportedly said, "Oh, my bad. I was just coming back to check on him." The report claims McCallister told police his girlfriend had driven them to the casino and that she was inside. He later admitted that she was actually at their Akron home. 

Police contacted the girlfriend, the boy's mother, and she told them that she was unaware McCallister was in Cleveland and that she would come pick up the boy. 

McCallister appeared in Cleveland Municipal Court Monday and is due back in court next week. 

Rescue crews have recovered the body of a missing boater from Lake Milton Wednesday night. 

The body of 29-year-old Kyle Alspaugh was pulled from the lake Wednesday after he had gone missing from his boat Tuesday night. A witness, who was fishing on the lake, reports that he noticed the boat driving erratically. He told police he actually heard someone calling for help. 

When police arrived, the boat was unmanned and Alspaugh, who hadn't been identified at that time, was missing. 

Divers, K-9's, and even drones were used in the search of Lake Milton. After he'd been identified, Alspaugh's family was notified and was on scene at the Lake during the search. 

Alspaugh was from East Canton. 

Multiple authorities were contacted about an alleged student-teacher relationship, that had been ongoing for three years. Every investigating agency concluded that despite multiple text messages between the two, there wasn't enough evidence to prove such a relationship. 

Now, 36-year-old Laura Lynn Cross, a former English teacher at Buchtel High School, is charged with three counts of sexual battery, stemming from the relationship she carried on with a former student for all those years, and that resulted in her giving birth to the young boy's child. Cross was the boy's eighth grade English teacher, according to records, which is where they first met. 

Reports indicate that the teen boy's mother notified school officials, Akron Police, Tallmadge Police, Summit County Juvenile Prosecutors, and more, and got nowhere. Cross even won partial custody of the teenager, which is why he was able to move into her Tallmadge home back in 2013. A News 5 report indicates that the boy's mother didn't fight the partial custody ruling because she didn't want her son to "hate her." 

Tallmadge Police Chief Ron Williams says there just wasn't enough evidence to bring charges against Cross during the time of the previous investigation. He says both Cross and the boy were uncooperative in their investigation. In response to the News 5 report, Akron Public Schools tells the TV news outlet they launched their own investigation into the alleged affair last Friday. 

Cross is currently in Summit County Jail, being held on $100,000 bond. 

A former Canton McKinley H.S. swim coach now says he did have a sexual relationship with a student, and more than once, back when he was coaching her. 

Samuel Seiple, 57, says that between May, 2014 and November, 2015, he sexually assaulted the girl who was 16-years-old at the time. 

The 8-month-long investigation by the Stark County Sheriff's Office revealed evidence of potentially other victims, but Seiple has only been charged in this case. In court on Monday, Seiple pleaded guilty to the sexual assault of a minor. He was sentenced 180 days in jail, but 178 days of the sentence were suspended. The Canton Repository is reporting the judge's thought was that the two days in jail would help Seiple "understand what it's like to be a criminal." 

Seiple began working at Canton McKinley in 1994. The Canton City School district says he submitted his resignation on August 11, 2017. 

An Akron woman is charged with theft after Summit County Sheriff's Office detectives were tipped off that she was pocketing donations to a victim's charity fund. 

Back in July, Inspector Bill Holland says the third party manager of the "Walking For You" charity fund notified his office that something wasn't right with the money. The fund was set up to help the families of the victims of the May 28th accident along South Main Street in Coventry Township that left two teenagers dead and seriously injured another. Natasha Boggs, 24, of New Franklin, was charged with two counts of vehicular homicide, two counts involuntary manslaughter, and more, after investigators say she was texting while driving and cross over the marked lines along South Main Street, hitting the group of teens. 

After an investigation into the charity fund, Summit Co. Detectives discovered that Melissa Szentes, 40, of Akron, who was volunteering with the "Walking For You" campaign, was taking donations and using them for her own personal gain. 

Inspector Holland says that she is currently charged with theft, but more charges are possible, as they aren't sure how much money was actually stolen. The Summit County Sheriff's Office is asking anyone who may have donated to Szentes directly to call their office so that they can determine the total amount stolen. 

Szentes hasn't been booked yet, as more charges are pending.