A fire in an electrical vault underneat the Everett Building located at 39 E. Market Street in downtown Akron lead to about 220 FirstEnergy customers sitting without power for about an hour Monday morning. 

According to Akron Fire Department, the fire started just before 7:30 Monday morning. As Akron Fire crews responded, FirstEnergy was called to the building to shut off power. Due to heavy smoke, Mark Durbin with FirstEnergy says crews could not access the vault to shut off power. They were forced to de-energize the nearest substation, which in turn shut off power to roughly 220 downtown FirstEnergy customers, Durbin says. 

As of 10:30 a.m., power to those most all of those customers had been restored. Durbin said power at the Everett Building and two nearby buildings was still affected at that time. 

Akron Fire was still on the scene as of 11:30 a.m., Monday, and power to the Everett Building had not yet been restored. 

Meanwhile, Akron Municipal Court offices closed their operations for the remainder of the day, Monday, as of 10 a.m. In a press release, Akron Municipal Court advised anyone with scheduled court business call the office on Tuesday for rescheduling instructions. 

Stay with WAKR.net for updates on this story. 

"The Buchtelite," the independent student newspaper of the University of Akron, will halt publication starting next semester, according to a press release today.

Information provided says that with two of the paper's nine editors graduating and four more either studying or working abroad, the paper simply cannot operate with the remaining staff. It's the second time in less than three years the paper has gone on hiatus.

Temporary advisor of the paper, Val Pipps, says they're looking to hire someone who can select and manage a staff so that when they are back up an running they don't run into the same issues.

Below is the press release from The Buchtelite:

The Buchtelite, the 127-year-old independent student newspaper of The University of Akron, will suspend publication at the beginning of next semester, marking the second time in less than three years that the paper has gone on hiatus.

“The Buchtelite is important to the University, it’s important to the school,” said Theodore Avtgis, director of the School of Communications since July 1 of this year. “We will seek out alternatives to keep the paper alive for next semester.”

But with two of the paper’s nine editors graduating, and another four going out of the country to either work or study, it is unclear how long this suspension will last.

The paper’s current temporary adviser, Val Pipps, is leading the search for a new adviser next semester, who will be able to reconfigure the paper for what will likely be a full comeback in the fall of 2017.

“We’re looking for someone who will be able to hire a staff, work with that staff, and also sort things out on the organizational side of the paper so that, when it does come back, it won’t run into these same problems again,” Pipps said.

The Buchtelite is an independent student newspaper, which further complicates the matter of its continuance. Without any clear and established oversight, it falls into a “sort of no-man’s land,” as described by one of the paper’s former advisers, Roger Mezger.

Because general oversight (i.e., accounting) falls to UA’s Student Affairs, and the School of Communication hires and pays the adviser, neither entity is totally invested in the paper, Mezger added.

The Buchtelite’s status as independent also means that it does not receive any funding from the University itself, but relies only on revenue generated by its own business staff.

This business staff has not had any sort of professional guidance since 2013, when an Accounts Coordinator, who was a part-time University employee and managed the business side of the paper, left after a dispute with her superiors, according to a document from Mezger.

Two other factors have contributed to The Buchtelite’s funding issues: the University-wide cutbacks under former President Scott Scarborough in fall of 2015, which caused several key UA employees, who had an interest in keeping The Buchtelite running, to leave; and a changing media landscape in general, in which people turn more toward national, digital media and less toward local print media.

UA’s student newspaper, in short, does not make enough money to continue publication in the same form, nor generate enough incentive to have a steady, secure business and editorial staff.

“This year, it was difficult for us, a staff with over a year of experience, to even run the paper because, to say it simply, people don’t care very much,” managing editor Logan Lane wrote in an emailed statement. “The paper is treated as a campus novelty, something that needs to be kept alive because [people] feel like it should be. There’s no faculty or departmental effort to monitor or even keep the paper running.”

When The Buchtelite does return, it could be in a different format than the current one, which publishes two print issues per week and maintains a website.

One option, which many other college newspapers have taken up, is to go entirely online. Another option is to retain a print format, but reduce the numbers of issues per week and change the style of the printing.

Another possibility is for the paper to align with the University’s other student media, WZIP and Z-TV, which would act as a sort of organizational umbrella, one of whose functions would be publishing a newspaper.

More important possibilities regard the paper’s funding and editorial model, according to Pipps. Though it is now independent from the University, The Buchtelite could drop this status and merge into the College of Business Administration (for business and advertising) and the School of Communication (for an editorial staff and writers), becoming a laboratory enterprise for experiential learning.

Currently, only Buchtelite editors are paid; all writing and photography contributions come from volunteers. So unlike other area universities with a student newspaper, including Ohio State, Kent State and Youngstown State, communications students at UA are not required to contribute to The Buchtelite.

“I would say that that was the main problem this year,” said News Editor Kristina Aiad-Toss. “It’s very difficult to get students to volunteer their time and effort when they’re already involved in so many other things.”

If the paper were to become an experiential laboratory, some such problems might disappear.

“I’m saddened to hear [the news],” said UA Dean of Students Michael Strong, who worked for a student newspaper when he was in college. “As a member of our community I read The Buchtelite and I look forward to seeing it.”

Ashley Ritter, a senior public relations student who infrequently reads the paper, says she thinks it important nonetheless.

“I like that students can get experience [in writing for] publications, and I think a lot of students enjoy seeing what their peers are thinking about,” Ritter said.

Chris Horne, editor of Akron’s main cultural newspaper, “The Devil Strip,” expressed a similar sentiment.

“Student-run publications are always at risk because of attrition,” Horne wrote in an emailed statement, “[but] I’m usually going to side with there being more voices [in the community], not fewer…I think this is a loss to our community but I’m hopeful it isn’t a permanent loss.”

John Zipp, president of the Akron chapter of the American Association of University Professors, has often added an important perspective to various Buchtelite articles over the past two years.

“An engaged student press is an extremely important voice for students, and I hope that The Buchtelite comes back even stronger in fall 2017,” Zipp said. “With limited resources, I think that the paper has repeatedly produced well-done…articles.”

Those interested in joining The Buchtelite staff when it does return, or who in any other way have comments or questions regarding the newspaper, may direct their inquiries to Professor Val Pipps at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Matthew Uhr, 42, has been extradited to Summit County from Shreveport, Louisiana after being arrested for failing to pay more than $33,000 in back child support. 

Back in February, 2012, a Summit County Grand Jury indicted Uhr on charges of non-support and a warrant was issued for him after he was a no-show in court.

The Summit County Child Support Enforecement Agency tracked Uhr down in Sherveport after learning that his mother lived there.

Upon his arrest, the mother of Uhr's child received $15,000. Uhr still owes more than $18,500 and is currently in Summit County Jail. 

Sam Salem CLC was evacuated just after the morning bell Wednesday after a small fire in a boys' bathroom. 

Mark Williamson with Akron Public Schools says that while the fire and all of the damage was contained to that one room, smoke had spread to other areas of the school. That is why they had to evacuate the building. 

As of 9:30 a.m., all 350 students were safely transported to nearby Kenmore High School while Akron Fire assessed the damage. Students' parents were notified via robocall, Williamson said, and were told that they can pick up their kids at Kenmore H.S. any time. Williamson said Kenmore would accomodate the students as long as possible and that parents would need to bring a valid ID with them when they pick up their children.

As for how the fire started in the bathroom, Williamson told 1590 WAKR, "At the grade school level, you kind of wonder; who has matches at a grade school? But we have to figure that out still, and the fire department can figure that out for us." 

Williamson says the school district will notify parents regarding the status for classes on Thursday. 

The Summit County Medical Examiner has released the name of the man shot by a Hudson Police Officer Sunday afternoon after fleeing the scene of a car accident on the Turnpike. 

Saif Nasser Mubarak Alameri, 26, is said to have died as a result "homicide," according to the M.E. report. 

According to the police report, Mubarak Alameri side-swiped a vehicle along the Turnpike and flipped his own car. He then allegedly fled the scene on foot to a residential area near Hudson Aurora Road. An officer in pursuit located Mubarak Alameri near a home and a struggle ensued. The responding officer shot him, killing him on the scene. The Bureau of Criminal Investigation is investigating whether or not Mubarak Alameri had a gun. 

Mubarak Alameri, a citizen of the United Arab Emerites, was a student at Case Western Reserve University.  

Below is the official press release from Summit County: 

The individual that was shot in the 3200 block of Hudson Aurora Road in Hudson on Sunday afternoon, following a struggle with a Hudson Police Officer has been positively identified as Saif Nasser Mubarak Alameri, a 26 year-old male from Cleveland, Ohio.

The autopsy has been completed and the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head.  The manner of death is homicide.

The Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office will not be releasing any more information at this time.  For any other information regarding this case contact the Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI).

University of Akron student Duncan Unternaher, 23, was allegedly stabbed by his roommate in their apartment on Grant Avenue on campus. Police say it happened on Saturday, December 3, juat about 12:30 a.m., and stemmed from an argument that started over fast food. 

A third roommate called 911 to report that his roommate, 22-year-old Kendall Scheid, stabbed Unternaher. 

Unternaher, from Newark, Ohio, was transported to Akron City Hospital where he died from his injuries on Monday, December 5. 

Scheid was arrested and booked into Summit County Jail on Felonious Assault charges. Bond has been set at $1,000,000 and he is reportedly facing more charges following the death of Unternaher. 

The Monday Unternaher died, University of Akron students held a candlelight vigil outside of the Phi Delta Theta house on campus, where students remembered him as fun-loving, outgoing, and friendly to everyone. 

Vincent White, 23, of Akron had quite the evening in Youngstown. According to police reports, White was kicked out of or denied entry to 6 out of the 9 bars in downtown Youngstown. 

Multiple witnesses say White was severely intoxicated, rubbing up against women, yelling at employees of the various establishments, and even threatening to "shoot up the place" when he was told to leave. 

One report indicates that one single police officer working downtown Youngstown told White to leave the area three times. White was finally arrested just after 12:30 Saturday morning after he reportedly swung from a light pole and yelled at two women. He's been charged with disorderly conduct and, according to the report, told the arresting officer, "If partying is wrong, I don't want to be right." 

Akron Police say a 69-year-old man set himself on fire outside of Angel Falls coffee shop in Highland Square over the weekend. 

Reports say the man walked into the coffee shop after 9 a.m. and began ranting about the anti-Trump protest that happened in Highland Square earlier in the week. Witnesses say he approached customers who were sitting inside the cofee shop and asked if they knew who organized the protest. 

He was asked to leave and then reportedly walked behind the establishment and pulled out a gas can. He then doused himself in gasoline and lit himself on fire. Residents of the area rushed to his aid with fire extinguishers. He was transported to Akron Children's Hospital and treated at the burn unit where he remained in stable condition as of early Monday morning. 

1590 WAKR has reached out to Akron Police for comment. 

The Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank announced Monday morning that they will merge with Community Harvest out of Stark County. Foodbank CEO Dan Flowers tells 1590 WAKR that the two nonprofits had been in talks since 2014, and they're very excited for it to finally take effect January 1, 2017. 

Flowers says the eight-county region that the Foodbank services is only going to be better serviced and eventually expand with the added services provided by the two-company merger. He says, "Initially, we hope that donors and recipients of Community Harvest don't notice really any change, to be honest, from the beginning," referring to the continued level of service the Foodbank plans to provide for those who need it. 

See more in the press release from the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank below: 

FOODBANK AND COMMUNITY HARVEST TO MERGE TO EXPAND HUNGER-RELIEF EFFORTS IN STARK COUNTY

Akron, OH – (Nov. 21, 2016) – The Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank and Community Harvest, a food rescue organization, are merging into one organization with a greater capacity of serving those struggling with hunger in Stark County. The boards of both nonprofits have signed letters of intent and expect the merger to take effect January 1, 2017. 

The merger will expand the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank’s abilities to reach further into the Stark County community served by Community Harvest’s food rescue program. Food rescue is the process of safely recovering a surplus food from the supply chain and distributing it to people in need. Not only does food rescue help ensure that millions of Americans have access to quality meals, it is also key to helping combat food waste.

“The Foodbank and Community Harvest share the same goal, so formally teaming up is a natural step,” said Dan Flowers, president & CEO of the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank. “While the Foodbank’s operations won’t change, we’re confident this merger will drive efficiencies while creating new energy and innovation centered on unique ways of solving hunger in our community.”

Community Harvest was one of the first nonprofit groups in the country to establish an innovative food rescue program. Community Harvest collects excess prepared and perishable food and donates it to community groups that serve families struggling with hunger. This simple concept that began with a goal of preventing food waste while helping hungry people has evolved into a collaboration of numerous resources and agencies dedicated to providing more than 80,000 meals a month for those in need in Stark County.

“Community Harvest is tremendously grateful for the Foodbank’s and our community’s support through the years,” said Faith Barbato, executive director of Community Harvest. “We think daily about the one in four children in our community who live in households that experience hunger. By joining forces, our combined organization will provide more food than ever before. Together, our programs at Community Harvest will continue as before, but as part of the incredible work of the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank.”

Grant funding received from the W. Henry Hoover Fund at Stark Community Foundation, The Paul & Carol David Foundation, and Sisters of Charity Foundation of Canton will support the implementation of the merger.  The grant was awarded as a result of the Stark Community Foundation’s Future of Food Security county assessment and future framework for change in a second round of funding to address food security. 

U.S. Senator Rob Portman from Ohio is excited about the new report from the U.S. Surgeon General on addiciton that was released on Thursday. 

In the report, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy designated addiciton as a disease. 

Watch the full comments from Senator Rob Portman below: