Late Wednesday night Akron Police responded to a home in the 200 block of Grand Avenue to a call about a shooting in the basement of that home. 

When officers arrived, they found two teenagers, one 15, the other 14-years-old, with gunshot wounds, reportedly to the head. Both teens were transported to Akron General Hospital. Initial reports stated that both teens had died at the hospital. 

On Thursday morning, the Akron Police Department released a statement correcting the information from Wednesday night, saying that the 15-year-old teen was pronounced dead, but despite their report, the other teen was listed in critical condition and is actually alive. 

The APD maintains that their initial report was accurate in that the 15-year-old accidentally shot the younger teen and then turned the gun on himself. The Summit County Medical Examiner has since identified the victim. 

Read the most recent report from Akron Police below: 

The Akron Police Department takes pride in only furnishing accurate information. Last night we received inaccurate information from multiple reliable sources that both teens had died at the hospital. The department would like to apologize to the victims’ families. The department feels terrible for the families of the victims of this tragic event and our thoughts are with them during this difficult times.

Shortly after 7:00pm this evening, officers responded to a shooting in the 200 block of Grand Avenue. Officers arrived and located two teenage males, 14 and 15 years old, with gunshot wounds to their heads. The victims were transported to Cleveland Clinic Akron General where the 15 year old was pronounced dead and the 14 year old is listed in critical condition.

Initial reports state the juveniles were in the basement of the house on Grand Avenue. The 15 year old male pulled out a handgun and accidentally fired a shot, striking the 14 year old male in the head. The 15 year old male then turned the gun on himself.

The Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office will conduct an autopsy.

More lane changes and closures coming to I-76, courtesy of ODOT. 

See the press release from the Akron Police Department below: 

As part of the Interstate 76 and Main Street project, ODOT currently plans to flip the westbound traffic of I-76 over on to the eastbound side on Sunday, December 2nd. 

The on ramp to 76W from the southbound side of S. Main St. will be CLOSED until late fall of 2019. 

For a period of time during the day, the existing off ramp from 76W to Broadway and downtown will close in order for the contractor to do some required paving. Traffic will be detoured using Dart Ave., Thornton and S. Main St. Once this work is completed, traffic will then exit on to the new Broadway off ramp.

(The University of Akron) The U.S. Army positions itself as “Army Strong,” an expression that can go beyond distinguishing the men and women in the service branch who spend long nights on patrol or parachute out of airplanes into combat.

“Army Strong” can also describe one of The University of Akron’s most enduring programs – Akron Army ROTC, which turns 100 years old this academic year.

In 1918, just a month after the end of the First World War, UA President Dr. Parke Kolbe and the Board of Trustees applied to the U.S. Department of War to establish a reserved officers’ training corps unit at the University. The following year, the Board approved a resolution to agree to the mandates and responsibilities set by the War Department in order to maintain its new ROTC program.

Striving to be the best

Lt. Col. Trevor S. Liverpool

Over the past century, Akron ROTC, also known as the 42nd Ohio Volunteer Battalion, has continued to meet, and even exceed, those mandates. In fact, Akron ROTC still encompasses a four-year academic curriculum, annual summer training camps at Fort Knox, and cadets still train on Buchtel Field on Brown Street where yesteryear’s cadets once trained.

“Our program has performed well to meet the standards of the U.S. Army because we want to be the best in the country,” said Lt. Col. Trevor S. Liverpool, commander of Akron ROTC and chair of the Military Science and Leadership Department. “Akron ROTC was recognized this summer as the top-performing program in the critical area of cadet evaluations in our brigade. And last year, an Akron cadet was the distinguished graduate for Airborne. So, the determination to be among the best in the country has contributed to Akron ROTC’s success and longevity.”

Compulsory start

Cadet Alex Spangler, a senior majoring in respiratory therapy, demonstrates the proper way to safely disassemble and maintain a rifle during weapons familiarization and safety training in Schrank Hall South at a leadership lab.

UA’s program, originally proposed as a volunteer course, was compulsory for all freshman and sophomore male students from fall 1919 until 1972. The four-year curriculum consisted of field fortifications, hippology (the study of horses), field sanitation, map reading and infantry tactics. Cadets began attending summer camp at Fort Knox in Kentucky in 1923, and most new officers attended six months of full-time training before serving part-time in the Army Reserve.

After World War II, the U.S. Air Force established a separate ROTC detachment at UA in 1947. (In June 2005, the detachment was integrated with Kent State University’s Air Force ROTC program.) Also, veterans took advantage of the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 (aka the G.I. Bill) to fund their higher education at Akron ROTC, which commissioned its 1,000th graduate in 1955.

Female students held supportive roles in auxiliary groups in the early days of Akron ROTC, but they didn’t participate as cadets until the fall of 1970. Anne Marie (Connell) Freund ‘77 was the program’s first female graduate and the first female cadet commander of troops at UA. Female cadets now participate from across all majors and make up 41 percent of student participation in Akron ROTC.

Career launcher

Today, Akron ROTC has 112 undergraduate and graduate students, many of them pursing degrees in physical sciences, nursing, business and liberal arts.

ROTC is a college elective program where cadets can pursue the degree of their choice while learning valuable leadership skills. Upon completion of a degree, cadets are commissioned as second lieutenants in the Army and receive an average starting salary of about $51,000. Graduates can choose to serve in active duty, the Army Reserve or the National Guard.

Over the past 15 years, UA has supplemented funding from the U.S. Army with slightly more than $4 million in generous scholarships that assist with expenses such as tuition, fees and books.

“Akron ROTC provides unmatched apprenticeship in leadership; students are given a chance to challenge themselves to meet standards in accordance with the Army’s Leadership Requirements Model,” said Liverpool. “This model focuses on not only what a leader knows, but also what a leader does and what attributes they possess. Akron ROTC is an immersive program, from freshman all the way to senior years. It is designed to give the students and cadets leadership experience in real-life situations, so they become agile and adaptive. We produce some of the best cadets in the nation.”

Non-stop service from CAK to Detroit is no more, as of Monday evening's final Delta Airlines departure.

The Canton Rep is reporting that Delta is now only serving Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport out of Akron-Canton.

Director of Marketing for CAK tells the paper that they will continue working with Delta, though, to "explore other opportunities."

Munroe Falls Police, and other local agencies are assisting in the search for missing Daria, a Saluki show dog that went missing after running from her owner at the Summit County Fairgrounds Saturday. 

The dog is said to be in or around the Stow area. 

See more from the Munroe Falls Police Facebook page below:  

Missing Saluki show dog has been spotted on 91 near Munroe Falls Ave. Photo to follow.

Judy Ellis’ Saluki female Daria escaped from the Summit County Fairgrounds Saturday morning. She is running scared in the Stow Ohio area, possibly with leash attached Judy is out searching for her but no sightings yet. 

She is very frightened and likely will not come to a stranger. 

Please contact Judy at 330 603-9741 by phone if she is seen. She has no internet so phone message only please

The Lordstown General Motors plant will officially close its doors March first of next year, per WFMJ out of Youngstown.

The TV station's reporting that employees of the GM plant, that's been open since 1966, were notified of the closure date in a meeting this morning, right after a report that GM is closing it's Canadian plant.

Back in 2017, GM announced that it was cutting it's third shift at the Lordstown plant, which reduced the plant's staff by about 12-hundred employees. Back in April of this year, another 15-hundred employees were cut from the staff after they were told production would be cut down to one shift per day, leaving a little more than 14-hundred employees left on staff. In July, GM pointed to new tariffs on the auto industry as "detrimental" to their company.

Word from WFMJ is that the head of the UAW said that they will "keep fighting" to get keep that Lordstown plant up and running. 

Meanwhile, there's been reaction from state, local, and federal leaders, including U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown from Ohio who released the following statement: 

U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown today blasted General Motors’ decision to lay off its final shift of workers and close its Lordstown plant in March of 2019. Earlier this year, GM announced plans to build the new Chevy Blazer in Mexico on the same day the company ended the second shift at a plant. GM received record tax breaks as a result of the GOP’s tax bill last year, and has eliminated jobs instead of using that tax windfall to invest in American workers.

“The workers at Lordstown are the best at what they do, and it’s clear once again that GM doesn’t respect them. Ohio taxpayers rescued GM, and it’s shameful that the company is now abandoning the Mahoning Valley and laying off workers right before the holidays. Even worse, the company reaped a massive tax break from last year’s GOP tax bill and failed to invest that money in American jobs, choosing to build its Blazer in Mexico,” said Brown. “GM owes the community answers on how the rest of the supply chain will be impacted and what consequences its disastrous decision will have on the Mahoning Valley and our state. My office stands ready to do everything we can to help these workers. This decision is corporate greed at its worst.”

GM has eliminated nearly 3,000 jobs at the plant over the last two years. After the GOP tax overhaul, GM is able to bring their $6.9 billion in overseas cash back to the U.S. at less than half of the tax rate the corporation would formerly have paid, and immediately deduct the cost of any new investments in plant and equipment. Despite these tax cuts and the company’s record revenues as reported in their 2016 SEC filing, GM is still moving forward with the Lordstown layoffs.

Brown has been a champion of workers at the GM plant. In April, when GM announced plans for layoffs in Lordstown, Brown wrote to GM CEO Mary Barra condemning the layoffs and urging GM to reverse its decision by using the tax windfall the company received from the recent tax cuts to invest in the Lordstown facility and its workers. Brown also took to the Senate floor to call on GM to invest in Ohio workers.

Brown has demanded answers from GM, arguing that Ohioans deserve answers as to why the Lordstown plant is cutting jobs despite having more cash on hand following the GOP tax cuts. Brown said GM cannot pocket billions of dollars in tax cuts and turn around and fire Ohio workers whose livelihoods depend on these jobs.

Brown has spoken with GM CEO Mary Barra and President Trump about the plant directly. Brown and Barra met in Brown’s office on June 5.

Earlier this year, Brown introduced his American Cars, American Jobs Act, as a way to support Ohio’s auto industry and keep auto jobs in America. Brown’s legislation would:

· Give customers a $3,500 discount when they buy cars made in America. This would cover all passenger vehicles made in Ohio and nearly 100 cars and trucks nationwide.

· Revoke a GOP tax cut on overseas profits from auto manufacturers that ship jobs overseas.

UPDATE: Akron Police Detectives have officially charged Danny A. Hamby, 39, of Springfield Township, and Toni Kenney, 31, of Warren, with murder in connection to the death of Samantha Guthrie, 18, of Akron. 

Both Hamby and Kenney are already in Summit County Jail on charges related to Guthrie's disappearance on November 4th, where she was seen at a home in the 300 block of Lillian Street. 

According to the Summit County Medical Examiner, she died from a gunshot wound to the head. 

The Akron Police Department says that the missing person/homicide case is still under investigation. Two others were arrested in the case as well. 

-- 

The Summit County Medical Examiner has positively identified the body that was found in a wooded area along Rex Hill Road in New Franklin early Sunday morning just after midnight as that of missing 18-year-old from Akron, Samantha Guthrie.

The cause of death, according to the report, was a gunshot wound to the head.

Guthrie was last seen November 4th at a home near the Akron Zoo, according to reports, where two people who were arrested say that they were there when she was shot. Akron Police have arrested two others, totalling four people in connection to Guthrie's disappearance.

-- 

Akron Police, along with the New Franklin Police Department and the Summit County Medical Examiner's Office are investigating after woman's body was found just after Midnight Sunday morning in a wooded area near Rox Hill Road in New Franklin. 

The victim's name is being withheld, pending an autopsy that scheduled for Monday. 

Meanwhile a Facebook page dedicated to the search for missing Akron woman, Samantha Guthrie who was last seen at a party at a home near the Akron Zoo on November 4th claims that her body was found as of Sunday morning. No confirmation from Akron Police.

Update: Akron Police have arrested 21-year-old Devon Williams in connection to the shooting death of 20-year-old Shawn Prude, whose body was found in the middle of South Arlington Street in the 12-hundred block early last week. A warrant was issued for Williams shortly after the shooting. He was arrested Friday and is charged with murder.

-- 

Akron Police Detectives are asking for the public’s help in locating homicide suspect Devon Williams of Vicgross Avenue in Akron.

On Wednesday, APD released a statement saying they've signed a murder warrant for Williams, who they are say shot and killed a man the morning of November 20th, 2018. 

Just after 10 a.m. on November 20th, police were called to the 1200 block of South Arlington on a report of a shooting. There they found the 20-year-old victim lying in the street with several gunshot wounds. He was later pronounced dead on the scene and identified as 20-year-old Shawn Prude of North Toby Terrace. 

Several witnesses came forward identifying Williams as the suspect, though two others were also identified. It was later determined that those two men were not involved in the shooting. 

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Williams is asked to call Akron Police Detectives at 330-375-2490, the U.S. Marshals Service at 866-4-WANTED, or the Summit County Crimestoppers Inc at 330-434-COPS. You can also anonymously text TIPSCO to 274-637. 

(Summit County Prosecutor's Office) Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh is today relaunching an anti-drunk driving campaign to help keep Summit County roads safe during the Thanksgiving holiday by providing free rides for people who’ve had too much alcohol to drink.

Arrive Alive provides free rides home up to a $65 dollar fare for anyone in Summit County who has had too much to drink while celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday.

WHAT: FREE Cab Rides for Summit County Residents for the Thanksgiving Holiday (up to $65)

WHEN: From 6pm Wednesday November 21 to 6am Sunday November 25

HOW: Call 330.475.7888

“Thanksgiving is a time for friends and families to get together and have fun. Driving drunk should not be part of the celebrations. As Summit County Prosecutor my mission is to help keep our streets safe,” said Prosecutor Walsh. “Thanksgiving Eve is typically one of the top days of the year for drinking alcohol. I want to make sure the holiday season does not begin with tragedy. I would like to thank our sponsors the law firms of Slater & Zurz, Kisling Nestico & Redick, Elk & Elk, and Bevan and Associates, as well as the participating taxi companies, Rides 4 Less Taxi and City Yellow Cab, for their support in this effort.”

Summit County residents who need a ride home because they’ve had too much to drink can call 330.475.7888. The program runs from 6pm on Wednesday November 21, 2018 through 6am Sunday November 25, 2018.

(City of Akron) As part of the Main Street Corridor project, Dominion Gas line repair and replacement work will begin on Main Street in front of Lock 3 on Nov. 26, resulting in some closures and impacts between State Street and Bowery Street. One lane of north and south bound traffic will be maintained, and on-street parking will remain on the east side of the street.

The City of Akron and coordinating partners are working hard to continuously maintain proper pedestrian access to Main Street businesses and entertainment. Patrons are asked to use the sidewalk on the east side of the road and cross at the mid-street crossings that will be set up. Pedestrians can access Lock 3, Lock Next and the businesses directly across from Lock 3 via a mid-street crossing at University Avenue. Access to the Civic theatre will also be maintained with a mid-street crossing in front of the entrance by the Peanut Shoppe.

In order to best support activity downtown during construction, the City of Akron and Downtown Akron Partnership will begin to work with the Main Street businesses to both promote current delivery service options and implement delivery services for more businesses, as well offer walking tours meant to help patrons navigate the downtown closures. 

Shortly after the completed of Dominion Gas work, which is anticipated to be completed the week of December 24, section 3A of the Main Street Corridor Project will begin in that same area.

The Main Street Corridor work is a two-phase project made possible through two federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants. Work on Phase 1 began July 9 and is expected to be completed in 2020. Throughout construction, the City will continue to host various stakeholder engagement activities in collaboration with the Downtown Akron Partnership, to ensure sustained dialogue about the project and its impact on the downtown community.

Phase 1 is a $31 million effort to reconstruct all infrastructure from building face to building face along the South Main corridor width, between Cedar and Mill Streets, including: new pavement with a lane dedicated to parking/buses/delivery vehicles,  new sidewalks, a permanent bicycle track, upgraded underground utilities, upgraded traffic signal equipment, smart LED lighting, a roundabout at Main and Mill Streets, storm water management improvements, and a complete rebuild of the State Street bridge.  Also included in the scope are all the amenities needed to make this an attractive corridor including landscaping and public benches. 

The City of Akron was awarded a second, $8 million TIGER grant in 2018 to help fund Phase 2 of the Main Street Corridor Project. Phase 2 will extend improvements to an additional segment of Main Street from Mill Street to Perkins Street/Route 59. It is the second phase of a 1.4-mile green corridor through the heart of the city. The stretch is designed to connect people to centers of education, employment, innovation, entrepreneurship, culture, entertainment and recreation.