ESPN story on the Cleveland Cavaliers agreeing with Michigan's John Beilein to a five-year contract to become franchise's new coach. https://t.co/9BUMn57B19

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 13, 2019

An Akron Police Motorcycle Officer was seriously injured when he was pinned underneath the van of a suspected drunk driver after a crash Saturday night. 

According to the APD report, the officer was on his motorcycle and was attempting to stop another vehicle at the intersection of South Portage Path and Bloomfield Avenue, when Corrie Sharpe, 65, who was driving her minivan eastbound on Bloomfield, failed to yield to the officer. She collided with the officer's motorcycle, sending him off the bike and pinning him underneath her van. 

The officer was transported to Cleveland Clinic Akron General Hospital with serious injuries. Other officers responding to the scene conducted a field sobriety test and gave Sharpe a breathalyzer, both of which she reportedly failed. The report states that her blood alcohol content registered at .125; the legal limit in Ohio is .08. Sharpe was arrested and charged with OVI, Aggravated Vehicular Assault, and Child Endangering, as her 11-year-old granddaughter was reportedly in the back seat of her van. 

As of Sunday morning, the officer involved in the accident was still listed in serious condition. 

The Stow Police Department are looking for help finding missing 17-year-old Lauren Nicole Sheppard who hasn't been seen since early March. 

According to a post to the Stow Police Facebook page, Lauren was last seen leaving her home in Stow on March 3rd, 2019. Her mother told police that she had a small duffel bag. Police report that she may be in the Akron area. 

Anyone with any information is asked to call the Stow Police Department at 330-689-5700. 

Todd Casten, 47, of Ravenna Township was arrested early Monday morning after he allegedly drove his car into a Portage County Sheriff's cruiser... in reverse.

He was drunk... allegedly.

According to the press release from the Portage County Sheriff's Office, at about 1:20 Monday morning, one of his deputies was parked at the Circle K in Blackhorse, Ravenna Township, when he noticed Casten acting peculiarly. When he pulled out of the parking lot, Casten drove his car off the road, into a ditch. That's when the deputy turned on his emergency lights and attempted to stop Caten, who put his car in reverse and hit the gas, ramming into the deputy's cruiser. Casten then pulled away, trying to flee, but the deputy followed him, calling for backup. Not too far from the Circle K, on Spring Street, Casten stopped his car, and attempted to run, fighting with deputies in the process. 

He was eventually arrested, charged with felony assault on an officer, failure to comply, resisting, and... his 10th OVI. 

He's reportedly still being held in the Portage County Jail. 

The Akron Zoo is mourning the loss, but more celebrating the legacy, of female Humbolt penguin Emmanuelle who was euthanized last week.

At 36-years-old, Emma, as she was known, was the oldest, zoo-born female Humbolt penguin in an accredited zoo. Emma, who's been retired since 2013, far-exceeded her life expectancy of 16 and a half years, according to a press release from the Akron Zoo.

The decision to euthanize was made last week as Emma was no longer responding to treatments she was being given for old age.

Born at the Milwaukee County Zoo in 1983, Emma has called the Akron Zoo home since 2004. 

See more about Emma at the Akron Zoo website. 

(Kent State University) The Kent State University Board of Trustees has appointed Todd Diacon, Ph.D., Kent State’s executive vice president and provost, as its next university president at a special Board meeting held Monday, April 29. President-elect Diacon will begin his term as Kent State’s 13th president on July 1. He succeeds President Beverly J. Warren, who is stepping down as president after five years of exemplary service to the university.

The Kent State Board of Trustees appointed a 16-member search committee, chaired by Trustee Shawn Riley, and launched a national search for President Warren’s successor. To prepare for the search, the Board solicited input from virtually every constituency: faculty, staff, students, donors, alumni, elected officials, the Kent community and others. Input received from these groups indicated that Kent State needs a dynamic, experienced leader who could build on the institution’s vision and strategic direction, enhance academic excellence and research, strengthen organizational capacity and sustainability, and raise Kent State’s profile and prominence.

“After a rigorous national search, we have found that leader,” said Ralph Della Ratta, chair of the Kent State Board of Trustees. “Today, in a unanimous vote, the Kent State Board of Trustees has elected Todd Diacon, Ph.D., as Kent State’s 13th president.

“The Board is confident that Dr. Diacon’s substantial contributions to Kent State’s advancement over the past seven years demonstrate that he is the right person at the right time to continue our remarkable momentum and progress,” Chair Della Ratta continued.

President-elect Diacon has 30 years of higher education leadership experience. In his current position as executive vice president and provost of Kent State, he is the second highest-ranking position behind the president. He joined Kent State in April 2012 and is responsible for all academic functions of the university, leading the administration, faculty, and staff within more than 20 academic units, including colleges, schools, departments, and regional campuses of an eight-campus system that enrolls more than 38,000 students.

“Dr. Diacon knows Kent State well and has a deep understanding of the university’s strengths and potential,” Chair Della Ratta said. “We all agree that he has the leadership ability to accelerate our momentum in reaching our highest aspirations. Dr. Diacon is committed to advancing Kent State’s position as a top-tier public research university and our intense focus on strengthening student success, research and academic excellence.”

President-elect Diacon’s contributions and deep experience in these priorities have been evident during his time as Kent State’s provost. He has been instrumental in developing creative ways to boost the university’s international reach and reputation, including establishing our American Academy at the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná (PUCPR), a major university in Brazil.

He has helped the university attract world-class, talented deans, faculty and academic leaders, including most recently Christina Bloebaum, Ph.D., dean of the College of Aeronautics and Engineering; Michael Lehman, Ph.D., inaugural director of the Brain Health Research Institute; and Neil Cooper, Ph.D., inaugural director of the School of Peace and Conflict Studies. Dr. Diacon’s commitment to the recruitment of diverse faculty significantly increased the number of faculty hires from underrepresented groups, and contributed to Kent State earning the distinction as the No. 1 university nationwide in Forbes’ list of America’s Best Employers for Diversity 2019.

President-elect Diacon has contributed significantly to elevating Kent State’s academic excellence. During his time as provost, Kent State has enrolled five of its largest freshman classes, increased the number of undergraduate degrees awarded, raised the academic profile of the freshman class, improved graduation rates, and achieved record retention rates.

Before coming to Kent State, President-elect Diacon served as deputy chancellor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. His duties included supervising the university’s strategic plan, leading special projects, co-directing university relations with state government, coordinating town-gown initiatives and directing the UMass Community College Connection to encourage community college students to enroll at UMass. In addition to his role of deputy chancellor at UMass, he was a professor of history.

Prior to UMass, President-elect Diacon worked at the University of Tennessee from 1989-2010, joining first as an assistant professor of history. During his career there, he held various positions, including director of the Latin American studies program, head of the history department, NCAA faculty athletics representative, professor of history with tenure, vice provost for academic operations and executive director for academic assessment and program support.

President-elect Diacon specializes in agrarian history and the history of central state power in Brazil. He has authored publications on student success and on the administration of higher education, and he has written several journal articles and two books. His book “Stringing Together a Nation” won the 2005 Warren Dean Prize for the most significant book on Brazilian history.

“The Board of Trustees would like to express our deep appreciation to the members of the Presidential Search Committee for their dedicated service,” Chair Della Ratta said. “The search process was very inclusive, and today we celebrate an outstanding outcome. We all owe a special debt of gratitude to Trustee Shawn Riley, who has given so generously of his time and counsel as chair of the Presidential Search Committee. We are especially grateful for his engagement with the Faculty Senate Executive Committee and the Committee on Administrative Officers.”

(STARK COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT) Stark County, Ohio – An Epi-Aid investigation was conducted during the last 12 months due to the rapid increase in Stark County youth suicides between August 2017 and March 2018.   The suicide rate among youth aged 10-19 years rose to more than 7 times the U.S. national rate and 11 times the Stark County rate for the previous years.  This investigation was conducted in partnerships with the Stark County Health Department, the Ohio Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control, along with input from numerous community partners.  The purpose of the Epi-Aid was to examine factors contributing to the increased suicidal behavioral among Stark County youth. 

Four main objectives were completed through the Epi-Aid:

1)      Determined the students in need of prevention services at all affected and at-risk middle and high schools through a comprehensive school based risk screen.

2)      Identified factors for youth suicide that may contribute to ongoing suicidal behavioral to prevent further suicide attempts and suicides.

3)      Determined the activities, social supports, and other factors among youth that are most protective against suicide risk to help guide prevention activities.

4)        Inventoried and catalogued existing suicide prevention initiatives to make recommendations on evidence-based suicide prevention programs.

A variety of data sources and activities were used to address the objectives. Details regarding the key findings by data source are provided in the final report.

Based on the key findings across data sources, the following recommendations are presented in the report to share with the community. These recommendations highlight opportunities to address suicide risk and protective factors among youth and support prevention activities in Stark County.

Advance Integrated Approach to Suicide Prevention at the Community Level

Ø  Develop a youth specific strategic plan for Stark County suicide prevention.

Ø  Collect youth-specific data for qualitative and quantitative evaluation of suicide prevention efforts.

Strengthen Access and Delivery of Suicide Care

Ø  Increase access to health and psychological care for youth, particularly evidence-based

                                mental health services.

Create Protective Environments

Ø  Reduce access to lethal means among youth at risk for suicide.

Ø  Implement evidence-based, community-based strategies to reduce youth substance use.

Promote Connectedness

Ø  Engage community members, parents, and families in youth’s life through participation in school and community activities.

Ø  Promote youth connectedness at individual, interpersonal, organizational, and

                                community levels.

Teach Coping and Problem-Solving Skills

Ø  Integrate upstream suicide prevention strategies into school curriculum through social emotional learning programs.

Ø  Encourage development of resilience among youth through evidence-based

                                programming in schools and community.

Identify and Support People at Risk

Ø  Train community members to identify people who may be at risk of suicide and to respond effectively through Gatekeeper Training.

Ø  Prevent and reduce the negative effects of childhood adversity.

Lessen Harms and Prevent Future Risk

Ø  Refer persons substantially affected by suicide for further counseling or other services as needed.

Ø  Implement postvention activities throughout a community, not just at an affected school or institution.

Ø   Develop suicide response plans before a death occurs and follow suicide response guidelines in the wake of an event.

Ø  Collaborate with local and regional news sources to promote safe suicide reporting guidelines.

Ø  Use safe suicide reporting guidelines to direct social media messaging.

Administer Ongoing Youth Health and Behavior Surveys

Ø  Regularly assess the health and wellbeing of students through ongoing youth health and behavior surveys.

Target both Female and Male Students

Ø  Plan sex-specific interventions to more effectively prevent suicidal behaviors.

A list of Stark County specific interventions and evidence-based practices that were developed as a result of the recommendations above, will be included in the Stark County Child Fatality Review and Fetal Infant Mortality Review 2018 Recommendations Report due to be released in May, 2019.  The full Epi-Aid report, the NOYHS County Level Data Report (released in October, 2018), and interim recommendations for youth suicide prevention (released in July, 2018) are available at www.starkcountyohio.gov/public-health. 

Information specific to youth suicide prevention is available at: https://starkmhar.org/help/youth-suicide-prevention/

Guidelines for journalists reporting on suicide and addiction topics are available at: https://starkmhar.org/advocacy/words-matter/

Resources are available for those in crisis:

Crisis Hotline: 330-452-6000

Domestic Violence help line: 330-453-SAFE (7233)

Homeless Hotline: 330-452-4363

Crisis Text Line, Text 4hope to 741 741

Trevor Project Lifeline for LGBTQ youth: 866-488-7386

Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860

Military & Veterans Crisis Line: 1-800-273-8255, press 1

Military & Veterans Crisis Text Line: 838255

Opiate Hotline: 330-454-HELP (4357)

Just after 11 a.m. Tuesday, a note was found in a boys bathroom at Waterloo Middle School referencing a specific threat against the school at noon that same day. The note was given to the Resource Officer and the entire building, which houses K through 12 students, was placed on immediate lockdown.

Portage County Sheriff's Deputies responded to the scene, searched the entire school, and students believed to be responsible were questioned. According to a report from the Sheriff's Office (see below), one student admitted to writing the note and charges are pending.

After a couple of hours, the lockdown was lifted around 1:30 p.m., and school resumed as normal.

--

(Portage Co. Sheriff's Office) Today (Tuesday), at approximately 11:06 a.m., the Portage County Sheriff’s Office received a call from Waterloo Middle School’s SRO officer. The SRO reported that a student had found a note in the boys’ bathroom that was a warning to everyone of a threat that would occur at noon. The school was placed on soft lockdown as a precautionary measure as stipulated in their policy, as the sheriff’s office responded. The school was secured and searched by sheriff’s deputies. While deputies were searching the school, detectives began to question individuals who may have been responsible. A juvenile student was questioned and admitted to writing and leaving the note. The school resumed normal business as the incident was resolved.

Portage County Sheriff’s Office will be consulting with the Portage County Prosecutor’s Office to discuss pending charges.

In the wake of Monday's search for missing 2-year-old Kaven Fisher, Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh is reminding residents about their "Take Me Home" program.

It's a countywide initiative meant to support residents with difficulty communicating, such as Kaven who has autism and is non-verbal. The program consists of an easily seachable database that provides law enforcement defining characteristics of individuals who meet certain criteria.

See more from the Prosecutor's Office below: 

(Summit Co. Prosecutor) The Take Me Home program is a countywide initiative to support individuals with communication difficulties and their families. The integral component of the program is a database of individuals with disabilities that impact their ability to communicate. The database is only accessible to law enforcement personnel. 

Should an individual become lost or separated from caregivers, law enforcement personnel can search the database by inputting the individual’s name, phone number or physical characteristics in the hopes of learning their identity and thus reuniting them with their family or caregivers. 

Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh and Sheriff Drew Alexander announced the initiative in April 2007 at a park where a five-year-old child with autism had gotten lost a year before. The child was unable to communicate his name or address to law enforcement officers. 

That troubling incident, however, highlighted the challenge that law enforcement personnel and parents face when individuals with disabilities become lost. The Greater Akron Chapter of the Autism Society of America brought the Take Me Home program to the attention of Prosecutor Walsh. Bob Haren, the grandparent of a child with autism, brought it to the attention of the Sheriff's Office. A partnership was formed.

The Louisville Police Department has canceled the earlier Missing Adult Alert for 82-year-old Barbara Tschantz. She has reportedly been found safe. 

-- 

The Louisville Police Department has issued a statewide Missing Adult Alert for 82-year-old Barbara Tschantz.

According to the report, Ms. Tschantz was last seen leaving her sister's home in Youngstown 10 o'clock Monday morning, and hasn't been heard from since.

She's driving a 2010 Chevy Malibu with license plate HOPE25.

See more below: