AKRONSuspect nabbedAKRON: A man suspected of being an accomplice in this week’s robbery and shooting death of an Akron man has been arrested.Demarcus Lee Williams, 20, of Akron, is being held in the Summit County Jail on charges of complicity to commit aggravated murder, aggravated robbery and drug abuse.He is suspected of helping a gunman rob 24-year-old Phillip Anderson on Tuesday while the Akron man was sitting inside a parked car on Princeton Street. Anderson was shot in the chest and died a short time later at Akron General Medical Center.The gunman has not been identified.Anyone with information is asked to call Akron police at 330-375-2490. Anonymous tips may be left at http://akronohio.gov/asp/tip.html.Bank robbedAKRON: Two Akron police officers arrested a Goodyear Heights bank robbery suspect just minutes after workers reported the heist Friday afternoon.Officers Michael Hill and Dean Prosteri were in separate cruisers when they saw a man running away from the PNC Bank on Goodyear Boulevard toward a pickup truck stopped on Hillside Terrace and Ottawa Street.The officers stopped the truck and arrested Benjamin Gandy, 22. They also seized an unspecified amount of cash. A ski mask and a toy firearm were found behind a business on Goodyear Boulevard. Gandy is in the Summit County Jail.A teller told police that a man came into the branch about 1:30 p.m. The man was wearing a ski mask and was armed with a gun. He demanded money and then fled with the cash. Bank workers called police.Police Lt. Rick Edwards said the officers were on routine patrol in the neighborhood when dispatchers relayed information about the robbery.Motion deniedAKRON: Federal Judge Sara Lioi on Friday rejected a defense request to dismiss one conspiracy count against former Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora.Testimony in his case began Thursday.The former Cuyahoga Democratic Party chairman has pleaded not guilty to taking bribes in return for steering contracts and jobs.Dimora had claimed a conspiracy count failed to specify alleged illegal use of the U.S. mail. Lioi disagreed and said the indictment alleges that conspirators used the post office to carry out the scheme.Dimora faces another trial on a second corruption indictment.AKRON SCHOOLSFires setAKRON: Akron police and firefighters are investigating two fires intentionally set this week at Kenmore High School.The fires, set about 2 p.m. Tuesday at the high school on 13th Street Southwest, did not injure anyone. No suspects have been identified by Akron police or firefighters.Firefighters were called to the second floor of the school, where a soda machine and a classroom door were set on fire. Authorities say the fires were intentionally set.Anyone with information is asked to call Akron police at 330-375-2490. Anonymous tips may be left via at http://
akronohio.gov/asp/tip.html. CUYAHOGA FALLSCharge filedCUYAHOGA FALLS: Cuyahoga Falls police have charged a man accused of robbing a smoothie store Thursday night and barricading himself in an apartment.Bradley W. Rogers, 30, remains hospitalized with self-inflicted arm injuries, police said. He will be taken to the Summit County Jail once he is released. Police have charged him with aggravated robbery.Police say a man robbed workers at the Pulp Smoothie Shop at 1210 Buchholzer Blvd. of $400 about 6 p.m. Thursday and fled. A worker followed the man to an apartment on Howe Avenue and called police.A standoff followed as Rogers refused police orders to surrender, although at one point, he allowed a woman inside the apartment to leave.The standoff ended shortly after 10 p.m. when negotiations between Rogers and police broke down. Police fired tear gas into the unit, forcing Rogers outside. Police say Rogers went back inside and came back out bleeding from his arms.CUYAHOGA FALLS SCHOOLSNew treasurerCUYAHOGA FALLS: The Board of Education this week hired a retired treasurer from Independence schools to serve the remainder of the school year as interim treasurer.Jerry Zelenka will be paid $350 a day and is expected to work four days a week, Superintendent Todd Nichols said.Zelenka replaces Kathryn Sines, who recently was named treasurer of Hudson City Schools.Nichols said the district hopes to hire a permanent treasurer by July 1, the beginning of the next fiscal year.GREENMeetings canceledGREEN: City Council and the Planning and Zoning Commission have canceled meetings for this month but will resume activities in February.Councilman-at-large Gerard Neugebauer, the panel’s Planning, Community and Economic Development chairman, said the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting for Wednesday has been canceled because there were no issues to consider.Council President Joel Reed said council’s Jan. 24 meeting has been canceled because Mayor Dick Norton’s State of the City speech is set for the following night.During committee meetings Tuesday, Ward 1 Councilman Jim Colopy urged council to consider whether there is a need for the president pro tem position to which he was elected at council’s Jan. 3 organizational meeting. He said the city charter doesn’t provide for such a position and suggested the Charter Review Commission study the matter.In response to a related question from Councilman-at-large Chris Humphrey, colleagues said they are unaware of any instance in which the council president and vice president were absent at the same time, thus requiring the president pro tem to run a meeting.LAKE SCHOOLSOaths administeredLAKE TWP.: Township trustee Galen Stoll administered the oath of office Thursday to new board member Jon Troyer and returning board member David VanderKaay at the meeting of the Lake Local Board of Education.At the board’s reorganizational meeting, David Poling was elected president and Bill Jelen vice president for the 2012 year. Troyer was appointed legislative liaison; Derrick Bailey will be student achievement liaison.June 2 was the date selected for the Class of 2012’s graduation, which will be held at Canton Memorial Civic Center at 3 p.m.Board meetings will be held on the third Monday each month, but the board changed the date of their February meeting to the second Monday, Feb. 13, due to Presidents Day.NORTH CANTON SCHOOLSLeadership electedNORTH CANTON: The North Canton Board of Education elected Nancy Marion as its president for 2012 at its meeting Thursday night. Chris Goldthorpe will be vice president.The board scheduled its monthly meetings for the third Wednesdays, at 6 p.m. in the Media Center of Hoover High School.STARK COUNTYState rep availableLOUISVILLE: State Rep. Christina Hagan, R-Marlboro Township, will hold district office hours Monday in Louisville.She will meet constituents from 8 to 10 a.m. at the Thompson Dairyland, 7519 Columbus Road NE.For information, contact Jessica Stepleton at 614-466-9078.WADSWORTHOfficer honoredWADSWORTH: Officer John Ahern has been named the Patrol Officer of the Year by his peers and supervisors.Ahern, 44, who joined the Wadsworth department in 2003, is a member of its SWAT team, a certified field training officer for new patrol officers and one of four Wadsworth police officers to receive special deputy status with the U.S. Marshals Service.He is a member of the Medina County OVI (operating a vehicle under the influence) Task Force and led the department in OVI arrests. He is a candidate for the Top Cop award for his OVI enforcement. He is also a founding member of the department’s bicycle patrol unit.Police Chief Randy Reinke described Ahern as a “go-getter” always willing to assist others in various tasks. “Officer Ahern has a tremendous work ethic and he is a real asset to this department and to the community as a whole,”
Reinke said.Ahern also worked as a patrol officer for the city of Medina and is a veteran of the U.S. Army.