Summit County | featured news

An Akron woman is pursuing criminal charges against the person who posted her picture, name and phone number as part of a phony sex advertisement on Craigslist, Beacon Journal news partner News 5 Cleveland reports.Clythie Sharp, 47, told the television station that she has received about 80 texts, some phone calls and pictures of private parts because of the ad.“I want someone to know that you can’t do this,” she said. “This is not good. It’s not safe for women.”

MANTUA: The Crestwood Local Schools is now requiring drug tests for all middle and high school students to participate in extracurricular activities and for high school students who drive to school, the Kent Ravenna Record-Courier reports.The new policy took effect last month. Superintendent David Toth told the newspaper that the policy is designed “to help kids make better choices.”The Portage County district has been testing for athletics for years.

TWINSBURG: A teenager has created a service project called “Helping Soles” to collect new and gently used shoes for those in need, WOIO-TV (Channel 19) reports.Jonathan Brooks, 16, is accepting shoe donations at Fleet Feet Sports locations in Northfield, Pepper Pike, Strongsville and Westlake for the next three months.“I know you have shoes in your closet that you don’t wear anymore so it would be for a good cause to help out other people,” he told the television station.

BRIMFIELD TWP.: Firefighters are sometimes called out to rescue ducklings that have fallen into storm sewers.But this week Brimfield firefighters rescued a kitten stuck in a sewer in the Cascades of Brimfield shopping area.Police posted photos of the rescue on social media, noting that because the kitten wouldn’t come out, firefighters went in.The kitten, nicknamed Pepe Le Pew, was turned over to the Portage Animal Protective League.

BREWSTER: An 82-year-old man who was found dead Wednesday night may have been killed by lightning, the Canton Repository reports.Richard Lutes’ body was discovered behind his house on Muskingum Avenue. The Stark County Coroner’s Office is investigating and says Lutes had a lesion on his chest that could have been caused by lightning.

CONGRESS TWP.: Authorities are seeking help to identify the driver of a car that rear-ended a horse-drawn buggy Wednesday night and then left the scene.A young child was seriously injured in the two-vehicle crash and is being treated at Akron Children’s Hospital, the Ohio State Highway Patrol said.

WOOSTER: An Orrville native and 2015 Wooster High School graduate won the recent USA Mountain Bike National race in Snowshoe, W.Va., the Wooster Daily Record reports.Sydney Wenger, 20, now a student at King University in Tennessee, told the newspaper that she enjoys the danger involved with mountain biking.“You never know what is going to happen,” she said. “Even if you have rode the course before, the conditions are different each time out.”

At first glance, the 51 children singing, dancing and doing art projects underneath a large tent might be attending any of a variety of local summer day camps.But the kids at this camp all have one thing in common — they’ve all lost a loved one.In its 12th year, Camp Promise offers a four-day program for children ages 6 to 11 as a way to learn to manage and understand their grief through creative activities.The free camp is operated by the Cleveland Clinic Akron General Visiting Nurse Service and funded through donations to the Akron General Foundation.

Dan Horrigan is getting a bit of Harvard education as part of the bargain as Akron’s mayor.The city announced in a news release Wednesday that Horrigan — who holds bachelor’s degrees from Kent State University and the University of Akron — has been selected to participate in the inaugural Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative.

The Summit County grand jury on Wednesday indicted a 24-year-old New Franklin woman who’s accused of killing two teenagers and severely injuring a third while texting and driving in May.Natasha Boggs was indicted on 11 charges, including two are for involuntary manslaughter, two are for aggravated vehicular homicide and one is for negligent assault. Boggs also is facing a tampering with evidence charge for allegedly deleting text messages after the accident.