Wednesday, May 8, 2013
"In the spirit of early intervention I thought it might make sense to share some thoughts on the topic of paid parking in Kent," the city manager said in his most recent blog about parking downtown.
Parking. It's been a hot topic in Kent for awhile now. Many are happy with some improvements, and the fact that the new garage is free this month, but many are griping about the cost to park on social media, according to Kent City Manager Dave Ruller in his most recent blog. Patch asked its readers on Facebook about their thoughts on parking downtown. Here's what they had to say. With the news that parking at the PARTA deck is free until April, Ruller said he's noticed "the social networks have started to light up with questions of paying for parking in downtown Kent. In particular we’re hearing some rumbling about the prospect of metered parking stations planned for later this year on certain downtown streets." So here's the answer: …
All information is according to the Portage County Board of Elections. Results are final but unofficial.
Voters in Kent overwhelmingly approved a 8.9-mill continuing operating levy for the Kent City Schools Tuesday while denying a former councilman a return to Kent City Council. Voters approved Issue 8 by a vote of 2,201 for the levy to 1,407 against the levy, according to final but unofficial results from the Portage County Board of Elections. The victory came by an 800-vote margin. The levy will raise $4.25 million annually for the school district, according to school officials. The tax increase will cost the owner of a house valued at $100,000 about $272 per year. In the Democratic primary, a newcomer moves on to the general election in November for Kent City Council. Incumbent at-large councilmen Roger Sidoti, an appointee, and Michael …
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Voters approve school levy by an 800-vote margin.
Voters in the Kent City Schools district on Tuesday approved a 8.9-mill new continuing levy. The continuing operating levy, called Issue 8 on the ballot, will raise $4.25 million annually for the school district and cost the owner of a house valued at $100,000 about $272 per year. Also, Kent voters who declare themselves Democrats chose three candidates to represent their party in the November general election for three council at-large seats: Michael A. DeLeone, Melissa M. Long and Roger B. Sidoti. Stay with Patch as we follow up on these stories post-election. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter too! 2013 ELECTION RESULTS Kent City Council At-Large Seat Number of Votes (Top 3 advance to general election) *Results are …
Monday, May 6, 2013
Blogger Christopher Clevenger reminds us about the May 7 primary and asks the city to get out and vote.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Because of a program launched by President George W. Bush, Kent State University's summer foreign language programs just got a major financial boost.
STARTALK, a program launched in 2006 by President George W. Bush, recently awarded Kent State University's Modern and Classical Language Department with $400,000. The money is to be used to fund summer foreign language programs, according to this Ohio.com story. The grant comes in three $100,000 sections for both student programs and a $100,000 goes into the Teacher Leadership Academy. The 2013 Foreign Language Student Academy and the Teacher Leadership Academy focuses on languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Persian, Turkish, Hindi, Russian. Read the full story here on Ohio.com.
Superintendent says levy on Tuesday's ballot counters lack of state financial support
Friday, May 3, 2013
Income tax hike would only pay off debt to build new police station
City administrators and Kent City Council plan again to ask voters to approve a 0.25 percent income tax increase to pay for a new Kent Police station. Council voted in committee Wednesday to place the issue on the November ballot, but this time they included a sunset provision in the ballot language and eliminated the idea that any excess revenue would pay for streets and sidewalks repair — language that was included in the previous ballot issue. In November 2012 voters rejected Issue 11, which would have raised Kent's income tax from 2 percent to 2.25 percent to pay to build an estimated $18.36 million police building in the Day Street block. Kent residents cast 4,240 votes for the tax increase and 5,163 against the tax. Kent City Manager…
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319 S Water St, Kent, OH
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Council approves license agreement for building foundation
Kent City Council signed off on a license agreement this week that will allow Fairmount Properties mixed-used 'Building C' to occupy a portion of the public right-of-way on South DePeyster Street. The foundations of the $4.5 million building will encroach an estimated 2 inches, and the footers will encroach as much as 10 inches into the right-of-way, according to a memo from the city manager's office to council. Kent City Manager Dave Ruller said the encroachments will all be below ground. "We have approved similar encroachments for the other buildings in the redevelopment project," he said. The building, which will stand at the southwest corner of the intersection of South DePeyster and Erie streets, will house Bricco, an Akron-based …
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Council modifies liquor license transfer regulations, takes no action on second liquor license request
Jazz and wine fans could be lifting a glass in Kent's newest wine bar, The Secret Cellar, by the Kent Heritage Festival on July Fourth weekend. Kent City Council voted Wednesday to sign off on a trex liquor license transfer for the new jazz club, which plans to open in the lower level of the restored landmark Acorn Corner building downtown. Developer Ron Burbick, who's responsible for the building's renovation and the adjacent Acorn Alley projects, gave detailed plans for the business to council as part of yesterday's formal request for the transfer. Burbick is serving as a development partner in the club, which will be owned by Cuyahoga Falls residents Jim and Amy Bragg. "Their concept, my concept, is we’re really a jazz club," Burbick …
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Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Drivers will be able to park free through May
With little public fanfare, the 365 public parking spaces in PARTA's Kent Central Gateway transit center opened downtown Tuesday. The bus transfer and commercial spaces in the deck have yet to open, but many Kent residents and business owners cheered the opening of the parking spaces virtually with "likes" and positive feedback spreading like wildfire on social media. Frank Hairston, director of marketing for PARTA, said drivers who pulled into the deck when it opened at 7 a.m. Tuesday flashed the thumbs up to transit authority administrators gathered for the early opening. "If you go online, everybody’s saying that ‘Hey I get a parking space downtown!'" Hairston said. "And they’re all happy right now. There’s still work going on the …
Linda UmBayemake
12:12 am on Thursday, May 9, 2013
Voter turn out was really low. Same as Mars i was the only person voting at 3:00 pm which is highly unusual. City Council would be more effective with diverse cultural representation. Now the council is one sided leaving a two major groups without a voice in city affairs. Next election we must be better prepared. more ›