Canoe, Kayak Portage Coming to Heritage Park

ODNR grant supporting project

Volunteers Needed for River Cleaning Saturday

Crooked River Adventures leading Cuyahoga River cleanup

Volunteers are needed to help clean the Cuyahoga River of trash and debris this Saturday, Sept. 24. Crooked River Adventures, the Kent State University sponsored canoe and kayak livery, is organizing three groups of volunteers to take trips down the river from John Brown Tannery Park to Middlebury Road and collect trash along the way. The livery will have 20 kayaks and seven canoes available to volunteers who want to pull garbage from the water as they paddle. Volunteers also are needed to walk along the river banks picking up garbage and assisting the boaters. Volunteers will be shuttled to and from locations, provided the equipment they need to collect trash and served lunch, according to the university. To volunteer, call Mike McFall at…

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Correction: 2nd Annual Bras Across the River is Saturday

Last year's Bras Across the Crooked River display, organized by a Kent State grad, "turned out to be a pretty neat event," according to one business owner. Evidently, it also started a trend

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect an initial error in which the event was reported as taking place Sunday, Sept. 11. The event is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 10. When Jim Collver retired from the insurance profession, he "just wanted to make a difference, and make something that will be here after I'm gone." Collver, a Kent State University graduate, has accomplished that through the Celtic Club of Ohio. The club — Collver is the only official member — started the annual St. Pet's Day to collect and distribute pet food to animal shelters in Northeast Ohio. In Kent, St. Patrick School collects food for the event each March. Then in 2007, when Collver was grieving the death of his girlfriend who had succumbed to lung …

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PHOTOS: Trash Pulled from Cuyahoga River

City employees, volunteers spent Saturday morning pulling garbage from the river

The annual clean-up of the Cuyahoga River saw a few hundred pounds of debris pulled from the river Saturday morning. This year, the area of the river in focus stretched from the Cuyahoga River north towards the River Bend subdivision. Typically, the area cleaned stretches from Stow Street to the bridge at Middlebury Road. City employees came in on their morning off and used a trackhoe to pull the garbage out at the construction site of the new Fairchild Avenue Bridge. Unlike past years, when community members are encouraged to volunteer, it was mostly city employees who did the dirty work. Bob Brown, manager of the city's water reclamation plant, said they didn't want community volunteers this year because of the steep, rocky banks in this…

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Photo of the Day: Staying Cool

The Cuyahoga River provides a cool resource during the dog days of summer

How do you stay cool in this heat? Many Kent folks head downhill to the Cuyahoga River, which at this time of year is quite low and just begging you to wade in. Remember, be safe when looking to the river for fun and an escape from the heat.

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Owner: RB&W Containment System Has Failed

Application for Clean Ohio Fund grant money shows problem, potential fix for underground chemical containment system at 800 Mogadore Road site

The cost to fix the cause of a leaching chemical containment system at the former RB&W site could run as much as $800,000, according to the city's application for Clean Ohio Fund money for the property. Results from groundwater monitoring wells at the former manufacturing site, owned by Memphis-based Thomas & Betts Corp., have shown that contaminants in groundwater at the property have gradually increased since 2008. In 2005, an underground clay slurry wall and artificial cap liner were installed to seal in the chemical remains of five former open-air oil lagoons that once covered about 1.8 acres at the south end of the property. Samples pulled in July from groundwater monitoring wells surrounding the sealed area — what looks like a …

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Photo of the Day: Friends Kayak the Cuyahoga

Crooked River Adventures offers 2 trips down the river

Three friends enjoyed a lazy kayak trip down the Cuyahoga River Monday just before thunderstorms moved in. Kent State's Crooked River Adventures offers two trips down the river starting at John Brown Tannery Park and ending in Munroe Falls and Cuyahoga Falls. The trips range from 4.5 miles to 6.5 miles and are available for either canoe or kayak enthusiasts.

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Photos: Kent in the Summer

Sunny, warm weather makes for a perfect day by the river

A visit to Heritage Park almost encapsulates everything that is summer in Kent. People swim, sunbathe, fish, picnic and just hang out enjoying the beautiful Ohio weather along the banks of the Cuyahoga River.

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Kasha Legeza

5:38 pm on Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Great photos! I love seeing people swimming and sunning down by the river like it's a beach!   more ›

Around Town and Gown

Now's the Time to Enjoy the Cuyahoga

Low water, slow current and warm temperatures make summer ideal for using the river

I stepped out of my kayak into thigh-deep, rushing water and couldn't help but smile. The kayak was a loaner from Kent State's Crooked River Adventures. The river was the Cuyahoga. And my Patch friends and I had accidentally paddled past the take-out point at Brust Park for our trip from Kent to Munroe Falls. Despite the shallow river, the current was too much for us to paddle against, and we all had to get out of our boats. Still, we were all smiling. If you haven't taken a trip with Crooked River Adventures, now's the time. Green, lush scenery crowds the wide river's banks on the 4.5-mile trip south from John Brown Tannery Park along Middlebury Road and on to Munroe Falls. I've enjoyed the trip offered by Camp Hi Canoe Livery in Hiram on…

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