Staff Reporter

Garrettsville - A staple on North Street for almost twenty-four years, Mark’s Automotive will be closing the doors for good the week of April 13, 2015. Mark Johnson, owner and operator of Mark’s Automotive has decided to retire and “enjoy life a bit”.

Garrettsville - Garrettsville village council wants the message to get out to all residents that they are required to file a village income tax form every year just like they would file a state or federal tax return.  There are exclusions for certain incomes like receiving a pension or...

Phenology for February in Portage Parks • Full moon (Snow Moon or Hunger Moon) – Feb. 3rd    New Moon – Feb 18th    • Look in the southeast sky for the stars in the constellation Scorpio’s tail, Shaula and Lesath. American Indians referred to them as “The Harbingers of Spring”.  •...

Garrettsville - The January 14th Garrettsville village council meeting began with council re-electing councilman Tom Hardesty as Village Council President.   Mayor Patrick then addressed council with a State of the Village report (see below).  Mayor Patrick also asked for and was granted council’s approval for his 2015 mayoral appointments.

The dates for this years FrogWatch training will be January 29th and February 5th (Thursdays) from 7:00-9:00 pm. If volunteers would like to become certified, they will also need to take the certification exam on February 12th at 7:00 pm. We will hold our sessions at the James H. Barrow Field Station (Hiram College). There is a fee of $5.00 fee for the training, course materials, etc.

At the December 10th Garrettsville Village Council meeting, Mayor Patrick called Garrettsville police officer Timothy Christopher forward as he read Resolution 2014-38, which recognizes the seven years of service of police dog Taz and authorized retirement of the canine. It further authorized officer Christopher’s assumption of ownership in exchange for $1. Taz was retired earlier this year for health reasons. He now resides with his handler, Officer Christopher and his family. Christopher thanked the mayor and council for their dedication and continued support of the canine program and, though he will not be the canine handler any more, he will still be involved in a supervisory capacity. Officer Keith Whan will be Garrettsville Police’s new canine handler.

This Saturday, while you are out running errands, consider stopping by the Garrettsville Save-A-Lot where the Garrettsville Police Department will be having a Fill-A-Cruiser event from 10 am to 3 pm. The officers will be collecting non-perishable food items for the Nelson Garrettsville Community Cupboard which has seen a two-fold increase in the number of people they are assisting this year. In addition, the officers will be accepting cash donations which will be used for the Hiram-Garrettsville Shop-With-A-Cop program.

“Many of the events of the annual cycle recur year after year in a regular order. A year-to-year record of this order is a record of the rates at which solar energy flows to and through living things. They are the arteries of the land. By tracing their response to the sun, phenology may eventually shed some light on that ultimate enigma, the land’s inner workings.” – Aldo Leopold, A

The benefits of shopping locally go beyond convenience and the chance to reduce your carbon footprint. The following are a few ways that shopping locally this holiday season can directly benefit your community and the people who call it home.

Councilman Klamer reminded council members that “Our job is to provide service to the residents. Our job is not to see how much we can bankroll.” He said as the village council they are responsible to the taxpayers and spending the extra money this year is “officials doing their job”.

Is there a threat of Ebola in Portage County? • Stay calm. Portage County has NO cases of Ebola, and the threat of Ebola virus transmission in Portage County is extremely low. • At this time, because the nurse who tested positive for Ebola visited Summit County on October 10-13,...