AKRON
Gunmen rob crew
AKRON: Masked gunmen greeted workers arriving at a McDonald’s restaurant on East Waterloo Road early Wednesday, police said.
The gunmen met the workers in the restaurant parking lot at 946 E. Waterloo Road and forced them inside to a back room, where they demanded money at gunpoint. The robbers took a cash box and a worker’s purse before leaving.
Police said the robbers were two black males between 19 and 21. Each was about 5 feet, 10 inches and wore dark clothing, including black ski masks.
Anyone with information is asked to call Akron police at 330-375-2490.

Pizza suspects held
AKRON: A woman delivering pizzas for an Akron restaurant tried to fend off two robbers during an attack Tuesday night.
Two suspects were arrested after being tracked to an apartment complex by a police dog unit.
Tyran D. Williams, 19, and John S. Jenkins, 21, both of Akron, were arrested on aggravated robbery charges, police said.
The incident occurred about 10:30 p.m. at a home in the 900 block of Berwin Street. The driver, 53, who works for New York Style Pizza on East Glenwood Avenue, told police she was confronted by two men armed with what appeared to be a shotgun. The men demanded money, but the woman refused.
A struggle ensued and the woman tried to hit one of the men with a 2-liter bottle of soda. One of the men then punched the woman, knocking her to the ground.
The men took the woman’s property and food and ran off. A police dog unit tracked the men to an Avon Street apartment. Police recovered the two large pizzas, a money bag and a nonlethal shotgun.

Child rape alleged
AKRON: An 18-year-old Akron man has been charged with rape in an alleged sexual encounter with an 11-year-old girl.
Steven McCumbers was being held in Summit County Jail on a $500,000 bond following his arrest Sunday by Akron police detectives.
Police said the girl originally was listed as possibly abducted Saturday, and reverse 911 calls were issued to her Kenmore neighborhood. It later was determined that she ran away from home to be with McCumbers, police said.
Detectives arrested McCumbers on Sunday. According to police, he admitted having sex with the girl inside a Florida Avenue home.

COLUMBUS
New wildlife chief
COLUMBUS: Scott A. Zody is the new chief of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Wildlife.
Zody has served the department in a number of roles, spending more than half of his 20-year public career with ODNR.
Hired in January as the department’s assistant director, he served as interim director following David Mustine’s move to JobsOhio.
Over the past several months, Zody facilitated meetings of stakeholders charged with developing a proposed framework to regulate dangerous wild animals in Ohio.
Zody’s previous positions with the department include deputy director and legislative liaison.
His career in public service extends to the Fairfield County Board of Commissioners, Ohio Bureau of Worker’s Compensation, and Legislative Service Commission.
Former Division of Wildlife Chief David Lane will serve as assistant chief, overseeing operations in the division’s five district offices.

FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP

Check shop robbed
Two men robbed a Franklin Township check-cashing business Wednesday morning.
According to Portage County sheriff’s deputies, the men entered the Check Into Cash, 1677 E. Main St., about 10:30 a.m. and demanded money.
A female clerk working alone was escorted to a rear room while the men, armed with handguns, eventually took an undisclosed amount of cash and the woman’s purse. After the men left, the clerk sounded an alarm.
Anyone with information about the robbery or the culprits is asked to contact deputies at 330-296-5100.

JACKSON TOWNSHIP

I-77 crash kills man
JACKSON TWP.: One person was killed in a multivehicle crash Tuesday night near the Belden Village Mall exit off Interstate 77 in Jackson Township.
Chester Khemchandani, 20, of Dalton, died following the crash.
According to the State Highway Patrol, the crash involved six vehicles and was triggered by a North Canton man whose vehicle struck Khemchandani’s car about 7 p.m. while three lanes of traffic were at a standstill.
The impact caused several other crashes.
The driver, David Dantonio, 59, was treated at Mercy Medical Center in Canton. Two other people were taken to hospitals with nonlife-threatening injuries, and paramedics treated two others at the scene.
Troopers said alcohol use might have contributed to the crash.
No charges had been filed.

NEW FRANKLIN

Man dies in fire
NEW FRANKLIN: An 89-year-old New Franklin man was killed in a house fire Tuesday morning, authorities said.
The Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office and the New Franklin Fire Department are investigating the death of John Nerone of Peggy Ann Drive. Authorities responded to a fire at 10:45 a.m. at the residence and found the house filled with heavy smoke.
Nerone was discovered unresponsive and not breathing in a first-floor bedroom, authorities said. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 11:26 a.m.

STARK COUNTY

Fracking road pact
CANTON: Stark County roads should be protected from damage by one company’s hydraulic fracturing operations under an agreement made with Chesapeake Energy, according to County Engineer Keith Bennett.
The pact, approved by county commissioners on Wednesday, adds provisions for roads that will be used for hauling water to sites where hydraulic fracturing will take place.
The measures are an addition to existing rules for oversized loads, such as drilling rigs, Bennett said.
Chesapeake is to file a proposed route for hauling water with the county engineer’s office. The company then is to hire an engineering firm to take core samples of the road base.
The company, based in Oklahoma, will make any needed improvements to the roads before using them to transport water.
Bennett said the company has already rebuilt the base of one road and added an asphalt overlay to another for a well in Osnaburg Township. Other wells are planned for Marlboro, Nimishillen and Bethlehem townships.
The contract between the county and the company also calls for Chesapeake to post bonds for routes it will use. The amounts are $200,000 per mile of road and $250,000 for each bridge.
Bennett expects to make similar agreements with other companies if they move operations into the county.

Deed for building
CANTON: Stark County should soon be the owner of the Frank T. Bow Federal Building.
Commissioners signed a quit claim deed for the historic downtown building on Wednesday. The county will receive the property for free.
The board is expected to hire an architect to write renovation specifications for the building.
It is expected to be used by Common Pleas Court for functions related to supervision of criminal suspects and probationers.

SUMMIT COUNTY
Officers chosen
The Township Association of Summit County said Wednesday it has elected new officers for 2012.
They are: President Helen Humphrys, Copley trustee; Vice President Rosemary Snell, Sagamore Hills trustee; Secretary Becky Corbett, Bath trustee; and Treasurer Bruce Killian, Springfield trustee.
The association represents the nine townships in Summit County and their nearly 80,000 residents.

TALLMADGE
Woman stabbed
TALLMADGE: A woman was stabbed early Wednesday inside a Tallmadge apartment complex.
Rebekah Palmer, 18, of Akron, was being treated for what police described as nonlife-threatening wounds.
She was found stabbed about 3 a.m. inside the Saxon Village Apartments on North Thomas Road, police said.
A suspect had not been identified, and the incident remained under investigation.
Police did not release additional information.