AKRONPurse stolenAKRON: A 19-year-old woman was robbed at gunpoint and pushed to the ground early Saturday near the University of Akron, police said.The woman suffered an abrasion to her abdomen, but declined medical treatment, police said.According to police, a man armed with a gun approached her about 6:30 a.m. outside a house in the 200 block of Wheeler Street. He took her purse and pushed her to the ground before fleeing.Anyone with information is asked to call Akron police at 330-375-2490. Anonymous tips may be left via the Internet at http://akronohio.gov/asp/tip.html . Robber thwartedAKRON: A delivery driver for an Akron pizza shop fended off a robbery attempt Friday, police said.The driver for Gionino’s Pizza, 1522 S. Main St., was outside a West Emerling Avenue home making a delivery about 10:30 p.m. when a man approached, pulled out what appeared to be a handgun and demanded money.When the robber tried to reach inside the driver’s pockets, the driver punched him in the face, police said. The two men struggled and the robber tried to run away. The driver tackled the robber and they struggled again.The robber was able to flee, but left behind his weapon, which police said was a BB gun.Ward meetingAKRON: Jim Hurley, Akron’s Ward 1 councilman, will have a ward meeting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Highland Square Branch of the Akron-Summit County Public Library, 807 W. Market St.Adele Roth, the city’s development manager, will give an update on the new Mustard Seed grocery store coming to the neighborhood.Road workAKRON: Traffic will be reduced to one lane on Massillon Road from Cramer Avenue to Triplett Boulevard this morning. Motorists will be required to travel southbound within this section of Massillon Road — the direction going toward Akron Fulton Airport and the roundabout. No northbound traffic will be permitted for this part of the road.A detour route will be provided for northbound motorists. The one-lane and one-way restriction will remain until further notice.Massillon Road will remain open with one lane going both directions from Cramer Avenue to East Market Street. Access to all businesses and residences will be maintained. CLEVELANDPrison sentenceCLEVELAND: A West Virginia man who posed as an Army general to try to land a six-figure construction management job in Ohio has been sentenced to more than two years in prison.A federal judge in Cleveland sentenced 57-year-old Randall Keyser of Barboursville on Monday on his guilty plea to wire and mail fraud.The judge says Keyser must get mental-health treatment after his release. His attorney said in a sentencing memo that Keyser is on medication for chronic depression.Prosecutors say Keyser applied for a job pretending to be a major general with references including the Army chief of staff. An Akron-based company became suspicious and contacted the FBI.Documents obtained by the Associated Press show Keyser was hired under false pretenses in at least four states.— Associated PressKENT STATEStudent trusteeCOLUMBUS: Gov. John Kasich has named Chelsea M. Knowles of Hudson to serve as a student member of the Kent State board of trustees until May 2013.She is a graduate student in public administration who earned a bachelor’s in business administration from KSU in May. She has been active in many campus activities, especially in the College of Business Administration.Knowles joins fellow student Brady Ruffer, a senior majoring in integrated social studies, on the 11-member board.Student members of the board do not have voting rights.NORTHEAST OHIOTown hall meetingSTREETSBORO: State Rep. Kathleen Clyde, D-Kent, will host a town hall meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday to discuss recent legislation that could affect the rights of workers and voters.The discussion of Senate Bill 5, House Bill 194 and other issues will be inside Streetsboro Council Chambers in the Streetsboro Municipal Building, 9184 state Route 43.The public is invited.Bullying talkBARBERTON: Merle Bennett Buzelli, director of the Office of School Climate for Akron Public Schools, will discuss bullying at a meeting of the Barberton-Norton-Wadsworth Peace Group at 7:30 tonight. The meeting will be at Grace United Church of Christ of Loyal Oak, 3285 S. Cleveland-Massillon Road.Jeanette Jeeters of We Are Ohio will discuss Issue 2, a Nov. 8 ballot issue that would repeal a state law that limited collective bargaining by state employees. The meeting is open to the public.PORTAGE COUNTYQuarry park arrestsTen people were arrested and authorities seized LSD, psychedelic mushrooms and marijuana during an undercover police operation over the weekend at Nelson Ledges Quarry Park.The Portage County Drug Task Force and sheriff’s deputies said Monday they arrested nine adults and one teenager. Sheriff David Doak said in a news release the undercover detail was designed to address “continuing drug activity within the park.”Authorities also seized four vehicles. They intend to seek a court order that would allow police to take ownership of the vehicles.Nelson Ledges Quarry Park is often the site of concerts that attract people from across the country. Those arrested over the weekend included people from Michigan and Pennsylvania as well as Ohio.The Portage County Drug Task Force includes representatives of the Portage County Prosecutor’s Office, county deputies and police from Kent, Windham, Aurora, Garrettsville and Streetsboro.SUMMIT COUNTYExpanded offeringsAKRON: The e-book collection at the Akron-Summit County Public Library now is compatible with the Amazon Kindle reader.Patrons can download popular and classic e-books to a Kindle or to any mobile device running the free Kindle app, such as an iPhone, iPad or Android, the library system said in a news release.The library system also offers e-books and audiobooks for use on a PC or MacIntosh computer and on such mobile devices as smart phones, MP3 players and the e-book readers from Barnes & Noble (Nook) and Sony (Reader).To learn more, e-book classes have been scheduled for 2 to 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Main Library, 60 S. Main St., Akron; 2 to 4 p.m. Oct. 11 at the Tallmadge branch, 90 Community Road; and 10 a.m. to noon Oct. 4 and 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 25 at the Ellet branch, 2470 E. Market St., Akron.For more information, go to www.akronlibrary.org or call 330-643-9015.Volunteers to meetAKRON: Heaven Can Wait Rescue and Adoptions will host an orientation for potential volunteers at 6 p.m. Oct. 6 in the meeting room at Panera Bread, 689 Howe Ave., Cuyahoga Falls.Interested people will meet with volunteers from Heaven Can Wait to learn about rescuing animals from Summit County Animal Control.Pre-registration is requested by Oct. 5 at www.
heaven-can-wait.com.For information, contact 330-328-8699 or adoptions@heaven-can-wait.com.STATE NEWSUnbid contractCOLUMBUS: The state’s Controlling Board voted unanimously Monday to allow Ohio’s lottery vendor, Intralot Inc., to skirt the state’s competitive bidding process and win an additional $9 million over the next two years to develop the central gaming system that will operate slot-like video lottery terminals in the state.Gov. John Kasich laid out the details of his plans to expand VLTs at Ohio’s seven horse tracks in a June deal with the operators of the state’s four casinos. Intralot, based in Athens, Greece, would set up the system that tracks the activity in all the machines, including the terminals’ usage, their number of wins, payouts, and maintenance.The Ohio Lottery Commission asked the legislative panel to award the new unbid business to the company, which already helps run the state’s lottery games.— Associated Press