AKRON‘Rebirth’ programAKRON: TEDxAkron will hold its inaugural local event from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday at the Taylor Institute on the University of Akron campus.The program will focus on “Rebirth.”Speakers include: University of Akron President Dr. Luis Proenza; Alchemy Inc. founder and Executive Director Kwame Scruggs; painter Rita Christie; University Park Alliance Executive Director Eric Johnson; retired cardiologist Dr. Terry Gordon; Dr. Chuck Sandstrom, president of Chuck Sandstrom Enterprises; and Jackie Lowe Stevenson, a Gestalt psychotherapist, consultant and adjunct professor at Case Western Reserve University.TEDx is a program comprised of local, self-organized events. It is a local offshoot of TED, a nonprofit organization devoted to “ideas worth spreading” that was started as a four-day conference in California 26 years ago.Tickets are $50. Applications can be found at www.TEDxAkron.com.Glenwood closedAKRON: Glenwood Avenue between Dayton and Howard streets has been closed for repairs to the underside of the All-America or Y-bridge.The street will be closed daily from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. through Nov. 8.Westbound traffic on Glenwood will be detoured via Dayton, Tallmadge Avenue and Howard. Eastbound traffic will take Howard to North Street to Dan Street. Ward 2 meetingAKRON: Ward 2 Councilman Bruce Kilby will host a ward meeting from 6:30 to 8 p.m. today at Forrest Hill Community Learning Center, 850 Damon St.A representative from Akron Public Schools will explain and discuss the district’s operating levy that will be on the Nov. 8 ballot. A community police officer will also be present.campaign trailHurley fundraiserAKRON: Jim Hurley, the Ward 1 councilman, will have a fundraiser from 5 to 8 p.m. today at Dante’s Gameday Grille, 1019 N. Main St.Hurley is facing competition from Mark LaVoie, a Republican, and Kurt Liston, a Libertarian, in the Nov. 8 election.Tickets are $25 or $100 each.For more information, call 330-929-6728. CANTONVendor fees riseCANTON: The City Council has raised fees for street vendors from $125 per year to $125 per month or $1,000 per year.No more than four itinerant vendors will be permitted downtown. They will be allowed in Central Plaza only.The rules will not apply to special events the city or the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce are sponsoring.Voting against the measure were council members Mary Cirelli, Mark Butterworth and Chris Smith. Councilmen Greg Hawk and Thomas West, who operate food-service establishments, abstained.Cirelli said she did not know of any other community that has such high fees or limits on the number of vendors.Massillon resident James Haavisto, who sells food from a cart, said the legislation smacked of protectionism and possible conflict of interest.Councilman William Smuckler, whose family business sells to restaurants, sponsored the legislation.KENT STATEHeated exchangeKENT: A Kent State faculty member tied to a Jihadist news service caused a stir on Tuesday when he shouted “Death to Israel” at a campus event, the KSU student news website www.kentwired.com reported.Julio Pino asked former Israeli diplomat Ishmael Khaldi how he and his government could justify providing aid to countries like Turkey with blood money that came from the deaths of Palestinian children and babies, the student website reported.The two exchanged words until Pino left the auditorium.In 2009, the U.S. Secret Service investigated Pino, an associate professor of history.KSU said in 2007 that Pino, 50, had acknowledged providing news stories to a Jihadist website.The web site provided “battle dispatches, training materials and jihad videos to our brothers worldwide,” according to its home page. It later was taken down.Pino is a native of Cuba and Muslim convert who joined Kent State in 1992. He is a specialist in Latin America, the Third World and the history of race.NORTONPregnancy helpNORTON: In an effort to aid young women with unplanned pregnancies, a spaghetti dinner will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday at the Barberton Brookside Country Club.Sponsored by Pregnancy Adoption Information Guidance Education (P.A.I.G.E.) in memory of Paige Renee Villers, the event will include auction items and a 50/50 raffle.Tickets are $7 for adults and $4 for children 10 and under.For more information, call 330-745-7334.PLAIN TOWNSHIPParking banPLAIN TWP.: Township trustees have authorized placing “No Parking” signs on streets around Fawcett Stadium for the McKinley-Massillon football game Saturday and subsequent OHSAA state playoffs games over the next five weeks.Road Superintendent Joe Iacino said the Stark County Sheriff’s Office requested the signs to help alleviate congestion in the area.Trustees will meet with officials of Meyers Lake to discuss the high water level of the lake that is affecting the township’s water lines and causing flooding in the area.An informational meeting on the electric aggregation ballot issue will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Plain Township Hall, 2600 Easton St. NE.STARK COUNTYCross-party supportCANTON: City Councilwoman Mary Cirelli is asking fellow Democrats to leave Republican Alexander Zumbar in the office of Stark County treasurer.Stark County commissioners appointed Zumbar to the position Oct. 19 after accepting Gary Zeigler’s resignation from the position. Two of the three commissioners who appointed him, Thomas Bernabei and Peter Ferguson, are Democrats.In her statement, Cirelli said Zumbar was elected in November 2010.He was removed from office by an Ohio Supreme Court decision that said commissioners erred in dismissing Zeigler from office after the theft of nearly $3 million under his watch.The Central Committee of the Stark County Democratic Party will meet at 5:30 p.m. Monday at the Golden Lodge of United Steelworkers Local 1123, 1234 Harrison Ave. SW, to decide what to do about the position. Legally, the party is allowed to appoint someone to serve the remainder of the term won by Zeigler, a Democrat.The term ends in 2013.SUMMIT COUNTYPry to run in 2012AKRON: Summit County Executive Russ Pry, who has held the seat since 2007, will seek another term next year.“I am honored to serve the citizens of Summit County,” Pry said in a news release Wednesday. “I believe the partnerships and collaborations we have developed have successfully moved our county forward in creating jobs while saving tax dollars and reducing the county budget.”Pry’s release touted a long list of accomplishments in different areas, including economic development and job creation, improvement of county facilities, public and private consolidations and collaborations, and “strong and prudent” financial management.Pry, 53, is expected to face a challenger. Summit County GOP Chairman Alex Arshinkoff said two or three people are considering running.“One election at a time,” he said Wednesday. “We will have a candidate.”The filing deadline is Dec. 7.Life sentenceAKRON: A Barberton man was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison after pleading guilty to child rape, authorities said.Khalil Omar Yasin, 48, will not be eligible for parole until he serves at least 10 years of his sentence, prosecutors said.Yasin repeatedly molested the young daughter of a female friend, according to prosecutors.The abuse was discovered when the victim told a friend’s mother, who then notified school authorities.Summit County Common Pleas Judge Thomas A. Teodosio handed down the sentence and classified Yasin as a Tier 3 sex offender. It means he must register his address with the sheriff’s office every 90 days for life.Yasin gave court officials the address of a Barberton motel as his residence.13 years in prisonAKRON: A 37-year-old Munroe Falls man was sentenced to 13 years in prison after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter and felonious assault in the New Year’s Day strangulation death of his sister, authorities said Wednesday.Lawrence J. Hanly was sentenced by Summit County Common Pleas Judge Mary Margaret Rowlands.Hanly’s sister, previously identified by police as Shannon M. Sayre, 32, was strangled during an argument with her brother at the family’s home in Munroe Falls.Prosecutors said the argument began after Sayre repeatedly berated Hanly and threatened to kill their mother.After the incident, Hanly walked to the Munroe Falls police station and confessed, prosecutors said.I-77 lane closureFAIRLAWN: The Ohio Department of Transportation will close one southbound lane of Interstate 77 between Cleveland-Massillon Road and Ridgewood Road from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Friday for road repairs.UNIVERSITY OF AKRONAfrican Union talkAKRON: The University of Akron will host a First Local Model African Union Conference today in the Student Center Ballroom.Amina Salum Ali, the first female and permanent representative of the African Union to the United States, will deliver the keynote address from 10 a.m. to noon.The event is a local extension of the National Model African Union, a simulation of the proceedings of the African Union.Delegations from Ohio State and Kent State also will take part.Faculty or students who wish to participate should contact conference director Enoch E. Damson, a professor of computer information, at damson@uakron.edu.Event sponsors include the African Student Association and Pan African Studies Institute.wadsworthComplex plannedWADSWORTH: The city’s Planning Commission approved a 34-apartment complex just west of Reimer Road Baptist Church.Plans call for three buildings with eight apartments each and one with 10 units.The developers will be required to obtain permits from the Army Corps of Engineers and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency for the wetlands on the property and to provide an investigative report on the possible abandoned coal mines at the site.