Akron police are on the lookout for an approximately 17-20 year old robber who held up a man at gunpoint, after he withdrew money from an ATM at the Circle K in the 200 block of Darrow Road, on Friday Sept. 1, at about 10:30 AM.

They're circulating the suspect's picture now, hoping someone can tell them who it is.

If you have any information about the robber who got away with what police describe as a "large" amount of cash from the 35 year old man, who was walking Westbound on Eastlawn Avenue when he got held up; please give them a call at 330-375-2490 or 330-375-2Tip.

You can also contact them through The Summit County Crimestoppers, by calling 330-434-COPS, or you can Text TIPSCO with your tips to 274637.

In addition, you can download the Akron PD app and submit information by texting Tips411 or accessing the link on their website, www.AkronCops.org.

One of three 18 year old males in a stolen car that led police on a high speed chase in East Akron Tuesday night has died, two others in the car with him when it crashed and burned are in the hospital, and police say it may be related to a shooting on Eller Avenue that put yet another man-a 28 year old- in the hospital as well.

Here's how it all went down.

Police say they spotted a speeding car last night at about 11:30 pm, near the intersection of Kelly Avenue and Tech Way Drive, and that when trying to get it to stop with lights and sirens didn't work; they gave chase. But, when it got too fast, at up to 100 miles an hour near the intersection of Kelley Avenue and 6th Avenue; they called it off.

Moments later, the stolen red Kia slammed into another vehicle; a blue Kia sitting in stopped traffic at Kelley Avenue and Third Avenue, which spun the speeding stolen car out of control, causing it to crash into a pole, and burst into flames. 

Officers removed three 18 year old males from the burning car, administering CPR to at least one of them, and all three were then taken to the hospital, where one of them was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

The driver of the car that got hit by the speeding stolen car though, was uninjured.

But that's not all.

At nearly the same time as police were chasing the stolen car; they got a report about a shooting on Eller Avenue, which is a little over a mile away. There, they found a 28 year old man who had been shot in the face, who told them he had been walking down the street when three men confronted him, then ran away.

Now, police are trying to figure out if the two incidents are connected, and they're asking for tips. 

One person died, another was hospitalized, and 30 more were displaced from their homes today as the result of a fire at a three-story apartment building at 1105 Second Avenue.

No information as to the identity of the person who died in the fire, which occurred at about 7:25 AM, has been released yet, with both Fire and Summit County Medical Examiner investigators still on the scene.

Fire officials are asking people to avoid the area for the next several hours,  as their work continues.

If you own property in Summit County that  was damaged in last week's storm; you may be eligible to get a reduction in your property taxes. 

The Summit County Fiscal office is taking applicatons now through the end of this year, for damage-related property tax reductions. It doesn't apply to things like trees, landscaping, fencing, and personal items, though. 

Read below for details from a press release issued today by the County Fiscal Office:

The Fiscal Office is taking the necessary steps to provide property owners the ability to file an Application for Valuation Deduction for Destroyed or Damaged Property (Form DTE 26), pursuant to Ohio Revised Code §319.38.

Form DTE 26 can be downloaded from our website. Visit http://FiscalOffice.summitoh.net and click on the link titled “Damaged Property” listed in the “Real Estate and Appraisal” column. Mail the completed form to the Fiscal Office at 175 S. Main Street, Room 304, Akron, OH 44308. If you do not have access to a computer, you may call 330-643-2704 to request a form in the mail.

For property damaged by the storm, the filing deadline is December 31, 2023.

Fiscal Officer Scalise has stressed the importance of filing this application as soon as possible. Any deduction from value will affect the tax bills mailed in January 2024.

The amount of the deduction equals a percentage of the reduction in value caused by the damage. That percentage is determined by the calendar quarter in which the damage occurred; the reduction will be 50% in value of the destroyed portion.

Example: Your property is appraised for $100,000 by the Fiscal Office. Your insurance company indicates you sustained $10,000 in damage to your property due to the recent storm. Since the damage occurred in August, you are entitled to a 50% reduction of the damage amount.

Therefore, your property will be appraised at $95,000 for tax year 2023.

$100,000 Original appraisal value for tax year 2023

$ 5,000 50% reduction of the $10,000 damage

$ 95,000 New appraisal value for tax year 2023

Real estate taxes are billed one year in arrears, so the reduction will be for tax year 2023,collection year 2024.

Once the application is filed, the Appraisal Department will make the necessary inspections to determine the amount of damage.

Damage to trees, landscaping, and fencing, as well as personal items, is excluded on residential properties.

The Fiscal Office tracks the repairs based on the applications received and building permits that have been filed from all the townships and cities affected by the storms.

FirstEnergy reports that about 12 thousand of its customers, particularly in the hardest hit areas in eastern Cuyahoga County, western Lake County, central Geauga County and central Portage County, remain without power after Thursday night's storms, including 10 tornadoes that touched down in various parts of our region.

In a press release today, FirstEnergy relayed the following information:

At this stage in the restoration effort, utility crews are addressing many localized issues and restoring service to individual customers. This will require workers to travel to hundreds of individual locations to restore power to single homes or businesses. This is the most time-consuming, labor intensive and complex part of service restoration.

Estimated restoration times have been updated for each electric company as follows:

The Illuminating Company: Approximately 10,500 remain without power. Service is expected to be restored to the majority of customers as follows:
11 p.m. today – Cleveland, Brooklyn and Strongsville areas
11 p.m. tomorrow – Middlefield area
4 p.m. Wednesday, August 30 – Mayfield, Solon, Concord, Bainbridge areas
All other area outages are assigned individual estimated restoration times as the outage orders are assigned to crews.
Ohio Edison: Approximately 1,800 remain without power. Service is expected to be restored to the majority of customers as follows:
1 p.m. today – Columbiana area in Mahoning Valley
11 p.m. today – Kent, Portage County area

All other area outages are assigned individual estimated restoration times as the outage orders are assigned to crews.

For updated information on power outages, FirstEnergy's storm restoration process and tips for staying safe, visit the 24/7 Power Center at www.firstenergycorp.com/outages. Customers who are without power can call 1-888-LIGHTSS (1-888-544-4877) or text OUT to 544487 to report their outage or click the "Report Outage" link on www.firstenergycorp.com.

A 17 year old girl has been charged with felonious assault in connection with a shooting at about 11:00AM Saturday on Cromwell Drive in Akron, that sent three people to the hospital, and one of them—a 19 year old man—is now in criticalbut stable condition.

Akron Police allege the girl shot the man, who then shot back, and that during the exchange of gunfire; an 18 year old woman, and a 43 year old woman were were also shot. They are reportedly in stable condition.

In addition, police report that a 4 year old boy accidentally shot himself with an unsecured handgun at about 12:30PM on Saturday, at a home in the 1000 block of Edmeyer Court.

The boy is now in serious condition at Akron Children's Hospital, and police say they are still sorting out evidence to help them determine exactly how the child got hold of the gun.

Anyone with information about either one of these incidents is encouraged to contact Akron Police.

A 19 year old Ravenna man who was walking on I-76 early Sunday morning was struck and killed by a driver in the third lane, at about 2:25AM.

Police say they don't know why the man was walking on the highway, between East Market Street and Canton Road, and that an investigation is underway.

Most people have figured out by now, that when you watch an opinion show on Fox TV; you get a right wing, conservative point of view, and the same thing goes on the left, for MSNBC.

Social media has also been overtaken by spin, and whether you’re on Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter), or Meta’s new X alternative; Threads; you just know you’re going to be frequently exposed to people with a particular political agenda.

But what most people don’t know, (and that included me until quite recently), is that the new generative AI tools that are increasingly being integrated into websites, mobile apps, and search engines, also have a political bias, and may also be serving you up a whole lot of spin and misinformation.

At least, that is what a new study profiled recently in the MIT Technology Review maintains. It outlines how researchers have discovered that different AI large language models, have different political biases.

That seemed odd, unexpected, and more than a little alarming to me when I first read about it; so I decided to reach out to University of Akron Professor, Susan Ramlo, who is an expert in both Physics, and “Q Methodology”.

Since Q Methodology combines qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate the subjective views of those directly involved in a particular topic, I thought she might have some insight into whether or not AI tools can have subjective points of view.

In addition, Ramlo thinks lot about the future of technology in her work on quantum computing. So, I thought she would be an ideal guest to help us make sense of a world in which AI will increasingly help shape people’s views and opinions. 

But the question is; should we let it do that? How reliable is the information we are getting from AI, and can we really trust that it is accurate? In addition; if it isn’t accurate; what sources can we consult to get verifiable facts?

Find out. Listen now.

Dr. Susan Ramlo, University of Akron

This story was updated with comments from Mayor Horrigan.

The coronavirus that causes COVID-19 continues to mutate, and while it has caused an uptick in hospitalizations; so far what is circulation now does not appear to be more deadly.

That's the word from Summit County Health Commissioner, Donna Skoda, who talked to our morning show host, Ray Horner, this morning about the new virus variants, and the new vaccine that will be available to protect us from it, likely by the end of September.

In addition, Skoda talked to us about the new RSV vaccine that will also be available soon for expectant mothers and infants, and, she warns us to be extra careful about ticks, because Lyme Disease is also on the rise in Summit County, with 16 new cases recently reported.

Listen now for the latest on COVID mutations, when the new vaccine against them will be available, the new RSV vaccine, and what you should do to protect yourself against Lyme disease.

Summit County Health Commissioner, Donna Skoda