Due to the Labor Day holiday, the City of Akron trash pickup program is to be delayed one day this week.

All trash and recyclables should be set out a day later than usual, for pickup by City of Akron Curb Service crews, beginning Tuesday, September 7, 2010.

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15 year-old Nicole Shimandle is a sophomore at Aurora High School. She is also a beekeeper competing for a $25,000 grant to educate people about the plight of bees. Most people don’t realize that bees are a threatened species. We need bees because they polinate plants and they are vital for food production.

Nicole is a competitor in Pepsi’s Refresh Project, an online contest that gives grants worth $1.3 million each month to individuals, businesses and nonprofit organizations that aim to make a positive difference in their communities. At the project’s Refresh Everything Web site, visitors can vote for their favorite project, and the 32 top vote-getters each month, win a grant.

In July, Nicole finished among the top 100 in her category, which allowed her to continue in the contest for another month.

See the full story at the Akron Beacon Journal.

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Players Vacation Club, the Vacation Financing and Travel Credit company, runs SignatureLink to bind Terms & conditions with new members, and help prevent fraudulent credit card transactions at online point of sale with Electronic Signatures.

“The travel industry is plagued by illegitimate chargebacks and is considered one of the highest risk categories in terms of Online Payment Fraud.”

Chito Collins, VP Sales, SignatureLink.

Merchant customers like Players Vacation Club embed an Electronic Signature Pad at the bottom of their terms & conditions or shopping cart checkout page. In order to complete a purchase, shoppers must sign their name using a mouse [or finger if touchscreen] before completing their transaction; just like they would in a brick-n-mortar department store.

When the credit card company evaluates the chargeback dispute, the added evidence SignatureLink captures is considered; such as a real handwritten signature image, IP address, date/ timestamp, and browser version. Most often, according to a case study, illegitimate chargebacks settle in the merchant’s favor.

High-risk merchants not only suffer huge losses from online payment fraud each year but their payment processing fees tend to be much greater than those in lower periled categories.

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In its latest display of hometown pride, Blimp City Bike & Hike, an Akron-based bike shop that specializes in quality bicycles and outdoor specialty products, supplyed 425 bicycles to the LeBron James Family Foundation for use by Akron-area children for the Bikeathon through city streets.

LeBron’s State Farm King for Kids Bikeathon in downtown Akron, was supported by Blimp City, providing bicycles and helmets. Children were nominated for demonstrating acts of character and were chosen in a selection process.

The annual Bikeathon, benefits the Akron Urban League and Akron Area YMCA.

“LeBron James continues to make generous gifts to the Akron community with the support of private businesses such as Blimp City Bike & Hike.”
Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic.

The Mayor thanksed Blimp City for their efforts to make the bike giveaway possible and for their technical support.

Blimp City, opened last November and is a landmark along Akron’s Towpath Trail. Blimp City is to organize “City Rides” to bring together area bicycle enthusiasts for outdoor adventure.

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Akron General is to deploy My LifePlan’s MyChoice Service at its emergency departments in Northeast Ohio. This is phase 1 in the nation’s first community-centric medical emergency ecosystem.

When a 911 call comes in, immediate access to vital medical information, emergency contacts and personal directives can save lives and make the difference between complete recovery and life-long disability.

The MyChoice system is a secure, Web-based, subscription medical information service that gives individuals full control over their medical information, and provides designated first responders and hospital ER staff with secure, access to the data.

“We are very pleased to enter into this Master Collaboration Agreement with My LifePlan. At Akron General, we strongly believe in the concept of consumer choice, and this collaboration further ensures that our patients’ healthcare choices are realized at the most critical time — when they need emergency care.”
Dr. Jack Mitstifer, President, Inpatient Services for Akron General

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Michael Bukuts, 46, of Akron, was sentenced by Judge Patricia Cosgrove to 12 years in prison.

Bukuts pled guilty to Engaging in a Pattern of Corrupt Activity, a felony of the first degree, two counts of Passing Bad Checks, Telecommunications Fraud, Grand Theft, Forgery, Tampering with Records, Identification Fraud, and Theft from Elderly, all felonies of the third degree, and Failing to Remit to the State Tax Collected, a felony of the fourth degree.

In May last year, a Hudson City resident found two unauthorized purchases on his credit card; one to an insurance agency and the other to a florist. Hudson police investigated and found that Bukuts made these purchases.

Bukuts had numerous reports of fraudulent use of credit card use associated with his mother’s Dry Cleaning company. 34 mostly elderly victims were found in Akron, Hudson, Bath, North Canton, and Fairlawn, each with losses of $300 or more. Bukuts had stolen their credit card information, obtained from the dry cleaning business and used that information to pay his own purchases.

Part of Bukuts’ job at the Dry Cleaning company was to remit state sales tax and pay for workers’ compensation. He had presented fraudulent checks to these agencies several times.

Bukuts and his mother were preparing to leave for Europe, in March, so the State executed search warrants for DC LeClair’s businesses in Akron and Brecksville and Michael Bukuts’ residence. Bukuts was arrested and taken into custody.

Bukuts previously spent three years in Federal Prison for embezzlement. In the previous case, it was alleged he embezzled up to $4.3 Million from his employers, setting up Swiss Bank Accounts to funnel the proceeds.

See Also this story: Prison time in fraud case

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Akron police charged John Jones with murder, this week.  The 17-year-old father of Jada Ruiz-Jones was already charged with shaking the baby so hard that her legs were fractured and her brain, eyes and spine were bleeding..

A local judge ordered life support be removed from the baby because she was completely unresponsive. Jones was trying to prevent that ruling, probably to avoid being charged with murder.

See Also: Brain-Dead Akron Baby in Legal tug-of-war – Mother vs. Accused Father

View full story at: Local News

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Ohio.com reports that 16 year old, wheelchair-bound Travis Kerr, who suffers from Duchenne muscular dystrophy, underwent spinal fusion last year and gained 3 inches in height. That operation straightened his back, but made it impossible for him to fit in his family’s old van.

The local nonprofit, Summit County Guns and Hoses is working to raise enough money for a newer wheelchair van for the family.

The nonprofit group aimed to raise $26,000 from riders and other donors at the fifth annual Parade Run, the approximate cost of a a 1- to 2-year-old wheelchair van.

The full story is at Ohio.com

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The father of 9-month-old Jada Ruiz-Jones is charged with shaking the baby so hard that her legs were fractured and her brain, eyes and spine were bleeding.

Doctors say there is nothing more they can do for her.

The 19-year-old mother, Deja Ruiz, agrees with doctors’ recommendations to discontinue life support, but John Jones, the 17-year-old father, is trying to keep the brain-damaged baby alive, even though there is no hope.

MRIs show the baby’s brain is damaged irreparably.

The court is expected to rule next week.

Read the complete story at Local News

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St. Mary’s church is to merge with St Bernard’s next week, and the joint community will celebrate its first noon Mass at St. Bernard’s in University Avenue, downtown Akron, on July 4.

St Bernard’s parish community will grow when parishioners from St. Mary’s join those already at St. Bernard’s, to become founding members of the new St. Bernard-St. Mary parish.

According to the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland, 50 churches were closed and 17 new parishes were created. The St Bernards-St. Mary’s merger is the final merger in that plan. The reconfiguration plan that resulted in the merging of the churches, makes better use of resources, and strengthens the presence and effectiveness of the church.

The noon mass today at Noon, for the closing of St. Bernard Parish was celebrated by Bishop Lennon. The Noon Mass on Sunday July 4, for the opening of the merged St. Bernard-St. Mary Parish will also be celebrated by Bishop Lennon.

St Bernard website

See a more in-depth story at Akron Beacon Journal’s Ohio.com website

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