BEACON JOURNAL
Call center holiday hours
AKRON: The Beacon Journal Customer Service Call Center will take calls from 7 to 10 a.m. Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The phone number is 330-996-3600 or 800-777-2442.
Regular business hours of 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. will resume Tuesday.
The Public Service Counter inside the Beacon Journal, at 44 E. Exchange St., Akron, will be closed Monday. Regular business hours of 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. will resume Tuesday.
GUILFORD TOWNSHIP
Man killed in one-car crash
GUILFORD TWP.: A Creston man was killed in a one-vehicle accident on Bell Road at 3:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Michael J. Kelly, 21, died in the accident near Lee Road.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol said a 2006 BMW 330i was traveling westbound on Bell when it went left of center, traveled off the right side of the road, struck an embankment and rolled over several times.
Kelly was found at the scene. Occupant Dylon J. Woody, 20, of Burbank, was later located at Wooster Community Hospital.
The crash remains under investigation but the patrol said alcohol was a contributing factor and seat belts were not being worn.
MEDINA COUNTY
Transit services to merge
MEDINA: Medina County Public Transit and Brunswick Transit Alternative are merging effective Sunday, the Medina Gazette reported.
County commissioners signed off on the merger Wednesday. Brunswick officials have said that the agreement won’t affect service in the community, the newspaper said.
OHIO NEWS
Insanity defense for Grate
ASHLAND: Attorneys for a man suspected of killing several women in Ohio are pursuing an insanity defense and asking a judge to have someone determine whether the man is competent to stand trial.
Lawyers for Shawn Grate, 40, said in a court filing this week that he is not guilty by reason of insanity. A competency hearing is set for Jan. 6 in Ashland County court.
Grate’s case began in September when a woman called 911 and said she’d been held captive at an Ashland home. Responding authorities found the bodies of two other women at the abandoned property. Police arrested Grate, who also is accused of raping the woman who called police.
He is charged with 23 counts, including murder, in the potential death penalty case.
STARK COUNTY
Long-time educator dies
Former Stark County Educational Service Center Superintendent Larry L. Morgan was killed Wednesday evening when an all-terrain vehicle he was riding rolled over at the family’s property in Huntingdon County, Pa.
The Jackson Township resident was 75 years old.
Stark County Superintendent Joe Chaddock, who succeeded Morgan in 2015, released a statement from Morgan’s family Thursday afternoon that said Morgan had been riding the ATV alone.
“The family would appreciate their privacy during this difficult time,” Chaddock said. He said services would be announced at a later time.
Morgan began his 52-year career in education as a teacher in the Plain Local School District and went on to work as a principal, business manager, treasurer and district superintendent before he was named the county superintendent in 1995.