Take the School Board to School

Cleveland Clinic Akron General is offering a free eight-week healthy lifestyle challenge.Healthy Akron, a Healthy Communities Initiative created to educate, encourage and empower area residents to make healthy lifestyle choices, is kicking off the challenge on Thursday, Feb. 6. Participants will meet once a week on Thursday evenings to hear a talk on topics such as nutrition, fitness and chronic diseases, followed by 45 minutes of activity, such as line dancing, aerobics and stretching. Participants are asked to attend all sessions, which begin at 6 p.m. This program, which is patterned after similar programs that have been successfully offered at other Cleveland Clinic health system hospitals, will take place at Helen Arnold Community Learning Center, 450 Vernon Odom Blvd. in Akron. While it was created to meet the greatest needs of residents who live in the neighborhoods near the hospital, it is open to all. Registration is requested but walk-in participants will be accepted. To register, call 330-344-1442. The first session will include health screenings such as body mass index, blood pressure, prostate cancer and breast exams. Participants can earn points by attending the Thursday programming, as well as some events held by the partner groups on other days. Prizes will be awarded to the top three point earners and the two people who experience the highest percentage of weight loss. Akron Mattress Consumed in FlamesA fire destroyed an Akron mattress factory and warehouse Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020, on East Exchange Street, creating plumes of smoke that were visible miles away through the afternoon. The company located at 601 E. Exchange St., near the University of Akron campus and state Route 8 was reported to the Akron Fire Department about 11:25 a.m. Saturday Taking the School Board To SchoolIn the past to speak to the School Board you had to sign up in advance. The new policy, which Vice President N.J. Akbar drafted and the board discussed in committee last week, would allow for in-person sign-ups just before a meeting started. People could also email their requests to speak ahead of time. School boards by law do not have to include time during their meetings for public input, but almost all do. If they do, they must make the process reasonable. The backlash from the local policy’s restrictions included threats of voting against any levy request. The board’s four new members have said they heard complaints about the policy on the campaign trail, and board members last year said reviewing it would be a priority in 2020. The full board has not yet reviewed the new policy, which would have to go through three readings before it would take effect. The first reading is slated for the next business meeting Feb. 10. The draft also removes the limitation that someone can only speak on an issue six times in one year. Support this podcast