Madrona When we first met Ravenna Founders Kevin Coleman and Taylor Halliday it was clear they weren’t just chasing the hype cycle They were pairing AI-native architecture with deep founder-market fit and rebuilding how internal ops work — from first principles Their new company is going after a market dominated by legacy players But instead of being intimidated by incumbents making some smart moves that more early-stage teams should consider: these two sit down with Madrona Managing Director Tim Porter and talk through their journey what they did differently this second time around as co-founders or ops — this conversation is full of lessons worth hearing This transcript was automatically generated and edited for clarity Tim: So I mentioned in the intro, you’ve done a company together before and this is a second one. We’re super excited to have been able to invest in the company an announcement that just came out here recently Tell us about the moment you decided to start Ravenna I was looking around trying to figure out what was going to be the next company that we go and do I realized one day that I was spending a lot of time in an internal piece of software Amazon has that serves as the help desk across a lot of different teams It was the tool where I would go to request onboarding for new employees to request new dashboards to get built from our BI team My teams would use it for other teams to request work from us I realized I was spending so much time in this tool it wasn’t a great product experience The way I always described it to folks is it was like the grease in the enterprise gears It was the way that things got done internally And so I got obsessed with what is this product category It’s so foundational to how Amazon as a business operates and I started doing a bunch of research in this space I found out it’s called enterprise service management I finally understood what ServiceNow as a business did and why they’re such a valuable business and how large this market is amazing version of this product look like if a very innovative startup built it that cared about design and user experience and cared about automation as well what does the next generation ESM platform look like Tim: I love that because ESM is a category Amazon did it in an innovative kind of scrappier way This was the way you just requested and got things done across different groups we got to log it into this system of records so somebody has a record of it,” and it’s like this is actually the way it was getting done And so I came up with this concept and when a concept gets lodged in your mind who obviously was my co-founder previously and the guy I wanted to start the next company with We’re going to build a next-generation enterprise service management platform.” I don’t quite understand what’s going on here.” But it came at a good time just like every other company probably on the planet What does this mean for us?” Product strategy I was lucky enough to pair up with some of the founders to basically do a listening tour We headed around to mid-market size companies Zapier is known for its automation game; we wanted to try to figure out what would be a great solution here in the world of AI/LLMs to bring a new level of value to them Where would you like to have us poke and prod resoundingly — we kept hearing about internal operations I had a problem picking through that in my own head and I even had a blunt conversation with one of the CEOs saying “I’ve heard this so many times Why do I keep on hearing about internal operations?” I think it was a couple answers I can wrap my head a lot better around internal efficiencies or lack thereof in this company There was this desire or gap of a desire kind of thing in terms of “I don’t have a good amount of visibility to what folks are actually doing I can’t top-down efficiency at my company do these different things,” I don’t know super well what the market or what the engineer is doing.” They all kind of use AI as an opportunity to help maybe bottoms-up some of this efficiency without it being a top-down thing and there’s an opportunity perhaps in this larger market that’s old 30-year plus incumbents are all over the place That’s what got me interested and sparked a lot of the collaboration in the early days Tim: We think a lot about founder market fit when we’re looking at new investments and I remember our first meeting Matt McIlwain and I had together with you guys and we both left like We have to find a way to fund this.” It was this unbelievable founder market fit that you had lived the tool in using it at Amazon You literally witnessed it across all of these customers at Zapier who are using it to get these automations in place awesome to see you both come together with those insights We’ll come back to Ravenna and the specifics about enterprise service management That’s a testament to your working style we’ve got the idea again.” And other things like we’re going to do something different We’re going to do it the same” How is it different for you guys going at it a second time around Kevin and I have been working together for quite a long time Whether that be in the early days just finding a coffee shop or bar at night working on the smallest app we ganged up together and tried to start a CDP of sorts and molded that into several different things we were kind of taking stock of that history I think an interesting way of characterizing it which I feel like a lot of entrepreneurs do this in the early days What’s the thing that doesn’t exist out there yet?” If you were to take a retrospective look on the stuff that we’ve put a lot of time and effort into which is frankly speaking some of the fun and exciting when you’re with some buddies and say let’s try to figure out a market that’s super well-defined and try to focus in on opportunities to actually bring better experience.” Especially in the age of AI it seemed like the perfect time to target this one in particular Kevin: Taylor hit the nail on the head there for the life of us building software together have always been trying to identify something that doesn’t exist and shy away from competition We don’t have to go find a small group of people who need what we want We know there’s a ton of people out there who need what we’re building “What do we want to work on and where do we want to press?” I remember talking to you “What kind of risks do we want to bring on?” We kind of framed it like that I would characterize a lot of the early endeavors as pretty high in market risk let’s try to not optimize for that this time Let’s try to optimize for something else.” I think we’re pretty good at building a lot of products Also at getting together a lot of good folks to work with trying to take the market risk off the table We tried to optimize more for what we thought of as go-to-market risk Kevin: The other thing I’d say that we’re doing better on I don’t know if we’re doing great at it but we’re doing better at it this time around is understanding who our customer is and being super clear about what we’re building and for who the first product that we built was a customer data platform Folks who were non-technical were always asking us to integrate various tools so they could get customer data where it needed to go We would go around to potential customers and say you probably have problems with your customer data Can we help you?” And they’re like The problem was the problems were all over the place There wasn’t a product that we could identify that would cut across a bunch of companies we were early entrepreneurs and didn’t know what we were doing we spent months talking to customers and understanding the space and understanding what pain they had before we started writing a line of code and then we back into the product from that we’re doing a lot better on that front than we were last time and we think it’s definitely the right way to go and another thing that came through from the beginning as we have been engaging and working together Sort of the maniacal customer focus that is maybe the core attribute for I think successful startups Let’s talk a little bit more about what the product does and bring it more to life I’ll lead you into that by talking about some of the investment themes that Madrona has that we thought Ravenna embodies A big part of that is AI and part of the why now for Ravenna Probably our biggest theme is around how AI can reimagine and disrupt different enterprise apps You’re using what I would call or many in the industry would call an agentic approach where you can actually create various agents that don’t just surface insights but can automate and finish tasks This world and this product area is really ripe for that and you’ve done some interesting things there you’ve embraced Slack as a place that work is getting done and made the product be extremely Slack native and fully integrated in people’s existing workflow as well as an ethos around clean you and I talked about this the very first time we talked about the product but say more about the key features and then maybe tie that back to when you were out talking to these initial prospects what did you hear about what was missing and what could you deliver in your product to make this experience such a big leap forward There’s a well-known UX product pattern that you see basically in this market We weren’t very impressed by what we saw would be to come at this with an intelligence layer and we made a conscious decision on what we think is maybe where the longer-term value is — but also perhaps the tougher one — which is that we’re not building the intelligence layer for this market that there’s room for a new rethought platform What that means in actual practice for those who are familiar with even the space a help desk is probably the most down-to-earth version it’s a very similar pattern to how you expect it to be from a customer interface with customer service software same type of thing except the primary difference is that this software is geared towards basically solving your colleagues’ problems That’s the typical way of going about this We’re not talking purely about the intelligence layer and the agents but also very much of building and rethinking what the larger brick and mortar ticketing platform looks like So enterprise service management is the category Most people don’t know what enterprise service management is The easiest way to think about it is it’s an internal employee support platform internal customer support platform if you will What I mean by that is they offer services that other colleagues can leverage can you review this contract?” In facilities can somebody come and fix it?” And so this pattern exists across companies and what people need is a tool that allows them to intake these requests they want to automate a lot of this work as well What we’re building is a platform that allows any team within a company to offer a best-in-breed service best-in-breed help desk and provide amazing service to their colleagues and then also automate a lot of their work with our AI That’s a pretty straightforward way of describing it Tim: You recently were part of a launch that Slack did for partner companies You’re Slack native but yet a new company kind of an interesting series of events that maybe led to that What’s the background on that and what has it been like trying to partner closely with Slack Kevin: I’ll say upfront that when you start a company It’s kind of like Murphy’s Law It feels like that is embodied in a startup to a certain extent we were a launch partner for the launch of the AI and assistance app category in the Slack marketplace You can find Ravenna in the Slack marketplace who is obviously your partner here at Madrona when we were going through our recent fundraise there’s a local entrepreneur you should go and talk to.” He made the introduction this local entrepreneur went on a walk with Taylor a certain high level executive at a large CRM company in the Bay Area,” who happens to be Slack’s parent company “should learn about this.” We were like anybody who’s an executive of these companies should learn about us.” That got forwarded over to the executive team at Slack what you guys are doing is super interesting we should talk.” We had a conversation and we got a Slack channel open with a couple of those folks as you do when you’re working with folks at Slack Then we noticed that this new app category is coming out we think Ravenna fits really nicely into this new app category We got connected with the partnership folks over there “We’re launching this category in two months we’re happy to feature you as a launch partner.” Funny how these things work out Tim: You all have been great about using advisers but also using your own networks to get feedback You never know where it’s going to go Tim: This is another example of putting yourself out there Sometimes it takes you right through to the CEO’s desk If you have humility to understand that there’s so much out there to learn — especially going into a category that you’re trying to make some hay in and do a different thing in — It’s valuable to get a lot of perspectives there there’s tangible stuff that tactically you might get some Ps and Qs kind of learnings along the way but there’s also some of the funner random doors to get open and part of it is how you can pull data in from other places — is that questions get asked this question’s been answered already How do you create this instant knowledge base from what’s already in Slack all over the place or maybe from an existing knowledge base that is there It’s easier to fire off a Slack like can you tell me the answer to X?” And by doing that you can create an automation that the person and the task gets finished and you didn’t have to do anything Kevin: You’ve mentioned Slack a couple times Slack is the interface for the end customer of the platform That’s super critical and was a learning during our listening tour at the beginning of last year there’s basically a customer portal where you go you fill out some form and then your request goes into the ether and you don’t know what happens to it until somebody pings you back a couple of days later is like What basically every customer across the board told us is employee support happens in Slack now “If you guys are going to build this platform We don’t want to take them out of there it’s very clear that we’re deeply integrated with Slack we started building into Slack and then to your point about knowledge A lot of those questions pertain to probably documents or knowledge bases that you’ve written we can ingest them and use AI to basically automate answers to those questions so you don’t have to answer them over and over again let’s definitely do that.” Other people basically said it’s not going to work for us.” And so we were like it just doesn’t make the priority list.” And so we asked the next question How do they learn how to answer these questions if you’re answering them in Slack?” And they were like “We literally point them to Slack channels and say ‘Go read up on how we answer these questions and that’s how you should answer going forward.'” That was this light bulb moment where there is a treasure trove of corporate information and really knowledge that exists in Slack And companies don’t derive a ton of value from that A lot of what we’re trying to build is not only give operators of these help desks tools to turn Slack conversations into knowledge-based articles but really to build a system that can learn autonomously over time You should assume that when you’re using Ravenna your answers are going to get better over time The system’s going to get better at resolving your internal employees’ queries over time because we’re listening to that data and evolving the way that we respond and take action based on how your employees are answering their colleagues’ questions Tim: One of the things that is super exciting here is that I see this as how work gets done inside businesses a truism about successful startups is that they stay focused and there is this IT scenario initially where IT is used to using tickets Those things tend to be maybe more automatable let’s just go nail IT service management versus we have this broader vision around better automation for how enterprises get work done What are you learning from customers and where are they drawn to initially as you start talking to them and start working together through an initial set of users and customers Taylor: I’m going to tie this back to some of the questions you asked around what’d you get excited about working on this The market’s called ITSM.” I’m like I haven’t heard of this thing.” “No it’s a huge market.” “Really I’ve never heard of this acronym before.” ITSM is the name of the larger market and it’s been traditionally known as Who do you want us to introduce you to at a company?” We’re going to say it’s the IT manager.” And it’s because they know what it is very well and they understand how to kind of wade through the software And so that is typically I’d say the beachhead if you will I was looking at Zapier’s help desk channel and I was kind of looking through it and being like Is this really this massive market that Kevin’s super excited about?” No shade if anyone from Zapier’s listening in But I would say it’s what light-bulbed The same user pattern that you see in what was traditionally known as the help desk channel — that same pattern is present in HR ops It’s the same thing that you see in marketing ops It’s the same thing you’ve seen in engineering ops because I was being very coy interviewing a lot of folks back then But the folks who were in charge of marketing ops I couldn’t find many who knew the acronym ITSM If your job is to provide great service to your colleagues to your question about who do you start with it’s the most well-known commodity in that space That’s kind of grown to be true so far in the early innings here is that other folks see basically a better class of software being introduced by IT And so therefore we are trying to maintain in terms of precedence IT is the number one persona and that’s the one where we’re going to I’d say charge ahead on the absolute most in terms the bespoke workflows that they have to do and the ones that we have to help automate better HR ops seems to be the one that we’ve just seen in organic pull with Kevin: I’ll give you a very concrete example This morning I had a demo call with a large email marketing tool in Europe They got out these four IT guys on the call like they’re going through all the requirements it’s HR,” and I think they said product is the other team Other people who offer internal services need this as well.” So it’s exciting for us because IT is the entry point but then you’ve got this really nice glide path into the rest of the organization I don’t know if it’s a secret or whatnot but it’s one of our core learnings you’re going through this journey — there’s a lot of teams across these companies who need this type of tool it’s an interesting form of land and expand but everybody is asking them for something so you can get sort of a viral spread and there’s no difference in the product functionality to start using it for sales ops as you were using it for IT ops We referenced ServiceNow a couple of times so one of the most valuable application software companies in the world VCs like to use shorthand to describe companies’ investments I’ve shorthanded Ravenna as an AI-native ServiceNow for mid-market and growing companies or do I need to disabuse myself of that type of VC speak It ties back for me at least to the distinction I made earlier around the platform versus the intelligence layer again because it’s a lot of software ServiceNow is what we view as someone who’s taken a very similar bet a long time ago in terms of We want to actually be the thing that is close to basically all the customer data and the employee data at a company.” We view that as a more durable longer-term play rather than just the intelligence layer it’s been fun in this conversation as you ping-pong back and forth your background is traditional engineering leadership you most recently have been doing go-to-market at Amazon How do you divide up the responsibilities inside the company That’s always an interesting thing that sometimes founders struggle with but we have to have some roles and responsibilities here I think it’s probably more blurry than most but I think that’s also one of the benefits of working with him I know him so well that I can trust him for a wide range of things we do try to basically divide up the product and how we go about this I’ve tried to focus more on the AI automation side of the fence call it the broader platform side of the fence and so that’s roughly speaking from a product angle I’d say it’s messy at this point Tim: Most of you’re on customer prospect calls all the time Taylor: I mean — roles and responsibilities only matter so much in terms of if you have people that you think might want to buy this kind of stuff It’s good to have some delineation between roles but I think at the earliest stages it’s just messy and embracing that I think is part of the deal Tim: Another way you run the business that was super nice for us in the process of leading up to investing is you’re radically transparent And ll of the prospect calls or customer calls go watch them and see what we’re learning and help us along the way.” That was super nice But that must also permeate through your organization maybe speak to the culture some and what you’re trying to be intentional about in terms of building culture here in the relatively early days of Ravenna We didn’t do a good job of talking about what we were doing or telling people what we were doing I didn’t think the business that we had was the most exciting thing in the world So it was a little bit of not wanting to broadcast it as that much and they wouldn’t know what my business was back then and I would be kind of frustrated internally like We don’t have a lot of friends who started businesses you should know.” But the fact of the matter is I should have been a lot more vocal about our business We want as many people to know about what we’re doing as possible because we think it’s pretty cool other people will think it’s pretty cool customers will think it’s pretty cool The other thing is we want as many sharp minds helping us — in the product We think the way to accomplish both of those goals is being radically transparent It’s radically transparent with our team and our customers or when we talk about the stage of the business and we’re very transparent with them on where we’re at and where we’re going and it wasn’t an angle to get you guys excited about what we were doing and if we share a lot of stuff and you guys see what’s going on hopefully you’ll get excited about the business see something that we’re doing and be able to give us feedback on how we can sell better pattern match across different portfolio companies that you’ve seen and help us We want everybody to know what we’re doing and we want as many smart people helping us and being transparent helps us accomplish this We should say in other investors that were even investors before us have been really I’d say best practice in making a great collaborative style where we always are up to speed and can try to add value especially for good technical talent and AI talent You’ve done an amazing job of building the initial engineering team talk a little bit about how you’ve been able to do that but you’ve made it look relatively easy in these early days What’s it been like in this hiring market especially when you’re competing for AI talent Taylor: I don’t have any deeply held secrets Tim: At least that you’re going to share I wouldn’t give it away anyway on podcast really —we’re super excited about the team we have and I think equally as proud about the culture that we’ve been much more intentional building this time around We’ve tried to hold a high bar with the folks that we’re interviewing I think that was more of a self-serving thing originally for a lot of the folks that we are speaking with It’s not just about the mission per se it’s also about knowing that we basically have built quite a bit of software in our past lives and have a lot of perspective and a lot of conviction Not just the market we’ve talked a lot about but also how to go about building this and how we’re thinking about taking a different approach I think that in itself has helped basically attract a lot of folks that we’re honored to be working with at this point as well I’m happy to share it because it’s pretty simple I reach out to a lot of people and I tell them that Khosla and Madrona put some money into a company to help go after ServiceNow’s market it’s just trying to find good people and trying to get them to have a conversation with you and then explain the vision of what we’re doing and why we think not only the opportunity is really big but we want to build the next great Northwest software company We want to be intentional about building an amazing engineering culture an amazing culture that works backward from customers Amazon likes to say they’re the most customer-centric company we’re going to be the most customer-centric company over time And we’re very much striving to do that right now but just really build a great place where people want to come work Tim: What’s an example of something that maybe you had an assumption coming into this company now a year later it turned out to be wrong Not necessarily like an 180 degree change in direction Taylor: It goes back to perhaps what I would say about picking a large market You get into that and you quickly realize a couple different things It probably makes the investor conversation a little more easy in terms of figuring out what the TAM is you quickly realize that a well-known market has a lot of well-known features a lot of basically well-known expectations from the buyer The trade-off that what we found is that it translates into a lot of software for better or for worse fits well to some of our strengths and also some of the recruiting that we’ve done We’ve been moving extremely fast because we have to the way we think about doing building companies the whole stealth thing is orthogonal to us I’m not going to go so far to bash some of the folks who want to do that type of thing One of the things of learnings from our journey is that there’s nothing more true Every bit of time that you spend not interfacing with that market with what you’re building is a gap that you were accumulating and accumulating One thing we always talk about at Ravenna is making contact with the reality as fast as possible I think the value from asking for feedback and getting the feedback from actual shipping so outweighs any risk of or we should have stayed in stealth longer.” It’s just not even close that a way to think about Ravenna is a AI native ServiceNow for mid-market Tim: They bought this company called Moveworks biggest acquisition in the history of ServiceNow How is Moveworks similar or different to the product you’re building in the market you’re going after it’s relevant in the sense that it’s definitely in the market that we’re playing in we’re not the only smart people in the world who know that there’s a lot of opportunity in this space but it’s exciting to see the activity and obviously a big acquisition Moveworks is a previous generation AI intelligence layer on top of existing help desks It was brought up a lot by investors when we were going through initial fundraising “Are you guys trying to be Moveworks How do you guys think about it?” Because there’s AI Our approach is distinct from them in the sense that Moveworks sits on top of existing platforms like ServiceNow whereas we’re trying to build the foundational platform plus the intelligence layer on top customers will get similar AI capabilities from Ravenna I think they’re built on previous generation NLP technologies Tim: Which has a huge impact on accuracy and does it work no shade or anything to the Moveworks folks They’ve clearly built an awesome business and had an amazing outcome and congratulations to the team because that’s fantastic That’s what every entrepreneur strives for the majority of the value accrues to the platform if you can become the system of record We honestly felt like this was the time to take a shot at building a new system of record in this space That’s one of the fundamental differences between us Now in terms of near-term impacts on the market I’m not sure what ServiceNow’s plans are for Moveworks but there is a large kind of call it mid-market enterprise segment of customers who need this AI capabilities Whether or not Moveworks continues to play there or ServiceNow kind of brings a more upmarket into large enterprise there’s just a lot of opportunity for us in this space that’s a great point because I think the things we talked about Tim: You get a lot of functionality at the enterprise level but you’re making this accessible and a price point that’s accessible for faster-growing companies and for them to grow with you Tim: We’ve talked about how AI is an integral part of the product One question we think about a lot from an investment standpoint is what’s durable Do you feel like the technology itself is a place that you can build competitive advantage You’re building an agent-based system here and is that part of what you think you’ll provide customers with with durable competitive advantage over time Taylor: This goes back to the things that got me excited about this originally 50% of the stuff in terms of automation here falls into the category that we talked about earlier it’s in these other interesting places Can we answer that in a more automated way?” That’s one side of it what’s the procedure to reset my password?” It’s more interesting to say One of the things that Kevin touched upon is creating knowledge I think that’s a very interesting thing here is whether or not you want to call it us building a KB we haven’t gone so far to put that stake in the ground in terms of our product feature yet one of the things that gets me excited about the idea it’s like Ravenna is growing with you That this knowledge is in all these disparate places and we have the ability to go through and hone in on where people work Any advice for other aspiring founders out there thinking about going to get something started in this market right now with AI Kevin: The thing I would encourage everybody to do if you’re thinking about building a product is go talk to a lot of customers before doing it It was definitely the biggest mistake we’ve made many times throughout our career is like six months.” As people who know how to code as engineers let’s go build because it’s easy Building is way easier than going and finding 20 customers who will give you a half hour of their time to validate your idea or whatnot you’re going to save yourself so much time disproving ideas or you’re going to validate your idea and have a lot more conviction about going off and doing it The biggest piece of advice I can give to folks who want to start companies is go talk to 20 or 30 companies or customers before you start writing a single line code Tim: You think you’ve done enough customer validation every customer call we’re on at our stage We spend most of the time asking questions and trying to learn as much as possible about the pain that they’re trying to solve for because that influences what we’re going to build next week We spend a little bit of time talking about Ravenna as well but the learnings are still critical for us Taylor: I’m always reticent to give advice It’s because I’ve found that just doing this for a decent amount of time everyone’s experience is so bespoke to them I do love hearing other people’s journeys but that’s the way I kind of think about it One of the things from my journey that I try to hold true We’ve talked about ServiceNow so much and the incumbents out there the only thing that matters is the customer That’s critical because I’ve seen the playbook the other way around and I’ve seen basically not a lot of success Whereas I have been lucky enough to work with folks despite the fact that we were circling around by crazy incumbents and everything on the wall said we were going to lose it was that maniacal focus on the customer and the problem that pulled us through at the end of the day So I’ll try and pull that together where we’re at here too It’s a real privilege and a ton of fun to be working together Startup Careers Linkedin YouTube Podcast Twitter Instagram LP Login IA40 Ravenna's Community Clean Up is starting, with items due on curbs in Ward 1 this weekend Further cleanup dates will take be May 10 in Ward 2 (north of Main Street and east of Chestnut); May 17 in Ward 3 (south of Main Street and west of Chestnut); and May 24 in Ward 4 (south of Main Street and East of Chestnut) The citywide cleanup is held every other year in Ravenna Construction or demolition materials will be accepted in limited quantities only Loose material should be placed in a sturdy container Appliances should be placed in a separate pile with doors for refrigerators and freezers removed Those who need to dispose of a working appliance should contact the Portage County Solid Waste department at 330-678-8808 The following restrictions apply to materials left on the curb Residents with questions can call the city's service department at 330-296-6326 or check the city’s Facebook page Ohio — Ravenna police have released 13 minutes worth of body camera footage that shows the moments leading up to two officers killing a man RELATED: Ravenna police kill man who allegedly used another person as a 'human shield' is from a man who said he was at an apartment complex on Hazen Avenue He describes an unknown man sleeping in the apartment he's staying at who appears to have a gun on his person "I don't know who he is," said the 911 caller "You've never seen him before?," asks a Portage County dispatcher Body camera footage shows two Ravenna police officers arriving to the apartment complex at 1:39 a.m the front door opens up and 48-year-old Shawn Ware appears What looks like a gun is seen in his right hand Put the gun down," one Ravenna police officer commands "F**k y'all," Ware responds as he points the gun in the direction of the officers One of the officers steps back behind a wall and tells the other officer he thinks Ware has a BB gun Both officers maintain a distance between themselves and the apartment Ware is in Body camera footage shows Ware exiting the apartment while holding another man in front of him It's unclear whether Ware has the gun pointed at officials or the hostage Ravenna police said in a press release Ware was using the other man as a "human shield." The hostage seemingly breaks free and is no longer seen on body camera footage Eight gunshots can be heard on Ravenna police body-worn cameras Footage reveals Ware suffered at least three bullet wounds: two in the abdomen and one in the left arm Ravenna police have since confirmed what appeared to be a firearm in Ware's possession is a CO-powered BB gun One Ravenna police officer rushes to his unit within 35 seconds of the shooting to grab a trauma kit Ware's shirt is then cut off and an officer begins applying pressure to the wounds more officers arrive and assist in rendering aid Ware is heard grunting on body camera footage but he ultimately succumbed to his injuries and died at the scene The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is leading the investigation due to the involvement of Ravenna officers in the shooting Kalfani Ture Monday night to review the body camera footage He used to work in law enforcement and now serves as a use of force and race expert "Not refreshing in the sense of the violence that took place and the fact that there was a person who was shot and injured in this process that there was no evidence of malice on the part of the officers." Ture said to see how quickly after the shooting that one of the officers started rendering life-saving measures is commendable They reasonably interpreted the situation and the threat I don't know if that comes across bizarre to say but that was my immediate thought," he said He also noted that not only was there a threat of a firearm but he said the officers were in a "deadly tunnel." "It was a situation where he couldn't necessarily get out It was just a really tense situation," Ture said News 5 asked his thoughts on why officers may not have initially discharged their weapons after the first time Ware was seen brandishing what appeared to be a firearm "One of the things that in law enforcement we're trained to do is to have what we call cover and concealment It is not enough to fire at the suspect but leave oneself exposed and these walls are just drywall It puts the officers in danger," Ture said Ture doesn't like the adjective "poster child" in a situation like this he said this officer-involved shooting comes "pretty close." that the officers gave a reasonable amount of time," Ture said when asked if he believed Ravenna police provided enough time to de-escalate the situation I think they performed admirably," Ture said "In this very polarized and tense world that we live in where there's police on one side of the barricade and then there's the community often this fault line is situated in between race and class here you saw officers immediately render aid to preserve Sean's life and there was no sort of utterances of racial animus." While he looks forward to the BCI investigation's findings he said he's more interested in what led Ware to that moment "This is one situation where I actually want to know more about Sean," Ture said "These incidents can often be the result of some kind of — they're psychological This could be a result of emotional distress a bad relationship or it could be a result of legal trouble." Ture suspects this incident may be a "suicide by cop." the news media community — we all need to give more attention to this phenomenon because it has been with us for at least the last 100 years It's obviously here to stay and if we can somehow predict and we can create better interventions," Ture said The BCI investigation is still in its early stages We'll continue to follow through as this develops Anyone with information regarding the incident is encouraged to contact the Ravenna Police Department at 330-296-6486 Michael Embick's answer is precise when asked what went through his mind when he received his first cancer diagnosis when he began feeling severe pain in his left leg The 66-year-old retiree coached youth sports for decades so he visited an orthopedic surgeon thinking those years of movement and activity had caught up to his knee "I probably wasn't home a half hour before the doctor called and said I've got some things that we need to talk about.' I'm thinking this can't be good.' I come to find out that I had cancer in my lower left leg.” It’s an aggressive blood cancer that affects the lymphatic system vessels and organs that fight infection in the body nor had he experienced any signs of cancer prior to the leg pain He endured five rounds of chemo and 20 radiation treatments Embick began experiencing some strange symptoms including leg and back pain and rapid weight loss "I broke out in a rash and it was probably one of the worst things I've ever had," Embick added "It made my whole body itch and it was terrible where an MRI revealed cancer in his abdomen I'm not going to orthopedic surgeons anymore," he said His doctor acknowledged the complexity of his case and referred him to The James Cancer Hospital at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center but Embick's journey included some grave moments — he nearly died twice Embick eventually received early approval for Epkinly an injectable bispecific antibody treatment that has since been approved by the U.S Food and Drug Administration for DLBCL treatment It works by attaching to the body's T cells and B cells binding them so the T cells can attack and destroy the B cells "So it truly is going to the site of the lymphoma attaching to that area and then activating the immune system to cause an immune response," said Dr Within two weeks of receiving his first injection Embick said he felt his strength and stamina returning while he also regained weight he's achieved remission and returns to Columbus for treatment once every four weeks Don't be that person that tries to ignore something that's going on with you physically — especially if you're a man," he said He gets a bit choked up when he discusses it because though he's returned to an active lifestyle the trauma of his diagnosis and treatment remains “What I'm experiencing is like a form of PTSD And it's amazing what may trigger a day of sadness or being upset," he said A 2017 study found that PTSD is more common in cancer survivors than the general population Symptoms include re-experiencing the traumatic event — like the diagnosis or treatment — usually in the form of flashbacks or nightmares PTSD following a significant diagnosis is a trauma response a counselor who specializes in PTSD treatment at Mind Trek Counseling in Cleveland Heights it can cause severe symptoms because [the patient's] body is kind of out of sorts," Turner said Embick said he needed a counselor to navigate the impact cancer had on his body. “There are so many things happen to you that nobody tells you are going to happen," Embick said. "And I understand why they can't tell you, I truly do. It is an act of kindness. But once you're through it, you need to talk to somebody who is not a family member.” But family also needs support. Embick's wife, Kimberly, said she saw her role during his cancer battle as being an advocate for her husband. "I had three very close friends and they each played a different role," she said. "One was a cheerleader, one was a support person, and one was my voice of reason." Embick proactively sought out mental health treatment himself, but Turner said she often sees patients who are resistant to seeing more doctors or health professionals. Those feelings often stem from experience with neglect or disrespect from care providers. Other cancer survivors may struggle over when to seek medical care, Turner said. Some patients avoid doctor's visits due to past trauma or fear of future diagnoses, while others may become anxious over small ailments. "Some become super hyper-aware of all symptoms in their body, so they are running to the doctor over just a minor symptom," Turner explained. "And then on the opposite end, [some] just keep ignoring it because they don't want to get a prognosis that is out of their control again." If someone isn’t ready to sit down with a counselor, cancer survivor support groups are a good starting point, Turner added. “There is power in numbers," she said. "And having people that understand where they're at, that will also help the overall outcome of their treatment.” Others say oncologists can play a more active role — by making sure they discuss mental health concerns with patients and letting them know help is available, often within the hospital walls. Ravenna Back to topAttractionsMust-see attractionsBasilica di Sant'Apollinare in Classe lighter than Ravenna's other churches is situated 5km southeast of town in the former Roman port of Classe Basilica di San Vitale after weeks of strolling around dark Italian churches The lucid mosaics that adorn the altar of… Basilica di Sant'Apollinare Nuovo An old legend states that Pope Gregory the Great once ordered the Apollinare's mosaics to be blackened as they were distracting worshippers from prayer Mausoleo di Galla Placidia In the same complex as Basilica di San Vitale the small but equally incandescent Mausoleo di Galla Placidia was constructed for Galla Placidia Duomo Ravenna's baroque cathedral was built atop the remains of a much earlier church Artefacts from the original 5th-century cathedral… CLASSIS Ravenna located in an 1899 sugar-extraction plant just down the road from Basilica di Sant'Apollinare in Classe Mausoleo di Teodorico Historically and architecturally distinct from Ravenna's other Unesco sites (there are no mosaics here) this two-storey mausoleum was built in 520 for… Battistero Neoniano this is Ravenna's oldest intact building constructed over the site of a former Roman bathing complex in the late 4th century View more attractionsPlan with a localExperience the real Italy Get startedArticlesLatest stories from RavennaRead more articlesArt Emilia-Romagna may not roll as easily off the tongue or attract as many visitors as its neighbour Tuscany but it's the perfect example of how making the… Get to the heart of Ravenna with one of our in-depth Visit in ShopPocket Rome $14.99 Visit in ShopNaples, Pompeii & the Amalfi Coast $24.99 Go to checkout (0 items)in partnership with getyourguide No part of this site may be reproduced without our written permission May pop-up food pantries in Portage County start Thursday in RavennaRavenna Record-CourierAkron-Canton Regional Foodbank plans several pop-up food pantries in May in Portage County First up is at Portage County Health District Check out akroncantonfoodbank.org/pop-food-pantries for more information we’ve long believed that the next great enterprise applications wouldn’t just store and organize information—they would actively work for users we predicted that applications failing to leverage data and continuous learning systems would become obsolete We called this shift Intelligent Applications AI-powered software is no longer just a tool; it’s becoming a dynamic workforce — handling tasks Every area of enterprise software is being reinvented with modern intelligent applications: CRM One of the biggest areas and most successful companies is ServiceNow ($160B market cap which is masterfully serving the enterprise market and has repositioned itself around AI But a product like ServiceNow is completely inappropriate for growth Who will be the ServiceNow for the born-in-AI generation That’s why we’re excited to announce Ravenna’s $15M fundraise which we’ve led with fellow co-investors Khosla Ventures and Founder’s Co-op internal operations remain frustratingly manual and waste time switching between systems just to get simple requests handled finance approvals — these processes are often slow the teams running these workflows are buried in repetitive tasks that prevent them from focusing on higher-value work Ravenna is fixing this by applying AI-native automation to internal operations—seamlessly integrating into the collaboration tools employees already use starting with native integration into Slack Many AI-powered enterprise tools take the same old processes — the same helpdesk systems the same rigid ticketing flows — and try to speed them up with AI starting with a deep understanding of how work actually gets done inside companies — and Instead of trying to patch outdated workflows with automation Ravenna reimagines internal operations from the ground up to remove friction entirely We evaluated the other companies using AI to address the IT service management (ITSM) space (including Moveworks, which ServiceNow subsequently acquired last month for $2.85B) but we concluded Ravenna is different in several critical ways: This isn’t just about efficiency — it’s about transforming how work actually gets done Ravenna ensures that employees spend less time navigating systems and more time on the creative and high-impact work that drives businesses forward Most enterprise software companies build incrementally tacking AI onto legacy systems in an attempt to modernize them Instead of retrofitting AI into outdated help desks Taylor and Kevin worked back from the customer An AI-native system designed to work inside the collaboration platforms where work already happens Ravenna lives in Slack (for now—Teams and other integrations are coming!) embedding AI directly into workflows so team members — both humans and soon AI Agents — get instant answers and operations teams are freed from repetitive Instead of employees wasting time filing tickets or searching outdated knowledge bases intelligent knowledge base that proactively resolves issues and ensures internal teams can focus on higher-value work Ravenna customers typically start with IT; however Their system for automating internal work queues and support is broadly applicable to HR we were impressed to hear customers’ excitement about the breadth of Ravenna’s applicability have spent their careers at the intersection of AI formerly director of AI engineering at Zapier saw firsthand the demand for automation in business operations especially around question-queue-response workflows where employees constantly seek support for repetitive tasks and used Zapier extensively to cobble together workflows who led GTM for AWS containers and serverless experienced the challenges of large-scale knowledge sharing and coordination working with some of the world’s most complex enterprise systems He also saw the power of AI-driven automation in transforming internal operations as well as the way Amazon’s internal ticket queue system was indispensable for getting work done across teams Their experiences — shaped across multiple startups and even their own entrepreneurial journey — gave them a unique insider’s perspective on what was broken in enterprise service management and what it would take to fix it They realized that traditional help desks were stuck in the past they understood that AI wasn’t just a tool to speed up these processes — it was a chance to fundamentally reimagine how internal support should work That’s why they founded Ravenna: to create a first-of-its-kind AI-powered internal support platform that removes inefficiencies and enables teams to focus on meaningful work We also loved the way Taylor and Kevin have attracted an incredible team of A+ talent and created a distinct culture where everything and everyone is focused on customers while also caring about each other and having fun It’s not news or an exaggeration to say that we’re in the midst of a seismic shift in enterprise software Ravenna is at the forefront of this transformation By embedding AI-native automation inside Slack and Teams they’re not just making help desks more efficient — they’re redefining enterprise service management for the AI era we invest in the frontier of intelligent applications — and Ravenna is exactly that AI isn’t just improving enterprise software; it’s redefining how work gets done The best applications won’t just help employees do their jobs — they’ll become part of the team That’s why we’re proud to lead Ravenna’s $15M Seed round alongside Khosla Ventures and Founder’s Co-op and partner with Taylor and Kevin as they build the future of AI-powered internal operations Congratulations to Team Ravenna on this milestone! If you want to see what AI-Native Service Management looks like in action — and how intelligent applications can come to life in your organization’s workflow, check out their product here. And if you’re looking to build at the forefront of the space, they’re hiring Share on FacebookShare on X (formerly Twitter)Share on PinterestShare on LinkedInRAVENNA Ohio (WOIO) - Ravenna Police officers fatally shot an armed suspect early Sunday morning who allegedly used another person as a ‘human shield’ before pointing his firearm at police According to a release from Ravenna Police officers responded to the 600 block of Hazen Street for a report of a man with a gun sleeping on the floor of an apartment The call came from a person inside the apartment they knocked on the open door and saw a man lying on the floor with a firearm in his waistband Officers said they then retreated and told the man to drop the weapon the door between the officers and the man closed as officers continued to give commands from outside The man then exited the apartment moments later while using another man as a ‘human shield,’ police said Police said the man then pointed his weapon at the officers prompting both officers to shoot and fatally wound the man officers immediately attempted life-saving measures but the man was pronounced dead at the scene The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Invesigation was called to investigate the shooting and agents are currently interviewing witnesses The identity of the man is being withheld pending further investigation A Ravenna man has admitted sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl last year pleaded guilty Monday in Portage County Common Pleas Court to charges of rape and attempted rape according to the Portage County Prosecutor's Office Judge Becky Doherty ordered the court's adult probation office to conduct a presentencing investigation 3 to University Hospitals Portage Medical Center reportedly told police that while staying at the home Dial shared with other people Dial raped her after giving her a prescription anxiety medication several days earlier The girl also said Dial threatened to kill her with a knife and threatened to harm family members if she reported it Police said DNA evidence supported at least some of the girl's allegations The case was taken directly to a grand jury and the indictment was filed in November and the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force found him in early January in Lorain where he had been living under an assumed name Dial was on probation from an unrelated sexual offense case in 2022 he pleaded guilty to two counts of fifth-degree felony attempted unlawful sexual conduct with a minor The plea came after a deal that reduced his charges from two counts of fourth-degree felony unlawful sexual conduct with a minor According to a Ravenna police report and court records the charges stemmed from Dial having sex with a different girl in 2021 Pittman sentenced Dial to 180 days in Portage County Jail and four years probation She also determined that Dial is a Tier I sex offender which requires him to register with the sheriff of any county where he lives for 15 years the court's adult probation department filed a motion to revoke Dial's probation after he failed to report as required Pittman ordered Dial to be held without bond in Portage County Jail Dial was also charged in Portage County Municipal Court in Ravenna with first-degree misdemeanor assault According to a complaint from the Portage County Sheriff's Office and Judge Mark Fankhauser sentenced him to 180 days in jail Reporter Jeff Saunders can be reached at jsaunders@recordpub.com Groundbreaking for new Ravenna VA Clinic set for Tuesday; will offer expanded servicesRavenna Record-CourierGroundbreaking for a new Ravenna Veterans Affairs Clinic will take place at 10 a.m The planned 16,000-square-foot facility will provide space for expanded podiatry and optometry services including an optical shop for eyeglass fitting and dispensing "We are excited to see the expansion of our veteran healthcare services in the Ravenna area available to serve the nearly 5,000 patients and 9,000 veterans in the area," said Jill Dietrich Mellon executive director of VA Northeast Ohio Healthcare System "We are proud that Portage County veterans will enjoy world-class care in an almost 50 percent larger and that we will be able to offer additional services like podiatry and optometry that previously may have necessitated an hourlong drive to the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center." The transition from the current Ravenna VA Clinic at 6751 N to the new clinic is expected by early 2027 The new facility will implement the Patient Aligned Care Team design with architectural features to foster a collaborative approach to patient care using national VA design concepts RAVENNA − School district residents got a stark look at its finances Tuesday night and learned West Park Elementary School might not be its only building to close Ravenna City Schools' officials and members of Friends of Ravenna Schools spoke at the State of the Schools presentation at Ravenna High School Speakers included district Treasurer Kristen Plageman and Superintendent Ben Ribelin The meeting was live streamed on the school district's YouTube channel The Friends of Ravenna Schools also will host Community Roundtables April 1 at Reed Memorial Library and April 3 at Ravenna High School Another meeting with the McElrath and Skeels community centers is being planned for later in April In the May 6 primary the board once again is seeking levy funding asking voters to approve a 5.47-mill levy that would bring in $2.75 million annually and cost homeowners $192 per year per $100,000 in home value It will be the district's fifth consecutive request for new money The district was placed on the Ohio State Auditor's Office's fiscal caution list in 2024 voters rejected a district levy for the fourth time Ravenna City Schools hasn't received new operating funds for 20 years Plageman presented a finance report and those in attendance could access the reports on their phones using a QR code She said the district was placed in "fiscal oversight" because the district's five-year forecast projected a negative fund balance and deficit spending Fiscal Caution is the lowest level of state oversight and the other levels are Fiscal Watch and Fiscal Emergency The district has been working regularly with the state auditor's office and has been working to cut expenses through things like reducing staff and not replacing people when they retire which are projected to decrease by more than $5 million by Fiscal Year 2028 funding sources still aren't enough to keep up Plageman broke down the sources of funding for the school district as reimbursements of homestead exemption funds Mike DeWine's new budget would reduce funding for the district and the final budget won't be approved until the end of June and will be discussed by the Board of Education April 14 Plageman showed the residents four scenarios showing what their funding would look like based on whether state funding would be reduced The only way the district can meet its expenditures The blue line on the graph shows both state funding remaining unchanged and the levy being approved the gray line beneath it shows the levy being approved but state funding being reduced The green line shows what would happen if state funding is not reduced while the yellow line shows both reduced state funding and the levy failing Superintendent Ben Ribelin pointed to academic gains in the district's schools including with reading at elementary schools and Brown Middle School and Ravenna High School both exiting additional targeted support improvement based on two years of data showing growth at both schools agreed to forego raises in their most recent contracts West Park Elementary School will close at the end of the current school year Kindergarten students will move to Willyard Elementary School in Ravenna Township next term Willyard now houses first- and second-graders Kindergarten teachers are to be moved to Willyard drawn-out plan" and discovered that the school was operating at 50% capacity "It's just not feasible to run a building at 50% capacity," he said The Ohio Revised Code requires the district to lease the building or sell it at auction Ribelin said the district also will look to close a second building next school year an attendee said senior citizens are concerned about rising taxes pointing out that they don't have children who attend the schools Plageman pointed out that if the district ends up in fiscal emergency the district would have a commission that would vet all district expenditures "They will tell us whether we have athletics," she said "They will tell us what curriculum we can use." Portage County Treasurer John Kennedy said the state legislature could help seniors by expanding the state's Homestead Exemption and also by fixing the unconstitutional way schools are financed He also said Ravenna could increase enrollment in the schools by making the school district excellent which would inspire families to move into the district "The economy of Ravenna is tied to the Ravenna schools," he said Reporter Diane Smith can be reached at 330-298-1139 or dsmith@recordpub.com RAVENNA − Paving Main Street, demolition of what remained of the old Oak Rubber property, and getting the city's finances into the black were among highlights of 2024, according to Ravenna Mayor Frank Seman's State of the City address The mayor shared his address Monday night, just prior to Ravenna City Council's Committee of the Whole meeting. An audio version of Seman's talk was posted on the city's YouTube channel "The year 2024 was a good year," Seman said and we accomplished it because we worked together." Seman said that when he started his first term in 2016 told him he was worried about the city's ability to meet its payroll obligations After the city transferred funds to make sure its basic expenses were paid the city turned its attention to its fallen bond rating which affected the city's ability to borrow money and Seman said he ran as a Democrat at a time when the city required party labels to be included on ballots he said the two men "had a ball" working to bring the city back to solvency The city's bond rating jumped twice and is now at A1 has continued its "growth trajectory" and has hit a new all-time high of $13.2 million As he led the city through conservative financial management When Seman said he didn't know what the term meant "That's a Democrat who's responsible with money." For safety's sakeStaffing at the city's police and fire departments has rebounded, with more patrol officers and firefighters on duty. Ravenna Police Department has a certified therapy K-9 named Tucker that recently portrayed Sandy in Ravenna High School's production of "Annie." Seman said police officers' body cameras are a worthwhile investment as they protect officers from false accusations from the public "The stories need to line up with what the camera's putting out Seman also pointed out that while negotiations are underway with the city's unions he's hesitant to make financial commitments citing the city's past financial woes He said he has asked Fire Chief Mark Chapple to hold off on purchasing a new fire truck until the city sees what's happening at the federal level Main Street was paved in its entirety in 2024 viewed the project as the city's most significant paving project some people didn't think we did any paving at any point in time," he said Meanwhile, two storms over the summer strained the city's sewer systems. A consulting firm recently told the city that its wastewater treatment plant needs $23 million in upgrades because increased capacity at the plant would help the city deal with wet weather emergencies The city began the process of removing the old GE Standpipe last fall and expects to have a new water tower in its place by October LG Chem a company that manufactures components used in the automotive industry a type of flexible plastic used in various industrial applications a 148,400-square-foot "ABS compounding" building and a 60,350-square-foot "ABS Technical Center." "It's changed the whole area out there," Seman said The project broke ground in 2022 but was stalled because of issues with the electrical grid at the site the city finally solved the problem by soliciting help from the governor's office A Joint Economic Development District between Ravenna and Rootstown got off the ground but the township and city worked together to forge a new agreement that helped preserve the small-town feel of the township A "pocket park" was created next to Guido's Restaurant and the former Oak Rubber builidng was finally removed by the EPA which invested $1.3 million into cleaning up the site "They've been a good partner to us," Seman said of the EPA Seman stresses need to pass school levySeman, a former principal in Ravenna City School District whose wife serves on the Board of Education, said he's concerned about what will happen if Ravenna voters turn down a fifth consecutive attempt at a school levy on the May 6 ballot Issue 12 It would cost homeowners $192 per year per $100,000 in property valuation Ravenna is under the Ohio State Auditor's Office's fiscal caution designation The district has warned voters about increased state oversight if they do not approve the levy That would mean less local control over programs and spending "It's hard to have a great city if you don't have a great school district," Seman said Ravenna City Schools notified parents on Friday that it will close West Park Elementary School at the end of the current term The district's Board of Education voted on the closure of the building that opened in 1960 It has been a kindergarten building since 1997 Superintendent Ben Ribelin said the building will be repurposed Kindergarten students will move to Willyard Elementary School in Ravenna Township next school year "As we are working through our financial difficulties we are setting up a building plan that will establish more feasible buildings so we can fill them completely because they are not at full capacities," he told the Board of Education on Jan 27 before its unanimous vote on the closure Ribelin said the district would continue to offer all-day kindergarten at Willyard and that the district would provide more information in the weeks ahead to answer questions and "provide further details about the consolidation plan and how it will impact students He stated that the change was part of an effort to "maximize the resources available to our students" while maintaining a high standard of education and was part of a "district-wide consolidation plan" designed to strengthen the district's stability we have seen a steady decline in enrollment we must adapt to the current and future needs of our community in a way that allows us to continue providing a high-quality education for all students across Ravenna," he stated "While this is not a decision we take lightly it is necessary in order to ensure that the district is able to manage its resources wisely and contribute to the overall financial health of the Ravenna School District We are committed to being fiscally responsible and supporting our community by making decisions that align with the long-term success of all of our schools." Ribelin said the district has an enrollment of 1,750 students school vouchers and open enrollment for the loss of students which was 295 when Ravenna closed Tappan Elementary School in 2013 has been at 120 students the past two years The district was placed under the Ohio State Auditor's Office's fiscal caution list in 2024 voters rejected the district's fourth consecutive levy request the board once again will seek levy funding asking for a 5.47-mill levy that would bring in $2.75 million annually and cost homeowners less than $16 per month per $100,000 in home value The district decided to request less on this attempt after voters rejected an 8.31-mill five-year levy that would have raised $3.25 million each year is the district will be receiving slightly higher revenues after an increase in property valuations The district also is saving money because of building consolidations This is the fourth building the district has closed since the early 2000s The former Ravenna High School, at East Main and Clinton Streets, was demolished in 2012, and the property was sold to the City of Ravenna in 2022 for a future safety building and city hall In 2013, the district closed Tappan Elementary School, and it now is leased to Education Alternatives. Education Alternatives bought the former Board of Education office in 2020 saying it would be used as a counseling center and the remaining elementary buildings were reorganized The Carlin building now houses the district's Board of Education offices That building opened in 1915 as the Ravenna Township School and is the oldest building in the district includes e-gift cardRavenna Record-CourierA Red Cross blood drive is planned from 10 a.m May 9 in the Ravenna Township trustees meeting room at 6145 N call 800-Red-Cross; check RedCrossBlood.org; or use the free Red Cross Blood Donor App and enter "Ravenna Township" for the sponsor keyword Donors for this drive will receive a $20 e-gift card to use at a merchant of their choice A man who last had a Ravenna Township address has been charged in a March residential fire in the township last known address on Sprafka Drive in Ravenna Township was charged Tuesday with second-degree felony aggravated arson in Portage County Municipal Court in Ravenna Tuesday The Ravenna Township Fire Department said firefighters responded to a home at 6321 Bridge St March 30 and found heavy flames and smoke coming from the unoccupied structure The fire was brought under control in about 30 minutes and the scene was turned over at 4:30 a.m to the township's fire investigator and the Portage County Sheriff's Office and Ohio State Fire Marshal Rootstown and Charlestown fire departments also responded According to a complaint the sheriff's office filed in court the home was "destroyed." In an incident report the sheriff's office said a neighbor who reported the fire believed the mobile home had been unoccupied since the previous resident died about two years ago Information as to how McElwain was identified as a suspect was not immediately available An attorney representing him could not be identified McElwain was booked early Monday into the Portage County Jail A Ravenna Township woman has accepted a plea deal in connection with overdoses of a half-dozen people in June at the Ravenna Eagles Club pleaded guilty Friday to two counts of second-degree felony corrupting another with drugs and three counts of fifth-degree felony trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound in Portage County Common Pleas Court Sentencing is pending completion of a presentencing investigation and report by the court's adult probation department Ravenna police said officers and EMS responded to the Eagles Club on Cleveland Road for a report of an unresponsive man about 9 p.m The responders then discovered that four other men and a woman were also showing various degrees of medical distress and were taken to University Hospitals Portage Medical Center At least some of the victims later identified Perry as the individual who sold them cocaine at the club There was no indication that the Eagles Club itself or its employees were responsible for what happened Police said the club freely cooperated with the investigation including voluntarily providing police with security video A warrant was issued for Perry's arrest in mid-September following an investigation which included sending DNA samples to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation other charges in a grand jury indictment were dismissed including four additional counts of corrupting another with drugs and an additional count of trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound RAVENNA − There were mobsters, confrontations, an FBI agent and even a hitman on Monday at Guido's Pizza and Catering in Ravenna as the restaurant was transformed into the set of a movie being shot in Ravenna to be called "Divorcing the Mob," is being filmed in the Portage County seat It tells the story of a mobster who goes into witness protection after getting an ultimatum from his wife which serve as the backdrop for numerous scenes in the movie Guido's, Big Dog Saloon, West Main Street Winery, Brewery and Ciderhouse, Bean and the Baker and Ravenna Sip and Social were among the businesses to be featured He said Vinny is a "mob underboss" with his own crew that includes Jelly (Tom Stoops) Shorty B and Polly so named because he repeats things he hears to himself Vinny is married to Angelina (Jessica Thompson) although she knows her husband is in the mob is shielded from details of her husband's activities she stumbled across Vinny and his crew cutting up a body and she gives him the ultimatum of "me or the mob." "You can't just get out of the mob," Reign said And that's how all the antics get started." where he enters the witness protection program executive director of the Ravenna Area Chamber of Commerce portrays the FBI agent in her first acting role Cline said when Reign asked her to take part in the movie and was surprised when he offered her a speaking role and taught her how to come across as a tough no nonsense federal agent that the role required "He's believed in me from the start," she said And working with the actors and actresses has been wonderful." Both of her daughters Reign said he met John Wood while working with him on "Vampire Penance," which he had intended to be his last film is a Realtor and serves on Ravenna City Council "I fell in love with the town," Reign said he featured owner Jim Wade and made sure to showcase some of his wine Cheryl Wood said she encouraged Reign to use as many local businesses in the movie as possible and the Woods also offered their family home for filming "It's a way to showcase our local residents and residents who weren't actors became actors," Cheryl Wood said the scene involved Vinny meeting with the federal agent finds himself at the restaurant and discovers where his associate has been hiding out turning away customers who thought the activity meant that the eatery was open on a Monday "It's pretty cool that Guido's was chosen to be a part of it," Leonard said Other movies also have been filmed in Portage County. Three years ago, a slasher film called "The Hunting" was filmed in Mantua; and "Quarter Given," a World War II drama was being filmed in Portage County in 2023 Camp Garfield also was used for a scene in "Captain America Winter Soldier." who was given an offer to talk to the cast and crew of "Divorcing the Mob" that she couldn't refuse can be reached at 330-298-1139 or dsmith@recordpub.com RAVENNA − After 31 years of serving up soup Susie Kohl has decided it's time to hang up her apron who has owned and operated Susie K's Cafe and Tea Room at 145 E She's still around the cafe while she decides what to do with the odds and ends including hundreds of tea cups and tea pots around the space She announced her retirement on Facebook by posting a photo of the sign that hangs in the cafe's window "Tip me over and pour me out," the sign reads "I started this journey so many years ago and now it's time to hang up my apron," she wrote Thank you all for 31 years of lunches and fun." Kohl opened the cafe after a career in food service that included working at a hotel and a hospital in Columbus She returned to Ravenna in the early 1990s when she was asked to cater a gubernatorial campaign fundraiser for George Voinovich She said she immediately liked the personal approach better than catering big events Some customers would stop in for lunch because they could get back to work quickly Others had time to sit and enjoy their meal The menu included items such as sandwiches such as the Pilgrim (turkey sandwich with melted Swiss cheese cranberry jelly and mayonnaise on health nut bread) and the Carlton (turkey The menu was inspired by Kohl's days in hotel work "It didn't matter if it was 90 degrees out Her nieces and nephews would come in to view downtown events One niece came to refer to the cafe as "your house with the tables," as opposed to Kohl's home The "tea" part of the tea room was a tribute to her mother and grandmother "People seemed to enjoy the comfort of tea and conversation," she said she's planning to spend time with her family which includes three brothers and two sisters including with friends from Ohio State University she's considering taking a cooking class in Italy She estimates that she has about 200 teapots some will be returned to the friends who gifted them She's considering a sale at the tea room to find a new home for the others "I've always been so glad I came back home who has been covering Portage County about as long as Susie Kohl ran her cafe RAVENNA − More than eight years after a jury convicted a Newton Falls man in the nearly fatal hammer attack of a Ravenna Township woman David M. Smith originally was convicted in the 2015 attack on Quortney Tolliver at Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park Sixth District Court of Appeals ordered a new trial by March 13 or Smith's release from custody Opening statements were Tuesday morning in the 56-year-old's jury trial before Judge Becky Doherty in Portage County Common Pleas Court Portage County sheriff's deputies responded to the mobile home park across State Route 59 from Walmart where the 24-year-old Tolliver was lying on the ground near her home on Oct a neighbor heard a woman scream and then saw Tolliver staggering away from her home before collapsing Tolliver suffered life-threatening fractures to her skull and face and was in a medically induced coma for two weeks after the attack It was believed that if she had not awakened and made her way outside her home terrible scar on it," Prosecutor Stephen Michniak said during his opening statement He said Tolliver suffered "severe brain trauma" and investigators initially were concerned she would not survive "They're treating it as possible murder at that point," he said Michniak said investigators found a "bloody bloody horrible scene" inside Tolliver's mobile home including a bloody sink in a bathroom where someone apparently had washed their hands Samples of "biological evidence" were taken from the sink and sent to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation for testing DNA from the sink came back as "consistently similar" to Smith's He told the jury Smith was on parole at the time on an attempted felonious assault case from Cuyahoga County Investigators also found that during the 24 hours prior to the attack someone texted and called her dozens of times from the same untraceable number was selling cocaine and heroin out of her home She later received probation after pleading guilty to two counts of drug trafficking Michniak said the person contacting her apparently wanted to buy crack cocaine When a detective found Smith and interviewed him Smith was cooperative and provided the detective with his cell number which matched the number of the individual contacting Tolliver Smith told the detective that he knew where Tolliver lived while rehabbing at a nursing facility roughly two months later Tolliver alleged to the same detective that Smith had come to her home with a plan to drive to Cleveland to buy crack cocaine from someone she knew Smith came up behind her and started hitting her with a hammer It also has been alleged that Smith then robbed Tolliver of some possessions and cash Michniak said that other evidence in the case includes testimony from a woman who said that while she was in a car with Smith and her then boyfriend she heard Smith say that he "got [Tolliver] with a hammer." Michniak also said cell phone tower records put Smith's phone in the vicinity of Tolliver's home the morning she was attacked He had claimed at the time that he hadn't been there in more than two weeks Defense argues 'reasonable doubt'Christopher Horne a legal intern working with defense attorneys Kimberly Kendall Corral and Alasan Huff said during his opening statement that the prosecution could not prove its case beyond reasonable doubt "This case is about an unreliable investigation that led to an unrealistic result," said Horne Horne alleged that once Smith was identified investigators focused on him to the exclusion of other possible suspects He also said that the jury would hear testimony that Smith was in Ravenna at the time of the assault pointing to court records that say Smith's then-fiancée previously testified he had come to her workplace and was having lunch with her at the time of the assault Horne also said Tolliver had a second cell phone that was never examined "Miss Tolliver deserves justice," said Horne the state has the responsibility to ensure that the appropriate person that committed this offense is sitting in that seat Horne also asserted some evidence was never examined such as two plastic cigar tips that weren't tested for DNA and an unexplained footprint found in the blood He also said that some DNA allegedly identified as Smith's did not provide conclusive proof the state's case would leave unanswered questions "We are confident you will have more questions than answers," said Horne Smith was arrested in April 2016 in Newton Falls Following a two-week trial and two days of deliberations a jury found Smith guilty in October 2016 of attempted murder aggravated burglary and aggravated robbery Doherty sentenced Smith to 22 years in prison in connection with those charges Victim's identification suppressedFollowing his sentencing Smith filed an appeal with Ohio's 11th District Court of Appeals claiming in part that Doherty should have suppressed Tolliver's identification of him during his trial According to an opinion from the appellate court Smith argued that when the detective interviewed Tolliver in December 2016 without including it in array of other photos "suggestive" remarks were made by the detective to Tolliver Smith alleged in his appeal that this might have influenced Tolliver then -residing Judge Thomas Wright wrote that while the method used by the detective would often result in suppression in this case the fact that Tolliver had known Smith prior to the assault made misidentification less likely Wright also wrote that Tolliver eventually claimed she had known prior to seeing Smith's photo that he had been the one who attacked her but did not want to admit it because she had been engaging in criminal activity Judge Cynthia Westcott Rice concurred with Wright she believed extenuating circumstances do not override the potential consequences of misidentifying a suspect "Given the extreme skepticism and disdain with which the law views suggestive identification procedures it is necessary that this court evaluates attempts to redeem the identification with a critical eye," wrote Grendell After losing that appeal and the Ohio Supreme Court declining to hear another appeal Sixth District Court for the Northern District of Ohio but that court ordered in September that the district court issue a writ of habeas corpus to include the March 13 deadline as well as that Toliver's identification of Smith be suppressed during a retrial but expressed criticism of the circuit court's decision writing in his order that three other federal judges had also reviewed the case and "agree that the identification did not result in a conviction that violates the [U.S.] Constitution." Hands Off rallies in Kent and Ravenna drew hundreds of people with signs several motorists honking in support and sharp words from Republicans on social media The events were part of a day of mobilization from Democrats and opponents of the Trump administration, which also included a town hall for the 14th Congressional District in Chesterland, to which Republican Rep. David Joyce was invited The grassroots movement known as 50501, that is, "50 states, 50 protests, one movement," began on Reddit and social media as a "response to the anti-democratic and illegal actions of the Trump administration and its plutocratic allies," according to 50501's website The organization called on people to organize rallies in all 50 states who organized the Hands Off Portage rally on the Portage County Courthouse lawn in Ravenna and she suspected that many decided to wait until Friday afternoon to make sure the rain held off Skies were cloudy but rain-free throughout the hourlong demonstration She said she organized the event because she wanted to bring together "neighbors and friends" who were "just as concerned about what's going on in this country as you." She described the event as "more of a revival than a riot." who was propelled into activism after her son was born in 2002 with a rare genetic condition and was diagnosed with cancer two years later served a term as a state representative and now works as a leader in health care access She said the issues in the rare disease community are the worst she's seen in the 20 years she's been in the field "Our leaders asked for a public comment period to combat misinformation on vaccines, and the new administration said no," she said. She added that the loss of funding to the National Institutes of Health has erased research and treatments for families who have waited years for progress asked the crowd how their retirement accounts were doing Other speakers included Frank Hairston, who spoke about diversity efforts and SNAP food benefits; Aurora Schools Superintendent Mike Roberto, who talked about vouchers; Sherry Rose, who spoke about the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, known as the SAVE Act Other speakers included Bruce Ribelin and John Avouris who discussed education and the teachers union; and Octavia Jones hundreds of people gathered in the area of the gazebo at the corner of Franklin Avenue and West Main Street a member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Kent said she organized the rally after people in the area requested it Organizers suspected some were waiting to see if the weather would hold and others didn't want to register because they didn't want their names recorded The event didn't include official speakers spilling across Franklin Avenue to the block stretching from Franklin to Water Street More: U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce hosts telephone town hall; Democrats plan in-person event Sandlund said she thought it was important that people have an opportunity to come together to say how they feel She said many people also were concerned about Joyce and his refusal to meet in person in a town hall "I really fear for our democratic republic," she said The congressman held a town hall by telephone on March 26 chairman of the Portage County Republican Party shared a post from the Portage County Tea Party criticizing the protest on her personal Facebook page " 'THEY' are protesting in Portage this weekend," the party chairwoman wrote "And 'They' want you to think its grass roots All the states and cities are doing it at the same time all are promoting it ( paid social media adds) and yet you and I are supposed to beleive (SIC) that its your friends and neighbors who thought of this The post added that Trump was elected "to clean house to preserve our Social Security and to save our tax dollars" and opponents are angry "because how are they going to run all their anti American campaigns if you stop sending them your tax dollars?" Joyce did not attend the Chesterland rally a group of protesters planned to greet Joyce at the Tanglewood Country Club in Bainbridge where he was slated to introduce Vivek Ramaswamy a Republican who is planning to run for Ohio governor Years after the historic Oak Rubber site in Ravenna was to be demolished The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency awarded $1.1 million in remediation funds to clear the site Ohio EPA Director Anne Vogel will officially announce the grant Monday during a news conference at the site which will remove an estimated 1,700 tons of construction and demolition debris that remain on the 2-acre manufacturing site will be a collaborative effort between Ohio EPA the city of Ravenna and the Akron Regional Air Quality Management District Ravenna took steps to demolish the building in 2021. Officials said homeless people and vandals had been living in the building in recent years, despite attempts to secure it at the time said demolition would take more than a year Progress initially was slow because the contractor was preserving bricks and beams to be reused But in May 2022, the demolition site was destroyed by fire and a pile of bricks has littered it ever since which also was known as Crest Rubber Company at one time a garage and the factory itself − that total 125,000 square feet Parts of the building date to the late 1800s but most of the construction took place in the 20th century The building's most recent productive use was as a flea market that occupied three stories of the building were left behind for vandals to smash and burn Ravenna street will be closed for road work April 21 22Ravenna Record-CourierLincoln Avenue in Ravenna will be closed on April 21 and April 22 between Day and North Chestnut streets A resident will be having a contractor replace their lateral The road will be open only to local traffic All other traffic will need to proceed south on North Chestnut Street to Highland Avenue to detour around the closure Main Street Ravenna's Winter Writing Festival will feature an author of mystery and suspense stories 22 in downtown Ravenna with workshops to help writers hone their skills Tickets are $11 each and are available at Main Street Ravenna's website, mainstreetravenna.org or its Facebook page A QR code promoting the festival also will take people to the registration page More: Register here for the festival Winter Writing Festival registration with 11 workshops at various downtown locations and an "after party" at Main Street Winery where participants and presenters can collaborate 75 to 100 people participate in the festival with attendance steadily growing each year "The point in having the Winter Writing Festival is not only to support writers but to promote local businesses," Hughes said Julie Anne Hatcher, a Kent author, will be the David Dix Speaker Series Keynote Speaker and kick off the festival with a presentation at Ravenna 7 Movies and has published more than 60 novels under her name and various pen names since 2013 She founded Cozy Queen Publishing LLC in 2020 and launched a "cozy mystery series" in 2021 winners of the student writing contest will be announced Hughes said the contest was open to students throughout Portage County in grades three to 12 Books A Go Go also will be set up at the library so participants can purchase books The Winter Writing Festival, which launched in 2019, paused in-person workshops during the COVID-19 pandemic but returned to in-person attendance in 2023 RAVENNA − A handful of Ravenna City School District voters turned out for the first of two community roundtables planned to discuss a levy on the May ballot About a half-dozen voters spread out Tuesday at tables at Reed Memorial Library to discuss issues with levy supporters who moved from table to table in a format similar to the League of Women Voters' Face 2 Face forums Another community meeting is planned for 6 p.m April 21 at the request of residents in the Skeels and McElrath allotments That session will be at King Kennedy Center's gymnasium at 6660 Garfield Road in Ravenna Township Laura Wunderle of Friends of Ravenna Schools it will be a State of the Schools presentation What's on the ballot?In the May 6 primary Ravenna City Schools is asking voters to approve a 5.47-mill levy that would raise $2.75 million annually The school district presented the State of the Schools on March 18 with district officials detailing a grim picture of its finances Treasurer Kristen Plageman showed various scenarios of the district's future finances which show that the only way the district can meet its expenditures is if the levy were to pass Superintendent Ben Ribelin talked about reasons for closing West Park Elementary School and said the district is looking at closing a second building in the district next year What questions were answered at the roundtable?At Tuesday's roundtable levy supporters engaged voters with its talking points of academics said he often hires high school seniors or recent graduates to work in his store he finds they don't have the basic skills necessary to do their jobs it's about what the school is doing with our money." Levy supporters at his table said educators still deal with a learning gap caused by the COVID-19 pandemic Levy supporter Frank Hairston pointed out that he started a Champs program for high school students who don't plan to go to college The program brings in guests from the community who help students prepare resumes and teach interview skills resident Greg Francis pointed out that for a community to grow a member of the district's Board of Education said the district has made a number of cuts including trimming 30 staff positions by attrition closing school buildings and making cuts to transportation "There's no way we can cut ourselves back into a position where we're financially stable," she said pointing out that although Ravenna Schools is at the lowest level of state oversight a fiscal emergency would mean no local control over financial decisions William Drugan suggested that the district reach out directly to parents encouraging students to take facts about the levy home "I don't think the parents know how this affects the students," he said suggested that the district consider cuts that directly affect parents such as charging a fee to participate in sports who represents a non-profit group called Beloved Community previously expressed a concern at the State of the Schools presentation about how the increased taxes would affect senior citizens a former Board of Education member and levy supporter said the levy would cost many homeowners $16 a month said although the school has a non-profit purpose RAVENNA − The city is tightening its zoning codes on massage parlors after two businesses were raided last fall and two women were charged with prostitution City Council approved legislation March 3 to tighten the city's codes Councilwoman Amy Michael said the goal of the changes is to allow legitimate businesses to come into the city who leads council's Planning Committee that drafted the legislation said existing zoning codes were tightened to regulate the licenses needed to operate massage establishments Business operators will need a valid license from the State of Ohio and cannot bring a license obtained at another location The businesses must list the people who work there The businesses also are considered conditional use meaning they would need to go before the city's Planning Commission "They can't obtain a license from the internet for relaxation massage," she said "We're trying to protect the public in our community." More: Investigation in Kent Two-year investigation targets massage parlors in Kent, elsewhere The city looked at legislation from cities that tightened their codes after such "transient" business showed up there was nothing we could do to stop it," Michael said "These are not good for legitimate businesses They are not the kind of businesses we would welcome in our community." She commended the city's Police Department for its investigation and working cooperatively with other agencies people see something going on in the community and may not think anything's being done about it," she said "We have to look at the procedures and make sure it's done correctly." the city raided two massage establishments and arrested two women who worked there are charged with fourth-degree felony promoting prostitution and fifth-degree felony possessing criminal tools They are also charged with receiving proceeds from the commission of an offense subject to forfeiture proceedings a fifth-degree felony for Liu and a first-degree misdemeanor for Xiong The charges include specifications related to confiscated cash nearly $8,300 in Liu's case and $710 in Xiong's.The cases are pending before Judge Laurie Pittman in Portage County Common Pleas Court Summit County Collaborative Against Human Trafficking − which includes Ohio Attorney General's Office and Portage County sheriff's offices − and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation executed search warrants at businesses at 112 N The operation came following a months-long joint investigation that included the use of undercover law enforcement officers Liu was found at the North Chestnut location while Xiong was found at the South Meridian location The second business is not identified in the report but signage at the property at the time identified it as KR Acupressure Relax Spa Trafficking concernsAfter two experts on trafficking addressed City Council Michael said a future step could be cracking down on property owners who lease to such establishments Teresa Meriweather and Wasilwa Mwonyonyi recently addressed council's Planning Committee which was discussing the massage legislation They said they were opposed to such establishments and wanted cities to crack down on people who are profiting from trafficking They told council that if landlords know that they need to be aware to whom they're renting it might also deter businesses like the ones that were raided Merriweather told council that trafficking is a "multi-billion-dollar criminal industry" with "marketers worldwide." "A lot of people think it doesn't happen here and if you're not trained on what to look for "And then that causes injustice for the victims that are in those establishments Merriweather does training to educate the public about trafficking and what to look for Single mothers or other relatives could be trafficking their own children their reason is to generate money for drugs traffickers take advantage of vulnerable people Merriweather said she is part the Ohio Attorney General's Human Trafficking Subcommittee and hopes to bring the people who are profiting from trafficking to justice she encourages them to get law enforcement involved "We want to be able to save those people and bring the traffickers to justice," she said tire collection set April 26Ravenna Record-CourierRavenna Township has set its spring cleanup and tire collection from 8 a.m to noon April 26 behind the township garage at 6115 S It is requested that residents enter from behind and exit onto Spring Street for easier traffic flow The event is provided for township residents only Proper identification must be presented to participate and residents are encouraged to bring as many acceptable items as they would like Residents are permitted to drop off up to eight automotive and smaller tires at a charge of 50 cents apiece Prohibited items include tires larger than automotive Refrigerators and freezers will be accepted Participating residents are asked to follow directional signs to help the event flow smoothly The Ravenna Balloon A-Fair will relocate its balloon launch out of Ravenna for the first time in its 46-year history Festival officials announced on Facebook that events traditionally held at Sunbeau Valley Farm in Ravenna Township will move to Portage County Randolph Fairgrounds The move also forced the event to change its dates to Sept The festival had run the third weekend of September throughout its 45-year history Balloon A-Fair President Sean Short said the Portage County Engineer's Office approached the committee after last year's festival and said there would be sewer construction on the Chinn Allotment that would limit traffic on Brady Lake Road and Wall Street to one lane for the next two years With traffic and parking already a problem the committee was forced to find another location searched "every square inch" of the city and township but couldn't find a space large enough to handle the festival and the cars that would need to be parked and only one weekend when the property was available He stressed that all activities that have taken place in downtown Ravenna including the Grand Parade and downtown festival Short said admission and parking fees will remain − $5 per person Parking will be similar to how it is during the Portage County Randolph Fair and all parking will be off State Route 44 and Fairground Road General admission vehicles will enter from Gate 1 off State Route 44 Those with handicap plates or placards will use Gate 2 off Fairground Road Balloons will launch from the grassy area behind the grandstand and a static display will be set up nearby where spectators can go out onto the field to see the balloons up close "People can go out on the field like they did at Sunbeau," he said The Hot Air Balloon Glo will take place at dusk on Friday and after the balloon launch on Saturday and Sunday "Hopefully we can have even more balloons this year," Short said There will be a Jeep show with a car crush on Saturday A schedule of events and detailed pricing are listed on the Balloon A-Fair website at ravennaballoonafair.com such as the inflatables and helicopter rides When the news was announced on social media and that part of the event was being moved out of Ravenna But others said parking and traffic have been difficult in previous years and they were excited to see the move to somewhere with room to expand the Balloon A-Fair has encouraged visitors to park at Brown Middle School and take a shuttle bus to the farm but motorists still lined streets surrounding Sunbeau Short said law enforcement complained to the Balloon A-Fair about the traffic problems during the event people came from out of state and got turned away." Reporter Diane Smith can be reached at 330=298-1139 or dsmith@recordpub.com This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Ravenna Twp. Fire seeks help in fire probeRavenna Record-CourierRavenna Township Fire Department is seeking the public's help as it investigates a March 30 house fire Firefighters found heavy flames and smoke coming from the unoccupied structure just after 2 a.m according to a post on the department's Facebook page Crews brought the fire under control in about 30 minutes Rootstown and Charlestown fire departments provided mutual aid The scene was turned over to the Ravenna Township fire investigator Portage County sheriff's detectives and the Ohio State Fire Marshal's Office about 4:30 a.m The investigation of the fire's cause is ongoing Anyone with information is asked to contact the Ravenna Township Fire Department at 330-297-2192; Portage County Sheriff's Office at 330-296-5100; fire marshal's office at 800-589-2728; or sfm.investigations@com.ohio.gov Ravenna Area Chamber of Commerce will bring back its Ravenna On Display program March 1 − marking the community expo's return after the COVID-19 pandemic said the agency is trying to bring back events from its past Those planning to take part are asked to register by Feb All current chamber members can receive a free booth at the expo, but must register. Businesses can become members or renew a membership to receive a free booth. Non-members also can participate for $50. Thursday is the registration deadline, and people can find a link to register on at ravennaareachamber.com but chamber officials decided to switch it to spring to avoid conflicting with other community expos and there will be a raffle for a $150 Visa gift card A 50/50 drawing will raise money for the chamber's scholarship fund Ravenna Parks and Recreation Department plans a demonstration and Cline said other interested groups should reach out to the chamber at 330-296-3886 A series of meetings is planned in March and April to discuss Ravenna City Schools and the district's May levy Connie Bennett and Laura Wunderle of Friends of Ravenna Schools said the meetings will include the State of the Schools on March 18 at Ravenna High School and Community Roundtable discussions on April 1 and April 3 In the May 6 primary It will be the district's fifth consecutive request for new money The State of the Schools presentation be at 6 p.m March 18 in the auditorium of Ravenna High School Speakers will include Superintendent Ben Ribelin Treasurer Kristen Plageman and members from Friends of Ravenna Schools in Reed Memorial Library's Haymaker/Jenkins room People will be seated at tables and can discuss their questions with a facilitator Last year, the district's former superintendent offered the State of the Schools address during a "Listening Tour" where the school levy also was promoted Bennett said this year's State of the Schools will inform the public of positive things going on in the district, as well as steps the district has taken to be fiscally responsible. For instance, the district has reduced the number of teachers, which has increased class sizes. Recently, the Board of Education voted to close West Park School "We are doing things as a district to be financially responsible," she said Wunderle added that the district's long-term planning will be discussed "We want the public to know that there is a plan to keep us in a financially stable position," she said Questions that are submitted by March 14 will be answered at the event while questions received after that date will be answered at the other events or individually People also can submit questions at the event which will be answered as time permits or by email if necessary A Ravenna man was sentenced to inpatient care Friday after pleading guilty to stealing a utility task vehicle from Kent State University Allan Roy Dluhos, 44, led Ravenna police on a low-speed pursuit in August Dluhos pleaded guilty to fourth-degree felony theft and first-degree misdemeanor failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer in Portage County Common Pleas Court Judge Becky Doherty then ordered that Dluhos remain in Portage County Jail until an opening becomes available at an inpatient substance abuse and mental health facility Doherty further ordered that once Dluhos completes the program the first year under intensive supervision Ravenna police said multiple officers pursued a UTV Dluhos drove along streets and the bike and hike trail on the north side of State Route 59 on Aug and the vehicle often left the road to travel on sidewalks and across front lawns nearly hitting two juveniles as it went across one front yard the UTV struck the rear of a police cruiser when an officer tried to block it The pursuit ended when cruisers blocked the UTV outside Ravenna High School Ravenna police said Kent State University police confirmed the vehicle which is used by building maintenance employees had been stolen from the campus earlier that afternoon a third-degree felony charge of failure to comply was amended to a misdemeanor and the felony charge was amended from fourth-degree felony grand theft of a motor vehicle A fifth-degree felony vandalism charge also was dismissed Conditions of Dluhos' probation include that he follow all recommendations of mental health and substance abuse evaluations attain and maintain full-time employment within 90 days of completing the inpatient program and pay about $1,220 in restitution to the Ravenna Police Department and KSU Doherty also ordered that Dluhos pay $284 in court costs within six months of his sentencing with an option to pay the debt by performing community service at $11 per hour A new pizza option plans to open soon in Rosslyn offering Roman-style rectangle pies and Italian cuisine Ravenna Pizza is preparing to open for business next month at 1500 Wilson Blvd, where Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop closed in 2022 A post shared by Ravenna Pizza (@ravennapizzava) Neb — A school district in Buffalo County is looking to address urgent facility needs with the help of the community “We’re just looking to great things for kids at Ravenna Public Schools," said Dr Ravenna Public Schools will ask its community to vote for a school bond to put students under one roof “Having our doors open for 8 periods of the day and 150 kids transiting back and forth that just creates an opportunity for something bad to happen getting everyone under one roof when there is a situation where we need to go into lockout or lockdown is really important from a safety perspective.” Currently the district’s North buildings house weightlifting Community member and retired teacher Kent Zeller said “It’s a situation where in this day and age my thought is security of kids move in to a building and get it secure and have them inside.” Key projects in the bond include better use of the office space additional plumbing fixtures in the girls locker room and career and technical education spaces which includes improving school’s learning spaces for agriculture middle school special education and robotics which robotics teacher Ms Kelley Jarzynka says will allow more breathing room for her kids Robotics teacher Kelley Jarzynka tells NTV it’s pretty crowded there’s a lot going on in there Sometimes the overflow goes out in the hallway and being one teacher one person managing that flow with the students is tough.” Robotics team member Trenton Wedemeyer said “I think we can have another arena in there that way we can run more skills at once instead of just one person and then just waiting for one or two minutes or whatever to set it up.” With all these potential improvements- less money could be coming out of property owners pockets with Schroeder saying in a statement: the board can lower some existing school taxes earmarked for facility improvements because those building needs will be taken care of by the bond project the Special Building Fund is currently levied at nearly 14 cents per hundred This means there should actually be a district wide tax rate decrease for the 2025-26 budget cycle.” the Ravenna Public Schools Board of Education has called a special election by mail on March 11 for a school bond not to exceed $5.5 million Ohio — A man was shot and killed on Tuesday morning by a Ravenna police officer and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is handling the case The man was later identified as 43-year-old Matthew Fries According to the Ravenna Police Department on the Portage County Hike And Bike Trail that crosses the city Ravenna Police Captain Jake Smallfield says a witness going down the trail came across a person who had been stabbed and called police the alleged attacker came out of the woods with an ax in his hand and approached them Watch Smallfield's interview with News 5's Bob Jones: Officers drew their weapons and ordered the man to drop the ax but Smallfield says the man ignored the command and when he started walking towards the officers have been with the department for many years the victim who was stabbed as well as the attacker both lived nearby in a "tent area" where homeless people are known to stay but police believe there may have been some sort of argument The man who was stabbed was transported to a nearby hospital and is listed in stable condition The trail will be closed until further notice between Freedom Street and Loomis Parkway Police say people should not be afraid to use the trail stressing they believe this was an isolated incident between the two men who knew each other The four officers are all on paid administrative leave while BCI investigates the shooting Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact police at 330-296-6486 Only half a dozen people filed petitions to run for Ravenna City Council by Thursday's deadline half of those people don't face opposition Thursday was the deadline for candidates to file petitions to run for Ravenna City Council in Wards 1 and 2 None of the races drew enough candidates to trigger a primary All are expected to advance to the November general election if their petitions are validated Feb 28 by the Portage County Board of Elections incumbent Councilman Paul Moskun is seeking re-election Incumbent Councilman Tyler Marovich is running again for the Ward 2 post Council President Rob Kairis also filed petitions Marovich was appointed to his seat last year when Kairis was appointed as council president following the resignation of Andrew Kluge Three people are seeking the two at-large seats − incumbent Councilwoman Amy Michael and challengers Carmen Laudato and Greg Francis who served on Streetsboro City Council when she lived there ran unsuccessfully last year for Portage County commissioner a former detective with the Ravenna Police Department and sought the office in 2023 but was barred from the ballot after the Board of Elections invalidated his petitions Francis also sought appointment to the City Council seat that went to Marovich A business that provides care for developmentally disabled adults will move into a former rubber factory once eyed for a mixed-use development Buckeye Residential Solutions Inc. plans to move into the building at 228 S West recently addressed a committee of Ravenna City Council, asking council to transfer a community reinvestment area agreement from the previous building owner to Buckeye He struggled to bring retail and other commercial business to the site so he sold it to Matt Ferrell of Buckeye Residential Solutions Ferrell said Buckeye cares for developmentally disabled adults and has buildings throughout Northeast Ohio In addition to its rented headquarters at 320 E Buckeye also operates an adult day center at 126 E He said he hopes to move into the South Sycamore site in June put a new roof on the building and did other work including painting the exterior and gutted the interior Ferrell said Buckeye is doing an extensive renovation that includes electricity The South Sycamore Street site will become Buckeye's corporate office. Ferrell, who also owns Battlegrounds Game Center at 320 E plans to relocate his store to the new building he plans to restore the rest of the building including the top floor that fronts on South Sycamore which also has an office in Mahoning County adult day services and non-medical transportation to adults with disabilities in Portage The original community reinvestment area for the mixed use development was 49.5% abatement state law required anything 50% or above to be approved by the local Board of Education Buck had proposed to bring in 10 jobs at about $350,000 in payroll based on the businesses he thought he could bring to the area has 190 full time and 10 part-time employees The company plans to hire 13 more full-time workers over the next three years as a result of the move with an additional payroll of about $500,000 The percentage of the abatement has increased to 65% still below the new 75% threshold now needed for Ravenna City Schools Board of Education approval "We didn't think we wanted to go to the full 75%," West said "We wanted to keep some money going to the schools." The original 12-year term remains in effect Ferrell said he probably will hire more than the 13 people but didn't want to commit to more than that The community reinvestment area would not apply to any renovation that is done to the upper level of the building A separate agreement would have to be made if Buckeye decides to develop the upper level in the future West noted that under the terms of a community reinvestment area owners still are responsible for the tax on their building before the building was improved The 65% abatement on the South Sycamore Street building applies only to the improved value of the property "It's great to see that this local business is taking on this property and plans move all of their business into it," Councilman Tim Calfee said when council voted on transferring the agreement The building's going to be put to good use." Ohio — The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) is combing through an early Sunday morning shooting involving Ravenna police that killed a man The Ravenna Police Department provided a press release regarding the shooting on Sunday RELATED: 1 dead after shooting involving Ravenna Police The release explained that Ravenna officers initially responded to a report of 48-year-old Shawn Ware with a gun sleeping on the floor of an apartment at a Hazen Avenue complex around 1:30 a.m The individual who made the report was inside the same apartment at the time revealing Ware lying on the floor with a firearm in his waistband "Officers immediately retreated and issued verbal commands to drop the weapon The door then closed between the officers and the suspect but officers continued to give commands from outside," the press release stated Ware reportedly exited the apartment while using another male as a "human shield." "Officers immediately attempted life-saving measures but the male succumbed to the injuries at the scene No officers were injured during the incident," the press release stated News 5 requested more information on Sunday but have not heard back We also stopped by the Ravenna Police Department records division early Sunday evening News 5 Photojournalist David Colabine stopped by the apartment complex on Sunday and spoke with residents Amanda Walker said there was no commotion she could hear until Ravenna police arrived Drop the gun.' I [saw] the guy come out of the apartment I immediately looked away because I knew something bad was going to happen and I just heard all these gunshots," Walker stated said she was asleep at the time of the shooting but the alarming sound of gunshots woke her up She estimated that four or five shots popped off I was just standing in front of my balcony I freaked out more because it's just so scary like the walls and ceilings are so thin That bullet could have shot anyone and it's just really sad and tragic and scary," Chambers said The consensus across the handful of residents News 5 interviewed was that they couldn't believe what had happened "I just moved here a couple of months ago and nothing like this has ever happened As News 5 interviewed Cook in the hallway of the apartment complex "It's pretty crazy— those blood stains," he said Kim Polley also lives in the complex and described the shooting as "outrageous," but said "it is what it is" when asked if the incident would cause her to move The residents News 5 talked to hope to learn more in the coming days neighbors like Walker and Chambers are getting to know each other in case crime scene tape ever dresses their homes again I feel like we definitely should probably come together just to be aware of more things," Chambers told Walker Sunday morning BCI is leading the investigation due to the involvement of Ravenna officers in the shooting — Pleasanton and Ravenna Public Schools passed multi-million-dollar school bonds earlier this week Pleasanton voters approved an $11 million bond issue that will add eight high school classrooms and expand the shop space to offer more career Pleasanton voters approved the school bond by a 341-265 vote This comes during a growing enrollment period for the school district Pleasanton has grown by roughly 25% and expects to add another 20 students in the next five years Construction is expected to take two years to complete Ravenna voters overwhelmingly supported their school district’s efforts to improve building conditions with nearly 72% of the voters supporting the bond issue 442 people voted in favor of the $5.5 million bond and only 176 people voted against it These bond issues will be used to add a career a new weight room and improve the special education facilities Construction will begin in September and is expected to be completed by December of 2026.