Portage County Legal News

Portage County Legal News.

Local

Human trafficking summit to feature abduction survivor Elizabeth Smart

According to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), at any given time in the United States up to 100,000 people may be reported missing, with the number rising to as high as 600,000 annually.
While many are found alive and well, the whereabouts of others remain unknown, with the tragic disappearances some ... (full story)

Retired judge Marvin Shapiro receives St. Thomas More award

When Summit County Juvenile Court Judge Linda Tucci Teodosio served as a former magistrate to then-Akron Municipal Court Judge Marvin A. Shapiro, she said she admired his dedication to the job and the respectful way in which he treated counsel and litigants alike.
“Judge Shapiro always gave everyone the opportunity to be h ... (full story)

Peru's ancient irrigation systems succeeded in turning deserts into farms

(THE CONVERSATION) Seeing the north coast of Peru for the first time, you would be hard-pressed to believe it's one of the driest deserts in the world.
Parts of the region receive less than an inch of rain in an entire year. Yet, water and greenery are everywhere. This is the nation's agro-industrial heartland, and, thanks to ir ... (full story)

Is a faith-based charter school a threat to religious freedom, or a necessity to uphold it? The weighty decision lies with the Supreme Court

(THE CONVERSATION) As demonstrators gathered outside, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on April 30, 2025, about whether Oklahoma can operate the nation's firstfaith-basedcharter school. St. Isidore of Seville would be a virtual, K-12 school run by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa.
Ch ... (full story)

State

Legislation would create a system to alert public of escaped convicts

Members of the Public Safety Committee in the Ohio House of Representatives this week heard from the sponsors of a bill who want to create a public-alert system for escaped convicts.
Rep. Bill Roemer, R-Richfield, said the basis for the bill resulted from an unsettling personal experience last year.
“Last fall, I was w ... (full story)

Court approves permits for Licking Cty. solar farm

The Supreme Court of Ohio recently held that the Ohio Power Siting Board properly authorized the construction of a large-scale solar farm in Licking County.
The Supreme Court affirmed the siting board’s order that granted a certificate to Harvey Solar to construct a 350-megawatt solar facility on 2,630 acres of private pro ... (full story)

A crackdown on diversity programs is reshaping college graduation ceremonies

PHOENIX (AP) — As a first-generation college student, Austin Kissinger was looking forward to celebrating graduation with others of similar backgrounds who helped each other find their way at the University of Kentucky. Typically, Kentucky students who are the first in their family to graduate from college pick a faculty membe ... (full story)

Technology

ChatGPT said a guy killed his children, sparking a GDPR privacy complaint

Nice to see ChatGPT hallucinating its way across Europe.
ChatGPT in Europe comes with a teeny, tiny disclaimer stating that it can sometimes be wrong.
That may not be good enough if the chatbot comes up with a search result that says a Norwegian man killed his children.
Inputting the man’s name into ChatGPT got a ... (full story)