Buchtel Community Learning Center will host a public event featuring two survivors of historical atrocities as part of its history and English students’ Promise Project. El Fadel Arbab, a Darfur genocide survivor, and Leo Silberman, a Holocaust survivor, will appear May 23 at 6 p.m.

The event is free and also will feature displays and artwork by the students involved in The Promise Project. 

The Promise Project is under the direction of Kristy Nelson and Drew Hoisington, English and history teachers, respectively. The two instructors co-teach a class called American Studies, with the goal of engaging their students with community-based projects. The Buchtel PTA is a sponsor of this event.

Teams of sleek, lean, highly-trained K-9 law enforcement personnel will take-over Lock 3 in Downtown Akron May 18, demonstrating their methods for attacking the bad guys.

Akron's 3rd Annual "K-9 Challenge" is being sponsored by the Akron Police Department, and will include teams of dogs and handlers from Summit and surrounding counties.

The Olympic-style competitions are open to the public and will begin at 10 am and will continue until completed - about 2 p.m. – at Lock 3, 200 S. Main St. Admission is free and guests can park for free in the State Street Parking Deck adjacent to Lock 3.

Art antiquities in the black market and a Steinway piano serenade in a garden setting are featured in this spring's Arts-in-Residence Series offered by The University of Akron's Fine Arts Division.

On Thursday, May 16, beginning at 7:30 p.m., UA art historian Elisha Ann Dumser will talk about "Loot! Antiquities Collecting and the Black Market" at the West Akron home of well-known art advocates Rick and Alita Rogers.

Dumsher will reveal how nearly all antiquities entering American collections over the past 40 years have emerged from illegal excavations, clandestine smuggling operations, and a thriving black market. She'll also discuss objects in northeast Ohio art collections. The evening will include delicious desserts and an opportunity to explore the Rogers' own collection of contemporary art.

Armed with a genuine concern about deteriorating urban neighborhoods and an unwavering love and compassion for people, a vehicle to transform blight into beauty and struggle into empowerment for the human spirit was born, known as Let's Grow Akron.  

The organization was officially established in 1988 with Elaine working tirelessly alongside neighbors to clear unsightly vacant lots and convert them into productive gardens where she taught people the skills needed to grow their own food and bring back a sense of pride to their community.

Elaine was truly a visionary and by no stretch of the imagination were the things she set her sights on improving in a neighborhood ever a small order.  In 1998 Elaine gathered children in the South Akron Summit Lake Neighborhood, paired with  teams of adult volunteers to clean up one of Akron's top ten dump sites.

Whitewater Technologies, an Israeli Company with U.S. headquarters in Akron, was selected as a 2013 New Energy Pioneers at the Sixth Annual Bloomberg New Energy Finance Summit in New York City.  Akron was the first city in the United States to recognize the significance of the Israeli technology and to utilize it to secure its water system.

"Israeli technology is a world leader in water system security and I am proud that Akron was the first in the United States to recognize the importance and potential of this technology," noted Mayor Don Plusquellic.  "Whitewater technology allows us to increase security measures and enhance system performance with limited resources.  Our water system operators, from one control room, have immediate knowledge of what is happening within the watershed and distribution system, what to do in an emergency, who to call, what valves to adjust, and what treatment levels to manage...all within minutes." 

The Akron Civic Theatre will host its first ever chocolate fundraiser, "It's All About Chocolate," May 20 at 6 p.m.

The evening will include chocolate food samplings and chocolate martinis, among other chocolate offerings. This Civic fundraiser is based on the very popular purse swaps, but using this popular food.

"Lose a Pound, Gain a Pound" - Everyone will need to bring a one pound box of divine chocolate, in its original package, and then they will be able to swap it out for a pound of chocolates. Attendees will swap in order of ticket color.