UPDATED to include partial listing of events today

The Executive Director of the Summit County Victims Assistance Program says remembering the 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks really hits home with him.

Reverend Bob Denton says he was asked to come to New York City on September 11th, 2001 to help those who were working at Ground Zero.

This was a first for the National Organization of Victims Assistance Programs, helping first responders deal with their pain and suffering. In 2011, it's something that we all take for granted. But, back in 2001, it was new technology.

Reverend Denton says dealing with victims was psychological in nature back in 2001. Ten years later, Reverend Denton says the response in helping victims of crimes or other disasters is now more social in nature.

The most difficult problem Reverend Denton says he had to deal with 10 years ago was to have first responders separate their professional duties from their personal feelings.

Plus, Reverend Denton says 9/11 showed professionals how important a faith based alterative was was in dealing with a disaster of this magnitude. Now, Reverend Denton says Victims Assistance programs routinely use faith based efforts.

Denton is one of several church leaders participating in a non-denominational service Sunday afternoon at 4:00 at Faith Lutheran Church in Fairlawn.

Akron Police and the Summit County Medical Examiners Office are investigating a traffic accident that claimed two lives late last night.

The accident took place at Waterloo Road and Bey Drive.

The names of the victims have not been released pending notification of relatives.

The accident took place shortly before 10 o'clock last night.

Heavy rain is pelting the Portage and Geauga Counties this morning.

The National Weather Service in Cleveland has issued a FLOOD WARNING for Northern Portage and Southern Geauga counties until 2:00 this afternoon.

The FLOOD WARNING is for Urban Areas and Small Streams in those two counties.

The Weather Service says between 2-to-3 inches of rain fell between Hiram in Portage County and Bainbridge and South Russell in Geauga County on Saturday morning between 9 and 9:45. Forecasters say the heavy rain is continuing in that area.

The rain has caused State Route 700 to be washed out near Hiram at Norton Road.  Plus, flooding is taking place in a residential area near Hiram Rapids.  Safety officials have evacuated one home in that area.

Plus, a FLOOD WATCH is in effect in Summit County until 4 o'clock Saturday afternoon.

Safety officials area asking motorists to not drive into areas where water covers the highway.

Lonnie Chisenhall hit a pair of two-run homersand the Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago White Sox 8-4 on Friday night.

Chisenhall, Cleveland's rookie third baseman, set career highs with his two homers and four RBIs and the Indians snapped a four-game losing streak.

Ezequiel Carrera, Kosuke Fukudome, Shelley Duncan and Lou Marson had two hits apiece for the Indians. Carrera and Fukudome each drove in two runs.

Jeanmar Gomez allowed two runs and six hits over six innings and improved to 3-0 with a 0.52 ERA in three starts since being recalled from Triple-A Columbus on Aug. 30.

White Sox starter Mark Buehrle had his second straight rough outing, allowing seven runs and eight hits over 5 2-3 innings.

The teams play Game Three of their Four-game series Saturday afternoon in Chicago.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Akr. Coventry 21, Akr. East 20
Akr. SVSM 39, St. John's, D.C. 14
Alliance 32, Louisville Aquinas 23
Alliance Marlington 41, Poland Seminary 23
Apple Creek Waynedale 30, Wooster Triway 0
Aurora 52, Richfield Revere 21
Can. Cent. Cath. 42, Akr. Springfield 14
Can. Glenoak 27, Euclid 20
Can. McKinley 50, Uniontown Lake 27
Can. Timken 50, Dalton 14
Canal Fulton Northwest 49, Can. South 21
Chagrin Falls 31, Mogadore Field 16
Columbia Station Columbia 27, Doylestown Chippewa 12
Copley 13, Orrville 7, OT
Creston Norwayne 56, Collins Western Reserve 7
Cuyahoga Falls Walsh Jesuit 26, Cols. Watterson 24
Dublin Coffman 34, Massillon Perry 16
Garrettsville Garfield 14, Warren Champion 7
Green 27, Akr. Kenmore 12
Hudson 41, Brecksville-Broadview Hts. 14
Jeromesville Hillsdale 17, Loudonville 10
Kent Roosevelt 50, Cuyahoga Falls 17
Lodi Cloverleaf 43, Akr. North 6
Malvern 53, E. Can. 13
Massillon Jackson 30, Avon Lake 16
Massillon Washington 49, Maumee 14
Medina Highland 21, N. Royalton 7
Minerva 54, Massillon Tuslaw 20
N. Can. Hoover 32, Lexington 0
Ravenna 31, Louisville 6
Ravenna SE 31, Mantua Crestwood 6
Smithville 49, Navarre Fairless 25
Solon 28, Akr. Buchtel 2
Sullivan Black River 29, Akr. Manchester 28
Tallmadge 35, Akr. Garfield 13
Twinsburg 35, Lancaster 27
Wadsworth 23, Medina 6
Wooster 39, Akr. Ellet 14
Youngs. Boardman 35, Akr. Hoban 6
Zoarville Tuscarawas Valley 28, Magnolia Sandy Valley 27
POSTPONEMENTS AND CANCELLATIONS
Cle. Hts. Lutheran E. vs. Atwater Waterloo, ppd.
Leavittsburg LaBrae vs. Cuyahoga Falls CVCA, susp.
Akr. Firestone vs. Stow-Munroe Falls, ppd.
Beloit W. Branch vs. Streetsboro, ppd.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Brent Morel hit two homers and Paul Konerko had a grand slam, lifting the Chicago White Sox to an 8-1 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Thursday night.

Morel hit a solo shot off Indians starter David Huff (2-4) in the third and a three-run homer off Frank Herrmann in the seventh, both on the first pitch. It was Morel's first career multi-homer game and his four RBIs were a career-high.

Konerko's 10th career grand slam tied Robin Ventura's White Sox record and capped Chicago's seven-run seventh. Gavin Floyd struck out four and held Cleveland to one run and five hits in 5 2-3 innings.

Matt Thornton (1-4) retired all four batters he faced, striking out three.

Huff gave up three runs and five hits in 6 1-3 innings, striking out five, as the Indians lost their fourth straight.

The teams play game two of their four-game series tonight in the Windy City. Lefty Mark Buehrle pitches for the White Sox. Jeanmar Gomez starts on the mound for the Indians.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Sunday is the first regular season game for Pat Shurmur as head coach of the Cleveland Browns as they take on the Cincinnati Bengals at Browns Stadium.

Last season, Shurmur was offensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams. He was hired in January to take over the Browns.

Shurmur says he's looking forward to his first game as a head coach.

“I don’t know about words. I’m excited. I feel like the players have been kind of jumping over the hurdles that they need to jump over, said Shurmur."

"I think organizationally we’re doing the same thing. You go through the process of the offseason, the draft and getting ready for the season. It was a little bit non-traditional. I shouldn’t say a little bit, it was a lot non-traditional. What started to feel normal to me was when training camp started. I think then you get about six weeks of work here where you get yourself refocused on what you think it should look like. I got a good vision of what practice today should look like and I know what tomorrow should look like and how Saturday should feel. I think it’s just general excitement, I’m looking forward to seeing our guys compete.”

Among the steps that have made the transition from offensive coordinator to head coach easier, is Shurmur's relationship with General Manager Tom Heckert and Team President Mike Holmgren.

“In terms of working together, I think it’s been terrific. I think there’s a natural interaction. Tom Heckert’s office is just one door down from mine and I can travel behind the scenes and not out in the hallway. We bounce back and forth all the time. When I’m going from meetings I’ll bounce through the training room and go see Tom. It’s very rare I don’t see Tom about every couple hours. I see coach Holmgren quite frequently during the day as well. If things come up, we talk about them and if I have something that we need to discuss, we bring it up, we discuss, we execute it and move on. Again, maybe it’s a better question for Mike and Tom, I feel as though it’s been natural. In fact, I’ve kind of enjoyed the process so far, ” said Shurmur.

The University of Akron men's soccer program lost one of its own Tuesday with the passing of two-time All-American Shaun Pendleton.

Pendleton, who played at UA from 1983-85, was found dead in his home at the age of 49.
"It is a sad time for the The University of Akron soccer family," said UA head coach Caleb Porter. "Shaun Pendleton was a tremendous player at Akron and in the pros and has been a great teacher and ambassador of the game for over 20 years. Our hearts go out to his family and friends during this difficult time."

To honor the memory of Pendleton, the UA men's soccer team will wear black armbands for their match against New Mexico on Sept. 16, which will be broadcast on FOX Soccer Channel.  Pendleton was in his fourth season as the head coach at Appalachian State, where he compiled a 27-26-4 overall record in his three-plus campaigns and led the Mountaineers to second-place finishes in the SouthernConference in 2008 and 2010.

Prior to his arrival at Appalachian, he spent 17 seasons as the head coach at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla., leading the Knights to a pair of national championships — at the NCAA Division II level in 2003 and in the NAIA ranks in 1991. With a 347-79-18 career record, his .802 winning percentage remains the highest in Division II history (for coaches with a minimum of 10 D-II seasons).

The native of Sheffield, England, earned bachelor's and master's degrees from UA in 1985. He garnered All-American status as a defender with the Zips in both 1984 and 1985 after transferring from UNC-Charlotte as a sophomore in 1982.

During Pendleton's time at UA, the Zips posted an overall record of 41-12-8 (.738), captured three consecutive Ohio Collegiate Soccer Association (OCSA) titles and advanced to the NCAA Tournament each season.

During that run, Akron registered 34 shutouts in 61 contests.

Following his Akron career, Pendleton went on to play four seasons in the American Indoor Soccer Association, setting a league record by appearing in 177-consecutive matches.
 

The University of Akron men's and women's cross country teams opened the 2011 season in impressive fashion Thursday at the 43rd running of the Tommy Evans Invitational at Firestone Metro Park.

Behind second and third-place finishes from fellow freshmen Maria Moore (18:52) and Morgan Willis (19:19), the Zips women swept Buffalo (18-37), Kent State (20-35), Malone (22-35) and Youngstown State (21-34) in dual meet scoring to win their 5k.

Meanwhile, Brad Hough clocked a time of 20:14 to win the men's four-mile race and lead the Zips to wins over Buffalo (25-34), Malone (25-30) and Youngstown State (16-45). KSU's men's team edged the Zips, 25-30.

It was a dominant first showing for the young Zips' women, who placed four runners in the top 10. Following Moore's and Willis' lead, sophomores Alex Bowers (19:25) and Kayla Whitlow (19:26) finished fifth and sixth, respectively. Freshman Jillian Roth rounded out the list of Akron scorers, placing 21st with a time of 19:57.

Youngstown State's Samantha Hamilton won the competition, crossing the line in 18:40.

Hough was one of two UA runners to place in the top 10 and one of five to finish in the top 20. Freshman Dylan Papp placed eighth with a time of 20:51, while senior Brian Cull (20:58) and sophomore Kyle Wheeler (21:04) took 12th and 14th place, respectively. Freshman Albert Brannan was the final scorer on the men's side with a 16th-place finish and time of 21:12.

Three more Zips finished 24-26 with senior Andy Knapp leading the way at 21:35, followed by juniors Nick Stroemple (21:39) and Dan Jackisch (21:44). Freshman John Wodarski placed 31st with a time of 22:12.
The Zips cross country teams will be back in action on Sept. 17 when they travel to Annapolis, Md., for the Salty Dog Invitational.

Browns quarterback Colt McCoy begins the 2011 National Football League season a lot differently than he began his rookie season.

Last season, McCoy was the third quarterback for the season's opener against Tampa Bay. This year, McCoy is the starting quarterback when Cleveland takes on the Cincinnati Bengals at Browns Stadium on Sunday.

McCoy says he is up for the challenge of leading the Browns into the 2011 season. “It’s been like that since we came back. I’m really honestly past that," said McCoy. " I understand that it’s my job to go out and play well and lead our team. That’s really my only focus. Like I said, I’m blessed. I thank the Lord each day for the opportunity that I have. We have a good group of guys in this locker room. They guys work really hard. If you look at the things that have gone on this preseason, injuries guys went down, somebody has stepped up and filled that void, coaches have done a great job and now is when it counts. Now we’ve got to go out and all this work that we’ve put in, we’ve got to go put it to use.”

Following yesterday's practice session in Berea, McCoy said his only focus is on the Cincinnati Bengals.

“We’re just going to take it one game at a time and I’ll probably tell you that every week. For us, all we’re focusing on right now is the Cincinnati Bengals. It’s a division game and those guys are coming to our house. We’re excited about it. We look forward to the opportunity to go out there and play and understand the challenges there. One thing when you look at their defense is they’re veterans across the board. They don’t have any rookies. Everyone who plays on defense has played before and that’s big for a team. When you look at tape, you can tell. They don’t bust coverages, they don’t mess up. They bring a lot of pressure and for us, we’ve got our hands full.”

McCoy says he understands the challenge that the Browns' offense faces with the Cincinnati defense.