It sure doesn't look anything like Spring outside right now, but take heart. Warmer  weather is just around the corner. Sarah Jamison of the National weather Service in Cleveland says their just released Spring long range forecast for April and May should make you quickly forget about winter...

Jamison tells AkronNewsNow " They are suggesting that temperatures are going to be above normal. That's going to be quite a turnaround from going through March with temperatures well below normal."

Jamison says the rapid warm-up should begin in early April, mid-April at the latest.

" Besides just the normal seasonal fluctuations, it looks like the pattern itself will favor even above normal temperatures" says Jamison.

As for precipitation this Spring, "As far as going into the next couple of months the precipitation looks like it will be at or slightly above normal. So that at least would favor us not to go into another drought like we did last Spring of last year," says Sarah Jamison.

Suspended University of Akron point guard Alex Abreu has pleaded not guilty to drug charges before a magistrate this morning.

NewsChannel 5 reports he remains free on a 5000-dollar bond for the incident two weeks ago where an undercover cop arrested him after abreu answered a delivery of a five-pound bag of marijuana.

Abreu has another hearing set for April 3rd before Summit County Judge Mary Rowlands.

Abreu's case comes as the rest of his teammates were blown out in the NCAA tournament last night by VCU.

Akron Police have arrested a suspect in connection with a hit-skip accident in which the driver allegedly struck a five-year old boy, apologized to the victim, and then drove away last week.  

Officers from the Akron Police Department Traffic Bureau arrested Shaune P. Chesney, 48, of Westgay Avenue in Akron on a felony charge of hit skip, and driving under a suspended license.

On the afternoon of  March 15th, Chesney allegedly struck the boy while the child was crossing Goodhue Avenue. Chesney reportedly stopped momentarily, asked the boy if he was alright, and then fled the scene. The five year old was transported to Akron Children’s Hospital by family where he was treated for a broken leg.

Chesney and he was stopped on West Market and Pershing Avenue Thursday afternoon, taken into custody and booked into the Summit County Jail.

Chesney is scheduled for an arraignment hearing in Akron Municipal Court this morning, March 22, 2013 at 9:00 am.

The Ohio Parole Board has denied parole for 74-year old Ward Melvin Humberson, formerly of Hudson. Humberson pleaded guilty in 1996 to Rape involving several young female relatives.

The Parole Board initially recommended Humberson be released from prison. The Summit County Prosecutor’s Office and Humberson’s victims, however, strongly objected to the release and requested a full board hearing. A representative from the Prosecutor’s Office and members of the victim’s family presented arguments against Humberson’s release and successfully blocked his release for at least another three years.

Humberson was caught by his son in the act of simulating sex with a young female relative who was crying out for him to stop. Detectives from the Hudson Police Department learned that this was not the first time Humberson had acted inappropriately with the girl. Humberson confessed to repeatedly raping and molesting the girl, as well as molesting several other young relatives.

“When Ward Humberson confessed to sexually assaulting his victim, he showed absolutely no remorse and was, in fact, arrogant, as if this young girl and the other young girls he assaulted over the years had intentionally seduced him,” said Prosecutor Walsh. “Humberson is the typical child molester who blames the victim for ‘asking for it.’ His lack of contrition or even an understanding that what he did was wrong leaves me with no doubt that Humberson would be terrorizing new victims if he were released from prison.”

Humberson was sentenced to 25 years in prison with parole eligibility after 10 years. Humberson will again be considered for parole in March 2016. If all bids for parole are rejected, Humberson would be released from prison February 2021, when he will be 82 years old.

Akron Police detectives are investigating a shooting that occurred around 12:30am this morning in the 100 block of Stuber Street. The victim, Anthony J. Martin, 20, of Massillon, was transported to St. Thomas Hospital where his injuries do not appear to be life threatening.

No other information is available at this time. The shooting remains under investigation.

It's part of a growing trend across the country. Cities are holding job fairs and employment expos to try and help local companies find qualified employees.The city of Streetsboro and the Streetsboro Area Chamber Of Commerce held their first employment expo at the Streetsboro High School gym Wednesday evening with 36 companies participating.

"The biggest thing is that we do have jobs in the area that are going unfilled, and we are trying to bring qualified candidates in and get them to meet directly with the companies that want to employ them," said Streetsboro Mayor Glenn Broska.

Broska says Streetsboro is home to many small and medium manufacturing firms that need employees, but are having problems finding potential job candidates who qualify for the positions. " We do know that there is a vacuum out there as far as finding qualified candidates. We're hoping to put those people in contact with the people who can employ the," says Broska.

Broska says the city and chamber of commerce decided to hold the first employment expo after talking to local companies. "One of the things we found through talking with the companies is that they are having a difficult time reaching out to the people that are qualified."

What if you offered to give away a building if the new owner would pay to move it, and had no takers. That's exactly what happened to the City Of Akron when it offered to give away the former Board of Realtors building in the 400 block of South High Street.

Mike Teodecki of the City of Akron Engineering Bureau says the building was in good shape. It was built in 1979.

The city will now absorb the cost of demolishing the former Board of Realtors Building on South High Street to make way for 250 more parking spaces. The spaces will be used by students who will live in new student apartments under construction adjacent to the property.

Teodecki says the city has made deals to successfully move other salvageable buildings in the past, but not this time.

The California developer who built the new Goodyear corproate headquarters in East Akron says he's about to sign an agreement with a national hotel chain to build a new hotel on the site of a former Goodyear parking lot.

Stuart Lichter, founder and president of Industrial Realty Group,  tells the Akron Beacon Journal he isn't revealing the name of the new hotel operator just yet, but says construction could begin in the next few months.

Lichter says the old Goodyear headquarters building on East Market Street also has its first tenant, but he won't disclose the identity of the tenant until he receives their approval. Lichter tells the newspaper the new tenants would occupy 40,000 square feet of the building.

Lichter owns the 400 acre east Akron site where the new headquarters and the hotel will be located, and is trying to fill 800,000 square feet inside the old headquarters buildings, which he purchased.

Goodyear is moving its employees into the new corporate headquarters building by April. with the move occuring in phases this month and next.

On the web : ohio.com

Akron Police have made two arrests in connection with two separate robberies in the city.

29-year old Justin M Harris, of Summit Road in Norton, was charged with Aggravated Robbery and Kidnapping. Harris allegedly entered the Little Caesars on East Ave and fired one round and demanded money. He then forced two employees to the rear of the store at gun point and took one employees wallet before running out the back door.

28-year old Joseph Burnett,of Copley Road in Akron was charged with Aggravated Robbery, Kidnapping, Carrying a Concealed Weapon and Weapons under Disability. Joseph allegedly entered the Dollar General on Vernon Odom Boulevard and demanded cash at gun point. He ordered employees to the back of the store demanding they open the safe. When an officer entered the store Burnett fled out the back door. Joseph Burnett was apprehended and found to have a weapon on Dover Ave.

A smaller list of highway projects planned in the city of Akron this year according to the city's traffic construction manager Jim Weber. "Unfortunately a lot of that's due to a lack of federal funding. We have projects we'd like to do . We have plans done," Weber tells AkronNewsNow.

Weber says they have several road projects ready to go but they'll have to wait until next year or even later due to the funding reductions.

Among the projects due for construction this summer is the improvement of Wilbeth Road. " From Dallas Avenue which is just east of South Main Street to Firestone Parkway, we're going to put all new pavement in, new curbs, new sidewalks, new street lights. That's going to be all new," says Jim Weber. Weber says that portion of Wilbeth Road will have to be closed for about a month for construction. Detours will be post when the project begins.

East Market Street will also see improvements. " On East Market Street between Route 8 and Arlington Street it's a signalization project. And if you've noticed throughout the city we've been doing a lot of these signalization projects where we'll putting in new signals, and you'll see cameras going up with the signals. All of this is tied in through a fiber optic network back to our traffic control center where we can monitor the traffic, and make adjustments as neccessary ," says Weber.

The Thornton Street bridge near the Akron Post Office will be getting a new surface. That will mean closing the bridge for about three months. the project will begin right after spring graduation at the University of Akron according to Jim Weber. Their goal is to have the bridge re-opened by the time classes start in the fall.