AKRONWard 7 meetingAKRON: Tina Merlitti, the Ward 7 councilwoman, will have a ward meeting at 7 p.m. today at Firestone Park Community Center, 1480 Girard St.A representative of Metro Regional Transit Authority will speak.CANTONMedical careCANTON: Medical and dental services should be available by the middle of 2012 in the underserved northeast quadrant of the city.The City Council on Monday gave Mercy Medical Center $250,000 from its federal Community Development Block Grant to help establish a medical center in a former convent at 1459 Superior Ave. NE.The hospital expects to spend at least $750,000 on the facility near St. Paul’s Catholic Church.The hospital undertook the project in light of finding that in 2010 its emergency room had more than 6,000 visits from residents of the area, many of whom could have been treated in a primary-care center.LAKE TOWNSHIPLimits on speakingLAKE TWP.: Trustees established a time limit for public speaking at their meetings during their regular meeting Monday night.Individuals will have a three-minute time limit to speak and will be limited to speaking once during the public speaking portion of a meeting.Trustees also authorized the purchase of a Kobelco excavator for the township road department. It will be purchased through a state program from Southeastern Equipment Co. of North Canton for $90,000.Trustees declared a property on Tippecanoe Avenue a public nuisance and said the owners will have 14 days to remove junk vehicles from the property or the township will have the vehicles removed and that cost placed on the tax duplicate.PLAIN SCHOOLSAbsence explainedPLAIN TWP.: Board of Education President Nick Campanelli read a letter from board member Chris Cugini at the Plain Local school board meeting Monday evening.In his letter, Cugini said he is taking part in an internship in Washington, D.C., and will be absent from the area until Dec. 17. He said that although he will miss meetings, he plans to keep up with board matters until he returns.Cugini has missed the past two meetings.Board member John Halkias said Cugini asked the board to pass a resolution regarding his time away, but board members thought this would not be appropriate, nor could the matter be discussed in executive session. Campanelli said the board does not explain the absence of members at meetings; it is up to the individual to explain absences to constituents.In other business, the board authorized renewing a lease with Mercy Medical Center for 3,200 square feet of space at GlenOak High School at a cost of $47,000 per year.STOW-MUNROE FALLSGloomy forecastSTOW: The Stow-Munroe Falls Board of Education approved the five-year forecast Treasurer Catherine Bulgrin presented Monday that shows looming deficits.Bulgrin said tax valuation of real property in the district has decreased. The process of eliminating the Tangible Personal Property Tax has been accelerated, which reduces district revenue, and per-pupil funding from the state has been lowered under the current state budget.Despite concessions in employee salaries and benefits over the next two years, a reduction in employees and a $600,000 savings in insurance premiums, the district will be spending about $230,000 more than it will receive in 2011, she reported. In 2012, the district will spend about $1.3 million more than it receives, and by 2014 the district will begin the year with a deficit of more than $5 million.That deficit, in the absence of new money, is projected to rise to $45 million by the beginning of the 2016 school year, Bulgrin said.She prepared a second forecast, based on passage of the 6.57-mill levy on the November ballot and renewal of two levies expiring in 2012 and 2015. If that scenario occurs, the district would run in the black, with an acceptable starting balance for the years 2012 through 2015.