AKRONBack to natureAKRON: The visitor center at the Seiberling Nature Realm will be open Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.Hours will be 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.The center, at 1828 Smith Road, normally is closed Mondays.Call 330-865-8065 or go to www.summitmetroparks.org for more information.Ward 6 meetingAKRON: Bob Hoch, the new Ward 6 councilman, will have his first ward meeting from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Ellet Community Center, 2449 Wedgewood Ave.Constituents will have the opportunity to meet Hoch, whose victory in November ended the long political career of former Councilman Bob Otterman.An engineering bureau official will discuss the Massillon Road project.Lock 3 on iceAKRON: Lock 3 in downtown Akron this weekend will feature ice skating and ice sculpting.Teams of students from the University of Akron’s ice carving team will practice their ice sculpting from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. They are preparing for inter-collegiate competitions later this year.The students, who are part of UA’s Summit College Hospitality Management program, compete in contests across the country. Since 1994, the team has won four national ice carving competitions.The Lock 3 ice skating rink and the Reindeer Run sledding hill will operate through Jan. 29.The ice skating rink is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursdays; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays. The sledding hill operates from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday through Sunday and 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.The ice rink will be open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and the sledding hill from 1 to 4 p.m. Monday, which is Martin Luther King Jr. Day.For a complete Lock 3 schedule, visit www.lock3live.com. CAMPAIGN TRAILPolitical fundraiserAKRON: Summit County Council candidate Phil Montgomery will hold a fundraiser from 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday at Square in Akron, hosted by owner Pete Nervo.The cost is $40, or $20 for Young Democrats and students. Supporters are encouraged to stay for a live jazz performance after the event.Montgomery, a Democrat, recently served as the Ward 8 representative to Akron City Council and is seeking election to County Council District 4 in the March 6 primary.CUYAHOGA VALLEY PARKBody foundSAGAMORE HILLS: Rangers in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park are investigating the death of a visitor identified as a North Royalton man.Scott Bickel, 21, of Gabriells Drive, apparently fell into the Cuyahoga River near the state Route 82 bridge between Sagamore Hills Township and Brecksville and the Station Road Bridge Trailhead.Park officials said rangers got a call at about 11 p.m. Wednesday that a male park visitor had gone into the water.The area surrounding the 8-foot-high dam across the river, a potentially dangerous spot, was closed to the public.Gary Guenther of the Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office said Thursday the case appears to be a suicide.An autopsy is pending.Assisting the National Park Service were personnel from Cleveland Metroparks, the Sagamore Hills Police Department and the Northfield Center Fire Department. NORTH CANTONDorm to expandNORTH CANTON: The city’s Planning Commission approved a conditional-use application Walsh University has submitted to build a dormitory addition to Lemmon Hall.A conditional-use permit was necessary because the addition would extend the dormitory within 300 feet of homes on Philzer Avenue. No residents attended the meeting.The three-story, 29,000-square-foot addition would be integrated architecturally into Lemmon Hall. Because the land slopes slightly at the site, a lower-level entrance, with classrooms, offices and a community room, is planned. The addition will have 66 beds.A site plan will be submitted soon, said Phil Daniels, Walsh’s vice president of finance.Groundbreaking is anticipated later this month, with completion by mid-August.NORTHEAST OHIOHoliday closingsThere will be a one-day delay of curb service (trash/recycle collection) in Akron next week related to the observance Monday of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Curb service will resume Tuesday through Saturday.All branches and offices of the Akron-Summit County Public Library, Stark County District Library and Portage County District Library systems will be closed Monday. They will resume regular operating hours Tuesday.All 23 Ohio E-Check stations in the Cleveland and Akron area will be closed Monday. PORTAGE COUNTYKnife thrownSHALERSVILLE TWP.: Portage County sheriff’s deputies arrested a student accused of throwing a knife at a deputy Thursday morning during a disturbance at a special education school in Shalersville Township.Deputies were called to the Cooperative Learning Program held at the former Shalersville School on state Route 303 in response to several disruptive juveniles. Deputies were told one girl had injured herself with a knife. She was taken for treatment.While deputies questioned a second girl about the knife, the student began to walk away, then raised a folding knife. While holding the knife, the girl ignored orders to drop the weapon, authorities said.A deputy then used pepper spray to subdue the girl, who tossed the knife at the deputy after being sprayed. The deputy was not struck.The second girl was taken for a psychological evaluation. She is expected to face assault charges, deputies said.The Portage County Educational Service Center runs the Cooperative Learning Program for students with severe emotional disabilities.