Around the Patch: Dead Dogs, Drunk Drivers & Gas Drilling

1. A Solon woman has been arrested on drunk driving charges for the second time in 30 days.

Deborah Graci Horner, 53, of Liberty Road in Solon, already has pending charges of drunk driving and hit and run resulting from two separate incidents on May 25 and May 26.

On June 16, police arrested Horner and charged her with drunk driving after the Ford Taurus she was driving became "embedded" in a Chevy pickup truck in the intersection of Bainbridge and SOM Center roads. Police say she had slurred speech and was fidgety. 

A field sobriety test indicated a blood alcohol level of .172, according to the police report.

For more on Horner, .

2. A Mayfield Village man is upset because the driver who killed his dog wants him to to pay for damages to the driver's car.

Read more about it .

3. More than 70 people from communities throughout Portage County attended a public forum Saturday at the  on the topic of horizontal hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," hosted by the Kent Environmental Council.

Moderated by Robert Heath, an ecosystem ecologist and retired director of the Water Resources Research Institute at , “What the Frack?” included a panel of four scientists and environmental activists who took questions from the audience after presenting information on the fracking process.

Fracking is a drilling method used to obtain natural gas trapped in underground shale. A drilling fluid, composed of water and sand with some chemical additives, is injected at high pressure into the rock to break it and release the natural gas.

"The goal is to get the discussion going," said Jeff Ingram, a KEC member. "Let’s see what’s going on under the ground, especially with something as important as drinking water."

 For more on fracking, .

4. Camera crews were busy filming for the movie Fun Size 

The movie, which features Nickelodeon star Victoria Justice, has also filmed in Lakewood.