Akron Beacon Journal
Summit Ridge tenants detail ‘disgusting’ woes
Sue Christopher said her apartment at the Towers at Summit Ridge was “disgusting” when she moved in 10 months ago, and conditions haven’t improved much. Christopher and many other tenants — some speaking anonymously for fear of retribution from...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘Not going to keep him alive on machines’
PLAIN TWP. − Jon Smith snored away as usual on that Saturday night in November. He’d dozed off during the Alabama-LSU football game on TV. It was an ideal chance for his wife, Meredith, to phone their oldest daughter, who was away at medical school but...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
WHERE FUNDS FALL
Read the comments on nearly any social media post about an Ohio school district seeking a tax levy to avoid financial cuts and you’ll likely see someone ask about the Ohio Lottery. “Just a question where does all that lottery money go that’s supposed...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Area hospitals using AI to improve care
There is a treasure trove of artificial intelligence-powered medical technology out there. h Northeast Ohio hospitals are increasingly partnering with tech companies to meet their specific needs and improve patient care through customized AI workflows....
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Akron man channels loss into youth program
TOP: Dominique Waters, founder of the Akron Sneaker Academy, holds a family photo with his siblings and cousins. Waters’ late brother, Douglas, is in the lower right corner. The pain of losing his brother to gun violence in November 2024 still shapes...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Barberton doubles up on title anniversary
BARBERTON – Jack Greynolds Jr. sat in a booth at Magic City’s Remarkable Diner and experienced strong emotions as he reflected on his father’s legacy. Powerful memories of the late coaching icon Jack Greynolds Sr. came flooding back because the 50th...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Akron deploys new trucks to fix potholes
Akron has a new tool in its toolbox to battle potholes in the city. h The first DuraPatcher truck actually arrived in the fall, but city officials say it took a bit to get used to the equipment, which requires just a single operator to fill a...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
More wintry weather due in Greater Akron
Winter is still hanging around Greater Akron. A winter weather advisory was in effect for Summit and Medina counties until 1 a.m. Feb. 24. By the time everything is said and done, the weather service said, some communities could see a half a foot of...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
What do Epstein files tell us about Wexner?
Few people were as connected to child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as billionaire retail giant Les Wexner. h For more than a decade, Epstein controlled much of Wexner’s life, from managing his money to building Wexner’s yachts. Personally, they were so...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Frustrations continue
The problems at Spring Hill Apartments started on day one for Cassandra Pate. “I had black mold in my freezer that I had to clean out when I moved in,” she said. Pate said her building at 1221 Everton Drive has been without consistent hot water since...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
AI used to expedite radiology care
Northeast Ohio hospitals are turning to artificial intelligence to provide patients with faster, more accurate results after undergoing CT scans, mammograms, MRIs and other tests. h Summa Health, University Hospitals and Cleveland Clinic all have...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
UA could change the future of heart valves
Patients across the world might someday have a piece of Akron in their hearts. h A University of Akron research lab received a $200,000 American Heart Association award to fund the development of a new generation of heart valve implants. h The...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Special canines give comfort in crises
It had been less than a week since the mass shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia. The 2024 incident killed two students and two teachers; nine others were injured. h The school’s students and staff were returning to the building to...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Civil rights icon ‘kept dream alive’
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, a towering civil rights icon who battled alongside the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., negotiated global hostage releases and shamed corporations for their lack of diversity and failure to support voting rights, died Feb. 17. He...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘He creates belonging’
Leland Snell’s credibility as a transformation coach and wellness instructor is tied to his lived experiences. Between 2017 and 2020, Snell was homeless. During that period, he wrote his book, “Smoking Mirrors,” entirely on his cell phone while...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
What FirstEnergy workers have said in bribery trial
Testimony in the criminal trial of two former FirstEnergy executives has shifted from a focus on former top Ohio utility regulator and energy attorney Sam Randazzo more toward the defendants. Prosecutors are trying their case against former...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
A vote cost a Summit County judge her party endorsement
For years, Summit County Common Pleas Court judges — Republicans and Democrats — routinely crossed party lines to elect the court’s administrative and presiding judges. But for the majority-Democrat bench, a Summit County Democratic Party bylaw could...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Falls couple engaged in classroom where they met
Hillary Yanok, left, and DJ Nivens reminisce at Crust and Cocktails over a scrapbook detailing their times together. It was not exactly love at first sight. For one of them it was. The other, not so much. Hillary Yanok was a relative newcomer to...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
1860s-era farmhouse available for rentals
It’s not often a place steeped in history makes history itself. For the first time, the Western Reserve Historical Society is allowing visitors to stay overnight in one of its historic buildings. The Cranz Farm Inn is nestled in the Cuyahoga Valley...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Kent State key to origin of Black History Month
Professor and Africana Studies Chair Mwatabu Okantah at Oscar Ritchie Hall at Kent State University on Feb. 11. Long before Black History Month became a national observance, the push to dedicate more time to honoring Black history was already taking...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Ex-lawyer recounts Randazzo concerns
A former lawyer for FirstEnergy said he wasn’t sure why the company agreed to pay Sam Randazzo hundreds of thousands of dollars each year for five years. h Mark Hayden formerly worked as an attorney at FirstEnergy Services Co., a subsidiary of the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Former Copley coach faces $4.8M judgment
A former Copley coach accused of bilking investors out of $200 million now faces a multimillion-dollar judgment for the amount he personally profited from his alleged Ponzi scheme. A visiting judge in Summit County Common Pleas Court recently issued a...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Social media is reshaping research on substance use
When you think of tools for studying substance use and addiction, a social media site like Reddit, TikTok or YouTube probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. Yet the stories shared on social media platforms are offering unprecedented insights...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
HEALING HER WAY
One minute, 15-year-old Calais Weber was watching the multicolored flames of an experiment in her chemistry class at Western Reserve Academy in Hudson. h The next, she was engulfed in flames. h Calais stopped, dropped and rolled, but the unbearable...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Vrabel’s journey from Walsh to Super Bowl
As the head coach of the New England Patriots, Mike Vrabel is positioned to deliver a pregame speech on Sunday, Feb. 8, before his team faces the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl 60 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. h Back in Vrabel’s old...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Cavs ambassador sees himself in Akron’s ESL students
ACleveland Cavaliers radio announcer is drawing on his own experience struggling to learn English to help international students in Akron gain proficiency and confidence to pass their required state exams. h Rafael Hernández-Brito, known as Rafa “El...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Vacant South Akron building condemned last year
“I drove down toward Main Street and got as far as Wilbeth Road, but the smoke was so thick I was coughing, and my eyes were burning. I didn’t get any closer than that. I didn’t see the fire itself, I just drove through the smoke for a couple of blocks.”
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Defense: Randazzo stole from his clients
A defense attorney for a former FirstEnergy executive said all criminal charges against his client should be dropped because the regulator he is accused of bribing stole money “unbeknownst to everybody.” Steven Grimes, a lawyer for ex-FirstEnergy...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Complex to spotlight Akron’s Black history
Terrence Shelton remembers the years before the Akron Innerbelt, walking through a thriving and safe community, unafraid of his surroundings and enjoying a familiarity with neighbors. h That past is gone, but Shelton is involved in a project that he...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
New president, CEO once the world champ
Dennis VanFossen Jr. went from being an International Soap Box Derby World Champion to helping others try to achieve the same milestone. The Canton resident was named president and CEO of the Akron-based organization in November. Both VanFossen and...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Littered single-use plastic bags aren’t just an eyesore. They can flow into natural waterways and leach small plastics “This journey has provided many learnings, which have led to several evolutions of our grocery bag program.”
Giant Eagle spokeswoman
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Stained glass finds salvation; can church?
As Akron developer Tony Troppe works to preserve a historic Akron church, he’s collaborating with the Akron Art Museum to display a stained glass window from the site. h Troppe said he’s serving as chief facilitator on the rehabilitation of the former...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Akron Children’s uses breakthrough drug
Dr. Deepak Ozhathil, an Akron Children’s Hospital burn institute surgeon, holds a vial of Aurlumyn, an intravenous drug used to treat frostbite. As extreme cold temperatures persist across the region, Akron Children’s Burn Center is using a new...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
THE LAST LAUGH?
The owners of a comedy club in Cuyahoga Falls are hoping they are not the ones left with the last laugh. h The Funny Stop, situated in a plaza on State Road, is up for sale and time is running out to find a buyer before it closes for good. h Nidal...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Warming centers, shelters at capacity
This week’s extreme cold weather has Akron’s warming centers and overnight shelters busy and seeking volunteers. The Haven of Rest Ministries shelter is averaging between 230 and 240 people per night, compared to its usual 162, according to the Rev....
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Greater Akron braces for prolonged freeze
It is shaping up to be a dangerously cold week in Greater Akron. h As the region digs out from a major winter storm that dumped as much as a foot of snow in some communities, dangerously low temperatures are expected for the next several days. h Summit...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Dirty plants forced back into service
CHICAGO – In Chicago’s working-class Pilsen neighborhood, a 1960s-era oil-fired power plant rises up from an industrial lot behind Dvorak Park, which in warmer weather is packed with children climbing on its colorful playground and zooming down...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
A TRUE AMERICAN HERO
She wasn’t worried. Newly trained astronaut Judith A. Resnik was a special guest in 1979 when the NASA Lewis Research Center in Cleveland celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. The 30-year-old engineer told interviewers that...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Some communities facing salt shortages
As Northeast Ohio braces for a possible severe winter storm, some communities will be restricting their use of road salt because of shortages, while others are confident they have enough. h Twinsburg joins Cleveland and several other Northeast Ohio...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Downtown Akron a year-round destination
This year, Akron is proving that wintertime in Ohio, no matter how cold, doesn’t have to mean hibernation. h With Lock 3 newly renovated, hundreds of people are braving the cold each day to enjoy the downtown park and various events in the area. h In...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Water main breaks close West Market
A water main break forced the closure of a stretch of West Market Street in Akron’s Wallhaven neighborhood early Wednesday, Jan. 21, city officials said. Repair work was expected to keep the road closed to traffic until sometime Jan. 22. Akron Water...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Foundation giving new life to old buildings
KENT — The years weren’t kind to the former Gugloz Brothers South End Market at 1001 Franklin Ave. in Kent. The former neighborhood grocery store opened in 1923 and was run by brothers William and August Gugloz for 37 years. After the store closed...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘Day of Doing’
Laughing and joking with his East High School basketball and football friends, 14-year-old Dontae Payne Jr. sprayed and wiped down a blue chair before moving on to the next while his teammates stacked the cleaned chairs in the corner of a...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Sykes shares message of hope at youth event
U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes, D-Akron, urged young women Jan. 17 to recognize their worth, embrace service and claim their place in spaces of power as she addressed a room filled with students, educators and community leaders during a Martin Luther King Jr....
Read Full Story (Page 1)
New vax guidelines causing confusion
Amid recent changes in vaccine guidelines coming from the federal government, area medical experts are voicing concerns about children’s health and public confusion. h In 2024, the RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) vaccine, introduced the previous...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Councilman criticizes Malik over police reform
An Akron City Council member who has become one of Mayor Shammas Malik’s most outspoken critics says a series of upcoming community policing forums is meant to hold Malik accountable for reforms he has promised. At-large Councilman Eric Garrett Sr.,...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Akron issues last call for leaf pickups
Leaf collection units are still prowling Akron’s streets, but soon they’ll be replaced by snow and ice removal crews if the predicted winter storm moves in as aggressively as anticipated. h “The same men and women in my department that run the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
New leaders make quick changes to school board
The new leaders of the Akron school board have pledged to make the board meetings quicker, more productive and more transparent than the often divisive, hours-long meetings the board has known for more than a year. With three newly elected faces, the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Akronites sound off against ICE, Trump
Several hundred protesters peacefully gathered in downtown Akron Jan. 10 to speak out against practices of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and one of its agent’s recent killing of an unarmed citizen in Minneapolis. Indivisible Akron...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Summit County adopts IGNITE program
Summit County is the latest and largest Ohio county to adopt IGNITE, a program that uplifts and educates jail inmates to reduce recidivism rates by better preparing them for their post-incarceration lives. h Summit County Sheriff Kandy Fatheree...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
School board members sworn in
They spent months on the campaign trail explaining to voters how they would bring transparency and stability to a school district that has been under constant turmoil for the past five years. And now, two months after being elected, Akron Public...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Down to the last drop
What is believed to be Summit County’s oldest restaurant is up for auction, right down to its namesake coffee pot. h The Coffee Pot Restaurant in Barberton served its last dish and cup of coffee on Christmas Eve. h This ended a legacy on Second Street...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Akronite Auerbach stays busy with tour, projects
After 25 years in the music scene, Dan Auerbach is still surprised when he receives a Grammy nomination. He has 24. “To be honest, I was extra surprised this year,” said the 46-year-old front man of The Black Keys. At the 2026 ceremony, he’s up for...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
NEW YEAR, NEW HOPE
Everything seemed to go wrong for Pierre Mays after a simple operation to repair a hernia in 2011. h Mays wasn’t healing. When people around him caught the flu, he got something worse — pneumonia. An infection led to a second surgery and, eventually,...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘Coach Bossy’ looks to motivate, inspire
At 5 a.m. every Monday through Saturday before most of Akron is awake, James Starks is already on the gym floor, pushing clients through burpees, squats and something harder to measure: consistency. h Known in the community as “Coach Bossy,” James...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Case dismissed against TikTok streamer ICE shot
A federal judge has dismissed the charges against a Los Angeles-based TikTok creator who was accused of assaulting an officer before being shot by a federal agent during an immigration enforcement operation, court records show. Carlitos Ricardo...
Read Full Story (Page 2)
FACING THE FUTURE
We’ve waited a century for this! h Nearly 100 years ago, a group of futurists dared to imagine what life would be like in 2026. Some of their prognostications turned out to be completely wrong while others proved to be eerily true. h Let’s see what the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Crafting something new
In a 1.4 million-square-foot Hudson industrial complex, pallet racking, automated conveyors and office cubicles hearken back to earlier in 2025 and years prior when arts and craft retailer Joann was headquartered there. h Property owner Industrial...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘We want to connect our kids to the best possible future’ Graduating behind bars at Indian River High
MASSILLON – He spoke softly. Wearing his green cap and gown, with fellow graduates, staff and family celebrating around him in the gym, the 17-year-old boy talked about his future now that he’s graduated high school. What he planned to do when he gets...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘I’m really proud of the work we’ve done’
Akron Mayor Shammas Malik said his administration has spent Year 2 of his first term continuing the work started in Year 1. “I’m really proud of the work we’ve done around violence intervention and prevention, creating that gun crime intelligence...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Highlands shelter provides a safe haven
The teen needed a place to live but didn’t want to be separated from her 2year-old son. Children services tried to find a place for Teasia Howell, but foster parents were willing to take a teen or a baby − not both. Her caseworker suggested Highlands...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Education Department probing Brown security
PROVIDENCE, RI − The Trump administration has opened an investigation into security protocols on Brown University’s campus after a Dec. 13 mass shooting that killed two students and injured nine others. The investigation is looking into what happened...
Read Full Story (Page 2)
Deck the halls
It was a bit of a treasure hunt. Some beloved pieces of Northeast Ohio history have found a new home for the holidays in the city of Akron. For 100 years, the GE Lighting campus on Noble Road in East Cleveland would be aglow each holiday season as...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Eddy’s Bike Shop eyes new location after fire
Jimmy Ruggles, owner of Eddy’s Bike Shop, could see the flames from the highway as the Peninsula store burned to the ground. Since the fire Feb. 28, Eddy’s in Peninsula has been housed in a storage warehouse at 1655 Mill Street West. Ruggles said it’s...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Summit County restaurant openings in 2025
So many new restaurants this year in the Greater Akron area. More than 60, in fact. Local restaurateurs were busy opening Creole, bar food, Italian, soul food, pizza, vegan, Mexican, seafood, Mediterranean, Asian and so many more styles of eateries....
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Accused fraudster loses home
Hundreds of investors who trusted a former Copley basketball coach with more than $200 million are still waiting to get any money back after some lost their life savings and homes in a Ponzi scheme. Facing mounting legal problems and an ongoing...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
It doesn’t get more Akron than Archie
Brandon Meeker has put his acting and improv skills to very festive use by doing the voice of Archie the Talking Snowman for five straight Christmas seasons at Lock 3 in Akron. h It’s a distinctly Akron acting job that Meeker, 24, loves for its very...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘WE REFUSE TO LET FEAR TAKE US’
Rabbi Moshe Sasonkin joined with children to lift large blocks made of Legos, including one triangular piece to cap it off, building a Lego menorah on a stage in the heart of Summit Mall. h Moments later, dozens of Summit County residents, including...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘Disneyland for Christmas’
Sometimes life imitates art. h Mark Klaus stood back and smiled Dec. 15 as a Hollywood film crew scurried about his Castle Noel. h The Medina museum dedicated to all things Christmas and holiday film memorabilia is the setting for the final Christmas...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Akron Zips AD has ties to Rubber City royalty
Tdirector,he people of Akron confronted Andrew T. Goodrich with a question, so he needed to dig for the truth. Hired in April as the University of Akron’s athletic Goodrich found himself smiling and nodding whenever someone mentioned Benjamin Franklin...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Dad gifted rare violin made long ago by his grandfather
KENT − Robert Griffin used to watch in awe as his grandfather Coral crafted violins by hand. A cobbler, Coral Griffin repaired and created violins. He made only eight, and the family lost track of what happened to them. But Robert Griffin’s three...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
STAYING PUT
Judy Horn retired this year, and her 120year-old farmhouse in Akron’s Merriman Valley neighborhood is paid off. Ideally, Horn said, she would downsize from her home of 39 years “if the market was better.” But things aren’t the way they used to...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Mushroom business sprouts up in Akron
Looks can be deceiving. h The former place of worship on South Main Street in Akron looks pretty unassuming from the outside. h But inside there are some pretty cool things growing in the lower level of the building that was once a Jehovah’s Witnesses...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Krampus Society aims to separate myths, lore
The legend of Krampus h When he’s not roaming the woods seeking out misbehaving kids, Krampus works at the Summit County wastewater treatment plant. This is the busy season for Krampus to spread holiday cheer and clear up some misconceptions about...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘Everybody here got behind our mission’
Michael Allio made a promise to his late wife, Laura. h He vowed to continue an initiative they started together — to help people reduce their pain from a common side effect of chemotherapy called hand-foot syndrome, he explained. Laura developed the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
What does Akron’s new logo represent?
As Akron bids farewell to its bicentennial year, it can also wave goodbye to the short-lived rubber worker logo. h During the city’s closing ceremony for its yearlong bicentennial celebration at Perkins Square on the Akron Children’s Hospital campus,...
Read Full Story (Page 1)