6.30.2005

(joe :: Good Times)

In the five-county area, the townships generally labeled tony or rural -- Montville, Spencer, Harrisville, Homer and Chatham in fast-growing Medina County -- all experienced double-digit growth since 2000, according to population revisions released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

During the same time frame, all of Ohio's largest cities -- with the exception of Columbus -- saw populations decline.

Within the state, Youngstown dropped the most -- a 5.3 percent decline from the 2000 Census data. Cincinnati was not far behind, losing 5.2 percent of its population. Cleveland dropped 4.1 percent, and Akron also declined -- falling 2.3 percent from 217,074 residents in 2000 to 212,179, according to the latest estimate.

(joe :: City Living)

6.29.2005

(joe :: Countdown to Fireworks)

The watery nightmare of Ronald and Pamela Lockett may be ending.

The couple's West Akron home had been threatened by rising waters from a beaver-dam- created wetland behind the Thurston Street home they purchased April 18.

The water had reached the Locketts' property line, where a few cattails grow, and they were spending hundreds of dollars a month on electric bills to keep three sump pumps running.[...]

Last week, city employees trapped two beavers and partially lowered the animals' dam near St. Michaels and Courtland avenues east of Collier Road about three-quarters of a mile from the Locketts' house.[...]

Jim Hewitt, Akron's superintendent of sewer maintenance, said the city got involved because the beavers built their dam on the city-owned Frederick Ditch, which carries storm-water runoff from West Akron into Pigeon Creek, a tributary of the Tuscarawas River.

The water that had backed up behind the dam covered an area of four or five city blocks, Hewitt said.

(joe :: Why I Haven't Bought a House: Part 3)

6.28.2005

COPLEY: Following an investigation by detectives at a Montrose sporting goods store, a manager admitted taking $2,983 from the store during her employment by using fake return receipts. She turned herself in to police June 13 and was charged with theft.

FAIRLAWN: On June 15, a Richfield woman reported that she was shopping with her three children in a West Market Street discount drug store when her purse was stolen from a shopping cart. Later that day, the manager of an Akron grocery store located several miles away called the victim to say he found her wallet in a shopping cart in his store. He said a suspect left the wallet behind while fleeing the store after attempting to steal another purse. Police are reviewing store video surveillance tape to identify the suspect.

NORTON: Detectives investigated a June 17 report stating that a Norton man had left the country, said he would be gone for six weeks and gave his juvenile son $20 to live on during that time. The youth had been staying with friends and living on the street. It is rumored his father is not planning to return. Police located the victim’s mother, who picked him up and said she would attempt to attain custody of him.

(joe :: Hijinx)

There are school closings, fireworks injuries, dogs being attacked, public officials throwing tantrums, sad traffic deaths, sleepless students, another potential tax increase, baby poisonings, and it's hot. It's really, really hot.

(Mia :: No Good News is... Good News?)

6.26.2005

The front page is the newspaper's ``calling card'' and should reflect the serious problems facing the world. That's valuable real estate, wrote Akron reader Wendy Schweiger, and shouldn't be wasted on soft features of minor consequence.

It was Tuesday's front page that prompted her e-mail, a front page that devoted about half of the news space to an article about selling ice cream to kids from roving trucks.

``We're living in a world with huge problems that people should be more, not less, aware of so that they might actually consider prying themselves out of their Barcaloungers and doing something to make a difference -- whether that be voting or volunteering or writing to their elected officials or... or... or....

(joe :: Losing Touch)

6.25.2005

(joe :: Global Sex Survey 2005)

6.23.2005

Ronald McDonald, looking all buff and energetic, is dressed in new soccer clothes and frolicking with fruits and vegetables.

All-beef patties have given way to beefcake; sesame seed buns are replaced with buns of steel.[...]

Ronald McDonald turned 42 this year. As an American male, he has reached an agonizing age: not yet old, but no longer young. And his corporate parents have endowed him with a midlife crisis. The only thing missing is a little red ponytail and a fling with Swiss Miss.

That yellow-and-red jogging suit can scarcely hide the angst.

(joe :: Ronald McDonald)

6.22.2005

Downtown Akron's new farmers market will open July 14.

The market will run from 3 to 7 p.m. on Thursdays until mid-October at the Erie Freight House on Broadway at East Exchange Street.

About 25 to 30 vendors are scheduled to sell fresh produce, baked goods and coffee, but the number could grow because the market is still recruiting sellers, said manager Sharon Halkovics.

(joe :: Downtown Veggies: Update)

The Republican-controlled Ohio legislature approved a two-year, $51.2 billion budget Tuesday that did nothing to restore cuts that were made to public schools in the last two years.

Instead, the biennial budget continues to underfund several programs for traditional public schools and allows the growth in publicly funded, privately run charter schools to continue.

Charter-school growth has been the primary cause of budget shortfalls in the last two years.

(joe :: Where's Your Head At?)

Boba is ecstatic to announce the new addition of Bernadette Glorioso.. Bernadette will be offering art classes to all ages, preschoolers to senior citizens!!! Open the mind and allow creativity to bubble. Call 216.513.0154 for prices and times. Also coming soon art hour free to all.

(joe :: Art at Boba!)

6.21.2005

Vitamins, Minerals and Supplements for Heart Patients — What Will Work for You?, June 30, 10 a.m., the F.A. Seiberling Naturealm Metro Park: Summa dietitian Kim Byerly will review the truth about supplements and which vitamins people need to stay heart healthy.

For more information, call (800) 23-SUMMA.

(joe :: What the Hell is Vitamin U?)

6.20.2005

Julianne Franks is unequivocal in her message to parents: Get your teens vaccinated against meningitis.

She certainly wishes she would have had the option when her daughter entered her teen years. But the vaccine Menactra -- approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in January -- didn't exist back then. And in May of 2001, Franks' daughter, Christin Van Camp, was one of three Alliance teens stricken with meningococcal meningitis, the most deadly form of the disease.

(joe :: Just One More Shot)

(joe :: Jazz @ Glendale: Art in a Graveyard)

The city will follow a weekly fogging schedule from dusk to dawn that began this week and continues through Oct. 14. Spot fogging in response to calls from Akron residents also will be available throughout the summer and early fall.[...]

Selected streets within the following boundaries will be fogged on the scheduled days, as needed:

• Sundays: Kenmore and southwest Akron, an area bordered to the north by Wooster Avenue and West Exchange Street, to the east by Interstate 77 and state Route 8, and to the south and west by the city limits.
• Mondays: Copley Road and West Akron between West Market Street to the north, Main Street to the east, Wooster Avenue and West Exchange Street to the south and the city limits to the west.
• Tuesdays: northwest Akron and the Merriman Valley from the city limits to the north and west, the Little Cuyahoga River and Ascot Parkway to the east, and West Market Street to the south.
• Wednesdays: North Hill and northeast Akron from the city limits to the north and east, East Exchange and Newton streets to the south, and Main Street, the Little Cuyahoga River and the Cuyahoga River to the west.
• Thursdays: Ellet and southeast Akron from East Exchange and Newton streets to the north, the city limits to the east and south, and Interstate 77 and state Route 8 to the west.

(joe :: Die, Insect, Die!)

6.19.2005

(joe :: Akro-centric)

During Safety Town, the children learned bicycle safety, how to cross the street safely, water safety and more. They also learned about 911 and traffic lights and practiced riding the school bus in preparation for kindergarten.[...]

Children who attended Safety Town also became acquainted with safety and law enforcement vehicles, including the respective sirens...

(joe :: Safety Town)

6.18.2005

Here's the thing about Katie Holmes: despite Tom Cruise trying to convince the world otherwise, she's not that great. She's pretty dopey actually. She's been famous for about 10 years now, but you never really saw that much on her, and now that we have, it turns out she can barely speak. And she has no core belief system. More Play-Doh than Plato. Tom Cruise showed up six weeks ago, now she dresses completely different, she's monitored like an enemy of the state and she's converting to Scientology. She's like one of those programmable pleasure robots that were supposed to have shown up by now based on movies I saw when I was a kid.

(joe :: TomKat)

Four dollars. That's why 82-year-old Rose Johnson's life was taken, according to a tape of the man who took it.

Daniel L. Wright, 23, told his mother in a recorded jailhouse phone call that all he got from Johnson when he robbed her on Aug. 8 was $4. He later changed that to $154, but those seated in Judge Marvin Shapiro's Summit County courtroom Friday gasped when they heard the $4 figure on the tape.

Wright, who lived a couple of doors from his Andrus Street neighbor in South Akron, was arrested three days after the attack.

Wright was on house arrest for driving under a suspended license. Johnson's house was within the 150-foot range of the ankle bracelet that monitored his whereabouts.

(joe :: Sad)

6.17.2005

''At first, we thought it was just thunder, but then we saw the blimp,'' said Maryann Clark, general manager of the Red Lobster at 2000 N. University Dr. ``It looked like it was trying to land in our parking lot.''

Seconds later, about 6:45 p.m., the Goodyear blimp Stars & Stripes crashed onto the roof of Coral Springs Mini Storage, just north of Sample Road, taking down power lines during a severe thunderstorm.

The two people onboard -- both pilots, rescuers said -- had to wait for crews to shut off power in the area before exiting the downed airship. Both escaped the crash uninjured, Coral Springs Fire-Rescue spokesman Mike Moser said.

(Mia :: Goodyear Blimp Down!)

Jazz@Glendale features a variety of jazz bands located at selected sites within the grounds of Glendale Cemetery, an intact example of a 19th century picturesque rural cemetery. This informal evening of music includes the The Howard Street Blues Band, Jack Schantz, Groupo Brazil and the Bobby Selvaggio Quintet. A trolley will provide transportation within the cemetery- or visitors may stroll the grounds. Glendale Cemetery is an extraordinary venue for a warm summer evening of hot jazz and cool blues!

(Mia :: I See Jazz People)

6.16.2005

Welcomed by many - including the mayor and some city councilors - but reviled by others, a statue of 1960s TV icon Samantha Stephens of "Bewitched" was unveiled amid a puff of smoke in Salem on Wednesday.

The statue depicts the late actress Elizabeth Montgomery, who played the nose-wiggling Stephens in the 1960s sitcom, sitting sidesaddle on a broomstick, her skirt flying behind her in the breeze, in front of a crescent moon.[...]

The network [TV Land] has placed similar statues of famous sitcom characters around the country, including Brooklyn bus driver Ralph Kramden of "The Honeymooners" at the Port Authority in New York and Mary Richards in Minneapolis, where "The Mary Tyler Moore" show was set.

(joe :: Bewitched)

Akron's All-American Soap Box Derby is getting some Hollywood-style exposure this year, thanks to a highly polished television commercial that is now airing nationwide.[...]

The new commercial features a group of kids constructing a derby car in a wind tunnel under the guidance of telegenic NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson.

NASCAR became the derby's promotional partner in 2002 and made the competition a key element of the association's Youth Initiative Program.

(joe :: Up on my Soap Box)

6.15.2005

(joe :: Hit Me Baby One Last Time)

The Books for Africa Library project -- conceived by Copley Township resident Hilda Bromley in 1996 while she was recovering from brain tumor surgery -- has been responsible for setting up 28 libraries in and around Ghana.[...]

Because it's so costly to ship the books to the Africa, the Akron-area community is sponsoring several fund-raisers to help the Bromleys plant the love-of-reading seed.

One such event -- a massive yard sale -- is planned for 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. July 9 at 615 Broad Blvd. in Cuyahoga Falls.

(joe :: Treasure Hunting)

6.14.2005

If the circumstances work out, it's possible that sometime in the future Summit County residents will have to thank smokers for new statues, paintings and other public art projects.[...]

The Ohio Senate has added language to the pending state budget bill to allow for a tax of up to 30 cents per pack to be levied by counties -- with voters' approval -- to pay for arts projects and programming.

(joe :: Art Up in Smoke)

The store will feature two self-serve and two touchless automatic car wash bays, as well as three pet wash bays, equipped with waist-high (to a human) stainless steel tubs with ramps and soap dispensers. Pet owners can even condition their pets, give them a flea and tick bath and blow dry them.

(Mia :: Talkin' About the Dog Wash Yeah!)

(joe :: Scott Free)

6.13.2005

Fewer than 10 states still have a tangible personal property tax. Business groups have complained for decades that the tax makes Ohio less competitive.

The tax raises about $1.6 billion a year and, like real estate taxes, the revenue goes mostly to schools, but also cities, villages and other local governments.

For years, school officials have asked the state legislature to let local property taxes grow annually to help fight inflation and reduce the number of levies put before voters.

But for years, lawmakers have argued local voters should approve or reject attempts to raise their property taxes.

It is a way, lawmakers have maintained, for voters to hold their local school and government officials accountable.

A small clause, however, in the massive two-year state budget will raise local property taxes in scattered school districts across the state by an estimated $45 million a year, a half mill at a time, and this increase will not need, nor will it get, the approval of local voters.[...]

"If a district has voted a fixed dollar bond issue, the auditor looks at the current rates and determines if enough revenue is generated to cover the issue," [State Sen. Kevin] Coughlin [R-Cuyahoga Falls] wrote.

He said the legislature was not mandating a half-mill increase.

"We capped the auditors' ability to adjust at one-half mill. The state provides funds for any need above that. Of course, after the issue runs its course, the half mill goes away," Coughlin said.[...]

For Dolores Cramer, the Marysville School District treasurer, and the treasurers she surveyed across Ohio, this is not a semantical issue, but a very real, unvoted tax increase.[...]

Cramer said it is puzzling that lawmakers and the governor are implementing the half-mill tax increase that saves them $45 million, but senators rejected the House plan to let local voters approve levies that grow with inflation, which would reduce the need for school boards and superintendents to return to the polls.

(joe :: One Step Forward, One Step Back)

(joe :: K-Fetus)

6.12.2005

An extra 0.5 percent sales tax would bring in roughly $36 million a year in the county. [Green Mayor Dan] Croghan said that would be more than enough to make up for any cuts to the Local Government Fund and give law enforcement agencies the $8 million to $10 million they are seeking to help support countywide programs like the drug task force.

The move comes at a time when the state will be repealing a half penny of sales tax on June 30 -- reducing it from its current 6.75 percent back to 6.25 percent.

So if approved, residents wouldn't notice an increase in sales tax -- they would just agree to forfeit their decrease and continue paying 6.75 percent.

(joe :: Settling for Less)

(joe :: John Puglia)

6.11.2005

Man dons gorilla suit outside as promo in month 6 degrees hotter than average[...]

The warm trend is expected to continue for several days. Temperatures are predicted to hit 90 degrees today and Sunday and 85 on Monday and 81 Tuesday, the National Weather Service said.

(joe :: I'm Moving to Alaska)

6.10.2005

(joe :: Stuff to do This Weekend)

A Wal-Mart public relations official has resigned -- a month after the retail giant apologized for a newspaper ad featuring a photo of a book-burning in Nazi-era Germany, a spokeswoman said Thursday.

Peter Kanelos, who had overseen public relations in Arizona and southern California, submitted his resignation effective today, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. spokeswoman Daphne Moore said.[...]

The ad, published in a northern Arizona newspaper by a political action committee the company helped fund, ran as part of a campaign opposing an ordinance that would have effectively prevented Wal-Mart from opening a supercenter in Flagstaff.

(joe :: Wal-Mart Woes)

6.09.2005

Since its construction in 1981, the Y-Bridge has served as the launch site for 43 suicides and countless more attempts.

The Golden Gate Bridge is the No. 1 suicide landmark in the world. Since it opened in 1937, an estimated 1,300 people have ended their lives by jumping off this monumental structure

As her kids played in its shade, [Juliet] Shreve relaxed to the sound of cars whooshing by overhead. Then, she heard the rustle of trees and a heavy thud. "Someone hollered, 'A body!'" she recalls.

She ran to her backyard, her daughter and two sons at her side. They came upon a man splayed out in the grass, next to the bushes. Shreve remembers the middle-aged white guy lying on his stomach, his head busted open. His name was James Lehman. He was 33 years old.

Her children stared at his brains, which oozed into the spikes of green and yellow grass. More neighbors gathered. Then the police. An hour or so later, the body was carted away.

(joe :: Death Trap)

Welcome!!

From May 22 - September 30, visit this website to access reliable health-related information and learn to adopt new health behaviors that will reverse unhealthy lifestyle trends.

(Mia :: Get Fit Akron - Update)

(Mia :: OMG, did you hear....)

6.08.2005

(joe :: Episode IV)

(joe :: What's the 311?)

While special interest groups following the budget have ideas for the money, Ohio's two Republican legislative leaders -- House Speaker Jon Husted of Kettering and Senate President Bill Harris of Ashland -- agree that the revised estimates should not lead to additional spending by state government.[...]

Harris would like to put any additional money into the state's rainy day fund, an idea that Husted supports, but the speaker said he would also consider a tax refund. The rainy day fund currently contains $180.7 million, according to OBM.

(joe :: Surplus Cash)

"smoke, wood, ink, smash, burden, beer, factory, kiss, chili-mac, blood, fish, shot, jump, pigeons, lamp black, bridge, scratch, whiskey, tar, solvent, lung..."

art OPENING Saturday, June 11, 7 - 10pm
@ square records & REVIVAL
874 west market st. / in highland square
akron, ohio 44303
330-375-9244

h appy Ho ur
new work by john puglia

plus... the egnimatically illustrious sounds of GENETICALLY YOURS

(joe :: Art Opening This Weekend)

6.07.2005

Lesson One: Every afternoon, you curled up with a soft blanket and closed your eyes and rested. Next year, you will leave that blanket at home, and you will begin learning how to fight off a yawn at 2 in the afternoon.

Eventually, you will find that there are people who work very hard and undergo years of great sacrifices in order to earn their own office with a door that locks -- just so they can take an afternoon nap.

Lesson Two: You have learned that the harder you try not to giggle, the more you will giggle. This is because giggling is one of the most powerful forces known to humankind. The more you resist it, the more powerful it becomes.

I have known a few people who lived to be 100, and the one thing they had in common was that they let all the giggles out.

Lesson Three: On your birthday, you brought treats to share with your friends, and they sang for you. People will always give you presents on your birthday, but not everyone remembers to bring treats for their friends. The ones who do have the most friends.

Lesson Four: In kindergarten, you could skip a bath without anyone really noticing. This is a privilege of the very young. Grown-ups have too much stink to pull it off.

Lesson Five: The eraser end of the pencil is just as important as the writing end.

Lesson Six: When you lost a tooth, a new one grew in its place. And you got money. When you get older, if you lose a tooth, it does not grow back. And you have to pay money to get a new one.

Lesson Seven: You know that one kid whose smile always looked kind of mean? You were right to be careful around him.

Lesson Eight: Books always sound best when someone else reads them to you. But your favorites will be the ones you read alone.

Lesson Nine: You tasted paste once. That should be enough to hold you for a lifetime.

Lesson Ten: The adults who always ask what you want to be when you grow up and what your favorite color is are probably interesting people. They just don't ask very interesting questions.

(joe :: Life Lessons)

Akron is cooler.

Well, cooler than Seattle, San Francisco, Atlanta, Denver and Toledo anyway.

And, no, this is not a good thing.

Akron has fewer ``hot spots'' for wireless Internet access than any of those cities, falling from No. 59 to No. 78 on Intel Corp.'s annual ``Most Unwired Cities'' survey.[...]

Toledo -- yes, as in Toledo, Ohio -- jumped 59 spots to No. 5.

(joe :: We Want to Live Blog)

Country Music Television has selected its first "vice president" for the Dukes of Hazzard Institute. The first task for the New York-based executive: Upgrade the Institute's new facilities.

In other words, get cable and a new TV set for his apartment.

Yes, Christopher Nelson's new job, which comes with a $100,000 salary and a one-year contract, will be to watch reruns of "The Dukes of Hazzard" weeknights on the Country Music Television cable channel and write blog postings for the network's Web site.

The contract does not include vacation time.

(joe :: $100,000 a Year)

6.06.2005

More and more, the courts are ordering businesses to turn over instant messages, e-mails and computerized memos as evidence in disputes, including workplace lawsuits. Anything is fair game in electronic discovery -- even the records stored on an employee's home computer, his PDA, his cell phone, his laptop, his iPod.

It's not unusual for a company of any size to hear: Produce every e-mail sent between December 2002 and July 2004 that mentions the name "Mary Jones."

Companies that can't cough up those messages could be subject to hefty fines or worse -- accusations of destroying or hiding evidence. In some cases, those accusations have led juries to set punitive damages in the millions of dollars.

(joe :: Keepin' My E-mail)

Here's a listing of places where you can donate blood today through Saturday. Donors must be at least 17 years old,...

...weigh at least 110 pounds and be in good health. Please bring identification.

For more information, call 800-give-life (800-448-3543)

Summit County

Today -- 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., American Red Cross, Summit County Donor Center, 501 W. Market St., Akron.

Monday -- 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., American Red Cross, Summit County Donor Center, 501 W. Market St., Akron; 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Diebold, 3800 Tabs Road, Uniontown; 2 to 7 p.m., Firestone Park Community Center, 1480 Girard St., Akron; 1 to 7 p.m., Grace Church South Campus, 3970 Cleveland-Massillon Road, Norton; 2 to 7 p.m., Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, 1905 Portage Trail, Cuyahoga Falls; 2 to 7 p.m., St. Eugene's Catholic Church, 1821 Munroe Falls Ave., Cuyahoga Falls; 1 to 7 p.m., St. Paul's Catholic Church, 1580 Brown St., Akron.

Tuesday -- 1 to 8 p.m., American Red Cross, Summit County Donor Center, 501 W. Market St., Akron; 1 to 7 p.m., Ellet Community Center, 2449 Wedgewood Drive, Akron.

Wednesday -- 1 to 8 p.m., American Red Cross, Summit County Donor Center, 501 W. Market St., Akron; 2 to 7 p.m., Lighthouse Christian Church, 315 Graham Road, Cuyahoga Falls; 1 to 7 p.m., Montrose Zion United Church, 565 Cleveland-Massillon Road, Akron; 1 to 7 p.m., Richfield United Church of Christ, 4340 W. Streetsboro Road, Richfield.

Thursday -- 1 to 8 p.m., American Red Cross, Summit County Donor Center, 501 W. Market St., Akron; 2 to 7 p.m., Stow Glen Birch Hall, 4285 Kent Road, Stow.

Friday -- 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Akron Health Department, 177 S. Broadway, Akron; 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., American Red Cross, Summit County Donor Center, 501 W. Market St., Akron; 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Barberton Citizens Hospital, 155 Fifth St. N.W., Barberton; 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Daimler Chrysler, state Route 82, Twinsburg.

Saturday -- 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., American Red Cross, Summit County Donor Center, 501 W. Market St., Akron.

(joe :: Bloodmobile)

A brand new website where you can get the latest health-related news and sign-up in a password secure area to track your progress. We'll have recipes, a community events calendar and lots of other ideas for adopting healthy behaviors and making everyone in our community more fit!

(Mia :: Get Fit Akron... Later)

6.05.2005

"When I look at that [area], I see it more of a gateway into Highland Square, and I would rather see retail space in front with parking in the back," [Dan Horrigan (D-Ward 1)] said.

He said the city may or may not purchase more property in Highland Square. The sole purpose of purchasing more property there would be to aid in future development, he said.

As an elected official, he wants to see the city involved in development, he said, adding Highland Square redevelopment is one of Mayor Don Plusquellic's priorities.

Horrigan is anxious for the redevelopment to progress. Saying he's beginning to feel a bit like Teddy Roosevelt, Horrigan commented, "I just want to see dirt flying."

In terms of the city's land purchase, Horrigan said it's a sign the redevelopment is moving forward and has been all along.

"I hope things are starting to pick up," he said. "I think there's some momentum going. I'd like to sustain that and go from there."

There's no timeline in place, but Horrigan said, "I really hope we can announce something pretty quick."

(joe :: North Side of Highland Square)

Like it or not, [the Jackson trial] is the Trial of the Century. And even though the century is only 5 years old, I'm confident it will hold that title for decades. The Jackson story defines our present culture as much as any American event has defined its era. We are going to have to live with that.

The early part of the previous century was similarly defined by its own sensational trial: the 1925 Scopes ``monkey trial.''

The Scopes trial focused on the legality of Tennessee's Butler Act, which stated that state-funded classrooms could not teach a theory of evolution that conflicted with the Bible's story of divine creation.

That trial and the Jackson trial share certain similarities: unprecedented media attention, celebrity participants, monkeys.

They are also distinctly different. In 1925, the celebrities were attorneys Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan, both famed for their skills of oratory and persuasion.

In 2005, the celebrity is Jackson, famed for moonwalking and his curious pigmentation.

With Scopes, the monkey was the alleged origin of the species. With Jackson, it is Bubbles, a pet chimp.

(joe :: History Repeats)

6.04.2005

(joe :: Keeping Akron Warm)

In March, Channel 23's owner, Paxson Communications, notified Channel 3's owner, the Gannett Co., that it would end their joint sales agreement on June 30.

That agreement, originally made in 2000, let Channel 3 sell advertising time for Channel 23 and provide some programming. That included the newscasts beginning in 2001, five years after Channel 23 had dropped its original Akron-Canton news.

Channel 3 is still looking at ways to continue the Channel 23 newscast once the joint sales agreement ends.

(joe :: Akron News Could Go)

6.03.2005

Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Dale Crawford granted a temporary block of Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell's directive for all 88 counties to choose a new voting system by mid-May.

The new deadline is Sept. 15 for the 32 counties that joined the lawsuit filed last month by Election Systems & Software, an Omaha, Neb.-based voting machine maker. The deadline is temporary, pending an overall settlement. Crawford scheduled another hearing for Aug. 15.

The counties want a choice of touch-screen electronic voting machines. Currently, only a touch-screen machine made by North Canton-based Diebold Election Systems has met federal and state certification requirements.

ES&S claims Blackwell's certification deadlines were unfair.

(joe :: Blackwell Getting Sued: Update)

The Akron Symphony Orchestra received the biggest grant of $35,000 for its 2006 "Concerts for Kids" series, which conducts 14 concerts for children throughout Summit County.

The Akron Area Arts Alliance will also receive a grant this year of $15,000 for the 2005-2006 Summit Artspace Gallery, which showcases works by local artists.

Children's Ballet Theatre Inc., for "Take Me Out to the Ballet" production of the The Nutcracker for Akron-area inner-city youth, $8,500.

Community Hall Foundation Inc./Akron Civic Theatre, for 2005-2006 in-house programming, $25,000.

Kent State University Foundation Inc., for the Porthouse Theatre's Performing Arts Outreach Program, $7,500.

Leadership Akron, for the annual Orientation Retreat, $13,000.

(joe :: Giving Back to the Arts Community)

Thursday was the last day of the calendar year for Akron Public Schools. The day of goodbyes took on special significance at David Hill and Fairlawn elementaries.

The two schools are the first that will be razed and rebuilt under the district's $800 million construction project.

Until the new buildings are complete, students will be bused to a former office building at 400 W. Market St. near downtown Akron. The district bought this property and is expected to spend about $3.5 million transforming it into temporary classroom space to be used until new schools are completed.

Cynthia Slack, said, "I don't know that the kids are as concerned as the parents" are about being bused next year and the impending demise of the Fairlawn Elementary building. The red-brick structure in West Akron near the border with Fairlawn was built in 1929.

"The parents are having a hard time adjusting -- maybe it shows our age," the mother said.

(joe :: School's Out Forever)

6.02.2005

For hospitals, schools, government agencies, arts organizations and research institutions, this means super-fast Web access at a relatively low price. (Individual users can't tap in.)

But expanding OneCleveland also means these institutions have a new way to collaborate and new partners to do it with.

Hospitals, for instance, could share patients' medical records quickly and cheaply. Or a school in Summit County could beef up its distance-learning classes with a real-time, high-definition tour of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Or the orchestras of Cleveland and Akron could do a joint concert, with each in its own city.

(joe :: Dark Fiber)

• Akron-Summit County Public Library (main and branches)
• EJ Thomas Hall ticket office
• Civic and Lock 3 Live! ticket offices
• Akron Beacon Journal customer service desk
• Akron Zoo
• City of Akron customer service desk
• Bricco restaurant

(joe :: Do You Have Your Card Yet?)

6.01.2005

(joe :: Episode III: The Revenge of the Brit)

AKRON POLICE: Officers observed a man carrying a TV set down Simon Street May 23 and determined it had been stolen during the burglary of a residence on that street. The suspect was charged with burglary, criminal damaging and cruelty to animals for killing two rabbits in the home.

FAIRLAWN POLICE: Police arrested a woman for shoplifting merchandise worth $262 from a discount drugstore on West Market Street May 20 by placing the items in a suitcase and leaving the store.

NORTON POLICE: Officers attempted to stop a Columbia Woods Drive man for several traffic violations on Wooster Road around 5 a.m. May 15. The suspect refused to pull over and kept driving to a parking lot, where he fled on foot in the area of Richlawn Drive. Police apprehended him, and he reportedly struck an officer in the chest and ran again. When he was apprehended a second time, he resisted and was taken to the ground and handcuffed. The suspect was charged with DUI, assault of a police officer, resisting arrest, refusing to comply with police orders, obstructing official business, driving under suspension and traffic violations.

(joe :: Criminals of the Week)

An Oklahoma family has found a surprise under the floorboards of its historic Tulsa home: 20,000 bees.

Beekeepers found several hives under the floor of the second story of the house. The bee combs under were about six inches thick and extended several feet.

A modified vacuum cleaner will be used to suck the bees out through a tube and deposit them in a sealed container.

(joe :: Why I Haven't Bought a House: Part 2)

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