This week our special guest has a special tie to the Akron community.

University of Akron graduate, Dr. Greg Davis, who started his professional career as a Physics teacher at Stow High School, has been with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, since 2005.

Currently their Principal Technologist; Davis has worked on a number of amazing projects, including the Juno spacecraft, three Mars landers, and Mars Pathfinder.

Listen now, as we find out what's next in his fascinating career, and explore some of the mysteries of space, starting first with a conversation about the Webb Space Telescope.

Greg Davis, Chief Technologist, NASA JPL

Akron City officials and community leaders broke ground for a new pool and renovated recreation center at Reservoir Park in Goodyear Heights, on Tuesday.

The pool will be completely redone, and the community center will be partially demolished, expanded, and renovated.

The new pool will feature a 15-foot slide, shallow water play space, 25-meter lap lanes, climbing wall, shaded areas, updated bathhouse and more.

The community center will include an updated and modern building entrance, multi-purpose/meeting room, kitchen, art room, game room, and gathering space. Outdoor renovations will add more green scape, seating areas, improved pavement, and feature an enhanced fire pit area. The new center and grounds will provide more space for community gatherings and flexible programming space.

The project will cost around $10 million dollars, will be paid for with federal funds, and is expected to be complete in the summer of 2025.

This is an illustration of what it will look like when it is done:

This is the planned layout:

The Akron Police officer who is currently under investigation for shooting a 15 year old boy in the hand who was holding a toy gun on April 1st, has been fired from his job, for two other, unrelated use of force incidents.

Officials say Officer Ryan Westlake was involved in a use of force incident on December 23, 2023, as well as on on March 1, 2024.

Both of those incidents resulted in him being charged with Conduct Unbecoming of an Akron Police Officer, and Violating the Akron Police Division Resisting Arrest/Use of Force Procedure.

Meanwhile, criminal charges against the 15 year old boy who got shot by Officer Ryan Westlake—Tavion Koonce-Williams—have been dropped, pending the outcome of an investigation into the shooting which is being conducted by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

He had been charged with brandishing a replica firearm in the presence of a public safety officer, which is a misdemeanor.

Summit County Juvenile Court Judge, Linda Tucci Teodosio, granted a request from the Summit County Prosecutor's office, to dismiss a charge of brandishing a replica firearm in the presence of a public safety officer, that had been lodged against15 year old Tavion Koonce-Williams, who was shot in the hand by an Akron police officer on April 1st.

The misdemeanor charge was dropped pending the completion of an investigation into the incident, by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI).

Summit County Prosecutor, Elliott Kolkovitch, says "Pursuing charges at this time against Mr. Koonce-Williams could undermine the independence of BCI investigation”, adding that “Charging decisions should only be made after the completion of a thorough review of the incident by independent investigators.”

Koonce-Williams, was shot by Akron police officer, Ryan Westlake, who responded call about a teen teen pointing a gun–which was later determined to be fake– at homes near the intersection of Tonawanda Avenue and Newton Street, in Goodyear Heights.

Since then, the City released details about Westlake's employment record, incidating he had been disciplined in the past for inappropriate behavior, and Koonce-Williams' family is calling on the City to fire him for "excessive force" in connection with this "traumatizing" shooting.

All Akron residents can now apply to receive a free Amazon RING doorbell security camera, as part of the city's ongoing effort to increase neighborhood security.

What started as a pilot program in three of the city's ten wards last year, has now expanded outside of just wards 3, 4, ad 5.

City officials are using federal American Rescue Plan (ARPA) funds to buy the cameras, and have allotted 300 per ward. This is in addition to the 400 originally given out to residents in four particularly high crime areas last year.

Now, in order to fight crime, the free cameras come with some strings attached. When residents apply to receive one, they have to agree to terms and conditions, that include being willing to help police who may need to access some of the video footage captured by the cameras.

Keep in mind when you listen to our interview with Akron City Council President, Margo Sommerville, that she says providing video footage for police is "entirely voluntary", but that is not exactly what the terms and conditions that are posted on the Akron City Council website indicate.

They include:

• Applicant will timely create a RING account and will use his/her/their best efforts to notify the City and/or provide it with access to footage for law enforcement review suspected or actual criminal activity that does, or could,
  rise to the level of a felony.
• Applicant shall not in any way obstruct or object to the City’s request to review RING footage so long as the Akron Police Department reasonably believes it is necessary to the investigation of an actual or potential felony crimes.

These conditions have not changed since the program began last year.

However, the way that police can interact with citizens via the Neighbors app, that is used in conjunction with the RING cameras, has changed.

Police used to be able to contact citizens in a selected area directly through the Neighbors app, and ask for them to send links to video from their cameras. That is no longer possible, though, because Amazon has disabled that feature, and now insists that police come to them with a warrant, or proof of exigent circumstances, if they want to access video that citizens don't supply to them voluntarily.

But, while police cannot reach out to people for video through the app; they can still ask them for it directly, without going through the app.

Akron Police Captain, Michael Miller explains, "The changes prevent us from sending a geo-notification to area residents, but they can still provide video links if they want. For example, if we are searching/canvassing an area and believe a crime occurred in a particular location, the homeowner can still send the police department a video link of any footage they captured. The goal all along was to enhance public safety and position us to solve crimes."

With all that in mind, listen now, to my recent conversation with Akron City Council President, Margo Sommerville:

Akron City Council President, Margo Sommerville

Akron Police are asking for tips to help them find and identify a "person of interest" in connection with the fatal shooting of 37 year old Akron resident, Gregory Bernard Dykes, in West Akron, late Monday night.

His body was found in the 8th floor hallway of a high rise apartment building in the 1200 block of Everton Drive, and the Summit County Medical Examiner's office has classified his death as a homicide.

Police believe he was shot in the head during an altercation, but exactly what it was about, and who it was that shot him, is unknown at this time.

Anyone with information, is asked to contact Akron Police.

Akron Mayor Shammas Malik is engaged!

He proposed to his girlfriend, Alice Duey, while they were vacationing in Paris, and posted pictures on Facebook.

Akron Mayor, Shammas Malik, and fiance, Alice Duey, in Paris

Now that President Biden has signed the bill Congress passed this week requiring the Chinese owners of the popular social media app, TikTok to sell to a US company within the next nine months, or face a possible ban; a lot more is at stake than than whether or not we can continue to can stare for hours at cute cat videos.

The law, which was passed as part of a larger measure that renewed funding for war efforts in Ukraine and Israel, is a national security effort to ensure that the Chinese government cannot access the private data of US citizens. While Byte Dance, the company that currently owns TikTok, denies that is happening; there was enough concern on the part of an increasingly partisan and divided Congress to get the bill passed.

But there are real world consequences to their action.

All kinds of businesses, from solo entrepreneurs, to giant retailers, have found they can reach, engage, and profit from content they post on what has become the fourth most popular social network in America, currently used by more than 50% of the US population. So, what happens to them, if TikTok is no longer available, or it changes in a way that cuts them off from many of their followers?

To find out, we talked to an expert on Social Media Marketing; University of Akron Associate Professor of Marketing, Dr. Alexa Fox. 

Listen now.

Dr. Alexa Fox, University of Akron

It was a violent afternoon in Akron on Tuesday, with police responding to the scene of two shootings just hours apart.

When they showed up at the first one, at the at the Custom Auto Detailing & Hand Car Wash in the 1100 block of S. Main Street; all they found was shell casings and what they call "other evidence of a crime". But, not long afterwards, they got word that two men, ages 28 and 29, showed up for treatment "non life-threatening" wounds at a local hospital.

Then, at about 4:15, they showed up to a report of a shooting in the 1900 block of Newton Street, and found a 20 year old man dead in a parking lot, and a 58 year old woman with serious, but not life-threatening injuries.

So far, they say what they know is that an unknown suspect fired at the two while they were inside a parked car.

Anyone with information, is being asked to contact Akron Police.