Cleveland Heights Brothers Headed to the Super Bowl
Written by Katie Lee
Cleveland Heights has reason to celebrate as the Kelce brothers, both born and raised in the neighborhood, are headed to the Super Bowl. They just happen to be playing for opposite teams.
Jason Kelce is a center for the Philadelphia Eagles, and his brother, Travis, is a tight end for the Chiefs. Football rivalries aside, the brothers remain close, even hosting a podcast together. The popular podcast called “New Heights,” has the brothers giving their insight on all things football, and discussing the latest trends in the NFL.
They root for each other as well, but as Jason watched the Chiefs clinch the AFC title on Sunday he tweeted “I’m officially done being a Chief’s fan this season!!”
As for who the family will cheer for in the big game, the boy’s father Ed Kelce told News5 that since both his sons play offense, the plan will be to root for whatever offense is on the field at the time.
John Adams, known for drumming at Cleveland baseball games since 1973, passed away Monday. Senior VP of the Cleveland Guardians, Bobby DiBiasio, joined Ray to talk about the loss, the dedication to the super-fan in Heritage Park, and more.
Akron police are asking for tips to help them identify the robber who hit the Family Dollar Store in the 900 block of South Arlington Street Saturday night.
Ohio Supreme Court justice Melody Stewart was on hand at Firestone Community Learning Center on Saturday, to officially swear in the Akron area's newest member of Congress, 13th District Representative, Emilia Sykes.
The Akron Beacon Journal reports the Sykes received a standing ovation at the ceremony and that as she addressed the crowd she emphasized that the congressional seat she occupies really belongs to the people of Ohio’s 13th district saying, “I am merely a temporary occupant.”
Many community leaders were on hand to speak at Saturday’s ceremony including Melissa Cropper, president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers and secretary-treasurer of the Ohio AFL-CIO. Cropper said of Sykes, “You voted in a champion, not only for Ohio's District 13, not only for all of us across the state of Ohio, but a champion for working people all across our great nation.”
Sykes is the first woman of color to represent the 13th district. And due to redistricting it is the first time in nearly 50 years that all of Akron is represented by one member of the U.S. House of Representatives. All of Summit County falls inside the boundaries of the 13th district, as well as the northern half or Stark County, and a small portion of Portage County.
Akron Public Schools Partners with Signet Jewelers
Written by Jeanne Destro
Akron Public Schools have forged a new partnership with Akron-based global retailer, Signet Jewelers; home to brands including KAY, Zales, and Jared.
Marcie Ebright, who is the Director of Akron Public Schools College & Career Academies program, tells us students will get hands-on training in subjects including Entrepreneurship and Marketing, H-VAC/R, IT Support, and more.
Listen now, to our Morning Show Host, Ray Horner's entire interview with Marcie:
Tallmadge Mayor Not Running for Another Term
Written by Steffany MurdockTallmadge Mayor, David Kline, has announced that he will not be running for office again. He talked with Ray about the difficult decision, what's next, and more.
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company announced today that it will be reducing its workforce to save costs. Goodyear says it will be reducing its global salaried staff by approximately 5% or about 500 positions.
The international tire company, headquartered in Akron, said that their fourth quarter results fell short of their expectations and cited a challenging industry environment and inflation as factors that contributed to their financial struggle.
Goodyear previously announced that it will report its fourth quarter and full 2022 financial results on Wednesday, Feb. 8, followed by an investor conference call the following morning.
Goodyear referred to the workforce reduction as a “rationalization and reorganization” that is expected to be completed during the first and second quarters. Goodyear currently employees over 72,000 people worldwide.
To read Goodyear’s full statement click here.
Democratic Mayoral candidate, Marco Sommerville opened a new campaign headquarters this week, at 1 Merriman Ave, and also launched a website: SommervilleforMayor.com.
Soommerville, who is currently Deputy Mayor for Intergovernmental Affairs, also hired former City Councilman, John Valle, as his Campaign Director.
Deputy Mayor, Marco Sommerville
But Sommerville is not alone in his quest for the seat being vacated by current Mayor, Dan Horrigan, who is not running for re-election.
Other candidates include current City Council members Shammus Malik, and Tara Mosely, as well as local retail store manager, Joshua Schaffer, teacher and coach, Keith Mills, former WNIR radio host, Jim Isabella, and Summit County Council member, Jeff Wilhite.
To hear the interview WAKR Morning Show Host Ray Horner did earlier this week with Wilhite, click here.
Film Study Professor, Joe Fortunato, joins Ray every Friday for Film School. This week Ray and Joe discussed the 1962 War-Drama, Lawrence of Arabia.
Akron's Safe Pledge Program to Help Prevent Spread of Covid-19
Written by Steffany MurdockAkron City Council Member, Jeff Fusco, joined Ray. They talked about the Safe Pledge Program, encouraging bars and restaurants to keep their areas safe by following Covid-19 protocols.
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This Week in Tech with Jeanne Destro-1-27-22: How ChatGPT Will Change Education Featured
Written by Jeanne Destro
A new artificial intelligence-powered chatbot called ChatGPT is taking the world of education by storm, because it can write so well; it can seem like its work was produced by a human.
In addition, the bot can write computer code, which could be harnessed by criminals or nation states bent on thievery, mayhem, and even cyber war. So, what can we do about it, how should educators respond, and what's next?
Find out, with Stark State College Associate Professor of Information Security, Glenn Goe, University of Akron Director of Online, Continuing, and Professional Education, Wendy Lampner, and Dr. Jennifer Marcinkiewicz, who is the Director of Kent State University's Center for Teaching and Learning.
Summit County Cuts Ribbon On New Sewer Operations Building
Written by Jeanne Destro
Summit County officials dedicated their new Department of Sanitary Sewer Services building, with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Wednesday, January 25th.
The 60 thousand square foot building, located on Cole Avenue at the Firestone Business Park in Akron, allows them to house all of their fleet maintenance, sewer maintenance and pump station groups, who had been working in separate locations, in one modern facility.
The Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank Celebrates New Construction Project
Written by Katie Lee
The Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank is expanding! As part of the organization's capital campaign, Growing for Good: The Campaign to Reach Further and Feed More, the foodbank is expanding its main campus in Akron.
And to celebrate that expansion the Foodbank invited community leaders, hunger-relief partners, and volunteers to join them in signing a 21-foot construction beam that will be installed in the new distribution center. Some guests signed just their names while others added messages of goodwill to the beam that will help support the new building.
CEO and President of the Foodbank Dan Flowers addressed the attendees thanking them for their support and adding that their investment in the community is what makes this project possible.
Amy Montgomery, chair of the Foodbank's board added that “this project brought together so many networks of people across our region who focused their energy, talents and passion on making tomorrow brighter for people they may never meet”
The expansion project is scheduled to be completed this fall.
To learn more about the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank and their work you can visit their website here.
Brian Barron, President of Business Operations for the Cleveland Guardians, joined Ray. They discussed the changes and upgrades coming to Progressive Field, the timeline, and more!