Your Vote Matters: Especially When It's Not a Presidential Year

Hey, it's the November 1st edition of the Akron Podcast. We've got an election coming up this week. Time to head out to the polls.I'll let you know what's on the ballot and you need to know where to go because some things have changed. Some other things about Summit Mall, we've got a shooting unfortunately.We've got some updates on things that are actually working with that some crazy people on Elliot got caught. All here on the Akron Podcast. You can find it by going to Akron Podcast. Hey, it's November.That means it's time to vote and we need to check out what's going on in key races in Summit County.So the first thing is, especially if you own a home in issue two, the idea here, it's a proposed charter amendment designed to shield property owners from major rate increases on at least a portion of of their tax bill.I'm all for less taxes and so basically the first year it wouldn't change much, but as your property gets assessed and evaluated they could actually increase more and more. And so with this case they would be capped at 3%. So it provides a little bit of protection to property owners on that portion of the tax bill.Another thing on the ballot is the Summit County Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services board is asking voters for a renewal of a 2.9 mil levy along with a 0.5 mil increase at a time when property taxes are under increased, they say. And the board has operated with its existing 2.9 mil for 18 years. So these people haven't had a raise in 18 years.So you might want to, you know, again vote with your conscience and your mind. But this is for the Summit County Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health services. So keep that in mind.Some other things on the board there are three Summit county school districts are seeking property tax levies. That's Tallmadge, Springfield and Cuyahoga Falls. So with that, if you live in those areas and you want better schools, you might think about that.Voters in Jackson Local School District, which is a, this is in Stark county, so our friends to the south, but it kind of spills into Summit county will see a 10 year 3.9 mil substitute levy on the ballot that would generate 9.29 million a year construction in the district.Barberton has 19 proposed charter amendments on the ballot, including one that would replace partisan elections with with nonpartisan elections and others that authorize revisions to several departmental director qualifications and responsibilities. Several other communities also have charter amendments before voters. So basically get out there and vote now.Here's the thing, because it's not a presidential election. It doesn't take long to vote, even when there is a presidential election.But in this case, you want to be out there voting because they feel nobody's going to vote because there's no presidential election, and they'll try to put through skeezy things that cost us money. So do your civic duty. I know it's not warm outside, but get to the polls and cast your vote. Otherwise you kind of lose the ability to complain.And since we're talking about voting, you might want to double check to make sure the place you used to vote is still around. There's been a number of changes, and some of these are temporary, Some of these are permanent.So, for example, the First United Methodist church located at 263 East Mill street is permanently closed as a polling location, and voters assigned to precincts Akron, 1K and 1L are now assigned to vote at the First Congregational Church of akron. That's at 292 E. Market St.The Polish American Club, located at 472 E. Glenwood Ave. Is temporarily closed as a polling location, and voters assigned to precinct Akron 10A are now assigned to vote at Forest Hill Community Learning center. That's at 850 Damon Street. You have a new name for a polling place in Barberton.The Calvary Wesleyan church, located at 139 31st Street Southwest, has changed its name to Victory Church Barberton. So it's the same location, just a new name.Then there's a new polling place in Coventry Connect Church that's located at 578 Killian Road that is permanently closed as a polling location and voters assigned to precincts Coventry Township F and G are now assigned to vote at Coventry Community Center. The that's at 335 E. Willow View Dr.A polling place change if you're out in Fair Lawn.Voters assigned to precincts Fairlawn 4A, 5A and 6A are now assigned to vote at Fairlawn Lutheran church, located at 3415 West Market street and then a new polling place for New Franklin. I believe it's Noli, maybe Nolly elementary school located at 437 West Nemesilla.I can never say that Nemesilla Road is permanently closed as a polling location, and voters assigned to precincts New Franklin 2A, 2B and 2C are now assigned to vote at Manchester Middle school. That's at 760 West Nemesilla Road. And keep in mind, the Summit County Board of Election has moved.So if you're planning to cast an early in person vote the Summit county residents attempting to vote early in person at the County Board of Elections former Grant street location. You're going to have a hard time casting their ballot this year as they recently moved to a new home.The Board of Election is now located at 1050 E. Talmage Ave. And it's located next to the Ohio Means jobs office.The 56,781 square foot facility, complete with an additional 1926 square foot canopy to keep voters sheltered from the weather, has more parking spots than the old location and contains ballot printing operations that will save on the future printing costs, according to Summit County Executive Eileen Shapiro. Thank you, Eileen. Through October 24, the Board of Elections is open 8am to 5pm Monday through Friday and is closed on the weekends.So if you and if you need help with this, I'll put a link in the show notes Registered voters can find their correct polling locations for the November 4th general election. Remember November 4th because it's a really long used website. It's boe.ohio.gov summit precinct n-polling- and it's ridiculous.Look for it in the show notes out@akronpodcast.com but just again, it's important that you get out there and vote in the event it gets a little warmer and you feel like going outside. The zoo is offering multiple free and discounted admission days through November.The free days are Election Day, so while you're out voting this is from 11 to 4. It's free for all guests.On Veterans appreciation day from November 7th through the 11th, all veterans will receive free admission and immediate family members receive 50% off. You do need a valid military ID. And then shop holidays on November 15th from 11am to 4pm Admission is free.More than 60 local vendors will set up throughout the zoo for holiday shoppers so you can check out the animals while you're shopping. Parking is free at the Akron Zoo. Daily off season hours are 11am to 4pm regular admission rates are $11 to $21 and and children under 2 are free.And again, parking is free. For more information visit akron zoo.org I just discovered raising canes.I saw this guy on Shark Tank, the founder and I know the one kind of in Cuyahoga Falls there on Howe Avenue. Well, Greater Akron is going to have another raising canes. It's a national chain and they're known for their chicken fingers.And if you're like me, you're like it's a chicken finger. How can you like no, no These are amazing. And the service is super fast because you know what they serve? Chicken fingers.You know what else they serve? Nothing. It's chicken fingers and fries. And the new restaurant will be built at the former Melt Bar and Grilled site.Who knew that wasn't going to last? Hey, can I buy a toasted cheese sandwich for 12 bucks? Gee, I wonder why they went out of business.But this is 3921 Medina Road in Bath with plans to open late spring 2026. So that's the, the good news. We lost melt, but we're gaining a cane, so that's going to be cool.The in case you're wondering, the Melt Bar and Grill, they filed for bankruptcy back in 2024. They closed its Medina location in August of 2024. And now we're getting the canes.And as the government can't get their head out of their ass, it's still shut down. And you might be wondering, well, what's going to happen to all the food stamps, better known as SNAP.And Summit County Council has approved $250,000 in emergency funding on October 27th to help thousands of restaurants at risk of losing their food assistance during the ongoing federal government shutdown. The U.S. department of Agriculture has warned that Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, better known as snap, better known as food stamps.Those benefits won't be issued November 1st. So kind of plan ahead. Please don't go rob Walmart. I've seen so many people on TikTok like, ah, we're just going to go rob the Walmart.That in the end, I mean, I know you kind of feel like you got to do what you got to do, but there are churches that are, you know, there's the food bank, there's all sorts of places you go because in the end, when the result is robbery, that hurts us all. And maybe that's your whole point, like, if I'm going to hurt, you're going to hurt.But council members approved the County Executive Eileen Shapiro's request to provide $250,000 in grant to the Akron Canton Regional Food bank to assist residents losing their SNAP benefits. So go to the food bank. Don't go rob Walmart.The funds will help expand the food bank's capacity to serve local families who may experience food insecurity as a result of the funding from the federal government. And more than 77,000 Summit county residents and nearly 43,000 households rely on SNAP.According to the county, tens of thousands of Summit county residents in all 31 communities depend on SNAP to feed themselves and their families. And while we cannot control the federal budget process, we can act locally to help fill the gap.We are grateful to the Akron Canton Regional Food bank for their partnership and tireless service.The emergency funding builds upon the county's existing partnership with the Akron Canton Regional Food bank, which includes $324,000 contract for food distribution services that was approved earlier this year. So this additional grant will ensure that local food providers have added resources to help meet increased demand in the coming weeks.Now for more information, you can call 211 to get a hold of the Akron Canton Food bank or go to akron canton food bank.org we could have used these guys last night.I live over in Elliott and a joint law enforcement operation led by the Akron Police Department last week resulted in an unspecified number of arrests and a crackdown on street takeovers. This is from the mayor's office.They said this Last week, authorities responding to complaints about reckless and unlawful operation of dirt bike four wheelers and motorcycles on city streets focused on a large gathering that included stunt riders in the Derby Downs area of the city's Ellet neighborhood. The Summit County Sheriff's office, the Ohio State highway patrol and Springfield police participated in the operation, which Axran police.Police safely addressed the event investigator used photos shared on social media to identify individuals ranging from the age of 15 to 33. Come on, when you're 33, you're. You're a little past the young and stupid phase, aren't you?But they believe they're responsible for illegal activity, including street racing. We had a lot of that last night, I'm here to tell you. And that was around midnight. Willful flee, reckless operation.These guys love, especially on George Washington Boulevard, going up the hill there towards Chipotle. They love to ride wheelies and go all over the place. So if I was a cop, I would just sit there and you could hook them all day.But they operate without a license in some cases and other traffic violations. So glad to hear that. They did some great work last week. Let's keep up the good work because I'm here to tell you, they're all loud.You know, it's just one of those things, you know, like we don't have enough noise pollution with the airport at the end of the street, which is fine. But these guys, holy cow. And when they tore down the rubber bowl, all the dirt bikes love to basically ride around in what is a big bowl of dirt.For those of you that are going to church on Sunday, remember to turn your clocks back. It's Daylight savings time. Otherwise you're going to end up an hour early to church and nobody's going to be there. So keep that in mind.Technically this happens at like 2am but that just basically means Saturday night. Turn your clocks back. We talked about how Summit Mall and that whole area, they're trying to do things to just ease up on the traffic.But they are celebrating their 60th anniversary which is great because they there aren't many malls left in this area. And the mall on Route 18, it builds itself as Greater Akron's first enclosed shopping center.It opened back in 1965 and they are going to be welcoming two new stores. One is Lovisa, basically known as at Lovisa they open a store inside the mall.The national chain features fashion, jewelry and accessories and there's a Canton based nails. So Dep by Ben has set up a shop inside the mall.Perfumania Per or maybe Perfumania, that's a national re Perfumania, which is a national retailer that specializes in designer fragrances, bath and body products, cosmetics and skin care, plans to open a store in the mall this holiday season.And then Kids Empire, that's a chain of kids play centers that features floor to ceiling climbing walls, play structures, ball pits that's going to open in the Summit Mall later this year. Other things coming later next year are Carhartt, that's a store that's family owned and it's a maker of durable workwear for kids to adults.And it dates back to 1889. And then J.J. hill, that's a woman's fashion retailer that's coming to the mall next year as well.If you're a fan of Cedar Point and they kind of had a rough year with a bunch of things breaking and things like that, you can rest assured that the investors in Cedar Point are looking to see it succeed. And one of those is Travis Kelce. Yeah. And you realize who's Travis Kelsey. He is the fiance of one Taylor Swift.He's a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs. And so the investment group which includes Jana J A N A Partners, has acquired a 9% stake in the amusement park company.So this is Six Flags, that's the parent company of Cedar Point and has faced financial difficulties with its stock price declining significantly this year. And the new investors plan to engage with the company's board to revitalize branding, improve operations and assess basically the leadership.So welcome to because if you don't remember, Travis Kelsey is from Cleveland Heights. So he's an Ohioan hoping to Help out Cedar Point. We are sorry to report this. There was a shooting in the 400 block of Stanton Avenue.This is basically kind of a south Akron, Barberton kind of area. And police responded. This is. A 20 year old woman was killed. They showed up at 5:30am again to the block of 400 Stanton Avenue.Upon arrival officers discovered the victim had sustained a gunshot wound. She was pronounced deceased at the scene by Akron fire paramedics.The victim was identified by the Summit County Medical Examiner's office as Tishara Y. Williams of Barberton. Gary Guthner, chief investigator for the medical examiner's office at her cause of death was a gunshot wound to the torso.If anyone has any information of course reach out at 330375 the number two tip. That's 330375 the number two tip. Now speaking of violent crime, this was announced a couple weeks ago.Greater Akron working with federal and local officers are sending a clear message that violent crime is not going to be tolerated. And what they've done, they have a major operation.This was launched in July and it actually led to to arrests of 35 people to help out about with the help of about 250 federal, state and local enforcements. They called it Operation Double Eagle. And those people are facing serious charges for violating numerous federal laws in the area.So it's difficult to dismantle organizations like this. There are multiple layers of criminal conduct but it's not impossible as we can see here today.That's from the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, David Toner. And a spread of 50 firearms used in crimes and a whiteboard of 39 violent offenders with 36 marked as arrested was what officials revealed.So we are making some headway but of course we've got a long way to go. But just keep in mind they're doing the best with what we got.If you have tickets to the stray cat show that was supposed to happen at MGM Northfield, this is not good. Because of Brian Setzer's health. That's the lead guitar player and singer of the Stray Cats. They have canceled this entire tour. That's not good.November 6th, Toby Mack will be in town. Links again. All of these are out@akronpodcast.com events. Sebastian Bach will be at MGM Northfield. If you're like, who?That's the original voice of Skid Row. This one makes me scratch my head. Bill Murray from Saturday Night Live and Stripes and all that.Bill Murray and his blood brothers will be at MGM Northfield. Matthew West, a great Christian artist is going to be at The Goodyear Theater November 9th. Along November 9th is very busy.We got Matthew west at the Goodyear Theater. You got Chicago, the band at MGM Northfield, and then you got Brian Culbertson at the Civic. So a lot of people there. One, one, two.This is, I believe, if I remember right, a hip hop act. They're going to be at the Civic on November 12th. 10,000 Maniacs will be at the Kent Stage.Queens Reich, old hard rock band will be at MGM Northfield. That's November 15th. For more information in the full calendar, go out to akronpodcast.com events.