Circle K Employee Gets Fired For Defending His Store

It's the Akron Podcast for november 9, 2026.

Our website akronpodcast.com. Well, I find this really stupid,

but know this: starting Monday the ninth, they're going to

start removing leaves from your neighborhood now. When are they

going to do your neighborhood? Well, I can't really say besides

the fact that they're going to put a sign in your neighborhood.

Hopefully, someplace where you will see it to let you know two

days before they remove them, or you can go and I'll put a link

to this. You can go to their website and see where they are,

I liked it when they would say, "Hey, we're removing your leaves

on this day." Is it that the city can't? I don't know. Keep a

schedule. What's the deal? It's so stupid. So now we've got to

you know be aware and keep on the lookout because eventually

they're going to come pick your leaves, probably when you're not

ready, so that's the point I'm going to say. Get your leaves to

the devil strip and make sure they're there. Obviously, don't

do stupid stuff like put branches in there. We talked

about this before. There are some things that you need to

keep in mind, but I just think it's so weird that they can't

tell us exactly when they're doing it, so yeah, please rake

leaves to the edge of the road. Do not rake leaves into the

street. You will be notified 48 hours in advance. Don't allow

children to play in leaves on or near the street. It's sad that

they have to say that. Do not place branches or any other

debris in the street. Only leaves, which is weird, because

they just said don't put leaves in the street. They said put

them to the edge of the road. Do not rake leaves in the street,

and then they said do not rake leaves into the street after

leaves have been removed. That's a new one. So if you miss it,

don't throw them in the street. You actually might get fined for

that. Do not park vehicles on the street while the city crews

are working. So again, keep your eyes open for when they'll be

pulling out the leaves, and do not park vehicles over leaves.

Heat from the underside of your vehicle may cause a fire. So I

don't know who approved this new deal, but it seems kind of

stupid, and I'd love to know why they can't just tell us when

they're coming and stick to a schedule. If you saw the city of

Akron wishing anyone who celebrates Diwali a happy season

and thought the hell is Diwali, it is the Festival of Lights.

It's a major Hindu holiday, also observed by and I'm going to

butcher these names and I apologize in advance. Jains, I

don't know how to pronounce this. S I K H S. It looks like

six, and some Buddhists with different religious meanings.

Its central theme is the triumph of light over darkness, good

over evil, and knowledge over ignorance. The name comes from

Sanskrit. It's a from a Sanskrit term meaning row of lights. So

there you go. To our Hindu friends, happy Diwali. Here's an

interesting project. Akron's old fire station number 12 is

getting a new mission, which is bringing people together. The

city has selected Lana and Brendan Jeter of Jeter Capital

Investments to turn the vacant West Market Street station into

the Wall Haven Hop Shop. Plans call for a bakery, cafe, food

and drinks, gathering spaces, and possibly an entertainment

area. The project is expected to bring between 800,000 and $1

million in private investment and create 12 to 14 full and

part-time jobs. The Jeters who say they've been investing in

the Akron area for a decade envision a neighborhood hangout,

a place to connect outside of home and work. There's still

plenty of hard work ahead. Repairs and cleanups come first,

with the bakery planned as the first phase. The opening is

targeted for late 2027. Akron is putting $100,000 behind local

programs that supports kids and helps prevent youth violence. 50

programs receive $2,000 each during an event at the Ed Davis

Community Center. This is now in its second year. The initiative

is a partnership between the city and Akron City Council.

Among the recipients is the Akron Bengals Football and Cheer

Program.

Dante Swain started it in 2016, and it now serves more than 100

children ages five to 13. Swain says funding can be tough to

come by. And this support helps show families the city has their

backs. The impact can reach beyond the playing field. Jamar

Blackman of Golgeta Academy, which received a grant last

year, credits the city's help with supporting a student who

went from failing grades to A's and B's after losing his father.

Blackman says the student is now on track to graduate. The grants

can cover equipment, training, and mental health services, but

not staff pay. As the mayor put it, sometimes a relatively small

investment can give a young person an experience they never

had before. I think I'm going to start having a victim of the

week. A former University of Akron women's soccer coach

Jennifer Simonetti is suing the university, alleging she was

fired in retaliation for raising concerns about gender

discrimination and workplace treatment. Her federal lawsuit,

filed November 4th, claims the women's soccer program received

less staffing, fewer resources, and less access to facilities

than the men's program. And this is what look. I love the WNBA,

but I don't think people don't realize this. The WNBA hasn't

made a profit yet. It is made because of the NBA, and it loses

money every year because there aren't enough people watching

it. There aren't enough people buying tickets. If there were,

then there would be more money to pay the women's teams more.

It's it's you know the math doesn't math here. I understand

it's a bummer that it's not as popular, but come on, she also

alleges the university investigated complaints about

her conduct while ignoring similar complaints against male

coaches. Again, it's not fair. She filed a Title Nine

complaint. Now that's serious on april 19, 2025, and was fired on

May. Now, the interesting thing: from February to May, she got

paid. Title Nine prohibits sex-based discrimination in

federally funded education programs, including unequal

athletic opportunities and retaliation. So, she filed that

in April of 2025, she got fired in May of 2026, or no 2025. So

her firing followed an internal investigation, and this is where

this might be the the real reason. This is just from the

Akron Beacon Journal. It says she was she dismissed players'

injuries, which kind of sounds like throw some duct tape and

get on out there again, right? She pushed athletes back into

playing too soon, which is not what I want my daughter doing,

you know. If she's my coach, she harshly criticized injured

players and shared students' personal information without

permission. Other than that, she sounds just swell. And again,

this is being investigated. Now, the lawsuit alleges

discriminatory treatment, which is okay. Those claims have not

been established in court. Yeah, there you go. That's what you

need to do. She is seeking lost pay, even though they already

paid her for months of work when she wasn't doing anything, and

attorneys' fees. The university did not respond to the Beacon

Journal's request for comment, and typically does not discuss

pending litigation. So I, you know, who knows? Maybe she's got

a point. Maybe she really was discriminated against. I just

know I hear a lot about women's sports, especially when it comes

to resources and stuff. And those resources are paid by

ticket sales. And if there aren't any ticket sales, is the

school just supposed to lose money like the WNBA, and I know

this makes me sound like a stupid old white guy, but it is

kind of a math thing. I remember when they said the Linda Theater

was under new ownership and it was going to open back up, and I

was like, "Well, that's great," because I have many memories of

the Linda Theater. So that's the good news. The bad news is there

are stories like this. On november 3, a teen was shot in

the leg following a possible altercation involving a group of

teenagers. The 16-year-old was transported to the hospital with

non-life-threatening injuries. That's good, according to

Lieutenant Michael Murphy with the Akron Police Department. The

incident happened around 7 p.m. in the area of the Linda Theater

and Goodyear Boulevard. The suspect is believed to be an

adult and has not yet been identified.

But you know, if you got groups of teenagers that are doing

things they shouldn't be doing, do I really? Want to park my car

outside the Linda Theater and leave it there for an hour and a

half? I'm not sure if I'm cool with that. I don't know. Would

love your you know input on that. akronpodcast.com/voicemail

on november 2 at 330 in the morning, the Stowe Police

Department responded to the Circle K at 750 Steels Corners

Road for a reported robbery. Multiple suspects arrived in two

minivans stolen from Cleveland, and one of the vans was used to

ram the front of the gas station multiple times and break the

glass. Now multiple suspects then exited the van and headed

towards the gas station entrance, and the clerk fired

seven shots at 330 in the morning. Wow, at the suspects

and they fled the scene. One suspect who had fled on foot was

apprehended near Steele's Corners Road on Wayuga Lake

Boulevard in Cayuga Falls. At least three suspects took off in

the second minivan, leaving the one to smash the storefront.

Now, police are still attempting to locate the other stolen

minivan. It's a brown 1997 Chrysler town and country. It

was last seen traveling westbound on Steele's Corners

Road. It is missing the rear window and was covered with

plastic. The license plate is GSR 7033. Shots fired by the

clerk hit a gas pump, one of the suspect vehicles, and a post for

the canopy over the pumps, it's unknown if any of the suspects

were escaped. Who escaped sustained any injuries?

25-year-old boy, am I going to butcher this name? Perion D.

Jackson was arrested. He is charged with robbery, receiving

stolen property, and vandalism. He is currently on parole for

robbery. He is associated with the Heartless Felons Gang,

according to a police release. The investigation is ongoing,

and anyone with any information is asked to please call the

Stowe Police Department at 330-689-5700. And are you ready

for this? The clerk. This is an update from the Circle K that

defended his place of business. He was an employee. Got fired.

Are you ready for this? Here's what he posted on social.

One, um, trying to give an update for the last 24 hours,

what's what has happened? For everyone who doesn't know, I was

the clerk that was working at Stowe Circle K gas phase in all

Steel's corners on Sunday morning. There was a attempted

robbery. Four men in two minivans tried to rob the store.

They backed their minivan in to the store several times,

breaking the glass and the front door when they when they got out

the vehicle they tried to storm the store and I opened fire on

them to protect myself to protect my coworker and to

protect the store and these actions got me fired so I have

them fired from Circle K for this I do want to thank my

immediate boss and my old immediate boss those were only

two that checked up on me, and my coworkers, my coworkers, who

checked up on me to see if I was fine. But shout out to my my

immediate boss, my old immediate boss. This is this came down

from upper corporate, upper corporate all the way up the

scale. They deemed my actions fireable. They said, "You know,

policy is? Can't you know shoot guns at that store? So they

pretty much got me. They got me fired for it. So, but I do want

to say that they did not. They have not reached out to me. They

did not reach out to see if I was fine. They did not show up

when they were supposed to show up after the incident happened.

Supposed to be there ASAP. I guess they didn't come to like

like six hours, eight hours later, and all they were

concerned about were the damages to the store. So that's what

happens when you you know do the right thing, try to protect

yourself and protect other people in the store, whatnot.

But you know, I do want to bring try to bring light up to the

situation, try to make the situation go viral. That you

know, I know guns are a serious thing, but train people like

myself, who literally train people to protect themselves,

that we should be able to carry at at certain jobs, especially

high risk jobs like like gas stations that are open 24/7. So

I'm just trying to make this go viral.

Yeah, I just I can't believe this. He says he's

trained and trains others on you know, how to shoot a gun, and he

defended his company, and probably some policy somewhere.

They're like, yeah, let's not keep this guy. Let's just let

somebody come in and steal us blind. What are they thinking? I

feel. So bad for this guy. All right, let's take a quick look

at what's coming up in Akron tonight. As you listen to this,

november 9, Little Feet is doing their farewell tour at the

Goodyear Theater. This one just came up on my radar. This is

this Wednesday. Bill Engvall, you know him as Harriers Your

Sign. He was supposedly retiring, and apparently he's

not. He's calling the "It Wasn't My Time" tour is going to be at

the Civic November 11th, and then also on the 11th. Boy, if

you love musicians, Eric Gales, Dennis Chambers, and Billy

Sheehan will be at the Kent Stage. That is that place holds

maybe 600 people, and it's a great place to see a little big

town. It's going to be at the Civic on the 12th. Andy and I

don't know how to pronounce his last name, Grammer or Gramer, is

going to be at the Goodyear Theater on november 13. Don't

forget the Akron Children's Hospital's annual holiday tree

festival. So if you're in the mood to look at some trees that

goes from the 14th to the 21st. Keb Mo will be at the Goodyear

Theater. If you like blues, Keb Mo. That's the 17th, and then

Jackson Dean, the Magnolia Sage Tour will be at the Goodyear

Theater November 19th. The Outlaws. Now this is not really

in Akron. It's in the Robbins Theater that is in Warren. So

you're looking at like a half hour drive, depending on where

you're at. That's november 20. Cheap Trick will be at the

Northfield Racino, and let's see what else we got going on. Nurse

Blake will be at the Goodyear Theater. That's kind of a comedy

podcast thing, and an evening with Christine Chenoweth. So

this was one of the original singers in Wicked, and she's

going to be down south at the Canton Palace. That's november

21, and she'll be singing some. Obviously, she's a singer. She's

also an actress. She was in Four Christmases, so that's she's

hilarious. Brett Michaels will be at the Northfield Racino.

That's november 28, and that'll kind of do it for November.

There's already shows coming slotted for 2027, so the

calendar's filling it up. You can always check it out at

akronpodcast.com/events.