Kindergarten or Bust: Why Only 47% of Kids Enrolled Last Year?

Today on the Akron Podcast, let's get our kids back in kindergarten.

The old Firestone plant is probably going to get demolished.

What the heck is up with the weather?

We might have more Amazon jobs moving to Akron.

It is the Akron Podcast, so we're talking shootings and acquittals and I went to see Tom Segura.

I'll give you a quick review.

You want to hear something crazy?

According to cleveland.com, only 47% of children across the Summit county entered kindergarten last year.

This is all about a new system where Akron is going to launch the Unified Early Learning System.

It's a pilot to aid child care providers and expand access to education.

That's the goal here because 47% of children didn't go to kindergarten.

The idea is to demonstrate readiness in language and literacy, according to city news releases.

Now, the first phase of the program will last approximately one year.

It will aim to help stabilize childcare businesses and educators while expanding access to quality programs.

It draws on the experience of more than 20 early childhood professionals, according to the release.

The pilot program goals include increasing enrollment, reducing staff turnover, improving program quality and strengthening referrals to family resources.

The long term goal of the system is to establish a provider community where each family can access high quality early learning for their children regardless of their preferred care setting.

The first phase will focus on connecting families to developmental support, mental health supports, health care and family assistance resources, along with providing child care operators with tools, training and support to stabilize finances, improve sustainability and reduce administrative challenges and lastly, offering educators ongoing coaching, training and career pathways that aim to strengthen classroom quality and and reduce turnover.

They say this is not about childcare, it's about every child having a fair shot, supporting working parents and ensuring our city remains strong for generation to come.

That came from the Mayor.

Now the Early Childhood Resource center, the region's childcare resource and referral agency, is managing this project, according to the press release, and participating childcare providers are the Akron Area ymca, the Akron Public Schools, the Bright Hopes Community Child Care, Circle of Life Child Enrichment center, the Community Action Akron Summit or Head Start Empowered Early Learning Academy, Our Future is bright Childcare and Wonderworld Child Development Center.

Public and private partners are funding $950,000 for the pilot with significant support from the City of Akron, the GAR foundation and the Akron Community Foundation.

The funding will support staffing, training, shared services and evaluation, according to the press release.

Additional support is provided by the Greater Akron Chamber, Summit Education Initiative, the Early Childhood Resource Center, Barberton Community foundation, the the United Way of Summit and Medina and the county of Summit.

So this is interesting.

The intention is to bring together the many separate programs, services and providers that currently operate in isolation.

And that's going to transform what has long been kind of a patchwork of support into a more coordinated, intentional kind of quilt that will cover every child and family in our community.

So sounds like good news.

Everybody's going to work together and let's get our kids back into kindergarten.

If you're coming from the east into downtown, of course you're going to go by the old Firestone plant, including the clock tower and well, the clock is ticking towards the removal of that landmark from, you know, back in the heyday.

The Akron Urban Design and Historic Preservation Commission in August, they rejected the city's proposal to demolish the former Firestone Tire and Rubber company plant.

One building and City Council is considering to authorize its demolish being they're just like, I know they turned it down, but we're going to demolish it anyway, but not without public input first.

So if you're, if you think they should do something else with the building before they demolish it.

The city appealed the commission's decision and meaning that the public hearing must be held, it will take place at 1:30 on September 11th.

So that is Thursday in City Council's third floor chambers at the Akron Municipal Building at 166 High Street.

Following the hearing, City Council must issue a written decision on on the appeal within 15 days.

The legislation granting a certificate of appropriateness to the building's demolish was introduced to council on September 8.

Sitting planning director Kyle Julian explained via email that preserving all or some of the 115 year old building isn't economically viable, which probably means it's run down and it would cost more to fix it than to to keep it.

Who knows?

He said the city explored numerous options, but officials concluded anything other than complete demolition was too expensive a proposition.

He said bids were solicited for raising the entire building for the preservation of the front portion, including the clock tower, while basically raising the rest.

The cost to demolish came in at 7.3 million and the cost to preserve the front came in at 12.3.

So again, it's cheaper to lose it than to keep it.

So it would cost 5 million more to save a portion of the building than it would be to demolish the entire building.

Further complicating the matter, as he said, are the environmental covenants placed on the property by the Ohio epa.

They limit the property's future to industrial or commercial usage that prohibits residences, schools, hospitals or daycare facilities from being built on that site.

So that kind of throws a monkey wrench in things.

And they say no developer has expressed an interest in the property.

That accounts for the environmental covenants.

Well, how about we undo those then?

One individual who works with a group that redevelops historic properties into residential buildings contacted us.

The city shared information on the property, including the environmental covenants limiting future use, and we've not had any further communication.

Kind of scared them away.

The plant was built way back in 1910 as a factory and an office.

In 2013, it became an Akron Historic Landmark and was added in 2014 to the National Register of Historic Places in June of 2024, and the preservation Commission approved the demolition of the structure's three rear wings, planning to preserve the building's front facade.

The building is 234,000 square feet, with the iconic clock tower occupying roughly 6,300 square feet.

This was not a decision entered into lightly without exhausting all the alternatives.

So it sounds, unless what happens at this meeting on Thursday, that unfortunately, that building is going to go away.

If you're like me, when it's getting 40 degrees outside, you're like, hey, what happened to summer?

Well, it turns out fall started September 1, and depending on what calendar you look, the I cannot say this word autumnal equinox that falls on September 22nd.

So any way you slice it, yeah, summer's over.

And it's kind of a bummer because we know we're going to be fighting snow and leaves and things like that coming up soon.

But yeah, so if you're kind of like, when did fall start?

Yeah, you're in it.

We reported back a little while ago when the Akron Baptist Temple got ripped down.

And if you've ever been wondering, what are they going to do with that spot?

Well, it might turn into an Amazon fulfillment center.

They plan to build a center there at the former site of the Akron Baptist Temple and the Word Church in Akron's Kenmore neighborhood, further expanding the online retail giant's operation in the city.

Of course, they have the fulfillment center where Rolling Acres used to be.

And the company has filed a proposal with the city and spoken with residents about its plan.

And Tina Boyes, who is Ward 9 councilwoman, is all for it.

The July 3 application, signed by Grant Goldman, executive vice president and chief operating officer and developer of Ambrose Property Group, provided an estimated total project cost of 33 million.

Councilwoman Boyce said the proposal will be discussed at her next ward meeting her ward already included a large Amazon fulfillment center on Romig Road.

And again, that's the site of Rolling Acres.

But you're looking at hundreds of jobs coming to, you know, that part of the city.

In the event, this goes through the former 236,000 square foot church building on the site.

It just deteriorated in and then it was tore down last year.

And local Amazon customers would receive their orders faster if the proposed fulfillment center would be built.

So that's exciting.

We'll see what happens.

And you know, we lose one place and so far it either gets turned into some sort of hospital or Amazon.

Speaking of things getting rebuilt, if you remember the Stowe bowling alley out there had that big entertainment center.

Good old vans.

Well, that.

According to the Beacon Journal, four years after the Stokent Family entertainment center shut down, developers have submitted plans to turn the former bowling alley into Van's Pizza.

And according to the application filed with Stowe's planning commission, the new venue would include a pizza restaurant and a bar and an arcade, mini bowling lanes and private party rooms, as well as renovations to the outdoor mini golf course and sand volleyball pit.

So all these things are planning to bring it back to life.

If you've never been there, it's not really an Akron thing, but it's close enough.

It's out at dawn.

Fish Creek Road, 3870.

It's currently owned by diamond property.

So if you're in that neck of the woods and ever wondered what are they going to do with that property?

Well, it might be coming back as Van's Pizza.

And the shootings are moving east.

Cuyahoga Falls police are still investigating.

Last Friday, a shooting at Chapel Hill Plaza.

No one was shot, but a bunch of cars were shot.

And if you have any information about that, be sure to contact the Cuyahoga Falls police.

Again, moving east over by the Akron Fulton Airport.

This was on September 3rd.

Two Akron men, 36 and 37, were shot in the 900 block of Triplet Boulevard, which has a bunch of bars by the way, around 7pm don't they know that you're supposed to get shot at 4 in the morning?

That seems to be the thing.

But upon arriving at the scene, Police located the 37 year old victim and the 36 year old victim.

They were transported to the local hospital prior to the officer's arrival.

They were not life threatening.

And so I think this is one of the things that we're seeing when we keep hearing that like murder is down.

Well, murder might be down, but people are still getting Shot on a regular basis.

Sticking with the shootings.

Do you remember it was probably a month ago, A guy was helping some woman that was being harassed at a BP and he got shot and I think he was killed.

But they arrested, marshals arrested 41 year old Demario McCall.

He was wanted by the Akron police for murder.

Yeah.

So that guy died having weapons while under disability and carrying concealed weapons.

And so he is accused of fatally shooting a 26 year old Armand Covington on July 6th around 4:14am and he was harassing a woman at the BP station on Grant street when Covington tried to intervene and unfortunately that cost him his life.

So congrats to the marshals for tracking him down and helping to keep our seats, our streets safe.

Before we move off of shooting.

We got another one.

This happened back in the end of August.

But a 16 year old boy is in custody.

Here's the interesting thing, he was being shot but the reason he's in custody is he then turned and returned fire.

This was around the 200 block of Opportunity Parkway.

So an SUV pulled up and a male dressed in all black clothing got out.

They fired at this poor 16 year old kid and he then fired back.

And so that's where you kind of go, where's this 16 year old getting a gun?

But they found him wounded just before noon.

He was taken by ambulance to an area hospital with minor injuries.

But it's just again, I know they keep telling us crime is down and yes, the good news is he's, you know, didn't sustain fatal injuries.

But it just seems like nobody de escalates anything and we instantly it's pistols at dawn.

Oh, we'll stick with the depressing things.

Back in August, the two Akron police officers were involved in the shooting death of a 54 year old man.

And the Ohio Attorney General's office presented the case to the grand jury and those officers have been cleared who allegedly shot and killed Michael Jones last year and issued a no bill.

According to the Attorney General.

A statement from the Akron Fraternal Order of Police said evidence in the case supports the officers who was cleared acted lawfully and appropriately in a life threatening situation.

So the Akron for Fraternal Office of the Police Lodge Number seven said we stand by our officer who followed his training in a deadly situation.

So following the grand jury ruling, Bobby Ducelo, who is the attorney for Jones family, released a statement on their behalf.

He said this case should remind all residents of Northeast Ohio that the law favors police officers.

The family of Michael Jones believe it is actually impossible to view the video footage in this case and conclude that he was not murdered.

The family is grieving this decision and they thank all who are expressed support for Michael Akron Mayor Malik issued the following I again wish to extend my deepest condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Jones as they grieve his passing.

I want to acknowledge that there are loved ones in our community grappling with a tragedy.

I want to thank the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation for investigating this case and the Ohio Attorney General's Office for presenting it to the grand jury.

I also want to thank the members of the Summit County Grand Jury for performing their civic duty.

It's important to recognize that today's decision was the result of an external, independent investigation being presented to a jury of Summit county residents.

For many years there have been calls for an independent process for investigators of officers involved shootings, and we have used this independent process since 2022.

With this portion of the process ending, the Attorney General's investigative file was released to the public and will be available shortly on the Attorney General's website.

The Akron Police Department will now conduct a thorough internal investigation into the incident to determine if any policies or procedures were violated.

Today's decision indicates that a local grand jury of our fellow residents presented with the evidence determined that our officer's conduct in this situation did not constitute criminal behavior.

The job of an officer is not easy and it is one that comes with scrutiny, especially in situations involving fatal use of force.

I want to thank our officers in the Akron Police Department for the work they do every single day in our city.

Now, the Akron councilman at large, Eric D. Garrett Sr. Also released a statement.

Everybody's releasing statements, he says.

I'm deeply disturbed by the Summit County Grand Jury's decision to issue a no bill in the killing of Michael Jones.

While I wish I could say I'm surprised, this follows the same painful playbook that the family of Jalen Walker had to endure.

The Jones family now faces the next chapter in this long, exhausting fight a civil lawsuit.

Much like the Walker family, Michael Jones never brandished a weapon.

The firearm was later found in the back of the after he was shot and killed, reportedly taken from his pocket and placed on the front seat.

This process reopens wounds for the family every single day.

The trauma of losing a loved one in such a violent and public way is devastating, and it makes worse when justice feels out of reach.

My hope is that the civil suit will bring forth the full truth and provide some measure of justice for the Jones Family.

It goes on.

These are all long.

So it again, body camera video release showed the officer asking Jones multiple time to exit the vehicle, to which Jones responded, what's going on?

What for?

And I'll have a link to that video if you want to watch and make your own decision.

Hey, I thought I would do a quick report.

I went and saw a comedian, Tom Segura, at the Civic on Sunday.

It was a second show that was added, and I got to tell you, it's pretty cool.

Going to an event in downtown Akron.

I got to see the new Lock 3.

It's actually really cool, depending on how you look at it.

There's a little less room to sit, but they've added more places.

They've added some shade, which is nice.

The only thing that really.

And you can't get away from it is lock four.

So you have all this water going behind lock three and it goes into lock four, and you kind of get this consolidation of seaweed and such that kind of gets stuck there.

So lock four does not smell great, but it's also one of those weird smells that after a while, like, you don't notice it.

So that was really cool if you didn't know it.

Parking downtown, at least on Sunday, was free, so I didn't have to pay for parking, which was nice.

The Civic is such a great place.

And because I went last minute, I bought one ticket and I ended up in the second row.

So that was cool.

And Tom Segura was very funny.

So here's some other things coming down here as we wrap up September.

Weird Al Yankovic on the 13th will be at Blossom Music Center.

Jimmy Vaughn, he was in what was the name of that band?

Aren't you tough enough?

Yeah, he was in that band.

And of course, he's Steve Ray Vaughn's brother.

He's going to be at the Kent stage.

Jimmy Vaughn in the Tilt World Band.

The Doobie Brothers with the Coral Reef Band is going to be at blossom on the 17th, by the way, Jimmy Ray Vaughan.

Jimmy Ray Vaughan.

Jimmy Vaughn will be September 14th at the Kent Stage.

That is a great place to see.

It's like it holds maybe 600 people, so there's not a bad seat in the house.

The Doobie Brothers will be at blossom on the 17th.

And evening with Leo Kotke.

I'm actually going to that.

That again at the Kent stage.

That is September 21st.

And then September 23rd, an evening with Andy Summers of the Police at the Kent Stage.

That should be interesting.

John Waite, if you're a fan of the babies and John Waite back from the 80s.

He will be at the Kent stage on September 26 and again to see all of these Simply go to akronpodcast.com events.

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