Skyway Drive-in Closes

Today on the Akron Podcast, we'll talk about that shooter at Akron U. And what really happened. We have some news from the derby. We got a lot of dirty air. My guess is you've already figured that out.We got some grant money coming into Akron. We got some news about Skyway, some safety meetings and news about data centers in Akron. It's the Akron podcast for July 17th.Our website is akron podcast.com well, this is kind of sad to report.On July 9th, Fairlawn Planning Commission granted the initial approval for the new construction of a Dutch Brothers Coffee at 2781 W. Market St. Two days later, Skyway Drive in that's a 70 year old mainstay at that address, has closed and word has really quickly spread over the weekend that Skyway's days were numbered and by the evening of July 11, the restaurant had reportedly run out of food and served its last order of Aunt Ruth's famous onion rings.Skyway owner Steve Large did not respond to emails and a phone call from the west side leader last week, but he sent a letter dated July 8 to Fairlawn City officials stating his desire to sell the business and retire after a long lifetime of hard work and commitment to the business and the community.Large, whose family first opened Skyway in 1952, said the decision was not made lightly and is a result of steadily increasing challenges, including operating costs and difficulty recruiting and retaining employees. Here we go again. Look, I worked at Dilly's in my 20s and and 20 year old people may not want to work like that anymore, he says.Equally important, there is no viable succession plan for the business.No family member is in a position to continue operating Skyway and despite efforts to identify one, there's not been a purchased interest in continuing the business as a restaurant. He stressed that if the planning Commission were to deny plans for his Dutch Brothers, Skyway will not remain in operation.Denying the sale would not preserve the restaurant or its legacy. Skyway's green location closed permanently in August 2025.After about an hour of detailed discussion, the Planning Commission unanimously approved the preliminary site plans and two conditional uses to allow the establishment of Dutch Brothers.A representative of Skyway also declined to comment to the west side leader at the Planning Commission meeting as I recognize that the potential loss of Skyway is disappointing for many residents and I share those feelings. He also posted a heartfelt message on Skyway's Facebook page the afternoon of July 11 so Skyway Drive in is no more.Northeast Ohio just landed a major win.The National Science foundation is named the Akron Cleveland region, a regional innovation engine, opening the door to as much as $160 million in federal funding over the next 10 years.The money will support advanced manufacturing in polymers, metals, chemicals and coatings, with Akron's national recognized polymer industry playing a key role. The region is guaranteed 7.5 million a year for the first two years, with the potential for even more funding if goals are met.Local organizations have already lined up an additional $120 million in public and private support.Leaders hope the investment will create or retain 20,000 jobs, train 12,000 workers, support 1,000 new ventures and strengthen Northeast Ohio as a hub for innovation and manufacturing.They also say the partnership between Akron, Cleveland and Canton and the surrounding communities shows what region can accomplish when everyone works together. Well, if you live under a rock, you might not know that the air quality outside is horrible. If we were to do an old Carson bit, how bad is it?Well, the Akron air quality on Thursday was 242and according to the Air Quality Index scale, this is a shocker that's very unhealthy. It is at 300. It goes to hazardous.And so I know when I went out to get the mail and couldn't basically see further than four houses, I was like, I probably shouldn't be outside right now because here's a novel idea again that you may not know. Breathing smoke is bad for you. Yeah. And this is due to some Canadian wildfires. So that's what's going on.That's the bad news from of course, you know, if you want to wear mask, you can if you want to. But basically they're saying stay indoors. Duh. Use air filters and air conditioning systems or portable air cleaners.Avoid exertion, stay well hydrated and seek other shelters. If your home does not have air conditioning and it's too warm to stay inside. Bring your pets inside too. And also, you know, because they breathe.I don't know if you knew that or not. You might want to keep that in mind.The smoke is expected to stay through Friday, so be smart out there and don't go starting your weekend early and just, you know, breathing in really, really dirty air. Most of the derby activity has been canceled due to the again, smoke in the air. But here's something that Mike Wow, I feel like I'm back in the 70s.A Nebraska racer was participating in the All American Soapbox Derby.And basically in a Facebook announcement, the derby announced that following a post race inspection, car 346 was disqualified from the local Stop Challenge. So yes, kids are still cheating at the derby and and yes, they're still getting caught. Oh my goodness. This should be fun.Now is the time to let Akron leaders know what safety enhancements you'd like to see made to the city streets. That's right, Akron is asking Akron to share your ideas about making the streets safer.It's inviting residents to participate in a series of community engagement opportunities as part of the Akron Safe Streets, the Number four all program. So apparently somebody in Akron Council likes prints.Residents also can also fill out a survey which I'll put in the show notes to share their thoughts on roadway safety and future improvements.Akron Safe Streets for All initiatives Developing a comprehensive safety action plan to reduce traffic related deaths and serious injuries while making it safer and easier for everyone to travel throughout the city, whether walking, biking, rolling, taking transit or driving. The local initiative is funded through the U.S. development of Transportation Safe Streets and Roads for all program.The city's current planning efforts are focused on Copley through Maple and East Akron neighborhoods, with community input helping to identify safety concerns and prioritize future improvements. So the roadway segments for the Copley Maple include Copley Road, South Maple Street, Diagonal Road and West Exchange Street.The road segments for the east side include Lovers Lane, East Archwood Avenue, East Wilboth Road, Kelly Avenue, Arlington Road and the Kelly Avenue and Lindsay Avenue intersection.Additional intersections and corridors within close proximity to the study will also be including the Martin Avenue and Second Avenue intersection, the South Avenue and Diagonal Road intersection, Copley Road from Collier Road to St. Michael's Avenue, and Kelly Avenue from 3rd Avenue to Goodyear Boulevard.Residents can learn more about the project, share their experiences, identify areas of concerns and help guide future investments in transportation safety during the upcoming engagement opportunity. So these in person events in Ward 3, it's from 6 to 7. This is July 16 at the Ed Davis Community Center. Ward 5, that's again 6 to 7.This is Jul 16 at East Akron Neighborhood Development Corporation. Ward 10, this is from 12:30 to 1:30 at the Reservoir Park Community Center.Ward 106 to 7pm Jul 21 at Goodyear Branch Library Ward 76 to 7pm That's Jul 22 at Firestone Park Community center and Ward 4 monthly meeting Jul 29 at Judge James R. Williams Community Center. And so everyone deserves to feel safe, says the mayor.Getting where you need to go regardless of how you travel, the people who walk these streets and drive these roads and ride these buses and bike through the neighborhoods every day know them better than anyone. Their experiences and ideas will help us build a transportation system that is safer, more accessible and better connected for everyone.Residents can learn more about the project and complete the online survey. And again, I'll put a link to this out in the show Notes if linked you're it's an interesting idea.I would love to know why all of our teenagers have guns, but that really has nothing to do with the bus system. But it would definitely make me feel a lot safer if I didn't know that every teenager was back in heat.Akron is looking to put the brakes on unchecked data center growth.The City Planning Commission has unanimously approved a proposal that would require any future data center to to get conditional use permits, meaning developers would need to hold a public hearing and receive City Council approval before building. Right now, data centers can be built in industrial areas without the extra review.If the new rules are adopted, developers will also have to disclose expected electricity and water use, conduct noise studies, explain how close the facility would be to homes and and outline backup power plans.City leaders say this is just the first step toward creating long term rules that could restrict data centers near schools, parks or residential neighborhoods.Some residents voice concerns about the environmental impacts, energy demands, noise and quality of life, while others said they want the community to have a greater say in where these facilities are built. The proposal now heads to Akron City Council with a public hearing scheduled for July 27th.The interesting thing about these data centers, and this is just my opinion, is they're already creating the hardware to where the things you would use these data centers for will be able to be done on your own personal computer in the future.So what somebody needs to look at is while these might be handy now in the long term, are these really just is this kind of Data crunching and LLMs and the ChatGPT is going to be just something we do locally and we're really just setting ourselves up for a giant bust in the future. Just a quick reminder, if you go over to akronpodcast.com events, you can see what's coming up. Tim McGraw will be at Blossom Music center tomorrow.Or actually that's tonight, the 17th.Pablo Cruz will be at the Kent Stage and if you're into good guitar playing, Mike Zito and Albert Castiglia, I cannot say that guy's name, will be at the Kent Stage and John Mellencamp will be at Blossom Music center on July 21.Tom Keefer, the lead singer of Cinderella, will be at lock three on the 23rd and a conversation with Stuart Coperlin will be at the Kent Stage on July 24. Train is coming to Blossom Music center on the 25th, the Stanley Jordan Trio is July 29 and Evan Essence is at Blossom Music center on July 30.