Hope everyone had a good weekend. A few threads stood out today:
- Akron is putting real money into roads again
• The polymer corridor around the University of Akron is starting to look more concrete
• A few bigger Ohio stories this week are really about the same question: how much voice residents get once institutions start moving
As always, shoot any recommendations and requests for places to check out or changes you would like to see!
-JJ
Akron begins 47 miles of road repaving
Akron is moving into paving season with 47 miles of resurfacing planned this year, backed by $6.5 million for the main program and another $1.85 million for concrete pavement work. The useful part for readers is that this is not abstract budget talk — the city has a ward-by-ward street list, and officials say the extra road funding approved by voters in 2017 has helped lift annual resurfacing from about 16 miles to roughly 48 miles. This is one of those stories that will quietly affect daily life for thousands of people long before anyone argues about it online.
-Polymer redevelopment plan taps University of Akron-area property
A new Lincoln-Mill Redevelopment Plan near the University of Akron is meant to build on the city’s polymer identity by making room for more polymer-related businesses around the coming pilot innovation facility. The bigger idea is not just one new building, but a district that helps startups test, scale, and stay in Akron. If the city and university can actually turn research strength into clustered business growth, this could become one of the more important long-term economic stories in the area.
Ohio says more than 15,000 children were reported missing last year
The Canton Repository highlighted the state’s new missing-children report, which says 15,367 children were reported missing in Ohio in 2025. The encouraging number is that 98.7% were recovered safely, but the report is still sobering: most cases involved runaways, teenagers made up the largest group, and more than 800 children remained actively missing in the state database when the report was released. It is not a flashy story, but it is the kind of public-safety reporting worth making space for.
-Lorain’s parking-ticket crackdown turned into a civil-rights story
Ideastream and The Marshall Project published the strongest accountability piece I saw today: an investigation into how Lorain turned minor parking tickets into license suspensions, often without the required notice. The reporting found hundreds of residents lost licenses over single unpaid tickets, with the burden falling heavily on poorer neighborhoods, before the practice was halted. It is a sharp reminder that local government can become harsh in very ordinary places not just in headline-grabbing cases, but in parking court.
Kent State professors say SB1 is changing how they teach
Senate Bill 1 at Kent State is worth watching because it gets past the political slogan stage and shows how the law is landing in classrooms. In a faculty survey, 26% of respondents said they had worried about being reported for violating SB1, and 37% said they had already changed how they teach. Whether someone supports or opposes the law, that is a meaningful shift in campus culture, and one likely to keep spreading across Ohio higher education.
Some events for the next few days!!
• Tuesday, May 19 — Make a Sand Art Terrarium at The Barrel Room on Canal in Canal Fulton
• Wednesday, May 20 — Live at Arcadia: Canton Comedy Boom
• Saturday, May 23 — Live @ The Locks in downtown Akron, a free concert day at Lock 3 and Lock 4
• Friday, May 29 — Nikki D & the Sisters of Thunder with Jul Big Green at Lock 3, also free
Hope everyone has a fantastic week and we look forward to continuing to hear all of your recommendations!