Editor's note:
What a year it’s been.
As we assembled this list, it was incredibly hard to whittle it down to the top 20 or so we think were the most significant.
Many kept you up to date on the Akron Public Schools, where a levy was passed and North High School will be rebuilt, but an outside firm is going to investigate alleged controversial behavior on the part of superintendent. At the University of Akron, a presidential change and budget cuts are driving change, sometimes unwanted by faculty, students and staff.
Some stories reported pivotal moments in city government, like the controversial hiring of Akron’s new police chief amid deadly use-of-force incidents, including those involving Michael Jones and 15-year-old Jazmir Tucker, and calls for police reform.
We brought you vital information about the East Akron chemical fire, the floods in the Merriman Valley, along with more joyful news about local events, like the total solar eclipse and the Akron Marathon.
All of our stories reflect the diverse lives in our dear city. Here’s looking forward to another year of Signal Akron – thanks for coming along for the ride.
Susan
Akron Public Schools’ levy passes, will pay to build new North High School
The Akron Public Schools’ levy passed early Wednesday morning with 57.7 percent of voters supporting it. The levy, along with some additional budget cuts made after the election, will help keep the district in solid financial shape for the next five years and pay for a new North High School.
Akron mass shooting kills one, injures at least 29
LaTeris Cook was killed and at least 29 others were injured when a white SUV opened fire on a block party at the intersection of Kelly and 8th avenues in East Akron. The shooting happened during a block party.
No one has been charged in the incident.
Total solar eclipse 2024: It was super cool
Akron and much of Ohio was in the path of totality for a total solar eclipse Monday for the first time since 1806. The moon blocked the sun for about three minutes and the temperature dropped.
Akron school board approves $24 million in cuts, including 52 teachers’ positions
Members of the Akron Board of Education approved $24 million in cuts in May, agreeing to lay off more than 50 teachers and eliminating more than 200 other positions.
Arrest of Kenmore woman follows body slam by Akron police officer
The case of Dierra Fields, a Kenmore woman whose was body slammed and arrested by an Akron police officer in January, became the first challenge of a use-of-force incident by the city’s independent police auditor.
Akron schools’ superintendent, other administrators to be investigated by outside firm
The Akron Board of Education announced Dec. 19 it will hire an outside firm to investigate Superintendent Michael Robinson and other unidentified administrators.
Robinson’s tenure in Akron has been marred by a number of public issues. Among them, board member Rene Molenaur outlined a pattern of behavior by Robinson that she said culminated in workplace harassment and bullying. And Robinson and others in the district sent work-related emails that were set to self-delete from recipients’ email inboxes, a process that may violate — or at least go against the intention of — state public records laws.
Robinson also spoke to a church congregation in May, saying he was facing his “crucifixion” at the hands of detractors. His guest sermon drew the ire of the teachers’ union, which has filed nearly 20 grievances, four Unfair Labor Practice complaints and one lawsuit against the district during his tenure.
Akron police officers use force in ‘serious’ incident involving Firestone CLC student
In a “serious” incident at Firestone Community Learning Center, two Akron police officers on Wednesday morning used force on a minor student before leading the high schooler away in handcuffs.
The male student was going through the school’s metal detectors and continued to set off alarms after emptying his pockets
University of Akron President Gary Miller pushed into retirement, emails show
Over the course of just five minutes, University of Akron leaders made a stunning pair of announcements: President Gary Miller would be retiring, although he was contracted to hold his job for three more years. And he would be immediately replaced by the business school dean, R.J. Nemer.
‘It’s like cutting my heart out …’ — Faculty, students at University of Akron react to proposed cuts
Proposed cuts of 10 polymer professors at the University of Akron have already had a chilling effect on the well-regarded program, leading to anxiety about how it will continue if the reductions become reality.
“It’s like cutting my heart out, my lungs out,” said one polymer engineering professor, who was granted anonymity because he did not have permission to speak to the media. “The research in this university would be gone. Otherwise, what’s the difference between us and Stark State [College]? We are a university; we have to have research and graduate education.”
Summa Health purchase: ‘They’re looking for a test kitchen’
Summa Health’s sale to Health Assurance Transformation LLC, or HATCo, a firm backed by the venture capital firm General Catalyst. Summa will become a for-profit hospital “in a $485 million deal.
Doug Brown produced this Q&A with Case Western Reserve’s J.B. Silvers to help explain what the transformation could be like.
Why Cascade Plaza’s redevelopment may lure more residents to downtown Akron: ‘That drives investment’
The announcement last month that Huntington Bank is under contract to sell its two buildings on Akron’s Cascade Plaza means all four buildings on the central square are primed for redevelopment.
New innovation grant from Ohio bumps investment in Akron polymer hub to $100 million
Nearly $100 million will come to Greater Akron to jumpstart investment in polymer innovation.
on the back of Cheyenne McGowan, 29, of Burton. (Doug Brown / Signal Akron)
Running through Akron: Updates from the 22nd annual marathon and other races
More than 8,000 runners participated in this year’s races, including team relays and the half marathon.
Chemical fire in East Akron leads to evacuations
More than 100 individuals were evacuated after a September chemical fire at SMB Products in East Akron. Methanol, xylene, propane, ether and ethanol were in the building at 1081 Rosemary Blvd. at the time of the fire.
‘It just kept getting higher and higher’ — Merriman Valley, parts of west side, bail out after flooding in Akron
It was like something out of a movie for Jonathan Curtis, the owner of Noisy Oyster Pub on North Portage Path.
The house was packed for Thursday night dinner service Aug. 8 when the waters began rising in the creek that runs under his restaurant. An emotional Curtis said he was frozen when the flood waters began coming into his building, until a colleague shouted and broke him from his awful reverie.
15-year-old killed by Akron police officer was North High School student
Jazmir Tucker was shot and killed by an Akron police officer Thanksgiving evening in front of Miller South School for Performing and Visual Arts. Akron Mayor Shammas Malik questioned aspects of the shooting, including that the officers did not turn on their body-worn cameras and did not immediately provide first aid to the teen.
City of Akron’s new police chief: local leaders debate choice
Former acting chief Brian Harding was the lone candidate in a controversial internal-only search process that originally saw Malik promise a nationwide search as he prepared to take office in January before abruptly pivoting earlier this year to internal candidates. His law department, he said, discovered a state law that he interpreted as requiring him to only consider candidates internally from the rank below the open position.
Akron police officer fatally shoots suspect while investigating alleged stolen U-Haul truck
Michael Jones, 54, was fatally shot by an Akron police officer Aug. 17 after police said they observed what they said was a stolen U-Haul truck in the parking lot of a gas station in the 2200 block of East Avenue at around 1:04 a.m.
Area leaders with the Black Elected Officials of Summit County raised questions about the shooting — Akron City Council Member Linda Omobien said, “No one should be dead over a rented vehicle that doesn’t really amount to very much.” said Linda Omobien.
The investigation by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation has not yet been made public.
Akron Juneteenth events attendees brave the heat, mark emancipation holiday
Two Juneteenth events were held in Akron to mark the official Juneteenth federal holiday, established in 2021. Downtown at the John S. Knight Center, the Akron Urban League and the City of Akron consolidated their events, partially intended to help make up for the previously scheduled events canceled due to security concerns following the June 2 mass shooting.
The 5th Annual East Akron Juneteenth Festival was rescheduled and held at the B&V Family Community Resource House on 7th Ave.
