🔦 'Enough already'

Reader weighs in on SMF levy. What's your take?

Today is Aug. 8, 2024.

  • Morning, all! It’s going to be humid and warmer today with intervals of clouds and sunshine. The high will be 84 and the low will be 68, with a thunderstorm in spots in the afternoon — not what we want to hear after what just happened Tuesday (more on that shortly).

  • HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US!! The Spotlight turned 2 years old Aug. 2, so today marks the beginning of Year 3 of our venture into hyperlocal news covering Stow, Munroe Falls and Silver Lake. A whole lot has happened in our community these last two years, and it’s been great to share this ride with all of you. Thanks to everyone for your support!

  • SMF PTA RAFFLE TICKETS AVAILABLE: The SMF Council PTA is holding a back-to-school raffle featuring a grand prize of $1,000. Cost is $10 per ticket. Go here to purchase your raffle tickets.

  • WHERE DO YOU STAND ON THE SMF SCHOOLS BOND ISSUE? The Spotlight is taking the pulse of the Stow-Munroe Falls community on the upcoming $238 million, 35-year bond issue the school district is putting on the November ballot. Send us your comments on the issue, and we will publish them as we get them in our “Reader Spotlight” feature (detailed below).

  • “Reader Spotlight” is a forum where you can send us your comments, concerns and suggestions on anything going on in our communities of Stow, Munroe Falls and Silver Lake. Send your email to [email protected], put “Reader Spotlight” in the subject line, and please include your name and town (recommended but not required for publication). We will publish comments as we receive them.

  • If you just subscribed or missed something in an earlier newsletter, don’t fret: Subscribers have access to every edition of The Spotlight at www.stowmunroefalls.com. Check out back issues to catch up on everything that’s going on in our communities — you never know what you might have missed!

⭐ Several stories in this issue are only available to premium subscribers: StowNut Diner is hot. A bit too hot. Like it caught on fire. Plus, Medicare 101, Stow Community Center on hold, sandbox is gone, and more local news. Full access is $2.99/month.

Community

Wicked weather: Region still recovering from violent storms that left damaged homes, power outages in their path

The severe storms that ripped through Northeast Ohio on Aug. 6 left a trail of destruction in their wake across the region. The powerful storm system spawned two tornadoes and brought strong winds exceeding 75 mph in parts of Ohio and Western Pennsylvania, with the twisters touching down in Cuyahoga County and Lorain County. Residents in The Spotlight’s coverage area posted photos and video on social media of rotation and even funnel clouds forming as the severe weather fired up.

Stow, Munroe Falls and Silver Lake were subjected to high winds, heavy rain and some damage, but the counties to the north of us seemed to have received the brunt of the storm’s wrath. Here’s where things stand according to this statement from FirstEnergy:

“The damage across Northeast Ohio after last night’s storm is significant and widespread, consisting of hundreds of broken poles and crossarms, downed power lines, and fallen trees and debris blocking road access. Approximately 459,000 customers in Northeast Ohio lost power due to the storm, and 337,500 customers remain without service, primarily in the hardest-hit areas of Cuyahoga, Lake and Ashtabula counties.

“Our crews will continue to work around the clock and we are shifting crews from our FirstEnergy sister companies that were less impacted by Tuesday’s storm. Our primary focus at this stage is to remove any hazards and assess the damage so that our crews can access the site of an outage and begin to safely make the repairs.

“While we are still developing estimated restoration times, we expect this will be a multi-day restoration effort for many. We will provide restoration updates for specific locations as they become available on our outage map: http://spr.ly/OHOutageMap.

“We appreciate your patience and understanding while our crews work as quickly and safely as possible to get all customers back up and running. Stay safe!”

Customers who have experienced a service interruption due to the storm are encouraged to report their outage if they have not already done so by calling 1-888-LIGHTSS (1-888-544-4877), texting OUT to LIGHTS (544487) or clicking the “Outages” link on firstenergycorp.com.

Stow

EV charging station installed on city property near SKiP Playground

The City of Stow installed its first EV charging station Aug. 7. The station is located in the overflow parking lot adjacent to the SKiP Playground at 3870 Darrow Rd.

According to a Facebook post by Stow City Council Member Kyle Herman, “The equipment was installed by a private company that will profit from the people paying for electricity; the city just allowed them to make their service available on public property.” Stow Mayor John Pribonic added a post stating “the user pays for the use and electricity. … The fee is being worked on by the Finance Department.”

The 7.2 kW station is able to charge two vehicles. The city hasn’t given a start date for the station.

Stow

Food, fun and fireworks! A look at the schedule for this year’s Stow Summer Sunset Blast

The City of Stow has finalized the schedule for the 2024 Stow Summer Sunset Blast, and once again it’s jam-packed with all-day fun, food, music, vendors, entertainment, craft beer from Missing Mountain Brewery and, of course, the spectacular Grand Finale Fireworks Show that will conclude the festivities.

The city’s annual end-of-summer extravaganza will take place from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 31 and Sunday, Sept. 1 at Silver Springs Park at 5238 Young Rd.

The Aug. 31 schedule of events looks like this:

  • 5-10 p.m. — Inflatables, Rock Wall, Axe Throwing (included with $5 daily wristband)

  • 5:30-8:30 p.m. — Petting Zoo (included with $5 daily wristband)

  • 6-9 p.m. — Face Painting, Balloon Twister, Airbrush Tattoos

  • 6:30 p.m. — The Adult Hip Hop Dance Team

  • 7-10 p.m. — Musical Artist: “E5C4P3 - The Journey Tribute” (the original and best Journey tribute band!)

And the Sept. 1 schedule of events looks like this:

  • 5-8 p.m. — Petting Zoo (included with $5 daily wristband)

  • 5-9 p.m. — Inflatables, Rock Wall (included with $5 daily wristband)

  • 6-9 p.m. — Face Painting, Balloon Twister, Airbrush Tattoos

  • 6-10 p.m. — Musical Artist: “Old Skool Cleveland” (local cover band specializing in ‘80s and ‘90s dance music)

  • 9 p.m. — Grand Finale Fireworks Show

Parking and admission both days are free. There will be costs for the kids entertainment area and food vendors.

Reader Spotlight

— From anonymous [regarding the school bond issue]: “Enough already. Didn’t we just have a tax increase? I’m retired living on a fixed income trying very hard to make ends meet. Are they trying to tax me out of my home? I currently am paying $500 a month on real estate taxes. The schools are always asking for more, more, more. We don’t need new buildings! I wish the schools would be like everyone else and operate on the generous funds they currently receive!”

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