Today is April 3, 2025.

• Good morning! If you’re reading today’s newsletter hot off the press at 6 a.m., then we’re in the last hour of a Severe Thunderstorm Watch that ends at 7 a.m. (you may have heard the wind and rain beating against your windows overnight). As for the rest of the day, it’s going to be cloudy, breezy and warmer with occasional rain and a thunderstorm. The high will be 74 degrees, with the low tonight dropping down to 43. Then early next week, we’re going to have temps in the mid-20s with some snow. Old Man Winter just doesn’t want to let go.
  

• SILVER LAKE STATE OF THE VILLAGE: Silver Lake Mayor Therese Dunphy will deliver her State of the Village address at the Monday, April 7 council meeting at Silver Lake Village Hall, located at 2961 Kent Rd. Dunphy’s presentation will be given at the beginning of the meeting, which starts at 7 p.m. The public is invited.
  

• ‘TIS THE SEASON … STOW TAX DEPARTMENT EXTENDS HOURS: The City of Stow’s tax department is offering extended hours for residents leading up to the due date of Tuesday, April 15 for Stow income tax returns. Normal office hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, with extended office hours of 4:30-6 p.m. April 7, 8, 14 and 15. Extended hours are also available from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, April 12. The drop box outside of Stow City Hall at 3760 Darrow Rd. is available to use 24/7 for any correspondence directed to the income tax department, and the city says the box’s contents are collected daily. For more information, contact 330-689-2849 or email [email protected].
  

• BLOOD DRIVE AT STOW FIRE DEPARTMENT: The Stow Community Blood Drive will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, April 25 in the Stow Fire Department’s Community Room at 3800 Darrow Rd. To schedule an appointment, visit RedCrossBlood.org and enter Sponsor Code: StowFire, or call 1-800-RED-CROSS.
  

• STOW ADOPT-A-SPOT: The City of Stow’s 2025 Adopt-A-Spot beautification project is now taking volunteers who are interested in keeping Stow beautiful. Adopt-A-Spot is a volunteer activity for individuals, families, groups, civic organizations and businesses. Anyone of any age can become part of the program. Planting day is Saturday, May 24. Go here for more information.
  

• STOW SAFETY TOWN: Registration is now underway for the city’s 2025 Stow Safety Town program, which is a safety education program for children who live in Stow and will be 5 years old on or before Aug. 1, 2025 (entering kindergarten). The program will consist of in-person classes, with four weeks to choose from; cost is $40 per student. Registration ends Friday, May 9. The program is also seeking volunteers. Go here for more information.
  

• “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: Road work on 91 and 59, a high-speed chase in Stow, adult egg hunt, 2025 Concerts on the Green schedule and more local news Full access is just $2.99/month.

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Politics

Hat back in the ring: Coughlin announces 2026 U.S. House candidacy with eye on rematch with Sykes

Republican Kevin Coughlin came close to defeating Democrat incumbent Emilia Sykes for the 13th Congressional District seat in the 2024 November General Election — close enough that the former Stow Municipal Court Clerk has decided to give it another try.

Coughlin announced April 2 that he’s running for Congress again, aiming to unseat Sykes in the 13th District in the 2026 midterms after winning 48.9% of the vote against the Akron Democrat in the 2024 election. The 13th District is comprised of all of Summit County, northern Stark County and a slice of Portage County.

Round one between Sykes and Coughlin wasn’t for the faint of heart:

• Sykes defeated Coughlin by a slim 2.2% margin in their 2024 battle, spending $5.2 million in the contest compared to Coughlin’s approximately $1.5 million, according to OpenSecrets, a non-profit organization that tracks campaign finance data.

• Money also poured in from the outside for both candidates, with OpenSecrets’ statistics showing that more than $9 million was spent to support Sykes and over $7 million was spent to support Coughlin.

• At this early juncture, the 13th District is considered a “toss up” according to the Cook Political Report.

Coughlin served in Ohio’s legislature from 1997 to 2010 and was clerk of the Stow Municipal Court from 2013 to 2015. Sykes is serving her second term in the U.S. House of Representatives after having served in the Ohio legislature from 2015 to 2022, including as minority leader of the Ohio House of Representatives from 2019 to 2021.

May Primary Election

Issue 18 in Summit County won’t be on the ballot in our area. Here’s why …

When Summit County voters go to the polls for the May 6 Primary Election, they’re going to see Issue 18 on the ballot. It’s a bond issue for the Akron-Summit County Public Library system, and if passed, the 1-mill capital levy would cost homeowners in the county an extra $35 annually for each $100,000 of appraised value.

So more taxes could be on the way, right?

The short answer is yes — for most of Summit County. But not for Stow and a few other communities. Why? Because the Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library is not part of the Akron-Summit County Public Library system. So we won’t see Issue 18 on our primary ballot in Stow, and we won’t be on the hook for higher taxes if the bond issue passes. Same goes for Munroe Falls, since the Akron-Summit County Public Library’s taxing district is defined by school district boundaries.

Other Summit County communities that won’t vote on Issue 18 include Barberton, Cuyahoga Falls (which means Silver Lake won’t see Issue 18 either), Hudson and Twinsburg because they don’t fall within the Akron-Summit County Public Library’s district.

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