🔦 Stow downtown

Today is Oct. 17, 2024.

• Morning, all! We’re under a Frost Advisory until 9 a.m., but after that it’s going to be warmer today with plenty of sun, with a high of 58 degrees and a low of 36. Temps will continue to rise through the weekend, with a high of 72 forecast for Tuesday. All in all, the next several days should give us great weather for viewing fall foliage.
  

• VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR CUYAHOGA RIVER CLEANUP: The Village of Silver Lake and the City of Cuyahoga Falls will hold a joint river/park cleanup from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 19. To help on the Silver Lake side of the river, meet at the picnic pavilion behind Village Hall at 2961 Kent Rd. To help on the Cuyahoga Falls side of the river, meet at Water Works Park at 2025 Munroe Falls Ave. To RSVP for this event, email [email protected]. The cleanup will be held rain or shine.
  

• MUNROE FALLS JOB OPENINGS: The City of Munroe Falls has job openings available in the police department for full- and part-time officers as well as the service department for a full-time laborer ($19-$21 per hour) and seasonal leaf pick-up workers (full-time for approximately 6 weeks starting Oct. 28). Go to this page for more information and to apply.
  

• SILVER LAKE JOB OPENINGS: The Village of Silver Lake Service Department is hiring for its seasonal leaf crew for the duration of Oct. 28 through Dec. 6. Hours will be determined by the village’s director of public service. Wages are $17/hour with a $200 attendance bonus. Go to this page to access an application online. Applications can be mailed to or dropped off at Village Hall at 2961 Kent Rd., Silver Lake, OH 44224.
  

• COMMUNITY CHURCH OF STOW RUMMAGE SALE: The Women’s Fellowship of The Community Church of Stow will hold its annual rummage sale from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25 and Saturday, Oct. 26 at the church, located at 1567 Pilgrim Dr. in Stow. The sale will take place in the lower level of the church (entrance off the side parking lot). Antiques, toys, various household items and Christmas gifts are just a few of the items being offered at good prices!
  

• HUMANE SOCIETY GIVING 50% OFF ALL DOGS: Due to its big move to a new shelter in November, the Humane Society of Summit County is giving 50% off all dog adoptions throughout October to find homes for as many canines as possible. You can browse the “Howl-o-ween” dogs at summithumane.org/adopt-foster/adoptable-dogs; to schedule a visit, call 234-212-9843 or email [email protected].
  

• EYES ON THE SKIES: The Orionid meteor shower, which is active in the Northeast Ohio night sky from Sept. 26 to Nov. 22, will peak between midnight and dawn on the night of Sunday, Oct. 20-Monday, Oct. 21. If skies are clear, we should see between 10 to 20 meteors per hour — and as an added bonus, we might also be able to see orange-tinged Mars and bright Jupiter near the moon. The Orionids are caused by particles from iconic Halley’s Comet, which orbits the sun every 76 years. Go here to learn more about the Orionids.
  

• VOTING SCHEDULE FOR THE 2024 NOVEMBER GENERAL ELECTION: Military & Overseas Absentee Voting: Began Sept. 20; Deadline to Register to Vote: Closed Oct. 7; Early In-Person Voting: Began Oct. 8 (includes the two Saturdays and the two Sundays before Election Day); Absentee Voting By Mail: Began Oct. 8; Election Day: Tuesday, Nov. 5 (polls open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.). If not returned by mail, absentee ballots must be received by your board of elections by 7:30 p.m. Nov. 5. For more information, go to this page.
  

• WHERE DO YOU STAND ON THE SMF SCHOOLS BOND ISSUE? The Spotlight is taking the pulse of the Stow-Munroe Falls community on Issue 31, the upcoming $238 million, 35-year bond issue the school district has put on the November ballot to build five new schools. If passed, the 8.89-mill bond issue would increase property taxes for owners of homes valued at $200,000 by nearly $622 annually. 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.
  

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Reader Spotlight

— From Daniel Mainzer (regarding Issue 31, the SMF Schools bond issue): “The proposed levy has no information on the physical status of current schools, no information on costs of upgrading existing schools vs building new ones, no information on how the levy money would be spent for new construction, no plans for the priority of new construction, no information on how much levy money is mandated to go to teachers salaries by contract, no information on how construction is bid and no information on the investment of new funds till they are spent. Given the property tax increases of over 50% for the last 2 years, how much was sent to the school district? In any case, this levy is very excessive on top of the property tax increases and makes no consideration for those on fixed incomes who have paid into the school system for all the time they have lived in the school district. Then we have hundreds of thousands funding DEI personnel who now have become irrelevant as these positions are inherently racist. See Supreme Court rulings on this. We must also look at the increases in administrative staff vs 10-20 years ago. Why have so many administrators at very high salaries and not for the educational side, especially since student reading and math skills have declined? I cannot vote for this levy.”

— From anonymous (regarding Issue 31, the SMF Schools bond issue): “There are so many reasons to vote NO on this over-ambitious bond. Most prominent is that it is too large an amount to be trusted to any school board, and particularly the current one. The opportunities for misuse and misadministration are great.

“I attended a meeting last evening where the current school board presented their case for this proposed bond. When asked specific financial questions such as: did they seek federal funding opportunities and enroll the assistance of Councilwoman Sykes to help find federal grant opportunities as she has done for other school districts, the answer was NO. When asked why not, their financial officer shook his head and had no answer. Instead, he and the board explained that Stow is “too financially rich” a community to qualify for any state funding, so they looked no further.

“This attitude of Stow being a financially rich community that can afford all the finest and costliest for their students was pervasive throughout their presentation. When asked if the board considered senior homeowners living on fixed incomes who just can’t afford this large of an ask, that question was completely dismissed. Instead, their answer was a spin on how the children deserve the very best, offering no concern to the hardship on senior homeowners.

“The board’s key stance is that the schools have been so badly neglected/managed over the years that now it is less expensive to fix everything broken and to bring in all the latest equipment and security technology all at one time, than to break it down to a few schools at a time. They often referred to Hudson schools during their presentation. This again reflects the board’s attitude that Stow homeowners are “rich” and can afford anything. Stow is the new Beverly Hills, California, if you will! When asked how the schools got [to this point], the board had NO ANSWER. It begs to ask, if Stow school boards over the years have so neglected and mismanaged the care and upkeep of all the schools, why should this board who has no answers, or any future boards be trusted? With this large of an amount?

“I say send the school board back to the classroom. Let them get creative and look harder for some outside funding to help offset the burden on the homeowner. Let them figure out how to break the project down over time to smaller, more doable and affordable goals. One that all homeowners can afford to support. VOTE NO ON MEASURE 31.”

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