Today is Dec. 19, 2024.

• Good morning! All things considered, today looks pretty basic: We’re going to have low clouds followed by some sun, with a high of 34 and a low of 30. More importantly, the way-too-early Christmas Day forecast says mostly cloudy and rain possible, with freezing on surfaces early; the high will be 41 and the low will be 34. So it’s looking like no white Christmas this year.
  

• HOLIDAY BREAK FOR THE SPOTLIGHT: We’re taking a little time off for Christmas, Hanukkah and New Year’s, so this is our last newsletter of 2024. The next edition of The Spotlight will hit your inbox Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. Because of the gap, you’ll find that we extended our Community Calendar of events by a third week in this edition so that you don’t miss any of the fun stuff going on in our communities. The Spotlight wishes everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Happy New Year!
  

• WANTED: STOW RESIDENT FOR VOLUNTARY SERVICE ON CITY PARKS & REC BOARD: The Stow-Munroe Falls Board of Education is seeking a Stow resident to fill a vacancy on the City of Stow’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. An appointment to this vacancy is made by the SMF school board. The current term for this vacancy begins Jan. 3, 2025 or as soon as appointed thereafter, and expires Jan. 2, 2030. For more information and an application, go to this page or contact Franca Padula at [email protected]. Applications are due Feb. 1, and interviews are anticipated to take place Feb. 10.
  

• STOW PUBLIC HEARING ON CANNABIS: Stow City Council will hold a public hearing at 5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 23 in Council Chambers at Stow City Hall to discuss Ordinance No. 2024-225, which pertains to adult use cannabis and medical marijuana. City Hall is located at 3760 Darrow Rd. Go here for more information.
  

• HUMANE SOCIETY WAIVING PET ADOPTION FEES THIS WEEKEND: From Friday, Dec. 20 through Sunday, Dec. 22, the Humane Society of Summit County is waiving all adoption fees for all animals over 1 year old, pending approval. Stop by the Humane Society’s new facility at 752 W. Portage Trl. on the border of Akron and Cuyahoga Falls during adoption hours this weekend: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 20; 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 21; and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 22.
  

• THE SHORTEST DAY: Winter officially arrives Saturday, Dec. 21, with the solstice occurring at 4:21 a.m. ET in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s the day with the fewest hours of sunlight throughout the year — or as everyone calls it, the “shortest day” of the year; it’s the day when the upper half of the Earth is tilted furthest away from the sun. So here in Northeast Ohio, we will only get 9 hours and 20 minutes of sunlight on Dec. 21 (by comparison, the North Pole experiences a 24-hour night on the winter solstice). Then beginning Dec. 22, the days will get longer and the nights will get shorter all the way to the summer solstice on June 20, 2025 — the longest day of the year.
  

• “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: All about AML3D, Silver Lake Senior Social, crushed glass, Stow Players new show, fraud alert and more local news. Full access is just $2.99/month.

Sponsored by Brandon Heating and Air Conditioning

The Spotlight would like to thank the following benefactors for making our work possible: Brandon Heating and Air Conditioning

Silver Lake

Fraud alert: Scammer targeting Silver Lake residents with fake calls about water test results

Beware: If you live in Silver Lake and you get a phone call from someone claiming to represent the “City of Silver Lake” wanting to talk about water testing in the village, hang up immediately and report it to the village authorities. It’s a scam.

Here’s what’s going on, according to the village:

• The Village of Silver Lake has taken multiple calls from residents who have received calls about water testing.

• The scam caller purports to be from the “City of Silver Lake” and, alarmingly, attempts to schedule an appointment at residents’ homes to discuss the tests.

• Don’t do it. “These calls do NOT come from Village Hall,” a Dec. 13 press release from the village says.

• If you want to know what the real water test results are, they’re posted on the village’s website under the Consumer Confidence Report tab.

If you’re ever in doubt, contact the Village of Silver Lake at 330-923-5233 before allowing a stranger into your home.

Community

Summit County establishing organization to fight opioid crisis with money from those it says are responsible for it

Summit County says “big pharma” largely created the opioid crisis – and the county plans to use that industry’s own money to help defeat it.

Some background: In 2017, Summit County was joined by 21 communities and Summit County Public Health in filing a lawsuit against opioid makers, distributors and pharmacies, with the county being awarded $104 million in the resulting litigation settlement.

Now, according to a Dec. 2 press release from Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro’s office, $45 million of that money has been earmarked as an initial contribution to help establish the Summit Health and Safety Innovation Fund, a separate, tax exempt, charitable organization of the Akron Community Foundation, known as a Supporting Organization. The Fund’s mission is to benefit the long-term health and safety of Summit County residents.

The establishment of the Summit Health and Safety Innovation Fund has the support of Summit County Council. The press release states that Shapiro “intends it to support innovative approaches designed to improve health and safety outcomes, while also acting as a convener to attract other funding and partners for successful projects. She also expects it to have the flexibility to respond to new and emerging health and safety concerns by providing seed funding for new and creative programming for prevention and treatment.”

“I am confident the Summit Health and Safety Innovation Fund will support the community for generations to come,” Shapiro said in the release.

Here’s how it will work:

• While the Fund will exist at ACF, it will operate as its own Ohio non-profit corporation and will have its own board of directors charged with management of the organization, grantmaking and more.

• The board of directors will have 13 members, with seven appointed by the ACF and six appointed by the county.

• Members of the board will bring fiduciary expertise and be subject-matter experts in the areas of substance abuse, mental health and public safety.

• The board will have a minimum of four committees: Investment, Grantmaking, Audit and Finance, and Operations.

The process to formally establish the Fund is expected to take several more months. In the meantime, Shapiro and the Opiate Abatement Advisory Council (OAAC) will use the remaining settlement dollars to evaluate and recommend funding for programs that address directives of the abatement plan, including physician training, harm reduction and more.

Subscribe to Premium to read the rest.