Today is March 5, 2026.

• Good morning! We’re into March, we’re about two weeks away from the start of spring — and it’s going to feel like spring today. We’re going to have a high of 60 degrees with rain (watch for ponding on roadways), with breezy conditions this afternoon. Tonight’s low will be 47. We’re forecast to hit 71 degrees on Saturday before those cold nights return in the middle of next week. It is still winter, after all.
  

• DON’T FORGET TO SPRING FORWARD: It’s that time of year again: We change from Eastern Standard Time (EST) to Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) this weekend, which means we’ll be setting our clocks ahead one hour before we go to bed Saturday night. The official time change will occur at 2 a.m. Sunday, March 8 — giving us an hour less sleep that night but more daylight in the evening for the next several months. The time change is also a good time to check or change the batteries in your smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector as well as your NOAA Weather Radio. We’ll be on EDT all the way to Nov. 1, when we “fall back” to EST again.
  

• STOW STATE OF THE CITY: Stow Mayor John Pribonic will deliver his 2026 State of the City Address at the regular city council meeting on Thursday, March 12 at Stow City Hall, located at 3760 Darrow Rd. The mayor’s annual update will highlight the city’s accomplishments in the last year and outline key goals for the year ahead. The State of the City Address is open to the public. This is a separate event from the Stow-Munroe Falls Chamber of Commerce’s State of the Cities Breakfast Meeting, which will feature Pribonic and Munroe Falls Mayor Allen Mavrides delivering their presentations Tuesday, March 17 at the Acker-Moore Memorial Post in Stow.
  

• SILVER LAKE RAIN BARREL WORKSHOP: The date has been finalized: The Silver Lake Watershed Commission’s 2026 Rain Barrel Workshop will take place at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 18 at the village’s service department at 2961 Kent Rd. Matthew Knittel from the Summit Soil & Water Conservation District will conduct the seminar and demonstrate how to install the diverter kits. The Village of Silver Lake intends to purchase 55-gallon rain barrels and diverter kits and make them available to residents at cost (estimated to be approximately $70-$75 per rain barrel, depending on how many are ordered and shipping). To sign up for the workshop and reserve your rain barrel kit, call Silver Lake Village Hall at 330-923-5233 no later than Monday, March 16.
  

• CARSONSTRONG NIGHT OF HOPE GALA: The CarsonStrong Foundation, a non-profit organization located in Stow, will present its Night of Hope Gala 2026 at 6 p.m. Friday, April 17 at the Hilton Garden Inn Cleveland/Twinsburg, located at 8971 Wilcox Dr. in Twinsburg (adjacent to I-480 and state Route 82). Todd Meany of Fox 8 News will emcee the event. The fundraiser supports children and families affected by cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. Tickets are $125 each. Go here for tickets and more information.
  

• STOW JOB OPPORTUNITIES: The City of Stow is hiring for the following positions:
  - Building & Zoning Clerk II
  - Lateral Transfer Police Officer
  - Municipal Court - Deputy Clerk II
  - Plans Examiner
  - Recreation Assistant - Parks & Recreation
  - Camp Counselor - Parks & Recreation
  - Bus Driver - Parks & Recreation
  - School Crossing Guard
  - School Resource Officer

  Go to this page 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: Exclusive update about Munroe Falls water rates, solar recognition, Stow community garden and more local news. Get full access for 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

Stow

Doing our part: City seeking volunteers for 2026 Team Up to Clean Up program

With winter winding down, it’s time to start gearing up for those spring and summer community events. And one that we all can participate in to help beautify the town we live in is the City of Stow’s annual Team Up to Clean Up initiative, where residents can volunteer to assist with trash pickup along major roads in Stow.

Team Up to Clean Up participants will work in small groups, with each group assigned to a specific area in the city to pick up trash along streets and sidewalks. It’s an endeavor that affects all of us: collecting trash along the city’s roadways helps prevent pollution from entering storm drains that lead to local rivers, lakes and streams.

There are three different dates to pick from:

• Saturday, May 16, 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.

• Saturday, June 20, 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.

• Saturday, Aug. 22, 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.

You can volunteer for any of the three dates or, better yet, all three of them. If you helped last year, dig out your green safety T-shirt to wear while you’re working; if you’re new to the group, advise your preferred T-shirt size when registering.

Go to this page for more information and to register for the May 16 clean-up program.

Check out other ways you can help beautify Stow — and your own property — further down this newsletter.

Community

And we’re off: Orange barrel season will open with lengthy closure of Stow Road at the I-480 bridge

The weather is getting warmer. The snow is going away. Spring is just around the corner. And we all know what that means:

Road construction season is almost upon us.

And here’s a project that, although the work isn’t taking place in Stow, Munroe Falls or Silver Lake, will certainly impact our area commute one way or another: the Interstate 480 bridge deck replacement and resurfacing in Hudson and Twinsburg Township. Work is scheduled to start the week of March 17.

Here’s what it means for motorists:

• The Ohio Department of Transportation will close Stow Road at the I-480 bridge.

• According to the City of Hudson, Stow Road will be closed at the bridge for 240 days, reopening in mid-November.

• The detour if you’re driving north up Stow Road will direct drivers to take Middleton Road to Ravenna Road to Old Mill Road.

Go to this page for more information about the project.

Subscribe to Premium to read the rest.