2024 Highlights
January
Our State Representative, Michael Skindell of Lakewood decided not to seek re-election. Lakewood Councilman Tristan Rader stepped up to run for the seat. Issue 2 allowing marijuana use and regulation passed in the previous election, however it left much confusion as how to implement the law in Lakewood.
We saw the brand new expanded Refuse/Recycling Center open, making it a breeze to drive through and discard just about everything at different stations with upgraded equipment. Sarah Kepple was elected President of City Council making Lakewood the largest city in Ohio to have women at the helm of all three branches of government.
February
Our brilliant minds were once again featured on Academic Challenge. Rowan Brown, Yasmin Elhachdani, and Shannon Katzenberger revved up our Ranger Pride and went on to win! We went back down to visit East Palestine. We witnessed how the train derailment from the previous year completely devastated the town with little chance of recovery. It could happen here. The same toxic chemicals that were spilled, routinely travel through Lakewood.
March
Lakewood High School Orchestra, along with the Chamber Ensembles received superior ratings under the direction of Beth Hankins. Our LHS Varsity Cheer Squad finished in the top three at State Competition. The west side of town was alarmed at a noxious smell coming from across the border in Rocky River. Turned out it was a punctured historic oil well. The City of Lakewood secured state of the art radios for our Police and Fire, facilitating improved communications. Chief Fischer led the first Citizens Police Academy class to graduate since the beginning of COVID.
April
Lakewood braced itself for the influx of southerners to invade our town for the Total Solar Eclipse. On April 8th, Totality was visible for the first time in Lakewood since 1806. The cosmic show left everyone in awe. The crowds never materialized as the swath of the view was quite wide and residents simply could just walk outside to see the stunning celestial event. What a calm and magical few moments as the area went dark and quiet. Our Senate Minority Leader, Lakewoodite Nickie Antonio condemned the passage of Anti-Trans Administrative Rules that were based on mis-truths. Gender reassignment surgery has never been done in Ohio, yet the ban was placed to confuse and stigmatize marginalized Ohioans.
May
Hollywood came to play once again in Lakewood. The old vacant Steve Barry lot was transformed overnight into a production hub. Sightings of Steve Zahn fueled the excitement. I believe this may have been the tenth movie filmed, at least partly, in Lakewood. Lake Avenue's speed limit was reduced to 30 mph from 35 mph to protect residents from commuters using Lake Avenue as an Autobahn to the western suburbs from Cleveland. Dr. G, LHS's wonderful history teacher, was deservedly awarded Educator of the Year by the Lakewood Council of PTA. Dr. G not only teaches, but advocates for his students in many ways. He attends and supports ALL sports, music and theater events and performances, embodying his tag line of "Long Live Lakewood." The Sun brought us another celestial event on May 10th when the Aurora Borealis showed up to dance in our night sky and brought the community outside on a chilly night to revel and share in the beauty of nature rarely, if ever, seen on the North Coast.
June
As a bike friendly community, we started to learn more about the relevant laws from Kenneth Knabe who started an educational series of articles. Lakewood Municipal Court launched a new website www.Lakewoodcourtoh.gov that implements new software to easily access and collect data. A new kiosk was added to the lobby to simplify the check-in process for the probation department. Lakewood City Council finally passed Ordinance 42-2023 which allows adult use marijuana, along with the passage of 40-2023 de-criminalizing possession and consumption.
July
We turned our eyes upward to celebrate the canopy of trees and to promote continual plantings with our third annual Distinguished Tree Contest. In collaboration with the City of Lakewood and The Tree Advisory Board, we saw a record number of trees planted in 2024 to replace fallen and aged trees. Political turmoil unfolded as neighbors took opposing views on candidates and platforms for the upcoming election. Kamala Harris was officially appointed as the Democratic Presidential Candidate as President Biden stepped out of the race. She became the first Black woman and first Asian American to win the nomination. The Israeli/Hamas War continued and brought protests here calling for ceasefire and the stop of genocide in Gaza.
August
Bad news hit homeowners as proposed county home values went through the roof. The county has decided to allow additional time this year to dispute your assessment. The good news for homeowners was that Accessory Dwelling Units are now permitted in Lakewood. Depending on your lot, additional free standing housing may be built to accommodate multi generational or rental housing. City Hall welcomed three additional women to fill open positions: Renee Mahoney as our new Finance Director, Angela Byington as the Director of Planning and Development, who will work closely with Jill Barlotta, our first Climate Action and Sustainability Coordinator.August 7th, severe storms toppled trees and took out power lines, plunging us into darkness and no power for days. A ridiculous amount of food waste was reported by our Refuse Dept., making us all rethink our consumption and storage practices. We're still grateful to our Public Service Workers for the concern and care they provided that week.
September
We celebrated with lifelong Lakewoodite Mickey Krivosh and his family as his business "Around The Corner" had its 50th anniversary. We also had another opportunity to voice our Ranger Pride and cheer as former LHS grad Evan Suttell appeared and won over $20,000 on Jeopardy.
October
We said goodbye to retiring Fire Chief Tim Dunphy who grew up in Lakewood and celebrated a career of over 30 years with the Lakewood Fire Department. We then welcomed Ryan Fairbanks who stepped up from Fire Marshall to become our new Chief. Bryan Evans was elected by City Council to replace the vacant Ward 2 seat, formally held by Jason Shachner.
November
After a tumultuous election season... President Donald Trump is the first convicted felon and formally-impeached in his first term president, to be re-elected to the highest office in the country. Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown loses his seat to Trump-backed Bernie Moreno. Our own Tristan Rader wins the State Representative seat for District 13 and goes on to Columbus to represent Lakewood and Cleveland.
December
The city enters into a formal agreement with CASTO Communities and North Pointe Realty to finally redevelop the prime piece of land formally occupied by the city owned Lakewood Hospital which was closed in 2016 by former Mayor Summers after a battle that divided the city. Construction is expected to start the first half of this year. Stay tuned.
As we embark on another journey around the sun, the Lakewood Observer will be celebrating its 20th year of producing a free community written newspaper. Local Civic Journalism was started here in Lakewood to bring attention to matters that were being glossed over and not accurately covered by other media outlets. We fought for the residents then and we do now.
We have always sought to amplify individual voices that need to be heard. We remember the many "observers" who have passed and made a difference in our community. We are grateful to the multiple thousands who have participated, written and supported the paper, and continue to do so after so many years. We welcome new writers and advertisers every day who understand the importance of true civic journalism and the strength that comes from speaking truth to power. Isn't it time you joined us and shared your story?
Happy New Year Lakewood! Hang on to your hats, 2025 is going to be a wild ride. Let's go.