Akron communities receive grant to fund revitalization

At a gathering celebrating one year since the creation of the Well Community Development  Corporation, a nonprofit working to strengthen struggling neighborhoods in Akron, attendees also celebrated the recent awarding of $720,000 Knight Foundation grant, according to Cleveland.com.

The grant was awarded to assist in revitalizing Akron neighborhoods, and will be split equally ($240,000 each) between the three neighborhoods of North Hill, Chapel Hill and Cascade Valley.

Kyle Kutuchief, Knight Foundation program director for Akron, said that Akron is facing the challenges of decline in population as well as decline in investment, but that community development organizations help to address these challenges to create a better future for the city.

Eric Gordon delivers state of the school’s speech

Eric Gordon, CEO of Cleveland School District, pushed Clevelanders to support the “Say Yes to Education” program developed by New York financier George Weiss, during the state of the schools speech at the Cleveland Convention Center on Sept. 27, according to Cleveland.com.

The “Say Yes to Education” Program is a nonprofit that aims to provide the means of achieving not only high school graduation, but post-secondary education as well.

Gordon believes the program will help erase the negative impact that poverty has on education by administering scholarships that cover up to the full cost of college.

“What if, instead of focusing on educating children who live in poverty, we choose instead to focus on educating them while simultaneously removing the effects of povertyーvery literally, changing the conditions?” Gordon asked.

Bringing the program to Cleveland could require raising funds of over $120 million locally. Gordon did not address these funds to the crowd at the convention center.

Woman attempts to rob bank on Cleveland’s east side

A 36-year-old woman attempted to rob a Charter One Citizen’s Bank on St. Clair Avenue by handing the teller a note demanding cash, according to Cleveland.com.

The robbery occurred early Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. The teller gave her an unknown amount of cash, which she stuffed into her pants and then attempted to exit the bank. Bank employees, however, had remotely locked the bank doors and contacted security. The woman was trapped inside the vestibule until they arrived, where she was arrested after briefly fighting with the officers to get away.

The woman, who has not been named or formally charged, is being held at the Cleveland City Jail.