Stadium groundbreaking fills a big hole ... drops a big splash

Today's groundbreaking for Ifocision Stadium and Summa Field went well ... albeit in real football weather with some rain and wind.

I had a great time as the emcee because the project is such an awesome "get" for the city .. and because I'm among those who've been calling audibles for a downtown football stadium for years. Nice to see the money and the planning have finally come together.

Dr. Proenza thanked the dignitaries -- specifically Infocision and Summa whose large gifts make it all possible -- and other significant players in the audience. Proenza rolls with the punches pretty well. He accidentally called the Don Plusquellic "Doctor" and then couldn't quite come up with Deputy Mayor Dave Lieberth's name. Still, Proenza just laughs it off and is pretty good at keeping a crowd at ease but on-topic. Must be part of the reason he's been so good at driving the dollars to overhaul the entire campus.

Plusquellic quipped that it's so cold that "everyone will walk away saying that Zippy had the best speech of the day because it was so short." (Of course, mascot fans will get the joke because they know that Zippy and other mascots never talk) Plusquellic also made note that the "rubber bowl has served its purpose" and that he wants to be one of the first to throw a pass in the new stadium before the Sept. 19, 2009 opener against Indiana. I actually teased that the Mayor had four years of eligibility left should Head Coach JD Brookhart need a QB.

The most memorable moment may have come from someone who wasn't expecting the spotlight. Ken Torisky is one of the hardest-working, nicest public relations folks in the business. He's so dedicated that when one side of the roof to the canvass tent began to leak on people in the seats, Ken jumped in to try and keep others from getting wet. Unfortunately, Ken hit the wrong part of the canvass and about 5 gallons of fresh rain water fell on Ken and his nice suit. The crowd gasped .. and Dr. William Demas from the U of A Board of Trustees had to pause in his speech. Ken got a towel and everyone felt for him ... but it was a lousy way to become part of the press conference.

Ted Curtis, the U of A VP whose been leading the project, later made reference to Ken's misfortune by saying, "waterfalls are not a part of the complex, but I've got some ideas now."

The dignitaries turned the dirt on cue .. and the project officially got underway .. although some 75,000 cubic yards of dirt have already been moved.

Afterwards, there was a nice lunch set up inside the fieldhouse. The pizza and sandwiches were great .. and everyone seemed to be enjoying talking about the great games ahead.

The odd part was watching folks with their dessert. There were cookies in the shape of Zippy. It was fun watching folks hold the cookie and not know if they should bite Zippy's head off first .. especially with the actual Zippy so close by.

That pizza looks good to me!

A couple of notes on an early Sunday morning.

With the Quaker Hotel officially going "Animal House" this week, wonder where the city stands in getting a new hotel for downtown Akron? One city hall source tells me that there's nothing new on the horizon. To the city's credit, city leaders only found out a few months ago that the U of A was purchasing the historic hotel, and they did manage to convince Zippy to keep half of the hotel open to the public for now. Still, if for no other reason, we'll need a new hotel in the next year to support the new football stadium.

Multiple sources contacted me on a Saturday night about the "real" story behind a local tragedy. I'm hoping its not true, but if it is, the ripple effect will be big .. and the national media could very well pick this one up and run with it.

My son's scout troop enjoyed a lock-in overnight party at the Jewish Community Center, but when I went to pick him up, I saw that there were a dozen pizzas still in the boxes. For the life of me, I wondered how that much pizza had survived the stomachs of a score of teen boys with never-ending appetites. (Wait for it .. it'll come to you.) So as I ventured toward my son, he told me he was hungry. I asked him why he hadn't eaten some of the pizza, which is still good cold, right? (Figure it out yet?) He told me that he wasn't touching any of it and most of the guys weren't either. Stunned, I asked him "why?" He said, "because our leaders didn't order any meat on the pizzas because we're in the Jewish Community Center." Moral of the story: some teens would rather go hungry -- even forsaking hot pizza -- rather than eat vegetables.

Phone call helped police nab rapist

Two sources tell me that the evidence collected from the rape of a woman on Kling Street earlier this week was "fast-tracked" to the top of the DNA testing list at the Bureau of Criminal Identification.

Usually rape evidence is processed in "the order in which its received" .. meaning the items could have sat at BCI for weeks or longer as other cases were tested first.

I'm told a senior officer placed a call to the lab and asked that the testing be sped up because the circumstances in the latest attack were similar to two other university rapes -- one in November on Carroll Street and another in September on Spicer.

Police feared they had a serial rapist on their hands and needed answers fast. It wasn't long before BCI called back. The quick test of the evidence in the Kling and Carrol street attacks netted a DNA match -- a 24-year-old door-to-door salesman from Columbus named Christopher Butts.

I'm not sure if the fast-track cost the city any extra $$, but even if it did, it would be well worth it.

Turns out that Butts' DNA was collected in 2001 .. when he was a juvenile. That's key. Minors can only be forced to give DNA samples when convicted of a pretty serious crime. So if Butts has been on the offensive since at least 01', who knows how many other victims might be out there.

Butts remains a suspect in the September attack, but has not yet been charged.

I also spoke to a source about John Wayne St. Claire, whose arrest was also announced Friday. He's now confessed to breaking in to more than 20 homes around the University area.

Police were on his trail Tuesday when he fled on foot to a vacant home. After securing the perimeter, three officers drew their weapons and entered the home.

Fortunately, St. Clair gave up ... but the officers breathed a sigh of relief when they found St. Clair was packing a stolen .38 revolver. One officer told me that had St. Clair decided to shoot it out with the officers who entered the house, it would have been "ugly in a hurry."

Yeah, but could Zippy be comfortable in there?

I got to tag along with some Akron U students today as they became the guinea pigs for the new dorm rooms at the Quaker Hotel. Let's just stop right there .. these students now live in a hotel! Wow! (photo courtesy City of Akron)

If you've ever stayed at the Quaker, you know it has the cool round rooms with the neat audio effects when you're talking while standing right in the middle of the room. The Resident Assistants have nicknamed the center of the room as the "suite" spot. Very cute.

Some units are two-person rooms while others are trios. The RA's get their own. Ain't responsibility grand?

The University has locked down their porch doors so that the students can't get out on to those balconies you see when driving past the hotel. Probably a smart move considering a lot of freshman now call the Quaker home, and a lot of nervous parents don't want their 18-year-olds having access to an 8-story drop on May Day.

There's also plenty of common space in the hallways for students to gather, so the traditional college experience is still in play. What's nice is that the old silo walls are thick concrete .. so students in one dorm room can study in peace even when their neighbors are blaring the tunes. For you historians, you'll like knowing that the Quaker Oats decals are still visible on all the dorm room doors.

Several students told me they miss having a kitchen like they did in the old dorms, but fear not ... the ground floor restaurant, Trackside Grille, has been converted to offer buffets to students on meal plans and also serves food ala carte for cash. Hello? Room Service?

And get this .. while the hotel isn't quite on campus, the U of A is providing shuttles to take students back and forth to class. How's that for campus living!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh college. What was I thinking graduating and entering the real world?!?!?!

Will U of A and KSU campus investments pay off?

The first paragraph in today's AP story says it all:

"The near doubling in the cost of a college degree the past decade has produced an explosion in high-priced student loans that could haunt the U.S. economy for years."

The story goes on to tell us the worst kept secret in America: the high price of higher education is really, really costing all of us.

While I love to spend time at the U of A and Kent State -- both have made exceptional investments in their campuses -- I can't help but wonder if the infrastructure upgrades really lead to a better educational experience. I'm sure they lead to a better college experience because so much of higher ed and coming-of-age as an adult are social.

Unlike our parents' days when four years of higher ed meant immediate employment opportunities, a bachelor's degree rarely equals a job any more. So is it really worth a $30-$40K investment -- or more -- for that four-year degree when so much of the cost increase has been tied to campus upgrades?

I understand that higher education is a business .. and the product has to be attractive to bring in customers. I get it. Still, if you could take the same classes in older buildings for half as much money, wouldn't that be something many families could better afford? I realize the dorms wouldn't be as nice as the gorgeous new U of A facility on Exchange Street, but if it saved me $10K over four years to live in a revamped apartment, wouldn't parents have to consider it?

Today's mammoth student loans are creating college grads who are becoming indentured servants to the Federal Government ... just as the out-or-reach college costs are sending thousands of others to what's become a back-door military draft as the only way for many to truly pay their own way.

Is a bachelor's degree really worth the cost if you can't own a home til you're 40 because you're paying off so much in student loans .. and that's only if you can find a job in your field?

Maybe the answer to keeping the class of 2012 from digging a financial ditch is to remind them that college life today is a lot about paying for the incredible wrapping paper in hopes that the gift inside will be a wise investment and not just another old CD eventually bound for eBay.

Signs of the times, guns .. and other stuff

Time to talk about those smoking signs again .. because so many of you sounded off last time I brought it up. When last we left our hero .. we were discussing why the University of Akron had put up a zillion "no smoking" signs at every door of every building (pictured here is the entrance to Guzzetta Hall) but not one "no guns" sign.

Again, I'm not implying that I think either sign is really effective .. in fact, I believe the opposite .. Still, isn't it a bit of overkill (pun intended) to hit me in every direction about what can happen if I smoke on campus but not even one sign to remind me that I should leave my sidearm at home? I mean, look at the photo .. how many signs to we really need?!?!?

A petition drive to save Geauga Lake is gaining steam, even if it's probably more of a longshot than the Browns in the Super Bowl. You can sign your name here if you like and/or just view some of the folks' opinions on the subject. I find it hard to believe the owners didn't decide until the end of the year that they were going to close the amusement park. In fact, had they made the announcement in mid-August, can you imagine how many folks would have bought tickets for one last day the park?

I'd like to know how many of those 200 not-to-be-ever-counted ballots were for wards 4 and 6 in Akron. Were there enough to make a difference? And what's the harm in counting them and sharing the results, even though they wouldn't be binding? Even when it's a 8-1 vote on Survivor, we still get to see who cast that one vote right?

I'm having a great-but-tiring experience anchoring the newscasts on TV3 this week from Cleveland .. while also anchoring the Akron-Canton News at 630 and 10. Tonight I'm doing five shows and my voice is already going .. hoping I can make it til week's end without going hoarse .. and oh yeah, I still have NewsNight Akron on Friday. Yikes!