Iron Chef Michael Symon of Cleveland is headed to the “Magic City” Barberton. Along with Symon, the Food Network is in town to showcase Barberton and its famous chicken. On Sept. 8, Symon will visit two area chicken houses and decide which is his favorite. All Akronites are invited to attend the taping of the finale Thursday, Sept. 9 at Lake Anna Park at the information center from 1-3 p.m.

While visiting White House on Wooster Road and Belgrade Gardens on State Street, the chef will speak with owners, staff and customers. He will also witness the preparation as he tries to choose his favorite. Along with the “Food Feud” as it is being called, the Magic City will be showcased in the hour long show that will premier sometime in November.

Just in case you were not aware- Barberton Chicken is a Hungarian style of fried chicken native to the city. The distinctive style served in several restaurants in Barberton and Norton and now surrounding communities. This style of fried chicken has given our town National recognition, with some proclaiming Barberton to be the chicken capital of the world.

Mmmm hot sauce and chicken...

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Do you think you could win a LeBron’s Biggest Fan contest? Or a LeBron Look-a-Like contest? Or maybe you’d just like to record a video message to LeBron to show your appreciation. All this AND MORE will be going on at the LeBron Appreciation Day event June 19 at InfoCision Stadium.

 From 10 a.m.-12:00 p.m., InfoCision stadium will be bustling with a FREE Fan Fest full of family and fan-friendly activities before the rally. Enjoy food, music, games for the kids, contests and chances to enter drawings to win exciting prizes. The movie More Than a Game will be playing on the stadium jumbotron during the Fan Fest.

From 12:00 p.m.-1p.m. everyone will grab a stadium seat and come together for the Fan Rally to celebrate and cheer King James. The Rally will include entertainment, prize drawings, appearances by local celebrities, comments from local leaders and contest winners will be announced.

The message is simple; “Other cities are just looking at him for his talents, not as a person. However, here in Akron, we’ve proudly watched him grow and have supported him in his journey to superstardom. We’d love to fill InfoCision Stadium to show him how much we appreciate him as our hometown hero,” said Carl Albright, InfoCision president and CEO, who has spearheaded the LeBron Appreciation Day idea.

InfoCision Stadium holds 30,000. Free t-shirts will be given to the first 10,000 attendees. This is a free community-event. No ticket required for admittance.

The community can stay connected and check on updates through the event’s website www.lebronday.com, Facebook and Twitter.

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You guessed it. Akron, Ohio is the setting for the new Fox comedy.  The new sitcom has officially been billed a nerdy version of 30 Rock. It also has the Office influences as the plot centers around an Internal Revenue Service office and stars Martin Short.  The show is not filmed in front of a live studio audience at the Civic theater. But Ron Howard (Arrested Development/Happy Days) and Brian Grazer are executive producers. In addition to those big names, Brent Forrester a writer on the Office wrote the pilot. 

Questions abound…Can you imagine the holiday party episode at Tangier?  And when will LeBron guest star? Does the city of Akron even have an IRS office?

Taxman will be set in Akron

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For a school supporting invention you would think they could come up with a better name. Maybe the APS should tack on Community Learning Center to the name? I mean National Inventors Hall of Fame School Center for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Community Learning Center has a much better ring to it than just National Inventors Hall of Fame School Center for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Learning.

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Akron is miserable. Youngstown is less miserable. Canton is more miserable. Cleveland is the most miserable. Well at least the four Northeast Ohio cities are miserable by FORBES standards.

FORBES magazine recently assessed the top 200 US metro areas based on a “Misery Measure” which takes into account unemployment, taxes (both sales and income), commute times, violent crime and how a city’s pro sports teams have fared over the past two years. It also factors in weather and pollution sites. Lastly, it considers corruption based on convictions of public officials in each area as tracked by the Public Integrity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Based on this scale the buckeye state has 25% of the miserable cities in America. Times are clearly tough, but are they miserable? Clearly the weather and Cleveland Sports teams bring all of Northeast Ohio down. Based on opinion, readership, circulation, content, advertising sales, creativity, and design FORBES magazine has been ranked most miserable magazine in 2010 by I Tire Akron.

Below is a miserable photo of attractive yuppie Akronites taken from the most miserable magazine, FORBES.

The 20 Miserable Cities by rank:
1. Cleveland, Ohio
2. Stockton, California
3. Memphis, Tennessee
4. Detroit, Michigan
5. Flint, Michigan
6. Miami, Florida
7. St. Louis, Missouri
8. Buffalo, New York
9. Canton, Ohio
10. Chicago, Illinois
11. Modesto, California
12. Akron, Ohio
13. Kansas City, Missouri
14. Rockford, Illinois
15. Toledo, Ohio
16. New York, New York
17. Sacramento, California
18. Youngstown, Ohio
19. Gary, Indiana
20. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

To read the miserable article:

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More than 285 million people visited national parks and other branches of the National Parks during 2008, up 10 million from the year prior. Thank you Ken Burns! Ohio’s only National Park came in at #8! Here are the top 10 visited National Parks: Great Smoky Mountains, Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Yellowstone, Olympic, Rocky Mountain, Zion, Cuyahoga Valley, Grand Teton, and Acadia.

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Akron Preview - Cleveland International Film Fest March 4th

For the fourth year, WKSU joins with the Cleveland Film Society to give Akron movie lovers an exclusive preview of this year’s collection of outstanding American and independent cinema offered during the 34th Cleveland International Film Festival. On Thursday, March 4 beginning at 5:30 p.m., gather at the Akron Civic Theatre in downtown Akron for a free event featuring tasty treats from Whole Foods, a cash bar, and a debut of the trailer for the 34th CIFF. There will also be clips highlighting some of the standout festival entries for 2010 and drawings for exciting prizes – including a pair of All-Access passes for the 34th CIFF and an overnight stay in one of Cleveland’s premiere hotels.

Guests will also enjoy music from David Rice, Susie Goehring, Lynn Frederick and Kevin Richards – all members of ROAM (Roots of American Music) and featured in the documentary One Voice Ohio, a festival selection.

The theatre is located at 182 S. Main St. and there is plenty of city parking nearby, which is free after 6 p.m. The 34th CIFF returns to Tower City Cinemas at Tower City Center in downtown Cleveland from March 18 through 28. For more on the festival, visit www.ClevelandFilm.org.

Please RSVP at WKSU.org if you plan on attending the preview party. You are not required to print a voucher and the event is free and open to the general public.

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We hope 2010 is as big as the USS Akron airship.

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