Now You Know Akron

In this special edition of the Now You Know Akron podcast, host Craig Webb catches up with Dion Stentz, owner of Uniquely Inspired Gift Baskets in Fairlawn.

“All of our gift baskets are customized or personalized,” Stentz said. “None of our gifts are sitting on the shelves waiting to be purchased by a random recepiete who wants a gift.”

Uniquely Inspired Gift Baskets was featured earlier this year as part of the Beacon Journal’s ongoing “Focus on Black-owned businesses” series. The Now You Know Akron podcast will also begin to highlight entrepreneurs from this series on a regular basis, discussing the challenges for young, minority business owners as well as the variety of goods and services they offer to the community.

For more info, visit Uniquely Inspired Gift Baskets on Facebook. 

In this edition of the Now You Know Akron podcast, host Craig Webb and Beacon Journal reporter Tawney Beans talk with Jim Brandenburg, a tax partner at accounting and professional services firm Sikich LLP. Brandenburg discussed change in tax law that could affect users of Venmo, PayPal and other cash apps. 

In this edition of the Now You Know Akron podcast, host Craig Webb and Beacon Journal reporter Seyma Bayram are joined by Pastor Gregory Harrison. Harrison, a retired Akron police officer and reverend of Antioch Baptist Church, tells the story of his family being displaced by construction of the Akron Innerbelt when he was just a child. 

“It really shook my sense of security,” Harrison said. "We were moved to pretty much what I would consider a foreign land.”

In this edition of the Now You Know Akron podcast, host Craig Webb is joined by reporter Stephanie Warsmith to discuss the latest episode in the Unresolved series.
The latest installment looks at the 1980 stabbing death of Jeffrey Sauber at a drive-in theater in Coventry Township. 

Sauber, an 18-year-old Marine from Lawrence Township, was stabbed by a stranger in a long black trench coat who walked past him. Sauber followed the man and the two exchanged words. Sauber then stumbled back to his friend’s car, told him he’d been stabbed and fell down.

In this edition of the Now You Know Akron podcast, host Craig Webb and Beacon Journal reporter Krista Kano are joined by Tallmadge city employee Kelli Funk, who talks about her experience working through the pandemic as an administrative assistant in the planning and zoning department and cemetery department. Funk and fellow Tallmadge city employee Tara Ripple advocated to city council for hazard pay for working through the challenges of COVID-19. 

In this edition of the Now You Know Akron podcast, reporter Krista Kano sits down with Copley’s own Michael Allio to talk in depth about his memorable appearance on “The Bachelorette.”

Allio, who became a fan favorite, joined the show two years after his wife, Laura died, of breast cancer, but self-eliminated right before the “hometown” dates to be with his young son, James, now 5. 

Nine months after leaving the show, Allio is using his new found celebrity to continue to support families dealing with cancer through his nonprofit, the L4 (Live Life Like Laura) Project, and to bring attention to others who need help. He’s doing it all while still trying to find a balance between fame, charity, work, family and love.  

In this special edition of the Now You Know Akron podcast, we catch up with Brent Wesley, owner of Akron Honey.

“I wasn’t intending on it being a business,” Wesley said of getting his business started. “But then folks started figuring out what we were doing and saying, ‘Hey, can we get some of that honey? How much you selling it for?’”

Akron Honey was featured earlier this year as part of the Beacon Journal’s ongoing “Focus on Black-owned businesses” series. The Now You Know Akron podcast will also begin to highlight entrepreneurs from this series on a regular basis, discussing the challenges for young, minority business owners as well as the variety of goods and services they offer to the community.

In this edition of the Now You Know Akron podcast, host Craig Webb is joined by recent record-setting Jeopardy champion Matt Amodio. They talk about Matt's historic run on the popular game show and what's next for the Medina native. 

In this edition of the Now You Know Akron podcast, sports reporter George Thomas sits down with new University of Akron football coach, Joe Moorhead. The university introduced the soon-to-be former offensive coordinator of the Oregon Ducks earlier this month. Moorhead inherits a team that’s gone 3-28 in its past three seasons and is looking to improve its fortunes in the Mid-American Conference.

In this edition of the Now You Know Akron podcast, host Craig Webb and Beacon Journal reporter Jen Pignolet are joined by Olyvia Raber, a senior at Akron Public Schools' Firestone Community Learning Center.

They talk about discipline and behavior issues at public schools since districts have returned to in-person instruction. They also highlight the importance of mental health awareness and care among students.