🌱 Lakewood Doctor Harnesses Superpowers + Free Little Locker Room

Good morning, everybody. It's Thursday in Lakewood and I'm back in your inbox to get you caught up on the most important things happening locally.

First, today's weather:

Hazy sun. High: 70 Low: 60.

Here are the top three stories today in Lakewood:

1. A Lakewood doctor is helping children harness their own superpowers to fight against illness. Lakewood Family Health Center's Dr. John Hanicak has been appearing as Marvel Comics’ Spider-Man and Doctor Strange for the nonprofit Super Heroes to Kids in Ohio for the last eight years, striking heroic stature in local pediatric wards and at charity events. The 54-year-old, who practices family medicine, said of the children, "When their favorite superhero or princess shows up, they’re able to be distracted for a minute. They just start smiling, and it makes a huge difference... I’m a doctor [and] I can’t think of any medicine that does that." (Fox8)
2. Lakewood's new "Free Little Locker Room" has opened in Madison Park. The new sports locker room, inspired by the numerous Little Free Libraries scattered throughout the city, is intended to offer any visitor the opportunity to borrow or contribute sporting goods equipment while enjoying recreation within the park. The locker room was created by the local neighborhood group and non-profit Friends of Madison Park, along with the help of volunteers, donations, and a Lakewood Foundation grant. It now features sports balls (soccer, basketball, volleyball, and football), frisbees, Wiffle ball supplies, bubble wands, sidewalk chalk, and more. (News 5 Cleveland WEWS)
3. Lakewood City Schools is using a $27,000 grant to purchase high-tech robot kits for elementary buildings. Through the Lakewood Rangers Education Foundation (LREF), the district will be funding modern robots for newly-created STEM classes at the elementary level in the Lakewood City Schools using a recently awarded Howmet Aerospace Foundation $26,910 grant. According to Lakewood City Schools Director of Information Technology Brent Kallay, “Students will be able to draw paths and color codes to learn the basics of programming through the use of markers and paper." (cleveland.com)

Today in Lakewood:

• Traditional/ Integrative Yoga Therapy At Harmonic Journeys (5:30 PM)
• Board Of Zoning Appeals Meeting At City Of Lakewood (6:30 PM)

From my notebook:

• Lakewood City Schools hosted a delegation of Romanian educators participating in a visit to the U.S. through the Congressional Office for International Leadership in collaboration with the U.S. State Department. (cleveland.com)
• Here are 24 suburban Cuyahoga County restaurants with the most food inspection violations in 2021-2022. (cleveland.com)
• Cuyahoga County is seeking public comment on existing/proposed bike and scooter share hubs. More information and an interactive map to explore and provide feedback are available here. (City of Lakewood via Twitter)

More from our sponsors — thanks for supporting local news!

Events:

• Woodstock Rave (September 16)
• September 17, 2022 - Annual Head of the Cuyahoga Rowing Regatta in the Flats (September 17)
• Warehouse Sale (September 17)
• Clean Water Fest (September 17)
• Doan Brook Watershed Partnership Family Fishing Workhops (September 17)
• Wizardry Wand-Making and Spellbook Workshop (September 18)
• ALDI’s National Hiring Week (September 18)
• Add your event

You're all caught up for today. See you all tomorrow for another update!

— Sean Peek

About me: Sean Peek is a writer and entrepreneur with a degree in English Literature from Weber State University. Over the years, he has worked as a copywriter, editor, SEO specialist, and marketing director for various digital media companies. He currently co-owns and operates content creation agency Lightning Media Partners.