Mutt Madness

Scuba wins Mutt Madness!

We had a blast meeting all the pups and Westside owners at the Mutt Meetup at Terrestrial Brewing Company. Shoutout to everyone that came up, hung out and grabbed a beer on our tab.

All of the 128 participants are winners for competing in this years contest. We tallied over 60,000 votes and countless impossible decisions. But there has to be a winner… and this year it’s Scuba the golden retreiver!

Her Story

She began her life as a service dog in training, which helped to build her calm, caring temperament that would shape her extraordinary life to come.

In an almost Hollywood-esque story, Scuba's owner, Megan—herself a certified scuba diver who works part-time at the Cleveland Aquarium—adopted her in March of 2018.

The two have been inseparable ever since… can you blame them?

Along the way, she became a mama, raising a litter of pups who would go on to help people with PTSD, autism, anxiety, and mobility needs. She also stepped into her own superhero era as a therapy dog, logging more than 375 hours of visits to hospitals to share her natural gift for comforting others.

And when she’s not changing lives? She’s out making memories — traveling to 20 states, exploring 7 national parks, and living for her next great adventure.

All 128 participants are winners for showing up and letting Buzz Nation fall in love with them. But Scuba? She's the kind of dog who makes you believe in the goodness of the universe, or at least in the goodness of golden retrievers who were clearly sent here to fix us.

Cheers to Scuba, to Megan, and to every pup and owner who made 2026 Mutt Madness unforgettable. See you next year!

Short Takes

The full April 14th column is packed with so much information today and it lives here on our website but here are the highlights worth your morning coffee.

Avon

Who let the dogs out?: Inn the Doghouse is opening its third location April 25. A Grand Opening celebration with an official “leash-cutting” will take place from 1 to 3 p.m. where guests can tour the facility which features daycare, boarding and grooming services.

Vendor applications: Organizers are now accepting vendor applications for the upcoming Heart of Avon outdoor markets. Free booths are available for Avon residents.

Upcoming markets include from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. May 20 (Avon Vendor Night, Hope for B.E.S.T charity night), June 10, July 15 and Aug. 5.

For more information

Avon Lake

Bagging hunger: The Harvest for Hunger Celebrity Bagging event takes place from 3 to 5 p.m. April 17 at Giant Eagle, 31990 Walker Road.

Go shopping and get your groceries bagged by local celebrities while supporting Second Harvest. Your donation of $2, $5, or $10 at checkout helps provide meals to local families in need.

Seeds available: The Avon-on-the-Lake Garden Club members have filled the Little Garden Book House with decorated bags filled with seed packets of flowers and vegetables. The gift bags are free to the public and will be replenished while supplies last.

Once the bags are no longer available, the Little Book House will return to holding a variety of gardening books for the public to check out and replace when finished.

Bay Village

Special dedication: The Bay Village City Schools will dedicate a POW/MIA Chair of Honor at 10:45 a.m. April 18 at Bay Memorial Stadium on the Bay High School campus, 29230 Wolf Road. The community is invited to attend.

Rolling Thunder sponsored the cost of the Chair of Honor. Bay High School students collected  $500 to make a donation to Rolling Thunder to forward the nonprofit’s mission.  

Grand reveal: Staff and stakeholders of the Bay Village City Schools will come together for the Facilities for the Future ‘Grand Reveal’ ceremony at 6 p.m. April 30 at Bay High School.

During the event, final renderings of the improvements at four school buildings, and a ceremonial moving of dirt to symbolize the subsequent next two years of construction, will take place.

North Ridgeville

Coffee chat: Join Mayor Kevin Corcoran for the next Coffee & Conversation from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. April 22 in Council Chambers at City Hall, 7307 Avon Belden Road. Joining the mayor will be Ludina Mills from the North Ridgeville Arts Council.

Garden party: Preparations are underway for the 2026 season at the North Ridgeville Community Garden. Open to North Ridgeville residents, the garden offers a chance to grow fresh produce, connect with neighbors and give back to the community.

Applications and garden guidelines will be available at nridgeville.gov beginning April 20 and will be accepted through May 8. The garden is located along Chestnut Ridge Road across from Alternate State Route 83 at the roundabout.

Rocky River

Pool closed: Beginning May 18, the city’s Civic Center indoor pool will close, with an anticipated reopening date of Sept. 8. The outdoor pool will be opening at 6:30 a.m. May 18.

Current Civic Center membership may swim at Westlake’s indoor pool, 28955 Hilliard Blvd., from May 18-31.  Members must sign-in at the Welcome Desk. Westlake’s indoor pool is closing for renovations on June 1.

Beginning in June, current Civic Center members will be able to swim at Fairview Gemini’s indoor pool, 21225 Lorain Road.

Westlake

Finalists: All eight of Westlake High School's National Merit Semifinalists are now National Merit Finalists. Congratulations to Sujith Aring, John Davalla, Raine DeAngelis. Ria Guduguntla, Abigail Pelles, Alaina Pugh, Benjamin Suffredini, and Evan Szabo

The students now rank among the top 15,000 students nationwide with high scores on the PSAT/NMSQT.

Community Blend

Lorain County’s Newest Deputy Eats Hay

She’s 10 years old, calm under pressure, and apparently acts like a golden retriever. She’s also the first horse in what Sheriff Jack Hall hopes becomes a full mounted unit.

The mare arrived last week from Millersburg, officially turning an idea Hall had been talking about since March 2025 into a real thing. And this is not just for show. The sheriff says the horse will help with search-and-rescue calls, manhunts, crowd control, and community events across Lorain County’s more rural areas, where covering ground quickly actually matters.

Why it matters:
During a large manhunt last spring, Hall said a mounted unit could have helped lock down a perimeter faster while time was crucial.

Mounted units tend to draw a crowd in a good way, and the sheriff’s office expects the horse to become a regular sight at local events, starting as soon as Memorial Day weekend.

Funding:
The unit has been funded entirely through private donations, with more than $50,000 raised already, plus donated feed and equipment.

A second horse is expected soon, and Hall says the long-term vision is a full unit of 8 to 10 horses.

Westside Pour Over

🚶‍➡️ Lakewood - The city scored a 70+ on walkscore.com's national walkability rankings — making it the only city in Ohio to crack that threshold and beating out any other city in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, and Akron.

⛔ North Olmsted - City Council unanimously voted down a controversial proposal to build 45 townhomes on a 5.5-acre wooded lot along historic Butternut Ridge Road, siding with residents who argued the development was incompatible with the area's historic district character and preservation requirements.

🏫 Strongsville - The school district is asking voters to approve a 3.43-mill bond issue in May to rebuild aging elementary schools. Some buildings are over 50 years old and rely on mobile classrooms to accommodate fluctuating class sizes.

👨‍🚒 Grafton - Fire Chief Glen Thompson is retiring after a 25-year career in fire and EMS, and Fire Inspector Joe DiVencenzo resigned effective April 15—both departures coming as Grafton Village Council approved a measure to convert all fire department positions to part-time, paid-per-call roles. (Chronicle)

🍽️ Business & Restaurant News

Birdtown Brewing Finally Spreads Its Wings 📍 Lakewood

If you've been waiting for Birdtown Brewing to open as long as we have, you've probably raised a child, seen three different presidents, and finally mastered the art of sourdough.

After 12 years of planning and construction, Birdtown Brewing is officially opening its doors this Thursday, April 16th, in the historic St. Gregory the Theologian Byzantine Catholic Church. This proves that good things (and good beer) come to those who wait.

Jodie and I got a resi on opening night, so we will be reporting back with our boots on the ground thoughts for Friday’s newsletter.

Doors open at 4:00 PM on April 16th at 2035 Quail Street in Lakewood.