DYER: AutoZone cuts check for mural

Oct 28, 2009 (The Akron Beacon Journal - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- AZO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Because the people directly involved aren't talking, we still don't know exactly who was responsible for the blunder in which painters working for AutoZone slapped bands of gray, white and orange paint over top of an enormous mural painted by Akron schoolchildren.

But we do know that AutoZone has stepped up and claimed responsibility.

The national auto-parts chain has sent the city a $2,500 check to try to ease what turned into a PR disaster for AutoZone and a huge disappointment for the children at Miller South School for the Visual and Performing Arts who designed and painted the 114-foot-long mural only two years ago. The money will go toward next year's Lock 3 Summer Arts program.

AutoZone, which is taking over a building Blockbuster previously occupied in the city's Wallhaven district, says the mural would not have been covered if the company had been aware of its significance.

Says Akron Deputy Mayor Dave Lieberth: "We will use the gift to assist us in completing a public work of art -- a mural or sculpture -- to be created by high school students, and we will select an appropriate, permanent location for it."

Half full

As you might have guessed, when SELF magazine ranked the nation's 100 "healthiest places for women," Northeast Ohio was not bobbing along near the top of the list. We're rarely near the top of the good lists.

This time, we were a dismal 72nd. But the study did manage to find some positives about life in our area. Among them:

"Residents get relatively few sunburns and have low rates of death from skin cancer."

Can't burn if you never get sun. Hip, hip, hooray.

Mascot duel

Neither of these fine educational institutions could ever compete with the nationally known and revered Zippy, of course, but the College of Wooster and archrival Wittenberg University, in Springfield (near Dayton), have put together a cool online mascot competition that can be viewed at http://www.mascotfaceoff.com.

As you might guess, Wittenberg is outgunned in our five-county area, with 700 alumni living here compared with 2,800 from Wooster.

With a diploma from Wooster and offspring at Wittenberg, your favorite columnist would be well advised to remain neutral.

Learn 'em good

In the Oct. 22 issue of the free regional publication Mimi Vanderhaven, there's an infomercial for a facility that helps students "improve their ability to learn."

The caption under the main photo reads, "Training sessions at LearningRX help students improve to their grades [sic] -- and the side benefit is an improvement in self-esteem."

Maybe they can grow up to be proofreaders.

Bob Dyer can be reached at 330-996-3580 or bdyer@thebeaconjournal.com.

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