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Police accuse bank robbery suspect of gobbling up note (with dashcam video)
Victim of beating in Kent last week is declared dead at Akron hospital
Can DNA tests free ex-Akron captain?
Dad accused of forcing son into field, killing him
Man found dead in North Akron home is identified
Does it work? Test team returns to try out new products advertised on television
Blogs:
Pets:
Cat-loving chihuahua suckles seven abandoned kittens
The Heldenfiles:
Sunday Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
Browns sick after sick loss in Detroit
Akron Zips:
Zips advance to Sweet Sixteen
Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
Cleveland Browns:
Post-game defensive quotes
Kent State Sports:
Kent State defeats Rochester College, 63-44
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Buckeye Blogging:
OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad
Varsity Letters:
Four area football teams play tonight
All Da King's Men:
The Sunday Sanity Challenge
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Will Health Care Reform Pass?
Akron Law Café:
Health Care Financing Reform: (69) The Brookings Institute Study on "Bending the Curve" – Four General Strategies
See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic
Car Chase:
TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Silverdome Potentially SOLD!
Ohio Travels with Betty:
George is looking for a Thanksgiving buffet in Akron.
Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall
HRLite House:
Personal Rant – You are All Wrong About Jobs, or the Lack of Jobs, Being the Reason People Do Not Live in NEO
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
POSTED: 11:24 a.m. EDT, Mar 16, 2008
After publishing findings that show Americans are earning less than their parents, the Beacon Journal invited readers to participate in focus groups. Here's some of what they said:
Jimmy Taylor, 58, of Cuyahoga Falls: ''No matter how much money you accrue, all you need is one health-care catastrophe and you're wiped out. So there's no amount of money that will make you feel safe. What's happening in our country is indicative of every major nation in the world. You have the rich and the poor; the middle class is unique in the Western world. Most other countries have the rich and the poor. So in the future, that's probably what it's going to look like for us: rich — and poor.''
Brenda Cook, 47, of Uniontown: ''Look at your paycheck, and it looks pretty good until you do your bills. It sounds like a great living. And it's not even always the huge (expenses) — the mortgage, the car payments or whatever. It's the little stuff. Little stuff meaning groceries. Gas in your car. Clothes for whoever needs them. Senior pictures. Surprise repairs.''
Robert Caetta, 56, of Ravenna: ''I always thought the American dream — success — was being able to support your family. Like if the washer broke tomorrow that you wouldn't have to think, 'Oh, my God, what am I going to do now? Now I have to save for six months to buy it.' To me, the American dream is that if the washer broke on Monday, you went to Sears on Tuesday and said, 'That's the one I want. Deliver it.' That you could do that and provide that type of security for your family. When you got to that point, that to me was the American dream.'
Sue Kelewae, 58, of Massillon: ''The politicians come from the wealthy. Most of us here are in the middle class. The politicians have no clue of the people in the poverty class. And pretty soon, (with) that gap between the middle class and them, they are not going to understand. So yes, I do firmly believe as a democracy that we have a grass-roots obligation to not let (the middle class) go away.''
Sharae Smith, 30, of Akron: ''When you look at years ago, people worked at Goodyear or Firestone and the moms got to stay at home. They had three or four children, those children went to college. And the wages were lower 15 to 20 years ago. You think, 'Why can't we do that today?' We are the children of those people. We went to college and then we come out and find out we can't even make the $26, $27 an hour that they were making. Even though we have degrees.''
Tom Fuller, 61, of Akron: ''I think that in a global society we hold a privileged position in this country. And those folks who live at subsistence level, who can move up the chain a few notches, may do so at our expense.''
Elizabeth Wilkerson of Akron: ''I'm pretty sure I'll be all right. Our house is paid off; my husband's at retirement age. He has a pension; I have a 401(k). We have other property, and we have investments. I think we'll be OK, I just hope my kids will be OK and don't end up living with me. . . . I worry about them, I don't worry about us.''
Bill Jelen, 43, of Uniontown: ''My father worked basically in a sweatshop. His dream for us was to go to school and do better. I worked at the same place for 12 years and figured I would work there for 30 and out. . . . Now I'm self employed and running my own business. I'm my own boss, so I will never get fired.''
After publishing findings that show Americans are earning less than their parents, the Beacon Journal invited readers to participate in focus groups. Here's some of what they said:
Jimmy Taylor, 58, of Cuyahoga Falls: ''No matter how much money you accrue, all you need is one health-care catastrophe and you're wiped out. So there's no amount of money that will make you feel safe. What's happening in our country is indicative of every major nation in the world. You have the rich and the poor; the middle class is unique in the Western world. Most other countries have the rich and the poor. So in the future, that's probably what it's going to look like for us: rich — and poor.''
Brenda Cook, 47, of Uniontown: ''Look at your paycheck, and it looks pretty good until you do your bills. It sounds like a great living. And it's not even always the huge (expenses) — the mortgage, the car payments or whatever. It's the little stuff. Little stuff meaning groceries. Gas in your car. Clothes for whoever needs them. Senior pictures. Surprise repairs.''
Robert Caetta, 56, of Ravenna: ''I always thought the American dream — success — was being able to support your family. Like if the washer broke tomorrow that you wouldn't have to think, 'Oh, my God, what am I going to do now? Now I have to save for six months to buy it.' To me, the American dream is that if the washer broke on Monday, you went to Sears on Tuesday and said, 'That's the one I want. Deliver it.' That you could do that and provide that type of security for your family. When you got to that point, that to me was the American dream.'
Sue Kelewae, 58, of Massillon: ''The politicians come from the wealthy. Most of us here are in the middle class. The politicians have no clue of the people in the poverty class. And pretty soon, (with) that gap between the middle class and them, they are not going to understand. So yes, I do firmly believe as a democracy that we have a grass-roots obligation to not let (the middle class) go away.''
Sharae Smith, 30, of Akron: ''When you look at years ago, people worked at Goodyear or Firestone and the moms got to stay at home. They had three or four children, those children went to college. And the wages were lower 15 to 20 years ago. You think, 'Why can't we do that today?' We are the children of those people. We went to college and then we come out and find out we can't even make the $26, $27 an hour that they were making. Even though we have degrees.''
Tom Fuller, 61, of Akron: ''I think that in a global society we hold a privileged position in this country. And those folks who live at subsistence level, who can move up the chain a few notches, may do so at our expense.''
Elizabeth Wilkerson of Akron: ''I'm pretty sure I'll be all right. Our house is paid off; my husband's at retirement age. He has a pension; I have a 401(k). We have other property, and we have investments. I think we'll be OK, I just hope my kids will be OK and don't end up living with me. . . . I worry about them, I don't worry about us.''
Bill Jelen, 43, of Uniontown: ''My father worked basically in a sweatshop. His dream for us was to go to school and do better. I worked at the same place for 12 years and figured I would work there for 30 and out. . . . Now I'm self employed and running my own business. I'm my own boss, so I will never get fired.''
