TEENS PROTEST CRACKDOWN
Claim Falls Ordinances Take Away Freedom
By Al Stevenson and Jerry Bailey
CUYAHOGA FALLS – Youthful motorists left their cars behind Tuesday night and marched a protest against the crackdown by Cuyahoga Falls on their driving habits.
More than 50 paraded on Portage Trail near a popular teen drive-in restaurant, shortly after 10:30pm.
They carried signs reading: “Give Us Our Freedom” and “Falls Cops Trying For a New Record”.
The demonstration was against a series of new laws aimed at rowdyism around the Hungry I restaurant and other teen gathering spots.
Summit County Sheriff Robert Campbell led deputies to the Shoppers Fair parking lot on State Road, just outside the city limits, to break up a rendezvous for the march.
From there the protesters moved from the Hungry I and were watched through their hour-long march by cruising Cuyahoga Falls Police.
Police Chief Donald Brown ordered his men not to interfere as long as the demonstration remained peaceful.
Another demonstration is planned for tonight, the youths said.
“Sure we hang around the Hungry I,” Mike Bolognue, 18, of 2761 Norma Street said. “We have to meet someplace and where else is there?”
“They are giving us tickets for practically no reason at all,” said Tony Cozzoli of 1237 Highbridge Road. “I got one for blowing my horn accidentally the other night.”
The crackdown followed complaints from residents about noisy cars and screeching tires. Last Saturday 30 residents from the Hungry I neighborhood met with officials at City Hall to protest disturbances.
Councilmen Robert Cram and Chester Travis pleged further measures would be taken to correct the situation.
“It’s getting to a point where these young drivers are threatening to overrun the city,” Cram said.
Falls police and the Sheriff’s Department are playing “hot potato” with the youths. The Falls drove many youngsters out of the city with the crackdown and deputies have ordered the to move on, too.
“We assist the Falls if necessary,” Campbell said, “but we don’t want these kids coming into our area with this problem.”
After a meeting with Hungry I operators, Tuesday, Brown said several steps are being considered. One would be a traffic light on Portage Trail at Norma Street and another would be the rezoning a portion of Schiller Avenue for office buildings to provide a buffer zone for residents in the drive-in area.
Akron Beacon Journal 24 August 1965