Lakewood|News|
Then and Now: You Won’t Believe What’s Here Now
The Cleveland Memory Project helping Lakewood Patch readers stroll down memory lane.

I am the editor of Lakewood Patch and a local news enthusiast.
I joined Patch because the company is at the forefront of the future of journalism — and I am deeply committed to this changing media landscape. And, I love Lakewood.
I have delivered, printed, packed, stacked, written for, edited and, of course, read newspapers. My first reporting gig came in the fourth grade when Mrs. Williams ordered – since I talked so much — that I report news and weather to begin the class each day. No sweat.
So, the kid with soda-pop-bottle eyeglasses began his career, sharing the latest news and weather forecasts with a room full of confounded classmates.
Since then, I have worked in different media environments, and worn several different hats. I have picked up a camera; learned to handle video equipment and edited my own work. I have kept a blog. I have taped interviews and posted them to the Web. These are a few of the skills that I have acquired in an ever-changing media environment.
After stints in Chicago and Southern California, I returned to home to Northeast Ohio to attend the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Kent State University. I held a reporting internship at the Record Publishing Co. by day and worked in the Akron Beacon Journal production department by night, stacking newspapers.
I later worked as a reporter and wire editor at the Record-Courier and received several awards for news and sports reporting.
In my freelance work, most notably for hiVelocity, I have followed the changing economic landscape in Ohio. I have identified start-up bio-tech and biomedical companies as they sprout up around the fertile health-care industry, with area institutions of higher education propping them up. The state's economy is changing.
Not unlike my own industry.
I live in Lakewood with my wife, Kelly Flamos, and our children, Ruby and Clyde.
Kelly co-owns and operates Mahalls 20 Lanes with my brother-in-law, Joe Pavlick.
... In case you're curious, that will never affect my ability to report news professionally and fairly in this city that I love.
The Cleveland Memory Project helping Lakewood Patch readers stroll down memory lane.

According to several witnesses, a car pulling out of the Burger King across the street continued forward, and appeared to mistake the gas pedal for the brakes.
This 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom, 1,800-square-foot home, at 10275 Whitewood Road, was built in 1967.
This 4-bedroom, 3-and-half bathroom, 3,500-square-foot home was built in 1914.
More than 30 seniors at the Westerly were told they’d need to find new housing, so that the senior living apartments could qualify for low-income housing funding.
The project is expected to begin in July, after Home Days. However, no firm date has been set.
The following information was supplied by the Brecksville Police Department. Where arrests or charges are mentioned, it does not indicate a conviction.
Council president Brian Powers said he’s looking to revisit the issue, if for nothing else, to “have a public discussion” on the matter.
Check out our interactive map of police incidents around Lakewood. Click on each marker to see the details.
Revelations Hair Salon and Spa on Detroit Avenue hosted the middle school’s annual Locks of Love event.
The school board has given the thumbs-up on a measure that would allow the city to lease the land and maintain the baseball field.
In all, seven men were indicted for their alleged roles in a conspiracy to steal copper from two-dozen power substations around Northeast Ohio.
The final phase of the school district’s Master Facility Plan would demolish Grant, Lincoln and Roosevelt elementary schools, as well as the eastern portion of the high school, then rebuild them.
Check out our interactive map of police incidents around Lakewood. Click on each marker to see the details.
City council weighs measure that would “overlay” an additional zoning distinction to the city-owned property on Oakes Road.
Nikola Zamiska, a Brecksville firefighter, was sworn-in to replace Lt. Timothy Pristas. But there are still two open posts in the department.
However, two longtime businesses, Normile Insurance and Landfall Travel, had to find new locations.