Akron Digest
August 1, 2025

Good Morning, Akron!

Been to the beach lately? You look like you could use a little sun. Luckily, we’ve got a few options for you.

Let’s dive into this week’s issue.

🗞️ The Digest

Sales Tax? Never Heard of It! Ohio’s Holiday Is Here.

Ohio’s annual sales tax holiday is back—and it’s longer this year. From today through August 14, you can skip sales tax on most items under $500, both in-store and online.

🛍️ What’s included:
Clothing, school supplies, electronics (TVs, laptops), home goods (furniture, kitchenware), books, sporting gear, pet supplies—even restaurant meals (minus alcohol).

🚫 What’s not:
Cars, boats, alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana-related products.

📦 Good to know:

• Applies per item—not the total cart

• Shipping & layaway still qualify

• Coupons can help items drop under the $500 cap

• Online orders count if placed during the holiday window

💸 Savings:
With sales tax in Summit County at 6.75%, you’re saving about $34 on every $500 in qualifying purchases (in case you didn’t feel like opening your calculator).

Time to knock out that back-to-school shopping—and maybe upgrade your TV while you’re at it.

🔥 Top 5 Events This Week

Here is our list of hand-picked events around the area:

📌 Everything Else Worth Knowing

Some bonus picks from us:

🏖️ Beach Day, The Akron Way

A curious soul on Reddit recently asked: What are the best beaches within a few hours of Akron? And the replies delivered. Turns out, there are some truly great beach day options within a short road trip — and most people don’t even know (or forgot) they exist.

Here are some of the top suggestions, with details from us added:

🏖 Mentor Headlands Beach State Park (≈1 hour drive)

• Ohio’s largest natural sand beach — seriously, it stretches for nearly a mile.

• Calm waters, scenic shoreline, and family-friendly vibes.

• Just off Route 44 near Mentor, it’s one of the most beloved Lake Erie beaches in the state.

🌅 Presque Isle State Park, Pennsylvania (≈2 hour drive)

• A peninsula packed with 13 sandy beaches and incredible views of Lake Erie.

• You’ll also find trails, marshes, a lighthouse, and even a vintage amusement park (Waldameer) right at the entrance.

• If you’re up for a full-day getaway, this one’s a gem.

🌾 Conneaut Township Park (≈1.5 hour drive)

• A quieter beach tucked away near the PA border, with a wide stretch of sand and fewer crowds.

• Great for swimming, sunsets, or just skipping stones and chilling out.

• Think of it as a laid-back alternative to the busier Lake Erie spots.

🎬️🎥 Akron Weekend Movie Action

Nightlight Theatre

• Together
  “With a move to the countryside already testing the limits of a couple's relationship, a supernatural encounter begins an extreme transformation of their love, their lives, and their flesh”

  Rotten Tomatoes: 91%

  Showtimes

• Architecton
  “An extraordinary journey through the material that makes up our habitat: concrete and its ancestor, stone. Victor Kossakovsky raises a fundamental question: how do we inhabit the world of tomorrow?”

  Rotten Tomatoes: 95%

  Showtimes

• Diciannove
  “Leonardo, a 19-year-old student, leaves his hometown of Palermo to study economics in London. He soon grows restless and enrolls at the University of Siena to study literature before dropping out of school to study classics on his own. The following year, he travels to Turin where he meets a man who will help him on his journey of self-discovery.”

  Rotten Tomatoes: 70%

  Showtimes

• Folktales
  “Exhausted by loneliness, social anxiety, and all the crushing barrage of pressures felt by their generation, three teenagers leave the comforts of home to enroll in a traditional “folk high school” in the wilds of northernmost Norway. Dropped in the arctic wilderness for one year, Hege, Romain, and Bjørn Tore must rely only on themselves and a pack of loyal sled dogs as they take the daunting step from childhood to adulthood. Freed from technology, social media, and the noise of modern life, this brave trio learns to face themselves for the first time, and experience an unexpected transformation.”

  Rotten Tomatoes: 77%

  Showtimes

Highland Theatre

• Fantastic Four: First Steps
  “Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, the Fantastic Four must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer.” (IMDB)

  Rotten Tomatoes: 88%

  Showtimes

Weather

Today

76 🌡️ 51 | ☀️ | 0% 🌧️

Saturday

78 🌡️ 54 | ☀️ | 0% 🌧️

Sunday

81 🌡️ 57 | ☀️ | 1% 🌧️

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Talk to you next Friday!