Cleveland City Hall has been making stadium deals since 1974, when then-Browns owner Art Modell spent $8 million on improvements (including 108 loges built under the edge of the upper deck) in return for a 25-year lease. Now Mayor Justin Bibb is negotiating another agreement with current Browns owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam over renovating the Browns' lakefront stadium. How much should the public pay? You can debate the benefit of millions of dollars in publicly funded improvements for privately owned teams. We do every time a major league organization asks for money. We cite expert testimony, studies and statistics, the multiplier effect and civic pride. But what other good could that money buy? What if Cleveland had, say, $300 million to replace decrepit playground equipment with state-of-the-art splash pads and pickleball courts rather than improving infrastructure used by ticket-holders a dozen times a year? Would that be a bigger civic payoff? — Laura |
Overnight Scores and Weather |
Cavs at Washington Wizards: Darius Garland comes through in clutch as Cavs celebrate Donovan Mitchell’s return with 114-105 win Northeast Ohio weather forecast: Severe thunderstorms possible this week |
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Hundreds of thousands of fans go to Cleveland Browns Stadium each season to watch the team play. But would it be a better investment for the city and its residents to spend millions of dollars on other services rather than stadium upgrades? (Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com file photo) |
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Parks and rec: How many parks, playgrounds, ballfields, basketball courts and recreation centers could be refurbished or built for the people of Cleveland if city leaders stopped subsidizing a professional football team? Could people who live in the city limits finally have access to the same quality amenities that their suburban counterparts enjoy? Lucas Daprile compares costs. Brecksville Bees: Gymnastics coaching duo Ron and Joan Ganim have long held the philosophy to “teach the child, then the athlete.” And it’s more than just a pep talk, the gymnasts say. The Ganims’ anti-Bela Karolyi approach to coaching – with a strong back and a soft heart, folding each gymnast into the family – is unconventional in the cutthroat world of gymnastics. But, Hannah Drown reports, it just might be the secret to the Bees’ enduring success as they pursue their 21st consecutive state championship title. Hate crime: Tres Genco wanted to make history for carrying out a mass shooting specifically targeting women at Ohio State University with the hopes of killing 3,000. Instead, Adam Ferrise reports, he’s the first “incel” to be convicted of federal hate crime charges. And prosecutors are urging a federal judge in Cincinnati to hand down a sentence that sends a message to the online community of men known as incels, or involuntary celibates, who hate women because they believe women deny them romantic or sexual attention. Today in Ohio: The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio has resumed its investigations into the sprawling FirstEnergy bribery affair after a new round of criminal indictments against the agency’s former leader and two corporate officials. Does that mean more federal indictments are on the way? We’re discussing on Today in Ohio, cleveland.com’s daily half-hour news podcast. |
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Ethics reform: More than three years after the FBI began making arrests in what turned out to be the largest bribery scandal in state history, Ohio lawmakers haven’t passed any campaign-finance or ethics-reform bills in response. And there’s little sign they’re going to anytime soon, reports Jeremy Pelzer. Why? Maybe because it isn’t in sitting lawmakers’ interest to change a political system that they have found success in. Prop bets: Bettors in the state can no longer place player-specific prop bets on NCAA events, reports Jake Zuckerman. The Ohio Casino Control Commission heeded a request from both the NCAA and Gov. Mike DeWine to eliminate the sub-genre of bets, in which gamblers can wager about specific outcomes from specific players. DeWine's salary: More than 300 Ohio state employees - psychiatrists, nurses, troopers and others - made more money than Gov. Mike DeWine in 2023, according to data from the state’s Ohio Checkbook website. Eight of the top 10 paid state employees were psychiatrists with the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, with the top paid being psychiatrist Florence Kimbo. Kimbo was paid $473,971, Zachary Smith reports. CPAC: Speakers at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) warned Friday that Democratic President Joe Biden is a dangerous imbecile. They delivered paeans to ex-President Donald Trump. They warned the right-wing crowd of the dangers of everything from “woke” behavior to critical race theory, mail-in balloting, “transgender ideology” and illegal immigration. Sabrina Eaton reports that U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan threw red meat to the multi-day conservative pep rally by describing a long list of entities he believes are controlled by the left. Abortion dollars: An Ohio House Republican is working on a bill that would allow the state to withhold, dollar-for-dollar, distributions from the Local Government Fund to communities that have created pots of cash to help women obtain abortions. Laura Hancock reports Rep. Josh Williams, a Toledo-area Republican, said he doesn’t think the state should be supporting abortion, which he and other Republicans believe is the taking of a life. IVF: In the post-Roe era, it’s been an ongoing process to discover where Republicans and other abortion opponents might draw the line when it comes to reproductive rights. Andrew Tobias reports all three Republican U.S. Senate candidates in Ohio – Matt Dolan, Frank LaRose and Bernie Moreno – issued statements reaffirming their support for in-vitro fertilization on Friday, not long after the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the national campaign arm of the Senate GOP, released a memo urging candidates to “clearly and concisely reject efforts by the government to restrict IVF.” Shots fired: In 2022, Congressional candidate and Republican state Sen. Michael Rulli spotted two teenagers he thought were on his Columbiana County property before dawn, grabbed his pistol and fired. Later that day, Kelly Rulli, the senator’s wife, started shooting. Police investigated and neither faced charges. Jake Zuckerman reports Michael Rulli currently is running for a congressional seat vacated by Bill Johnson and says he has a right to protect his family. |
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CMSD money: Twelve members of Cleveland City Council are demanding Cleveland schools CEO Warren Morgan return to student control the remainder of MacKenzie Scott’s $20 million gift. Courtney Astolfi reports council members were responding to Morgan’s controversial clawback of more than $16 million from the Get More Opportunities program, established by former Cleveland Schools CEO Eric Gordon, which allowed students and faculty to decide how to spend the money. Timothy Grendell: Geauga County Juvenile and Probate Court Judge Timothy Grendell is set today to fight allegations that he abused his authority as a jurist. Cory Shaffer reports the state’s disciplinary counsel in 2022 filed a complaint charging Grendell with four counts of judicial misconduct for, among other actions, sending two teen boys to jail during the COVID-19 pandemic for refusing to visit their father whom they accused of abuse. He is also accused of making comments that undermined the judiciary. Safety director resignation: Cleveland Safety Director Karrie Howard resigned Friday, an abrupt turn for a key member of Mayor Justin Bibb’s administration, report Olivia Mitchell and Courtney Astolfi. Howard’s resignation comes on the heels of an interview with WJW Channel 8, in which Howard admitted to driving around his child in a city car, despite a policy that prohibits non-city employees from riding in city vehicles. Permanent housing: Mayor Justin Bibb unveiled a $2 million plan Friday for Cleveland’s unsheltered population that seeks to get 150 people placed in permanent housing over the next 18 months. Deemed “A Home for Every Neighbor,” the new city initiative is aimed at acquiring or building homes for those who are unhoused, and linking recipients with social services and other programs that will help them stay in those homes for the long haul, reports Courtney Astolfi. Eclipse science: On April 8, a more than 100-mile-wide swath of the United States from Texas to New England will be treated to a total solar eclipse and Greater Cleveland will be a prime viewing spot. Peter Krouse reports many local groups devoted to science and nature will be hosting watch parties, and thousands of visitors from around the world are expected to gather for the rare cosmic event, which has the chance of being even more dramatic than the Aug. 21, 2017, total solar eclipse that cut across the United States from Oregon to South Carolina because of the cycle of the sun. Ohio was not in that path of totality. Y Haven: For over 30 years, YMCA of Greater Cleveland’s Y-Haven is a lifeline for those facing homelessness and struggling with addiction. At least 15,000 Greater Clevelanders have benefited from Y-Haven support, leading to recovery and a better life, Peter Chakerian reports in his weekly Kindland series. Black History Month: Myesha Watkins is putting in the work, with hopes of making Cleveland and its surrounding suburbs safer for everyone, as the executive director of the Cleveland Peacemakers Alliance, a crime-prevention organization that focuses on helping communities become healthier environments to reduce violence. Molly Walsh profiles Watkins as part of The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com’s celebration of Black History Month. Robert Madison: At age 100, the pathbreaking Cleveland architect Robert P. Madison could easily be consumed by bitterness and anger over persistent racism in America. Instead, he’s brimming with gratitude for the possibilities the country still offers, despite its flaws, Steven Litt reports. |
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Accelerate pitch: A former teacher’s pitch to make learning more accessible by replacing paragraphs that drone on with comiclike graphics won the Cleveland Leadership Center’s 10th annual Accelerate pitch competition Thursday night. Sean McDonnell reports Laura Balliett’s “Cool School Comics” was one of 26 initiatives pitched. Flu: Ohio’s flu activity is rated as “very high” for the second consecutive week, according to Friday’s update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Ohio is one just five states with the very high flu designation, joining Arkansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Wyoming, Gretchen Cuda Kroen reports. COVID cases: The number of new COVID-19 cases in Ohio decreased this week, going from 7,199 last week to 6,219 this week. Zachary Smith reports this decrease returns Ohio to its decline in cases after last week’s slight uptick halted a five-week run of falling weekly case numbers. |
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Excessive force arrest: A federal judge on Thursday tossed out a lawsuit filed by a Copley man who accused an Akron police officer of stuffing snow in his mouth while other officers kneeled on him during an arrest. Adam Ferrise reports that U.S. District Judge Sara Lioi dismissed Charles Hicks’ excessive force lawsuit because Hicks had pleaded no contest to misdemeanor resisting arrest in his criminal case and a judge had found him guilty. Driver lawsuit: A former Lorain Head Start bus driver who spent 15 years in prison for crimes that never happened filed a wrongful conviction lawsuit late Friday against the Lorain police officers and county prosecutors who put her behind bars. Among those named as defendants in Nancy Smith's lawsuit include four former Lorain police officers and the estate of an officer who worked on the case, former Assistant Lorain County Prosecutor Jonathan Rosenbaum and Margaret Grondin, whose complaint to police in 1993 about Smith launched the investigation, Adam Ferrise reports. Wrongful death: The 8th Ohio District Court of Appeals revived a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the Cleveland Clinic by a woman whose husband died days after undergoing surgery at Fairview Hospital. Cory Shaffer reports the unanimous appellate panel found a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court judge wrongly barred a physician hired by the widow’s attorney from testifying that doctors at the hospital gave Dennis Kittis substandard care following his bowel obstruction surgery in January 2018. |
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Brite Winter: Many Brite Winter festival-goers on Saturday looked more prepared for the ski slopes than a concert, donning snow suits, coveralls, ski bibs and even fuzzy onesie pajamas as insulation from the cold. Three outdoor stages kept the music going throughout the afternoon and night, with the the funk/indie band Wanyama headlining. Joshua Gunter has photos. Auto Show: See some of the hottest supercars on the market, like Bentleys, Aston Martins and Cybertruck, the beast EV from Tesla, at the Cleveland Auto Show, which runs through March 3 at the I-X Center. Dave Petkiewicz has photos. Dunkin’: If you like fast-food breakfast, Dunkin' has new alternatives. Paris Wolfe tries the new breakfast empanada, churro donuts and energy drink. House of the Week: Located a stone’s throw from the East Fourth Street entertainment district in Cleveland, this top-floor condo unit offers two bedrooms, two full bathrooms and a garage space. Joey Morona reports it’s listed for $789,900 and is eligible for a 15-year tax abatement. |
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16-year-old arrested in shooting death of Akron man Read more U.S. marshals arrest 3 homicide suspects in Cleveland Read more Sandusky man dies when he’s ejected as car overturns Read more University Heights to hold April 8 eclipse party; mayor orders 10,000 pairs of protective eyewear so all residents can safely witness the event Read more David Schafer to step down as Maltz Museum managing director at year’s end Read more |
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