Gov. Mike DeWine plans to cast his early ballot this morning in Ohio’s primary election. The news release gave us the time – 7:30 a.m. — and place — Greene County Board of Elections in Xenia — though not what party primary DeWine will vote in. Under current law, Ohioans can request a Democratic, Republican or issues-only ballot. Obviously, the Republican governor will vote in the Republican primary, where the U.S. Senate race is tight. DeWine has endorsed state Sen. Matt Dolan over businessman Bernie Moreno and Secretary of State Frank LaRose. Early voting is up statewide compared to 2020. In Cuyahoga County, early-voting totals are up about 14%. In-person voting, in particular, was up significantly, nearly doubling among Democratic ballots and jumping 450% among Republicans. Are Dems crossing over to have a say in the Senate race? I slid my issues-only early ballot in the mailbox Wednesday. — Laura |
Overnight Scores and Weather |
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Early voting totals show that while absentee ballot requests for the March 19 primary are down compared to 2020, far more absentee and in-person ballots are being turned in this year. |
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Early voting: Ohioans are continuing to vote early for next week’s primary election in far greater numbers than in 2020, with turnout surging especially among Republicans, reports Jeremy Pelzer. A week before the March 19 primary, 368,974 Ohioans’ ballots had been tallied by their local election officials — almost double the 194,522 state residents who voted in-person or sent mail-in ballots as of March 9, 2020. Population loss: U.S. Census estimates released Thursday show Cuyahoga County continues to see year-over-year population loss. Zachary Smith reports approximately 60% of U.S. counties gained population from 2022 to 2023. Today in Ohio: Two of the largest retail pharmacies in the U.S. now administer the abortion-inducing prescription drug mifepristone from their storefronts in select states, but not in Ohio. We’re talking about why, when Ohioans overwhelmingly approved a constitutional right to abortion, on Today in Ohio, cleveland.com’s daily half-hour podcast. |
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Moreno warning: National Democrats have taken out last-minute TV ads in Ohio “warning” voters about Bernie Moreno, the Republican U.S. Senate candidate, in a sign they’re trying to hand-pick a challenger for Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown this November. Duty and Country PAC is spending at least $879,000 on ads which will run through Election Day, reports Andrew Tobias. Climate risks: State Attorney General Dave Yost added Ohio to a list of Republican states challenging federal rules that require companies to disclose climate-related risks that could affect their businesses, reports Jake Zuckerman. Last week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission adopted rules that require businesses tell their prospective investors what kinds of climate-change risks their businesses face and how they’re mitigating the threat. U.S. Steel: President Biden on Thursday announced his opposition to Tokyo-based Nippon Steel’s $14.1 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel, showing his solidarity with the United Steelworkers Union. Sabrina Eaton reports Biden’s statement focuses on maintaining “strong American steel companies powered by American steel workers.” AI misuse: Fake political audio recordings, photographs and videos generated by artificial intelligence (AI) have alarmed lawmakers, including U.S. Rep. Shontel Brown, reports Sabrina Eaton. The Warrensville Heights Democrat on Wednesday led a bipartisan group of U.S. House of Representatives members in a letter that asks several federal government branches to probe AI’s potential election misuse, including its use as a weapon by adversaries of the United States. |
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Inflation: Seniors in Cuyahoga County are having to tighten their belts because of the rising costs of goods and services, reports Lucas Daprile. To cope with rising costs, 80% of surveyed seniors have cut spending on food, transportation, utilities and housing. Perhaps most strikingly, 33% of seniors said they had given up some medicine or medical care because of rising costs. Jesse Owens: Cleveland is moving forward with a landmark designation for the East 100th Street home of Olympic Gold medalist Jesse Owens. City Council is considering legislation in the coming weeks that will advance the nomination already approved by the Cleveland Landmarks Commission late last year, Courtney Astolfi reports. St. Patrick’s Day: If you think the St. Patrick’s Day parade is starting a bit later this year, you’re right. Marc Bona reports the parade usually kicks off at 1:04 p.m. This year, it’s 2:04 p.m., but that’s so attendees can attend Mass on Sunday. Swiftie studies: Bowling Green State University is offering Taylor Swift fans the class of their “wildest dreams,” reports Hannah Drown. The new six-week summer course, Fandom in the U.S.: Taylor Swift, will be an introduction to the study of fandom, which studies fan culture and how people’s social interests and hobbies help to shape their identities. Women vs. men: Women’s bodies are different from men’s bodies in more than the obvious ways. And what we don’t know about the differences is bad for women, reports Paris Wolfe. Learn why this matters and more at a presentation by Cat Bohannon, bestselling author of “Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution,” on March 20 at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. |
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Black maternal health: As an historian and self-described reproductive justice advocate, Deirdre Cooper Owens sees the roots of present-day disparities in healthcare when she looks at the past. Cooper Owens, author of the 2018 book “Medical Bondage: Race, Gender, and the Origins of American Gynecology,” will discuss the intersection of race and healthcare as the keynote speaker at the first-ever Black Maternal Health Equity Summito on April 14 at Cleveland State University, Julie Washington reports. Fleet Bike Shop: Al Zaleski has spent more than five decades fixing and selling bicycles, whether at his bike shop in Slavic Village or in his dad’s backyard. It’s hard to describe how hard he’s worked or how cheerful he is despite it, Sean McDonnell reports. But if you ask why he’s ready to retire, he’ll hold his arms up and show off his bent fingers and swollen hands. Crew base: Frontier Airlines’ new crew base opened this month at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. Susan Glaser reports that eventually the base will include as many as 450 employees, including 250 flight attendants, 110 pilots, 50 maintenance workers, plus ticket-counter and gate agents, ramp workers and supervisory staff. Home prices: The median single-family home price last month in Cuyahoga County showed its first major increase in months and also continued to demonstrate consistent year-over-year gains. Megan Sims reports the February median home price was $160,000, a $15,000 increase from January and mirrored the median price in December. Weekly COVID: The number of new COVID-19 cases in Ohio continued the downward trend for the fourth week running, with a drop from 4,499 last week to 3,235 this week, reports Julie Washington. The last time that new case numbers were nearly this low was early August, when the count was 2,991. |
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Drug deals in prison: A Cleveland man who ran a drug ring from an Ohio prison was sentenced Thursday to more than 17 years in federal prison. Adam Ferrise reports that Charles Danielscoordinated drug deals between suppliers and street-level heroin and fentanyl dealers in Wooster while serving an eight-year state prison sentence for dealing drugs in Wayne County. Suspect killed: A 19-year-old man is dead and a 22-year-old man wounded when the person they were attempting to rob at gunpoint Thursday afternoon pulled out a gun and opened fire, Cliff Pinckard reports. Mental health calls: University Circle has hired a specialist to help police officers respond to calls involving mental health crises, Molly Walsh reports. Co-response teams, which partner officers with social service workers, have become popular in departments across the region and the country. Death sentence: The Ohio Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the death sentence of a Parma Heights man who fatally stabbed his two roommates and tried to hire a man to burn their bodies in 2017. Cory Shaffer reports Thomas Knuff Jr. was condemned to death row in 2019 after jurors found him guilty and recommended his execution for the murders of John Mann and Regina Capobianco. |
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On Intimacy: “On Intimacy” is a small, exquisite exhibition at Abattoir gallery in Cleveland, launched in 2020 at the Hildebrandt complex at 3619 Walton Ave. by gallerists Lisa Kurzner and Rose Burlingham. Steven Litt reports the current show on view through April 14 features works by 16 artists from across the country, many of them connected to Northeast Ohio. Ask Yadi: If a loud co-worker is driving you crazy, how do you get them to be quiet? Yadi Rodriguez says you can invest in some good noise-canceling headphones if quiet is what makes you more productive. Perhaps your office space has some private conference rooms you can use and hide out in when you have to really concentrate and get a project done. HBCUs: Virginia State University and Benedict College will meet in the annual Black College Football Hall of Fame Classic in Canton this year. Marc Bona reports tickets are on sale for the game, which is Sept. 1 at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. Eric Carmen: Lyndhurst native and Brush High School graduate Eric Carmen, who passed away this week at the age of 74, was a singer-songwriter and frontman for a band, The Raspberries, that found itself in an odd in-between space in popular music in the 1970s. Malcolm X Abram reports that while the rock’s mainstream got big, heavy and loud in the ‘70s with the likes of Aerosmith, Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin leading the way, the Raspberries showed up Beatles-style in matching suits with a throwback, melodic pop-rock sound. 'Jeopardy!': Cleveland fan favorite Arthur Chu will compete in the inaugural "Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament." The upcoming competition will feature 27 former champions and other popular contestants vying for $100,000 and a spot in the "Jeopardy! Masters" primetime event on ABC, reports Joey Morona. Meghan Trainor: Singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor is hitting the road this summer, including a stop at Blossom Music Center on Sept. 27, Malcolm X Abram reports. Eclipse ice cream: Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams is releasing something sweetly sublime ahead of the 2024 solar eclipse, reports Alex Darus. The Ohio-born brand is releasing a collection of ice creams dubbed the Punk Stargonaut collection, in honor of the April 8 eclipse. Hawaii: Most visitors to Hawaii will want to rent a car, reports Susan Glaser. There are too many places to explore outside the range of public transportation, although tours and shuttles are available on the major islands to many destinations. Although you don’t need a four-wheel drive. |
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Vehicle attempting pass on hill crashes head-on into oncoming car, killing Kent man, police say Read more Cleveland woman slain in the city’s St. Clair-Superior neighborhood Read more Solon police break up brawl at apartment; seek video of incident Read more Former Orange councilwoman endorses Issue 14, wants voters to be educated Read more New laser gas leak detector will protect Middleburg Hts. firefighters Read more Orange council considers rezoning request that would allow attached housing on Lander Road Read more Swagelok Co. plans another expansion at its Solon campus Read more Browns help bring girls flag football to Berea-Midpark High School Read more Federal grant to help Avon Lake plan future business in wake of power plant closure Read more Buckeye Relief hopes to open marijuana dispensary in Mayfield Heights Read more |
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