Ohio ballot: A group of would-be Democratic state legislative candidates is suing the state to force their way onto the ballot for Ohio’s upcoming primary election in the latest legal byproduct of the state’s dysfunctional redistricting process. Four people want to run for the state legislature and two want to run for the Ohio Democratic Party’s central committee, Andrew Tobias reports. Their lawsuit says Secretary of State Frank LaRose improperly told election officials to not accept their petitions as part of what they said was a continued Republican effort to prevent Democrats from even fielding candidates for office this year.
METRO
NASA mission: Full-scale testing of NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER, took place at NASA’s Glenn Research Center on Thursday, bringing it one step closer to its mission of mapping resources on the south pole of the moon. Josh Gunter has photos.
Fire recruitment: Why is it so hard to find people who want to be firefighters? The number of candidates seeking jobs has dropped dramatically throughout Northeast Ohio, perhaps because of the stress of the job, the chance of serious injury and the often-unpredictable hours. Kaylee Remington reports city officials have enhanced recruiting.
COVID-19 & HEALTHCARE
Weekly cases: The Ohio Department of Health reported Thursday 17,530 cases of COVID-19 in the past week, marking the first decline in new case reports over a week since the end of March. The 17,530 cases reported in the past week average out to 2,504 a day.
BUSINESS
Airport hotel: Nearly 1,000 new parking spots are coming soon to parking-scarce Cleveland Hopkins as the airport takes possession of the Sheraton Cleveland Airport Hotel, with plans to tear it down. The airport is paying $12.15 million to terminate a lease 26 years early for the hotel, which has operated since 1959. The existing 432-space lot will be available to travelers in the coming weeks and once the hotel is demolished, another 400-500 parking spots will become available, reports Susan Glaser.
Home sales: Eleven Cuyahoga County homes sold for at least $1 million in April, including two each in Bay Village, Rocky River and Shaker Heights. The most expensive purchase was a 12-room colonial-style house in Westlake near the Lakewood Country Club built in 2005, reports Zachary Smith.
Steel tech: A Cleveland startup is changing the way businesses can buy metal by digitizing an old-fashioned industry. Felux is building a digital marketplace and supply-chain platform that connects companies buying steel and the suppliers selling it. The company announced Thursday that it raised $19.5 million in its latest funding round, reports Sean McDonnell.
CRIME
Police shooting: A Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority police officer fatally shot a man Thursday on the city’s East Side, Olivia Mitchell reports. Cleveland police released few details. They did not give the age and identity of man who was killed.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
CIA: The revolution isn’t being televised at the Cleveland Institute of Art; it’s rolling off a printing press. “We Want Everything,’’ an immersive visual onslaught of radical, left-leaning posters, banners, and covers for zines, LP albums, and books, is on view in its final days through June 10 in the art college’s Reinberger Gallery in University Circle, reports Steven Litt.
Cavs logo: The Cavaliers revealed a refreshed logo family Thursday, with a redrawn logo inspired by the 1990s “sort of Mark Price-era graphic,” Marc Bona reports. The swashbuckling effect is gone; the graphics rely mostly on typography.
Goodbye to Wooster: Susan Glaser’s daughter graduated from the College of Wooster a few weeks ago, and leaving the small downtown felt like a transition for her, too. More than half of her daughter’s college years were dominated by COVID-19, with online classes, takeout meals, and masked or non-existent social events.
NeighborFest: Edgewater NeighborFest, a free community festival, will return to Clifton Boulevard on June 26 with musical performances, games and other entertainment. Annie Nickoloff reports that more than 14,000 people attended the last NeighborFest in 2019.
MLK celebration: Saturday’s rescheduled celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. is bound to be as meaningful as the original, if not more so. By pushing back the date from January to June, the Cleveland Orchestra ratcheted up momentum for the concert and gave itself the opportunity to celebrate Juneteenth, reports Zachary Lewis.
Pride parade: Pride in the CLE, the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland’s annual free march and festival, is set to return in a big way Saturday. Annie Nickoloff reports the event takes over Malls B and C in downtown to celebrate and honor Cleveland’s LGBTQ communities.
Things to do: Get outside and soak up some sunshine this weekend in Cleveland. Annie Nickoloff has 21 things to do, including comedy shows, book sales and concerts.
