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| What you need to know Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022 WEATHER
You can expect plenty of sunshine today and it will be a bit warmer as temps climb to the upper 30s. It will become cloudy and windy overnight, with winds at 16-21 mph. Temps will drop to around 32 degrees. Read more.
Local scores: Pittsburgh Steelers 26, Browns 14 OVERNIGHT
Marijuana petition: State officials have ruled that a group trying to fully legalize marijuana in Ohio through a possible ballot measure has fallen short in collecting required petition signatures, which means the group now has until Jan. 14 to collect 13,062 additional signatures. Andrew Tobias reports it’s not uncommon for roughly half of signatures gathered through petition drives to be rejected for various technical reasons; officials rejected more than 74,000 signatures in the marijuana petition.
No snow: Cleveland saw only 0.2 inches of snow in December, the smallest snow total for the month at Hopkins International Airport since at least 1940, reports Alexis Oatman. Cleveland saw an average high temperature of 47.8 degrees last month, the second-highest since 1938. Only December 2015 saw warmer temperatures.
TODAY IN OHIO Ohio ended 2021 with a record COVID surge. As students return to school this week, will cases explode? What will districts do if too many teachers are out sick? On our first episode of 2022, we’re talking about the coronavirus on Today in Ohio, cleveland.com’s daily half-hour news podcast.
STATEHOUSE & POLITICS Academic distress: The Ohio Department of Education approved improvement plans that could permanently remove state control over the Lorain, East Cleveland and Youngstown school districts. Laura Hancock reports school districts will begin working on their plans starting July 1. That’s when the clock begins for the districts to produce results or return to state control. Legislative employees: Ohio state legislative leaders have told their employees to work from home for the next week in response to the rising number of coronavirus cases throughout Ohio and the rest of the country. Moves aim “to mitigate the possible post-holiday spread of COVID-19,″ reports Andrew Tobias.
Mike Turner: Dayton Republican Rep. Mike Turner has assumed his party’s top post on the House Select Committee on Intelligence and will be poised to chair the committee that oversees the nation’s intelligence agencies if his party takes control of Congress in November’s elections, Sabrina Eaton reports. Turner officially got the job on Jan. 1, when California’s Devin Nunes, who was previously the committee’s top Republican, left Congress to become CEO of former President Donald Trump’s new media and technology company.
METRO City Hall: Who is overseeing snowplows, police, trash collection, building permits and other day-to-day city tasks now that Justin Bibb has been sworn-in as mayor of Cleveland and 16-year former Mayor Frank Jackson is officially out? Courtney Astolfi reports numerous Jackson appointees remain at the helm across many city departments.
City Council: Cleveland City Council’s 17 members were sworn into office Monday night, and Ward 6 Councilman Blaine Griffin was sworn in as council president. Mayor Justin Bibb, who himself was sworn into office just after midnight Monday, attended the ceremony and nodded along when Griffin declared his top priority as president: taking care of Clevelanders, Courtney Astolfi reports.
Changing jobs: Freddy Collier Jr., who has served as Cleveland’s director of city planning since 2014, has accepted a new position in the Office of Quality Control in the fledgling administration of Mayor Justin Bibb, Steven Litt reports. During his tenure, Collier managed “Connecting Cleveland 2020," the city’s comprehensive plan.
Social workers: A new pilot program in Shaker Heights is embedding licensed social workers in the city’s police and fire departments. Social workers will ride along on 911 calls to offer services and follow-up care to residents with behavioral health challenges, reports Julie Washington.
Opioid trials: Attorneys for Lake and Trumbull counties will return to a courtroom this spring, seeking to make three major pharmacy chains pay for their role in the opioid crisis. In October, a federal jury found that CVS, Walgreens and Walmart created a public nuisance in the counties because the chains failed to stem the oversupply of prescription opioids through their stores. John Caniglia reports that U.S. District Judge Dan Polster will preside over a two-week hearing, beginning May 9, to determine how much the chains must pay.
Common pleas: Citing the spike in coronavirus cases, Cuyahoga County’s Common Pleas Court judges agreed Monday to postpone jury trials until the beginning of next month. John Caniglia reports the decision came after judges spoke with defense attorneys and prosecutors and consulted with Dr. Julia Bruner of MetroHealth Medical Center. Other than the jury trials, the Justice Center remains open, as many judges continue to have in-person and virtual hearings.
Annette Blackwell: Maple Heights Mayor Annette Blackwell’s bid for Cuyahoga County Executive was short-lived. Kaitlin Durbin reports Blackwell has suspended her candidacy to focus on her current role as mayor, according to a statement appearing to come from her campaign team. However, when contacted by cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer Monday evening, two other members of Blackwell’s campaign team denied that she was dropping out of the race.
COVID-19 Hospitalizations: The number of people with the coronavirus in Ohio hospitals Monday hit a new high, 6,177, according to the Ohio Hospital Association. Laura Hancock reports Ohio set new records for new hospitalizations every day since Dec. 26 as the delta variant recedes and the omicron variant ascends in the two-year-old outbreak.
Daily numbers: The state of Ohio on Monday reported 18,942 new cases of COVID-19, above the 21-day reported case average of 13,602, reports Julie Washington.
Youth booster: The Food and Drug Administration has extended emergency use authorization for youths ages 12 to 15 to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 booster shot. It is the first booster shot authorized for this age group, Julie Washington reports.
BUSINESS 2022 trends: Could Ohio win in a post-pandemic economy? Both parts and raw materials could run short in 2022, meaning issues throughout the supply-chain will persist. Sean McDonnell asks a mix of economists, professors, business owners and politicians what they think might happen in 2022 and beyond.
Ford plant: Developers have bought Ford Motor Co.’s defunct stamping plant in suburban Walton Hills, with plans to turn it into a business park in the coming years. Weston Inc. of Warrensville Heights, the DiGeronimo Cos. of Independence and Scannell Properties of Indianapolis closed on the sale of the 111-acre site on Northfield Road on Dec. 28, Eric Heisig reports. Ford listed it on the market in 2018 for $9 million.
CRIME Officer killed: The 18-year-old woman charged in connection with the fatal shooting of an off-duty Cleveland police officer during a carjacking admitted to investigators that she shot the officer, reports Adam Ferrise. Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Jose Torres said during Tamara McLoyd’s initial appearance on Monday in Cleveland Municipal Court that McLoyd admitted to killing Shane Bartek, 25, during the Friday carjacking. McLoyd was on probation for armed robbery at the time of the shooting, Ferrise reports.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Sistine Chapel: Getting to Rome isn’t easy. Enter “Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel: The Exhibition,” which arrives for a month-long stay at Great Lakes Mall in Mentor beginning Jan. 21. Joey Morona reports the traveling showcase, which has had stops in Los Angeles, Chicago, San Diego, Atlanta and Atlanta since launching in 2015, features more than 30 life-sized reproductions of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel frescoes.
Snowmaking: Northeast Ohio’s local ski resorts have resumed making snow, as recent temperatures have dipped into the 20s. But spokesman Andy DeBrunner tells Susan Glaser it remains unknown when Brandywine, Boston Mills and Alpine Valley parks will open for the season.
All-Star Experience: Gloria James – Akron native and mother of LeBron James - is set to present the inaugural All-Star Experience, The House of Glo, during the NBA All-Star Weekend in February. Marc Bona reports the event is scheduled for 7 p.m. Feb. 18 at the State Theatre at Playhouse Square, with Cleveland native Alaina Holloway-Carpenter and VZN Strategy Group producing. OTHER HEADLINES Maple Heights man killed in shooting outside illegal bar in Cleveland’s Mt. Pleasant neighborhood Read more
Man robs Citizens Bank branch in Euclid Read more
Shooting wounds 2 males in Akron, leaving 1 in critical condition Read more
Berns takes oath of office as Beachwood’s next mayor; Isaacson elected council president Read more
Medina City Schools implementing post-holiday mask mandate Read more
Community Foundation of Lorain County’s senior program officer retires after 25 years Read more
Community West Foundation distributes $2.6 million to non-profits this year Read more
Summit Artspace to debut new winter exhibitions Jan. 14, including virtual viewings on website Read more
Cleveland Heights council enacts ‘Tenants Pay-to-Stay’ eviction protections during pandemic Read more
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