Redistricting: Ohio Republicans have ignored an Ohio Supreme Court order to approve a new state legislative district map, with a court-ordered Friday morning deadline passing without any official action from the GOP-controlled redistricting commission. Andrew Tobias reports the move makes clear that with a federal court ruling securing their preferred maps for this year’s elections, Republicans plan to ignore the state judiciary’s attempts to enforce the language of redistricting reforms -- while waiting for a more favorable Supreme Court makeup following the November election.
Filing lawsuits: A growing number of lawsuits are challenging Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s guidance to elections officials for the Aug. 2 state legislative election. Andrew Tobias reports that would-be Democratic candidates filed two lawsuits with the Ohio Supreme Court, and a would-be Republican candidate sued this week in federal court.
METRO
Shooting survivor: Drew Gittens, a survivor of the 2012 Chardon High School shooting, says Americans have grown numb to school shootings. But the pain of the Ulvade, Texas, tragedy hit Gittens differently, reports Brenda Cain.
Safer streets: The city of Cleveland intends to launch a pilot program this summer that aims to reduce speeding on residential streets. The city will install speed tables – essentially wider, flat-top speed bumps -- on 10 residential streets with documented speeding issues and place 10 digital speed-radar signs around the city, reports Courtney Astolfi.
Renovation freak-out: Every renovation includes a freak-out moment. This may last a minute, a day or a week, usually when the excitement of the first work has worn off and you’re standing in the mess in the middle of the project. Laura Johnston writes about her panic over attic walls.
Pride: Columnist Leslie Kouba reflects on the colors and song of her first Pride event in June 2014. She writes that today’s Pride parades are the descendants of one march created by a handful of people who had the guts and brains to change the tide more than 50 years ago. Shortly after the Stonewall Riots, homophile leaders saw the opportunity to expand gay protest, to reach more people and support more family.
Dave Petkiewicz has photos from Saturday.
Turkey hunting: For the first time in 30 years, Ohio hunters this spring were only allowed to bag one wild turkey, which contributed to significantly lower numbers of harvested birds this year than last. Peter Krouse reports that Ohio’s spring wild turkey season concluded May 29 and the number of birds bagged was 11,782, well below last year’s take of 14,546.
Dog bites: Cleveland led the nation last year in dog attacks on mail carriers. The U.S. Postal Service released a report Friday that said its employees here were involved in 58 incidents in 2021, up from 46 in 2020, reports Alexis Oatman.
COVID-19 & HEALTHCARE
Red counties: The CDC has six Ohio counties — including Cuyahoga, Mahoning and Lorain — designated “red” for high COVID-19 transmission levels, reports Julie Washington. Lucas County in Northwest Ohio, and Pike and Lawrence counties in southern Ohio also are “red.”
Kid vaccines: Pfizer / BioNTech has submitted an application for Food and Drug Administration authorization of a COVID-19 vaccine for children under 5. This age group is the last segment of the U.S. population that does not have access to a COVID-19 vaccine, reports Julie Washington.
BUSINESS
S-W sign: The Sherwin-Williams corporate name will be emblazoned on the top of the company’s new downtown headquarters skyscraper in letters measuring 7 to 9 feet high and 95 feet across when the project is finished in 2024. Steven Litt reports it will be one of the highest and most visible statements of corporate identity in Cleveland.
CRIME
Officer plot: An FBI agent has testified that a businessman charged with laundering money for an accused drug dealer tried to pay someone $100,000 to kill a Conneaut police officer. Adam Ferrise reports that Rueben Schwartz, 49, is accused of laundering money by selling buildings to Marc Mahoney, who prosecutors say ran a cocaine-dealing ring that sold some 1,350 pounds of the drug in Northeast Ohio in a three-year span. The ring took in nearly $20 million.
Dimora response: Federal prosecutors on Friday objected to disgraced former Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora’s request to be released from prison next week and asked a judge to shave only a few years off his 28-year sentence. Adam Ferrise reports that assistant U.S. attorneys said that U.S. District Judge Sara Lioi should shave off somewhere between 3.5 and 8.5 years.
Police shooting: The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office has identified the man who was fatally shot Thursday by a Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority police officer. Demond Eskridge, 42, of Cleveland, died after the shooting at 5:45 p.m. in front of the Union Square High Rise on East 98th Street and Union Avenue, reports Olivia Mitchell.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Celebration concert: The Cleveland Orchestra’s 42nd annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Concert, postponed from January, went forward Saturday in glorious style. Indeed, in some ways, the celebration was better than ever, Zachary Lewis reports.
House of the Week: Full of period details and exquisite craftsmanship, the Arts and Crafts style Dutch Colonial home at 16927 Lake Ave. in Lakewood is one of a kind. Joey Morona reports the 3,528-square-foot home offers five bedrooms, four bathrooms and a partially finished basement for $799,000.
