Last January, the newly minted Guardians agreed to stay in Cleveland until 2036 as part of a $435 million upgrade deal to Progressive Field. Over 15 years, the city plans to pay roughly $117 million, the county would pay about $138 million, the state would pay $30 million and the team would pay $150 million. About $200 million will improve the fan experience, with a reconfigured upper deck concourse, a “friendlier and more democratic” social space in the dugout, and an overhaul of the areas off left field, including the underused Terrace Club. The work could start after next season. The bill, now awaiting the signature of baseball fan Gov. Mike DeWine, would also allocate $30 million of COVID-19 grants to six minor-league baseball teams and two minor-league hockey teams. That will give hometown fans (voters) lots to cheer about. - Laura |
Overnight Scores and Weather |
Browns vs. Baltimore Ravens: 4:30 p.m. Saturday, FirstEnergy Stadium, Cleveland. TV: WEWS Channel 5, NFL Network. Radio: WKRK FM/92.3, WNCX FM/98.5, WKNR AM/850. Northeast Ohio weekend weather forecast: Colder weather, slight chance of snow |
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Ohio lawmakers on Thursday approved $30 million in state funding to help pay for upgrades to Progressive Field in Cleveland. (Kaitlin Durbin, cleveland.com file photo) |
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Progressive Field: The Ohio General Assembly on Thursday during its lame-duck session approved $30 million to make updates to Progressive Field, the home of the Cleveland Guardians. Jeremy Pelzer reports that House Bill 66 also would codify in state law a recent Ohio Supreme Court ruling that Maple Heights can’t charge fees to Netflix or Hulu that typically are paid by cable companies. Lame duck: The Ohio General Assembly passed no shortage of law changes during the busy, monthlong post-election legislative session heading into its end-of-year break, reports Andrew Tobias. But one of the most notable aspects about the lame-duck session, which culminated in a marathon overnight session that ended around 6 a.m., is what didn’t pass: three of the most controversial measures that earlier on had seemed teed up for approval. Spending bill: The General Assembly passed a mammoth spending bill after 5 a.m. Thursday at the tail end of a marathon session, doling out nearly $6 billion of mostly federal funds to cap off the biennial legislative session. Jake Zuckerman reports some of the federal coronavirus relief dollars that the bill allocates needed to get out the door by the year’s end. One of the biggest categories: $1.75 billion for Ohio’s schools, allowed to be used for activity under existing federal education funds -- with at least 20% to address pandemic-related learning loss. Today in Ohio: The 134th Ohio General Assembly was working until dawn Thursday to finish its two-year session. Lawmakers passed key bills dealing with everything from election law changes to barring cities from passing tobacco laws that are tougher than state standards. We’re talking about what lame duck procrastinators passed at the last minute on Today in Ohio, cleveland.com’s daily half-hour news podcast. |
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Transgender sports: The high school transgender girls sports ban in the state legislature is kaput, despite negotiations among lawmakers that included adding a 2,100-page amendment that contained an anti-vaccine provision and a measure stripping the Ohio State Board of Education of most of its authority. Laura Hancock reports House Bill 151 began as a relatively uncontroversial bill about mentoring teachers. It was amended on the House floor last summer to include the so-called “Save Women’s Sports Act,” which prohibited trans girls from playing girls sports. Sex-abuse education: The Ohio legislature passed a bill that will require schools to provide age-appropriate sexual-abuse prevention education but bars the use of educational materials provided by entities associated with abortion. Erin’s Law was inserted into Senate Bill 288, a criminal justice bill, at around 1:30 a.m. Thursday, reports Laura Hancock. Guns: Police would be banned from stopping guns from being sold or carried in areas where a riot is happening or might take place under legislation passed early Thursday morning. Jeremy Pelzer reports Senate Bill 16, which now goes to Gov. Mike DeWine’s desk, also would declare gun stores an “essential business” that can’t be shut down by the state during a declaration of emergency. Unemployment fraud: Ohio lawmakers gave final approval early Thursday morning to a bill designed to cut down on unemployment fraud, a rampant problem during the coronavirus pandemic, reports Jeremy Pelzer. Senate Bill 302 seeks to tighten rules for verifying the maddeningly long delays in processing jobless benefits. Criminal justice: The Ohio General Assembly passed an enormous criminal-justice reform bill after adding a raft of amendments, including a provision to prohibit drivers in Ohio from holding their phone while behind the wheel. Senate Bill 288 also would toughen penalties for “aggravated vehicular homicide” in cases where the victim is a firefighter or an emergency medical worker, reports Jeremy Pelzer. |
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Stimulus Watch: Cuyahoga County and its adjacent counties received a total of $6.3 million in grant funds to hire firefighters, paramedics and to boost mental health services available to them. Though 16 fire and police departments received money through the Ohio First Responder Recruitment, Retention, and Resilience program, the lion’s share went to Akron for its fire department to hire 25 more firefighters and paramedics, reports Lucas Daprile. Pronoun lawsuit: A teacher in Stark County says she was forced out of her job teaching middle-school students because she refused to refer to two students by their preferred pronouns. In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Akron, Vivian Geraghty sued the Jackson Local Schools in Massillon, alleging the district violated her freedom of speech and the freedom to exercise her religious beliefs. RTA: The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority has been promising a new rail fleet for three years, but it hasn’t been able to secure all of the funding it needs or lock in a contractor to move the project forward. Now, Kaitlin Durbin reports, the agency has raised $209 million in cash and grants and hopes a new grant next year can help bring the project to the finish line. Arts and culture: Cuyahoga Arts and Culture trustees voted Wednesday to award $560,500 in grants for artist support programs and resident-led arts and culture projects in 2023, reports Steven Litt. The government taxing subdivision distributes money gathered through the 10-year, 30-cent-a-pack tax on cigarettes approved by county voters in 2006 and renewed in 2015. Abortion travel: While a majority of Northeast Ohio residents believe low-income women seeking abortions should obtain the procedure in states where it’s legal, they aren’t crazy about using public funds to help pay for the travel costs. Laura Hancock reports on a Baldwin Wallace-cleveland.com poll that found 27.9% of respondents believe low-income women need access to abortion, and that tax dollars should be used to subsidize transportation costs. Walleye hatch: The walleye hatches in the western and central basins of Lake Erie were above average this year, as was the hatch for yellow perch in the western basin. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources says the story was different for yellow perch in the central basin, where hatches there “continue to be well below average,” Peter Krouse reports. |
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Boutros lawsuit: Ousted MetroHealth System CEO Dr. Akram Boutros filed a second lawsuit against the hospital system on Thursday, with the new suit claiming defamation of character and breach of contract. Julie Washington reports the suit comes just over three weeks after the MetroHealth board dismissed Boutros, saying an investigation determined he took $1.98 million in unauthorized bonus payments since 2018. COVID-19 numbers: The number of new COVID-19 cases in Ohio ticked up slightly this week, from 16,061 last week to 16,719 this week. Ohio has been over 10,000 cases per week every week except for brief dips since the beginning of May, reports Julie Washington. COVID-19 tests: Additional free at-home COVID-19 tests will be available as part of the Biden Administration’s plan to deal with an increase in COVID-19 cases this winter, reports Julie Washington. The federal government’s COVID-19 Winter Preparedness Plan also includes asking hospitals to offer COVID-19 vaccinations to patients before discharge and expanding access to high-quality masks. Shopping memberships: Costco, Sam’s Club and BJ’s Wholesale Club are known for offering low prices on bulk purchases. But are the savings worth buying a membership? Sean McDonnell reports the savings are small, though they can add up if you buy enough. Holiday shortages: Disruptions in the supply chain have made finding essential household items and holiday staples, such as toys and artificial Christmas trees, a struggle this year. In its wake, Alexis Oatman reports, the coronavirus pandemic caused many businesses to experience worker shortages, resulting in many manufacturers having to halt production, causing delays that linger today. |
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Capitol riot: A Trumbull County man grabbed a baton from a police officer who was using it to fend off an attack on a fellow officer during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, reports Adam Ferrise. Michael Lockwood, 32, of Southington, is charged in federal court with assaulting a police officer, obstructing an official proceeding and obstructing police during civil disorder, among other charges. Cocaine ring: A former Cleveland waste collection employee pleaded guilty Tuesday to running a cocaine ring that brought in more than a half-ton of cocaine to the city from a Mexican drug cartel, reports Adam Ferrise. Fentanyl: A Cleveland man admitted Thursday to selling a mixture of drugs containing fentanyl to a Willowick man, who later died. Rubin Austin, 54, pleaded guilty to eight federal charges, including selling heroin, fentanyl and a fentanyl analogue that killed Thomas Demarco, reports Adam Ferrise. Innocent man: A Canton man imprisoned since 2018 for a crime he maintains he didn’t commit was released on Wednesday after prosecutors admitted they charged the wrong man. John Tucker reports a judge vacated the conviction against Aaron Culbertson based on an agreement between Culbertson's lawyers and Stark County prosecutors acknowledging his innocence. |
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Wedding show: Nineteen percent of all engagements occur in December because of the holidays. That’s followed by a flurry of wedding-planning decisions. On Jan. 21-22, Today’s Bride Cleveland Wedding Show brings together more than 150 vendors at the I-X Center, Paris Wolfe reports. RV Supershow: The Ohio RV Supershow is set to return Jan. 4-8 at the I-X Center, Marc Bona reports. Hundreds of RVs - including tent campers, travel trailers, fifth wheels and motor homes – will fill the spacious center’s renovated show floor. Florida beaches: It's been nearly three months since Hurricane Ian slammed into the Southwest Florida coast, devastating the popular beach towns of Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel. Susan Glaser explores other areas in the region – Gasparilla Island, Tarpon Lodge and downtown Fort Myers, which were not nearly as damaged by the storm and are already prepared for a full winter of Northern nomads. Things to do: If you still need help getting into the holiday mood, there’s dozens of events taking place in Cleveland and Akron this weekend and beyond. Mike Rose has 32 ideas, from “A Christmas Carol” to “The Nutcracker,” as well as musical adaptations of some of your Christmas favorites, holiday lights and much more. |
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Elyria police find 2 teen males in street with gunshot wounds Read more Man, 75, struck and killed by vehicle while walking along road in Lorain County Read more Guard pleads guilty to smuggling drugs, other items into private prison in Youngstown Read more Berea man faces criminal charges for leaving chicken bones in neighbor’s front yard Read more Move to RITA unlikely as Brook Park seeks income tax administrator Read more Brandon Hughes named assistant building/housing inspector for Orange Read more Chagrin Falls Village Council swears in police officer, discusses food trucks and employee wages Read more |
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