At least two tornados touched down Tuesday in Northeast Ohio, destroying property from Valley View to Bedford and Avon Lake to Rocky River. But many more areas of Northeast Ohio were hit, as winds up to 86 mph ripped up trees by the roots and snapped limbs across the region, leaving more than 300,000 homes without power Wednesday morning. That represents whopping 1-in-6 of FirstEnergy customers in its mainly northern Ohio area served by its Illuminating Company, Ohio Edison and Toledo Edison. The map of outages is crammed with blue dots representing outages of 20 or fewer customers. Like my house, where both of my next-door neighbors, plus my across-the-street neighbors, have electricity. As for my house, with its tree lawn stuffed with browning branches? Sit tight, FirstEnergy says. “Preparing for Crew Assessment - Your outage has been reported. Crews will be assigned to investigate.” In Cleveland, more than a quarter of city-owned Cleveland Public Power’s 74,000 customers were still in the dark Wednesday morning. Thank goodness for my kind neighbors, who let me podcast from their house, wash a load of laundry and run an extension cord to my fridge. If you’re reading this in the dark, powered by a portable charger, I feel your pain. — Laura |
Overnight Scores and Weather |
Guardians vs. Arizona Diamondbacks: Guardians drop 5th straight, swept in doubleheader by Diamondbacks Northeast Ohio weather forecast: Chance of mixed bag of weather |
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A tree fell on a home in Avon Lake, ripping the front out the house open. Storm cleanup begins after damaging winds blast Northeast Ohio. (Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com) |
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Storm damage: FirstEnergy expects to work for days to restore services from the massive storm, report Zachary Smith and Cory Shaffer. The company has been calling in contractors and marshaling resources from other parts of its service area to repair downed power lines as quickly as possible, with several thousand damage locations “and counting” that will require repair teams to respond, reports Peter Krouse. CPP: Despite facing what Cleveland council members call the city’s worst storm damage in recent history, city-owned Cleveland Public Power missed an opportunity this year to bolster its staff, leaving the utility less prepared than it could have been to restore power to affected residents, according to city records. Courtney Astolfi reports that at the height of the outages, more than 34,000 were without power – representing nearly half of the utility’s customer base. Browns dome: Haslam Sports Group said it is still deciding between a renovation of Cleveland’s lakefront stadium and the construction of a new domed stadium in Brook Park, reports Courtney Astolfi. But a letter to fans and a social media post included renderings and video of what a $2.4 billion Brook Park stadium could look like – but not a detailed financing plan or renderings of what a $1 billion renovation of the existing stadium in downtown Cleveland could look like. Embryo divorce: A Fairlawn man wants the state Supreme Court to prevent his ex-wife from becoming pregnant by using preserved embryos the two produced through in-vitro fertilization before their divorce. Andrew Tobias reports the ex-husband wants the court to order a Westerville fertility clinic the couple used to anonymously donate the embryos to another couple, according to an Ohio Supreme Court appeal the man filed last month. Today in Ohio: Vice presidential candidate Tim Walz, a former high-school football coach, is known for his folksy demeanor and delivery, compared to JD Vance, who has an Ivy League law degree and is considered to be a prominent conservative political intellectual. We’re talking about the two candidates from the Midwest on Today in Ohio, cleveland.com’s daily half-hour news podcast. |
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Airport money: Northeast Ohio airports are getting more than $5 million in Federal Aviation Administration infrastructure improvement grants as part of nearly $500 million approved nationwide this year. Sabrina Eaton reports Cleveland Hopkins International Airport is getting $2,625,000 to design new wildlife fencing and gates, and Akron-Canton Regional Airport Authority will get $2,703,150 to reconstruct runway lighting. Free map: The Ohio Department of Transportation is distributing 1.4 million free copies of its new Ohio state road map, with updated information on road changes, routes, and points of interest, Jeremy Pelzer reports. |
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SNAP replacements: Power outages can spell the end for a lot of food, which is a stressful ordeal for those on SNAP benefits, also referred to as food stamps. Zachary Smith reports the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services says that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients who experienced food spoilage during power outages because of Tuesday’s storm might be eligible for replacement benefits. ICYMI: In case you missed it in May, Courtney Astolfi reports that while Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam have put their hands out for up to $1.2 billion from state and local taxpayers for a new or renovated football stadium, sources of public money are already tapped. Apartments: A new apartment building could be coming to the city’s West Side, reports Megan Sims. The Cleveland Planning Commission approved schematic design plans to build a three-story apartment building on West 26th Street, just south of Lorain Avenue. Motorcycle crash: A 79-year-old man died Tuesday after he was struck on his motorcycle in north central Ohio, reports Olivia Mitchell. James Wetzel of Marion was traveling on U.S. 23 at about 2:10 p.m. Monday on a 2011 Harley Davidson when the crash occurred. |
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Misfit Markets: Misfits Market is a grocery delivery service that connects shoppers with locally grown, often organic produce. This is the ugly stuff the grocery store doesn’t want. And Misfits Market says you can save up to 30%. However, Sean McDonnell reports Misfits Market prices are actually on par with what you’d spend at Whole Foods. Florida flight: Breeze Airways is adding another nonstop route at the Akron-Canton Airport, this one to Sarasota, Florida. Susan Glaser reports the carrier recently dropped nonstop service between the Akron-Canton Airport and West Palm Beach, Florida. |
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Ambulance crash: A man accused of causing a fatal crash involving an ambulance on Cleveland’s East Side pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of aggravated vehicular homicide, aggravated vehicular assault and driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, reports John Tucker. Raspberries trust: The children of Cleveland native and Raspberries frontman Eric Carmen have accused Carmen’s wife of improperly cutting them out of their late father’s trust, reports Adam Ferrise. Kathryn and Clayton Carmen filed a lawsuit against their father’s second wife, Amy Carmen, accusing her of “surreptitiously” changing the trust years ago to disinherit them. The trust includes the majority of Eric Carmen’s wealth, including his music copyrights and catalog. Suspect arrested: A man wanted on a murder charge in connection with a January shooting death in Warrensville Heights has been taken into custody by federal agents, Cliff Pinckard reports. Dontae Freeman, 20, is facing multiple charges in the shooting death of 19-year-old Lequan Head. Guard death: A state training officer pleaded not guilty Wednesday in connection with the accidental shooting death of a prison guard earlier this year, reports Lucas Daprile. |
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Magic show: When former Clevelander Drew Murray does a magic show, his performance shifts the energy in a room and in the people, reports Paris Wolfe. His current story theme at his "Rare Magic” shows at the Hotel Leveque in Columbus is time. But he avoids cliché. The theme remains the same each night, but the show morphs with crowd participation. Hozier: Andrew John Hozier-Byrne -- much better known to fans simply as Hozier -- writes, sings and plays dramatic, sensitive pop music. He mixes his love of blues, soul, folk and the music of his Irish homeland with big clattering sounds. Malcolm X Abram writes that the formula has worked extremely well for the 34-year-old pop star, beginning with his surprise initial hit “Take Me To Church” and its accompanying LTGBQ+-friendly video. Stagecrafters: Stagecrafters Youth Theatre — a dramatic arts program for students put on by Orange Community Education and Recreation — will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a special program and gala fundraiser at Playhouse Square’s KeyBank State Theatre. Joey Morona reports “Broadway Comes Home” will showcase many of the program’s most successful alumni who have performed in shows such as “Wicked,” “The Lion King,” “Newsies” and more. Cafe Lola: The construction site at 86 N. Main St. in Chagrin Falls – formerly known as Bell & Flower for six years and Rick’s Café for decades before that – will open as Café Lola by year’s end, reports Paris Wolfe. Owners Rick Doody and Joe Saccone are still reflecting on name choices. They have time because construction in the space is taking longer than expected. |
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Lyndhurst, a day late thanks to inclement weather, brings residents and safety forces together for National Night Out Read more Humboldt penguin chick hatches at Akron Zoo Read more CIPPO conference to bring manufacturing experts together, spark ideas to make Ohio a leader in innovation Read more Chagrin Falls’ Golden Gate Temple celebrates 100th anniversary with revealing of time capsule Read more LBM in Lakewood offers free ice for folks without power after Tuesday storms in Northeast Ohio Read more Lakewood Charter Review Commission recommendations include ranked choice voting Read more Olmsted Township is planting new trees at dog park and nature trail Read more Lakewood stripes pickleball court at Merl-Bunts Park, readies new playground Read more Brooklyn to begin construction on troublesome waterline Read more Parma and firefighter union headed to arbitration after city rejects fact finder’s report Read more Saddle up: Medina County Park District opens new bridle trail Read more |
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