Otto Warmbier: The U.S. Senate has passed legislation that would provide the United States Agency for Global Media with $10 million each year for the next five years to pay for programming designed to counter North Korea’s repressive censorship and surveillance state. Sabrina Eaton reports the law is named after 22-year-old Otto Warmbier, who was arrested after he removed a propaganda poster from a hotel and died under the repressive regime.
Rate increase: Columbia Gas of Ohio, which serves nearly 1.5 million customers across the state, wants the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to authorize rate increases that could raise the distribution portion of a typical residential customer’s bill by 27.1%. Laura Hancock reports the average Ohio residential customer paid $93.53 a month on gas.
METRO
Browns stadium: The Cleveland Browns apparently want a new $1 billion stadium – likely to come at significant taxpayer expense – as part of a costly lakefront redevelopment plan, Kaitlin Durbin reports. The team’s owners are considering plans seeking to renovate or rebuild the city-owned arena at a time when the team is mired in multimillion-dollar controversies and both city and county coffers are drying up.
Juneteenth history: The executive director of diversity for Cleveland State University was 21 before he learned of Juneteenth, commemorating the day that enslaved people in Texas learned they were free. Brenda Cain reports he believes having a federal holiday commemorating African-American independence will open much-needed dialog in Greater Cleveland, which grew with an influx of Black southerners during the early 1900s, attracted by factory jobs and other opportunities.
Galleries: The Cleveland and Akron communities celebrated Juneteenth with cultural reverence and fanfare over the weekend. Thousands took to the Mall in Cleveland for skating, mural drawing and music by Grammy Award winners Keyon Harrold and Bilal. Akron hosted a parade and festival, with local dancers and djembe drumming, a traditional African percussion instrument.
Cleveland Summit: On June 4, 1967, a dozen Black men gathered in Cleveland and risked their reputations and careers in a show of civil-rights solidarity with Muhammad Ali. Marc Bona reports those 12 names are now etched in a monument embedded in the ground along Euclid Avenue, a symbol of their strength and what they stood for.
Construction delays: Everyone knows a construction project will take longer and cost more than the initial estimate. But Laura Johnston writes that like everything else since the COVID pandemic, renovations now are even more unpredictable, when labor is short, home inventory is slim, prices of everything are ballooning and all sorts of stuff is in short supply.
Puppies: Nine puppies were rescued Saturday from an abandoned and collapsed East Cleveland garage during 90-degree heat, Adam Ferrise reports. The Cuyahoga County Animal Shelter will be looking for homes for them soon.
Body: Firefighters pulled a man’s body from Lake Erie, just east of Edgewater Beach, on Sunday. The man has not been identified and Cleveland Metroparks police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death, Adam Ferrise reports.
COVID-19 & HEALTHCARE
Kid vaccines: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration Friday granted approval of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines for use in children 6 months and older, reports Gretchen Cuda Kroen. The effectiveness of the vaccines was determined by comparing the immune responses in children with the immune responses in adults in previous studies.
County map: The latest CDC map designates almost all Ohio counties — including Cuyahoga — as green, or having low COVID-19 transmission, reports Julie Washington.
Flu shots: A new study suggests attitudes about the COVID-19 vaccine may have influenced flu vaccination behavior, reports Julie Washington. Adult flu vaccination rates have declined in states with low rates of COVID-19 vaccination, which may be a harbinger of declining trust in public health.
BUSINESS
Holiday: Juneteenth is in its second year as a federally recognized holiday. While a lot of federal and state workers will be off, it was a workday for a lot of workers at private employers, reports Sean McDonnell. A survey showed that 10% of employers offered the day as a paid holiday this year.
Amazon Fresh: An Amazon Fresh may replace a closed Bed, Bath & Beyond store at Great Northern Plaza, reports Sean McDonnell. Bridge 33, a Seattle-based real estate company, lists Amazon Fresh as a tenant of the Great Northern Plaza on the south side of Brookpark Road.
Unemployment rate: Ohio’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.9% in May, dipping below 4% for the first time in three years, reports Sean McDonnell. The country’s unemployment rate was 3.6% in May.
CRIME
Heartless Felons: The co-founder of Cleveland’s Heartless Felons gang is back in federal custody after a police detective found video on Instagram of him firing guns at a Parma gun range. Donte Ferguson has pleaded not guilty to charges of possessing three handguns, Adam Ferrise reports.
Investigation: A Cleveland police officer once named Officer of the Year in 2019 is under investigation for reportedly making anti-Semitic remarks on Twitter, Adam Ferrise reports.
Bones: Bones found in a Cleveland field in May have been positively identified as 32-year-old Kristy Thomas, who had been missing since 2015. Her remains were discovered in a field near a business on East 55th Street near Blanches Avenue, Kaylee Remington reports.
Death: Police have not identified a man who died in a shooting Saturday on Terrace Road in East Cleveland. Kaylee Remington reports he was found with several gunshot wounds, including one to the back of the head.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Buckeye Flame: Formed during the pandemic, The Buckeye Flame has become Ohio’s go-to LGBTQ publication, Annie Nickoloff reports. It was founded by journalist, professor, author and podcast host Ken Schneck, and has covered topics ranging from a Baldwin Wallace voice clinic that supports transgender clients, coverage of Tierramarie Lewis, a Cleveland transgender woman who was murdered in 2021, to Pride events and AIDS walks.
Concerts: Tuesday Musical has announced its 2022-23 Akron Concert Series, Marc Bona reports. All concerts begin at 7:30 p.m. at EJ Thomas Hall, 198 Hill St., Akron.
House of the week: If you’re in the market for a home with the amenities of a new build but the character of a historic home, look no further than 65 Quail Ridge in Chagrin Valley Trails. Nestled on a private cul-de-sac and surrounded by trees on a one-plus-acre lot, the brick colonial offers six bedrooms and six and a half bathrooms for $1,775,000, reports Joey Morona.
