Cleveland aims to create a private nonprofit North Coast Development Corp. to get big things done on the lakefront after decades of failure of earlier proposals. The new nonprofit would precede the creation of a second organization, a New Community Authority, which would have the power to issue bonds and collect taxes and fees, private contributions, and foundation and government grants to fund major lakefront projects. Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne supports the city’s initiative, but the County Council is balking at spending $250,000 a year on the plan – especially when it has huge projects of its own to pay for (ex: a new jail). District 4 council member Scott Tuma said he suspected that the development authority was “a backdoor way to get improvements" funded for the city-owned Cleveland Browns Stadium, where the team’s lease expires in 2028. Eric Wobser, Ronayne’s outgoing chief of staff, said that’s not currently on the table. We’re talking about connecting the downtown mall to Lake Erie and helping develop North Coast Harbor – hopefully so all Clevelanders can enjoy our greatest natural asset. The city could create the organization without the county’s participation, but then the county would lose its voice in the planning. -- Laura |
Overnight Scores and Weather |
Guardians vs. Philadelphia Phillies: Guardians fall to Phillies, 8-5, after David Fry’s late home run forces extra innings Northeast Ohio weather forecast: A hot week ahead |
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A map from a request for proposals issued by the City of Cleveland shows the study area for a new lakefront master planning project. The edges are blurry by intention: the plan could encompass areas adjacent to those colored in blue. (City of Cleveland) |
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Lakefront development: The City of Cleveland’s proposal to create a new lakefront development authority in partnership with Cuyahoga County has hit a roadblock. After a discussion over the county’s potential participation in the development authority, Council President Pernel Jones said the body would take no action. Steven Litt reports the council’s hesitance could slow down the city’s ability to extend the downtown Mall to connect to waterfront attractions. Cirino bill: A 93-page Ohio Senate bill that seeks to tamp down on perceived liberal bias in higher education incorporates portions of nine other pieces of legislation from, outside the state. The bill sponsored by state Sen. Jerry Cirino, which is currently in a House committee, includes parts of seven “model” or suggested bills that the conservative Manhattan Institute, Goldwater Institute and Civics Alliance wrote for lawmakers across the country to use in their states, Laura Hancock reports. Parts of two bills that originated in Florida also made it into SB 83. Civil discourse: In 1968, in a politically volatile and divisive moment in American history, the era’s best-known conservative media personality and one of its most influential hippies appeared together for nearly an hour-long televised discussion. Allen Ginsberg and William Buckley were able to engage in a respectful dialogue -- which touched on topics of psychedelics and the budding war on drugs, censorship, religion, the Vietnam War and more. Lucas Daprile reports that the conversation can be instructive for efforts to heal the deep political divisions in modern society. Jail site: Cuyahoga County officials have been using a series of criteria, including cost, size and accessibility, to help narrow down which location might be best overall for a new jail -- and it seems to point to Executive Chris Ronayne’s Garfield Heights site. The criteria use a color-coded key to objectively rank which sites satisfy most of the county’s wish-list and where concessions might need to be made. Kaitlin Durbin evaluates three county possibilities based on the county’s 16 criteria and by metrics alone, Ronayne’s preferred Garfield Heights site objectively checked the most boxes. Crime link: The man charged with shooting nine people in Cleveland’s Warehouse District earlier this month is also charged with stealing a handgun from the woman who this week accused former Browns defensive tackle Perrion Winfrey of flashing a gun while he attacked her. Cory Shaffer reports the woman contacted Cleveland police two days after the shooting because she worried that the shooter may have used her gun. Today in Ohio: Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who is running for U.S. Senate, has ensured that he will be at the center of this year’s most heated political issue. We’re talking about how LaRose is the face of Issue 1 on Today in Ohio, cleveland.com’s daily half-hour news podcast. |
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Petition signatures: Although it’s too soon to say whether the campaigns backing the abortion-rights and recreational marijuana proposals have enough statewide signatures to get on the Nov. 7 ballot, the numbers from Northeast Ohio were enough to hit local goals. Thursday was the deadline for counties to submit the number of signatures that were valid to Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, report Laura Hancock and Andrew Tobias. Ranked choice voting: A Republican Ohio state senator introduced legislation Thursday that would ban the use of ranked choice voting in Ohio and withhold distribution of Local Government Funds to any municipality or county in the state that decides to use the alternative voting form, reports Sabrina Eaton. Advocates of ranked choice voting say the system helps fight political polarization and improves civil discourse by helping to elect centrist candidates who have broad support. Early turnout: Ohio voters are continuing to turn out in better-than-expected numbers to cast early ballots for the Aug. 8 special election on State Issue 1, according to state data. Just over 155,000 Ohioans submitted early ballots by mail or in person during the first seven days of early voting, which started July 11, reports Jeremy Pelzer. |
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Med mart: A state auditor’s task force recently determined that the company once hired to promote the Global Center for Health Innovation still owes Cuyahoga County taxpayers $116,000 in unauthorized charges. But the board overseeing the facility says it was already made whole and is declining to pursue it. Kaitlin Durbin reports the case now goes directly to the state attorney general’s office to decide whether to uphold the board’s decision or to go after the $116,000 itself. DCFS: Kids in Cuyahoga County's care with nowhere else to go have been living in an office building without proper care or safeguards due to a lack of other housing options, but the county now plans to create for them a new Child Wellness Campus. Kaitlin Durbin reports County Executive Chris Ronayne said he intends to convert the Metzenbaum Center, which currently is being used by Juvenile Court for day treatment services, into a 16-bed housing unit for youth by the end of the year. Hard rain: The 1.91 inches of rain that fell in Cleveland on Thursday was the heaviest single-day rainfall in nearly two years. Not since Sept. 22, 2021, has the National Weather Service reported more rain on one day. There was 1.93 inches on that date, reports Rich Exner. Guardians sellouts: Saturday’s Guardians game was this season’s third sellout. It’s a far cry from when Cleveland sold out 455 consecutive games from 1995 to 2001. But it’s something and it’s based on momentum, reports Marc Bona. Baseball concessions: Fans are spending less time at Progressive Field this year, but they’re buying just as many concessions as they used to — despite shorter baseball games, reports Sean McDonnell. Like most big-time players, the pitch clock was tested in the minor leagues first, and while the Akron RubberDucks were initially worried about having less time to sell food and beer, those fears never came true. |
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Unemployment: Ohio’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.4% in June, the lowest on record as the state continues to add jobs. Sean McDonnell reports Ohio also added 1,000 jobs in June, bringing total employment to 5,662,500, up from a revised 5,621,500 in May. |
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Lachelle Jordan: When Cleveland EMS worker Lachelle Jordan went missing for five days in May, Cleveland police repeatedly asked the public for help finding her. But since a barefoot Jordan walked into a convenience store, city officials have repeatedly refused to provide an update on the case, leaving the community in the dark. The silence stands in stark contrast to Alabama authorities investigating the high-profile missing persons case of Carlethia Russell, reports Olivia Mitchell. Murder charge: A man is charged with murder after his missing girlfriend’s body was found in Cleveland’s Slavic Village neighborhood, Bedford police Deputy Chief Rick Suts said. Kaylee Remington reports that Suts says Michael Roarty-Nugent might face additional charges in connection with the death of Breneisha Lightfoot. Assault: A Cleveland man is accused of assaulting a gay man while uttering homophobic slurs during an attack in Public Square in downtown Cleveland. Olivia Mitchell reports Clifford Hinton, 40, was charged Thursday in Cleveland Municipal Court with felonious assault. Deputy hit: A Summit County sheriff’s deputy is in critical condition after being hit by a truck while directing traffic from Blossom Music Center after country music star Jason Aldean’s concert was postponed due to Thursday’s storms. The deputy was struck when a 2006 Ford F-450 pulling a car hauler drove through the intersection, reports Molly Walsh. Arson arrest: Euclid police arrested a 13-year-old boy Thursday after he admitted to setting fires in a number of buildings over the last two months. Molly Walsh reports police said the boy used a ladder to break into several homes in the city and start fires. Remains found: Authorities are investigating after a dead body was found stuffed in a storage tote in the city’s Mount Pleasant neighborhood, reports Olivia Mitchell. Vapes: A store in Westlake is accused of selling nicotine and illegal THC vapes to teenagers, Molly Walsh reports. Westlake’s law department on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against Magic Flash on Center Ridge Road. City officials are seeking a judge’s order to shutter the business as a public nuisance. Murder arrest: U.S. marshals on Thursday arrested a Cleveland man in Iowa who was wanted in connection with a 2021 fatal shooting. John Tucker reports Wylee Darzay Orr Jr., 27, was arrested in Des Moines, ending a two-year search. |
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Blazing Paddles: Blazing Paddles, a race and recreational paddling event founded in 2019, brought 715 paddlers to the Cuyahoga River in downtown Cleveland. It is not only the most participants in the paddlefest’s five-year history, but it was likely the most paddlers ever on the Cuyahoga River at the same time. John Pana has drone video. Tupelo Honey: Restaurateur Matt Quinn quietly opened Tupelo Honey, Euclid, a fine-dining restaurant and craft cocktail bar in mid-June, reports Paris Wolfe. Art installation: On the banks of the Ohio River in the small, economically challenged village of Wellsville, 21-year-old Gigi Janko has turned a vacant former rectory of a Catholic church and an adjacent parking lot into a powerful outdoor art installation that’s beginning to attract attention outside the community, reports Steven Litt. House of the Week: The listing at 2056 Ridgewood Road in the quaint neighborhood of Fairlawn Heights in Akron boasts “2.3 acres of pristine beauty meets the perfect blend of original charm and luxurious modern finishes," reports Joey Morona. The 1927 home comes with six bedrooms, five-and-a-half bathrooms and a $1.15 million price tag. |
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Put-in-Bay police call in SWAT to help control unruly crowds, reports say Read more Jury convicts Akron man in shooting death of California man Read more Cleveland man hospitalized after road-rage incident in Cleveland, Berea and Brook Park Read more Cleveland man assaults, pulls handgun on women outside Brook Park apartment Read more Columbus Zoo gorilla has surprise birth after being thought to be a male Read more Brunswick honors WWII veteran on his 100th birthday Read more Flights in 1928 ‘Tin Goose’ aircraft available in NE Ohio Read more Mayfield Heights new aquatic center to open this morning Read more |
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