I have a two-subject column this week, to explain how we are winding down some of our coronavirus coverage and to ask you to complete a survey about public service projects you’d like us to tackle.

On the coronavirus, anyone who reads this column or spends time on any of our platforms knows how heavily we invested our resources in covering the pandemic. We recognized how overwhelming the virus could be for the nation early and pulled reporters into it from all over our newsroom. You clearly appreciated the effort. Our news audience grew to record levels.

During much of the pandemic, the numbers meant everything to readers, and we published daily updates, weekly roundups and some of the most accessible maps people could find. We had some weeks last year when Rich Exner’s daily maps made up most of our top ten stories for readership for the week.

We also launched a free coronavirus text alert service to keep people apprised of all the breaking stories, and more than 14,000 people signed up for it. Three and four times a day, we messaged the latest numbers and the big news of the day. The many messages of thanks we received back gave a lift to everyone on our team.

Ultimately, our coronavirus coverage renewed our relationship with you. When crisis hits, people turn to sources they trust. That you turned to us was an honor, and we knew our duty was to answer every question you might have. We ended up writing more than 8,000 stories about the virus.

The hunger for pandemic news has abated, though. As we begin the summer of 2021, people are focused on returning to normal. Our focus is changing, as well. We have a mayor’s race to cover. The Statehouse has been hopping. We plan to start covering the pandemic as we cover anything else – when it makes news.

We stopped publishing a daily update on coronavirus numbers a few days ago. And our coronavirus text alerts, which we converted into a service for subscribers a few months ago, will cease next week.

One feature we will continue through the summer will be Marc Bona’s weekly digest of coronavirus news from across the region, the state and the country. Marc started these digests soon after the pandemic began, and we believe they will be a tremendous resource for historians studying the pandemic. I wish we had found a similar resource for the 1918 pandemic as we examined similarities to the latest one. People continue to read these digests in large numbers.

Of course, if the coronavirus surges anew, we can pick up where we are leaving off, quickly pivoting to feed a hunger for coronavirus news if it develops.

Thanks for all of the kind words you sent about our coverage over the last 16 months or so. They kept us going through some challenging days and weeks.

My second topic is a follow up to what I wrote about last week, our exploration of working with a non-profit agency to seek donations that fund some solutions journalism projects. I appreciate all the notes you sent, some offering encouragement and some warning us to be wary of conflicts of interest. You provided good ideas for us to chew on as we proceed.

To make sure there is no confusion, I want to stress that what I am talking about with these projects is entirely separate from the Northeast Ohio Solutions Journalism Collaborative, of which we have been a member for the past year. The collaborative is a collection of news agencies and community groups working together on its own brand of solutions journalism. You can read more about the collaborative here: https://www.neosojo.com/

I explained last week that one project we plan is an extension of A Greater Cleveland, our poverty project of a couple of years ago, but this time focused on Cleveland school students and those working with them. We know, though, that you might have other projects you’d like us to pursue. We’ve put together a quick survey so you can rank several topics or suggest others.

Please take a moment to share your thoughts here: https://tinyurl.com/yourCLEsolutions

Thanks