Northeast Ohio taxpayers have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on men’s professional sports stadiums, but none on professional women’s sports. The Cleveland Soccer Group is seeking $90 million in city, county and state money to help cover the cost of a proposed $150 million, 12,500-seat stadium downtown, just south of I-90. The stadium could double as a high school/collegiate sports arena and concert venue that would host a total of 60 events per year. Supporters hope to have declarations of funding support within a month, so Cleveland has a chance among cities competing to be named the National Women’s Soccer League's 16th city. Supporters are framing the discussion as one of gender equity – especially as the Browns ask for $1.2 billion in public dollars to build a domed football stadium in Brook Park. “Cleveland is one of the greatest sports cities in America,” said Cleveland State University President Laura Bloomberg. “It’s time to make women’s sports – and soccer – part of this community’s legacy and invest in it, as we have for men’s sports.” — Laura |
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A rendering shows what South Gateway Stadium could look like if supporters are able to attract a National Women's Soccer League team. (OSports) |
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Soccer stadium: Advocates for bringing a professional women’s soccer team are making a big push before a key deadline to convince local leaders that their project could mean just as much to the city and its economy as any other pro sports team. Lucas Daprile reports the soccer group has a month to submit its bid to the National Women’s Soccer League, which hopes to select the league’s 16th team by the end of 2024. FirstEnergy bills: State regulators approved a modified version of FirstEnergy’s electric security plan Wednesday, which means that customers won’t see the bill increase that FirstEnergy was initially pushing for. Sean McDonnell reports the initial plan would have increased customers’ bills by anywhere from $2.35 to $4 per month starting in June. Today in Ohio: Mike DeWine’s signature, Ohio has finally eliminated legal exemptions that shield perpetrators from penalties for different sex crimes when they’re the spouse of the victim. We’re talking about eliminating the “spousal rape exemption” on Today in Ohio, cleveland.com’s daily half-hour news podcast. |
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FirstEnergy docs: FirstEnergy Corp. is fighting to prevent the release of reports documenting the Akron electricity company’s internal investigations into the events surrounding the House Bill 6 scandal, which led to the 2020 arrest and subsequent convictions of ex-House Speaker Larry Householder and others. Andrew Tobias reports the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel accused FirstEnergy lawyers of refusing to produce the reports, which the agency has been seeking for years. Last week, a federal judge ordered their release as part of ongoing litigation between FirstEnergy and large shareholders who say they lost money because of the scandal. STRS: When Gov. Mike DeWine last week raised “red flags” at the State Teachers Retirement System, he said he was forwarding documents to half a dozen different state entities for investigation. Laura Hancock reports DeWine doesn’t have an opinion about whether any laws were violated. His spokesman said, “What we don’t want to have happen is if something bad happens down the line, (people) always say, ‘You didn’t do enough to stop this.’” FDIC crisis: U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown described reports of sexual harassment and workplace misconduct at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. as a “crisis,” and called on its chairman to fix it, reports Sabrina Eaton. The Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee chairman conducted an oversight hearing of financial regulators a week after the release of an independent third-party review of alleged improprieties at FDIC found that “for far too many employees and for far too long, the FDIC has failed to provide a workplace safe from sexual harassment, discrimination, and other interpersonal misconduct.” Israel: The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved largely symbolic legislation that would block federal money from being used to withhold or reverse the delivery of defense support for Israel, reports Sabrina Eaton. The “Israel Security Assistance Support Act” adopted in a 224 to 187 vote was co-authored by U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce, a South Russell Republican who chairs a House Appropriations subcommittee. It was prompted by President Joe Biden’s decision to pause some arms transfers to Israel. |
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Delinquent: Parents are sometimes a source of problems for kids in the juvenile justice system. But they also might be a key to solving them. Juvenile Court officials say that for intervention services to work best, parents must participate in their child’s rehabilitation, report Kaitlin Durbin and John Tucker in their series, Delinquent: Our System, Our Kids. One judge estimates that fewer than 10% of the kids in his courtroom live with both parents. Our Best Life: Laura Johnston hadn’t realized how much she wanted to see Northern Lights until she missed out on the opportunity. She’s writing about regret, and how you can address it midlife. Cleveland History Days: The annual celebration of the city’s heritage, is returning for the seventh year in a row since 2018 with an expanded list of events from June 20 to June 30, reports Steven Litt. History Days will include 70 programs over 11 days with lectures, films and tours on land and water, including the Cuyahoga River Rally on Saturday, June 29. Kindland: On the 30th anniversary of Kindland’s parent organization Values in Action, Landerhaven will host their “Values Matter” celebration on Thursday, June 6 at 5:30 p.m. Peter Chakerian reports the event will honor a number of local change catalysts including Frank Sullivan and the Sullivan Family (RPM International, Inc.); Gareth Vaughan and AMHigley; The DiGeronimo Family, and Ed Weber and Ron Kisner of Wellington Exempted Schools, and Gen. David Petraeus, Ret., U.S. Army. Baby names: For the second year in a row, the most popular baby names in Ohio were Oliver and Charlotte, according to the U.S. Social Security Administration, reports Zachary Smith. Parents named 600 children Oliver and 510 children Charlotte. Both names saw fewer newborns with these monikers than in 2022. |
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New flights: Cleveland Hopkins International Airport is preparing for a huge influx of new nonstop flights in the coming week – perhaps the largest increase in destinations that the airport has ever experienced in such a short period of time. Susan Glaser reports Frontier Airlines, which opened a crew base in Cleveland in March, is responsible for most of the growth – adding 11 new cities to its lineup of destinations from Hopkins in a single week, starting with new service to Austin, Savannah, Salt Lake City and Baltimore on Thursday. Customer service: When it comes to customer service, an Ohio State University study suggests that there are times we’d prefer to talk to bot rather than an actual human being. Gretchen Cuda Kroen reports this is especially true when they are embarrassed about what they are buying. It turns out that when purchasing items like antidiarrheal medicine or other embarrassing products, what customers really want is a non-human assistant. COVID cases: For the second week in a row, the number of new COVID-19 cases in Ohio remained below the 1,000 mark, reports Julie Washington. New cases dropped from 936 last week to 839 this week, marking the 13th consecutive week of falling case numbers. New case numbers haven’t been this low since the early days of the pandemic in March 2020. |
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Drug conviction: A convicted Cleveland drug dealer was sentenced Wednesday to eight years in prison for peddling 2 pounds of methamphetamine and hundreds of fentanyl pills in a span of weeks. The sentencing marked the seventh drug conviction that Isiah Crenshaw, 35, has faced since 2008. Fentanyl seizure: Authorities said Thursday that they seized nearly 600,000 fentanyl pills, valued at $9.5 million, following a long-term investigation that led to the arrests of two men on federal drug charges. Olivia Mitchell reports investigators called it one of Cuyahoga County’s largest drug cases. Murder charges: A Cleveland man is facing murder charges in two killings in different cities that took place over two days earlier this year, reports Cory Shaffer. A Cuyahoga County grand jury last week indicted Ulando Mims Jr., 19, on aggravated murder and other charges in the Jan. 2 death of 17-year-old Tyrone Griffin in Cleveland. |
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Ask Yadi: If you’re close to only some of your cousins, are you obligated to attend all of the weddings just because they are family? Yadi Rodriguez writes that it’s normal in a big family to be closer to some relatives, and you should not feel obligated to attend every cousin’s wedding or party. Downtown summer: Downtown Cleveland Inc. is out with its summer schedule of events. Marc Bona reports the seasonal events cover food, recreation, music and holiday celebrations. Grandma McFlurry: Dubbed the Grandma McFlurry, McDonald’s limited-time offering “features a delicious syrup and chopped, crunchy candy pieces (like grandma’s favorite treat that she hid in her purse!) - all blended in our creamy vanilla soft serve.” NFL streaming: The NFL released its 2024 schedule on Wednesday and, well, we hope you have your credit card number memorized. Joey Morona reports that in addition to the four major networks — CBS, FOX, NBC and ABC — and usual cable channels like ESPN and NFL Network, the league’s national TV schedule is spread across several streaming services including Prime Video, Peacock, ESPN+ and, for the first time, Netflix. Super agent: Hughes Norton, the man who Golf Digest twice included among the 36 most powerful people in the game is retired after a distinguished career. Marc Bona reports that the New England native and longtime Chagrin Falls resident chased, promoted, marketed, represented and protected some of the biggest names in professional golf. He has penned “Rainmaker,” an easy-reading, compelling book about his experiences. DineDrink: In the latest episode of “DineDrinkCLE: The Podcast,” hosts Josh Duke and Alex Darus discuss some new additions to the local culinary scene. First, Marc Bona joins the show to chat about Ficarra Cellars in Valley View. The restaurant, wine bar and bottle shop is like a slice of Italy in Northeast Ohio, with a classic menu to match. Things to do: It’s Marathon weekend! Add in the Asian Festival and another 17 things to do, from Alex Darus. |
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Ohio law enforcement uses virtual reality for crisis response training Read more Akron man sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to 2021 murder of Lyft driver Read more Recovery and decontamination priority after Macedonia chemical explosion Read more Worker trapped under equipment at Brook Park cemetery Read more Real estate agents fear Barberton sex offender targeting female Realtors again Read more Lorain Schools buildings in need of repair, district says Read more |
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