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Tag: Nora McKeown

  • ‘Bent, but not broken’: Congresswoman Shontel Brown reflects on a chaotic 2025

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    CLEVELAND — Democratic Congresswoman Shontel Brown reflected on what she calls a chaotic year in Washington, D.C. during her State of Ohio’s 11th Congressional District Address.

    What You Need To Know

    • Democratic Congresswoman Shontel Brown reflected on what she calls a chaotic year in Washington, D.C. DC during her State of Ohio’s 11th Congressional District Address

    • Brown says her district is facing pressure because of many of President Donald Trump’s priorities, including the tax and spending policy he calls the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”

    • Brown vowed to use every tool she has to dismantle ICE, saying she would not vote to approve giving the agency even one more cent of funding

    “Our communities are being terrorized by ICE,” she said. “Our health care is being cut. Our food assistance is being slashed. Our schools and our local programs are being defunded by Washington. Our pocketbooks are being stretched thin by Trump’s reckless tariffs.”

    Brown says her district is facing pressure because of many of President Donald Trump’s priorities, including the tax and spending policy he calls the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”

    “But I like to call it the Big Ugly Law,” Brown said.

    The law extends tax cuts and cuts spending on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and health care programs Medicare and Medicaid, reduces spending on clean energy tax credits and significantly increases spending for ICE. 

    The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates nearly 100,000 Ohioans will lose out on SNAP food benefits because of the Republican-backed spending bill. Brown said her district has the highest percentage of people relying on SNAP in the state. While she fights to protect and restore those benefits, she said Republicans invested $75 billion into ICE. 

    “I am going to introduce legislation in the coming weeks that would repeal that funding and put it right back into the SNAP program,” she said.

    Brown vowed to use every tool she has to dismantle ICE, saying she would not vote to approve giving the agency even one more cent of funding. 

    She said House Democrats will continue using their leverage to secure wins despite being in the minority, pointing to the release of the Epstein files as a win.

    Constituent Terreia Whitsett said she’d like to see Brown continue to press that issue.

    “The biggest issue is that the attorney general is not interviewing the victims,” Whitsett said. “And I think that’s very important. When you’re a victim of something, you want to be heard and you want to know that people really feel what you’re going through. And I just think she’s deflecting a lot.”

    Through all the chaos of 2025, Browns said her community banded together, protesting ICE’s crackdown, raising money to make up for frozen federal benefits and taking care of each other.

    “We know our strength and we know our power,” she said. “We’ve been tested, but not defeated. Battered, but not beaten. Bent, but not broken.”

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    Nora McKeown

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  • ‘Tanisha’s Law’ officially signed, family celebrates

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    CLEVELAND — After advocating for years, Tanisha Anderson’s family is celebrating the official signing of law named in her honor that aims to establish a more compassionate and dignified response to calls for mental health crises in Cleveland. 

    What You Need To Know

    • After advocating for years, Tanisha Anderson’s family is celebrating the official signing of law named in her honor that aims to establish more compassionate and dignified response to calls for mental health crises in Cleveland

    • Mayor Justin Bibb officially signed what’s known as “Tanisha’s Law,” which will establish a bureau of unarmed clinicians and social workers to respond to calls for mental health crises, at a celebration of her legacy at Case Western Reserve University’s Law School on Saturday

    • It’s been 11 years since Tanisha died after being restrained by Cleveland police during a mental health crisis

    “I just want to let Tanisha know right now that the theory of a Black woman just being thrown out to the sidewalk and dying that way, those days are no more,” Tanisha’s Uncle, Michael Anderson, said.

    It’s been 11 years since Tanisha died after being restrained by Cleveland police during a mental health crisis. Her family has been fighting for a more humane response to those dealing with mental illness since her death.

    “I’ve always said until Tanisha’s law is passed, to me, she’s still out there on the sidewalk,” Anderson said. “Well, today she got up.”

    Mayor Justin Bibb officially signed what’s known as “Tanisha’s Law” at a celebration of her legacy at Case Western Reserve University’s Law School on Saturday. It will establish a bureau of unarmed clinicians and social workers to respond to calls for mental health crises, rather than police. 

    “The guy I serve, he makes no mistakes,” Tanisha’s sister, Jennifer Johnson, said. “All this was for a purpose in his divine plan to save someone else’s life. If this is what it took to come to forth, so be it. Someone else like will be saved because of this Tanisha’s law.” 

    It’s the first piece of legislation Bibb has signed outside of city hall, choosing to do it where the original draft was written five years ago by former CWRU law students Michael O’Donnell and Alexandra Mendez-Diez. 

    Ayesha Bell Hardaway, a law professor at Case, helped spearhead those efforts.

    “They did this work without course credit,” she said. “They did this work without payment, and they did it in addition to everything else that they had to do while being students in school, which is a lot in law school.”

    Anderson said he couldn’t have gotten here without their support, but not every member of his family was able to make it to this point. His sister, Tanisha’s mother Cassandra Johnson, died in 2021.

    “Now, nothing was wrong with her,” Anderson said. “She didn’t have any kind of diagnosis or anything like that. She just pretty much willed herself away.”

    Johnson was there the night Tanisha died. In a video of an old press conference shown at the celebration, she said officers prevented her from going to Tanisha as she lie restrained, calling for her mother’s help and praying on the ground. 

    “I was having a really hard time,” Johnson said. “I think when any mother hears the cry of their child asking you to help me mommy. ‘Mommy help me. Help me.’ I can talk about it now without crying. When you hear that ringing in your head day in and day out, all through the night, you can’t sleep. You can’t eat. It’s something I can’t explain to anybody, what’s really happening in my mind about that day.” 

    Anderson said Johnson fought for justice for years before the trauma became too much to bear.

    “I heard her last heartbeat, and that’s the beat that kept me going,” he said. “That’s the beat that pushed me, was her last heartbeat.”

    Tanisha’s daughter, Mauvion Green, was also there the night her mother died. She was 16 years old. Now 27, she said she has since focused on carrying herself with love, kindness and compassion.

    “No matter what’s going on, even if it’s the enemy, I pray for you,” Green said. “I really do. I don’t have no bad blood in my heart. It’s nothing there for hatred. What she left with me was love, and that’s how I always go through life.”

    While they are taking time to celebrate how far they’ve come, Anderson said there’s still work to be done.

    “It’s not over,” he said. “You come to things like this where, it’s like, ’Yeah, we got Tanisha’s law!’ Okay, but now do you understand there’s a lot of things that need to come together to bring this to fruition, to make sure that it’s done right.”

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    Nora McKeown

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  • Stereophonic takes the stage at Cleveland’s Playhouse Square

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    CLEVELAND — Andrew Gombas is a member of the cast touring the country with Stereophonic, a Tony Award-winning play about a band on the brink of making it big.

    What You Need To Know

    • Stereophonic, a Tony Award-winning play about a band on the brink of making it big, is showing at Cleveland’s Playhouse Square through Jan. 26

    • The music in the show, written by Will Butler of Arcade Fire, is played and recorded by the actors on stage in real time during the show

    • One cast member, Andrew Gombas, grew up in Chicago but came to Cleveland to teach performing arts to kids across Northeast Ohio through the Great Lakes Theater

    • “I started my career here 15 years ago,” he said. “To come back and be doing this show in this building, it’s like being in some kind of Greek temple. It’s such a giant, incredible theater, so it blows my mind”

    They’re stopping at Cleveland’s Playhouse Square for three weeks, but it’s not Gombas’ first visit to the region.

    “I started my career here 15 years ago,” he said. “To come back and be doing this show in this building, it’s like being in some kind of Greek temple. It’s such a giant, incredible theater, so it blows my mind.”

    Gombas grew up in Chicago but came to Cleveland to teach performing arts to kids across Northeast Ohio through the Great Lakes Theater. 

    “It was life-changing for me,” he said. “At the time I wasn’t sure, like, do I want to be an actor? Do I want to be a musician? Do I want to be a teacher? And that program is really what solidified my decision to pursue a career in the performing arts.”

    Gombas is proud of where his experience in Cleveland has landed him. Stereophonic follows the rise of a British-American band recording an album in studio in the 70s. Cast members like Cornelius McMoyler, who plays the drummer in the band, actually play and record on stage in real time. 

    “As much as it just looks like stage business back here, guitars are really getting tuned,” McMoyler said. “And, I’m really adjusting the height on my snare at a certain point in every show. So, I mean, that’s the best part about this show is you don’t have to pretend that you’re washing dishes or something. This kitchen is real in that sense.”

    Stereophonic is showing at Playhouse through Jan. 25, but Gombas hopes it’s not his last time in the city.

    “Cleveland is an amazing place to be an artist,” he said. “There’s such an incredible community here that fosters the arts, and I still dream of moving back here and just continuing the life I had here because this is one of my favorite places to live.”

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  • Cleveland City Council sworn into office after redistricting

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    CLEVELAND —  A new, 15-member Cleveland City Council has officially been sworn into office after redistricting resulted in the loss of two seats this election cycle. 

    What You Need To Know

    • A new, 15-member Cleveland city council has officially been sworn into office after redistricting resulted in the loss of two seats this election cycle

    • Of those sworn in Tuesday night, 12 are returning members and three are newcomers: Ward 7’s Austin Davis, Ward 11’s Nikki Hudson, and Ward 12’s Tanmay Shah

    • Council President Blaine Griffin was chosen by his colleagues to stay in that role over the next four years

    “My commitment to you, and I hope that we would make it to each other as council colleagues, is to not bring a problem without a solution,” Council President Blaine Griffin said after being chosen by his colleagues to keep his leadership role through this term. 

    The body is down to 15 members from 17 in the last term because of population loss in the city over the last decade. 

    “It is the best of times in some parts of Cleveland with thriving neighborhoods, amenities, world class arts, education and entertainment venues, but it’s the worst of times in other locations,” Griffin said, comparing Cleveland’s neighborhoods to Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. “There are people under a tremendous amount of pressure. We have an awesome responsibility to relieve the burden and not add to it.”

    Of those sworn in Tuesday night, 12 are returning members and three are newcomers: Ward 7’s Austin Davis, Ward 11’s Nikki Hudson and Ward 12’s Tanmay Shah.

    Shah, a democratic socialist, said he’s looking forward to working with council to tackle challenges coming from outside city hall.

    “Pretty much everyone here is working towards improving the lives of Cleveland, and that’s not something that the ultra wealthy care about,” Shah said. “And, we know right now that they’re funneling so much money into the elections so far at the national stage at in Columbus. So, we have our work cut out, but if we can get together on the same page here, I absolutely believe we can overcome those challenges.”

    Mayor Justin Bibb also marked the official start of his second term with a separate, private swearing in ceremony.

    In a post on X, he said, “A second term is not a victory lap — it is a mandate. I am proud to have the opportunity to serve the city I love. The work continues.”

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  • Stakeholders continue debate over future of Cleveland’s Burke Lakefront Airport

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    CLEVELAND — As the push to close Cleveland’s Burke Lakefront Airport gains momentum, a coalition of pilots and businesses are now fighting to keep it open.

    What You Need To Know

    • As the push to close Cleveland’s Burke Lakefront Airport gains momentum, a coalition of pilots and businesses are now fighting to keep it open.

    • “It’s not just as easy as saying, ‘Well, the airplanes can land somewhere else,’” Ned Parks, President of the Northeast Ohio Pilots Association, said. 

    • A spokesperson for Mayor Bibb’s office said they’re open to hearing the coalition’s concerns but are hoping to close Burke and open that lakefront land up for development as soon as possible.

    “It’s not just as easy as saying, ‘Well, the airplanes can land somewhere else,’” Ned Parks, President of the Northeast Ohio Pilots Association, said. 

    Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb has been accelerating efforts to decommission Burke since agreeing to a $100 million exit deal with the Browns. The team will leave the downtown stadium for Brook Park at the end of their lease, and the city will use much of the settlement money to reimagine and develop a lakefront without them.

    As part of the agreement, billionaire team owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam are supporting Mayor Justin Bibb and County Executive Chris Ronayne in their efforts to develop downtown. 

    “We have long been proponents of a reimagined lakefront and know how it can transform our city,” Haslam Sports Group spokesperson Peter John-Baptiste said in a statement. “We will continue to partner with Mayor Bibb and local leaders to be helpful in any way possible.”

    As part of their plan, Bibb and Ronayne are working to get Burke closed as quickly as possible to open up more land for public access and private development. 

    “My team was in D.C. last week and met with the Senate and Congressional delegation from Ohio,” Ronayne said. “We got great receptivity. We think that their general feedback is ‘Show us a plan. Show us it’s doable. Don’t have us pay for it all, and we’ll listen to you.’”

    But as the discussion of Burke’s closure becomes more serious, the local aviation community is raising alarm bells. Northeast Ohio Pilots Association President Ned Parks is part of a coalition of pilots and businesses asking the city to keep the airport open.

    “Literally every non-airline airport or aviation activity takes place here,” Parks said. “There’s flight training. There’s an enormous amount of medical flights that come in and out of here.”

    Spectrum News 1 reached out to Cleveland’s major hospital systems for comment on the impact of closing Burke on medical operations. None had a stated position on the issue, but a spokesperson for the Cleveland Clinic confirms that a majority of their 850 organ transplants last year arrived through Burke. 

    Parks said military and private flights also fly into Cleveland through the lakefront airport and claims there is nowhere else in the region that can support its operations, but his biggest concern is the economic impact of the airport leaving. 

    “All the employees that are aviation-related here at this airport would have to be re-homed at the city’s expense in order to get this airport closed,” Parks said.

    A 2024 study commissioned by the city found Burke generates about $77 million dollars in revenue each year, including from the Cleveland National Air Show. However, the same study found that closing Burke and developing the land it sits on would be the most economically productive use of that space.

    Ronayne said between Cleveland Hopkins Airport, the county’s airport in Richmond and more regional airports, there are ways to find new places for those aviation stakeholders, and many of them will stay within Cleveland and Cuyahoga County.

    “We understand the need for a regional aviation system that works for all,” he said.

    While his coalition has sent letters to the mayor and politicians in D.C., Parks said he still hasn’t heard from Bibb’s office. He’s hoping to at least have a conversation about their concerns and a potential compromise. He suggested closing one of the airport’s two runways and developing around it.

    “We want to come to the table and talk about this as a ‘both and’ not an ‘either or,’” Parks said. “It’s not about keeping the airport open and doing nothing with it, which is what’s been happening for a long time, or closing the airport and turning it into a lakefront park. It’s about how can both of these coexist?”

    Ronayne said that while it’s ultimately up to the city to decide how to move forward, he’s willing to explore all options. 

    “I think we ought to look at that possible hybrid approach of public access and development and yet remain open to the conversation about some aviation use,” he said.

    A spokesperson for Bibb’s office said they’re open to hearing the coalition’s concerns but are hoping to close Burke as soon as possible.

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  • Cleveland’s lead poisoning rate remains high despite new laws

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    CLEVELAND — Cleveland’s lead poisoning rate is more than double the rate in peer cities like Detroit, Toledo, Akron and Cincinnati, according to data from the city’s department of public health. 

    What You Need To Know

    • Over the past five years, city leaders have worked to address Cleveland’s lead crisis through legislation and executive orders that require property owners to register their properties as lead safe, but regardless, the rate of lead poisoning has hovered around 20% since 2019

    • In a Health and Human Services Committee Monday morning, the city’s director of Building and Housing said her team has worked through their backlog of 1,200 applications from landlords seeking to certify their properties and is now focusing on inspections and enforcement, issuing 278 civil tickets and filing 250 criminal cases against landlords who aren’t complying with the city’s lead safe laws

    • Several agencies across the city, like the department of Community Development and the Cleveland Lead Safe Coalition are also working with property owners to help finance lead remediation projects, but council members are asking them to get money out the door more quickly, especially as the first deadline for some federal grant funding is coming up at the end of May
    • City leaders and community partners are continuing the debate over how to amend the current lead safe laws to help better reach their goals

    “What’s going on in Cleveland is our lead poisoning rate is the highest in the country,” Dr. Dave Margolius, the city’s public health director, said. “You know, nearly one in five children are testing positive for lead poisoning.”

    Margolius said lead is a neurotoxin that causes irreversible brain damage to babies who are exposed to it. The department reports more than 1,300 children tested for elevated blood lead levels in 2024.

    Over the past five years, city leaders have worked to address Cleveland’s lead crisis through legislation and executive orders that require property owners to register their properties as lead safe. Regardless, the rate of lead poisoning has hovered around 20% since 2019. 

    “It’s really hard to get that that number to budge because there are so many old homes in the city of Cleveland built before lead paint was outlawed,” Margolius said.

    Enforcement updates

    In a Health and Human Services Committee Monday morning, the city’s director of Building and Housing, Sally Martin O’Toole, said her team has worked through their backlog of 1,200 applications from landlords seeking to certify their properties and is now focusing on inspections and enforcement.

    In partnership with the law department, the department of Building and Housing has issued a batch of 278 civil tickets to property owners who haven’t complied with the city’s lead safety requirements, and filed 250 criminal lawsuits against non-compliant landlords in homes of kids who have been poisoned. 

    Martin O’Toole said this first round of tickets were issued to owners who applied for the Lead Safe Certificate, submitted failing dust swipes and never followed through with remediation.

    “Soon, now that we have completed our rental registration process for the year — it closed on March 31 — we’re going to begin enforcement on those on the rental registry who have not attempted to obtain their lead safe certification,” Martin O’Toole said.

    As of Monday, Martin O’Toole estimated up to 50% of all rentals in the city have been certified as lead safe, though council member Rebecca Maurer said that number is uncertain because it’s difficult for the city to know how many properties aren’t on the rental registry.

    Getting money into homes

    Lead remediation projects can be expensive. Several agencies across the city, like the department of Community Development and the Cleveland Lead Safe Coalition, are also working with property owners to help finance those projects. The Lead Safe Cleveland Coalition has fundraised around $100 million. In a presentation Monday, the group reports they have spent about $20 million so far — $7.7 million of which was given directly to property owners for remediation.

    The city has also received about $17 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development but have yet to spend more than $13 million of that funding, which is set to expire at different points of 2025. The first deadline is approaching on May 30.

    Representatives from the Department of Community Development said they have asked HUD to extend the deadline on those grants but haven’t yet gotten approval.

    As the federal government under President Donald Trump makes cuts to the department of Housing and Urban Development and the Environmental Protection Agency, Margolius said he’s concerned. 

    “There were estimates maybe 15 years ago that in order to get all the lead out of Cleveland, it would cost $2 billion, $3 billion,” he said. “We’ve raised $100 million, which a lot of people thought the work is done. We’ve got $100 million. But $2 billion compared to $100 million? So, we know we need a federal investment. Our city government, we can’t do this alone. We need help from every level of government and the private sector to help get the lead out of these homes.”

    Council member Rebecca Maurer said all partners need to be working more quickly to get money into homes and neighborhoods. 

    “There’s a question of how easily are we getting money out the door,” Maurer said. “Think about it like a spigot. Is the is the water flowing right? And it’s been really ratcheted down, for a long time.”

    What’s next

    City leaders continue to debate the best approach to improving Cleveland’s housing health, and there are many programs and organizations working to address the crisis in what Council member Maurer calls the “lead safe ecosystem.”

    One of those groups, the Lead Safe Advisory Board (LSAB), which Maurer co-chairs, is meant to review citywide lead safety efforts and their effectiveness, providing recommendations for changes and improvements.

    Scott Kroehle, who sits on that board, said they’re hoping to take a more active role in informing council’s decisions. He said he thinks they should take a stronger approach to enforcement and helping property owners do the expensive work to remediate lead risks.

    “You can give a violation notice, but if it’s a $40,000 job to replace the windows and doors and the person is making $600 a month in rent, it’s not going to happen anytime soon, no matter how much you wish it,” Kroehle said. “So, we really have to be looking at both sides of that equation, both the enforcing what needs to be done and also, getting it done.”

    City leaders and community partners are continuing the work and debate over how to amend the current lead safe laws to help better reach their goals.

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  • Cleveland commits $18 million toward affordable housing fund

    Cleveland commits $18 million toward affordable housing fund

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    CLEVELAND — The City of Cleveland is committing $18 million toward the creation of the Cleveland Housing Investment Fund (CHIF).

    What You Need To Know

    • The City of Cleveland is committing $18 million toward the creation of the Cleveland Housing Investment Fund (CHIF)

    • The fund will be owned and managed by Local Initiatives Support Corporation, or LISC, a national nonprofit that connects public and private resources for underserved communities

    • LISC will use the fund for low-cost loans to developers to rehab and build affordable housing in neighborhoods that don’t typically attract investors

    The fund will be owned and managed by Local Initiatives Support Corporation, or LISC, a national nonprofit that connects public and private resources for underserved communities.

    Cleveland’s housing fund will be used for low-cost loans to developers to rehab and build affordable housing in neighborhoods that don’t typically attract investors.

    LISC is seeking $100 million total for the fund, and Key Bank has committed $20 million.

    In a finance committee meeting Monday, Council President Blaine Griffin said the body pushed to ensure this fund will work to create 100 for-sale homes so families can build wealth in historically disinvested areas.

    “That was very important to council, and we know we had to do a lot of negotiation, but we think we got to where we want to be with that because some of these dollars were money that we were going to put for downpayment assistance,” Griffin said. “So in addition to that, we know we got to work with some of the other lenders in order to really try to advertise and beef up their programs.”

    LISC has created similar funds in the Bay Area, Charlotte and Detroit, which so far have financed over 6,000 units of affordable housing total.

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  • New Era Cleveland aims to curb violence through community engagement

    New Era Cleveland aims to curb violence through community engagement

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    CLEVELAND — Local community building organization New Era Cleveland has been taking a grassroots approach to violence prevention since 2016.

    “I always say that we are anything and everything at any given moment,” said New Era leader Antoine Tolbert, who also goes by Chairman Fahiem. “Whatever is needed. If we have to become a search party to go out and find a missing child, we’ll become that. If we have to become a food pantry, if we need to become an institution that is raising up and educating young people and community? We become that.”

    They also do armed patrols of neighborhoods that report high rates of crime, openly carrying weapons, which is legal in Ohio.

    Recently, the group has paused those armed neighborhood patrols as Tolbert faces extortion charges filed over a confrontation with a gas station owner; Tolbert claims those allegations are false.

    “Safety to me is like, that’s mandatory,” Tolbert said. “So, we had a disagreement in regards to that, and so I started to advise people that were out around the store and that were coming into the store, ‘Hey, we should not spend any money here. This is why, this is what they said, they don’t care about the safety of the children within the community.’”

    Spectrum News reached out to the Cuyahoga County prosecutor’s office, and they declined to comment as the case against Tolbert is still pending. However, the group and many community members have rallied together in support of the chairman, making public comments in city meetings about the work he has done, to help clear his name. 

    New Era Cleveland is a local chapter of a national movement that aims to empower residents in urban neighborhoods to take an active role in community building. 

    “I think folks are tired of sitting around waiting for the city to come up with a solution, and instead, we’ve come up with our solutions from within the community,” Tolbert said.

    The members, all volunteers, grew up in the areas they serve and are trained in firearms, de-escalation, conflict resolution and trauma response. 

    Their goal is to engage with residents before violence can even take place.

    “Especially in a city like Cleveland where we’re down, hundreds of police officers, folks are waiting extended period of time for a police officer to respond to a call for help. And so, again, our focus is being present in order to prevent situations from escalating.”

    But, Tolbert said community building isn’t just about patrolling the streets for crime.

    New Era offers youth programming and a number of other resources for residents, from food pantries to free closets. They also partner with local businesses to create designated “safe zones” marked with a window sticker.

    “They know if they see this decal, this is a place where they can come get, they can come receive support in their experience, any type of crisis. Even something as simple as a place of refuge,” he said.

    One of those partners is Marquita Phillips, owner of Texture Experience salon. She grew up with Tolbert and said his work has uplifted the neighborhood.

    “We know a lot of crime going on, like everybody know a crime in the Buckeye neighborhood,” Phillips said. “But it’s like hooking up with him, we can talk to certain people that we’ve seen growing up in our lives and say like, stop it, Don’t move like that.”

    But not everyone is eager to trust the group. In 2022, Tolbert was falsely arrested and received a settlement from the city. And, he sometimes struggles to get certain members of the community to understand his mission. 

    Tolbert said one gas station was a longtime hotspot for crime when he approached the owner about becoming a safe space.

    “This intersection was like, initially what really made us start doing the patrols in the neighborhood, hyper focusing on this location, specifically addressing some of the safety concerns,” Tolbert said.

    It took convincing, but now six months of partnership later, Tolbert and the owner said things have calmed down significantly there.  

    He and his supporters said they’ll continue to fight to clear his name, so they can get back to work, doing what they feel is their duty – protecting their community and building the neighborhoods they wish they had when they were kids..

    “Now we’re seeing kids out late at night on Buckeye, playing football in the street, playing with sparklers on their front porch,” Tolbert said. “Like just being able to get back to do these things that a lot of communities do every day and take for granted.”

    Tolbert said the group doesn’t receive payment for patrolling neighborhoods or designating safe zones, but they do welcome a $25 donation to support their programming.

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  • Palestinian activists seek meeting with Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne

    Palestinian activists seek meeting with Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne

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    CLEVELAND — After demonstrating before Cuyahoga County Council members for months, Palestinian supporters are now directing their efforts at county executive Chris Ronayne.

    What You Need To Know

    • Palestinian activists say they’ve been trying to schedule a meeting with Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne for months to discuss the county’s $16 million dollar investment in Israel Bonds, but so far, they haven’t been able to get on his calendar once.

    • Last week, they held a protest outside Ronayne’s house — saying they were tired of waiting for him to agree to a meeting, after he denied several of their requests.

    • In Tuesday’s council meeting, Ronayne was not present, but several commenters addressed him directly anyway.

    • Pro-Palestinian demonstrators were kicked out of council chambers by police after public comment on Tuesday night for chanting and disrupting the meeting.

    They were removed from council chambers by police on Tuesday night for disrupting the council meeting with a chant after public comment.

    “While we are here, bombs are falling on Gaza,” said Noelle Naser, a local Palestinian activist. “Every day, every minute that we wait to divest from Israel bonds, is more lives that are lost. So we came here today with a unifying message from the people to disrupt the meeting, to say that there is no business as usual while genocide is going on. We will continue to fight until Israel Bonds are gone from Cuyahoga County.”

    Activists said they’ve been trying to schedule a meeting with Ronayne for months to discuss the county’s $16 million dollar investment in Israel Bonds, but so far, they haven’t been able to get on his calendar once.

    Last week, they held a protest outside Ronayne’s house — leaving a letter at his door. 

    They said they were tired of waiting for him to agree to a meeting, after he denied several of their requests.

    In this week’s council meeting, Ronayne was not present, but several commenters addressed him directly anyway.

    In a statement, Ronayne’s office said, “Executive Ronayne respects the right to free speech and protest. He firmly believes these rights are fundamental to democracy as long as the demonstrations are conducted lawfully and peacefully. The County Executive takes every request for a meeting seriously. The administration has been responsive to all meeting requests and remains committed to open dialogue and fostering conversation.” 

    As of this week, demonstrators have attended nine consecutive county council meetings.

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  • Cuyahoga County Council changes public comment rules

    Cuyahoga County Council changes public comment rules

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    CLEVELAND —  Public comment sessions in recent Cuyahoga County Council meetings have been flooded with pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli residents — sometimes lasting over three hours.

    What You Need To Know

    • Public comment sessions in recent Cuyahoga County Council meetings have been flooded with pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli residents — sometimes lasting over three hours

    • On Tuesday, the body voted to temporarily change those rules, limiting public comment to 20 speakers per meeting for the remainder of July

    • Council also introduced legislation to make the new rules permanent, but that wasn’t up for vote this week

    On Tuesday, the body voted to temporarily change those rules, limiting public comment to 20 speakers per meeting for the remainder of July.

    Council also introduced legislation to make the new rules permanent, but that wasn’t up for a vote this week.

    “So, what I would ask if that you all explain to us what is the content of this resolution,” said Sean Abott-Klafter, a pro-Palestinian commenter. “Because perhaps I’m way off base, but it’s certainly interpreted as a way to limit or restrict public comment, or limit or restrict speech from your constituents that you all don’t want to hear.”

    Before this meeting, the county council did not limit how many residents could speak for public comment — allowing anyone who signed up to take their three minutes at the podium.

    The decision to change the rules comes after several weeks of hours-long public comment sections, filled with residents speaking in support of and against county investments in Israel Bonds..

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    Nora McKeown

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  • What was Pete Buttigieg doing in Ohio yesterday?

    What was Pete Buttigieg doing in Ohio yesterday?

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    CLEVELAND — President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill injected billions of dollars into Ohio’s roadways, bridges, airports and more, and those investments created the need for a large workforce to complete the projects.

     

    What You Need To Know

    • President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill injected billions of dollars into Ohio’s roadways, bridges, airports and more, and those investments created the need for a large workforce to complete the projects.

    • U.S. Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg (D) and Rep. Emilia Sykes (D, OH-13) visited the Ohio Operating Engineers Apprenticeship and Training Facility on Tuesday to check in on the state’s workforce development.

    • The training facility is used by union leaders to recruit and train workers to help meet the increased demand for work.

    • Leaders with the union said between state and federal funding for infrastructure projects across Ohio, demand for work has never been so high.

    U.S. Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg, D, and Rep. Emilia Sykes, D-OH 13, visited the Ohio Operating Engineers Apprenticeship and Training Facility on Tuesday to check in on the state’s workforce development.

    “When I first got into public life — which wasn’t that long ago in northern Indiana — as we were picking ourselves up from the Great Recession, we couldn’t even imagine a time when there were so many jobs,” Buttigieg said. “We were just struggling to find qualified, skilled workers back then. The question is, where were we going to find the jobs? Now the question is how are we going to find and prepare the workers? It is a good problem to have, but it’s a real challenge.”

    The training facility is used by union leaders to recruit and train workers to help meet the increased demand for work.

    Leaders with the union said between state and federal funding for infrastructure projects across Ohio, demand for work has never been so high.

    And as a result, they said they’ve never had so many apprentices come through the program as they have in recent years.

    “The local money that we’ve had from all of our ODOT funding: heavy highway work, bridges, roads, paving. That is our bread and butter of local 18. That generates the most jobs, the most work hours,” Michael Bertolone, business manager of Local 18 said. “And so, when the federal infrastructure money entered the equation on top of the state money that we receive, it was the perfect storm of work. That’s the reason why we’ve got all the work here, and that goes to the building trades as well.”

    Sykes said it’s important to have facilities like this one to give people the opportunity to get into a trade and have success, especially we see federal infrastructure dollars being poured into local communities.

    “This bill truly opens pathways for people that don’t want to go to four year colleges, and even more importantly, they can finish their education without tens of thousands of dollars worth of debt,” Sykes said. “So, investing in our workers is an investment in our community.”

    Federal funding has been allocated for specific projects across the state, from the public transit systems in Cleveland and Columbus to the Brent Spence Bridge in Cincinnati.

    They said because so much money has been invested into these projects, there will be work lined up for these workers for years come.

    “Whether it’s the US 6 project I saw in Sandusky or the work we’re doing along I-70 and I-71, which is one of the busiest and most vital sections of highway in this region,” Buttigieg said. “Or the Brent Spence Bridge in southern Ohio that is creating jobs and creating an opportunity for, again, not just a season or a year, but really a decade of infrastructure effort.”

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    Nora McKeown

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  • What’s going on with Cuyahoga County’s Israel Bonds debate?

    What’s going on with Cuyahoga County’s Israel Bonds debate?

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    CLEVELAND — Just under two weeks after two Cuyahoga County Council members introduced a resolution calling for a stop to future investments in Israel bonds or other foreign securities, those members have withdrawn it. 

    What You Need To Know

    • Just under two weeks after two Cuyahoga County Council members introduced a resolution calling for a stop to future investments in Israel bonds or other foreign securities, those members have withdrawn it.

    • This all started after Palestinian activists, including Dr. Shereen Naser, have packed Cuyahoga County Council chambers in recent months, calling on members to meet three demands: a promise to make no future investments in Israel bonds, an assessment of the due diligence process for county investments, and the creation of a community investment review board.

    • The issue sparked a public comment sections that lasted over three hours and drew in voices from both sides of the issue.

    • The decision to withdraw the resolution also comes after Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost sent a letter to Ronayne, urging the county executive not to change the county’s stance on investing in Israel Bonds.

    This all started after Palestinian activists, including Dr. Shereen Naser, have packed Cuyahoga County Council chambers in recent months, calling on members to meet three demands: a promise to make no future investments in Israel bonds, an assessment of the due diligence process for county investments, and the creation of a community investment review board.

    “As Palestinians living in the diaspora and as citizens of the U.S., I see the system that created a genocide of my people as a same system that is hurting our kids here in the U.S.,” Naser said. “The people who are willing to send $3.8 billion a year on top of paying millions and billions of dollars in Israel bonds are the same people who are taking food out of the mouths of our kids and out of our kids education systems.”

    Cuyahoga County currently holds $16 million in Israel Bonds. 

    “At the end of the day, the residents of this county and so many other counties across the United States, they strongly support investing in Israel bonds,” Nathan Miller, an Israel Bonds spokesperson said. “That’s why Israel Bonds has seen a huge, unprecedented growth in its investment since October 7th. More than $3 billion has been invested in Israel Bonds, an unprecedented number.”

    In a council meeting earlier this month, members Cheryl Stephens and Patrick Kelly introduced a resolution urging the county’s investment advisory committee, which is responsible for the county’s investment portfolio, to make no future investments in foreign securities, including Israel Bonds. 

    This sparked a public comment section during the June 4 council meeting that lasted about three hours and drew in voices from both sides of the issue.

    After hearing from the community, Stephens and Kelly sent a letter to county executive Chris Ronanye and Treasurer Brad Cromes to notify them of their decision to withdraw the resolution.

    In the letter, they said it’s up to the county’s fiscal team to make these decisions and that even with a proposed ordinance off the table, they still “strongly encourage you to suspend investments in sovereign debt issued by any foreign countries.”

    The decision to withdraw the resolution also comes after Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost sent a letter to Ronayne, urging the county executive not to change the county’s stance on investing in Israel Bonds.

    Yost said that change by a government agency could violate an Ohio law that makes it illegal for businesses that receive state funding to boycott, divest or sanction Israel.

    However, some local attorneys argue that the resolution would not have been in violation of that law.

    Yost’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment on this story.

    County spokespeople said Stephens, Kelly and Ronayne are not interviewing about this issue at this time.

    “I also don’t see the withdrawal of the resolution as backing down,” Naser said. “I think it’s them having done a full assessment of what would be the most impactful path forward, and that is for the Investment Advisory Committee to make these decisions as they should have been making these good decisions in the first place.”

    In a statement, the Jewish Federation of Cleveland said, in part, “Resolution 2024-0208 is nothing more than yet another attempt by a well-coordinated international effort to attack the Jewish state and the Jewish people. The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement is a decades old tactic that is used whenever there is turmoil in the Middle East involving Israel.”

    The next county council meeting is on July 2nd at 5 p.m. in the Cuyahoga County administrative building downtown.

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    Nora McKeown

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