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What you need to know Wednesday, August 4, 2021 WEATHER
Sunny and clear skies have filled the beginning of the week, and Clevelanders can expect it to mostly stay that way as the middle of the week arrives. Wednesday's forecast calls for sunny skies in the morning and a small chance of rain and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Read more.
Local scores: Toronto Blue Jays 7, Indians 2 OVERNIGHT
District 11: After months of appearing at a significant disadvantage, Cuyahoga County Councilwoman Shontel Brown was declared the winner in Tuesday’s Democratic primary for the 11th Congressional District, all but ensuring her place in Congress. Seth Richardson reports that former state Sen. Nina Turner conceded the race to Brown around 10:10 p.m. In her victory speech, Brown thanked the “collaborative” effort of groups that ushered her to victory to succeed former Rep. Marcia Fudge.
FirstEnergy: FirstEnergy Corp. should return $6.6 million collected from ratepayers because it was used for questionable payments -- mostly to entities associated with prominent Cleveland businessman Tony George, Jeremy Pelzer reports. An audit commissioned by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio found the $6.6 million was part of more than $24 million in payments flagged by FirstEnergy that were made to groups controlled by George, as well as entities associated with two major figures in the House Bill 6 scandal: ex-PUCO Chair Sam Randazzo and ex-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder.
Tony George: Tony George, the well-known Westlake businessman and political rainmaker, has long been a recipient of FirstEnergy Corp.’s largesse, benefitting from billboard contracts, property leases and contributions to a nonprofit in honor of one of his children, a state audit released Tuesday shows. John Caniglia reports the document outlines a longtime financial relationship that goes well beyond most business dealings.
HB6 subpoena: Federal investigators have requested records related to former Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Chairman Sam Randazzo and other topics, Andrew Tobias reports. The FBI issued subpoenas, dated April 13 and May 19, seeking Randazzo’s appointment calendars and communications Randazzo had with other state officials regarding House Bill 6, the nuclear bailout bill at the center of an ongoing federal corruption probe. City Council absences: Two members of Cleveland City Council missed more than half of the 19 meetings the full council has held in 2021, Robert Higgs reports. That’s despite the fact that council members needed only to open their laptops at home to attend, since all meetings were held remotely via Zoom. Councilman Joe Jones had 10 unexcused absences, and Councilman Basheer Jones had eight.
This Week in the CLE: New documents show Sam Randazzo received $11.2 million from FirstEnergy Corp. in exchange for what the company explained as changing sides on a key state regulatory move FirstEnergy had been pushing for. We’re talking about what kind of vetting Gov. Mike DeWine did before appointing Randazzo on This Week in the CLE, cleveland.com’s daily half-hour news podcast.
Redistricting: Cuyahoga County Council has officially started its once-in-a-decade redistricting process as Council on Tuesday approved the five appointees who will be in charge of re-drawing Council district boundaries. Courtney Astolfi reports the five members of the Council Districting Commission, formally nominated by Council President Pernel Jones Jr., are set to meet for the first time on Thursday to hash out plans for the four-month-long redistricting process.
Economic development chief: Long-time Cuyahoga County employee Paul Herdeg was sworn in Tuesday as the newest economic development chief after his nomination won unanimous approval from County Council. Courtney Astolfi reports Herdeg had been serving as the Department of Development’s top leader in an interim capacity since April, when former chief Ted Carter left his job to work for the city of Baltimore.
Why mask?: Many people feel confused by the latest federal government recommendation that even fully vaccinated individuals should wear a face mask in areas with high COVID-19 transmission. The reason, in large part, comes down to protecting others, reports Evan MacDonald. The more-transmissible delta variant has increased the odds that someone who is fully vaccinated can pass on the virus, a face mask offers additional protection for everyone else. That raises the risk for those around you, including children.
Mask recommendations: Summit County Public Health issued guidance Tuesday that everyone, including the fully vaccinated, should wear masks in indoor public places, Julie Washington reports. Other health departments in Greater Cleveland by Tuesday afternoon had not yet issued such guidance, though the case rates in some counties regionally exceed those in Cuyahoga and Summit.
COVID numbers: The Ohio Department of Health reported 1,760 new cases Tuesday, a high that is about five times the daily levels seen in the state through late June and early July. Laura Hancock reports the last time cases approached near Tuesday’s level was on April 29, when there were 1,786 COVID-19 cases.
Hospital vaccines: The Ohio Hospital Association, which represents 245 medical centers and 15 health systems throughout the state, is recommending Ohio hospitals independently adopt policies requiring coronavirus vaccines for all employees, Laura Hancock reports.
Giant Eagle: Giant Eagle is reinstituting a mask policy for all people in its stores – workers and customers – regardless of vaccination status. Marc Bona reports employees will start masking today while customers have until Friday.
Cleveland police shooting: The off-duty police officer who shot a man Monday outside the West 117th Street Giant Eagle was involved in three other on-duty shootings. Adam Ferrise reports Officer Robert Taylor shot a 21-year-old man in the hip. Police say the man pointed a gun at Taylor.
Elyria police shooting: An Elyria patrol officer and sergeant are on paid administrative leave following the shooting of an Elyria man early Monday. Officer Joseph Figula and Sgt. Benjamin Harris are two of several officers who responded to an incident involving 37-year-old Darnell Delaney about 3 a.m. on East Avenue, reports Kaylee Remington.
Bar shooting: The co-owner of a downtown Cleveland bar was shot to death Monday afternoon in an alley outside his bar, police said. Adam Ferrise reports Thomas McDonald, 33, of Lyndhurst died in the shooting, according to the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner. Cleveland police have made no arrests in the case as of Tuesday evening.
Maple Heights: A judge sentenced a former secretary at Maple Heights High Schools to spend 18 months in prison for stealing more than $40,000 from school money meant for the Class of 2018. Cory Shaffer reports that Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Rick Bell told 51-year-old Karla Hopkins that she compounded her theft by liquidating her public employee pension shortly after the district discovered the theft.
House explosion: A man and woman suffered injuries in a house explosion in the city’s Broadway-Slavic Village neighborhood Tuesday afternoon, Olivia Mitchell and Adam Ferrise report. A 59-year-old woman and 67-year-old man suffered injuries and were taken to an area hospital for treatment.
Infrastructure bill: Ohio’s crumbling roads, bridges, ports and airports could get needed rehab money under an infrastructure bill under debate in the U.S. Senate, Sabrina Eaton reports. Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman, who negotiated the deal with President Joe Biden’s administration, says the deal would boost the nation’s economic growth without raising taxes or triggering inflation.
Domestic terrorism: Domestic terrorism has gone up, as the number of domestic terrorist attacks and plots in the United States reached its highest level last year since 1994, reports Sabrina Eaton. But though domestic terrorism is up, the number of fatalities was at its lowest level since 2013, an international security expert told the U.S. Senate’s Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee on Tuesday.
Federal cybersecurity: A study released by U.S. Senators Rob Portman of Ohio and Gary Peters of Michigan found computer systems at seven federal agencies don’t comply with basic cybersecurity standards needed to protect sensitive data and still exhibit flaws they’ve had for years. Sabrina Eaton reports flaws include failures to adequately protect personally identifiable information, to quickly install security patches, to maintain accurate and comprehensive IT asset inventories, to maintain current authorizations for information systems, and to retire legacy technology no longer supported by the vendor.
Library outreach: Throughout the pandemic, the Cuyahoga County Public Library focused on enhancing virtual programming resources and offering community-based services with food drives, job resources, and more, Alexis Oatman reports. Customers were allowed to access the web from the library parking lot, logging over 70,000 sessions according to library data.
Tax-free shopping: Ohio shoppers can get the most out of their back-to-school budget this weekend during the state’s annual sales-tax holiday, reports Brenda Cain. Beginning 12 a.m. Friday, Aug. 6 through 11:59 p.m. Aug. 8, all clothing items priced less than $75, school supplies priced less than $20 and all school instructional materials, $20 or less, are exempt from Ohio’s 5.75% sales tax.
Thistle championships: Nearly 100 sailboats from across the country are competing this week on Lake Erie in the 75th Thistle National Championship. See photos from the regatta at the Cleveland Yachting Club in Rocky River.
Jungle Cruise: "Jungle Cruise" stars Emily Blunt and Dwayne Johnson take the Autocomplete Interview and answer the internet's most searched questions about themselves for cleveland.com’s sister site, Wired.
Man shot to death crashes in car in Cleveland’s Union-Miles neighborhood Read more
U.S. Coast Guard members save 19-year-old man from burning car after crash in Lorain, authorities say Read more
Japanese Breakfast bringing concerts back to Cleveland Agora: Q&A with Michelle Zauner Read more
Adam Driver’s Netflix movie ‘White Noise’ filming in Cleveland Heights Read more
Cleveland Heights woman convicted in nationwide Facebook scam Read more
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