Campaign finance: Quarterly campaign finance reports that show spending on Northeast Ohio congressional races indicate most first-time candidates put thousands of their own dollars toward their goal of serving in Congress, reports Sabrina Eaton. More established politicians didn’t need to reach into their own pockets to fund campaigns.
Donations slow: Fundraising slowed for many of the Republican candidates for U.S. Senate in the first quarter of 2022, according to Federal Elections Commission filings. None of the candidates raised more than $1 million on their own, either relying on joint fundraising accounts or injecting their own money into the race, Seth Richardson reports.
Tim Ryan: Twenty sitting senators have at least monetarily endorsed Niles-area Rep. Tim Ryan in the Ohio Senate race, according to campaign finance reports filed Friday. Seth Richardson reports donations from sitting senators’ political action committees accounted for around $100,000 of Ryan’s $4.1 million raised this quarter.
DeWine has COVID: Gov. Mike DeWine announced Friday that he had been diagnosed with COVID-19. In a release, the governor’s office said DeWine, who is 75, had mild symptoms, including a runny nose, headache, body aches and a sore throat, reports Seth Richardson.
Abortion law: For the second time, an Ohio judge blocked the enforcement of a law that could shut down surgical abortion clinics in Southwest Ohio. Laura Hancock reports Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas Judge Alison Hatheway granted a preliminary injunction Friday to keep the state from enforcing Senate Bill 157 through June 21.
METRO
House fire: Authorities said a windswept fire Thursday caused more than $600,000 in damage and destroyed five houses on Mannering and Quentin roads in the Euclid-Green neighborhood on the city’s East Side. Two garages and a dozen vehicles also were damaged. Olivia Mitchell and Kaylee Remington report that winds stoked the fire.
Parks goals: One of Mayor Justin Bibb’s goals for his first few months in office is introducing legislation to City Council that would carve out a standalone Department of Parks and Recreation from the city’s massive, 3,000-person Public Works Department. Courtney Atsolfi reports that a dedicated team would focus on bringing high-quality outdoor programming to residents to help enhance the quality of life, mental and physical health, and overall neighborhood vibrancy.
Home values: Median home values have increased across Ohio by an average of 14% from 2010 to 2020, reports Zachary Smith. Holmes County, which has one of the largest Amish settlements globally, tops the list with a 45.1% increase, from a 2010 median home value of $154,600 to a 2020 value of $224,400.
Tower City: Bedrock Detroit has hired Sir David Adjaye to master plan a massive, 20- to 30-year project to extend the unfinished Tower City Center complex down to the east bank of the Cuyahoga River at Collision Bend. Steven Litt reports Adjaye, a London-based architect born in Tanzania, is one of the world’s leading contemporary architects, and one of the most important Black practitioners in a field that remains predominantly white in the U.S.
COVID-19 & HEALTHCARE
Kid vaccines: Pfizer and BioNTech intend to request authorization soon from the Food and Drug Administration for a coronavirus vaccine booster for 5-to-11-year-olds, reports Julie Washington.
Myotonic dystrophy: Stand-up comedian and actor Gilbert Gottfried, who died this week at 67, lived for years with the rare genetic muscle disorder myotonic dystrophy type 2, a common form of muscular dystrophy. Julie Washington reports on five details about the disorder.
BUSINESS
Airport hotel: The Sheraton Cleveland Airport Hotel, located on city land just a couple of hundred yards from the Cleveland Hopkins’ terminal, is millions of dollars in debt and could be closed in the coming months. The receiver in the case believes it will be torn down and made into a parking lot, reports Susan Glaser.
Unemployment: Ohio’s unemployment rate, job numbers and labor force are changing slowly, but doing so in a positive way, reports Sean McDonnell. Ohio’s unemployment rate was 4.1% in March 2022, down from 4.2% in February. The state added 18,300 jobs.
CRIME
Deshaun Watson: The attorneys for the 22 women who accused Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson of sexual assault and misconduct during massages want records from the Houston Texans, including information on any non-disclosure agreements and correspondence between Watson and his former coaches. Adam Ferrise reports that a subpoena, filed Wednesday in Harris County District Court in Texas, asks for correspondence between Watson and the Texans security staff, coaches and its head trainer, among other information.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Walnut Wednesday: Food trucks will take over downtown Cleveland’s Perk Plaza every Wednesday starting May 4, when the Walnut Wednesday series returns, reports Annie Nickoloff.
Sculpture: The Cleveland Museum of Art sees its new acquisition of a major 19th-century French sculpture expressing abolitionist outrage against slavery as a launchpad for wide-ranging discussions on the role of politics, race, and power in art history. Steven Litt reports the plaster sculpture, titled “Why Born Enslaved!” created by the artist Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux in 1868, is a bust-length portrait of an anonymous enslaved Black woman, bound tightly with ropes, with her gown ripped away.
House of the Week: Priced at $949,000, a modern Craftsman-style home in the Canyon Lakes neighborhood of Chagrin Falls was built in 2006 on a large lot and offers 4,500 square feet of living space plus 2,300 square feet more in the finished basement, Joey Morona reports. There are five bedrooms and four and a half bathrooms.
