Gubernatorial race: Gov. Mike DeWine appears to hold an edge over his three primary opponents, from keeping an enormous financial advantage to enjoying the support of the Ohio Republican Party establishment. Yet Jeremy Pelzer reports DeWine’s campaign is spending millions on television ads in the weeks leading up to the May 3 primary against ex-U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci, Columbus-area farmer Joe Blystone, and ex-state Rep. Ron Hood of Pickaway County.
Trump attack: Less than a week before the May 3 primary election, a Washington, D.C., group backing former state treasurer Josh Mandel is publicly attacking ex-President Donald Trump over his endorsement of J.D. Vance in Ohio’s heated Republican U.S. Senate race. Andrew Tobias reports the group’s new ad explicitly questions the former president’s judgment for endorsing Vance.
7th District: Former President Donald Trump’s continued sway over the Republican party in Northeast Ohio looms large over a four-way primary to pick its candidate to run in a reconfigured congressional district that includes western and southern Cuyahoga county, Medina and Wayne counties, and northern Holmes County. The two GOP incumbents who currently represent the 7th congressional district’s new turf decided not to run. Sabrina Eaton reports on the race between Trump-endorsed Max Miller, non-profit founder Jonah Schulz, small-business owner Charlie Gaddis of Medina, and Berea social worker and podcaster Anthony Leon Alexander.
Darden confirmed: The U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed Marisa Darden as the top federal prosecutor in northern Ohio, making her the first Black woman to be appointed to the role, Adam Ferrise reports. President Joe Biden nominated Darden for U.S. attorney in November, but her confirmation was held up in the chamber for months, along with several other candidates Biden chose.
Kurt Russell: President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden and U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona on Wednesday honored 2022 National Teacher of the Year Kurt Russell, a history teacher at Oberlin High School, with speeches and applause at an event in the White House East Room, Sabrina Eaton reports.
Semiconductors: U.S. Senators Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown are on the negotiation team charged with hammering out a compromise version of separate bills the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate passed to subsidize the domestic semiconductor industry, reports Sabrina Eaton.
METRO
National Merit: Out of the hundreds of Northeast Ohio high school seniors who were semifinalists in the 67th annual National Merit Scholarship Program, 14 were named in the first group of winners on Wednesday, reports Zachary Smith.
Precinct changes: The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections announced a series of polling location changes on Wednesday, impacting 58 precincts and roughly 63,000 voters in the May 3 Primary. Kaitlin Durbin lists the changes, which affect eight municipalities.
Food assistance: The U.S. Census shows 45 cities in Ohio have 20% or more of households requiring food assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, reports Zachary Smith. East Cleveland tops this list as the most food-insecure place in the state, with 43.8% of the population needing help to purchase food each month. Cleveland (32%), Lorain (25.3%), Akron (23.8%), Ravenna (23.4%), Euclid (20.7%), and Painesville (20%) also make the list.
COVID-19 & HEALTHCARE
Healthy counties: Cuyahoga and Ashtabula counties are among the least healthy Ohio counties for health outcomes, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Geauga, Lake and Medina are among the healthiest counties for health outcomes, reports Julie Washington.
BUSINESS
Walmart: It won’t be long until the Walmart on Mayfield Road in Mayfield Heights becomes a large, vacant building in a prominent shopping district. How long until the old store becomes something new? Sean McDonnell reports signs point to a shorter vacancy than long one, but nothing is certain.
Cable change: WOW! Cable customers across Greater Cleveland will be getting new bills, email addresses and cloud-based TV as Breezeline, the company that bought WOW!’s operations, starts to transition customers in May, reports Sean McDonnell. Breezeline, formerly Atlantic Broadband, acquired WOW!’s operations in Cleveland and Columbus in September.
Art store: When the Olson family moved to Lakewood a year ago, they sought out a locally owned art supply store and couldn’t find very many. So the family opened Lakewood Art Supply at 13345 Madison Ave., offering supplies for artists of every level, reports Annie Nickoloff.
Union mortgage: Union Home Mortgage has let go of an unspecified number of employees amid rising interest rates. The Strongsville-based mortgage broker has about 155 branches and extends to 44 U.S. states and Washington, D.C. Sean McDonnell reports that the company acknowledged that it was “temporarily” reducing staff levels due to market conditions.
CRIME
Drug dealing: Three men were sentenced to federal prison for their roles in a drug-dealing scheme in which one of the men mailed packages of PCP and methamphetamine to two dealers in Cleveland suburbs, reports Adam Ferrise.
Jury deliberates: A jury is deliberating the fate of an 81-year-old art appraiser and attorney who says that he was wrongly swept up in what prosecutors called the largest undercover child sex sting in the state’s history, Cory Shaffer reports. The attorney for James I.W. Corcoran told jurors in closing arguments Wednesday that his client believed he was meeting an 18-year-old man for consensual sex when agents of the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children task force arrested him in Newburgh Heights last year.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Fela Kuti: The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame hasn’t seen anything like Fela Kuti for developing Afrobeat and influencing popular music since the 1960s. Troy Smith reports the Rock Hall’s nominating committee has placed Kuti on the ballot the last two years, but he failed to earn induction.
