I can’t imagine driving a car -- or riding in one -- without a seat belt. If I ever pull out without clicking the belt tight, it feels like a missing a tooth. Yet seat-belt use in Ohio fell to a nearly 20-year low last year, more than 10 percentage points below the national average. And Cuyahoga County is the worst in the state, at 59%. Why? It’s not like it takes a lot of time to buckle. The stats are startling: In the front seat of a car, seat belts reduce your risk of dying by 45%, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. They reduce your risk of a moderate injury by 50%. The state is kicking off a seat belt campaign coinciding with Memorial Day. But it shouldn't take a catchy slogan to get us to protect ourselves in cars. -- Laura |
Overnight Scores and Weather |
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In Cuyahoga County, the rate of people wearing seat belts is more than 20 points lower than the statewide average. (Nick Ut, Associated Press file photo) |
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Seat belts: According to an annual observational study conducted by the Ohio Department of Public Safety in conjunction with the University of Akron, the statewide seat-belt compliance rate fell from about 84% in 2021 to less than 81% last year, reports Jake Zuckerman. Super K: After more than a decade of sitting empty, the nation’s first Super Kmart is slated to be demolished and replaced with a new kind of super store — a Meijer. Sean McDonnell reports the Michigan-based big-box retailer has submitted plans to Medina’s Planning Commission and is looking to build a new store at the site of the old Kmart, which opened to much fanfare in 1991. Today in Ohio: Ohio Auditor Keith Faber sent a letter to school district treasurers across the state wanting to know how much public money they’re spending to sue the state over private school vouchers. We’re talking about whether that’s a scare tactic on Today in Ohio, cleveland.com’s daily half-hour news podcast.
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Issue 1: A campaign opposing the proposal to make it harder to change the Ohio Constitution has sued over the ballot language Republican state officials approved for the measure last week. Andrew Tobias reports the lawsuit with the Ohio Supreme Court is the second from One Person One Vote, which already has sued the state over the scheduling of an August election to decide the issue. Jeremy Pelzer reports Gov. Mike DeWine says he intends to vote for the issue: “The better process is, frankly, the legislative process.” College financials: The Ohio House passed a bill Wednesday to require public colleges and universities to disclose financial information to students and their families, such as expected loan payments and average salaries of graduates of the school. The bill comes as students and families worry about debt from college drowning students and affecting their ability to achieve other milestones of adulthood, such as having children or purchasing a home, reports Laura Hancock. Adoption: For the first time, Ohioans interested in becoming foster or adoptive parents can now apply online rather than having to submit paperwork, Gov. Mike DeWine announced Wednesday. Jeremy Pelzer reports DeWine and other state officials hope digitizing the process will result in more people applying to become a foster parent or adopt a child. |
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Jail pay: For the sixth time in five years, corrections officers who work in the Cuyahoga County jail will receive higher wages in yet another bid to attract and retain staffing. Kaitlin Durbin reports new officers will now start earning $25 an hour this year, and up to $26.50 per hour by 2025, per the terms of a new bargaining agreement with the county. That is about a $1 raise over current pay for starting officers and an increase of more than $10 over what they were making just five years ago, in 2018. Jayland Walker: Calls for justice for Jayland Walker continue to ring out through the streets of Akron more than a month after a grand jury failed to indict eight police officers who shot and killed the unarmed Black man last summer, Molly Walsh reports. Hundreds of people, including activists from across the country, marched Wednesday through downtown Akron with Walker’s family and friends to City Hall and the Harold K. Stubbs Justice Center, where they were joined by the family’s attorneys to share a list of demands calling for justice. Summer camp: The demand for summer camps increased 75% from 2021 to 2022, according to the American Camp Association. With all that demand and decreased supply, camp prices jumped more than 35%. Laura Johnston writes about the panic-inducing search to find childcare when school is out. Dog adoptions: The Cuyahoga County Animal Shelter is getting full, so it’s reducing adoption fees in hopes of finding more dogs new homes in time for the Fourth of July holiday. During the shelter’s “Red, White and Woof” promotion, through June 4, adoption fees will fall from $95 to $30, reports Kaitlin Durbin. Vegetable planting: Corrugated-metal raised beds are now available in an array of colors, shapes, and sizes, and Susan Brownstein has been using weed-free straw to cover the bare soil between plants in her raised beds. She has more tips as you start planting. Cleveland’s Promise: The Dancing Classrooms program works with Cleveland students to strengthen the social and emotional skills of students through teaching ballroom dances. Hannah Drown reports students had mixed emotions about starting a new skill. |
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AFL-CIO: Dan O’Malley said he is appealing the North Shore AFL-CIO’s decision to fire him, which centered around reimbursement checks he wrote that bounced. But he’s considering moving on from the organization, regardless of the outcome. O’Malley tells Sean McDonnell that he wants an opportunity to give union members “the explanation they deserve.” Hair straighteners: Black, Hispanic and mixed-race people often face restrictions on natural hairstyles at work and school, so they turn to chemical hair straighteners to help them achieve smooth hairstyles. Julie Washington reports salon treatments expose the scalp to chemicals possibly linked with uterine cancer, infertility, fibroids, breast cancer and endometriosis, according to multiple studies. |
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Charges dismissed: Cuyahoga County judge on Wednesday threw out charges against a man who prosecutors accused of beating his 91-year-old mother to death in November 2021, reports Cory Shaffer. Common Pleas Court Judge Cassandra Collier-Williams said prosecutors did not present enough evidence during the three-day trial to prove that Marcus Henry was the one who pummeled Essie Mae Henry to death and left her body in the bushes outside the Warrensville Center Road apartment the two shared. COVID-19 swindle: A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced a Los Angeles man to nearly three years in prison for helping his brothers swindle the government out of $7 million in coronavirus relief money by creating more than 70 fake businesses, all with the same Euclid address. Adam Ferrise reports U.S. District Judge Pamela Barker sentenced Aydin Kalantarov to two years and nine months in prison for receiving $2.1 million in loans and grants the government distributed to help small businesses survive the pandemic, when many businesses closed. East Cleveland police: A veteran East Cleveland police commander resigned Tuesday, the same day he was accused of failing to report that he chased a driver who crashed into a bus stop in March. Larry McDonald, 46, faced being fired after an internal department review found he broke several rules in the March 12 incident, reports Cory Shaffer. 7-year-old shot: Police are investigating the shooting of a young girl, who was wounded in the head at a home on the city’s East Side on Wednesday morning, reports Olivia Mitchell. Police said she might have been shot by a younger sibling. |
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Wedding RSVPs: A lot of the last-minute details of Jane Morice’s wedding – seating charts, payments due, etc. – depend on how many guests will be there on her special day. Which means, naturally, that Jane has become a hawk when it comes to hunting down RSVPs. Here’s why you should respond to invitations ASAP. National anthem: Nashville-based singer-songwriter Harper Grace as a kid became a national laughingstock when she flubbed singing the national anthem at a professional soccer game, reports Marc Bona. Now, after becoming a Top 50 contestant on season 16 of “American Idol" and touring, she is marking the traumatic anthem event with a “redemption tour” that has her singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at sporting events, including an upcoming Guardians game. Arts grants: Thirty-two Ohio arts organizations will receive grants totaling nearly $2.3 million from the National Endowment for the Arts. The beneficiaries of the NEA’s spring round of grant funding include 14 organizations in Northeast Ohio, more than any other part of the state, reports Joey Morona. |
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1 inmate remains missing after prison escape in western Ohio Read more Shooting at Garfield Heights apartment complex leaves 2 men dead Read more Jamie Hogue to leave Independence to become new Orange High School principal Read more Richmond Heights’ Memorial Day parade is Monday; demolition at Belle Oaks can proceed Read more Orange school board takes first step toward placing permanent improvement levy on Nov. 7 ballot Read more Your guide to Memorial Day parades, ceremonies and festivals scheduled for the weekend in Northeast Ohio Read more Richmond Heights mayor says ‘It’s time’ for city to join Cleveland Water’s ‘no poaching’ program Read more Chagrin Falls Schools adds teachers, looks to hire more staff this summer Read more |
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