STATEHOUSE & POLITICS
Stimulus Watch: Ohio has spent $3.5 billion of its total $5.4 billion in American Rescue Plan Act dollars. Lucas Daprile reports that the largest single expense is repaying a nearly $1.5 billion federal unemployment loan, which was intended to prevent increasing unemployment tax.
HB 6: Lt. Gov. Jon Husted pushed to extend a controversial ratepayer bailout of two Ohio nuclear power plants, according to texts exchanged between now-fired FirstEnergy executives, reports Jeremy Pelzer. The texts don’t suggest Husted or Gov. Mike DeWine engaged in any illegal activity, but they confirm that Husted worked to make the nuclear bailout even larger than what lawmakers ended up passing in HB6.
PARTA: The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded $3.2 million from last year’s bipartisan infrastructure bill to the Portage Area Regional Transit Authority. Sabrina Eaton reports the agency will use the money to replace five diesel-fueled buses with more environmentally friendly buses that use renewable compressed natural gas.
METRO
Debt load: Cuyahoga County is $1.5 billion in debt and could soon be putting at least another $580 million on its credit card. Kaitlin Durbin reports that budget officials say the county can afford that spending only if it has a revenue stream to pay it back, like by permanently extending the quarter-percent sales tax set to expire in 2027.
Safer city?: Cleveland Police have reported fewer 911 calls, fewer arrests and fewer guns seized in the first half of the year. John Tucker reports the numbers are counter to Covid-era narratives of criminals running amok and instead show violent crime has dropped to near lows over the past decade.
Public record: Cleveland City Council has approved an ordinance requiring the city to release video footage of police shootings or other uses of deadly force within seven days of the event. Courtney Astolfi reports the videos will be posted on the city’s website and are expected to serve as “an insurance policy” for officers and residents.
BUSINESS
Thriving: The Ashtabula River, connecting to Lake Erie, has become one of northeast Ohio’s most unexpected tourism success stories, with trendy restaurants, upscale retail, and a boutique hotel on the way. Susan Glaser reports how local business and community leaders turned the once polluted, abandoned waterfronts into a tourist destination.
Sports betting: The Hall of Fame Village has signed a 10-year deal with Betr to create a sports gambling app associated with the resort. Sean McDonnell reports the deal also severs ties with another sports-betting business that the resort had previously agreed to partner with.
COVID-19 & HEALTHCARE
COVID-19: For the second week in a row, the weekly number of COVID-19 cases in Ohio has dropped. Gretchen Cuda Kroen reports cases had been rising steadily since mid-June, peaking two weeks ago at 29,876, but began trending downward last week.
Bedford: Bedford has filed a motion in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court seeking a restraining order to legally prevent University Hospitals from closing the UH Bedford Medical Center, Gretchen Cuda Kroen reports. The motion says UH’s decision to close Bedford hospital amounts to racial discrimination that will block or significantly limit the range of needed healthcare and emergency medical services from the predominantly African American populations of Bedford and its neighboring communities.
CRIME
Ponzi scheme: A Las Vegas sports-betting company owner is accused of orchestrating an $8.5 million Ponzi scheme that ripped off 72 investors, including some Ohioans. Adam Ferrise reports the owner, Matthew Turnipseede was indicted on charges of mail fraud and wire fraud in federal court in Cleveland.
Indictment: A Cleveland man is charged with aggravated vehicular homicide in last month’s hit-and-run crash that killed a toddler while she was riding her bicycle and injured two others. Cory Shaffer reports that Vance Christian, is being jailed on $250,000 bond and also faces two counts each of aggravated vehicular assault and failing to stop after an accident.
Riot: A Parma man is charged with conspiracy to commit arson in connection with the torching of a parking attendant booth during the May 30, 2020, riot in downtown Cleveland. Adam Ferrise reports the man was among the large group that clashed with police outside the Justice Center.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
New ride: Cedar Point will debut a new roller coaster, Wild Mouse, at the park in 2023. Susan Glaser reports the ride will be a game of cat and mouse, with spins, dips, drops and hairpin turns, modernizing a version of the ride that once operated in the park in the 50s and 60s.
Documentary: The 13th annual Chagrin Falls Documentary Film Festival will present nearly 100 films from around the globe on Oct. 5-9. Joey Morona reports the in-person screenings will be followed by a virtual festival Oct. 9-16, opening the competing films to a nationwide audience.
FilmFest: This year’s Cleveland Jewish FilmFest is set to take place Sept. 8-18. Annie Nickoloff reports the event will showcase 30 films from 10 countries.
