The iOpener: Scooters to Return to Cleveland; Council Considers Mandatory Lead Inspections

Good morning, iOpeners. It's Tuesday, June 4, 2019. 

Electric scooter rental programs will return to parts of Cleveland this summer under new regulations approved by Cleveland City Council. They allow vendors like Bird and Lime to set up scooter stands in several select neighborhoods, including downtown Cleveland, Ohio City, University Circle and the Euclid Corridor. The ordinance also set a scooter speed limit of 12 mph and requires vendors to pick up their scooters after 7 p.m. and return them to designated docking areas in the morning. If the six-month pilot program is successful, scooter rentals could be expanded citywide.

Rental units in Cleveland would have to be certified as lead-safe by 2023, under a proposed ordinance that has the support of Cleveland City Council President Kevin Kelley. Mandatory inspections would start in March 2021. The ordinance does not include any money to help landlords pay for lead remediation, a sticking point for many in the council’s previous attempts to address childhood lead poisoning. 

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and five former AGs called for an end to Ohio's 20-year statute of limitations on rape.  In a letter to legislative leaders sent Friday, they said rape shoud be treated like murder, which has no statute of limitations to prosecute. They said "advances in forensics, the wide availability of sexual assault examinations and our understanding of trauma have changed the environment."

A Cleveland man featured in the third series of the wildly-popular true crime podcast “Serial” was sentenced to 26 years in prison for a crime spree that included shooting and injuring two people and shooting at a police officer. Davon Holmes apologized to his victims before the judge issued his sentence.  Holmes made headlines in 2015 when he was charged with the drive-by shooting death of a 5-month-old girl. He spent a year behind bars before prosecutors dropped the case. Holmes appeared on an episode of “Serial” that examined how police build their cases and how that has led to a climate of distrust and obstacles to cooperation with the police in the black community. 

The mother of Tamir Rice, the unarmed black boy who was shot and killed by white Cleveland police officer Timothy Loehmann in 2014, delivered petitions to the police union asking it to stop trying to get Loehmann’s job back. Samaria Rice said she collected more than 170,000 signatures. The head of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association said the union will press forward with its appeal of Loehmann’s firing.

Odell Beckham Jr. reported for Cleveland's mandatory minicamp and will practice Tuesday after missing nine of ten voluntary workouts last month. The star wide receiver has been training in California. Also, running back Duke Johnson will be on the field after demanding a trade and sitting out the team's voluntary workouts.

The Indians used their first and second-round draft picks to acquire a pitcher and a shortstop.  They selected 18-year-old Daniel Espino with their 24th overall draft pick. The Panama-born righty throws for George Premier Academy and is considered in some rankings to be the No. 1 prep pitcher. The Indians selected another prep school player, the switch-hitting 17-year-old shortstop Yordys Valdes of Florida, with their 63rd overall pick. 

Weather forecast: It will become increasingly cloudy today, with a summer-like high of 79.  Tonight, mostly cloudy, low 64.  Tomorrow, scattered showers through the morning and afternoon, then rain after 3 p.m. High 78.