The iOpener: Budish Blasts FBI Raid; Mayor Jackson Starts Newsletter; Big Cool Down Today

Good morning, and welcome to the end of the week. It's Friday, Feb. 15, 2019. 

Cuyahoga County executive Armond Budish is blasting an FBI and BCI raid on his offices in their ongoing corruption probe.  Budish said there was no reason for it, adding he would have turned over whatever they were seeking.  Investigators took five boxes of files and two hard drives.  They’ve served 17 subpoenas on Budish’s administration in the past year.

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson is inviting people to sign up for regular email briefings about what’s happening at City Hall.  He said it will provide insight and information on the work his administration is doing.  The invitation comes as the City Council begins hearings on Jackson’s proposed budget for 2019. (If you are interested, you can sign up for the mayor’s newsletter here.)

Planned Parenthood and a women’s health clinic in Dayton have sued to block a new Ohio law that bans dilation and evacuation, the procedure most often used to end second trimester pregnancies. They argue the ban places an undue burden on women seeking abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.  Current state law prohibits abortions after 20 weeks. 

A Cuyahoga County judge has granted a one-year extension for more than 900 patients of University Hospital’s fertility clinic in Beachwood to decide whether they want to sue over the embryos and eggs they lost after a storage freezer malfunctioned.  A representative of plaintiffs’ attorneys said that while they and UH have plenty of disagreements, the extension was “something we all agreed upon.”

The high school state baseball championships are coming to Akron. The Ohio High School Athletic Association voted to move it from its longtime host, Huntington Park, in Columbus, to Canal Park, home of the Rubber Ducks.  The move was prompted by a scheduling conflict at Huntington Park, where the Columbus Clippers play.  Both the Ducks and the Clippers are affiliates of the Indians.  The association voted to keep state football championships at the Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton for another year. 

Weather forecast: Scattered showers to start the day, along with temperatures in the mid 40s.  But we'll cool down considerably, dropping some 20 degrees, to 28 by 5 p.m.  Cloudy skies, breezy, west winds gusting as high as 32 mph.