A jury convicted suspended East Cleveland Mayor Brandon King yesterday. The jury found King guilty on 10 of 12 corruption-related charges including theft in office and having an unlawful interest in a public contract. King was accused of steering city contracts to businesses owned by him and his relatives. King was accused of steering city contracts to businesses owned by him and his relatives and a codefendant, former councilmember Ernest Smith, was convicted of five charges. The judge scheduled sentencing for June 9.
After intense public backlash, the Cleveland Clinic reversed course this week on a plan to begin requiring copays up front before doctors' appointments or other nonemergency treatment. The new policy was set to begin next week.
The doctor will still see you, even if you don't fork over the copay, and the hospital will arrange a no interest payment plan. That's a relief to critics who said the pay-first policy would disproportionately impact lower income patients and cause people to put off medical care.
We will talk about the jury's verdict and the Clinic’s decision to begin this week’s “Sound of Ideas Reporters Roundtable.”
The Cleveland Metropolitan School District's Board of Education this week approved $2.5 million for a new salary structure for almost 500 administrators, meaning raises for many. The salary bump comes as the district's five-year forecast shows a $15 million dollar deficit by the 2027-28 school year. The board says it wants to reduce administrative costs, and have fewer administrators, but pay increases were needed to attract and retain the best talent.
The Akron school board finalized a contract this week with new Superintendent Mary Outley, who was chosen without any search process to replace Michael Robinson -- bounced after an outside investigation found allegations of his bullying of staff credible.
Two bills, one in the Ohio House and another in the Senate, seek to prevent businesses and certain non-citizens hailing from so-called "adversarial countries" from buying property near military bases, railroads, water treatment plants and other critical infrastructure.
The City of Cleveland will install it's first protected bike lanes Downtown next month. In mid-June, the city will rework several downtown streets --- Prospect Avenue and Huron Road between Ontario Street and East Ninth Street will transform to one-way streets. Huron will be eastbound, and Prospect westbound. Both will include protected bike lanes.
Ohio-born rocker Rick Derringer died this week at the age of 77. His voice will forever be synonymous with Ohio sports, especially Ohio State. In 1965, when still just a teenager, Derringer sang lead on "Hang on Sloopy" with the McCoys. The tune is designated Ohio’s official rock song and you can hear it at Buckeyes games, Guardians games and other sporting events too.
Guests:
-Josh Boose, Associate Producer for Newscasts, Ideastream Public Media
-Michelle Jarboe, Reporter, News 5 Cleveland
-Sarah Donaldson, Reporter, Statehouse News Bureau, Ohio Public Radio/TV
