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Funeral services announced for retired judge Sara J. Harper of Cleveland, Harper the 1st Black woman elected to a state appellate court in Ohio...By Clevelandurbannews.com, Ohio's Black digital news leader

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The Honorable Sara J. Harper Clevelandurbannews .com and   Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor, associate publisher CLEVELAND, Ohio -Retired judge Sara J. Harper, the first Black woman elected to a state appellate court in Ohio, has died. She was 98. Services are entrusted to E.F. Boyd & Son Funeral Home, with visitation on Thursday, July 17 from 4-7pm at E.F. Boyd, and funeral services Friday, July 18 at Mt Olive Missionary Baptist Church with a 10am wake and an 11am funeral. Harper was raised in a public housing project in  Cleveland, Ohio , one of five siblings, all of them girls. She grew-up with the Stokes brothers. The late Louis Stokes was the first Black congressperson from Ohio, and his younger brother the late Carl B. Stokes was the first Black mayor of Cleveland and of a major American city. Harper earned her undergraduate and law degrees from  Case Western Reserve University . A Republican who had friends, associates and suppo...

Clevelandurbannews.com archives... Catch-up on our articles....Ohio's most read digital Black newspaper

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__________________________ CATCH UP BY READING OUR ARCHIVED ARTICLES AT KATHYWRAYCOLEMANONLINENEWSBLOG.COM www.kathy wraycolemanon linenewsblog .com   BLOG ARCHIVES 2025 ,  2024 - 110   2023 -165,  2022 -212 ,   2021 - 266 ,  2020 -280 ,   2019 - 176  ,  2018 -181 ,  2017 - 173 ,  2016 - 137 ,  2015 - 21 3,  2014 - 266 ,   2013 - 226 ,  2012 - 221 ,  2011 - 13 5,  2010 - 10 9 ,  2009 - 5   Clevelandurbannews.com and   Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com   the most read Black digital newspaper and blog in Ohio and in the Midwest T el: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com.  We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview, CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS .

Suspended East Cleveland Mayor Brandon King gets probation from Cuyahoga County Judge Hollie Gallagher, avoiding prison...By Clevelandurbannews.com, Ohio's Black digital news leader

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                           Ex- East Cleveland mayor Brandon King Clevelandurbannews.com and   Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com Staff article by Kathy Wray Coleman, editor, associate publisher CLEVELAND, Ohio -Suspended East Cleveland Mayor Brandon KIng avoided prison on Wednesday when Common Pleas Judge Hollie Gallagher sentenced him to three years probation, answering the pleas by Black community activists for leniency and ignoring Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Mike O'Malley's demand for imprisonment. East Cleveland is a Black impoverished suburb of Cleveland that has a population of some 15,000 people.  Judge Gallagher also ordered King to take random  drug tests, find a full-time job and serve 100 hours of community service. King was also fined $9,658.38 and has to reimburse the Ohio Ethics Commission $18,194.99 for the cost of the investigation and prosecution. He is barred from running for office f...

Ex -East Cleveland councilman Ernest Smith sentenced to probation by Cuyahoga County Judge Hollie Gallagher after activists picket County Prosecutor Mike O'Malley, whom they say is anti-Black and unfair...By Clevelandurbannews.com, Ohio's Black digital news leader

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Clevelandurbannews.com and   Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com Staff article by Kathy Wray Coleman, editor, associate publisher CLEVELAND, Ohio -Ex-East Cleveland councilman Ernest Smith walked out of common pleas court a free man on Tuesday, after Common Pleas Judge Hollie Gallagher sentenced him to three years probation, answering the pleas by Black community activists for leniency and ignoring Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Mike O'Malley's demand for imprisonment. He was also ordered to pay $6,971 in restitution. "Thank you to everybody who supported me," a relieved Smith, who is Black, said after sentencing.  Former East Cleveland mayor Brandon King, 57, and Smith were both convicted by a county jury of public corruption charges in office in May, King for steering more than $75,000 in city contracts to friends and family members and having an unlawful interest in a public contract, and Smith for using a city car and gas card for what he says was community and city b...

Art McKoy, Black activists picket Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Mike O'Malley at the Justice Center in Cleveland, said he is unfair to Black activists and Black elected officials, and a lapdog for the White establishment and crooked judges....By Clevelandurbannews.com, Ohio's Black digital news leader

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Clevelandurbannews.com and   Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com Staff article by Kathy Wray Coleman, editor, associate publisher CLEVELAND, Ohio -Black activists, led by Black on Black Crime founder and longtime Black activist Art McKoy (pictured), picketed Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Mike O'Malley at the Justice Center on Lakeside Avenue in downtown Cleveland on Monday afternoon. The activists say O'Malley is an unfair and vicious prosecutor who mistreats and maliciously prosecutes Black activists and Black elected officials while leaving Whites alone, and that he is run by judges and the White establishment to the detriment of the Black community.   " If you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything," said McKoy of O'Malley at a rally before leading a protest around the steps of the Justice Center.  McKoy highlighted his own situation.  After East Cleveland Councilman Twon Billings punched him in the nose following a dispute between the two at the Home Dep...

Breaking news: U.S. House passes President Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill," with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries calling it and its passage "a crime scene," Jeffries the first Black House minority leader...By Clevelandurbannews.com, Ohio's Black digital news leader

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U.S. House of Representatives Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the first Black to hold the post Staff article: Clevelandurbannews.com and   Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor, associate publisher WASHINGTON, D.C.   - After passing the Senate on Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed President Donald Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" (The One Big Beautiful Bill Act) on Thursday, 218-214, with all Democrats voting "no " and all but two Republicans voting "yes." Dubbed a win for the president and Republicans, the reconciliation legislation now heads to the president's desk for his expected signature to become law. House Republicans broke out with applause after the "yes" votes were read. Notably, the tax and spending cuts legislation increases the national deficit by some $4 trillion, extends the president's 2017 pro-rich tax cuts, provides for more spending on defense and border security, an...

Ohio Congresswoman Shontel Brown speaks on U.S. House Floor against Trump's "big beautiful bill," GOP cuts to SNAP, food stamps...Calls the GOP's "big beautiful bill" an unfunded mandate on states that imperils benefits

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O hio 11th Congressional District Congresswoman Shontel Brown (OH-11) Clevelandurbannews.com and   Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com Staff article Washington, DC  – Ohio  Congresswoman Shontel Brown (OH-11), a Warrensville Hts. Democrat who represents Ohio's 11th congressional district , and one of three Black women in Congress from Ohio,  spoke in opposition to the Republican Reconciliation Bill on the U.S. House of Representatives floor Wednesday , calling attention to the bill's cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (food stamps). The Senate-passed Reconciliation Bill ( The One, Big Beautiful Bill Act) includes a $186 billion federal funding cut to SNAP, the largest cut in the program's history. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that some five million Americans will lose SNAP benefits if the president's "big beautiful bill" becomes law, a disproportionate number of them Black and low-income single mothers. Congressional Demo...

City of Cleveland recognizes former mayor Carl B. Stokes with a Carl B. Stokes Day, Stokes the first Black mayor of Cleveland and of a major American city... Current mayor Justin Bibb comments, saying Cleveland is the birthplace of Black political power in this country...By Clevelandurbannews.com, Ohio's Black digital news leader

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Carl B. Stokes, the first Black mayor of Cleveland and of a major American city By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor, associate publisher CLEVELAND, Ohio-  The city of Cleveland officially recognized former mayor Carl B. Stokes on Mon., June 30, 2025 as the city's first Black mayor, naming it Carl B. Stokes Day, Stokes the first Black mayor of Cleveland and of a major American city.  June 30 is now Carl B. Stokes Day, and his life and legacy will be celebrated annually in Cleveland.  Current mayor Justin Bibb, who led Monday's event, pointed to the portrait of Stokes during a ceremony held in the Rotunda at City Hall that included family members of Stokes, community affiliates, and elected officials.  Bibb is Cleveland' fourth Black mayor, behind Frank Jackson, his immediate predecessor, Michael R. White, and Stokes, the city's 51st mayor who won office in 1967 when Cleveland, a majority Black major American city, was largely White. All of Cleveland's Black mayors were Dem...