ClevelandUrbanNews.Com Blog, Ohio's Leader In Black Digital News

Cleveland Ward 1 Councilman Joe Jones Clevelandurbannews .com and   Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor, associate publisher CLEVELAND, Ohio- Cleveland Ward 1 Councilman Joe Jones has sent a letter to Cuyahoga County Democratic Party Chairman David Brock requesting that he cancel an upcoming Democratic Party Executive Committee meeting where Brock says he wants the county Democratic Party to reverse its August endorsement of Jones, who is Black and up for reelection this year via the 2025 nonpartisan election for mayor and city council members.  Ward 1 is Cleveland's second largest voting bloc of its 17 wards with its staunch middle-class segment of east side Black voters, and it is the city's largest Black voting bloc. The primary is Sept. 9 and follows a population-based redistricting process led by Council President Blaine Griffin that was controversial at best and reduces council from 17 to 15 members beginning in 2026 per the city charter. Jo...

__________________________ 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 .

Drs. Lauren Beene and Valerie Fouts Fowler at a protest following their terminations by University Hospitals in Cleveland Clevelandurbannews .com and   Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor, associate publisher CLEVELAND, Ohio - Activists and union advocates will protest in front of the City Club on Euclid Avenue in downtown Cleveland Friday, Aug. 8, in support of doctors Lauren Beene and Valerie Fouts Fowler, two pediatricians who were fired by University Hospitals in June while seeking to organize a doctors' union. Among the groups organizing the protest are the Cuyahoga Democratic Women's Caucus, Mobilize the Vote, SEIU, and Concerned University Hospitals Physicians. At issue is a City Club-sponsored forum on healthcare at noon that includes S elena Cunanan, chief health impact officer  for University Hospitals, as a panelist. The  City Club of Cleveland ,  dubbed by the City Club itself as  " Cleveland's Citadel of Free Speech , "...

Staff article by  Clevelandurbannews .com and   Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com CLEVELAND, Ohio — Mayor Justin M. Bibb and the International Association of Fire Fighters - Local 93 announced Monday that the city and the union have reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year collective bargaining agreement contract that the mayor says will offer numerous employee-oriented benefits, including a pay increase for first-grade firefighters of the Cleveland Division of Fire.  Union members voted to approve the agreement, which will retroactively go into effect April 1, 2025, following full execution of the contract and city council approval. "Firefighters are the guardians of our communities, serving as a critical component to the City of Cleveland," said Mayor Bibb, the city's fourth Black mayor who is up for reelection this year. "This agreement represents a significant step in strengthening the safety ...

                                                                     Clevelandurbannews .com and   Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor, associate publisher CLEVELAND, Ohio - Activists and union advocates picketed University Hospitals at its main campus in downtown, Cleveland, Ohio Wednesday evening and demanded the reinstatement of ousted doctors Lauren Beene and Valerie Fouts Fowler.  Among the groups organizing the protest were the Cuyahoga Democratic Women's Caucus, Mobilize the Vote, and SEIU. Notably, former Ohio state senator Nina Turner showed up in support of the doctors. "What did they do? They tried to unionize," Turner said in a Facebook live post. " UH, do the right thing, bring the doctors back and let your workers unionize." Beene and Fouts Fowler, both pediatri...

Ohio Congresswoman Emilia Sykes (D-13) Clevelandurbannews .com and   Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com   By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor, associate publisher AKRON, Ohio  — U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes (OH-13), an Akron Democrat and one of three Black women in Congress from Ohio, released a statement on Wednesday denouncing Vice President and Ohio native JD Vance's remarks during a rally in Canton, Ohio this week. There to promote President Donald Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill," Vance, a Republican, said in particular that Ohio cities like Columbus, Akron and Canton are "lawless," a comment that has offended Congressional Democrats like Sykes, a native of Akron.   "I am deeply and bitterly disappointed with the vice president's remarks about Akron and Canton, two diverse and vibrant communities in Ohio's 13th congressional district," the Black congresswoman said.  "Just because the hearts and souls of our communities beat a little differently ...

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 Mount 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 su...

                           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...