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If the houses around you sported opposite political yard signs for the past few months, how do you talk to your neighbors? If you feel bruised by your relatives’ election Facebook posts, how do you talk to your family at Thanksgiving?
You “listen to what people say in order to better understand them, rather than argue with them,” say experts in civil discourse.
A year after cleveland.com’s Civil Discourse series and days after the bruising 2024 presidential election, reporter Sabrina Eaton checked back in with Baldwin Wallace Professor Lauren Copeland with the Ohio chapter of Braver Angels, which helps people build skills to have polite conversations about hot-button issues. The group also helps participants look within themselves to learn how they propagate polarization.
The point, they say, “is not to change people’s minds about issues, as much as to change minds about people on the other side of the issues.”
— Laura
Cleveland Browns: The Browns have a bye this weekend.
Northeast Ohio weather forecast: Sunny start this weekend, then showers
Civil discourse: After any election, a large swath of the country is inevitably left disappointed while the other celebrates. Sabrina Eaton reports the Braver Angels mission is to stop the political divide.
Issue 1: In July, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine spoke with a sense of urgency about a new redistricting proposal, reports Robert Higgs. On Thursday, while not as forceful, DeWine reiterated he thinks the new General Assembly needs to take action once it convenes.
Child care: The availability of child care for Ohio parents to work outside the home is one of the largest issues looming in the General Assembly, a panel of lawmakers from both political parties said, but how to increase accessibility isn’t easily agreed-upon. Laura Hancock reports lawmakers from each chamber and party discussed child care Thursday at the Impact Ohio post-election political conference in Columbus.
Today in Ohio: Why did voters defeat Issue 1, a constitutional amendment to end gerrymandering? We’re talking about the reasons on Today in Ohio, cleveland.com’s daily half-hour news podcast.
Trump support: Not only did Donald Trump easily beat Kamala Harris in Ohio in Tuesday’s election, but he did so by wider margins nearly everywhere in the state than when he ran against Joe Biden in 2020, reports Zachary Smith.
Voting rules: Two Ohio Republican senators unveiled legislation Wednesday that would prohibit ballot drop boxes, impose citizenship verification requirements on voters and other new rules, reports Jake Zuckerman. Sens. Theresa Gavarone, of Bowling Green, and Andrew Brenner, of Powell, introduced Senate Bill 324 the day after Election Day. Its introduction coincides with the looming lame duck legislative session, one of the more productive and chaotic periods of the legislative calendar.
The Centers opened “T-suites” last year to help house youth with severe emotional or behavioral health challenges, but now it is expanding its housing options to make sure any youth in county custody has a bed and a room to sleep in while they await placement.Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com
County custody: Kids who have previously been lingering at the Jane Edna Hunter Social Services office, which was unequipped to house them or provide proper security, soon will have beds and rooms waiting for them at The Centers, reports Kaitlin Durbin. The Centers, which last year opened T-suites at the former Cleveland Christian Home as a special housing unit for youth ages 12 to 17 with serious emotional or behavioral health challenges, has been undergoing a $14 million renovation and expansion to take in more county youth who don’t otherwise have a place to go.
Lakewood vacancy: For the second time in three months, Lakewood City Council must fill a vacancy after losing a member to a new job. Councilman At-Large Tristan Rader is headed to Columbus after voters elected him to represent the 13th House District in the Ohio House of Representatives, reports Cory Shaffer.
Lake Erie: Michigan is stepping up efforts to analyze the flow of harmful nutrients into the Western Basin of Lake Erie, which is plagued each year by toxic algal blooms largely attributed to phosphorus run-off from farm fields. Peter Krouse reports that water quality monitors have been set up in five sub-watersheds in the southeast corner of the state that either feed directly into the lake or one of its tributaries.
Mealsgiving: A local comedian is teaming up with Greater Cleveland restaurants to help transform the Tuesday before Thanksgiving into a new kind of holiday all about giving back, reports Alex Darus. Ricky Smith, the founder of the RAKE (Random Acts of Kindness Everywhere) nonprofit, has declared that the Tuesday before Thanksgiving as Mealsgiving. The idea is to get everyone, from restaurants to individual families, to come together in the spirit of giving food.
Drought: Dry and drought conditions continue to slowly spread through Ohio, eroding all the progress that was made in October, reports Zachary Smith. Only four counties in Ohio are still in normal conditions, all of which are in Greater Cleveland, one of the few areas in the state to go unchanged, according to new weekly data released Thursday by the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Winter crisis: CHN Housing Partners is making changes to its winter crisis program after a reduction in funding, reports Megan Sims. The local organization will now focus service for its HEAP Winter Crisis Program to a limited number of ZIP codes.
Summa deal: The for-profit General Catalyst’s Health Assurance Transformation LLC will pay $485 million to acquire Akron’s Summa Health, reports Julie Washington. The purchase price, when added to Summa’s current cash, will enable the health system to eliminate $850 million in existing debt.
COVID cases: The number of newly reported COVID-19 cases in Ohio this week dipped to the lowest level since June and is running well below the same time last year, reports Rich Exner. There were 2,491 cases added to the total of nearly 4 million in the last week, in comparison to an increase of 2,779 a week ago. During the first full week of November 2023, the state reported 7,511 new cases.
Street takeovers: Authorities arrested four men Thursday in Columbus and seized four cars stemming from a wave of street takeovers in Cleveland in late September, reports Olivia Mitchell. Cleveland police said the Columbus men – Sayvion Lewis, 22; Cameron Parsley, 22; William Whitted, 25; and Deshawn Crane, 28 – took part in the Sept. 28-29 takeovers that commandeered city streets and parking lots.
Jail death: A federal judge has tossed out a lawsuit over the death of a woman in the Lake County Jail, reports Adam Ferrise. U.S. District Judge Donald Nugent last week dismissed the case filed by the family of Ryan Trowbridge, who died by suicide in June 2020.
Murder charges: Three teens accused of opening fire on a home in Cleveland’s Slavic Village and fatally shooting a woman are facing murder charges and will be prosecuted as adults. Sean McDonnell reports the boys were 14 and 15 years old at the time of the slaying.
Shooting indictments: A Cuyahoga County grand jury has indicted three men on attempted murder charges after they were accused of shooting at Cleveland police last month, reports Lucas Daprile. The grand jury released a 64-page indictment Wednesday that charges Ray Agosto, Wayne Agosto and Dakota Greene with attempted murder after an exchange of gunfire with officers near Denison Avenue and West 31st Street on Oct. 28.
Ask Yadi: What do you do if your sister-in-law promised a vacation to your child after you already said no? Yadi Rodriguez writes that you have every right to be upset. A conversation needs to be had with your sister-in-law and your husband.
‘Some Like It Hot’: Full of elaborate musical numbers and broad performances, “Some Like It Hot,” at Playhouse Square through Nov. 24, is the sort of grand song-and-dance extravaganza you imagine when you think about old, err, classic Broadway. But more than spectacle, the show infuses the iconic story with a modern sensibility that will make you laugh and warm your heart, reports Joey Morona.
Wonder Women: Wonder Women of Food is holding a market to showcase women-owned food businesses located in Northeast Ohio, reports Paris Wolfe. The fall market is from 4 to 7 p.m. Nov. 16 at The Vitrolite building in Cleveland’s Hingetown neighborhood and will showcase 30 makers from Northeast Ohio.
Holiday cookies: Where is the best local bakery to get your holiday cookies? We asked for your nominations for our latest iteration of the “Best of Cleveland” readers’ poll. The Best Of narrowed it down to a top 10 as voted on by you, our readers.
Don’t forget, you can always find the latest Cleveland news by visiting cleveland.com. If you value the hard work of Cleveland journalists, consider becoming a cleveland.com subscriber.
— Curated by content director Laura Johnston with contributions by by Cliff Pinckard.
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