"What Happened Now?" is a lively roundup and analysis of the top stories of the day in Northeast Ohio from News 5's Joe Donatelli. It’s like getting the news from a friend who is sometimes challenged by this modern world of ours.
If you didn’t get yesterday’s email: I think I know why. I think it’s because I got it completely ready to send, and then I never hit send. I would like to blame technology. I really would. It would be so easy – and satisfying. Alas. This one is user error. At the end of today’s newsletter, you will find the stories I should have sent yesterday. * Waves Fist at Sky * Technology!!!
Parapet-urbed: What do you do when people keep crashing their cars into your home? If you’re Cleveland Heights man John Gall, you build a snow wall, complete with parapets, drawing attention to the fact that the city has yet to acknowledge in any meaningful way that your home is a homing beacon for awful drivers. More from Caitlin Hunt.
In Cleveland Heights’ defense, it has been dealing with a lot of mayoral nonsense over the last year: For example, the wife of former Cleveland Heights Mayor Khalil Seren has been sentenced to two years' probation after she walked into a home uninvited, reports Maya Morita. The home had a sign out front calling for her husband’s recall, which the mayor’s wife photographed, all of which was captured on video. She said she wanted to talk to the homeowner and ask about work being done on the property. Hey – come on, now. Who among us hasn’t walked into the home of a stranger after taking photos of a political yard sign just to ask them general contractor questions?
Minnesota has the most Somali immigrants in the country: Do you know which state is No. 2? It’s Ohio. The president recently went on a tirade, calling for Somali immigrants to be removed because they’ve “destroyed the country.” There’s so much to unpack here, but let’s keep it local. As a leading Somali immigrant state, we should be ground zero for the Somali-led destruction of this country. But – and I’m just one guy who reads the news every day and travels the state a bit – I can’t find anything in Ohio that the Somalis destroyed. I did a bit of Googling, and this particular immigrant community mostly lives in the Northland area of Columbus. Here’s a photo of the destruction. Anyway. I am personally thankful that no Italian immigrants who came to this country ever committed crimes or engaged in destructive acts that would have attracted unwanted public attention.
Guardians beat reporter honored: I’ve been reading Paul Hoynes for as long as I’ve been reading the Plain Dealer. A year after Guardians broadcaster Tom Hamilton was enshrined in Cooperstown, Hoynes will receive baseball writing’s highest honor.
FROM MONDAY…
Big problems in The Flats: I wrote about this last week – the Flats are in a bit of a freefall, losing tenants, closing doors, generating the wrong kinds of headlines. Now, even Margaritaville is permanently closing. What in the world is going on? Scene’s Doug Trattner weighed in over the weekend:
- Overall, the restaurant and bar industry is facing headwinds.
- But there are other variables, writes Trattner, including “public safety, crime, a tenant mix dominated by the hospitality industry, and real estate transfers after Scott Wolstein’s death — also at play.”
- Trattner goes on to report that Bobby George is, admittedly, also a factor.
- Read more.
What do the numbers say about Emmanuel Clase’s poor performance in the 2024 playoffs? If you’ve been wondering, check out this article from Cleveland.com.
That’s low: Once again, individuals with no regard for their fate in the afterlife have broken into the cars of churchgoing Clevelanders.
Burke Airport has squatted on our lakefront long enough: So says Cleveland.com’s Leila Atassi, writing in an opinion piece: “That a shabby little airport has squatted on Cleveland’s most valuable waterfront for 78 years says less about the land’s limitations than our leaders’ lack of imagination. For the first time in decades, that’s starting to change.”
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