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Former Cleveland mayor Michael White confidant Nate Gray denied full release from prison, Gray, who refused to snitch, currently out of prison on a GPS monitor and home confinement, his full release set for February following a 15-year sentence in 2005

24 September 2019

Kathy

Pictured are Nate Gray (wearing shirt and no tie), former Cleveland mayor Michael R. White (wearing suspenders), and former East Cleveland mayor Emmanuel Onunwor (wearing gold tie)

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog. Tel: (216) 659-0473 and Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com

By Kathy Wray Coleman, associate publisher, editor-in-chief

CLEVELANDURBANNEWS.COM-CLEVELAND, Ohio-U.S. District Judge James Gwin has denied a request by an attorney for former Cleveland mayor Michael R. White friend Nate Gray to be fully released from prison, Gray actually leaving a federal prison in June but technically remaining in custody via a GPS monitor and home confinement, both part of the re-entry program for the 61-year-old whom the judge handed a 15-year- prison sentence in 2005 for bribing public officials and a host of other corruption-related convictions.

Attorney Andrea Whitaker had asked the judge to grant full release saying Gray was a stellar prisoner and had heart and back problems, Gwin ruling that such claims do not merit early release.

Gray is set to be released fully from prison in February, 15 years after he was sentenced.

Black leaders have mixed views on Gray's 15-year sentence, some saying it was excessive because he is a Black man, and others saying he is a convicted criminal who got what he deserved.

A businessman and former confidant of White, who is Black like Gray and a three-term former mayor who chose not to seek reelection in 2001 and now lives on an Alpaca farm in rural Ohio with his wife, Gray was convicted by a jury on 37 charges, including bribing public officials in Cleveland, East Cleveland and Houston, an appeals court reversing three of the charges and Gwin later re-sentencing him to the 15 years.

Prosecutors accused gray of stealing millions, though his attorneys said the figures are elevated.

White has never been charged or officially implicated relative to Gray's longtime public corruption scheme, and the two are no longer friends, sources said in 2005 when Gray was sentenced.

White was succeeded as mayor by Jane Campbell, who is White and the first and only woman mayor of Cleveland, Campbell losing reelection in 2005 to current Mayor Frank Jackson, a former city council president and the city's third Black mayor who is serving a historic fourth term.

Prosecutors said at Gray's trial that the bribery of contractors was in exchange for lucrative contracts for them, a corruption-scheme, said prosecutors, that went on for some 14 years, Gray even pocketing a great deal of the monies for himself.

Former East Cleveland mayor Emmanuel Onunwor was among those who accepted bribes from him, Onunwor, who backed out of a deal to wear a wire so the feds could catch Gray and other culprits, convicted on bribery and other racketeering charges before Gray's case went to trial and sentenced in 2004 to nine years in federal prison.

Onunwor burst into tears we he was cornered by the FBI, authorities sai, his son now in prison for killing his mother, also the former East Cleveland mayor's ex-wife, while he was serving time, the conflict arising allegedly because his son's mother allegedly aided the FBI against him.

Gray, however, would not testify against or snitch on his friends and public officials at issue as ordered, Judge Gwin, in turn, adding on 18 months at sentencing 14 and a half years ago for contempt of court.

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog. Tel: (216) 659-0473 and Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief, and who trained for 17 years at the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio. 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.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 25 September 2019 21:47

Cleveland's own U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown meets with striking UAW workers of GM in Parma, a Cleveland suburb, Brown joining other members of Ohio's Democratic Congressional Delegation in demanding fair play for the auto workers

23 September 2019

Kathy

Pictured is U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, a Cleveland Democrat

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com

By Kathy Wray coleman, associate publisher, editor-in-chief

CLEVELANDURBANNEWS.COM-CLEVELAND, Ohio-U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Cleveland Democrat and seasoned federal lawmaker, met with striking UAW workers of the metal plant in Parma, Ohio Monday, Parma a largely White middle class suburb of Cleveland and its UAW members among nearly $50,000 auto workers who joined strikers across the country last week on the picket lines.

A largely Black major American city led by Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, a Democrat and the city's third Black mayor, Cleveland, with a population of some 385,000 people, is Cuyahoga County's largest city, followed by Parma, which has some 80,000 people, Cuyahoga County a 29 percent Black Democratic stronghold.

“What we do is stand at picket lines and stand with the workers and help them with health care and government issues and let them know we have their backs,” Brown told the striking union workers in Parma.

Brown urged a win-win in collective bargaining agreement negotiations, but also showed support for the striking workers, the strike now eight days old.

"Thousands of @UAW workers in Ohio and around the country are going without their paychecks and health insurance to demand @GM respect the work they do to make their company successful," said Sen. Brown on twitter.

The union contract negotiated in 2015 expired at 11:59 pm Sept. 14, the strike bringing some 33 manufacturing plants and 22 parts distribution warehouses to a halt, the largest strike since the GM strike of 2007.

In late 2018, General Motors announced it would layoff some 14,000 employees and cease production at five North American Plants this year, including some 1,400 workers at the Lordstown, Ohio plant that sits in Ohio’s 13th congressional district, a rust belt district led by Democratic U.S. Rep Tim Ryan, who joined striking UAW members on the picket line, Ryan telling reporters that he "unequivocally stands in solidarity with UAW workers."

Brown joins other members of Ohio's Democratic Congressional Delegation, namely Rep Marcia Fudge, Joyce Beatty, Marcy Kaptur and Tim Ryan, also a presidential candidate, in demanding fair play for GM auto workers.

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog with some 5 million views on Google Plus alone.Tel: (216) 659-0473 and Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief, and who trained for 17 years at the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio. 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.

Last Updated on Monday, 23 September 2019 23:37

Ohio Congress persons Marcia Fudge and Marcy Kaptur issue statements on the GM strike as U.S. Rep Tim Ryan joins auto workers on the picket line, Ryan an Ohio congressman and underdog presidential candidate.....The strike is the largest since 2007

21 September 2019

Kathy

Pictured are Ohio Democratic Congresspersons Marcia L. Fudge (wearing tan brown suit )(D-11), Marcy Kaptur (wearing pick) (D-9) and Tim Ryan (D-13) (Not pictured, Democratic Congresswoman Joyce Beatty of Columbus)

By Kathy Wray Coleman, associate publisher, editor-in-chief

CLEVELANDURBANNEWS.COM-CLEVELAND, Ohio-Ohio Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge and Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, whose congressional districts include Cleveland, both released statements in response to the United Auto Workers strike that began Sunday at midnight when negotiations stalled and union workers took to the picket lines, Fudge saying she stands with the nearly 50,000 GM workers across the country impacted by the strike and both Fudge and Kaptur calling for the management labor conflict to be resolved as soon as possible.

In late 2018, GM announced it would layoff some 14,00 workers and cease production at five North American Plants this year, including some 1,4000 employees at the Lordstown, Ohio plant that sits in Ohio’s 13th congressional district, a rust belt district led by Democratic U.S. Rep Tim Ryan, who joined striking UAW members on the picket line, Ryan telling reporters that he "unequivocally stands in solidarity with UAW workers."

Fudge, Kaptur and Ryan are Democrats, and Fudge echoed Ryan's sentiments, the pair once a team when Ryan ran against now House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for House Minority Leader and lost by a two-to-one margin, Fudge toying last year with opposing Pelosi for House Speaker and instead supporting her, Ryan an underdog presidential candidate who lost Fudge's endorsement to Kamala Harris, the only Black woman in the race for president.

“I stand in solidarity with the nearly 50,000 GM workers across the country who walked off the job this week to demand a better workplace," said Rep. Fudge, a Warrensville Heights Democrat and one of two Blacks in Congress from Ohio. "These workers stood by GM during some of their toughest times and it is time GM return the favor and stand by their workers."

UAW members at the metal plant in Parma, Ohio, a Cleveland suburb that is part of Kaptur's district, are part of the strike too, among union affiliates across the country.

The longest serving woman in Congress, Kaptur, a Toledo Democrat whose ninth congressional district extends to Cleveland, said the strike brings back memories.

“As the daughter of a UAW organizer, I know firsthand how important, and often difficult, these contract negotiations can be for our workers and their families,” said Rep. Kaptur. “The contract sets out everything from healthcare benefits to pensions and hourly pay."

Kaptur said she hopes "the strike and contract negotiations are resolved quickly and in a way that keeps plants open, jobs in our communities, and upholds our autoworkers’ right to fair treatment and compensation in exchange for their honest labor.”

A former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus who leads Ohio's largely Black 11th congressional district, which includes parts of Cleveland, Fudge said "the U.S. auto workers on strike are fighting for the future of the middle class and the benefits needed, and deserved to maintain care for themselves and their families."

And, like Kaptur, she called for GM to do the right thing.

"I strongly urge GM to do what is right," said Congresswoman Fudge. "We must guarantee workers are protected and ensure a contract is signed without further delay.”

Last Updated on Monday, 23 September 2019 21:45

Greater Cleveland Urban Film Festival to show the film "Cleveland Food Stories, September 19 in Shaker Square, a look at poverty and a lack of access to food in Cleveland's largely Black communities....By editor Kathy Wray Coleman

19 September 2019

Kathy

By Kathy Wray Coleman, associate publisher, editor-in-chief

CLEVELANDURBANNEWS.COM-CLEVELAND, Ohio-The Greater Cleveland Urban Film Festival will show the film documentary "Cleveland Food Stories" Sept. 19 at the Atlas Theatre in Shaker Square in Cleveland from 7pm-8pm with a panel discussion following.

The festival runs from Sept 12-20

The film is directed by Brad Masi with narration by Dee Perry.

Ticket prices are regular admission, $9.75 for adults and $7 for senior citizens.

Panelists for the discussion are Jan Ridgeway, Brad Masi, Wyndi Moore, and Nancy Nolan-Jones, former executive director of the Cleveland African-American Museum.

Nolan -Jones said the film examines poverty that predominantly impacts Black communities of Cleveland, a largely Black major American city, and that the film festival only picked up one of three- episodes of documentary film.

The poverty rate nationally is at twelve percent, and Cleveland has a poverty rate of 49 percent.

Persons or groups wanting to set up a screening of the film can call Nolan-Jones at (216) 904-0946 or go to Clevelandfoodstories.com

"This Urban Film Festival screening of episode one looks at why so many in Cleveland face food insecurity and a lack of consistent access to enough food for an active and healthy lifestyle," said Nolan- Jones. "More importantly, the film highlights the compassionate actions of many Clevelanders working to address these food challenges, not just by giving out food, but by creating a caring and supportive community.

Nolan- Jones said the audiences should "prepare to be inspired and find your own place in the effort to grow a stronger, healthier, and more connected city."

Last Updated on Friday, 20 September 2019 17:09

U. S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur helps Parma, Ohio Fire Department secure million dollar federal grant to hire more firefighters, enhance city services, Parma the second largest city in Cuyahoga County behind Cleveland

18 September 2019

Kathy

Washington, D.C. - Ohio Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (pictured), City of Parma Mayor Tim DeGeeter and Parma Fire Chief Mike Lask announced yesterday that the Parma Fire Department will be awarded $1,051,073.80 from the federal government.

Parma is a largely White middle class Cleveland suburb and the second largest city in Cuyahoga County, behind Cleveland.

The funding was awarded through a competitive grant application through the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency's Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response(SAFER) grant program.

"It is my privilege to announce the Parma Fire Department has been awarded more than a million dollars to invest in the hiring of eight new firefighters," said Rep. Kaptur, a Toledo Democrat whose ninth congressional district extends to Cleveland. "Whether it is a fire, a flood or a car accident, we depend on first responders such as those at the Parma Fire Department to keep us safe."

The congresswoman said she is pleased to have worked with Parma officials to ensure the city received the financial support it needed to hire professional first responders.

The mayor said the federal monies are solely needed

"We need a fully staffed fire department to keep pace with the safety demands of a city our size," said Mayor Tim DeGeeter. "This grant provides us with critical funding to help us replace eight firefighters who retired or transferred to other departments.

DeGetter said the financial support will reduce overtime and allow us to continue to provide the quality service our residents have come to expect and deserve.

"I want to thank Congresswoman Kaptur for her efforts, and I appreciate the additional Congressional support we received from those representing Parma, " the mayor said.

Fire Chief Michael Lasky was also elated.

"The Parma Fire Department is extremely pleased, not only for the operational impact this funding will have on our department, but the overall impact it will have on the entire City of Parma," said Lasky. "Our goal is to provide outstanding safety services to our community, and SAFER funding will allow us to do that effectively and efficiently for the foreseeable future."

The SAFER grant program was established by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) within the Department of Homeland Security to provide funding directly to fire departments and volunteer firefighter organizations to help increase the number of trained firefighters available in their communities.

Last Updated on Saturday, 21 September 2019 07:41

NASA Glenn's Cleveland director Dr. Janet Kavandi to retire, U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur commenting on the retired astronaut who made 3 space shuttle missions, saying "it is with absolute admiration and gratitude that I thank her for her service and tenure"

16 September 2019

Kathy

Pictured are former astronaut and retiring NASA Glenn Cleveland agency director Dr. Janet Kavandi (wearing white astronaut attire), Ohio 9th Congressional District Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (wearing pink), a Toledo Democrat and the longest serving woman in Congress, the late former astronaut Dr. Sally Ride (wearing dark blue astronaut attire), who was the first American woman in space, former astronaut Dr. Mae Jemison (wearing blue astronaut attire), the first Black woman in space, and the late astronaut Dr. Judith Resnik (wearing light blue astronaut attire), an Akron, Ohio native who was among the seven astronauts who perished when the space shuttle Challenger exploded in 1986 killing all on board, also including school teacher Christa McAuliffe, and the late astronaut Ronald McNair, who was Black

By Kathy Wray Coleman, associate publisher, editor-in-chief. Coleman has a bachelor's degree in biological science and is also a science reporter.

Ohio Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09) released a statement after Dr. Janet L. Kavandi, a retired astronaut and current director of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's John H. Glenn Research Center in Brook Park in suburban Cleveland, announced her retirement from NASA, effective Sept. 30.

"Director Kavandi is an exceptional leader," said Kaptur, a Toledo Democrat whose ninth congressional district, where NASA's Midwestern agency sits, extends to Cleveland, and the longest serving woman in Congress. "It is with absolute admiration and gratitude that I thank her for her service and tenure as director at NASA Glenn and also as a decorated astronaut."

In early June NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine endorsed Kavandi as deputy administrator of the agency, but the U.S. Senate, in July, and with support from the White House, confirmed Jim Morhard, a veteran Senate staffer and former deputy sergeant-at-arms for the Senate, for the position.

The House of Representatives has approved a larger NASA budget of $22.3 million for 2020, with no specifics on Glenn's share, and it awaits Senate action, the U.S House largely Democratic and the Senate mainly Republican.

Kaptur said that Kavandi directed NASA Glenn and the Plum Brook Station in building upon critical components of NASA's mission in human space flight.

"Director Kavandi is an inspiration and I congratulate her on her retirement and extraordinary career," said Kaptur, who said that Kavandi's successor will fill a crucial position.

The congresswoman said she looks "forward to working with the Ohio Congressional Delegation and the NASA Administrator to ensure that the new center director has the experience necessary to embark on a new era of exploration, discovery, and job-creating innovation at NASA Glenn."

Activists are watching too relative to Kavandi's replacement, saying they want to make sure NASA's Cleveland agency has women and minorities in leadership roles in the 21st century.

NASA John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field is a NASA center in suburban Cleveland and one of 10 NASA field centers nationwide, NASA with the primary mission to develop science and technology for use in aeronautics and space.

A patented-winning chemist turned astronaut and ultimately director of NASA's Cleveland research facility, Kavandi has not said why she is retiring but said in a statement that she debated over her decision to leave NASA.

“It was a difficult decision to call my NASA career to an end, especially at a time when the agency is preparing to send the first woman and the next man to the moon,” said Kavandi. “The agency has provided me with experiences I could have never imagined, and it was an absolute honor to lead the men and women at NASA Glenn."

Director since 2016, Kavandi, 60, leaves the space agency with 25 years of service, and was an astronaut when Dr. Mae Jemison was among hardly a handful of U.S. women astronauts, Jemison, 62, the first Black woman in space, her one and only space mission undertaken in 1992 as part of the crew of the space shuttle Endeavor.

Some 59 different women total, including cosmonauts, astronauts, payload specialists, and foreign nationals have flown in space worldwide, the first woman making a space mission in 1963, and former astronaut Dr. Sally Ride, the first American woman in space in 1983 , more than 40 American women following in her footsteps.

Ride died in 2012 at 61-year-old of pancreatic cancer.

A native of Carthage, Missouri, Kavani was the valedictorian of her high school graduating class and later earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry, an engineering degree, and a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from the University of Washington.

She was selected as a NASA astronaut in 1994, eight years after the disastrous explosion of the space shuttle Challenger on Jan. 28, 1986 at Florida's Kennedy Space Center, the explosion occurring just 73 seconds into taking off and claiming the lives of school teacher Christa McAuliffe, and all six astronauts on board, including Judith Resnik, who was Akron, Ohio native, and Ronald McNair, who was Black.

Her decorated career spans three space shuttle missions and, like Jemison, Ride, Resnik and other women astronauts, she broke barriers for women during a time when the space and aeronautics field in general was unfriendly to women, and Blacks.

Currently NASA has some 38 active astronauts nationwide, none of them Black.

Kavandi traveled to space in 1998, 2000, and 2001, and was trained for spacewalking, though she never walked in space.

She also worked in NASA'S Robotics Branch and trained crews on board the International Space Station.

Before becoming director of NASA Glenn in Cleveland, Kavandi served as NASA's deputy chief of the Astronaut's Office.

Kavandi said she is "extremely proud of the work being done today to prepare for Artemis and the next generation of commercial aviation."

Rep. Kaptur said Dr. Kavandi leaves behind a legacy of achievements.

"Our Northern Ohio region is better for Dr. Kavandi's remarkable service at NASA and to the nation," said Congresswoman Kaptur.

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read digital Black newspaper and Black blog, both also top in Black digital news in the Midwest. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com

Last Updated on Tuesday, 17 September 2019 05:36

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Former Cleveland mayor Michael White confidant Nate Gray denied full release from prison, Gray, who refused to snitch, currently out of prison on a GPS monitor and home confinement, his full release set for February following a 15-year sentence in 2005

Cleveland's own U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown meets with striking UAW workers of GM in Parma, a Cleveland suburb, Brown joining other members of Ohio's Democratic Congressional Delegation in demanding fair play for the auto workers

Ohio Congress persons Marcia Fudge and Marcy Kaptur issue statements on the GM strike as U.S. Rep Tim Ryan joins auto workers on the picket line, Ryan an Ohio congressman and underdog presidential candidate.....The strike is the largest since 2007

Greater Cleveland Urban Film Festival to show the film "Cleveland Food Stories, September 19 in Shaker Square, a look at poverty and a lack of access to food in Cleveland's largely Black communities....By editor Kathy Wray Coleman

U. S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur helps Parma, Ohio Fire Department secure million dollar federal grant to hire more firefighters, enhance city services, Parma the second largest city in Cuyahoga County behind Cleveland

NASA Glenn's Cleveland director Dr. Janet Kavandi to retire, U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur commenting on the retired astronaut who made 3 space shuttle missions, saying "it is with absolute admiration and gratitude that I thank her for her service and tenure"

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