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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Last week, in a poll commissioned by Freedom to Marry Ohio, Democratic Ohio Governor Candidate Ed FitzGerald and Republican Gov. John Kasich continue to be locked in a near dead heat going into 2014.
The survey, conducted between December 6 and 8 of 1,011 of Ohio voters by Public Policy Polling (PPP), one of the most accurate pollsters in America, found that if the election were held today, Kasich would carry 40 percent of the vote, followed by FitzGerald at 38 percent, and Libertarian Charlie Earl at six percent. In the poll, FitzGerald held a 13 percent lead over Kasich with Independent voters.
In a separate memo released on the poll, Tom Jensen, director of PPP, stated that the "Democrats continue to have an excellent chance at a pick up next year.”
State Democratic party leaders remain optimistic.
“With more than 427,000 Ohioans out of work and the state’s unemployment worse than the nation’s for the first time in three years, voters are tired of Governor Kasich’s policies just benefiting the rich,” said Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern. “This poll shows what every struggling middle-class family already knows, John Kasich is vulnerable going into 2014 because under his leadership Ohio’s economy is headed in the wrong direction while the rest of the nation recovers.”
Ohio voters will decide the gubernatorial race next year.
Ohio governor’s race nearly tied, polls show, Democratic Candidate Ed FitzGerald gaining ground against Governor Kasich, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Chris Redfern comments
- 22 December 2013
- Kathy
Last Updated on Sunday, 22 December 2013 06:45
Bedford Court judge, law director indicted for allegedly operating a prostitution ring, pimping women, a Cleveland Urban News.Com investigation reveals that county prosecutor Tim McGinty used his employees to harass Black women that complained of Jacob
- 20 December 2013
- Kathy
Indicted Bedford Municipal Court Judge Harry Jacob, a Republican
By Kathy Wray Coleman, Publisher, Editor-n-Chief,
Cleveland Urban News. Com and The Cleveland Urban News.Com Blog,
Ohio's Most Read Online Black Newspaper and Newspaper Blog
Kathy Wray Coleman is a community activist and 20 year investigative journalist who trained for 17 years at the Call and Post Newspaper, Ohio's Black press with print newspapers in Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio. The Call and Post is published by international boxing promoter Don King.
CLEVELAND, Ohio-A White male judge of a suburban municipal court of greater Cleveland and the city law director, also White, were charged yesterday by a Cuyahoga County Grand Jury with pimping women through an organized prostitution ring out of the Bedford Municipal Court, a court that serves 14 municipalities including the cities of Bedford and Bedford Heights, both suburbs of the majority Black city of Cleveland, which has its own court.
Bedford Municipal Court Judge Harry Jacob III (pictured), 57 and on paid leave, and Bedford Law Director Ken Schuman, also on paid leave, are both accused in a 19-count indictment of a misdemeanor count of soliciting prostitutes, and felony acts of taking bribes, having an unlawful interest in a public contract, and money laundering, among a laundry list of other alleged crimes that occurred since 2006.
Police officers and agents of the Bureau of Investigation, armed with search warrants, raided Schuman's office and home last Friday.
Chief Bedford Court Judge Brian Melling, who routinely assigned Jacob to cases and who, according to an investigation by Cleveland Urban News.Com, Ohio's most read digital Black newspaper, often covered up his colleague's alleged malfeasance, is now solely running the two-judge court, one where Blacks are disproportionately prosecuted and jailed, data show.
The city of Bedford has a population of some 13,000 people, and is roughly 44 percent Black.
Whether the federal government will intervene and take over the Bedford court remains to be seen.
Sources say that efforts are underway to merge Cuyahoga County municipal courts, including the Cleveland Municipal Court, into the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, a proposed takeover, in fact. That general division court, however, is plagued with malfeasance too, and saw two of its former judges, Bridget McCafferty and Steven Terry, go to federal prison.
McCafferty served a 14-month prison sentence for lying to the FBI on whether she was asked to fix cases, and Terry, who is Black, was sentenced in 2011 to 63 months in prison for campaign fraud, manipulating a foreclosure case, and mail fraud.
Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Tim McGinty released press statements to reporters yesterday saying Judge Jacob, a Republican, took bribes, though before the indictment came down a Cleveland Urban News.Com investigation reveals that McGinty would use his employees to allegedly harass and defame Blacks that complained to the FBI and Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Chief Judge Nancy Fuerst about the judge.
As the common pleas chief judge, Fuerst hears affidavits of disqualification against municipal judges of the county pursuant to state law, though data show that she routinely denies them, regardless of the merits.
In at least one of the filings to Fuerst, Jacob is accused of holding Black women kidnapped in the court, and threatening them with help allegedly from court probation officers and the attorneys assigned to indigent defendants, many maliciously prosecuted, data show.
Former Cleveland attorney Anthony O. Calabrese III, who is now serving a nine-year federal prison sentence for himself taking bribes, among other convictions, is being put out to the media as the chief snitch, but sources say it could be any number of people caught up in public corruption that are spilling their guts to authorities.
Calabrese is among more than 60 people, mainly businessmen and mostly Democrats, that have either been convicted or pleaded guilty to corruption related crimes in connection with a longstanding county corruption probe initiated by the IRS and FBI.
The most infamous of those now serving time for public corruption are former county auditor Frank Russo, also a snitch, and former Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora, a prior chair of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party.
Russo is currently serving a 22 -year federal prison sentence, and Dimora, a former Bedford Heights mayor, is serving 28 years for racketeering and a host of other crimes.
Cuyahoga County, which includes a string of northeast Ohio cities including Bedford, Bedford Heights, East Cleveland, the Heights, and Cleveland, the county's largest city, is roughly 29 percent Black, and the largest of 88 counties statewide.
Sources say that more indictments of public officials of greater Cleveland are coming, including more judges.
Last Updated on Wednesday, 25 December 2013 17:00
Plain Dealer story by Rachel Dissell on Bedford Court alleged prostitution ring, corruption probe, Bedford Judge Harry Jacob, Clerk of Court Thomas Day, law directror under investigation, sex for sale is allegedly the treat in Bedford Court
- 17 December 2013
- Kathy
(Editors note: Bedford, Ohio is a suburb of the majority Black city of Cleveland. The middle class largely White community has a population of some 13, 000 people, and is roughly 44 percent Black, a U.S. census report reveals).
BEDFORD, Ohio -- City and municipal court officials last week released 16 grand jury subpoenas related to a wide-ranging corruption investigation that – at least in part – appears to be related to a brothel prosecutors say was operating illegally in the city.
Prior to Friday, the city and court had declined to release the records to The Plain Dealer because Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty's office said they didn't believe they were public records and could impede the ongoing investigation.
City Manger Henry "Hank" Angelo and Bedford Clerk of Courts Thomas Day Jr. later decided on the advice of an assistant law director to release the records.
The requests from investigators working with the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's office include general information, such as city policies outlining the use of time and equipment as well as more specific information about Law Director Ken Schuman and his use of city credit cards, cars and what he and his private law firm has been paid by the city – and by another law firm that did work on municipal bonds for the city.
Schuman has been on medical leave since last month and his attorney has declined to comment on the case.
In addition, investigators requested records about Bedford Municipal Judge Harry J. Jacob III.
To read this full article by Rachel Dissell CLICK ON THIS LINK HERE
Last Updated on Friday, 20 December 2013 08:31
Cleveland Ward 1 county Democratic party executive committee members to interview candidates today for 2014 open slots for Cuyahoga County executive, state senate district 25, seats currently held by County Executive Ed FitzGerald and State Senator Turner
- 16 December 2013
- Kathy
Pictured are Cleveland Ward 1 Councilman Terrell Pruitt (in red polka dotted tie), Ohio State Senator Nina Turner (D-25) (in eyeglasses), Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald (in gray shirt), Ohio State Senator Shirley Smith (D-22) (in red attire), Ohio State Representative Armond Budish (D-9) (in maroon tie), Fired Cuyahoga County Sheriff Bob Reid, former Ohio state representative Kenny Yuko (in blue tie), Ohio State Representative John Barnes Jr. (in orange tie), and Ohio State Representative Bill Patmon (D-10) (in red tie)
By Kathy Wray Coleman
CLEVELAND, Ohio- Cleveland Ward 1 Cuyahoga County Democratic Party executive committee members, some 26 of them, will meet at the the Harvard Community Services Center in Cleveland at 6 pm today, December 16 to interview candidates for the open slots in 2014 of county executive and the seat for state senator of state legislative district 25, which also includes Ward 1.
The executive committee of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party will tentatively do endorsements for the aforementioned open slots next year in February.
The majority Black Ward 1, which has the largest voting block of all east side wards, and a staunch middle class segment, is led by Councilman Terrell Pruitt, while Nina Turner, who will forego reelection next year to the state senate seat in district 25, will run for Ohio Secretary of State in 2014 on the Democratic ticket, likely with Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald as the gubernatorial candidate.
Pruitt is a Turner protege, whom she recommended for city council in Ward 1 after she gave up her city council seat to become a state senator, a post she was subsequently elected to.
Announced candidates for county executive, all three of whom are expected to attend the Ward 1 ward club meeting tonight, include state Rep. Armond Budish (D-9), a Beachwood Democrat, and former speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives, who is Jewish, state Sen. Shirley Smith (D-22), who is Black and cannot seek reelection to her senate seat next year due to term limits, and Bob Reid.
Reid is the former county sheriff, whom FitzGerald fired earlier this year as sheriff, and a former police chief and city manager for the city of Bedford, Ohio.
Reid, who is White, is under fire by Cleveland area community activists for documented theft of foreclosed homes through illegal foreclosure sales by the county sheriff's office when he was county sheriff, activity allegedly overlooked by the 34 majority White judges of the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas General Division, and by the office of the Cuyahoga County prosecutor.
Pursuant to his announced bid for governor, FitzGerald will likely resign his county executive seat by the end of January of next year, sources say. And Turner may follow suit and resign her senate seat. If this occurs by one of them or either of the two, the county Democratic party executive committee will likely meet sooner than February of next year, the slated time to make endorsements, to fill the vacancies, a process afforded under state law when elected officials resign before their terms expire.
Turner, who is Black, will likely face Republican Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted if she wins the Democratic nomination next year. She has endorsed former state Rep. Kenny Yuko, who is White, to replace her in the state senate. And she chose Yuko instead of state Rep. John Barnes Jr. (D-12), who is Black, and whose state legislative district 12 also includes Ward 1.
Barnes and Turner have been at odds with each other for sometime and so have Turner and Smith, with Turner also endorsing Budish for county executive along with FitzGerald. Reid has some suburban mayoral endorsements and law enforcement types for his bid for county executive next year, and Smith, the only Black and only female to announce a run for county executive, is endorsed by state Rep. Bill Patmon (D-10), and a handful of Black east side Cleveland councilpersons, excluding Pruitt, to date.
Last Updated on Saturday, 21 December 2013 23:01
North Shore AFL-CIO Federation of Labor, Peace Action, grassroots, labor coalition to hold rally, march against proposed federal cuts by Congress to food stamps at 4 pm, Tuesday, December 17, 2013, public square in downtown Cleveland, Ohio
- 16 December 2013
- Kathy
CLEVELAND, Ohio-A coalition of Cleveland area grassroots activists and labor advocates dubbed "The No Cuts Coalition" will host a stop-cuts-to-food-stamps rally and march at 4 pm on Tuesday, December 17, 2013 on Public Square in downtown Cleveland at the northwest quadrant by the Tom Johnson statute, community activists said Monday. (Editor's note: For more information on the rally and march contact the North Shore AFL-CIO Federation of Labor at 216-881-7200 or 216-321-6277)
Proposed federal cuts to the budget, the infighting in Congress that could cause a second government shutdown in under two months, include $39 billion over 10 years by the U.S. House of Representatives, and $4.1 billion over the same period by the U.S. Senate.
"One in six families don't know where their next meal will come from, and $1.8 million Ohioans live in poverty," said community activist Valerie Robinson, whose activists group, Stop Targeting Ohio's Poor, is among the coalition groups of the No Cuts Coalition.
Other coalition groups, said Robinson, include the American Friends Service Committee, Peace Action, and the North Shore AFL-CIO Federation of Labor, which is led by executive secretary Harriet Applegate.
Robinson said that Congress should not "balance the budget on the backs of the hungry."
Last Updated on Monday, 16 December 2013 22:22
Remembering Sandy Hook on the first anniversary of the massacre, President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama light candles at White House, Clevelanders also remember shooting victims
- 15 December 2013
- Kathy
By Kathy Wray Coleman, Publisher, Editor-n-Chief, Cleveland Urban News. Com and The Cleveland Urban News.Com Blog, Ohio's Most Read Online Black Newspaper(www.clevelandurbannews.com) CLEVELAND, Ohio-Newtown, Connecticut became a household name on Friday, December 14, 2012 when the heavily armed Adam Lanza (pictured), 20, shot his divorcee mother in the face multiple times, killing her, and then starred in a massacre, gunning down 20 elementary first -graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School where his mother Nancy worked as a teacher. Among the dead adults were a school principal, a psychiatrist, teachers, and a school guidance counselor.
The troubled Lanza then turned the gun on himself with a self inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
He left behind a slew of unanswered questions and re-ignited a ferocious debate on gun violence and gun control.
Saturday, December 14, 2013 marked the first anniversary of the brutal tragedy, the first of its kind in America and the second deadliest shooting by a single person behind the Virginia Tech Massacre of 2007.
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama lit candles at the White House on Saturday to remember those lost, and bells rang in Newtown, Connecticut before a ceremony was held there last week.
And Obama honored the victims during his weekly address on Saturday.
"Six dedicated school workers and 20 beautiful children were taken from our lives forever," Obama said. "But beneath the sadness we also felt a sense of resolve that these tragedies must end, and that to end them we must change."
The president also touched briefly on gun control during his speech
"We have to do more to keep dangerous people from getting guns so easily, we have to do more to heal troubled minds, and we have to do everything we can to protect our children," said Obama.
In Cleveland, and following a night and day that brought six inches of snow to the city, Pat Brown, the chapter lead for Organizing for Action for President Obama, gathered with a group at Dewey's Coffee Shop in Shaker Square Saturday evening to remember the Sandy Hook victims, and to denounce gun violence.
"We are meeting to remember those killed and to step out for a vigil," said Brown, an Obama supporter who worked in Cleveland on the president's successful 2012 campaign for reelection.
On Sunday, December 15 Cleveland area faith based organizations remembered the Sandy Hook victims and others subjected to gun violence at the Church of the Covenant in Cleveland.
Last Updated on Wednesday, 18 December 2013 07:04
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