From the Metro Desk of Cleveland Urban News.Com (www.clevelandurbannews.com)

CLEVELAND, Ohio- The Imperial Women Coalition, other community activist groups, Imperial Avenue residents, Black elected officials, and others will hold The Third Anniversary of The Imperial Ave Murders And Stop The Violence Rally In Cooperation With Domestic Violence Month And Purplelight Vigil on Saturday, Oct 27, 2012 at 5:00  pm on the corner of  E. 123rd St and  Imperial Ave., next to the since demolished home of serial killer Anthony Sowell (pictured). (From downtown Cleveland take Kinsman Ave to E. 123rd St, turn left, and proceed two blocks to Imperial Ave with the home next to the corner). 

By Johnette Jernigan and Kathy Wray Coleman, Cleveland Urban News. Com and The Cleveland Urban News.Com Blog, Ohio's Most Read Online Black Newspaper

CLEVELAND, OHIO -  Barack Obama’s private airplane landed at Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland, OH Thursday night to a cheering crowd of 12,000 people and neared the president to a podium where he spoke for nearly a half an hour on his political platform, the importance of early voting, and the necessity of winning Cleveland, Cuyahoga County and Ohio.

And America's first Black president announced that he had won the endorsement of Republican Colin Powell, the first Black U.S. Secretary of State, who served under former president George W. Bush, and a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Bush. (Editor's note: Powell also endorsed the Democrat Obama for president in 2008).

“I just got the endorsement from Colin Powell,” said Obama. “I am glad to be back in Cleveland, Ohio.”

By Kathy Wray Coleman, Executive Publisher, Editor, Cleveland Urban News. Com and The Cleveland Urban News.Com Blog

CLEVELAND, Ohio- After coming off of a win where polls showed that he trampled Republican Presidential Nominee Mitt Romey during the third and final presidential debate, which was Monday night on foreign affairs at Lynn University in New York, President Barack Obama will speak to grassroots supporters Thursday night at Burke Lakefront Airport in downtown Cleveland, OH.

"The president was on his A game during the debate Monday night and Mitt Romney was all over the place with mumble jumble and cowboy diplomacy," said state Rep. John E. Barnes Jr (D-12), a Cleveland Democrat who said that he will be among a host of Democrats in Ohio, including Cleveland area Black elected officials, that will be out this evening to hear the first Black president of the United States of America speak to the American people.

By Karl Kimbrough, Sports Writer, Cleeland Urban News.Com

CLEVELAND, Ohio- Jimmy Haslam III is the new owner of the Cleveland Browns, which became official Oct. 16. And he  brings with him,  a new flavor for the major metropolitan city of Cleveland where professional sports is a draw.

A billionaire who was unanimously voted in as the majority owner of the football franchise last week in  Chicago IL., Haslam also brings a new era of professional football to Cleveland.

He comes experienced in the corporate world, and in football.

He made his fortune as president and CEO of Pilot Flying, a nationwide truck stop travel center based in Knoxville, TN.

The former eight percent owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Haslam has taken over the Cleveland Browns in rapid fashion. His hands on approach gives some fans and players alike the feeling that there is a new sheriff in town and that the organization will be run much differently than with previous owner Randy Lerner.

But with a change in ownership of the football team, comes a change in its administration, and likely its roster too.

"The players came away [from the official news of new ownership of the team and an approaching new president and CEO] knowing that everyone is working for their jobs," said Joe Haden, a team corner back. “When you have new people, new management coming in, and you're not really secure with what's going on , that's another reason for you to step it up. Coaches are going to step up and everybody's really working for their job.”

Joe Banner will assume the role of president and CEO, with Mike Holmgren stepping down and retiring at the end of the season, Haslam  said at a press conference last week, though he said also that Holmgren is expected to continue working with the team.

By Kathy Wray Coleman, Executive Publisher, Editor, Cleveland Urban News. Com and The Cleveland Urban News.Com Blog

CLEVELAND,Ohio- A press conference by some Black elected officials and a protest, both covered locally and  nationally by CNN and MSNBC, were held on Oct 11 by The Imperial Women, Organize Ohio, Black on Black Crime, Peace in the Hood and Stop Targeting Ohio's Poor under a racist voter suppression billboard in the city of Cleveland that threatens residents with a  felony, prison and a $10,000 fine for voting.

The organized effort has caused the company that owns the unconstitutional billboard, Clear Channel Holdings Inc.,  to take it down, and 29 others like it around Cleveland, elsewhere in cities in Ohio, including Columbus and Cincinnati, and in the swing state of Wisconsin.

Watch the video below by Fox 8 News Channel in Cleveland of the Oct 11. voter suppression billboard protest led by Community Activists Kathy Wray Coleman and Khalid Samad.  . CLICK HERE ON THIS LINK TO GO TO FOX 8 NEWS TO SEE THE VIDEO OF THE PROTEST AND THE STATION'S NEWS STORY ON IT

Coleman leads the Imperial Women, a community activist group founded around the murders of 11 Black women on Imperial Ave in Cleveland by since convicted serial killer Anthony Sowell. Go to Cleveland Urban News.Com (www.clevelandurbannews.com) to read about the third anniversary rally and vigil on Oct 27, 5 pm, at E. 123rd St and Imperial Ave in Cleveland. For more information call 216-659-0473.

An advertising division of  of Clear Channel Holdings Inc., which also owns radio stations throughout the country, including seven in greater Cleveland like WTAM that carries the Rush Limbaugh Show, Clear Channel  Outdoor had used the billboards to intimidate majority Black communities in the key battleground states of Oho and Wisconsin, both key battleground states for presidential elections.

A spokesperson for the company said yesterday that all 145 billboards in both Ohio and Wisconsin are coming down. And, that Clear Channel would put up billboards that are to say "Voting Is A Right Not A Crime," though the number of billboards that will go up with the new slogan is in controversy. (Editor's note: The billboard at E. 35th St and Community College Ave was taken down on Oct. 22 and was replaced with a billboard that reads "Voting Is A Right Not A Crime).

Once connected in a business fashion to Bain Capital and Republican Presidential Nominee Mitt Romney, if not still affiliated, Clear Channel had originally refused to take down the billboards, calling them "free speech and factually correct."

Joining the community activists midway into their organized rally on Oct 11 for a press conference over the billboards were Cleveland Ward 5 Councilwomen Phyllis Cleveland, who also led the charge around the billboards, Ward 6 Councilwoman Mamie Mitchell, and state Sen. Nina Turner (D-25), all of whom are Democratic Obama supporters.

In addition to Coleman and Samad, other activists that spoke at the rally of some 80 people last Thursday include Griot Y-Von, Dr, Stewart Robinson, Valerie Robinson, Al Porter, Jean Whitte and Larry Bresler.

A group of Civil Rights attorneys commissioned out of Washington D.C was also the impetus for the decision for Clear Channel to take the controversial billboards down.

Reach Cleveland Urban News.Com by telephone at 216-659-0473 and by email at editor@clevelandurbannews.com.