Picture:Cleveland Ward 9 Councilman Kevin Conwell performs as the drummer of his Footprints band at a community event in Cleveland, Oh

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com

Staff article

CLEVELAND, Ohio-Cleveland Ward 9 Councilman Kevin Conwell and his Frootprints band will provide the ambiance for a rally on Cleveland City Hall steps in downtown Cleveland, Oh that is scheduled for 5:30 pm Mon., June 24, 2024 where select elected officials and women's rights activists will rally with greater Cleveland women against an anticipated national ban on abortion access and for women's reproductive rights across the board.

The event is part of a national Day of action in cities across the country promoted by Women's March National and represents the second anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Courts's June 24, 2022 historic Dobbs decision that overturned the longstanding Roe v. Wade. It reversed the court's landmark 1973 ruling that gave federal protections to women for abortion access and reproductive rights nationwide and gave states legislatures the authority to legislate abortion

Conwell and his band also participated in last year's anniversary rally on City Hall steps and "this year," he said,  his band is also "performing as a community service."

Conwell's Ward 9 includes most of Glenville and parts of University Circle neighborhoods of Cleveland.

"We welcome and thank the councilman and his band for standing with women as we continue our fight for abortion access and reproductive freedoms for women and Black people in Cleveland and Ohio," said Women' March Cleveland head organizer Kathy Wray Coleman, a Black Cleveland activist and organizer. "As the November election nears people will know that Cleveland plays an important part in any election that has an pact on our predominantly Black major American city. Now is the time to rise up again and fight for our rights."

Cleveland's, June 24 rally is being organized by Women's March Cleveland and the Cuyahoga Democratic Women's Caucus. Other participating groups, practically all of them majority Black groups, include Black on Black Crime, Black Man's Army, Black Woman's Army, Imperial Women Coalition, Brick House Wellness Center, Laura Cowan Foundation and Greater Cleveland Immigrant Support Network.

Ohio voters, in November 2023,  approved Issue 1, which enshrined the legal right to abortion and other reproductive rights for Ohio women in the Ohio Constitution, a referendum passed after the U.S. Supreme Court's June 24, 2022 Dobbs decision.

Activists and elected officials who have advocated for reproductive rights for women will speak, including state Sen Nickie Antonio, Minority Leader for the Ohio Senate, and Cuyahoga County Councilwoman Meredith Turner.

Cuyahoga County Democratic Party Chairman David Brock, state Rep Juanita Brent of Cleveland, Cleveland Councilman Kevin Conwell, and Dr. Lauren Beene of Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights will also be among the speakers.

"Dangerous and extreme abortion bans are putting women’s health and lives at risk and disrupting access to critical health care services, including contraception, as health care providers are forced to close in states across the country." activist Coleman said.

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

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com

Staff article

WASHINGTON, D.C.-Today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that mifepristone can remain on the market in a case that reached the country's highest court that could have ended the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) issuance of the nation's most widely used abortion bill, the most common form of abortion.

It  comes after the U.S. Senate, just over a week ago, shot down a bill that would have provided contraceptive protections for women. And it is the first major ruling on reproductive rights for women since the high court, on June 24, 2022, reversed Roe v Wade, its landmark 1973 decision that afforded federal protection for women seeking access to abortion. That 6-3 reversal two years ago in Dobbs vs Mississippi Health Organization stripped women of abortion protections and gave respective state legislatures authority to regulate abortion, including in Ohio, which had a now defunct six-week abortion ban pushed by Republican state lawmakers and dubbed the Heartbeat Bill.

"Under Article III of the Constitution, a plaintiff's desire to make a drug less available for others does not establish standing to sue. Nor do the plaintiffs' other standing theories suffice," Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a former President Donald Trump appointee who was among the majority of justices who overturned Roe in 2022, wrote for the court regarding today's historic decision. "Therefore, the plaintiffs lack standing to challenge FDA's actions."

Primarily at issue before the court, at least before the standing issue took center stage, was whether the FDA's two-decades long approval of the pill is safe with justices seemingly skeptical of such assertion during oral arguments earlier this year. And whether the justices can step in for federal agencies to determine the safety of the pill was at issue too, lawyers for proponents of the pill argued to the nine-member , 6-3 conservative-leaning court composed of three former President Donald Trump appointees.

But the justices, instead, found that the group of anti-abortion doctors who brought the lawsuit lacked legal standing to bring the claim, with the  plaintiffs represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom arguing that the FDA failed to adequately evaluate the drug’s alleged safety risks.

The case was being watched nationwide, particularly by women's rights activists in key states, including Ohio, a state that Trump won in 2016 and again in 2020 when he was ousted from office by current President Joe Biden.

Justices made it clear via Thursday's ruling that a plaintiff or plaintiffs with standing could very well bring a similar case in due time, raising concerns for women's rights groups.

Abortion rights groups in Ohio where voters enshrined the legal right to abortion and other reproductive measures into the Ohio Constitution via the passage of an Issue 1 referendum at the ballot box  in November say they are fed up with politicians, mainly White men, undermining women and intend to further voice their displeasure at the ballot box this November.

"We are pleased with the lack of standing ruling by our nation's highest court and that the court unanimously rejected the frivolous challenge against the abortion pill, and rest assured that women in Ohio will voice our concerns at the ballot box in November," said Women's March Cleveland head organizer Kathy Wray Coleman, a seasoned Black Cleveland activist, organizer and local digital journalist. "Northeast Ohio women and women across this land, with our supporters by our side, must rise up before the November presidential election and take to the streets to protest the attack on choice and our reproductive freedoms in general."

Trump and Biden will square off for a heated presidential election in November with abortion rights among public policy issues at the helm.

Coleman said that since the mifepristone lawsuit rejected by the Supreme Court  was obviously frivolous that "attorneys for defendants in the lawsuit should seek legal fees form attorneys for the plaintiffs and the plaintiffs themselves."

"They knew the case was frivolous and that they lacked standing to proceed," Coleman said, adding that "Black and poor women are disproportionately impacted by draconian anti-abortion efforts," and that "that remains a problem in Cleveland and Ohio, and nationally."

A rally on Cleveland City Hall steps in downtown Cleveland, Oh is scheduled for 5:30 pm June 24 where select elected officials and activists will rally against a national ban on abortion access and for women's reproductive rights. It is being organized by Women's March Cleveland and the Cuyahoga Democratic Women's Caucus. Other participating groups, practically all of them majority Black groups, include Black on Black Crime, Black Man's Army, Black Woman's Army, Imperial Women Coalition, Brick House Wellness Center, Laura Cowan Foundation and Greater Cleveland Immigrant Support Network.

Activists and elected officials who have advocated for reproductive rights for women will speak, including state Sen Nickie Antonio, Minority Leader for the Ohio Senate, and Cuyahoga County Councilwoman Meredith Turner.

Cuyahoga County Democratic Party Chairman David Brock, state Rep Juanita Brent of Cleveland, Cleveland Councilman Kevin Conwell, and Dr. Lauren Beene of Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights will also be among the speakers.

"Dangerous and extreme abortion bans are putting women’s health and lives at risk and disrupting access to critical health care services, including contraception, as health care providers are forced to close in states across the country." Coleman said.

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

COLUMBUS, Ohio- Secretary of State Frank LaRose has announced that his office has published a list of 158,857 inactive voter registrations eligible for removal from the Statewide Voter Registration Database, marking the latest action in a series of election integrity initiatives that he says are being implemented ahead of the November presidential election.

Ohio voters will also select who will be the U.S. senator in a contest between Republican nominee Bernie Moreno and incumbent Sherrod Brown, a seasoned Cleveland Democrat.

According to LaRose, a Republican, any inactive registration scheduled for removal may be restored to active status prior to July 22, 2024, if the registrant takes one of the following actions:

• Confirms or updates their voter registration, either online at VoteOhio.gov, by mail, or in-person; or

• Engages in voter activity, such as updating or confirming their address with a board of elections or the BMV, submitting an absentee ballot application, or signing a candidate or issue petition that is verified by a board of elections.

Democratic state lawmakers complain that the effort is nothing more than a scheme to purge voter rolls of possible Democratic voters, minorities and poor people, but LaRose says otherwise and that he is merely following the law.

“These registrations are eligible for removal under the law because records show they’re no longer residing or active at the registered address for at least the last four consecutive years,” said LaRose in a statement. “This list has been provided to my office by the county boards of elections after meticulous work under bipartisan oversight. We’re at the last stage of the process, where anyone can now check the list and contact their board of elections if they want to reactivate their registration or if they believe their record might be listed in error.”

During his administration, Secretary LaRose has taken steps to provide greater transparency to the voter registration list maintenance process, becoming the first chief elections officer in the nation to publish inactive registrations eligible for removal from the statewide database. The transparency effort, called Registration Readiness, is part of the office’s overall multi-step election integrity preparedness program being deployed in advance of the high-profile November presidential election, he says. The office previously announced an aggressive effort to identify and remove non-citizen registrations from the rolls, as well as launching routine but enhanced voter list maintenance protocols, including a pilot program designed to assist county boards of elections in better identifying registration discrepancies.

According to Ohio’s county boards of elections, each of the registrations on the 2024 Registration Readiness List have been identified as either:

1)     Voters who filled out a National Change of Address (NCOA) form indicating that they have permanently moved and are therefore no longer eligible to vote at their former address, or

2)     Inactive registrations previously flagged for removal but not yet removed from a county’s voter registration system.

Additionally, in accordance with state and federal law, each of these registrations has been inactive for a period of at least four years. County boards of elections have been instructed by LaRose to complete the removal process by July 22, 2024.

Note: Each county board of elections was required to populate and submit this data to the Secretary of State’s Office pursuant to Directive 2024-06. As of May 19, 2024, this list contains data from all county boards of elections. The data is current as of the date it was generated and depicts the inactive registrations submitted to the Ohio Secretary of State’s office. If a registration is canceled due to inactivity and lack of confirmation over a four-year period, an Ohio voter may register again at any time. The Registration Readiness list will not be continuously updated to reflect renewed registrations; however, once a registration has been restored to active status by the county board of elections, the board will ensure it is not removed from the voter rolls.

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

CLEVELAND, Ohio-This week, Mayor Justin Bibb and the City of Cleveland Department of Public Works team kicked off the inaugural summer speed table program with a commitment to install 100 asphalt speed tables to slow traffic and increase pedestrian safety.

The speed table program is made possible through the Back to Basics Capital Fund, the city's $30 million American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) investment in city street upgrades, traffic calming initiatives, and playground and park improvements.

ARPA is part of President Joe Biden's investment in American cities initiative. Cleveland is a largely Black major American city.

Data show that the population motor-vehicle death rate in the country reached its peak in 1937 with 30.8 deaths per 100,000. The current rate is 13.8 per 100,000, representing a 55% improvement.

"This project is critical because we know that lower speeds save lives," said Bibb in a statement. "There are studies that show a one mile-per-hour reduction in vehicle speeds on urban streets results in a six percent decrease in traffic fatalities. Physical traffic calming works and is an important component of our all-of-government approach to summer safety."

The first three speed tables were installed Tuesday afternoon on E. 140th Street south of Kinsman to start this summer's construction. Next week, City crews plan to begin installation in Ward 15 and Ward 11 and will continue to rotate to locations across the city, as weather permits.

"I consistently hear from residents in my ward concerned about speeding and the safety concerns that reckless driving creates," said Ward 2 Councilman Kevin L.Bishop, chair of council's Municipal Services and Properties Committee. "Council is pleased to support the speed table program and we want to hear from residents about how it's working."

Throughout the summer the asphalt speed tables will be installed by members of Cleveland's Public Works team in targeted locations citywide.

The speed table program is primarily focused on local streets with medium traffic volumes (1,000 to 4,000 vehicles per day) and documented speeding issues (average speeds near 25+ miles per hour, and 85th percentile speeds near 31plus miles per hour). The program also prioritizes locations with crash history or the presence of schools, parks, and other areas with high pedestrian volumes.

"As we kick off these first 100 speed tables, we will be continually taking in requests from residents and collecting traffic data around the city," said Cleveland's Senior Strategist for Transit and Mobility Calley Mersmann "This represents just the start, and we will add locations to the list on an ongoing basis. Speed tables on local residential streets make it more comfortable to play in the yard, walk and bike on the street, and even back out of driveways—improving safety and quality of life in our neighborhoods."