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Cleveland Cinematheque
Ellis Haizlip is the late creator of "Soul!" — the African-American variety program that ran on New York City public television in the late '60s and early '70s. The new documentary "Mr. Soul!" details the show's groundbreaking influence and screens in the Cinematheque's virtual multiplex beginning Friday.
Akron Zoo
The Akron Zoo streams a live lion training Saturday from 9-11 a.m. via Zoom in "The Mane Event." Go behind the scenes with the lion keepers and participate in a Q&A about the zoo's pride of lions — Tamarr, Mandisa, Donovan, Kataba and Msinga.
Cleveland Public Theatre

Wolfs Gallery, at the eastern end of the Larchmere Boulevard business district near Shaker Square, recently relocated to Beachwood. The new location opens Wednesday.
Known for its collection of Cleveland School artists, a close-knot community of artists who lived and worked in the region in the mid-20
th century, along with centuries-old art, owner Michael Wolf and business partner Bridgett McWilliams moved Wolfs Gallery into the former transformer power station on Larchmere Boulevard in 2013.
Wolfs Gallery's new Beachwood location [Wolfs Gallery]
Gallery owner Michael Wolf said the move to 23645 Mercantile Rd. in Beachwood is in response to limited space and reoccurring building problems.

Here are the topics we are discussing on The Sound of Ideas for July 14, 2020
During the coronavirus pandemic, the most repeated recommendation for preventing the spread of the virus is to wash hands and do so frequently.  However, a new reporting project finds that millions of Americans are facing the prospect of rising water costs that can put the affordability and availability of clean, running water out of reach.
The Guardian US has taken up this issue and in partnership with Consumer Reports has embarked on a year-long investigative reporting project titled "America's Water Crisis."  It looks at the challenges facing water customers in 12 American cities including Cleveland. The project launched with an examination on the rising cost of water bills that have--according to the Guardian's research--gone up by 80% between 2010 and 2018.

 
After a seven-week pause, cars will soon begin rolling off production lines at Honda plants, including the one in Marysville. Eric Phillips, who heads up the Union County-Marysville economic development partnership, says Honda employees could help spur the local retail and dining sector.
“You know, it’s not uncommon for a pizza shop in Marysville to get a request or order for 100 pizzas,” Phillips says. “So that’s just one example of many impacts that Honda has.”
Honda paused production at its North American plants in March, before furloughing nearly 14,000 hourly workers as those shutdowns continued into April.
On May 4, Ohio allowed manufacturers that had closed as non-essential to resume operations.

Dr. Anthony Fauci and other members of the coronavirus task force will testify before a GOP-led Senate committee next week but have been blocked from making similar appearances in the House so far.

Gov. Mike DeWine is making $775 million in budget cuts over the next two months, as the coronavirus pandemic takes a "profound" impact on the state's...

 
The vacancy rate for the entire market is currently 30 percent, with 50 percent vacancy in the produce section.
“I think pretty much everyone in the room is in agreeance that the city is not capable of running this place anymore and the only people who probably disagree are the people who work for the city,” said Amanda Czuchraj of Czuchraj Meats, a vendor in the market, to cheers from the crowd.
Cleveland Chief Operating Officer Darnell Brown told the audience that the best model is for the city to own and operate the facility, to which many in the crowd shouted “No!” or booed. Toward the end of the forum, Brown said that the feedback was valuable, and he would have a pointed conversation with Mayor Frank Jackson about the future of the market.

About $5 million each will go to the police and fire departments to replace vehicles, including 28 police cruisers.

The legal organization that rates Cuyahoga County judicial candidates on Monday unveiled its ratings for the March primaries, the first set of ratings under new policies meant to address complaints about fairness and transparency.
The Judicial Candidates Rating Coalition has evaluated judicial candidates since 2002, releasing findings for the public at Judge4Yourself.com. In 2018, a group of pastors criticized the rankings as biased against African American candidates. At the time, only two of the 34 judges on the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court bench were African American.
“At the end of the day, we want to make sure that candidates feel comfortable that they can come before Judge4Yourself and be honestly and fairly rated,” said Darrell Clay, co-chair of Judge4Yourself and a member of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association.

he Cleveland Clinic has begun screening all patients who have traveled to China for symptoms of the coronavirus,

Members of Service Employees International Union District 1199 (SEIU) have been without a contract since Dec. 31.

The position opened when Brandy Carney switched to another job that's come under fire - overseer of opioid money.

The Senate reconvenes for the Republican-led trial of President Donald Trump, who last year became the third president in history to be impeached by the House of Representatives.

Lorain is under new leadership and for the city’s new mayor, that meant asking someone to let him in the city hall door.
“Our chief here has also been very helpful. He got me actually into the building on January first,” said Lorain Mayor Jack Bradley referring to the new police chief sitting beside him. “And so, it’s been a learning experience.”
Mayor Bradley, Chief James McCann and Lorain Schools interim CEO Greg Ring answered questions from residents at the 20
th annual Speak Up & Speak Out forum at Lorain City Hall Saturday afternoon.
Of the three men, McCann has been in office the longest, having been sworn in just over a month ago on Dec. 2. Bradley's inauguration was Jan. 1, and Ring replaced former CEO David Hardy Jr. when his contract ended on Jan. 3. Saturday was the first time the mayor and the new head of the school district met.

Kevin Stefanski will be the 18th full-time head coach in franchise history and the fifth under the Haslam's ownership.

Before Britain started sending convicts to the continent in the 1700s, aboriginal Australians used fire to manage brushlands and forests across the continent.
Noel Butler — who's known even to the fire crews at the end of his road as "Uncle Noel" — and his wife, Trish, used to run the Nuragunya Aboriginal culture and education camp deep in a forest in the state of New South Wales.
But last week, an inferno swept through their canyon.
"That's what's left of our house," Butler says, pointing at a pile of charred timbers, ash and twisted sheet metal. "That was a two story A-frame house which I built."

Midwinter Blues & Other Tunes
1 South High St., Akron
Thursdays through February 13.  Activities and gallery music beginning at 5:30 p.m.  Auditorium concerts at 7:00 p.m.
The Akron Art Museum warms up winter on Thursday evenings with Midwinter Blues & Other Tunes. This series of events, each including a concert featuring Northeast Ohio performers. Local artists will take up residency in the lobby. There will also be musicians performing in the galleries, as well as surprise pop-up activities and performances. Visitors will have the chance to create art, too. Activities and gallery music are free. There is an admission charge for the auditorium concerts featuring Cory Grinder Band (Jan. 16), Shivering Timbers (Jan. 23) and Floco Torres (Jan. 30).

Public housing agencies across Northern Ohio are getting increases in federal funds this year to help residents meet personal and professional goals.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is giving at least $200,000 each to housing authorities in Cleveland, Akron, Toledo and Youngstown to support Family Self Sufficiency (FSS) programs in 2020.
FSS allows public housing residents to set aside part of their rent money in a savings account that they can access once they meet goals such as buying a house or getting a new job.
FSS was first authorized in 1990 and has had bipartisan support ever since, according to Anice Chenault, who manages the FSS program for HUD.

Changes to Cuyahoga County’s bail system continue to reduce the number of people in the county jail, officials said.

Akron’s Chapel Hill Mall is facing foreclosure due to more than $165,000 in unpaid taxes, according to Summit County officials.
The county is still early in the process of foreclosure proceedings, said the county’s Chief Deputy Fiscal Officer Michael Migden. It could take eight to 12 months, and during that time, the owner will have an opportunity to pay off the debt.
The foreclosure won’t impact mall businesses unless the owner fails to pay and no one bids on the property, Migden said.
“If no one bids at the sheriff’s sale, the property would then result in a forfeiture and the current owner would lose the property,” Migden said. “At that time, we would have to make a determination as to what to do with the current tenants.”

The United Methodist Church General Conference in May will vote on a plan to split into more than one denomination after years of debate over whether to allow same sex marriage in the church. 
Reverend Andy Call, lead pastor at Church of the Saviour in Cleveland Heights, had high praise for mediator Kenneth Feinberg and the negotiating team that led to the proposed split. 
"At this point, initial reaction is that it looks pretty even-handed," Call said. "It looks kind of like what most of us who have been involved in General Conference have expected to happen."
A church would not need to vote to remain affiliated with the United Methodist Church under the proposal. The agreement also would pledge $25 million to a "traditionalist" denomination that would continue to oppose same sex marriage and refuse ordination to LGBTQ clergy.

Democrats are looking to 2020 with optimism. Party leaders say they are seeing signs that areas of Ohio that voted for President Donald Trump in 2016...

Ohio’s Republican U.S. Senator and most of its Republican Congressional delegation have signed onto a court document that could lead to the overturning...

The plan to rebuild the Woodhill Homes public housing neighborhood must happen whether or not the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) makes a grant to the project next year — and financing is in place to ensure it does, said Cleveland City Councilman Blaine Griffin.
"We're going to do this regardless if the HUD grant comes through," said Griffin, who represents Ward 6, where Woodhill Homes is located. "We have to let people know that this is not a contingency plan, that this is something that the city is committed to and something that the private sector is committed to."