Community Support and COVID-19 Protocols for NBA All-Star Ticketed Guests Unveiled; NBA All-Star Expected to Generate More Than $100 Million in Economic Impact to Cleveland
Today, Mayor Justin M. Bibb announced a vaccination campaign developed in partnership with the recently announced citywide COVID-19 Taskforce, that will receive support from the Cleveland Cavaliers and the National Basketball Association (NBA) ahead of NBA All-Star 2022 on February 18-20, which is expected to generate more than $100 million in economic impact, according to the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission.
The efforts to encourage vaccination, boosters and health education include:
The city’s public education campaign featuring NBA and Cavs personalities;
Special incentives when residents receive a vaccine/booster, including NBA All-Star tickets, merchandise and special autographed items, tickets to Cavs games and more;
Additional financial donations, resources and support to aid citywide testing and vaccine efforts, including:
A donation of 10,000 rapid antigen tests and 100,000 N95 masks or similar to the COVID-19 Taskforce for distribution to schools and community-based organizations.
Cleveland Foundation’s Funders Collaborative for COVID Recovery.
The creation of additional pop-up vaccine sites in partnership with the COVID-19 Taskforce.
In addition, in anticipation of thousands of visitors coming to Cleveland to enjoy NBA All-Star events, the City of Cleveland, Cleveland Cavaliers, NBA and health officials worked in partnership to develop health & safety protocols for all ticketed guests attending NBA All-Star events. The protocols are guided by the most recent recommendations from the CDC and Cleveland Department of Public Health and are as follows:
Before participating in any ticketed events, all guests aged five and up must show proof of being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or of having a negative COVID-19 test. Fulfilling the testing option requires either a negative PCR test 48 hours before their first event or a negative antigen test the day of their first event.
Full vaccination is defined by the CDC as one dose of the J&J vaccine or two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. The city’s mask advisory is expected to remain in place through the weekend.
“The health and safety of our residents and visitors is a top priority,” said Mayor Bibb. “We are excited to bring this global event to Cleveland and want to ensure that everyone involved in NBA All-Star has a great experience while following necessary precautions to minimize the spread of COVID-19.”
Beyond the health and safety measures and contributions, the NBA and National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) have committed to provide additional support to the city throughout the year, including more than $3 million in social and community impact. Those details will be announced in the coming weeks.
The owner of the former Kmart site at West 150th Street and Lorain Avenue is proposing some new tenants for the site, but the vision for the redevelopment of the property should be bolder and more compatible with the historic neighborhood character of West Park than what is being proposed.
I’ve lived in the Kamm’s Corners neighborhood for 15 years. One of the things I love most is its traditional character. Originally a streetcar suburb, as it grew, the West Park area was built to accommodate cars, but not at the expense of people. Details like placing garages behind houses help to create its walkable feel. Preserved clusters of historic commercial and mixed-use buildings built close to Lorain Avenue create a unique neighborhood identity to take pride in. The Kmart development, in contrast, was a product of a different time, when car-oriented convenience took precedence over placemaking across the country.
These days, brick-and-mortar shopping centers are struggling with on-line competition. Those that are successful have once again positioned themselves as community destinations that contribute to neighborhood character, with spaces designed for people as well as for cars. The International Council of Shopping Centers report Envision 2020: The Future of the Shopping Center Industry calls for shopping centers to take on a role as cultural centers and fully integrate into surrounding communities by creating places that offer memorable experiences.
· Make them safer. Build walkways through the parking lot and separate them from traffic with trees and shrubs.
· Make them more welcoming. Turn areas outside store entrances into public open space that connects the street to the store.
· Make them more active. Allowing apartments, offices, and hotels will add more life – and more shoppers – to the centers. Adding small parks, benches, and outdoor dining will create spaces for people to stay instead of grab-and-go.
· Make them greener. Trees and other plants separate pedestrians from cars, offer shade, and soak up stormwater.
· Create “Main Streets.” Orienting buildings towards walkways, drive aisles, and green spaces can make shoppers feel like they are downtown.
The West Park Shopping Center site design needs to be rethought to include public gathering places and more mixed uses. This would create a safer, more welcome environment for families and seniors. There are a number of ways this could be accomplished on the site while reusing the existing buildings.
Additional buildings on outparcels could”
A) be arranged around a community green or plaza, or
B) be oriented to create a traditional “Main Street” retail area within the site, or
C) be oriented toward Lorain Avenue in conjunction with roadway and streetscape enhancements to improve the pedestrian experience on Lorain Avenue.
New buildings could incorporate mixed use, multiple levels, or rooftop dining. The outparcels could be leased by community organizations that would manage some buildings and spaces.
Importantly, the historic mixed-use Marquard building needs to be saved intact and incorporated into the site. This building should be the inspiration for the character of the shopping center. If a redevelopment of the site cannot manage to include this building, then it is a development that is not able to be compatible with or contributing to the character of West Park.
TLM Realty is working with an architectural consultant, Onyx Creative, that has the capacity to create a high-quality design for the site. We need to raise the expectations for this project. It will have a lasting impact on the character of West Park. Attend the virtual public meeting on April 14 to express your concerns.
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Mandy Metcalf is a city planner for Greater Cleveland RTA. She previously worked for Environmental Health Watch, Cleveland EcoVillage, and the Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative. She served on the Lorain Variety Design Review Committee and received a James Marston Fitch fellowship for independent study in historic preservation. Her views are her own and do not necessarily reflect those of her employer, any organization or The West Park Times.
Der Braumeister will kick off what promises to be their best ever 12 Beers of Christmas event on Wednesday, Nov. 25 at noon for a special happy hour and a dinner beginning at 4 p.m. This iconic tradition centers on the unveiling and tapping of 12 of the most unique and hardest to find seasonal beers from around the world.
For over ten years, this has become one of the most anticipated events on the west side of Cleveland. Today, in the era of an ongoing global pandemic, both the beer and food will be made available to-go.
Pre-orders for a limited quantity of the full set of twelve beers are available to order online for pick-up from Nov. 12 through 25. With four exclusive beers from Germany and Belgium, this is the perfect gift for beer lovers, connoisseurs, or small & socially distanced gatherings.
Newly appointed Executive Chef Jason Quinlan will also be dishing up a special three-course menu that will also be made available for carryout and will run through the end of the year.
On the night of the official kickoff event, the recently renovated restaurant will be decked out in traditional German Christmas décor where guests can sample full fights of the exclusive Christmas beers and shop for fresh Christmas trees out on their beer garden, courtesy of CleTrees. Special gift baskets will also be available for purchase for that special beer-lover in your life.
“After enduring one of the hardest years I can imagine for our restaurant, I’m so excited to still be able to commemorate our most beloved tradition,” said Wirtz. “We’ve put in hours of planning to make sure everything we’re doing for this event is conducive for both dine-in and carryout/pick-up so that our customers can celebrate comfortably and safely with us.”
Seating for the kick-off event is limited and the restaurant is requiring a credit card for reservations. The restaurant will also be open that Friday (Nov. 27th) and Saturday (Nov. 28th) where customers can pick-up their beer orders and enjoy a new, special brunch menu that will be available until early January, 2021.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Ohio in early spring, most residents couldn’t have predicted the economic impact it would have. Like many others, maintenance technician Noah Bowler (name changed to protect client privacy) lost work when the state shut down and immediately applied for unemployment benefits.
Noah’s hopes for relief were dashed when Ohio’s Department of Job and Family Services denied his application, claiming he did not meet the minimum amount of weeks worked to qualify. Noah knew this was not true, yet he felt helpless on his own up against a complicated administrative system. He contacted Legal Aid and a paralegal helped him file an appeal with all of the appropriate documents. The appeal was approved, and Noah now has the financial support to weather the pandemic.
“The Ohio unemployment compensation system was not set-up for the type of volume we’ve seen in 2020,” explained Tom Mlakar, deputy director at The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland. “Sadly, so many lives depend today on this safety net. The stability that UC brings helps people remain stable as they anticipate returning to work. UC benefits help pay for rent, food and other basic needs.”
Ohio’s unemployment system, operated by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, has seen unprecedented numbers of applications since the pandemic began. These issues have been further complicated by the complex system of multiple layers of programs being offered right now by both the state and the federal government. Legal Aid is encouraging people who have been waiting for five or more weeks to contact them.
“Our team is poised and ready to stand by the side of people who need help,” Mlakar explained. “Knowledge is power in this uncertain time, and our Legal Aid staff can do important problem-solving work.”
In early April 2020, The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland launched a Worker Information Line, for people who were unsure about talking with an attorney and perhaps just needed a question answered. If a caller asks a question that needs legal action, they are immediately referred into Legal Aid’s intake system.
The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland is also available to help anyone who may have been denied benefits. “The appeals process can be intimidating, and sometimes, people can be wrongly denied,” Mlakar said. “Legal Aid can help people through the process of appeals.”
Think you need help? Contact the Worker Information Line or contact Legal Aid for legal help by visiting: https://lasclev.org/contact/. Online intake is open 24/7 and phone lines are open during most business hours.
Visit www.lasclev.org for more information Legal Aid’s work to extend justice throughout Northeast Ohio.
While we do expect our beloved print paper to return to stores in the future, right now, our priorities are keeping residents safe while reducing the spread of COVID, as well as helping our local business owners in any way possible.
A while ago, the West Park Times contacted the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), to confirm how long the virus can live on surfaces.
We were told it can live on cardboard for 24 hours, but according to this source, the coronavirus is capable of living on paper surfaces for an estimated four days.
According to the CDC’s website: “The primary and most important mode of transmission for COVID-19 is through close contact from person-to-person. Based on data from lab studies on COVID-19 and what we know about similar respiratory diseases, it may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes, but this isn’t thought to be the main way the virus spreads.”
In short, we don’t want to put our readers at risk – not one bit. And, we don’t want to place stacks in stores and places that might act as another obstacle for store owners to contend with.
But, we’re still here to deliver accurate news to the people of West Park. Sign up for our bi-monthly newsletter online by visiting the westparktimes.com and entering your email address into the pop-up subscribe box. If this isn’t your thing, feel free to visit us at our social media pages, which include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and coming soon, TikTok!
A new poll that shows President Donald Trump trailing former Vice President Joe Biden in Ohio also reveals that Mr. Biden’s “strong” supporters here outnumber Mr. Trump’s, a snapshot of the state less than 100 days from an election that will determine whether Ohio continues its unmatched swing-state streak.
The poll also revealed the issues motivating each candidates’ backers: Mr. Biden’s identified coronavirus as their top concern, while Mr. Trump’s said it was the economy in a year defined by a global pandemic, economic uncertainty, and a reckoning over racial justice.
Conducted online between June 24 and July 15, the survey of 1,037 registered voters showed Mr. Biden leading Mr. Trump 46 to 42 percent, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
The poll was commissioned for Your Voice Ohio’s Election 2020 project, which explores the complexity of the state’s nearly 12 million residents through community engagement, data analysis, and collaborative reporting. It was conducted jointly by the Center for Marketing and Opinion Research in Akron and the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron.
John Green, director emeritus of the Bliss Institute, said the results reinforce that Ohio is still attainable for Democrats and shouldn’t be written off as a battleground just because Mr. Trump in 2016 came away with an 8-percentage-point win in Ohio, which for decades has mirrored the national vote.
Ohio has the longest winning streak in the nation, picking the victor in every presidential election since 1964.
“No Republican has ever been elected or reelected in American history without carrying Ohio, so there’s a particular burden on Trump and his allies and supporters to compete effectively in Ohio,” Mr. Green said. “These numbers forecast a very competitive race in the state.”
Your Voice Ohio’s poll is consistent with recent surveys from other organizations that show a close race here as both campaigns enter the final stretch with a playbook rewritten by coronavirus. But researchers caution against reading too much into Mr. Biden’s early lead.
“With this much happening in our society, the numbers go back and forth, especially with Ohio,” said Michelle Henry, president of the Center for Marketing and Opinion Research. “In some states it’s going to be clear. In Ohio, it’s just not going to be.
“Even though 2016 went widely for Trump, there was quite some time when it went back and forth until it became very red.”
The researchers said the survey offers two main views: a snapshot of candidate preferences subject to change over the next three months, and insight into what issues are top of mind for voters, a metric that’s more likely to remain consistent until November.
Voters who backed Mr. Trump ranked the economy as their top issue, followed by coronavirus and health care. For Mr. Biden, it was coronavirus, the economy, and health care for all respondents besides the strongest supporters, who ranked health care second.
The 6 percent of undecided voters surveyed aligned with Mr. Trump’s backers on their top issues. Another 6 percent who said they are likely to vote for a candidate other than Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden cited the economy, coronavirus, racism, and social services.
Mr. Biden’s strongest backers also cited racism, criminal justice, and the environment as priorities, while Mr. Trump’s chose education, foreign affairs, infrastructure, and immigration.
Strikingly, the poll also revealed an enthusiasm gap between Mr. Biden’s and Mr. Trump’s supporters. Nearly 31 percent said they strongly supported Mr. Biden, versus 26 percent for Mr. Trump. The percentage of moderate and weak support for both candidates was roughly the same.
Mr. Green attributed the result to greater support in general for Mr. Biden, saying it bodes well for the former vice president in the long run.
“People with strong preferences are much less likely to change their preference … so the strength of preference really matters,” Mr. Green said.
This particular survey didn’t offer respondents the opportunity to explain their preferences, he said, or the ability to cite anti-Trump sentiment as a reason for backing Mr. Biden.
“Some of the other polls in Ohio and elsewhere have shown that a lot of people say their primary reason that they’re backing Biden is because they don’t like Trump. And some people take that to be evidence of a lack of enthusiasm,” he said. “For some people, maybe it is. But you can be really unhappy with Trump and still have a strong preference for Biden.”
Your Voice Ohio’s poll also broke the results down by region.
Mr. Biden leads in northeast Ohio (51 to 35 percent), the state’s most Democratic region, and by smaller margins in central (48 to 39 percent) and southwest Ohio (46 to 42 percent).
Mr. Trump is ahead in the northwest (53 to 35 percent), where Toledo is firmly blue but the surrounding rural counties are heavily red, and the southeast (53 to 33 percent).
Another finding that researchers noted is Biden supporters reported following the 2020 campaign more closely than Trump supporters.
Kyle Bozentko, executive director of the Jefferson Center, a nonprofit that promotes civic engagement and sponsors Your Voice Ohio, said based on several voter engagement sessions conducted across the state, people appear more concerned about issues than the 2020 horse race.
“While the presidential campaign guides everything in what we see and consume, there is so much else happening that the urgency and level of importance of the presidential election itself kind of falls out of the picture,” he said.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the results were outside the margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Liz Skalka is politics reporter for The Blade of Toledo. She can be emailed at lskalka@theblade.com.Your Voice Ohio is the country’s largest statewide media collaborative with a mission to represent the diverse voices of the state and the issues people identify as important. More than 60 news outlets have participated since its founding in 2015. Funding for the election project comes from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Democracy Fund and Facebook.
The West Park Times is a partner in the Your Voice Ohio media project — the largest statewide media collaborative in the country.
Cleveland Lead Advocates for Safe Housing (CLASH) is distributing a new brochure on Lead and Nutrition through local hunger centers this summer. The brochure gives simple, clear information on how a child’s diet can help mitigate the damage of lead exposure.
While there is no safe level of lead exposure, caregivers can select foods that are high in calcium, iron and vitamin C to strengthen a child’s body against environmental lead from paint dust or soil.
The brochure also reinforces the message that children under the age of six should be tested for lead exposure on a regular basis. Routine testing during pediatric visits only reaches about half of the “at risk” children in Cleveland. Caregivers are urged to ask for lead testing at least by the first birthday and again at age 2 checkups. Cleveland’s Lead Safe Certificate law won’t begin to require landlords to make rental properties until March of 2021 and there’s no plan for enforcement of the law until 2023.
In the meantime, wise dietary choices can make a difference.
CLASH president Yvonka M. Hall expresses thanks to Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH) Mutual Aid Fund for paying for printing the brochure. NEOCH is a member of the CLASH coalition. CLASH also thanks the hundreds of volunteers who are putting the brochure inside of emergency food bags being supplied around the Cleveland’s neighborhoods.
DJ Cause&Effect will spin contemporary and classic Latin hits (salsa, bachata, merengue and reggaeton). Texas-based artist Michael Menchaca, whose work is on view in A Graphic Revolution, presents a selection of original party visuals. Menchaca’s video art combines imagery from video games with ancient Maya texts to explore Latinx identities in a contemporary landscape. The event also features salsa and Afro-Caribbean dance basics with dance group Caribe Conexión. The night begins with an original poetic response to artist Belkis Ayón’s print I Always Return, on view in the exhibition, by actor-poet Andrew Aaron Valdez, host of Voces Fuertes Open Mic, Julia de Burgos Cultural Arts Center.
Get ready for the event with a virtual MIX: Viva kit featuring a Spotify playlist created by DJ Cause&Effect, a list of local Latinx-owned restaurants, instructional dance videos from Caribe Conexión, artist bios and downloadable Zoom backgrounds.
Share your photos of your MIX vibe using #MIXatCMA and #museumfromhome.
About Graphic Revolution: Prints and Drawings in Latin America
This is the first exhibition to highlight the museum’s collection of works on paper produced in Latin America over the past century. Representing a wide range of countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba and Mexico, the works survey how artists have explored national and cultural identity during periods of political upheaval and dramatic social change.
Curator Britany Salsbury discusses several works from the exhibition in the museum’s “On View Now” video series.
The CMA is a leader in the use of technology to enhance visitor experience both on-site and online.
MIX: Viva and “On View Now” are part of the museum’s free dynamic digital initiative Home Is Where the Art Is, which showcases the museum’s globally recognized digital resources and features a variety of newly created fun and engaging programs for people of all ages. With this initiative, the CMA has leveraged technology to bring works of art to people, responding to changing needs in new, enriching and innovative ways. These sustainable digital experiences will continue now that the museum has reopened.
How to Join MIX: Viva:
Zoom (with “dance cam”) Join the party through Zoom for a chance to be featured in a live “dance cam” that will spontaneously occur throughout the hour. A link to join will be posted to cma.org/mix or on the museum’s Facebook page. You can also send an email (subject line: “MIX: Viva”) to mix@clevelandart.orgto receive a link in your inbox.
Facebook Watch live on the CMA’s Facebook page from your smartphone, iPad or computer.
NOTE: Virtual MIX parties are both pet- and child-friendly.
Join CMA curators, educators and other invited guests in a live online discussion about works in the collection that address issues people are facing today. Participate in the conversation by making comments or asking questions.
Re-visioning Art and History Wednesday, Aug. 5 at noon
At this moment, engaged citizens across the world are questioning the systems, structures and values that museums are built upon. Join Andrew Cappetta and Key Jo Lee to discuss how these much-needed critiques will inform CMA programs like Desktop Dialogues and Close Looking at a Distance, explore objects that reshape what is known about art and museums including Fred Wilson’s To Die upon a Kiss, and learn the value of adopting multiple perspectives to understand works of art.
Starting at 12:30 p.m., all participants are welcome to continue the conversation and interact in an informal, live Zoom video conference meeting. A link to join this additional discussion will be provided during the program.
The Cleveland Museum of Art would like to thank Chase Private Client for their generous support of MIX: Viva.
Testing for those with COVID-19 symptoms or those who have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 is available for free at the local federally-qualified health centers (FQHCs) below:
Neighborhood Family Practice
W. 117 Community Health Center – 11709 Lorain Ave.
By appointment only
Tests are available regardless of one’s ability to pay
Call (216) 281-0872 for information or to schedule an appointment
Results are back in one to three days
Neon Hough
8300 Hough Ave. (West Parking Lot)
By appointment only
Tests are free of charge to the patient
Testing done Mondays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
To schedule and learn more about COVID-19 testing, call (216) 231-7700
Signature Health
21100 Southgate Park Blvd.
By appointment only
Tests are free of charge to the patient
Testing done Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
To schedule COVID-19 testing, call (440) 578-8203
Care Alliance
Central Clinic – 2916 Central Ave.
Drive-thru and walk-up testing, by appointment only
Tests are free of charge to the patient
Call the COVID-19 Nurse Line at (216) 535-9100 and press 6
Testing done Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Results are back in 24 to 48 hours
The Centers
East Office – 4400 Euclid Ave.
Drive-thru and walk-up testing, by appointment only
Tests are free of charge to the patient
Call (216) 325-WELL (9355) to talk with an access specialist, be triaged by a nurse, and schedule your telehealth visit with one of our providers for screening for a test
Testing takes place on Wednesdays, following a Tuesday telehealth visit (required)
“If Ohio is going back to work, we need child care.”
That opinion, shared by many, is painfully clear to Horizon Education Centers Executive Director David Smith.
Horizon operates 12 facilities, including one next to the Triskett Rapid Station in West Park.
Horizon spent $2.7 million to build that center. It opened in May 2019, with a full capacity of 210 students. Within a year, it served 160 students each day. The site is popular with commuters who can drop off their children before riding the Rapid to jobs Downtown and in University Circle.
When COVID-19 hit…
Like much of Ohio, the center closed in mid-March. When it reopened in June, the daily capacity was capped at 68 children via state restrictions.
The children are there but the revenue is not enough to cover expenses.
“It’s like we are selling $5 bills for $4 each,” Smith said. “We are losing about $10,00 each month. The challenge is the same for all 12 facilities. We may have to temporarily shut down the Triskett center again.”
Where did the other students go?
Smith said many parents found alternative care, such as high school students or older siblings home for the summer. A survey found that 70-percent of parents are single heads of their household. The survey also showed that 80-percent of parents who continue to use Horizon are “essential workers,” with jobs in grocery stores, transportation and health care.
Even if state restrictions are lifted, the classrooms may be hard to fill right away, Smith says. Many parents have a fear of COVID and most already have made alternative plans for the summer. When schools re-open, the need for Horizon centers will increase.
More state aid would help Horizon stay open until fall. Horizon has received some federal aid, but not nearly enough.
“If Ohio could lift its group size restrictions, it would give us a fighting chance, “Smith said.“If Ohio is going back to work, we need child care.”
The sound of various machines and conveyer belts clanking is the first thing that Anthony Allen hears when he walks into the Amazon Fulfillment Center.
He can hear the click-clack of his tattered boots as he walks along the hard concrete floor on the way to his work area. Allen oversees workers that will sort a few thousand packages a day to where they need to go.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic has arose, government officials have been advising Americans to stay at home but some jobs, including warehouse workers, are considered essential and continue to function as usual.
“They have made some changes in how we operate,” Allen, a 20-year-old supervisor, said. “We take our temperature right when we walk in and they encourage us to social distance and wear masks.”
Allen is one of more than a million Americans that work in package delivery warehouses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Business Insider, Amazon plans on adding 75,000 jobs to help the company meet demand during the pandemic. Dr. Cigdem Ataseven is a professor in the Department of Operations and Supply Chain at Cleveland State University.
“Delivery companies are more important now than ever because people have the ability to stay in their house and receive the goods they need rather than going to a store,” said Ataseven in an email interview.
She also believes that there’s a correlation between more jobs being created and people buying more products online.
“Amazon hiring such a large number of employees in a short period of time is a result of the increasing number packages going through the system,” Ataseven said.
Jacob Ruda is a delivery warehouse worker at Merging Streams Logistics in Medina, where they gave employees the option to come into work or take a partial layoff if they do not feel safe.
“I’m glad I had the option to stay home if I wanted to,” Ruda, who is 19, said. “More than half of my coworkers decided not to come in.”
Ruda explains that his employer still takes sanitary precautions for the workers who decide to come into work.
“You can see them wiping down anything that people touch on a daily basis,” he said. “I feel like they’ve done enough to make me feel comfortable to come in.”
Back at the Amazon Fulfillment Center, Allen continues to go to work every day wearing a mask that he is given soon after making sure his temperature is at a normal level.
“I have to work to make money,” Allen said. “I’m relying on the company to do whatever they think is needed to protect us.”
In 2019, taxpayers lost at least $11.25 million, while homeowners and banks lost up to $77 million, but title to revamped houses remains sound
By Lucia Walinchus
This article provided by Eye on Ohio, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Ohio Center for Journalism. Please join our free mailing list as this helps us provide more public service reporting.
The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that an unusual foreclosure process that can result in people’s homes being sold without compensation for their equity should remain legal in the Buckeye State.
However, in a recently released opinion the state, justices couldn’t agree on the reasoning behind it.
Justice Judith French authored the majority opinion, joined by Justices Michael Donnelly and Robert Hendrickson. (Justice Robert A. Hendrickson, of the Twelfth District Court of Appeals, replaced Justice Melody Stewart). They declined to comment on the constitutional issues presented by the case involving what are called “administrative foreclosures,” saying that they would not stop the process because the law governing these procedures was not “patently and unambiguously” unconstitutional.
Not to be confused with expedited foreclosures, administrative foreclosures send abandoned properties to a county’s board of revision, a committee that usually considers home values for property owners wanting to contest their taxes. The board can then give foreclosed properties to the local land bank, which can clear any debts on the property and give them to local businesses to revamp and resell.
Elliot Feltner, a Cleveland landowner, sued the board in 2018 arguing that the process was an unconstitutional government seizure without compensation. The board had foreclosed upon his property, worth $144,500 in county records. In a sheriff’s sale, the state would have recovered the $68,089 owed to taxpayers and he would have received the rest. But under the BOR foreclosure, both he and the state got nothing.
A photo of Elliot Feltner provided by Eye on Ohio.
Eye on Ohio previously reported on thousands BOR foreclosures in Montgomery and Cuyahoga Counties in 2019. In those cases, local land banks wiped out at least $11.2 million in tax liens. Homeowners and banks lost up to $77 million in home equity.
Though they lost, Feltner’s counsel, former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann, filed the opinion as a Notice of Supplemental Authority in both federal cases where he is litigating similar issues, one in Montgomery County and one in Cuyahoga County.
“One of the things we have to prove is that there’s no adequate remedy under state law. And I think the fact that Mr. Feltner was turned down, demonstrates that people who have their properties taken who have equity, and have their properties given to government entities without payment, they don’t have any good remedies under law in the state courts because of the way the statute was structured,” Dann said.
Opposing Counsel Gus Frangos said the administrative foreclosure process was an important way to prevent blight.
“In the aftermath of the foreclosure crisis, there was rampant vacancy and abandonment, and tax delinquencies where people just abandoned their properties so whole neighborhoods were decimated. In 2006, we were seeing all this stuff coming, although Washington didn’t really see it. So there was an expedited foreclosure process in place in 2008, and it caused foreclosures to just skyrocket.”
Frangos was the primary drafter of the expedited foreclosure process and runs its largest program in Cuyahoga County.
“The fallacy of all of this is that somehow people’s property has been taken. They’ve abandoned it, they have to pay taxes. You know, you and I have to pay taxes on our properties. And so that somebody doesn’t, and now they want to turn around and change the narrative to, ‘oh no my property, my valuable property was taken,’” Frangos said.
“At what point does it become a harm to all the surrounding neighborhoods, these properties?” he continued. “So number one, it applies to them. And number two, these cases don’t just happen when a person wakes up and loses his property. They get letters. They get served with notice. They get an opportunity to appear. And they ignore it all. They have an opportunity to come in and appear and get on a payment plan. So, if you’re delinquent, and you can’t pay, you can get on a payment plan. If somebody feels they had a lot of equity in their home, all they have to do is pick up the phone and call a realtor and sell it. The nanny state idea that we should babysit somebody who has totally neglected their obligation to pay taxes, at some point, that becomes an affront.”
At the Ohio Supreme Court, Justice Sharon Kennedy agreed to the judgment but not the reasoning behind it.
Justice Pat DeWine also ruled for the county, but in a concurring opinion he laid out very different reasons: he said that the court should have addressed the constitutional issues, but that administrative foreclosures were very similar to normal taxing practices in the nineteenth century.
Justice Patrick Fischer and Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor also agreed on the outcome, but they wrote a concurring opinion explaining their reasoning. They said the case should have been dismissed for procedural reasons but the constitutional issues “cannot and should not be avoided” and that the majority opinion used “circular reasoning” to avoid getting to the heart of the issue.
“The whole scheme is unsettling and just seems wrong,” Fischer wrote.
After waiting weeks for unemployment insurance payments, some are receiving letters demanding they pay back thousands; software troubles continue to dog system
By Cid Standifer
This article provided by Eye on Ohio, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Ohio Center for Journalism. Please join our free mailing list as this helps us provide more public service reporting.
Marnie Behan got a surprising message last month from Ohio’s Department of Jobs and Family Services about her ongoing unemployment payments. Instead of sending her next unemployment payment, they said she needed to pay the department.
The bill was almost $3,000. She had 45 days to repay it or the case would be sent to the Ohio Attorney General.
Since March 15, new claims have inundated the unemployment system at a level not seen since The Great Depression. People waited weeks and months to have their claims processed and money disbursed. And an increasing number are being ordered to give it all back. Since March 15, according to ODJFS, 23,597 people have accounts listed as overpaid for reasons other than fraud — about 3.5% of the people who have received benefits.
The department didn’t accuse Behan of lying on her application. The notice officially said it was “non-fraud.” In fact, after the governor ordered all restaurants to close and she lost her job at Buffalo Wild Wings, she had spent weeks arguing to the department that she qualified for payments.
The department had initially ruled that the amount of money she made at the restaurant was too little to qualify for unemployment. She appealed, arguing that if they only counted the weeks she was employed, instead of dividing her income over the whole year, she met the threshold. Finally, the department came around to her way of thinking. She received an approval notice and started getting weekly payments.
It seemed now they had changed their minds. The department declined to comment on her individual case.
“I almost cried,” she said. “I was like, I can’t do this. I fought so long just to get approved in the first place. And it took over a month. I thought I was never going to get paid.”
In the first quarter of 2020, ODJFS had 7,527 non-fraud overpayment cases and 1,347 fraud cases. Between March 15 and May 30, 1,292,413 Ohioans applied for unemployment insurance – as many as applied over the previous three years combined. By May 23, about half of those people had received their first payment.
Rep. John M. Rogers asked ODJFS Director Kim Hall in a May 27 hearing about one of his constituents, Sarah Burns, ordered to pay back all $5,000 she had received in benefits.
The notice sent to Burns, provided by Rogers’ office to Eye on Ohio, says her claim was retroactively denied because she reported earnings for one week, but not the next, and hadn’t explained why. In her appeal, though, she says the department never asked her for additional documentation.
Hall said that problems could easily crop up as the more than 1 million claimants file more paperwork every week.
“When you’re talking about that kind of scale and unfamiliarity with our system,” she said, there are “a host of opportunities for mistakes in your weekly claims attestations and certifications.”
Burns, who lives in Mentor, told Eye on Ohio that she filed all her weekly claims, didn’t work any jobs between being furloughed March 19 and returning to her job on May 26, and doesn’t know why her claim was denied. When the unemployment insurance benefits started coming in April, it was a relief for her and her husband, since he didn’t have to carry the couple’s finances alone. Now, the stress is back on.
“That’s a big chunk of money,” she said, “and it’s not like we can just go to our bank and just take it out, you know? We’re not rich or anything.”
ODJFS Spokesman Bret Crow said the program has to continue flagging erroneous claims, despite widespread hardship. “We are charged by the U.S. Dept. of Labor with maintaining program integrity through audits that judge our ability to distribute the proper amount of benefits to those eligible,” he said via email. “When an overpayment occurs, we owe it to those who need these benefits and Ohio taxpayers to ensure unemployment compensation payments are accurate.”
“Additionally, he wrote, “if benefits are provided to individuals who are not eligible for them, employers can be charged for those benefits, and this can lead to an increase in their tax rates.
ODJFS Spokesman Bret Crow said the program has to continue flagging erroneous claims, despite widespread hardship.
“We are charged by the U.S. Dept. of Labor with maintaining program integrity through audits that judge our ability to distribute the proper amount of benefits to those eligible,” he said via email. “When an overpayment occurs, we owe it to those who need these benefits and Ohio taxpayers to ensure unemployment compensation payments are accurate.”
“Additionally, he wrote, “if benefits are provided to individuals who are not eligible for them, employers can be charged for those benefits, and this can lead to an increase in their tax rates. When so many businesses are struggling, the last thing we want is to do is increase their tax burden.”
Typically, when workers lose their jobs and file for unemployment, their most recent employer pays part of the tab through increased unemployment insurance tax. When Gov. Mike DeWine ordered restaurants and bars to close on March 15, he declared that the burden for increased unemployment taxes would be “mutualized.” An ODJFS pamphlet says the “mutualized” fund is fed by a tax on all employers, and covers employment claims that can’t be attributed to any individual employer.
Behan says she hopes the demand for repayment was a mistake. She filed an appeal, and the department set a hearing by phone where she can plead her case.
Hall told legislators that as the department finished processing the hundreds of thousands of claims received since mid-March, it was preparing for an onslaught of appeals.
The department’s letter to Behan also suggested another option: apply for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. PUA is part of a federal program extending unemployment benefits to people who wouldn’t typically qualify, including independent contractors and people whose weekly income was under the UI threshold. To avoid further bogging down the old and overwhelmed unemployment computer system, ODJFS launched a separate online system for people to apply for PUA. That system went live on May 15. By May 30, it logged 209,007 applications.
But that system is running into problems as well.
Locked out of PUA
Pictured: Rodney Sweigert
Rodney Sweigert, a single father who lives in Columbus, said he hasn’t received a single unemployment check yet through the traditional system. He first filed unemployment in mid-March, when the call center where he worked lost most of its clients as their businesses were shut down. That claim was pending for 11 weeks, then the system showed it was inexplicably closed without him receiving a payment. He filed a new claim six weeks ago, but hasn’t received a payment from that claim either.
“I got a letter on [May] 5th saying my claim was allowed, but everything since then has still been pending. So allowed means what? Absolutely nothing,” he said. “At this point it’d be better if they just closed everything so I can file for the pandemic [unemployment assistance],” he said.
But the PUA system won’t let him file a separate application because his UI claim is still open, and he says there’s no option in the online UI portal to close his own claim. He’s heard ODJFS phone operators can quickly close a claim, but when he calls the unemployment hotline number, he can’t reach a human being due to high call volume.
Sweigert said he’s staying afloat by selling blood plasma three times a week, and taking the odd landscaping job he finds on Craigslist. Even so, he’s falling behind on rent, and he’s scared of what will happen when housing courts reopen.
Some people are getting the same denial from PUA, even when their regular unemployment insurance claims have already been denied. Linda Gadek earned part of her income as a 1099 contractor and part of it through wages, but the wages didn’t meet UI’s minimum threshold to be eligible. She filed an application for UI anyway, hoping she would be paid once the department instituted its expanded eligibility.
Instead, her claim was denied by the UI system. But when she applied in the new PUA web portal, she got the same message as Sweigert: she hadn’t exhausted her UI benefits, so she should apply there instead.
The message Andrew Gadek saw when trying to help his mother apply for PUA.
Gadek lost her job on March 21, which means she’s been without an income for more than two months.
Crow initially said that Deloitte, the company managing the PUA system, was working on the issue. But Deloitte spokesman Paul Dunker put the responsibility on ODJFS, saying the department was responsible for providing data on whom should be allowed to apply for PUA.
According to Crow, ODJFS is now going through individual cases to determine who is getting locked out of PUA by mistake.
“We have a list of people who have reached out to us, who feel they were prevented from filing for PUA inaccurately,” he said. “We have agents looking at each person’s claim and determining whether or not they were mistakenly prevented from filing.”
As of June 9, Linda Gadek’s son Andrew said he still received the error message when he tried to fill out the forms on her behalf.
A phone representative Andrew Gadek reached last week told him his mother is now on the list of people whose cases need to be reviewed so they can apply for PUA. But he has no idea when the change will go through. Other applicants have posted on Facebook that it can take anywhere from 24 hours to six weeks. The ODJFS representative recommended he keep calling every day, and send as many emails to ODJFS as he could.
“Hopefully my mom is now on this list, although there is apparently no way to confirm that she’s actually on it, so I am going to email at least once a day,” he wrote in an email. “I don’t necessarily see the utility of sending 700 identical emails per day… But maybe that will annoy them to the point of action? I feel like it’s more likely to result in them blocking my email address.”
Currently the curfew for Downtown Cleveland has been prolonged to 8 p.m. on June 2, according to city officials.
“The Cleveland Division of police arrested 65 adults and one juvenile during the course of these protests. Charges include but are not limited to aggravated rioting, vandalism, disorderly conduct and curfew violations.
“The Division of Fire responded to two structure fires, a total of 10 vehicle fires, including four police cars as well as 11 additional fires involving dumpsters, trash cans, ticket booths and other items. Firefighters also responded to multiple first responder calls for trauma. The Division of Emergency Medical Service transported a total of 20 individuals to area hospital systems. Multiple first responders were injured, though none reported serious injuries.
“The Cleveland Division of Police continues to investigate criminal activity stemming from Saturday night’s rioting that has not yet resulted in charges or arrests. More arrests are expected. Investigators continue to analyze evidence, including video of offenses committed in order to identify offenders and bring them to justice. Investigators ask that anyone with information regarding the criminal activity that occurred during yesterday’s downtown protests contact law enforcement. Anonymous information can be provided anonymously by calling Crimestoppers at 216-25-CRIME,” officials said in a release Sunday.
This article provided by Eye on Ohio, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Ohio Center for Journalism. Please join our free mailing list as this helps us provide more public service reporting.
In early March, just as Ohioans were learning about the first cases of novel coronavirus in the state, Anna Bondar’s grandfather fell at his Cleveland home.
Luckily, the 92-year old, who lives with dementia, wasn’t injured badly.
The tight-knit family started to discuss the possibility of a nursing home, though they had serious reservations.
Their tough choice was made even more difficult by mounting fears about the coronavirus. In nearly four months, COVID-19 has infected more than 31,191 people statewide and has proven particularly deadly for residents of long-term care facilities in Ohio.
Seventy percent of the reported deaths in Ohio due to COVID-19 complications have been in long-term care facilities, which is among the highest in the country.
Nationally, the portion of COVID-19-related deaths in long-term care facilities has hovered just over 40%, though the amount of testing done in nursing homes varies significantly by state.
Every day, families like Bondar’s are making what can feel like an impossible choice– whether to send a loved one to a nursing home where they will receive around-the-clock specialized care, but face a greater risk of contracting COVID-19; or to care for that person at home where risk of transmission is lower but providing care can be more challenging.
Even before the pandemic, sorting through the myriad of quality ratings and measures was daunting enough. Then, COVID-19 deaths started to soar.
Now, families and seniors agonize over what could be a life or death choice, using confusing numbers on infection “hotspots,” and without the ability to visit nursing homes to observe how the staff there cares for residents– which is the number one recommendation of most advocates.
State officials, including Dr. Amy Acton, director of the Department of Health, have emphasized that “congregate” settings like nursing homes are at the highest risk for infection. Staff, who often travel between facilities, need to be in close contact with residents to provide care. And residents, who are primarily older and have multiple medical conditions, are more susceptible to COVID-19-related complications.
“All of this makes it high risk. At the same time, it’s really necessary for many patients to be there,” said Dr. Steven Schwartz, a geriatric physician at the Cleveland Clinic who travels to nursing homes as part of the Clinic’s Center for Connected Care.
Ohio National Guardmembers will begin testing all staff members and any residents who likely were exposed to COVID-19 in the state’s nursing homes, Gov. Mike DeWine announced May 27. What are being called Congregate Care Unified Response Teams will focus on facilities where confirmed or assumed positive cases are reported in hopes of reducing the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in Ohio’s nursing homes, which as of May 27, was 5,324 resident cases and more than 1,442 deaths.
Last month, state officials began to release the numbers of reported infections and deaths in long-term care facilities, which include nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, and assisted living centers.
But it’s unclear how much the numbers– which are reported weekly and are also tracked cumulatively– matter for families currently trying to choose a facility.
The state on its coronavirus website says the infection and death numbers shouldn’t replace a thoughtful conversation with a nursing facility about infection control practices and that “residents and family members should understand that the presence of COVID-19 at a facility is [in] no way an indicator of a facility that isn’t following proper procedures.”
Yet many in the health care industry say infection information should be considered along with other factors when deciding which site to choose.
“If you see a nursing home with a large outbreak, that’s something to worry about. If you see a nursing home with a small outbreak, I’m not sure it means anything but bad luck,” said Dr. James Campbell, department chair of geriatric medicine at MetroHealth.
The infection information provided by the state can be useful. For instance, if a family is choosing between two similar facilities, said Nate Cyrill, a long-term care ombudsman for Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain and Medina counties.
Since information on the virus changes rapidly, most families still rely on the quality measures that were available before COVID-19, including existing state and federal online guides Cyril said.
One of the commonly-used ranking systems maintained by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services assigns ratings from 1 to 5 “stars” to facilities based on performance, quality measures, staffing, and inspections.
The number of “stars” Ohio’s nursing homes received, however, does not appear to have a correlation to the number of infections reported to the state, based on a comparison of the publicly available information. The analysis did not include assisted living facilities.
“You want to look for a nursing home that’s 4 of 5 stars preferably, but even that doesn’t tell you the whole story,” Steven Schwartz said.
There are numerous 1-star-rated facilities that have reported few infections, like Whetstone Gardens and Care Center in Columbus, which has reported 9 cases or 8 per 100 residents.
Salem North Healthcare Center in northern Columbiana County had 51 patients test positive for the virus as of May 20, as well as five staff, according to the state. It is rated a 5-star facility, the highest rating from CMS.
It’s one of four 5-star facilities with an infection rate over 50 cases per 100 residents, based on Medicare’s calculation of each facility’s average number of residents. (The rate does not include infections among staff because the number of staff in each facility was not available).
Since April, the focus on high numbers of reported infections (often referred to as clusters) in long-term care facilities has intensified. In some cases those numbers are a reflection of the level of testing, said Fred Stratmann, general counsel and chief compliance officer for CommuniCare Health Services. It doesn’t mean all of the residents with a positive test had symptoms of COVID-19. The state infection numbers also don’t show the residents who have recovered from the virus, he said.
More than a decade later, 114,000 more Ohioans live in poverty compared to before the Great Recession of 2008. Now Ohioans, like the rest of the country, are not only living through a public health crisis, but also a recession. A new Policy Matters Ohio report offers a roadmap for state policymakers to ensure Ohio emerges stronger and more prosperous for everyone, no matter where they live or what they look like.
“Government action is how we all come together to tackle big challenges,” said report author, Senior Project Director Wendy Patton. “In the 1930s, President Roosevelt’s New Deal helped Americans get back to work and buy homes. During the Great Recession, the federal stimulus supported state and local governments and federal loans saved thousands of jobs in the auto industry. In both cases, lawmakers made some policy choices that left people out: The New Deal excluded Black and Brown Americans from certain programs and the federal stimulus ended too soon, before recovery reached many small towns and rural areas. This time, our leaders can make different choices that will benefit everyone.”
To get through the recession, Ohio’s leaders must push the federal government for more flexible aid for state and local governments and increased funding for Medicaid that lasts through the pandemic and until unemployment subsides to pre-recession levels. State lawmakers must maintain or expand aid for programs that help people get enough to eat, make ends meet, and stay home if they get sick or to care for their loved ones, Patton said. Black and Brown Ohioans, who suffered most during the last recession, should receive targeted state support.
“As we slowly pulled out of the last recession, Ohio’s lawmakers cut taxes for the wealthy and corporations and slashed the budget for schools, human services and aid to local governments,” Patton said. “One clear bright spot was Gov. Kasich’s decision to expand Medicaid, which supported thousands of jobs and extended health care to thousands of Ohioans.”
Federal lawmakers must expand and extend aid to state and local governments to ensure health care during the pandemic, keep public services intact and help struggling families. State lawmakers must ensure needs are met as well and can generate new revenue to do so by:
Using the $2.7 billion rainy day fund to close the state’s budget gap.
Rebalancing Ohio’s upside-down tax system that favors the wealthy and starves schools, public transit and more.
Tapping unconventional resources like the privatized economic development agency JobsOhio to help close budget shortfalls and put people to work by creating job corps.
“During the last recession, state and federal leaders didn’t do enough for people who were hit the hardest,” Patton said. “This time they can do better.”
The process for student lending has not changed. However, the conversation around going to college and borrowing certainly has.
A recent survey completed by 1,000 of our nation’s teens, between ages 13 and 18 (not currently attending college), found many feel mounting anxieties related to their family’s financial situation, as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.
Citizens Bank and Junior Achievement USA conducted a survey with Wakefield Research Group, titled “The JA COVID Impact Survey.”
Key findings of this survey indicate the following:
More than half of the teens surveyed (57%) are concerned about how COVID-19 will impact their plans for the future.
Forty-four percent of high school juniors and seniors say COVID-19 has impacted their plans to pay for college, with a majority of those affected (58%) saying they are now likely to take out student loans to help pay for college.
“A lot of what Citizens (Bank) has been about is encouraging families to talk about their finances with their teenage kids in order for them to be prepared for how much money they have to spend for college; how is the family going to be able to afford this and what does it mean from a financial standpoint,” says head of student lending at Citizens Bank, Christine Roberts.
“What’s very encouraging from this survey is that over 70% of the students that responded said that they are having this conversation with their parents, that they are actively having conversations around the family’s finances— how COVID-19 has affected their family’s finances— and then they are actually taking that and thinking about it in terms of now what does that mean for the next round of decisions that I need to make,” she says.
Roberts says this can translate to the following:
Do I go to a different school, public vs. private?
Am I going to go someplace that is less expensive but still really good?
Am I going to go closer to home?
Is it better for me to stay close to home to save money and avoid any pandemic issues related to travel in the future?
Do I take a gap year and wait it out since I do not necessarily want to change the school of my choice?
Do I need to take out additional money or more than expected in loans to cover college costs?
“It is a lot in some ways, but I think it’s great that these families are having these conversations,” Roberts says.
According to Joe Faulhaber president of Junior Achievement of Greater Cleveland, “our hope was to shed a light on some of the anxieties and challenges these kids have identified, as they think about their next steps in their educational journey. But, also, in the way they think about work and summer jobs and paying for college, and whether or not they go to college right away, if they are a graduating senior, or take a gap year. That was really the crux of it,” he says regarding the survey.
“In general, really what we’re seeing is a not insignificant amount of teens that are either being relied upon already to financially contribute to their household— and given mass layoffs that we’re seeing in the news every day; our continued negative job outlook for the broader economy overall— teens are being asked and really forced to take on a more active role in the finances in their household.”
