Glenn Forbes

Updated: 5:35 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020

Summit County has dropped from coronavirus alert Level 3, or red, down two levels to Level 1, or yellow, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced Thursday during his regular virus briefing.

But more counties are moving up from Level 1 to Level 2, and in the case of Portage County, the increase in COVID-19 cases has taken the county up from Level 2 to Level 3.

Updated: 5:36 p.m., Monday, Aug. 24, 2020

For the first time in more than a century, Ohio lawmakers have filed articles of impeachment against a sitting governor.

State Rep. John Becker (R-Union Township) is putting the matter forward over fellow Republican Gov. Mike DeWine’s response to the coronavirus.

A Cuyahoga County grand jury on Wednesday handed down 10 indictments related to the rioting in Downtown Cleveland on May 30.

The 10 people indicted range in age from 18 to 38, with aggravated riot, theft and vandalism the most frequent charges.

Updated: 4:45 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and leaders from the state’s top children’s hospitals on Tuesday offered advice on how children can return to school in a safe manner and offered statistics on the impact of COVID-19 on kids.

Updated: 4:41 p.m., Friday, Aug. 7, 2020

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine got a call from President Trump Friday afternoon after missing out on a meeting with the president Thursday.

“I appreciated that very much,” DeWine said. “He wanted to see how I was doing and he said he had been told last night by the Secret Service that I actually tested negative. So, he was just calling to see how I was getting along. We had a good, good conversation.”

Gov. Mike DeWine has delayed Thursday's coronavirus briefing due to President Donald Trump's trip to Northern Ohio, which includes a tour of the Whirlpool manufacturing plant in Clyde and a speech before heading to a high-dollar fundraiser in Bratenahl.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Tuesday added another statewide health order requiring all children in grades K-12 to wear masks while in school, with certain exceptions.

The previous order was for third graders and older. DeWine said the aim is providing safe schools for students and employees when schools return to in-person classes.

Major League Baseball (MLB) will release the 60 game schedule Monday night, but some teams are unable to practice due to delays in COVID-19 testing.

ESPN reported the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros canceled workouts scheduled for Monday as they await results of Friday coronavirus testing. Extended testing delays also have prevented the Oakland Athletics from starting full squad workouts.

Boosters for the Youngstown-area economy have ever more frequently dubbed the Mahoning Valley as “Voltage Valley,” hoping technology will give far Northeast Ohio a needed jolt. A big piece of this transformation is the new life supporters are trying to breathe into a shuttered GM plant in Lordstown. An electric truck company named Lordstown Motors could be a tent pole for this future tech strategy. ideastream’s Glenn Forbes joined Tony Ganzer on All Things Considered to talk about Lordstown Motors.

Ohio's Republican U.S.  Senator Rob Portman released a statement Friday saying while he believes Trump's actions toward Ukraine were wrong and inappropriate, processing additional witnesses will take weeks if not months and it's time for Congress to get back to addressing the issues the American people are most concerned about. 

Summit County Council has approved spending $104 million in opioid settlement funds, but a committee that will determine how to use the money won't be fully formed until the spring. So it sits, unspent.

Greta Johnson, assistant chief of staff to County Executive Ilene Shapiro, said federal Judge Dan Polster has made it clear this should be spent more responsibly than tobacco settlement money from the 1990s.

The Cleveland Browns reached an agreement with Andrew Berry to become their new general manager and executive vice president, according to the Associated Press, bringing him back to the club where he served as vice president of player personnel from 2016 to 2018. 

At 32, Berry becomes the youngest GM in the National Football League and will have control over the team's 53-man roster. Berry is also the second, current African-American GM in the NFL, joining Miami’s Chris Grier. 

A few dozen janitors and supporters of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) demonstrated outside of Sherwin-Williams headquarters in Cleveland Thursday after they were notified the paint company is switching to a non-union contractor.

“Cleaning Sherwin-Williams is my main source of income that helps me provide for my 12-year-old daughter and my mother,” said employee Tiffany Gallego. “Janitors like me feel highly disappointed that after a combined decades of work cleaning, we are being let go.”

There’s a lot up in the air for the new joint venture to build a $2.3 billion electric battery production plant in Lordstown. But companies at least have nailed down a location.

General Motors plans to hold public hearings with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency in March on their proposed battery plant with LG Chem in Lordstown, breaking ground by the spring if permits are secured.