Our weekly roundup of interesting happenings, minor happenings, stuff you missed, stuff we missed, and assorted fun.
Reaction has been vocal and consistent in the wake of assistant police monitor Ayesha Bell-Hardaway's forced resignation over accurate remarks she made concerning the murder of George Floyd during an NPR interview. Those comments rankled head monitor Hassan Aden, who Bell-Hardaway has said threatened to remove her from her deputy position overseeing police reforms to a community engagement role.
Seen by many as an action antithetical to the mission of the monitor team, the clash has drawn backlash from Case Western Reserve University, where Bell-Hardaway is a professor, researcher and director of the Social Justice Law Center, the Cleveland branch of the NAACP and Black Lives Matter Cleveland.
“You would never fire a doctor for diagnosing a problem. Ayesha Bell Hardaway is diagnosing a problem. We have systemic issues in policing and it is our job to make sure that we have the reform that's necessary. No one wants to have a decree, but the reality is it's necessary to get the reform that our citizens need," said Danielle Sydnor of the Cleveland NAACP.
In a statement, CWRU said, "This outcome is disappointing for many reasons, not least of which is the treatment of Professor Hardaway after six years of dedicated service on the monitoring team. Even more worrisome, however, is the signal sent regarding a body that ostensibly exists to serve the public interest. The group no longer will benefit from Professor Hardaway’s considerable expertise as a legal scholar, seasoned litigator, and former Cuyahoga County prosecutor. Going forward, other monitoring team members with concerns may not air them because of fear they, too, might be ousted."
For her part, Bell-Hardaway said in her resignation letter, "I recognize that it is a tall order for some to accept the reality that violence exists in American policing and that systemic change is needed in order to address the longstanding and disproportionate impact that excessive use of force by police has had on Black people. However, the work of police reform is rooted in some of these hard truths."
- Here's how seven of the eight mayoral candidates fared with valid signatures vs. total signatures collected to get on the ballot.
Here's how many valid signatures the Cleveland mayoral candidates collected:
— Nick Castele (@NickCastele) June 22, 2021
Williams: 4095 (out of 5519)
Bibb: 4008 (out of 5427)
Kucinich: 3627 (out of 6040)
Reed: 3575 (out of 6557)
Kelley: 3394 (out of 5021)
DiBello: 3110 (out of 4710)
Jones: 3005 (out of 6080)
- A local woman has sued Steak n' Shake alleging the restaurant chain underpays tipped workers by "taking a tip-credit from their hourly wages, while not fully complying with Fair Labor Standards Act and Ohio wage rules."
- The Medina woman who became the face of Obamacare has died.
- Are you absolutely passionate about plastic bag bans? Cuyahoga County might just have the job for you.
- And you thought dog shit was an occasional annoying problem at Edgewater...
- Digit Widget
138 — Number of police chases engaged in by the East Cleveland police department so far this year, nearly one a day. Activists have met with leadership after numerous accidents and injuries resulting from those chases.
1979 — The year of the last homicide in Broadview Hts. before this week.
$23 — Monthly subscription total floated by Bally Sports for standalone app access to watch the Indians, Cavs, etc.
$136 million — Total lost Ohio arts revenue during the pandemic, according to a recent study.
- What's Scene dining editor Doug Trattner eating this week?
- Vintage photo of the week:
Image of a balloon ascension at Edgewater Park in #Cleveland ca. 1890s.#ThisWasCle #ThisIsCle #TheLand #balloons #CWRU pic.twitter.com/A2TurBFlH5
— Encycle (@EncyCle_) June 21, 2021
- New local music of the week: "Stop Asking" by Chelsea Pastel
