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Lindsey Abbuhl, left
Our weekly roundup of minor but interesting happenings, stuff you missed, stuff we missed, and assorted fun.
- Canton mom Lindsey Abbuhl has spent the last three years telling the world that her 11-year-old daughter was dying. An incurable central nervous system disease would take her life. The girl believed it too. Fundraisers and benefits were organized. Special trips with sponsors brought the two around the country. Local outlets covered the sad story and pointed sympathetic readers toward GoFundMe campaigns.
It was all a lie, and that lie has unraveled into an international story after Stark County authorities received a tip that the 11-year-old was perfectly healthy. Officials removed the girl from the home and she's now with her father, who was divorced from Lindsey Abbuhl.
A criminal investigation is now ongoing into how Lindsey used the funds raised from so many benefactors since the lie began. The Canton Repository has the full Munchausen syndrome by proxy tale.
- Who knows what reaction Frank Jackson expected when he announced that he would not seek a fifth term as mayor but it probably wasn't near-universal glee. Sure, some folks in public-facing official positions offered Jackson thanks for his years of service, but most engaged residents couldn't have been happier for confirmation of Frank's imminent exit stage left. That faction includes reporters around town who, separate from concerns about Jackson's decisions, leadership and policies, have long grown tired of seeking routine, simple information from his administration and being met with silence.
When Scene asked, for instance, earlier this spring if the city had an exact date or estimated timeline for reopening playgrounds and returning rims to city basketball hoops, there was no answer. Minor, but the sort of information that would seemingly be at-hand and ready to deliver to an interested public. Weeks later, on a topic far more serious, the city simply refused to comment for our story on Chief Calvin Williams' relationship with a subordinate and what that meant for transparency and accountability in the department.
And it's not just us, obviously, nor is it a new development. And the silence is even more troubling on major issues. The city declined to comment to a group of high school reporters writing about the city's efforts to address lead poisoning during the pandemic, refused to provide reporter Rachel Dissell with inquiries sent by the public to the Mayor's Action Center inbox, wouldn't tell Cleveland.com how it accounts for and spends money from the naming rights on the Huntington Convention Center, refused to release video of the police slaying of Arthur Keith by a CMHA officer, and took eight months to respond to Channel 5 when the station asked how much Cleveland was spending on lawyers to defend itself against a lawsuit brought by Cleveland water customers.
As you listen to pitches and campaign messages from those seeking to be the next mayor of Cleveland, keep in mind how much this administration has shielded from you and who promises to behave differently.
- An editor's column from Cleveland.com's Chris Quinn you have to read to believe.
- Further evidence that MOCA Cleveland hasn't begun to put its issues of diversity and race behind it despite a year of leadership changes and community conversation.
- Did you see the fire rainbows in Northeast Ohio the other day? If not, Channel 5 has some shots.
- Deer swimming in Lake Erie at Mentor Headlands? Deer swimming in Lake Erie at Mentor Headlands.
Love this shot of deer cooling off in Lake Erie today. Photo from Mike Kozar. pic.twitter.com/ch0rlPIQIB
— Jason Nicholas (@JasonNweather) May 20, 2021
- NBC's Lester Holt met not one but two Cleveland legends on his trip to town.
- Digit Widget
1/2 — Portion of the 25 jobs projected to have the most openings in Ohio through 2028 that pay less than $15 an hour. The top four: food service workers, retail, cashiers and waitresses/waiters.
1,311 — Number of enplaned international travelers at Hopkins Airport in March. That number was only 447 in February.
$2 billion — Projected cost of the most recent master plan to upgrade, renovate and expand Hopkins.
6 — More months until Ohio will reach herd immunity for the coronavirus, according to experts.
- What's Scene dining editor Doug Trattner eating this week?
- Vintage photo of the week:
This is one of the few known photos taken during the construction of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument. In the foreground stand the stone masons whose skilled work produced the structure. In the background, the surreal sight of the monument absent its roof can be seen. pic.twitter.com/2jXkfaBVXg
— Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument (Cleveland) (@MonumentCLE) May 20, 2021
- New local music of the week: The Shootouts, "Saturday Night Town"
