Cleveland Homicides Down 44% since 2023

Criminal homicides in Cleveland are down 44% through the first eight months of 2026 compared with the same period in 2023, according to figures released by the police department.

Robberies fell 40% over that stretch, car thefts dropped 52%, and felonious assaults slipped 13%. Police Chief Dorothy Todd credited residents who now tell officers about trouble before it escalates: “We’ve made a significant dent in the violent crime in our city.”

Mayor Justin Bibb tied the numbers to the city’s Summer Safety Plan, which put 1,526 young people into summer jobs and, through police operations, recovered 466 firearms and 90 stolen vehicles. Bibb said the city has hired more than 300 officers in three years after hiring 21 in 2023.

Against a narrower baseline the drops are smaller. Measured against the city’s 2024 summer operation, homicides fell 22.8% and robberies 33.9%.

Ohio State Law School Moving Downtown

Ohio State will move its Moritz College of Law off campus and into the 1926 Huntington National Bank Building at 17 S. High St., across from the Statehouse.

The university and the City of Columbus announced the move Monday, with an opening planned for fall 2029. Downtown Columbus Inc. will own and renovate the 13-story building and lease it to Ohio State for 30 years, with an option to buy later.

Dean Kent Barnett called it a “full circle moment,” noting the college started at the Franklin County Courthouse before moving to campus. The Ohio Supreme Court, city hall, and most of the city’s large law firms sit within a few blocks.

The ground-floor banking lobby, teller cages and all, will become an event space, and Huntington will move its branch next door by summer 2027. Ohio State hasn’t said what the renovation will cost or what happens to Drinko Hall.

Cleveland Council Renames Lake Erie Stretch

Cleveland City Council voted Monday to rename the stretch of Lake Erie along the city’s shoreline the Gulf of Cleveland.

Resolution 1047-2026, sponsored by Ward 4 Councilman Kris Harsh, covers the water from the easternmost to the westernmost points of the shoreline and two miles out. City departments are to use the name on maps and in documents, and the council clerk will write to Apple and Google.

The council cast it as an answer to federal renamings, though the resolution carries no legal authority over the lake’s name. President Trump signed an executive order last year replacing Gulf of Mexico with Gulf of America and signed another last month renaming Lake Ontario as Lake America.

Harsh said he expects criticism: “I can already hear some of you saying ‘Kris, it’s not even a gulf. It’s a lake.’ To which I say, ‘Who cares?'”

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➤ Cincinnati: Mt. Airy residents went nearly two weeks without trash pickup, with some Shadymist Lane homes last serviced Sept. 3. The city blamed Public Services staff calling out sick and said normal operations resumed Monday. (More)

➤ Columbus: The Ohio Controlling Board approved $500,000 in emergency disaster assistance for residents of Franklin, Morgan, Muskingum, and Perry counties after August’s storms and flooding. (See Details)

➤ Fairfield: Mayor Steve Miller announced his resignation during Monday night’s city council meeting in the Butler County city. (See Video)

➤ Akron: Mayor Shammas Malik’s administration introduced legislation Monday to scrap minimum lot-size rules that require 4,000 square feet for a single-family home and 7,000 for anything larger. City council has set a public hearing for Sept. 28. (More)

➤ Aurora: The first phase of Aurora Park at Geauga Lake, on the old SeaWorld Ohio grounds, should open by the end of October with a plaza, a welcome gatehouse, and lawn along the water. A beach comes in a later phase. (See Details)

➤ Avon: Sixty years after a woman calling herself “Janet” died in a 1965 crash on Mills Road, Avon police still don’t know her name. Investigators have partnered with the DNA Doe Project on Ohio’s oldest missing person case. (Read Story)

➤ Youngstown: A Coleman Drive house is off Airbnb after Fifth Ward Councilman Pat Kelly got the home removed from the site. Kelly says more than 200 rounds were fired there during an Aug. 28 party; no one was hurt. (Read Story)

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➤ Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz hit a 457-foot home run against the Dodgers that bounced out of Great American Ball Park. It was his 27th homer of the season, a new career high with three weeks still to play. (See Hit)

➤ The Cleveland Browns will stick with Deshaun Watson as their starting quarterback for Week 2 at Tampa Bay despite losing big to the Jaguars in their opener. Coach Todd Monken cited operational issues as the main problem. (More)

➤ FC Cincinnati formally waived defender Matt Miazga this week, ending the veteran’s five-season run with the club. Miazga was named MLS Defender of the Year in 2023 when Cincinnati captured the league’s regular-season title. (More)

➤ Yesterday’s Results: MLB | Soccer

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➤ An Ohio Department of Transportation study puts the Findlay Airport in Hancock County’s annual economic impact at about $29 million, up 47% from 2013. Director Amanda McGee credited new services like de-icing and ground starting, plus a cargo uptick. (See Report)

➤ Barnes & Noble acquired Joseph-Beth Booksellers’ stores at Lexington Green in Kentucky and Rookwood Pavilion in Cincinnati. Both keep their names, staff, and programming, along with their Bronte Bistro restaurants. (See Details)

➤ L’uva Bella Winery in Mahoning County broke ground on a $1.1 million, 7,000-square-foot production warehouse. A Resilient Food System Infrastructure grant covers just over half the cost; owner Marisa Sergi-Schumann says the rest is company capital. (More)

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➤ Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel signed a proclamation Monday setting Sept. 25 as Dolly Parton Day in Ohio, three weeks after her death at 80. Written out as 9-2-5, the date echoes her 1980 hit 9 to 5. (See Details)

➤ The Elyria Apple Festival runs Friday through Sunday in Ely Square downtown, featuring an apple baking contest, a police dunk tank, a Kids Zone with a climbing wall and bounce houses, and a car show. (See Schedule)

➤ A man proposed to his girlfriend on Aug. 29 during a behind-the-scenes tour with the Columbus Zoo’s Asian small-clawed otters. The couple visits so often they’ve mapped out their own routes through the grounds. (See Video)

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The following stories are featured exclusively on The Flyover Podcast—a daily show that gives you the most important headlines in under 15 minutes. 

➤ Doctors say prediabetes can show warning signs years before a diagnosis, and most people miss them completely. (Five Findings)

➤ The Anthropic and Nvidia CEOs took the same stage hours apart and collided over whether AI is moving too fast. (Hear Story)

➤ Prosecutors have shifted course in the case against Rob Reiner’s son, Nick, accused of murdering his parents. (Hear Details)

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