Plain Press

  • Tanisha’s Law calls for compassionate approach in responding to mental health and behavioral health crises in Cleveland

    by Chuck Hoven      (Plain Press May 2026) After over a decade of community advocacy, the City of Cleveland now has in place a law that calls for a civilian led alternative to police response to calls for help with a mental health or behavioral health crisis. The new City Ordinance (1198-2024) is named for…

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  • Groundbreaking ceremony kicks off construction of second phase of African American Cultural Gardens (photos)

    PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN Thursday, April 9, 2026; Groundbreaking ceremony for second phase of the African American Cultural Gardens, Martin Luther King Jr. Drive: Association of African American Cultural Gardens Executive Director Obie Shelton plays “Lift Up Your Voice” on his violin. PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN Thursday, April 9, 2026; Groundbreaking ceremony for second phase…

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  • Trip to Montgomery commemorates Cleveland man murdered in 1911 over a handful of cherries

    by Randy Cunningham    (Plain Press December 2025) The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, a project of the Equal Justice Institute in Montgomery, Alabama is a complex of sites dedicated to commemorating the black experience in America from slavery and segregation, up to today’s New Jim Crow of mass incarceration. I think it is…

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  • Play about Tamir Rice  to come to Near West Theatre

       (Plain Press November 2025) The Tamir Rice Foundation in association with the Cleveland-based theatre company Powerful Long Ladder will present the play Objectively/Reasonable: A Community Response to the Shooting of Tamir Rice on November 8th at 6:45 p.m. at Near West Theatre, 6702 Detroit Avenue.    Directed by award-winning former Karamu House Artistic Director…

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  • Tamir Rice Butterfly Memorial designated as Cleveland Landmark

       (Plain Press November 2025) At its October 20th meeting, Cleveland City Council approved designating the Tamir Rice Butterfly Memorial as a Cleveland Landmark (Ord. No. 1084-2025), sponsored by Councilmember Jenny Spencer.

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