• Changes are coming to Ohio Medicaid: Update contact info now!

    (Plain Press, March 2022)      Don’t forget! Families receiving public benefits should begin updating their contact information now for important changes coming later this year.       A flurry of changes in the Medicaid program are anticipated over the next few months with redeterminations likely to resume (eventually) and the transition to a new slate of managed care plan…


  • Twenty groups protest anti-protest efforts that are happening locally and statewide

    Twenty groups protest anti-protest efforts that are happening locally and statewide (Plain Press, January 2022)           Defending Democracy and Dissent, along with 20 other organizations, held a protest on Saturday, December 4th, that began on Public Square and ended in front of the Justice Center. The protest highlighted recent efforts to criminalize peaceful protesting in Cuyahoga County…


  • Help for youth aging-out of foster care

    Help for youth aging-out of foster care by Tonya Sams (Plain Press, December 2021)                 Aging out of the foster care system can be a very challenging time for youth who are also navigating the transition from childhood to adulthood. Without a birth certificate, social security card, or other identifying documentation, it can be extremely difficult to…


  • Ohio Department of Transportation seeks public input on replacing Buhrer Avenue Pedestrian Bridge over I-71 in the City of Cleveland

    Ohio Department of Transportation seeks public input on replacing Buhrer Avenue Pedestrian Bridge over I-71 in the City of Cleveland The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) is proposing replace the Buhrer Avenue Pedestrian Bridge over I-71 in the City of Cleveland.  The Buhrer Avenue Pedestrian Bridge will be closed for a period of eight months…


  • Redistricting: What’s the Big Deal?

    Redistricting: What’s the Big Deal? by Joel Gorski (Plain Press, September 2021)      Monday morning, August 23, Cleveland State University’s student center ballroom was filled with a standing-room-only crowd estimated at 200 people.  Many were preparing comments and questions for Ohio’s very first Redistricting Commission as they waited. Most, if not all, of the attendees at this first…


  • More cash means more stability for children and families

    More cash means more stability for children and families by Will Petrik (Plain Press, August 2021)     All children and families, no matter where they live or what they look like, deserve stability, security, and basic human dignity. But for decades, certain state and federal lawmakers have prioritized tax giveaways for the wealthy while 46% of Cleveland children…


  • City of Cleveland is quietly blocking citizen planning efforts for safer, bike-friendly streets

    City of Cleveland is quietly blocking citizen planning efforts for safer, bike-friendly streets by Lee Chilcote (Plain Press, August 2021)     For more than a decade, community developers on Cleveland’s near west side have been working to create a new, improved streetscape on Lorain Avenue between West 25th and West 65th Street. It was always about more than potholes and…


  • Formerly homeless youth leads charge in Cleveland for affordable housing

    Formerly homeless youth leads charge in Cleveland for affordable housing by Dan Polletta (Plain Press, August 2021)     When Kai Cotton offers advice to youth struggling with homelessness, they listen, because she was once in their shoes.       She’s no typical charity worker. She’s one who’s been homeless, who knows exactly what it is to have the rights and…



  • If elected mayor, State Senator Sandra Williams promises to rebuild Cleveland

    If elected mayor, State Senator Sandra Williams promises to rebuild Cleveland  by Bruce Checefsky    State Senator Sandra Williams was greeted by supporters as she entered the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections on June 8 where she filed petitions to run for Mayor of Cleveland. She pledged a campaign focused on a new, better Cleveland. Williams, who has held positions in…