Author
Mark Oprea
Mark's Latest Articles
Bibb’s first-year budget tries to fulfill campaign promises in the face of heat from council
After weeks of heated budget hearings, Cleveland City Council has modified and approved a $1.8 billion city budget despite some voicing grave concerns that it could be too idealistic and ambitious for the city’s real world financial picture.
NBA All-Star Weekend gives Cleveland neighborhoods, small businesses a chance to shine
The NBA’s All-Star Game is an undeniable chance for Cleveland to showcase its assets on a national court. But it’s also funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars into neighborhood nonprofits, community centers, and local businesses, boosters say.
Historic Old Brooklyn church could be torn down to make way for apartments, retail
Once a masterpiece of red masonry, St. Luke’s Church in Old Brooklyn quickly fell into disrepair. Developers suggest tearing it down, but longtime residents wonder: What will we lose if St. Luke’s goes away completely?
Basheer Jones’ bold approach lifted Ward 7. But will that energy win him the election?
In the multifaceted race to replace Cleveland’s status-quo mayor Frank Jackson, there may be no other candidate as passionate as Basheer Jones. The second youngest candidate after 34-year-old Justin Bibb, Jones has garnered a dedicated base of the majority Black Ward 7 with fervent religiosity and a youthful ambition. Such energy has spurred numerous development badges just as it has doubts from his critics.
Safety first: Inside Zack Reed’s campaign to become Cleveland’s next mayor
A veteran politician and former council member with a checkered past, Reed occupies an interesting spot in this year’s seven-way race to succeed Frank Jackson. After 17 years on city council, safety, he says, is the issue that qualifies him more than all his rivals.
Can Justin Bibb’s ‘change’ campaign reverse a 15-year slide in Cleveland voter turnout?
With voter turnout down as low as 13 percent in some Cleveland wards, Bibb is vying to vault over the hurdles of the pandemic while also stoking participation where it’s been declining for years. His tactic, even at COVID-19’s close, seems to be old-fashioned retail politics: Show up (masked) where voters are at. Win them with a handshake and a smile. Repeat until the September primary.
As Cleveland schools face pandemic exodus, some Catholic schools are growing
As Cleveland schools continue with remote learning, the district has experienced a pandemic exodus—2,252 students left between October 2019 and October 2020. Some parents are transferring their children to private Catholic schools for a strictly in-person education, despite the pandemic risks.
How employee ownership helped Phoenix Coffee survive Covid-19
Threatened with shuttering in 2020, co-op conversions are helping small businesses old and new brave the global recession head-on.
