What Happened Now? A Cleveland Newsletter
Issue 805: May 22, 2025
"What Happened Now?" is a lively roundup and analysis of the top stories of the day in Northeast Ohio from News 5's Joe Donatelli. It’s like getting the news from a friend who wonders if anyone ever finds facts on fact-finding missions.
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Fallout from Greater Cleveland Partnership endorsing Brook Park: Some of the region’s most powerful people are mad at each other. As I told you earlier this week, the Greater Cleveland Partnership's executive committee voted to endorse Haslam Sports Group's plans to build a new Browns stadium in Brook Park. The GCP is our regional chamber of commerce. Yesterday, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb and Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne responded by blasting the GCP in a letter and pulling out of several committees. "It is unclear whose interests GCP represents – but it is clear you do not represent the business owners in downtown Cleveland that stand to lose millions of dollars in revenue or the business owners across Cuyahoga County who would have to compete against a new publicly subsidized entertainment district in Brook Park," Bibb and Ronayne wrote in the letter, which you can read here. If a recent pattern holds, the Browns will fire off a strongly worded letter in response today.
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Cleveland Water ranks poorly among utilities in the Midwest: We’ve been following through on problems with Cleveland Water for years. For decades. Those problems continue, and it’s not just Cleveland Water customers taking note.
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Jim Tressel still undecided on whether or not he wants to put himself in the game for governor: Ohio Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel is still considering a run for governor, saying that the state GOP's endorsement of Vivek Ramaswamy won't affect his decision, reports Morgan Trau. Tressel says he is in “fact-finding” mode, which is also what I tell my wife when asked to clean out the storage room in the basement.
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A column tends to lose my interest the minute someone plays the Nazi card: Pundits have been calling the other side Nazis my whole life. It usually means they have run out of things to say. Even though the Nazi card gets played here, I think this column brings up some valuable points about our state government’s eagerness to cloak the criminal justice system in secrecy.
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Cleveland Heights mayor speaks – sort of: As you may recall, this is the suburban mayor who has been in the news for all the wrong reasons lately. He's finally responding, but he didn’t talk to the press. He posted a video. I don’t like it when elected leaders do this. I am looking in your direction, Mayor Bibb. These video news releases give the appearance of accountability without actual accountability. Part of the job is to face the public and answer tough questions. Anyway, if you’re interested in what the mayor said, watch this Kaylee Olivas report.
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Academic Challenge Championship on Saturday: This show is one of my favorite things our station does, and viewers and students and teachers in Northeast Ohio love it. The 56th season wraps on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. in a championship bout between Gilmour, University School and Westlake.
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If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be a journalist: Read this essay by Ideastream’s Stephanie Czekalinski.
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If you’ve ever wondered what world-class video storytelling looks like: Watch this award-winning story by News 5 photojournalist Dave Colabine.